Chapter 152: A Common Enemy, An Enemy Within (9)

"Allies...?"

"Yes."

I looked at Naneow Tropin and asked her, testing the waters a little. "Rena should be a full-fledged guild member, shouldn't she?"

I pretended not to know. I had a rough idea of the guild's situation, but couldn't be certain. Hearing it directly from those involved was always better.

"Well..." Naneow looked troubled. "I hadn't been taking proper care of the guild. I spent all my time looking for a way to replace all the blood in my body with Lurium..."

She paused and took a deep breath. That action reminded me she was still a living human being, albeit one with silver magical liquid flowing in her veins instead of red blood.

Suddenly, Rena cut in. "So, others took over the guild in the meantime, didn't they?"

Naneow nodded with a gloomy expression. "That's right. Before I knew it, the cultists of the Demon King had swallowed up T&T. Most of the members don't even know I'm still alive. I've basically lost all influence."

"

Aw

, Founder. It's not like you've lost all your influence. If you reveal yourself, at least one out of three members would surely take your side."

This time, the mage with the dots interrupted. The dot under her eye was particularly unusual—it didn't look like a mark so much as a soft inkblot that had spread widely across the skin.

"No. If I do that, it'll spark a civil war within the guild. That's just a disaster. Watching my descendants fight each other would be horrific."

"Then we'll have to prepare thoroughly and overturn everything in one decisive move." Rena said seriously.

"That's exactly what we're trying to do now! Naneow, you really did well recruiting her." The black-haired man jumped in.

However, the founder of T&T ignored him and spoke directly to Rena. "First, Rena, with the Lurium you brought, I'll grant you the rank of branch chief."

Naneow casually swept her long silver hair, which covered her forehead back, and tied it up. Her skin, cold and pristine, caught my eye.

Maybe that kind of complexion was a side effect of Lurium,

I thought absurdly.

"And once we reclaim the guild, I'll promise you an even higher position. Wasn't that the goal behind finding the rulebook?"

Finally!

At those words, my fist clenched. It was an enticing offer. Rena's scenario, which we'd struggled to resolve, was now within reach. But surprisingly, Rena didn't immediately accept. She hesitated slightly.

When no answer came, Naneow turned to me.

"I'm offering you the same. The joining process is simple and you seem to have enough Lurium."

Instead of answering, I posed a question. There were a few things I needed to confirm.

"Who do you serve?"

It was clear they were enemies of Purson. But if they were serving some other Demon King, that would be a problem, too.

"No one."

Naneow's answer was crisp.

"No markings or brands, then?"

"No such thing."

I recalled what Aezar the Deer had said and asked, "Is it okay if I don't hold some kind of unquestioning faith?"

"Doubt is part of faith. What kind of question is that?"

"

Hm...

"

Then it happened.

"We can talk more on the way. We're probably the last ones to arrive." The mage cut in.

Were they attending some kind of meeting?

Naneow nodded.

"Yes. We're headed the same way anyway. You two were heading to the capital, right?"

"Yes."

"Then this path is best. Think it over as we walk, and give me your answer when you're ready."

We began moving. Walking through a straight underground passage was a strange experience. The tunnel widened as we went deeper. More than a secret passage, it felt more like a fortress where people could stay for a long time.

Naneow's group walked a fair distance ahead, likely to give us time to talk privately. I started organizing my thoughts about joining T&T.

They were different from Purson. They didn't try to tempt me by offering power or demand markings or unwavering loyalty. They simply promised to give what they said in exchange for Lurium.

Above all, they were absurdly strong. I couldn't guarantee I'd have many more chances to stand alongside beings of this caliber. Joining them could be my first real step into a much larger world.

But if we grew close and gave them my trust and affection again, there was a good chance they'd entangle my emotions—just like Rubia and Rena. Rena was walking quietly, holding Acorn in her arms.

"You don't look happy. What are you thinking about? Do you have a bad feeling again?"

Seeing her face made me anxious. Her instincts had proven right too many times to ignore. She'd even sensed the ambush in the canyon.

Rena slowly opened her mouth, "I'm worried."

"You mean because their power isn't fully restored yet? But..."

I hesitated, wondering whether I should bring up the story that the Demon King's forces would definitely fall in ten years.

Rena shook her head. "No. I'm worried that once I become a branch chief... you'll leave me."

"Leave you...?"

"If I start working with the Founder, you'll leave me behind and move on, right?"

I fell silent. I had already made up my mind to some degree. It was a goal I'd failed to reach many times before. Making Rena a branch chief was now within reach. This was the closest I'd ever come to clearing her scenario despite dying over and over.

Of course, I didn't know what would happen afterward. But if nothing changed drastically... I did, in fact, want to quietly walk away after solidifying her position within the group.

"I know you're trying to settle me down somewhere. I don't know why, but I know you feel responsible for me. But once I become a branch chief, that'll be the end of it, won't it?" She continued, "I want to know. Why do you feel that responsibility for me?"

I hesitated many times but eventually opened my mouth. "Because this isn't the first life we've met in."

The scenario was close to being cleared. Maybe my time with Rena was coming to an end. Just as I couldn't go back to before I buried Rubia, I didn't know where fate would take me now. It could have been the last time. Even if she thought I was crazy, I wanted to tell Rena the truth.

"...What did you say?" Rena sounded shocked.

I confessed everything that had happened across multiple regressions. Starting from the first time I met her in the cave. When I was trapped in the dungeon, staring blankly into space, Rena tried to save me. When I knocked her out in the spider's lair, we burned to death in Grassmere's Fire. When we were surrounded by Purson's followers and melted by Lime...

Every time, Rena tried her best to help me. I confessed the regression truth to Rubia and Gith-Za-Rai, even if they didn't believe it. I felt it was only right to tell Rena properly, at least once.

"..."

She blinked blankly for a long while. A moment of silence followed. As we talked, our pace slowed even further.

Naneow and the other two humans had walked so far ahead that we couldn't even see them anymore, but since there was only one path, we had no trouble continuing forward.

"So that's why you told me not to dig into the director's side...”

Rena finally spoke after about ten minutes of silence.

Could it be she believed me...?

It was unexpected. For the first time, someone had believed in my regression. Perhaps witnessing someone like Naneow, who had replaced all her blood with Lurium, had dulled her sense of reality.

But then Rena said something unexpected. "...It feels like I've solved a mystery."

"...A mystery?"

"Yes." Rena exhaled softly and continued, "Why I wanted to rely on you more. Why did I want to help you so badly. Why I kept... having those dreams."

Dreams. Humans dreamt. I'd heard that shadows of reality often surged forward in shallow sleep. Rena began to speak of those dreams.

"I dreamed of places I've never been to, where I was with you. I never told you because I figured you'd just laugh at me."

Something clicked in my mind. Rena woke up muttering in her sleep in that cave. Her stats were slightly corrected with each regression as well.

Could it be... the memories carried over, too?

I'd thought of them as separate timelines, but maybe the worlds I'd lived in had indeed overlapped slightly.

"

Hm...

"

After a moment of silence, Rena spoke to me. "I'll do it. I'll become branch chief."

"Why?"

"Because even if you leave for a while, I'm sure we'll meet again. If not in this life, then in the next."

"..."

"If I really do change little by little each life, then I think it's better I become a central part of the guild. That way, maybe in the next life, I'll be someone who can help you."

"...!"

Something heavy pressed down inside my chest. I couldn't bring myself to answer her. I felt like I'd received far more help from her than the other way around. And even though I hadn't told her anything until now, she didn't seem to feel deceived. Maybe it was due to her high level of affection.

The pressure in my heart didn't explode, it just weighed heavier and heavier. Maybe it would've been easier if she had blamed me outright. But she just smiled brightly, as if nothing pained her, as if she wasn't sad in the slightest.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Then, she said, "If everything I do in this life builds up in the next... that's pretty encouraging. Should I aim for guildmaster then?"

Clink...

I failed to keep walking like it was nothing. My steps faltered just slightly.

***

About an hour later, Naneow came back to us.

"Well? Finished your discussion?"

Rena spoke up, full of confidence. "If you make me branch chief, I'll make sure you don't regret it."

"That's a great attitude."

Naneow grinned and turned to me.

"And you?"

"I won't join directly. But if Rena sides with you, then I'm her friend. That means I'll share her allies and her enemies."

"Well, fine! Like I said, the door's always open. Anyway..." Naneow shrugged playfully and looked around. "Isn't this cave amazing?"

Her tone was full of pride.

I nodded. It really was. Above all, the sheer scale of the underground tunnel was overwhelming. She seemed to take my nod as a full answer and happily went on.

"A thousand years ago, humans dug this out to escape the apostles. I found it while tracking scattered Lurium across the land."

It was astonishing. Creating a tunnel of this magnitude wasn't something ordinary labor and technology could manage. It dwarfed any dungeon I'd seen before, including Isaac's tomb.

If they had the power to build something like this... why did they need to hide from the apostles?

Curious, I asked Naneow directly, "Humans before the Seiron era... they're remembered as livestock, basically. But why didn't they fight back if they had this much power?"

Naneow chuckled mischievously and gave me a cryptic smile. "Well, if you're that curious, try digging around the imperial secret archive."

"..."

"You'd probably get broken a few times before you even got close, though."

Was that her way of saying she wouldn't tell me?

Naneow glanced up at the tunnel ceiling, then pointed ahead. "We're here."

Light—different from the luminous orbs we'd seen throughout the tunnel. A small hole was visible at the top of a long ladder, glowing as if floating in the air.

Is that the outside?

Naneow was the first to leap up lightly.

I nodded to Rena. Then we started climbing toward the ceiling's light. Though I wanted to walk with her a little longer in this secluded underground tunnel, I left that wish behind as I climbed upward.

Clunk.

The metal ladder was sturdy and perfectly replicated. It didn't creak even when I climbed it carelessly. Poking my head through the hole of light, I pulled myself up. Rena was climbing up behind me.

I looked around quickly. A wide, quiet stone chamber came into view. About a dozen people, including Naneow, the black-haired man, and the mage, turned their casual gazes toward me. No one seemed wary.

Not all of them were human.

So this was the gathering they'd mentioned...

There was even a cat among them. Though it wore human clothes and a ribbon necktie, its face and limbs were still that of a white cat.

"...!"

The moment my eyes met its glowing blue eyes, I froze completely, without even a chance to think.