“I-I need to catch that irregular who broke out into the scenario as soon as possible...!”

    “Demong King’s servant...! Where did you go? Come out now!”

    “...Cough.”

    I hugged Kania tightly while listening to the voices of the Princess and the Saintess from afar, and soon spurted blood from my mouth.

    “...U-Um!”

    Soon afterwards, Kania flinched with an astonished expression on her face, and I used Inspect skill as I held her even tighter.

    [Stats] Name: Kania

    Strength: 3

    Mana: ???

    Intelligence: 7

    Mental Strength: 4

    Passive Status: Afflicted/Weakened/Mana Instability/Curse of Self-Destruction

    Disposition: Aide

    ‘...I think I have infused enough life force.’

    Seeing that the ‘Critically Ill’ displayed on the passive section has changed to ‘Afflicted’, I tried to pull out the sword stuck in my back, but...

    “Di...e...”

    “...Arghh!”

    At that moment, Isolet twisted the sword stabbed in my back, which forced me to let out a piercing shriek of pain.

    ‘At this rate...I’m going to die...’

    The caffeinated beverage and the ?Blessing of the Stars? created a synergy effect, so even if I’m filled with life force right now, it won’t stay the same forever with a blade in my back.

    Therefore, I really need to get out of this situation before the duration of the synergy effect ends.

    With that in mind, I turned around and used my ?Inspect? skill as I stared deep into Isolet’s unfocused eyes.

    [Stats] Name: Isolet Arham Bywalker

    Strength: 8.5

    Mana: 5

    Intelligence: 7

    Mental Strength: 7

    Passive Status: Injured Right Arm/Hypnotized (Weakening)

    Disposition: Knight

    ‘...It seems like the hypnosis won’t be undone immediately, rather she will be released after the hypnosis is weakened over time.’

    After all, it seems to be a skill bestowed upon Eucarious by the Demon King, who favored him.

    The ?Seal of Slavery? skill, which was given to him by the Demon King, who has the highest proficiency in mind control capabilities, is a fraudulent skill that allows him to unconditionally control the mind of people, who has lower mental strength than him, regardless of their abilities.

    Of course, since the skill was transferred to Eucarious, who died, the Demon King won’t be able to use this skill again in the future. However, that’s not really a major blow to the Demon King.

    “...Ugh!!”

    “...............”

    While I was thinking like that, Isolet twisted the sword once more. Thanks to that, I spat out another handful of blood and gripped the sword’s hilt with trembling hands.

    “...Cough.”

    However, I just couldn’t exert any strength with my hand. Probably because I transferred way too much life force to Kania all at once, and as a result of that, I overstrained my body.

    And so, at that moment, when I gradually closed my eyes while holding Kania in my arms...

    “...L-Let me help you.”

    Kania took my hand that was holding the sword’s hilt, as she slowly unsheathed her own sword..

    “...Haa!”

    “.....!”

    Soon, Kania mustered all her strength and slashed at Isolet. Immediately afterwards, she backed away to avoid her attack and pulled the sword out of my back.

    “...Cough!”

    As soon as Isolet’s sword was pulled out of my back, my robe and clothes were drenched in blood, and a puddle of blood formed on the floor.

    “It-It’s all right...”

    “...Give me the sword.”

    Hearing my words, Kania abruptly stopped and handed me the sword.

    “...Why did you do that?”

    “.........”

    Kania’s expression hardened when I kept my mouth shut despite her question as she handed me the sword and changed her earlier question.

    “...Who are you?”

    “Me? I’m a her—”

    I was about to answer her question that I was a hero, but I changed my words halfway to rule out that possibility.

    “—oic citizen.”

    Having said those words, I got up with my teeth clenched and pointed my sword at Isolet, who was still staring at us with a dazed expression.

    ‘...I only need to hold on for a few more minutes.’

    I tightened my grip around the sword’s hilt, as I resolved myself to hold Isolet off until she regained consciousness, and the moment she returned to her senses, I’ll get the hell out of this auction house.

    “Heup!”

    – Clank!!

    And the next moment, our swords clashed.

    “...a gap.”

    “...Ha.”

    As we kept clashing against each other with our swords, I momentarily lost my strength when I felt an agonizing pain in my back, and so Isolet took advantage of that gap and stabbed me with her sword.

    I twisted my body to barely dodge her sword, but it caused me to lose my balance as I wobbled and struggled to stand upright. I muttered inwardly when I saw Isolet imbuing aura into her sword, not wanting to miss such an opportunity.

    ‘...If I was in normal condition, I would have subdued her right away.’

    In my last training, I was intentionally hiding my true skills by using that black magic brooch which would respond to holy power as camouflage.

    In other words, I could have easily subdued Isolet whose right arm is injured if I could use my ?Hero’s Power? for a short period of time.

    However, now I’m in a situation where my body is overstrained to the extent that even if I use ?Blessing of the Stars? to the maximum coupled with the caffeinated beverage, my life force recovery would still be slow, on top of that I even have a serious wound on my back.

    In other words, it’s dangerous to go on like this. So, I have to end this duel with a single slash...

    – Swoosh!!

    The moment Isolet straightened her sword and prepared to strike, suddenly dark mana surrounded her.

    “...Heup!!”

    However, when Isolet emitted sword aura, the dark mana momentarily retreated and began to hover around her, seeking for a chance to attack. At the same time, I heard a moan from my side.

    “...Ugh.”

    I urgently called out to Kania when I saw her stretch out her hands and control dark mana from afar.

    “You don’t need to use magic! I’ll take care of this!”Chee?ck out latest novels at novelhall.com

    “........”

    “Haa... this is driving me insane.”

    However, as if my words fell on deaf ears, she kept pushing herself so hard that she eventually fainted and collapsed on the floor.

    Even though Princess Clana and Saintess Ferloche reacted differently, they were equally surprised when they saw Kania.

    “...The fact that you’re here means you’re also a regressor.”

    “No-Noooo Way... Ms. Kania also returned!?”

    Kania briefly stared at them in silence and answered.

    “...Yes.”

    Then, Clana asked her a question with a sharp gaze.

    “Just one question, are you... an enemy of Frey or an ally?”

    “Enemy.”

    “A prompt answer. I like it.”

    Kania, who responded promptly, frowned and asked the Princess in a tensed tone why she believed her so easily.

    “...Why don’t you doubt my word?”

    Then the Princess chuckled and replied to her in a confident tone.

    “Since I went through hell... I have become proficient in screening out lies.”

    “.....Aha.”

    Meanwhile, Saintess Ferloche, who had been idly watching the two converse, soon began to ask questions urgently.

    “Di-Did Your Highness, the Princess and Ms. Kania really return like me!?”

    “...Yes, it seems so.”

    “Ho-Hold on a second... Then maybe Frey as well...!”

    When Ferloche hypothesized with her eyes wide open, the Princess shook her and said.

    “No, I’ve been observing Frey for the past few days... There were no signs of that at all. At the academy, he behaves just like the same trash he was before.”

    “...That’s right. Frey hasn’t really changed much.”

    As soon as Kania agreed, Ferloche sighed and opened her mouth.

    “Phew... that’s fortunate then... If that evil person returned as well... It would have been awful...”

    “...Now is not the time to talk about this.”

    “...Huh?”

    Clana, who cut off Ferloche’s words, spoke with a serious expression on her face.

    “...It seems that because of our regression and the things we did after we returned, caused some variables to occur.”

    Having said that, Clana continued her words, pointing to the decapitated Eucarius, who suddenly reverted to his hideous demonic form.

    “...Originally, the ?Stone of Domination? traded today was supposed to be sold at a cheap price and had to be robbed by the Demon King’s forces just before it reached the hands of the buyer.”

    “Ri-Right...?”

    “However, suddenly, this demon and a mysterious man began competing with each other, and eventually the ?Stone of Domination? was sold for over 50,000 gold.”

    “I-If that’s the case... No way...?”

    “Yeah, it seems that a variable has occurred.”

    When Ferloche’s expression froze upon hearing those words, Clana crossed her arms and continued.

    “...We need to find out why that demon came to the auction house and who that mysterious irregular is. It would have been better if we were able to interrogate him after apprehending him earlier.”

    “...Isn’t that swordsman also a servant of the Demon King?”

    “...How come?”

    When Clana asked, Ferloche answered while sweating.

    “Uhh... The only one who knows about the ?Stone of Domination? is the Demon King, so... anyway, isn’t he on the Demon King’s side?”

    “...if he was, he wouldn’t have confronted this demon.”

    “...ah.”

    Clana stared at Ferloche, who looked stupid with pity in her eyes, then soon turned her gaze to Kania and asked.

    “By the way, did you kill this demon, or was it the eldest daughter of the Bywalker lying over there?”

    “......”

    As Kania remained silent at those words, the Princess, who momentarily tilted her head at her attitude, soon crouched down next to Eucarius, and carefully examined the decapitated region, then finally opened her mouth.

    “Well, seeing how the cut is clean, it’s not your skill. It seems you were quite embarrassed to admit that you didn’t get to kill this demon, weren’t you?”

    “.........”

    “By the way... as expected, Ms. Isolet is truly amazing. This time, I must help her become the next Sword Saint.”

    Having finished assuming things on her own, the Princess stood up and offered a suggestion to Kania and Ferloche while pointing outside.

    “Anyway, it must be fate that we met here, so would you like to go to a diner with me? There is a diner nearby that I used to frequent when I was having a hard time.”

    “......?”

    “Ye-Yes?”

    As Kania and Ferloche tilted her head at her words, Clana continued with a cold smile.

    “...There, would you like to have an in-depth conversation with me on how to control Frey?”

    “...Ah! Yes!”

    Hearing those words, the Saintess smiled brightly and nodded, and Clana, who also had a smile on her face, soon turned her gaze towards Kania and said.

    “...You should come as well.”

    “...What?”

    “You hate him too, right? And I don’t discriminate against a warlock as long as their skills are good.”

    “........”

    “...We will restrain our powers as much as we can, so you don’t need to worry.”

    Hearing those words, Kania quietly nodded her head, but eventually stopped when she saw Isolet next to her.

    “...Seeing that her breathing has stabilized, she’ll soon wake up just fine. So, don’t worry too much and follow me.”

    “...Yes.”

    Upon hearing Kania’s answer, Clana smiled contentedly and headed for the exit, along with Ferloche, whose eyes were twinkling next to her.

    “...Um, what happened to the Empire after I died?”

    “... It was ruined.”

    “Wha-What about the imperial citizens!?”

    “...They’re alive now. We’re alive as well. So, we just have to make sure that the future doesn’t repeat itself.”

    “...Yes.”

    Kania silently watched them chat like sisters, even though they had quite the awkward relationship in the previous timeline.

    ‘Based on the body shape and strength, he certainly wasn’t Lord...’

    She contemplated with a serious expression on her face.

    ‘However, the sword that the man had earlier... it looked exactly like the sword Milord used to drive out the bullies who were harassing me and my sister on the street, the day I was hired by the Starlight family...’

    Eventually, arriving at the entrance, Kania muttered inwardly as Clana used a cognitive impairment magic spell on her

    ‘...Was there an illegitimate child in the Starlight family? I’ll also need to dig into this.’

    Kania, who went outside with such a reasonable guess, tried to follow the Princess and the Saintess, who had already begun navigating through the crowd...

    “.......!”

    However, when the Princess and the Saintess found a familiar object on the ground as they struggled through the crowd, she froze on the spot.

    “...That?”

    An all too familiar brooch was glistening in the sunlight.