Chapter 144: The Record of Regression (2)

The sisters’ greatswords clashed.

The accumulated dust scattered, pushed away by the wind pressure from their two swords.

They swung their greatswords in silence, but their clash spoke more than words.

…!

For that moment, Isaac forgot his own circumstances and focused solely on the two women’s sword dance.

The Helmont swordsmanship I so admired.

Ten years in the future, the swordsmanship of Helmont had evolved far beyond what he had imagined.

As he analyzed their techniques in detail, he could even see traces of the swordsmanship manuals he himself had written.

I…

So I did leave my mark on the Helmont swordsmanship I so admired.

Realizing this, Isaac focused once more on the sisters’ duel.

But the conclusion came quickly.

No matter how much stronger Sharen had become over ten years, she was no match for the genius of Helmont.

She could not stand against Rianna, who had been known as the Blood Rose and had made a name for herself since she was a child.

CLANG!

[…]

Sharen’s eyes wavered as her greatsword flew from her grasp.

She glanced at the greatsword as it slid across the floor, biting her lip hard.

[Sharen, I’ve decided.]

[Decided? Decided what—! Do you think I don’t know why you’re here, Sister?!]

[…]

[You’re going to tell Legant to retrieve your corpse! Dammit! Dammit—!]

Thick teardrops fell from Sharen’s eyes as she slammed her fist on the floor.

To be unable to defeat her sister was the same as being unable to protect her.

[They’re all dead! Father! Mother! Our brothers! Ethel! They’re all dead!]

[…]

[And now you want me to lose you, too? So meaninglessly? I want you to—!]

A gentle touch enveloped Sharen. Rianna pulled her into an embrace, patting her back as she gently closed her eyes.

[I wish I had held you like this sooner.]

[Sis…ter…]

[I’m sorry, Sharen. I feel like I’m leaving you with such a burden.]

Rianna stepped back and slowly took the ring off her left ring finger.

The ring, which had been in its place for fifteen years, was so pristine it was hard to believe it belonged to a woman who had roamed battlefields for years.

One could tell how preciously she had treated it.

[I have a favor to ask. When I die, put this back on… and send it to Isaac for me.]

[…I don’t want to.]

[Isaac will surely take care of it. He’s that kind of man.]

[It’s been ten years. It wouldn’t be strange if Isaac has changed.]

Closing her eyes gently, Rianna replied with a bitter smile.

[He’ll still accept it.]

Because he’s that kind of man.

[So, Sharen—.]

Tears welled in her eyes.

[The day I close my eyes and go to meet him.]

Rianna gently stroked Sharen’s cheek as she made her request.

[Just make me look beautiful.]

Her lingering words, like a final testament, blurred as if diluted with water.

Soon, Isaac’s vision began to distort, and then—

The scene changed.

It was a spire, under the night sky.

As if on guard, Rianna stared silently at the dark horizon.

The point in time… is it before the last scene?

The wedding ring was on her left hand.

Isaac could tell this was before she had met Sharen.

The memories seemed to be flowing backward, from the future to the past.

Rianna’s red hair, fluttering in the night sky, seemed to have lost its luster and was somewhat dry.

[Hoo, you seem deep in thought.]

She did not turn her head at the voice from behind her.

She just stared blankly at the edge of the night.

It seemed as if she were wary of the coming Transcendents.

It also seemed as if she were waiting for someone she missed, who would not come.

The Legant of ten years later was much thinner than the one Isaac knew now, but the intelligence in his eyes was deeper than ever.

Having become a true sage amidst the crisis, he knew how to see the bigger picture.

[Are you still deliberating? About who should receive the regression?]

[Deliberating.]

Rianna asked, as if questioning herself. But she was not deliberating now.

[I’ve made my decision. I’m just afraid.]

[Are you still thinking of giving the regression to the man called the Ink Sword? The Magic Tower chose you. This regression is entirely yours.]

[…]

[Hah, honestly, I don’t understand.]

Legant neither approached nor moved away, continuing to speak from the position of an advisor.

[There are countless people who would pay a fortune to go back to the past.]

[…]

[You can correct past mistakes. You can gain enormous advantages with memories of the future.]

[…]

[You would carry that much Karma, and responsibility would follow, but it is a phenomenon anyone would wish for. Even I am envious right now, you know?]

Legant shrugged.

He tried to lighten the mood, but Rianna still said nothing.

[Haah, what is the problem? If you can erase your own mistakes—.]

[Even that—.]

The sincerity that came out in her dry voice.

Rianna’s gaze slowly turned to Legant as she answered.

[Even that is selfish.]

[…]

[The hurt he received, the pain he endured, the growth he achieved. To erase all of that is selfish.]

[Who on earth is going to remember that?]

Legant asked, almost arguing out of his frustration.

[Can’t you just close your eyes for one moment and be selfish? Can you even call that selfish in the first place? No one will remember, and it’s to save the world—!]

[I can’t do that.]

Rianna turned away, as if there was nothing more to say.

[One more time.]

Her gently closed eyes were seeing the bleak reality.

[Just one more time.]

[…]

[I know that’s all it would take. But I just can’t bring myself to do it.]

Silence fell for a moment.

In a quiet so deep that not even the sound of insects could be heard.

Legant left without another word.

He knew she had already decided.

Rianna had said it from the beginning.

She had decided; she was just afraid.

Unable to change her choice, Legant could only trust her and leave it in her hands.

Rianna opened her eyes again and looked beyond the darkness.

Her only solace was being under the same sky as him.

As she traced the darkness with her eyes, that day came to mind.

The fifth year of their marriage.

The dawn when Isaac, who had lost his leg, limped away from Helmont.

After losing his leg, Isaac had shut himself in his room for a year and refused to come out.

He only ate the food his friend, Milly, brought him, and met no one.

Milly had said:

[Sir Isaac… doesn’t want Lady Rianna to see him, now that he’s lost his last hope.]

Losing his leg meant that even the slightest hope of being a swordsman was gone.

He had truly become a man unfit for Helmont.

Broken to the very core, Isaac had not wanted to see Rianna.

And Rianna had simply waited silently in front of his door for a year.

And so.

Seeing Isaac emerge from the room and leave, as if burying himself in the pre-dawn darkness, Rianna could only let him go.

She pressed her lips together, wishing only for his happiness.

[Hic… sob…]

Tears welled up.

A bitter breath mixed with the night air.

Rianna knew.

She could go back.

To her married life with Isaac.

This time, she was confident she could make him happy.

She could overturn past regrets and live with Isaac for her own selfish desires.

Regression was such a thing.

To grasp the happiness one had missed.

To undo past regrets.

There was a chance.

As Legant had said, she just had to close her eyes and be selfish for one moment.

However.

[I can’t do it.]

She could not be selfish toward him one more time.

Because she knew that even that was a wish for her own happiness.

Rianna had decided.

She was just afraid.

Because Rianna knew.

[You… will surely leave me.]

The Isaac who returned would leave her.

[Sob, sniffle…!]

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Her trembling body crumpled as she fell to her knees.

Because that was so terrifying.

Even though she had made her decision, she hesitated to act on it.

Because she knew he would leave her again.

Because that was so, so frightening.

Her heart was breaking.

As her heart ached madly, Rianna’s hands clutched her chest.

[Sob… hic, aaaaaah—!]

For the first time in her life.

She sobbed like a child.

Her pouring tears fell to the floor as she wept and wept endlessly.

My lake.

My lilac.

And my Isaac.

[D-hic! Don’t go! Please don’t go! Waaaaah!]

Abandon me.

He thought his eyes were open, but when he opened them again, the Magic Tower came into view.

He slowly raised his head, a dazed expression on his face.

The memory of the future, and of the past.

The emotions she had felt.

The secret of his regression.

The moment everything was solved.

Ironically, Isaac had found the answer to his final, unanswered question.

In front of Rianna’s coffin.

He had asked her, as her eyes were closed in death.

[Until the very moment you died—.]

Were you the great Helmont?

“She wasn’t.”

His head slowly dropped.

His long bangs hid his eyes.

A complex sorrow, laced with bitterness, washed over him.

“She wasn’t.”

In the moment of her death.

She was not the great Helmont.

Until the very, very end.

While swinging that massive greatsword.

Even in the moment she breathed her last.

She was.

My wife.