episode_0047

A week after the ‘Organization’ Academy attack incident,

Vess dragged his exhausted body into the room and collapsed onto the bed.

“Ha… I’m tired.”

Although he had never dreamed since the battle with Diabel, Vess felt an immense fatigue.

Certainly, as he recovered memories and experiences from his past life, his body grew stronger and more seasoned.

However, for some reason, each day seemed to wear him out more.

“If only everyone got along well.”

Even when it was just Artoria and Sophia together, their tension alone drained Vess, but with Robina added to the mix, handling three women became challenging for Vess.

Not only were things complicated with just them, but even Janice, the protagonist of [Eclipse] who had regained memories from a past life, was gradually becoming stranger.

If Vess could respond decisively, perhaps the three women wouldn’t engage in unnecessary conflicts or tensions. However, undergoing the fusion process of various memories from his past lives made it difficult for Vess to react properly due to the confusion in his mind.

“I don’t know.”

In [Eclipse], heroines didn’t engage in such tense situations or guard against each other like this.

I don’t know how to handle this.

As Vess lay on the bed, exhaling deeply, that moment arrived.

“You’re still clueless as ever.”

“…Lucifer?”

A familiar voice emanated from the bracelet on Vess’s right hand.

“Except for intelligence in battle, you’re utterly foolish. That aspect of you hasn’t changed at all.”

“You casually spew out such harsh words?”

“Hmph. You should try seeing things from their perspective too. They might be frustrated even in suitable circumstances.”

Being so shamelessly oblivious, caught up in topics from my past self.

I’m not that clueless.

…Come to think of it, in my past life as a warrior, I really was clueless. I didn’t even realize that Janice was actually a woman disguised as a man.

Since my past self is similar to my current self, I didn’t think my awareness would be much different.

“It seems like you’ve gotten too comfortable lately, huh?”

Mmm.

Vess gathered his divine power in his left hand.

“Wait, hold on! Not that!”

Thud!

Ignoring the unconscious Lucifer, Vess covered himself with the blanket.

“By the way, Claudia became the Empress,” Vess recalled.

Even in [Eclipse], Claudia managed to defeat her rival prince and ascend to the throne.

However, that event should have taken place much later, during episodes related to the empire, far into the future from the current point in time.

Yet Claudia had already ascended to the throne.

“It’s too soon…”

Even though reality had diverged significantly from what was seen in [Eclipse], it was still too abrupt.

Perhaps because she retained memories from her past life like Sophia and Artoria.

Judging by her clash with Sophia in the principal’s office, she seemed to possess a level of magic prowess surpassing that of a grand mage.

If Claudia’s competence, charisma, and magical prowess at that level combined, it seemed entirely plausible.

Hold on a moment.

Vess recalled his recent encounter with Claudia.

The words she spoke in the restroom back then.

She asked me to become her prime minister.

I was preoccupied with preventing destruction, trying to buy time first, most likely…

“After completing that task for His Majesty, and if I were to hone my skills to match His Majesty’s standards once again, would you be able to propose it to me at that time?”

Alright.

That’s what was said.

And the response Claudia gave at that time was…

“Fine. I’ll take care of it within 6 months.”

A promise to return as Emperor within 6 months.

…Wait, did you say 6 months?!

It hasn’t even been a month yet!

Even if one is competent, there should be a limit to that competence! How can one swallow up the Empire, the strongest nation on the continent, in just a few weeks!

Vesrus clenched his head in frustration.

He had mentioned coming back for me.

Instead of being the Prime Minister of the Empire, the second-in-command of the vast and powerful Empire…

A position that no one dared to ignore, the pinnacle that everyone looked up to, the highest position in the world of men.

As long as he didn’t get pushed out in the power struggle, he could enjoy that overflowing power until his death.

However, Vesrus was not particularly drawn to Claudia’s proposal.

If he had not regained memories of past lives, he might have accepted.

Previously, he had rejected the offer due to unresolved ‘organization’ matters and chaotic circumstances. But now, his individual strength had reached a certain level, and with the Empire’s power and connections, preventing the destruction of the continent did not seem so difficult.

If his initial goal was merely survival, he would have accepted Claudia’s offer and become her Prime Minister right away.

But the current him was a mix of various past selves.

For him, working for Claudia, who stood out among Artoria, Sophia, and Robina, was not an appealing choice.

“Above all, I don’t have any memories of being with Claudia.”

Although he had recalled dreams of Artoria, Sophia, Robina, Belle, Janice, he had not dreamt about Claudia yet.

To him, Claudia couldn’t help but feel unfamiliar.

“I don’t know. Let’s just sleep for now.”

Vesrus closed his eyes.

Whether Claudia comes to the academy or not, tomorrow’s me will handle it.

Crash!

“Scream! Run away!”

“P-Please spare me!”

Thud.

In the next moment, Vesrus found himself standing amidst a crowd of people wearing academy uniforms, bustling around in confusion.

A dream?

Vesrus had entered a dream where he was reliving experiences from a past life.

I hadn’t dreamt for the past week…

Perhaps because it had been a while since he had such a dream, he welcomed it more warmly.

Most of the passing individuals seemed to be wearing academy uniforms, indicating this was the Richten Academy.

Was this related to Sophia?

Vesrus first tried to understand the environment he was in.

“Screaaam!”

“You won’t die here!”

Countless people around Vesrus were running frantically in the direction he was looking, as if fleeing from something behind him.

Thud.

The ground shook.

He could tell that something heavy was approaching in his direction.

“What on earth is it?”

Vesrus slowly turned around.

As Vesrus turned his body…

“Wooooah!”

Looking at the people, he could see a giant monster with two heads roaring loudly.

Standing about three stories tall, it had a massive stature and build.

Its disgusting stench of slaughter could be felt from afar, along with its muscular physique capable of effortlessly tearing down surrounding structures as it advanced.

“Why would an ogre be inside the academy…”

It was an extremely rare high-level monster, the Twin Head Ogre, with two heads attached.

Vesas’s body froze instantly upon seeing the Ogre.

Vesas realized that his current body had little practical experience compared to his previous ones.

“Move!”

Thud Thud

The Ogre discovered Vesas standing still and grinned wickedly.

He was going to devour all the small beings here anyway, but this one standing still would be easier to eat.

Thud Thud

Approaching Vesas, the Ogre grabbed him with its huge, foul-smelling hand.

Then, it opened its mouth and brought Vesas towards it.

“I said move!”

Vesas could have easily torn the Ogre apart with his own power, but his current body was frozen in fear, unable to move.

Crack

A small spirit appeared next to Vesas.

-Beep!

The spirit, resembling a young girl, tried to release Vesas from the Ogre’s grip with her short arms, but without her master’s support, she couldn’t do much.

-Screech!

Vesas could smell the Ogre’s breath on his face.

The repugnant smell of death created through countless births.

“What is this? Experiencing past deaths like this?”

-Screeeech!

As the spirit girl screamed, the Ogre’s sharp teeth were about to tear into Vesas’s flesh.

Boom

An explosion occurred at the Ogre’s landing spot.

“Uwoah….”

Twisting his face in pain, the Ogre dropped Vesas.

“Uwah!”

Freed from the Ogre’s grasp, Vesas fell flat on the ground.

“Uwoaaaaah!”

The Ogre grimaced and swung both hands towards Vesas, but…

Boom

Someone cast a shield spell in front of Vesas, blocking the attack.

“There. Are you okay?”

With her radiant hair fluttering, Cladia flew the Ogre away and turned to Vesas.