༺ Clue (1) ༻
“Pervert.”
“I-I’m not!” Renee retorted his low comment.
“Well, it’s written all over your face.”
“Hmph!”
Renee covered her face with her hands.
“I’m not!”
She repeated.
Vera’s smile deepened.
His laughter openly expressed his delight.
Vera continued to laugh for quite some time and only stopped when Renee began to tremble with shame.
“It’s too bad, when I have the chance to tease you like this… I don’t have the time to do so.”
Vera reached out his arm.
He removed Renee’s hand covering her blushing face, and looked at her.
“It’s time to keep my promise. Ask me three questions.”
Renee’s body flinched.
Slowly, she lifted her head to face him.
Renee was no fool.
She could sense the weight of the ’three questions’ he was emphasizing.
Renee opened her mouth.
She voiced the first thought that came to her mind.
“…Do you have restrictions?”
He seemed to want to tell her something important.
Something that could be compromising.
Hence, Vera was trying to use a loophole.
“You’re still the same, smart as always.”
A somewhat vague affirmation.
That was enough.
Renee understood why Vera wanted to convey the information through the form of three questions.
“Your power… you’ve created a situation where you can only answer through your power. You temporarily lifted the restriction placed on you.”
“Maybe.”
Though vague, Renee knew it was a positive affirmation in its own right.
Vera didn’t want to categorize the previous statement as an answer.
She accelerated her thought process.
‘There certainly was no clue that this was another timeline.’
Yet, in a short span, he was able to notice it.
Then, he took the legacy and managed to escape with everyone.
‘…He knows about the regression.’
It was the action of someone who already knew that the world would rewind.
She needed to confirm it.
Just as Renee was about to open her mouth…
“Think carefully.”
Vera interrupted her.
“I’m talking about your questions. Your questions should be things you somehow cannot figure out, not things you can figure out on your own.”
Renee closed her mouth.
She considered the meaning behind Vera’s words.
After a moment of consideration, she realized a fact she had overlooked.
‘When Vera returns, his memories will be absorbed.’
She could then ask if he truly knew about the regression through his memories.
Therefore, asking this question would be a waste.
Renee nodded.
Vera stroked her head, smiling.
“Good.”
He treated her like a child.
Renee’s expression crumpled, feeling unnecessarily resentful.
“Do you not like this sort of thing?”
“…”
She did not answer.
This Vera from another time was too different from the one she knew, so Renee did not want to show him an overly familiar, infatuated appearance.
“Assuming you know about the regression, I’ll ask my questions.”
“Go ahead.”
Three questions.
Out of them, the most important one was obvious.
“What is the legacy? Why do we need to collect it?”
They have now collected five legacies.
Considering that Alaysia had one among the eight in total, then only two remained.
Why did they need to collect them, and what should they do with them once gathered?
Vera answered Renee’s question.
“Excellent question.”
Saying so, Vera pulled out the necklace he had taken from Nartania and put it around Renee’s neck.
“A legacy is proof of Ardain’s existence. It’s the only remaining record proving that he existed in this world.”
“A record?”
“Yes, to put it simply. It’s like a history book. Its purpose is to leave a record of his existence for future generations now that his traces can no longer be found.”
Vera briefly stared at the necklace on Renee’s neck and then tapped the center of it as he continued to speak.
“The reason we have to collect it is because we need that record. Alaysia’s goal is to become one with Ardain and become the eternal ruler of this land.”
Renee’s fingertips trembled.
She felt that Vera was subtly insinuating another clue in response to her one question. He was now unveiling the identity of the enemy that had been shrouded in mystery.
“Think about it. If Alaysia has to become Ardain, but there’s already a record proving Ardain’s separate existence, then what would happen? That whore can’t completely become Ardain.”
“Isn’t it enough to just keep them?”
“It’s fine just to keep them, but wouldn’t it be much better to use something you’ve obtained? Each of his legacies contains a power rivaling each of the Gods’ authority and supremacy. Awaken them.”
“How?”
“You’ll naturally find out.”
Just as Renee’s brows narrowed to his vague answer, Vera continued speaking with a smile.
“The first question ends here. Let’s move to the second one.”
He ended the conversation, as if drawing a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
Renee tried to object but soon gave up and nodded.
She knew well enough that his silence was due to the restriction.
‘The second question…’
She had roughly gauged information about the legacies from the first question.
Furthermore, she had once again marked the true enemy she had to face.
There was no need to think about what to ask next.
“How do we stop Alaysia? How do you defeat and annihilate an ancient species?”
A smile crept up on Vera’s lips.
“The Great Souls of Seven, the Legacy of Eight, and the Power of Nine.”
He answered like he had been waiting for it.
Vera added an explanation.
“You need the Souls of Heroes, and Proof of Ardain’s Existence, as well as the Miracles of the Gods who built this land. To wish for the extinction of an Ancient Species, nothing from these should be missing.”
Renee’s eyes widened.
She instantly thought of something after hearing those words.
‘So…’
So that’s why there were heroes.
Friede, Aisha, Albrecht, Miller, and Hegrion, along with her and Vera.
‘…Vera was with me after all.’
There must have been a reason why the heroes from all over the continent had to gather.
The reason why her previous self gathered them from various parts of the continent, and not the Apostles, must have been for this.
“And after gathering all of them?”
“I only have one thing to say about that, and that is, you will find out eventually. Now, the final question.”
Renee nodded.
Gathering all her thoughts, she came up with the most appropriate question to ask.
A brief moment of silence ensued.
Then, Renee’s words echoed.
“…What should we do now?”
Renee thought.
If there was a reason for Vera to want to convey this message at this point, even if he had to summon his consciousness through Nartania, then it must be because something urgent was about to happen.
This is the real question I should be asking him.
Renee was right.
Vera briefly licked his lips and answered with a smile wider than any he had shown before.
“I will now convey to you what you asked of me.”
Her own words that she told the past Vera.
The meaning behind this was clear.
That she, from the previous life, had created this situation.
That this was the second aid she had prepared alongside the grimoire.
“I don’t know what the future holds either. Don’t you agree? The current me is just a thought, right after forming a contract with Nartania. Only you know what will happen next.”
“How can I, from the past, know the future?”
“Well, I don’t know exactly either.”
A chuckle escaped from Vera’s lips.
“I just believe in you. Because you’re you. Because you’ve always made the right choices.”
He answered irresponsibly.
Yet, Renee could immediately feel the intent behind it.
‘…I believe in you.’
This Vera doesn’t doubt her past self.
He trusts that whatever she does will lead them on the right path.
Ironically, Renee found herself more interested in this than the three important questions.
Their complete trust in each other and the love that felt so warm were truly dazzling, causing her mind to continually drift in that direction.
It was Vera’s words that snapped Renee out of it.
“Return to the Holy Kingdom immediately.”
Renee’s thoughts froze.
“Alaysia will try to reduce the number of Apostles. I don’t know exactly when, so return to the Holy Kingdom before it’s too late to stop her schemes.”
Her mouth slowly opened.
“Wh-what…?”
“It will take a long time to travel between the northern and southern ends of the continent, so go and find Locrion instead and ask him to send you to the Holy Kingdom. He should be able to bend space and send you there.”
And then, he fell silent.
Vera tightly held Renee’s hand as if he could tell her no more and sighed regretfully.
“…That’s it. There’s nothing more I can tell you.”
“Wait, please wait!”
“It won’t be easy. But I believe in you.”
Vera’s divinity wavered strangely.
As if it would scatter any second, it started to glow unsteadily.
“In whatever form, you’ll find the answer. Because you always do…”
His voice gradually faltered.
“…Because you loved even a person like me.”
Renee’s fingertips stopped.
Her hand, which had reached out to grab him, froze in mid-air.
“Because you turned even a wretch like me into this, you can do it.”
At the sadness in his tone, Renee felt certain words emerging, pushing aside her previous urgency.
She did not stop it.
“…You’re not a wretch.”
“Hm?”
“Vera, you’re not a wretch. The Vera I know is…”
Her hand, which had been falling quietly, touched the back of Vera’s hand.
“…a person kinder than anyone else in the world.”
Flinch.
Vera’s hand twitched.
Then, a silent laugh followed.
“That’s rather embarrassing.”
Vera turned his hand and took Renee’s.
He pressed his lips to the back of her hand and then spoke.
“It’s been an honor.”
And then, his presence faded away.
Vera collapsed.
***
In a daze, Vera looked at the scene before his eyes.
‘…Where is this?’
It was a mansion somewhere with a snowy landscape visible from the window, and an inexplicable sight.
“Aisha, it’s time to train.”
Hegrion told Aisha.
While lying sloppily on the sofa, a grown-up Aisha replied.
“Get lost.”
Albrecht rose from his seat and approached Hegrion, his tail swishing.
“Sir! Can I…”
“Tsk.”
Albrecht froze in place.
Miller burst into laughter as he watched the scene while drinking, and Friede kicked Albrecht into a corner as if it was a familiar routine.
Vera watched this scene from the corner of the mansion with a frown.
His expression subconsciously crumpled.
Vera knew this phenomenon.
‘…A memory.’
It was a phenomenon that always occurred when he recalled memories of his previous life.
He didn’t know why it was happening now, but he focused on the scene before him.
‘I was here.’
He had traveled with them.
That memory was seeping into his mind.
Renee, who came to the slums to have him keep his promise, had led him here.
He had joined the group intending to help in just one battle and ended up traveling the world.
Now, they were headed for the Citadel of the Dark Night.
This moment was when they were resting before departing from Hegrion’s homeland, Oben.
Vera refocused on his involuntarily moving body.
He left the living room, climbed the stairs, and reached the room on the farthest side of the highest floor.
What Vera saw when he opened the door was…
“What are you doing here alone?”
Renee, sitting on a chair with her eyes closed.
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