Chapter 20: Regressor and Regression Bot

The Saint…

I’m still so confused.

Even without this, I was already overwhelmed by the events of the previous night with the first emperor inside Rudera, leaving me with so many things to check.

And now, on top of all that, there’s the matter of the returned Saint…

I could feel a headache starting to form.

According to her, we were lovers, but to me, she was someone I’d never met before.

Despite her beauty, her status and exceptional looks made me feel like she was someone I shouldn’t even dare to be with, making her feel distant and unfamiliar.

So, she was still difficult for me to deal with.

“But why are you here?”

“Hehe…”

The Saint was lying on my bed, hugging my arm.

“This is my room, you know.”

The academy had strict rules.

One of them being that entering the dormitory of the opposite sex was strictly forbidden.

Considering the age of the academy students, it was said that romantic relationships between the sexes were quite common.

However, given the noble status of the academy students, any unfortunate incidents that could arise from such relationships needed to be prevented.

Therefore, Lichten Academy had several rules to minimize romantic interactions between the sexes.

Furthermore, there were magical protections in place to prevent the opposite sex from entering the dormitory.

Even my sister Adelina couldn’t enter this male dormitory because of such rules…

“How did you get in here?”

“Hehe, such basic magic can’t stop me, you know? I was the one who fought alongside you until the very end!”

The Saint smiled brightly.

Her pure and beautiful smile seemed capable of stealing the soul of any man who saw her.

However, I struggled to maintain my composure due to the warm and soft sensation I felt from my arm.

“After overcoming death and going back in time, I finally met you again. How could I possibly leave you now?”

The Saint looked up at me with wide eyes.

I always thought I wasn’t very interested in women.

Maybe I was wrong.

Having such a beautiful woman approach me like this…

I’d have to be crazy to push her away.

But the one she loved was not me, but a future version of me that I didn’t know.

Could she really say she loved me?

Crackle

“Ah!”

At that moment, an unusual energy manifested from the hand of the arm the Saint was holding.

“S-sir…!”

“Oh, Saint, this is…”

It seemed that, due to the Saint’s touch, I unconsciously used that power.

It was a power that had suddenly appeared when I woke up this morning, and I didn’t yet know how to control it.

“You’re already using divine power!”

“Divine power…?”

Divine power, the special power used only by gods.

And the power bestowed by gods to priests or holy knights was called holy power.

Generally, divine power could only be used by transcendent beings or deities.

To possess divine power in itself meant that one had transcended mortal limits.

And yet, this power was divine power…?

“Isn’t divine power supposed to be used by gods?”

“That’s right. Normally, a non-god being using divine power is forbidden. To be precise, it’s impossible without obtaining the status of a god.”

“But how…?”

“In the previous timeline, you were able to use divine power as a human.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. That was the biggest reason why you were the only one who could oppose the GM and the last hope of the continent. In the previous timeline, you had power akin to a god.”

Me… a god?

Within Rudera, I wield absolute authority and power, but in reality, aside from illusion magic, I have no other abilities, making me utterly powerless.

The idea that I could use the power of a god was unbelievable.

“More importantly, it should have taken more time for you to start using divine power. How could this have happened…?”

Has the future changed?

Why?

The Saint muttered, furrowing her brow.

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“I need to check something. Please wait for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

With those words, the Saint got up.

“Bless, Miracle Bless, Sacred Minerva.”

She showered me with numerous blessings.

“Phew! With this, even the master won’t be able to touch you easily! So, sir, stay well until we meet again, alright?”

After wiping the sweat from her forehead, the Saint left.

I was left alone in my room.

“…That was like a storm.”

The Saint was my lover in the future…

Would anyone believe it if they heard this?

More importantly…

“Divine power…”

I clenched and opened my hand again.

Crackle

The divine power sparked again.

I tried to control the power with my will, but it only caused sparks without moving.

“……This is harder than managing mana when I first learned magic.”

Despite learning magic from the mage of the Magic Tower, I still couldn’t use it properly.

Carthesia also tried to teach me magic, but no matter what she did, I couldn’t use any magic except for illusion magic.

“But unlike magic, there’s no one who can teach me how to use divine power.”

I can’t ask a god how to use divine power.

I don’t even know how to contact them in the first place.

Do I just pray?

“………Should I ask Carthesia?”

I tried to contact Carthesia.

Beep beep beep beep

She was unreachable.

Now that I think about it, she mentioned not being able to enjoy the Tower of the Labyrinth properly due to some dragon meeting.

She must be deeply engrossed in Rudera right now.

Should I contact her inside Rudera?

I put on the Rudera connector on my head.

Flash

After a moment of darkness, the vast sky of Rudera unfolded before me.

I stood in the middle of that expansive sky and opened the administrator interface.

Then dozens of screens floated in front of me.

The GM account is the absolute ruler of this Rudea.

From one place, I can see all the players’ information and observe anywhere within Rudera.

So, I tried to check what Carthesia was doing.

“Wait a minute.”

I realized there was someone in Rudera who could use divine power.

The first emperor who awakened the power of the gods just the day before.

Perhaps I could ask him how to handle divine power.

Of course, considering our previous clashes, he might not be willing to tell me easily.

Or he might find it strange that a god would ask such a thing.

If that happened, my efforts to calm him down would have been in vain.

‘Should I use Solaris?’

Since Solaris is an NPC I created, I can connect to her body.

The first emperor has immense affection for Solaris, mistaking her for his mentor, so borrowing Solaris’ body to learn about divine power from him was also an option.

With the intention of checking the current situation of the first emperor, I activated the view of the third floor of the Tower of the Labyrinth.

Flash

The figures of Solaris and the first emperor appeared before me.

“Dada dada da, waah! Food!”

“Hehe, is it that delicious, my silly disciple?”

What am I seeing?

The first emperor, who fought against a god to save the woman he loved, curled up like a baby, babbling.

Who would believe that this is the same man?

It’s possible for him to be like this, having reunited with the woman who raised him after hundreds of years and considering her his mentor, but…………… It’s only been a day.

Is this even possible?

I was so dumbfounded that I was at a loss for words.

……?

I didn’t notice because of the shocking sight of the first emperor.

Solaris, stroking the first emperor’s head lovingly with affectionate eyes.

Unbelievable.

I never gave Solaris such a setting.

Even if, by a series of coincidences, Solaris had memories of the time spent with Carthesia while she was with the first emperor, it doesn’t make sense for her to behave like that.

Carthesia never loved the first emperor, not even once.

The current Solaris seemed to be the ideal wandering swordsman the first emperor desired.

・・・・・・

‘How could this be?’

Most NPCs in Rudera move autonomously based on the settings I established.

However, the current behaviour of Solaris was completely out of character.

Did the first emperor use divine power to implant his ideal image into Solaris?

No, that can’t be.

He wouldn’t tamper with the mind of the woman he fought to protect, even against a GM.

Then, could the Solaris NPC have evolved to act autonomously in this manner?

Thinking it was a possibility, I opened the internal code that made up the Solaris NPC.

“!?!?…….”

Then, I discovered a code other than the settings I had inputted.

It was like an artificially created memory, as if someone had inserted it to alter Solaris’ memory.

***

“Did I get caught?”

In the deepest abyss of Rudera, in a special area unknown even to Albus, a woman stood with dozens of screens in front of her.

“He’s too quick-witted, as expected of the master.”

She moved her fingers in the air.

It was like the hands of a developer typing on a keyboard.

“Maybe I overdid it with the first emperor’s matter this time. I should have proceeded a bit more slowly, but I got greedy.”

The woman, after finishing her typing, brought the screen showing Albus’ face into her embrace.

Then she hugged it tightly as if it was precious.

“More importantly, the Saint. I didn’t expect her to regress.”

Was it due to the ripple effect of her returning to the past?

Or did the god she served send her back?

“If considering the Saint as a variable, I need to adjust the plan a bit.”

LV????

Ludera’s owner GM

Thick letters floated above the woman’s head.

The final boss of Rudera Season 1, the female entity ‘GM.’

“Just wait a little longer, master.”

A remnant of the future that Albus created as an event but, against his intentions, wasn’t discarded and returned to the past, twisted her lips into a smile.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to complete the master’s command. Once everything is over, I’ll come to see you again. So just wait a little longer.”

My beloved…

Creator.