Ch.86Tales from the Holy Kingdom (4)

I somehow managed to take it down. Honestly, I could say I won because of luck.

That was a strange experience just now. It felt like something was imprinted on my soul.

But as soon as those wings disappeared, that sensation completely vanished. What on earth was that?

Let me focus on healing first. I still have about one shot left.

I tried to point the gun at myself, but my body absolutely refused to listen.

I probably consumed much more energy than usual when I moved instinctively earlier.

“Shit… seriously…”

If that had been possible from the start, I would have done it then. Why did I only move after getting beaten up and losing consciousness?

What should I do now… If enemy reinforcements arrive, I’m in big trouble…

Still, our side should arrive first. But the more I think about it, the more unfair it seems. They call themselves the Holy Kingdom, so why is their security so lax?

Are there spies hidden among the higher-ups? If that’s not the case, there’s no explanation for why this happened to me.

“Found her! The deputy commander is here too!”

I heard several people rushing over from behind. Seriously, when are our reinforcements coming?

I need to somehow shoot divine power at myself again. Then spread my wings and escape.

But now I can’t even feel any sensation in my body. I managed to escape this far, but is this how it ends?

Body, please move. Please, please just move!

“Secure the reincarnator first! Don’t let the plan fall apart!”

I could sense someone approaching me. So this is how I get captured…

“I’m sorry, are you hurt anywhere?”

But the voice belonged not to an enemy, but to my precious friend.

“Ju-an…?”

“Wait just a moment. Let me deal with these guys quickly.”

Ju-an walked behind me and shouted in a frighteningly sharp voice.

“Don’t think you’ll get out of this unscathed.”

For a while, there were some loud noises nearby.

“It’s all over now.”

And truly, not long after, Ju-an returned to me.

“Ju-an… could you help me point this gun at myself?”

“Why do you suddenly need that gun?”

“I have one healing bullet left… so please help me…”

“…This isn’t something weird, right?”

“I’m seriously in so much pain I feel like I’m dying… so please…”

Ju-an showed a doubtful expression but helped lift my hand. When he did, I felt excruciating pain in that hand.

“Urgh!”

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m… fine… just… help me quickly…”

While desperately enduring the pain, I barely managed to shoot divine power at myself.

Bang.

Most of the pain disappeared, but quite a bit still remained.

Looking closely, the ring I was wearing had completely shattered from the battle. And my lifespan had been drastically reduced during the fight.

About 10 years gone… so that’s about 20 years total so far.

If I assume my lifespan is 100 years, theoretically I could live 60 more years. But looking at my physical condition, that seems impossible.

Let’s just head back for now. I’m filthy tired and want to rest.

“Ju-an… can you help support me?”

“Sure. Let me know if anything feels uncomfortable.”

With Ju-an’s support, I barely managed to walk, but honestly, even that was difficult.

“If you don’t mind, should I carry you on my back?”

Ju-an asked with a genuinely worried voice. Normally I would have pretended to be fine, but this time I’m really not okay.

“Please…”

“Alright. If the position is uncomfortable, tell me right away.”

So I got on Ju-an’s back. This back feels so reliable. So reliable that I could fall asleep feeling secure.

I’m extremely tired right now. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a bit.

***

When I opened my eyes after a brief nap, I saw the hospital room ceiling. I feel like I’m going to get used to this ceiling soon.

“You’re awake?”

Ju-an was sitting beside me. Thankfully, it seems he brought me back safely.

“How are you feeling? Any discomfort?”

“Honestly, my whole body feels off…”

My already difficult-to-move body has become even harder to move. Plus, I constantly feel minor pains like a burning stomach and throbbing abdomen.

“I’m sorry… I should have gotten there faster…”

“No, it’s my fault for getting captured by not being careful enough.”

If I had been just a little more cautious, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad. Right, I was supposed to give him the emblem. I should give it to him now.

“Lite? Do you have something to say?”

“…No.”

When I try to hand over the emblem, my heart starts racing uncontrollably and my body trembles violently.

I can’t help it. I’ll definitely give him the emblem later. This must be because my physical condition isn’t good.

While awkwardly facing Ju-an, Leo suddenly opened the door, sat on the bed next to mine, and said:

“Explain exactly how you did that.”

“I just imitated your supernatural power.”

“That’s not enough of an explanation. How were you able to transmit thoughts, and how did our consciousness become shared?”

According to Leo, our consciousness was shared. But I have no memory of that.

“Was it you who fought that crazy woman?”

“I was here the whole time telling him your location.”

“Then what do you mean by shared consciousness?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I just felt my consciousness flowing toward you, and then it returned to normal after a while.”

The feeling of something being imprinted on my soul. That was probably Leo’s consciousness flowing into me.

But how was this possible? Is there some connection between Leo and me?

But besides imitating his ability then, there’s no connection at all. So how did it happen…

While racking my brain, a plausible hypothesis came to mind.

“Could it be that we share the same soul or something?”

“…Why are you talking nonsense again?”

“Do you know about parallel worlds?”

“So you’re saying you’re another version of me from a parallel world, and because you reincarnated into this world, there are now two of the same person, making this possible?”

“Maybe?”

“That’s bullshit.”

Leo looked at me with genuine disgust. But it really is a plausible story.

That site from the hero’s trial that showed you your parallel world self seemed to make sense somehow.

Everyone had similar characteristics when compared. So maybe it really did show people from parallel worlds?

…But then that would mean the orange-haired guy is the same person as Cheol-su?

Let’s focus on the current conversation and leave those disturbing thoughts for later.

“But in the parallel world we saw during the hero’s trial…”

“Please stop talking nonsense and just be quiet.”

“But doesn’t it make sense? Plus, it explains why that happened…”

“Just please shut up.”

I could even sense a hint of fear in Leo’s voice. He seems to be overreacting.

“Why are you acting like this?”

“Because the thought of you being another possibility of me is fucking terrifying.”

“Why?”

“Look, you were definitely a man, right?”

“Yes.”

“And look at your current state.”

“I’m the same as before.”

“…This is so fucking creepy.”

Leo’s expression darkened rapidly. But I really am the same as before?

While I was wondering if anything had changed about me, Ju-an asked curiously:

“By the way, who was I in the parallel world?”

“I think you were running some large guild.”

“No wonder I seem to get along well with the guild master…”

“For fuck’s sake, please shut up.”

Leo interrupted the conversation again with a terrified voice. Is the possibility of Leo and me being the same person really that disturbing to him?

“Do you really hate it that much?”

“Wouldn’t you hate it if you were me?”

“No.”

“…So this is how terrifying it is when the mind follows the body.”

Leo quickly got up and said as he walked out the door:

“I’m leaving. And I’m going to think of what happened today as just a coincidence.”

After Leo had completely left, Ju-an asked me:

“Is he really another you?”

“Honestly, it seems unbelievable to me too.”

I probably don’t have talent for magic. Or maybe I do. But I would never be so obsessively fixated on magic like him.

Plus, our personalities and characters are too different. But that could change depending on what kind of life one lives, so I can’t say for sure.

Separately, I’ve painfully realized how much one’s environment influences a person.

Anyway, I spent time chatting happily with Ju-an.

***

After Ju-an left the hospital room, I was alone again. Am I going to get kidnapped again?

Since it’s already happened once, I can’t even trust these facilities anymore. Maybe I should have asked Ju-an to stay with me?

While I was unnecessarily on guard, Rebecca opened the door and came in.

Rebecca looked somewhat sad. Did she get scolded by the Pope or something?

Anyway, Rebecca came up to me, suddenly knelt down, looked at the floor, and said:

“…Lite, I heard you used up more of your lifespan.”

“Yes, it ended up that way.”

“…How much lifespan did you use?”

“About 10 years, I think.”

Suddenly, tears poured from Rebecca’s eyes like a waterfall. And Rebecca, with a trembling voice, managed to say to me:

“I’m sorry… if only… if only I hadn’t meddled… you would have been safe…”

“What?”

“Actually… I already knew… about the future where you would be kidnapped… But I still tried to… subdue the mastermind… and save people… I interfered unnecessarily…”

Rebecca sobbed so severely that it was difficult to understand her words. But I roughly understood what she was trying to say.

“Did you save the people?”

“Yes… *sob*… all of them… I saved all of them… and the mastermind… I barely caught him…”

“Then that’s fine.”

Anyway, my lifespan will return to normal when I ask to change my body back to male.

With a perfectly healthy body that hasn’t consumed any lifespan. So even if I’ve used up some lifespan now, it’s not a big problem.

I might struggle a lot for the next week and a half, but I can endure that much without any issues.

At least it will be much less painful than those cursed wings.

“Even though you’ve lost so much lifespan… are you really… really okay…?”

“Once we defeat the Demon King, I’ll return to normal. So don’t worry.”

“But…”

“Would you like me to curse at you instead?”

If she wants, I’m really willing to curse at her. After all, today’s experience was painful enough to become a trauma.

I’m never using Leo’s ability again. Never.

“Thank you… thanks to you… for the first time… I saved everyone…”

Finally, Rebecca stopped apologizing. Instead, it turned into gratitude. But her voice still contained enormous guilt.

So I moved my body a bit and approached Rebecca.

“I didn’t do anything special. This is just what you accomplished.”

And I patted her back while saying that. I hope this helps alleviate her guilt.

“*Sob*… *Sob*…”

But Rebecca suddenly burst into tears even more intensely than before.

The fortunate thing is that those tears seemed to contain not guilt, but some complex emotion.

I’m not sure what emotion it is, but at least it doesn’t seem to be a negative one, so it should be fine.

By the time the moon rose in the sky, the rain finally stopped.