Ch.43Something Strange (3)

“Then I’ll be going now. I’ll visit once a week from now on.”

“Good. Don’t forget what I taught you.”

Seth grinned.

‘If this is true, our position in the First Prince’s faction will rise significantly.’

The deal with Olivia was very satisfying. If he could have his way, he’d want to meet daily to exchange information rather than just once a week.

It was unfortunate that security concerns made that impossible.

“Thank you for your kindness. I’ll make good use of what you’ve shared.”

After Seth left, Olivia scratched her head vigorously.

“Haaa… my head hurts like hell.”

Damn regression.

If it were just one or two people, it might be manageable, but with fifteen, there were insanely many things to keep track of.

‘Melina, you bitch! Why the hell are you doing this, why!’

Melina’s frenzied behavior was something Olivia had never predicted.

Why?

Before building rapport, Melina was practically a sociopath. She treated people’s words like dog shit and never hesitated to spew venom—a stubborn old hag, that was Melina.

So when Melina regressed, Olivia naturally expected her to become even colder…

But instead, she was singing about bringing disciples, scratching walls with her fingernails, and breaking down crying?

It’s not like she was advertising her regression or anything.

‘This is driving me crazy, seriously.’

In truth, Olivia had her own system of belief until now.

The so-called regression classification.

Based on thousands of iterations of experience, Olivia divided regressors into two main categories.

The first were those who benefited from not changing the future.

These people had so much information and knowledge from before that they could maximize their profits without altering the future.

In fact, changing the future would be disadvantageous for them. It would create variables they couldn’t predict.

Princess Aria was the prime example of this category.

The second were those who benefited from changing the future.

The guardians of various cities—the southern conflict zone, eastern port cities, the free city of Mikelan, and so on.

These individuals carried the burden of tens of thousands of lives on their shoulders.

For them, eliminating immediate threats took priority over finding Olivia, whose whereabouts were unknown.

They had no reason not to alter the future when they knew easier ways to protect their homeland and families.

Though both were regressors, the two groups approached regression in completely different ways.

This difference was what Olivia had been counting on.

Unless regressors were complete idiots, they would realize that the world was flowing differently from what they knew.

Once they realized this, they would make the very reasonable deduction that there might be other regressors besides themselves.

So how would regressors act from there?

Would they reveal their regression to the world to attract the attention of other regressors?

Or…

Would they quietly hide and observe?

Obviously the latter.

Why?

‘Because they don’t know about my existence.’

The prerequisite for regressors to unite was the existence of Olivia as a common enemy.

This meant that if Olivia didn’t exist, they would have no reason to unite.

Why?

A serial killer, a Dragon Lord with passive human hatred.

The most noble-blooded princess and a rebel who despises the class system.

Just mentioning four out of fourteen already showed how incompatible they were.

Without Olivia, an alliance among regressors could never be established.

‘There’s a reason Lactea is known as a newbie-killing game. The continent is already hell even before the Demon God’s advent.’

Even without regression, wars broke out. With regression added to the mix, it was impossible to predict just how chaotic things would become.

Of course, whether things became chaotic or not wasn’t Olivia’s concern.

Olivia only needed to be careful about one thing.

‘As long as no one discovers that I exist in this world.’

In the entire continent, only Kiel knew for certain about Olivia’s existence.

The rest didn’t know. All they could know was that ‘Olivia wasn’t in the City of Beginning’ and ‘Olivia didn’t enroll in the Imperial Academy.’

For the regressors, it must feel like Olivia had vanished into thin air.

Someone who should be there was gone.

With their greatest threat gone, their attention would naturally turn to their surroundings.

Of course, some might remain suspicious until the end, but…

‘I’m not leaving the North, so what can they do?’

Eventually, even they would have to change their minds.

Anyway, back to the main point—the reason Melina’s frenzied behavior was problematic was simple.

Imagine someone who was raving mad, calling out for her disciple, suddenly becoming normal after just a week.

How would other regressors interpret this?

Would they think, “Wow, as expected of Melina. She overcame it with mental strength!”?

‘Of course they’d think I came and went!’

That’s why she ordered information to be blocked. At the very least, it shouldn’t cross the border.

To summarize:

The rumor that “the Golden Tower Master went mad looking for a disciple who never existed” could spread.

After all, the existence of other regressors would eventually be revealed anyway.

But:

The rumor that “the mad Golden Tower Master regained her sanity” must not cross the border.

Because it would reveal Olivia’s existence.

That’s the conclusion.

Is it okay if this rumor spreads within the Empire?

Yes, it’s fine.

Besides Melina and Kiel, the only regressor affiliated with the Empire is Aria.

And the current Aria can’t do anything even if she hears that Melina has regained her sanity.

She would realize that Olivia exists, but she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone else.

‘The Night Ravens will definitely want to put the First Prince on the throne. They’ll censor anything Aria tries to send to anyone else.’

This is why one shouldn’t make enemies with the intelligence department.

Of course, Aria would eventually find a way. Somehow, she would secure loyalty oaths from all nobles and ascend to the throne.

If it were anyone else, it might be impossible, but for Princess Aria, it was doable.

By then, she would be able to inform regressors from other countries about Olivia’s existence.

But…

By that time, at least half of them would have already switched to Olivia’s side.

“For that to happen, I need to deal with Melina first.”

A message window appeared before Olivia’s eyes.

[Main Quest]

– Clue #1 – Acquired

– Clue #2 – Not Acquired

.

.

.

– Clue #15 – Not Acquired

She had to go. She needed to solve this to know whether the ending’s prerequisite was non-killing, mass killing, or something else.

As much as she wanted to leave Melina in that state and proceed with other regressors first…

[Clues must be acquired in order!]

That wasn’t an option.

“Sigh… Alright, let’s go. I have to.”

Olivia looked up. The sun was just setting.

[Using skill, ‘Teleport’.]

It was time to go get the second clue.

*****

It’s a bit awkward to mention this after everything is over, but Kiel was quite easy to subdue.

There were no witnesses around, and no one would be suspicious even if he disappeared for a week.

But Melina is different.

The Golden Tower is located in the Empire’s capital. Not on the outskirts, but in the center.

If she fought Melina there, forget about controlling information—she’d have to worry about when Aria and the 13-member expedition would be formed.

Olivia thought as she walked through the mountains.

‘Wait, does Melina also have some kind of regressor special privilege?’

Being extremely generous, she could understand Kiel. After all, compared to his prime, his level was a whole 10 points lower.

But not Melina. She was at her prime right now.

So for the sake of fairness, there shouldn’t be any damn special privileges.

‘…But I have a feeling there definitely will be.’

She couldn’t help but sigh.

But what could she do? It’s not like Melina would be the last of her kind.

She should just think of this as practice.

“Sigh, that’s just my luck.”

Olivia stopped where the mountain ended. In the distance, she could see the capital.

The night view of the capital from the mountainside was quite beautiful. To Olivia’s left was the Imperial Palace, and to her right was the Golden Tower.

‘At this distance, it’s about…’

Olivia stretched her hand toward the Golden Tower, roughly gauging the distance.

“Perfect.”

It was just barely within the Grandmaster’s perception range.

Swish.

Olivia took out her staff and began drawing a magic circle on the ground.

[Using skill, ‘Ice Orb’.]

A freezing cold sphere appeared from the magic circle. The surroundings slowly began to freeze around the sphere.

Crack, crack.

The ground, unable to withstand the cold, began to split. The sphere continued to grow in size, unconcerned.

‘She should notice by now.’

Olivia kept her gaze fixed on the Golden Tower.

Fwoosh!

The next moment, familiar golden mana burst forth from the Golden Tower.

Olivia closed her eyes and counted in her mind.

One.

Two.

Three.

“…”

Before her eyes stood Melina.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and blood dripped from her fingers where the nails had been torn off.

Who would think this person was the Golden Tower Master?

‘She’s become a complete wreck.’

Olivia inwardly clicked her tongue. The story that she had been confined to her room for a month seemed to be true after all.

“My disciple…”

Melina couldn’t continue.

Fwoosh!

Olivia disappeared before her eyes.

“Heh, hahaha…”

Melina laughed maniacally as she walked to where Olivia had been standing. The chilling residue of mana was still clearly present.

Melina’s head jerked toward the direction where the mana trail led.

“…Hide and seek, is it? I like it.”

The next moment, Melina’s figure also vanished.