touchnovel Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Chapter 126The translation up to the final chapter (Chapter 158) has been completed; you can purchase them to read in advance. Pledging via Ko-fi for a cheaper bundle is still available. If you're unsure what it is about, please visit our Ko-fi page for details or reach out to us via Discord.
The imperial palace, Altar of Spirits.
The altar officials, taken aback by the unexpected guest, were in a flurry as Victor Diollus, the youngest son of the Diollus Duchy, had arrived unannounced.
Head Altar Rauss came out personally to greet him. “I welcome the illustrious Diollus’ descendant. You’ve arrived without prior notice... Do you have some significant matter to convey?” Ever since the incident with Leonard, Rauss would be sweating bullets whenever he encountered someone from that family.
Seeing the tension on Rauss’ face, Victor spoke hesitantly, “Oh, it’s nothing like that. Could I possibly have access to the contracts with the spirits?”
“Pardon?” Rauss, who was taken aback by the unexpected request, asked, raising an eyebrow. “For what reason?”
“I’m confused because so many noble highnesses need assistance. I was wondering which individual has contracts with which spirits and such...”
“Ah, I see. Follow me then.”
Rauss nodded and began to walk, with Victor following behind. Along the white marble corridor, majestic azure flags were prominently displayed. Each flag bore intricate mystical patterns representing different spirits.
Victor slowly trailed behind Rauss, carefully observing each of these symbols. Suddenly, his steps halted before one particular flag.
When Rauss turned around and saw that Victor hadn’t followed, he raised an eyebrow, then followed Victor’s gaze. On the grand flag above them, a distorted clock-like pattern was depicted.
“Gestern,” Rauss said. “The spirit of regression.”
“Turning back time...”
“Yes.”
“Does this spirit possess any special abilities besides that?” Victor asked with a trembling voice.
Rubette had failed in her contract with a spirit. Well, more precisely, it was known as a failure because the symbol of the spirit did not appear on the back of her hand... Such an unusual occurrence could only be attributed to the power of the spirit.
“No, there’s nothing like that. Among the three spirits that influence ‘time,’ Gestern is considered to have the lowest power.”
“Low power? Even though it can manipulate time?”
“Yes. Within the Spirits of Time, there’s Pose, which can stop time, and Vista, which is the highest grade. Gestern is considered an intermediate spirit. This is due to the significant toll it takes when using its ability.” Rauss continued, “It demands the user’s lifespan equivalent to the time they turn back. That’s why, historically, even those who contracted with Gestern rarely used its ability, or if they did, it was for a very brief period.”
“...I see.”
It was quite a substantial risk.
Rubette...
‘She said she dreamed of dying at the age of forty-five. If Ruby had the Spirit of Regression and turned back thirty years, she should have already died.’
...So she was not a contractee of Gestern.
Victor confirmed what he had already suspected and felt bewildered. From the beginning, he hadn’t even considered that Rubette could have the Spirit of Regression—he had a different suspicion.
Victor asked again, “Has anyone contracted with the Spirit of Regression?”
“Yes. The son of the late emperor and the 3rd Consort—the 17th Prince—currently His Excellency Duke Garcia, is the current contractee of Gestern.”
“I see.”
Not to mention, Gestern already had a contractee...
Victor continued to walk, pressing down on his pounding chest. Then he asked again, “Can spirits... use the abilities of other spirits, or is that not possible?” His tone somewhat hesitant.
Rauss furrowed his brow and tilted his head. “...What a strange question.”
“Oh, yes.”
Of course, it was a strange question, for a regular spirit, that is...
They soon reached the end of the corridor. Unlike the other flags standing on either side of the corridor, two much larger and more majestic flags stood guard at the entrance to the Fountain of Spirits.
Victor’s hand suddenly began to shake uncontrollably.
The flag with the symbol of “Landian,” the spirit of Descarde I, the empire’s founder, was etched on one of them. While the other one was...
The flag with the symbol of “Wishit,” the spirit of Diollus I, the Spirit of Wishes.
“Ah.”
Victor took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
Yes... If that were the case, wouldn’t all his questions about his sister be answered?
“If you wait here, I’ll fetch the list of the nobles’ spirits for you,” Rauss offered.
“No.” Victor, his breathing now heavy, turned away right there. “I’ve found what I needed. Thank you for your time.”
“...? Yes? Wait a moment, Lord Diollus!”
Then, as if fleeing, he rushed away.
***
At Lunten’s main branch of
“Hehe...”
“What else is it?”
“This is the first overseas branch contract for
“What?”
“Hahaha! The prestige of my shop expanding worldwide!”
I swelled with pride for a moment, but Wishit just sighed as if they found it pathetic and muttered while clenching their fist, “Aren’t you worried about the 2nd Prince?”
“The 2nd Prince? What should I be worried about?”
“...”
Victor stared at me as if scolding me with a tearful face. “I just want you to live a normal, worry-free, happy, and healthy life.”
“Why are you suddenly...”
“You should do what you want, receive love... and live without sadness, without danger.”
“...”
“I...”
“Y-yes?”
Victor’s eyes welled up to the point where he clenched his lower lip tightly. His eyes, as if trying to hold back tears, quickly filled with moisture, leaving me bewildered. “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure you don’t see me at my lowest anymore. Even though...” Victor roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I can’t make up for when you were alone and struggling. But still, I’ll do my best.”
“What are you talking about...”
“So please, promise me.” Victor closed his eyes tightly and added. “This time, live for yourself. Don’t let others use you because of that wretched spirit. Don’t be swayed by empty words about righteousness and whatnot.”
“...What?” For a moment, I doubted my ears.
“Promise me! Quickly! Promise you won’t do anything dangerous! Promise you won’t do anything at all!”
“Brother, I don’t really understand what you’re saying, but I’m okay. It’s not dangerous.”
“Not dangerous? You’ve already forgotten that you almost got kidnapped blatantly in Lubon, haven’t you?”
“Brother, that’s-“
Then, at that moment, the carriage, which was traveling through a sparsely populated area beyond the outskirts, suddenly came to a jolting stop.
“Who are you?”
The five guards who had been following us rushed forward with determination. Victor quickly pulled the connecting window toward him, revealing dozens of armed men blocking our path.
‘Wow, what terrible timing.’
Just as Victor finished expressing his concern about kidnapping and such, this ‘dangerous situation’ appeared before us.
Victor looked at me, who was frozen, and chuckled helplessly. “Yeah... not dangerous at all. Right?”
“Brother, I don’t know what’s happening, but let’s not jump to conclusions. There’s a reason why such a large group is blocking our way, especially when they clearly know it’s our family’s carriage.”
Victor, whose eyes turned fierce once again, burst out angrily, “That son of a b****, seriously!!!”
I was startled and grabbed his arm.
“Why is it like this!? Why you!? What do they want!?”
“Brothe-”
“Why on earth are they after you? What did you do wrong? Why? Why? Why can’t they leave you alone!!?”
I was at a loss. I couldn’t think of any way to calm his temper.
“I’ll kill them all!!”
“B-Brother!”
Before I could stop him, Victor jumped out of the carriage.
“Oh, this is going to be trouble. Really.” I held onto my throbbing head.
Did the 2nd Prince send these assailants to take me? No, I wasn’t sure.
‘The 2nd Prince thinks I’m on good terms with him. If that’s the case, he would have quietly sent someone to contact me. There’s no reason for him to make such a fuss and kidnap me like this.’
As I tried to assess the origin of these suspicious attackers, the apparent leader among them noticed Victor and gave orders, “We can’t defeat him. Retreat as best as you can and secure the noblewoman. We’ll withdraw.”
What a lunatic. He had to say something like that right in front of Victor, who was currently out of his mind.
As expected, Victor, with a strange expression that was neither a smile nor tears, stared blankly at the sky and mumbled, “Why are you doing this to my little sister, why. Why on earth...”
Then, he unsheathed his sword and charged. “You bastards, all die!!”
Soon, the group of assailants clashed with Victor. Individually, their skills weren’t particularly threatening, but their numbers were overwhelming—there appeared to be around thirty of them.
Even though each of them might not be a formidable fighter, facing such a large group was still dangerous. But the fact that Victor was confronting them was a relief.
‘As long as he doesn’t get hurt...’
Then...
Crash!
“Oh, my!”
The carriage door was torn open, and one of the masked assailants approached me. I instinctively recoiled, but before I could react further, Victor rushed forward like lightning and brought the assailant down. He looked as if he had lost everything, his face filled with despair as he shouted, “Leave her alone! Don’t touch her! Aaaaaah!!”
The other assailants swarmed back towards Victor. For some reason, I noticed that there was a gory wound on Victor’s body, and blood was spurting from his face as he defended the carriage.
“Why...”
“Gah...”
With an agonizing cry, Victor was struck through his side by a gleaming blade.
“Why...”
“Cough...”
As Victor stood there, protecting me inside the carriage, our eyes met, and his mouth slowly filled with blood.