Chapter 8 | Are You Lost?
*
* * *
*
Olivia was losing a little bit of her focus, but her fuzzy mind returned at the sound of Cryer calling out to her. She shook her head, pushing away the jumbled mess of her thoughts, taking a stack of papers and sorting through them.
[Olivia] “I just like dealing with information. It’s a necessary component of survival.”
Cryer nodded, slowly tapping his finger against the armrest of his chair.
[Cryer] “You mean to say knowledge is power.”
[Olivia] “What?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Olivia’s eyes widened like those of a rabbit.
[Olivia] “How do you know that?”
[Cryer] “Know what?”
[Olivia] “That knowledge is power.”
[Cryer] “I remember reading it once in the Bolshek library. That reminds me, the Empire now belongs to the Bolshek Imperial family…..”
Cryer didn’t say anything else, only tightly shutting up. Olivia watched him, blinking as she did.
A silence passed in the air between them, and noticing how tense Cryer’s lips had become, Olivia slightly leaned forward.
[Olivia] “Did you…..awaken parts of your memory?”
She asked that question with a sense of hope in her heart, but the answer was a resounding negative.
[Cryer] “No. Just a simple fact. Something small. Guess you could call it a scrap.”
Whenever he got like this, acting expressionless and calm while saying something so depressing, Olivia never knew what to say back.
Awkwardly looking around, Olivia thought of something, speaking as soon as she did.
[Olivia] “Do you want to go to the library?”
[Cryer] “The Bolshek library?”
[Olivia] “Mm. Scrap or not, you remembered something, so it might be a good idea to follow this thread, starting with the first thing you recalled.”
[Cryer] “I doubt it will help anything.”
[Olivia] “Really? You never know, we should check just in case. And…”
Olivia paused.
[Olivia] “And if we look, we might be able to find a case similar to our current predicament.”
The more she talked, the more Olivia could feel herself gaining some confidence as she nodded. And Cryer nodded along with her, not asking any questions.
A situation similar to them….
[Olivia] “Apparently there was once a record of someone who claimed to have come from another world, possessing this one as if it were something from a novel. After reincarnating, they even managed to split the sea with a single stroke of their blade.”
Olivia folded her fingers one by one as she recounted the strange and odd history of the Bolsheks.
[Olivia] “History has a long line of such fantastical ideals, committing crimes against the norm as if remaining within the confines of this world wasn’t enough.”
Holding out her folded fingers, Olivia smiled dryly. That wasn’t the end of the oddities.
[Olivia] “Regression….Whenever I tried to do things normally, things always turned out wrong. I died four times and I came back each time as well. But if we look at the records…”
[Cryer] “Look?”
[Olivia] “There’s a chance it could say this loop of life and death is unlimited. But when I died, it was always at a set point in time, which then caused me to regress back to the exact same time as well. So does that mean if I manage to fulfill whatever conditions were set, I can escape this cycle of regression?”
[Cryer] “You’re making this pointlessly complicated.”
[Olivia] “Regression is inherently complicated. It only sounds simple because you’re reducing it to a single word……In any case, if there’s a record of an outlander coming from another world, then maybe there could be some history of another person regressing?”
[Cryer] “Someone who could cut the sea with their sword, you said.”
At Cryer’s comment, Olivia narrowed her eyes.
[Olivia] “A, are you trying to say you can cut the ocean……?”
[Cryer] “I can’t.”
His answer was so swift and decisive, Olivia found it somewhat difficult to believe.
[Cryer] “There was an outlander from another world?”
[Olivia] “Ah, right. There were records of someone who supposedly came from another world, not this one. Apparently they came through their dreams.”
The second Olivia quieted, Cryer fell back into his chair.
[Cryer] “So if I’m listening to you correctly…”
[Olivia] “Huh?”
[Cryer] “What you’re trying to say is that in comparison to the crazy history of the Bolsheks, a slave contract with an ancient god is, what? No big deal?”
[Olivia] “That’s not what I meant.”
Olivia roughly shook her head, the movement very vigorous.
[Olivia] “Really, that’s not it.”
Feeling like those words were super important, Olivia decided to say them twice. All while wildly waving her hands in front of her. As he watched Olivia shake her head and her hands at the same time, a faint smile spread across Cryer’s face before disappearing like it was never there.
[Cryer] “That reminds me, Princess.”
[Olivia] “Hm?”
[Cryer] “Despite knowing the history of the Bolsheks so well, you lost four wars, died, and then returned…….”
[Olivia] “Knowing things versus what you can actually accomplish are entirely different.”
Before Cryer could even finish speaking, Olivia coldly cut him off.
[Olivia] “Even if I knew the exact way to win the war…..”
She turned her head, her words coming out like a whisper as she looked at Cryer.
[Olivia] “…….It all became pointless the moment you drew your blade.”
Looking at him, the sunset cast through the window reflected like a bloody glow, falling upon her blue eyes.
* * *
*
Around that time, there was a full moon. Having risen in the sky, it’s round and bright face hid behind the clouds, casting both light and shadow on the Princess’ palace below.
A young man was moving quickly, silencing his steps.
Though there was some light within the darkened hallway, the moonlight had almost entirely vanished by now. Unless one had eyes that were accustomed to such darkness, it would be hard to see someone sneaking around like this.
Entering the palace as if it were his own home, the man’s unwavering steps stopped. Crouching by the floor for a moment, he focused his attention before standing up again.
[Man] “Still no patrols here.”
Looked like his work, diligently remembering the patrols of the Imperial Palace at night, paid off. But the moment he relaxed his shoulders and started walking again….
Crash—
The raucous sound of something loud smashing against something else echoed out through the hallway.
[???] “……Agh!”
It was a faint shout, clearly coming from someone who had a few drinks.
[???] “……Don’t…..”
And those faint shouts were immediately followed by the sound of someone begging. The man frowned, taking a step back from the direction of the sounds.
It was good news for him that such a commotion was happening somewhere else entirely, but at this rate, the palace’s security would be increased, which was never a good thing.
[???] “Argh!”
[???] “……No! Don’t…….!”
The man stilled and quieted once more as another scream rang out, more piercing and roar-like than the one that came before it.
[Man] “They got overpowered quickly.”
The man turned his eyes from side to side, his vision as keen as a snake. Hesitantly, he kept trying to take a step forward, but to no avail. After standing in the same place for a long time, the man swallowed hard—his lips drying from the tension.
[Man] “God, it’s just the Imperial Palace.”
He was never this nervous when he was coming and going from the queen’s palace, and she was one of the pillars of the royal nation he hailed from.
Even after staying up all night, thoroughly preparing for this, the tension was becoming so heavy that his back was drenched in a cold sweat.
[Man] “Still, that was lucky.”
Whoever caused that ruckus from earlier reduced his own chances of being caught. As the corners of the man’s lips curved into a smile, he inwardly thanked the man who caused that mess.
[Man] “Stupid bastards, all of them. I have to go this route because they’re no help at all.”
When all of these people from across the continent gathered, desperate to catch the Imperial Princess’ eye, they were all given the same spiel.
[Aide] ‘The Princess isn’t taking visitors today…..’
[Aide] ‘Your request for an audience has been rejected…..’
[Aide] ‘Sorry, but the walkway has been shut down……’
If one wishes to catch a star, they must first look up at the sky. He had to catch the Princess’ attention somehow, but he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the ends of the hair, much less her eye.
Perhaps the person who caused the loud ruckus from earlier was another fool, drunkenly trying to get someone to let him meet the Princess like that.
[Man] “Those idiots can’t move like I can. They’ve got no choice but to act like this. Knights in name alone.”
Moving like a weasel through the darkness, the man shook his head. He didn’t know how many knights could move through the night without making a single sound or alerting other people, but he knew it couldn’t be that many.
This man learned this skill not because he needed it as a knight, but because it was part of his own personal enjoyment.
[Man] “Should be there by now.”
Reaching the innermost part of the Princess’ palace, he looked around with a cunning gaze. He wasn’t sure the exact location of the Princess’ bedroom, but he was certain it was somewhere around here.
[Man] “She moves rooms every day, just in case there’s a chance of assassination.”
Luck would be the deciding factor in whether or not he would reach the Princess’ bedroom, but the man was confident. The queen of his nation liked playing with him, and he had gotten quite good at finding the bedroom where she stayed, so naturally he was a little cocky.
[Man] “This must be it.”
The moment he decided on a tightly closed door, the man grabbed the doorknob and turned it—all without a second’s hesitation.
[Cryer] “You lost?”
But then a low voice sounding like a whisper grew in his ear.
Like a speared fish, the man pulled his hand back, instinctively reaching for the sword that was normally tied to his waist, but of course it wasn’t there. No foreign knight would be allowed to keep their weapon within the confines of the Imperial Palace.
But as he hesitated, the man straightened out his back.
If the one who had caught him was an Imperial Knight, they would have immediately detained him without asking any question, but here he was—still standing on his own two feet…..
The man frowned, turning his head towards the voice behind him.
[Man] “You’re the one.”
Within his eye line was none other than that knight.
The knight from Nordian. The one the Princess had fallen in love with at first sight and brought to her side.
[Man] “What are you doing here……”
The man stopped talking, keeping his mouth tightly closed. This place was the Princess’ bedroom, and this guy was here….
[Cryer] “If you’re lost, should I call for help?”
Leaning against one of the stone pillars, his face was cast with a heavy shadow, and his voice sounded extremely dry, but even that was enough to show this man what kind of threat he was.
If someone were to come this way, he’d be saved, but….
Crack—
The man clenched his teeth, gritting them as if he were trying to break them. He was livid right now. If he let this opportunity slip through his fingers, he’d never get another chance like this. But instead, he was losing his golden opportunity because of this bastard, but what could he do about that?
Mumbling under his breath so quietly one could barely hear him, the man tried to turn around.
[Man] “Must’ve gone the wrong way…….Ack—“
But he froze, his words going unfinished in the air.
Was it because of Cryer, standing before him? With his face partially obscured by the darkness, he looked like a beast lurking in the shadows, waiting for its prey to be clenched within his maw.
The man opened his mouth, but the only thing he could do was let out a few quiet gaps.
This man, trash as he was, had chills running down his back and he instinctively tried to turn around as a cold sweat spread across his body.
There were obviously lights dappling the walls of the hallway, so why did it feel like the only thing he could see were those red eyes flashing in the suffocating darkness? Time inched by, seconds passing in time that felt much longer than that.
And then, his trembling jaw was seized.
[Man] “What are you—Agh!”
And as soon as he tried to talk, his body was effortlessly lifted into the air.
[Cryer] “What are you talking about?”
Cryer lifted the man by the collar with one hand, as if he were handling a garbage bag, giving off a strange sneer.
[Man] “Ag…Agrh!”
The trash’s face went red from the lack of air, but even as he struggled, Cryer’s hand didn’t move in the slightest. He tilted his head, his unbelievably low voice flowing into the man’s ear, just as the darkness enveloped him.
[Cryer] “Think you’ll try and come back?”
* * *