Episode 402
Chapter 1
A delicious smell filled the room.
A simple table.
And freshly made apple pie and milk.
I took a bite of the thinly sliced apple pie.
The first thought that came to mind was, ‘It’s delicious.’
And after that, I thought that I wanted to let my teacher, who was just watching me eat, taste it too.
Then my eyes met with my teacher’s.
As soon as I saw the teacher smiling faintly, I felt all my fatigue disappear.
“Wow, the more I look at it, the more amazing it is.”
I asked Edouard across from me, while munching on apple pie.
“What is it?”
“Are you really a human?”
“What are you suddenly saying out of the blue?”
“… … It’s because it just doesn’t make sense.”
“What is it?”
“From my perspective, having traveled around the continent, you seem to have… …been completely transformed. Is that right?”
It’s quite good.
“Have you ever seen something so completely transformed?”
“Yes. Now that I think about it, it’s already been over 20 years. 20 years ago, I traveled around the Tulcan Empire to study architecture. That’s when I saw it. The Tulcan guard knight called Exile Pantheon, transformed on the street.”
Exile Pantheon.
That’s the guy who died a few months ago after nagging me.
I cut off his neck and sent it to Iskandar as a gift.
But you saw him become a master yourself?
“It was strange. Should I say he looked a little old? I thought he was in his mid-to-late 30s at the time, but he looked like he was in his 40s. That man suddenly became young again, as if he had just burst out of his shell. He suddenly returned to his early 20s. When I see you, I remember that time exactly.”
For a moment, I nodded.
But I guess there’s something more I’m curious about.
Our artist, who calls himself an old man, was still looking at me with a heavy heart.
I had no choice but to put down my spoon.
“What exactly are you curious about?”
“How old are you this year?”
“Fourteen, and in a few days I’ll be fifteen.”
Edouard answered by just looking at me blankly.
A look that tells me not to tease her.
Advertisements
“A fourteen-year-old… … no, a fifteen-year-old becomes a Master?”
“I’m not lying. I regressed to the body of a fourteen-year-old.”
“……return?”
“Your mental age is not fourteen, it’s thirty-four.”
The old man seemed shocked.
“… … There was a rumor going around that you seem to live twice, and it turns out it was true.”
Rather, I was surprised.
“Aren’t you suspicious?”
“It’s strange. Regression, yes. That explains everything.”
He picked up his fork again and took a slice of pie.
The old man asks me,
“So that’s why you came to see me. Look here, Mr. Regressor. What was I doing before you regressed?”
I wished that the answer was revealed directly in my chewing expression.
Because it was difficult to talk about.
Although I know a lot about past lives, I don’t know everything.
In particular, this old artist in front of me was someone I didn’t know.
All kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Teslan, were engulfed in flames and destroyed.
Many died, but many survived. One important thing is that Iskandar completely ruled over the land of humans and became the true emperor, and even more than that. After that, Iskandar immediately thought about moving the capital and searched for an architect.
Edouard Jeannegre, who survived the destruction of Teslan, was chosen and plans a new capital.
And soon after, he died. I don’t know the exact reason why he died. If I were to guess, it would be that, like most nobles, there was a secret passage in each noble’s residence.
A passage used for escape or something like that. That must have been designed by Edouard at the time, so he might not have killed him.
That’s all I know. The reason he died is too vague to say because I don’t know the details of the inside story to the point where I can only guess. So I just kept quiet.
“You look like you have a hard time answering.”
“Do you drink a lot of tea?”
The old man chuckles.
“I have a feeling too. I guess I’ll die in the future?”
“yes.”
“He couldn’t have lived a long life, but was he murdered?”
“In light of the circumstances, yes.”
Then Edouard smiles faintly.
“Did I, by any chance, create a masterpiece?”
This is also difficult to answer.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
I erased that masterpiece.
But that alone was enough of an answer, as Edouard accepted my expression as a yes.
“Yes, that must have been the case. You must have come to me after creating such a masterpiece. Hehe.”
Advertisements
It wasn’t a wrong statement, so I just kept quiet.
Edouard, who had been laughing continuously, suddenly stopped laughing as if it was a lie.
A silence descends between us.
He said.
“Leopold, that guy was being greedy beyond his means.”
It seems that the old man is aware of the friction that has arisen between the Marquis Leopold and Aveiro.
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? That guy doesn’t know how to be greedy.”
“So?”
“He’s a good guy. He’s a decent guy. I’ve been to many countries, but at least in my eyes, there’s no noble as decent as Joris. I’m telling you this just in case, but there was no benefit to him for taking me in. On the contrary, it was a loss.”
“Is that so?”
“In a situation where the king and the crown prince hated me and even most of the nobles hated me, he became my umbrella. Because of that, he was subject to a lot of restraint, but unfortunately, I did nothing for him.”
Edouard Jeanlegri.
The old man seemed sincere.
“Administrators follow me… … architects follow me… … none of it matters. Of those who said they would follow me, not a single one remains with me. You said you would pay them handsomely.”
He nodded.
I can give you as much as you ask for.
The city I saw in my past life was really nice.
Common spires and castles seemed trivial, but they were seen as futuristic.
I know Edouard’s abilities.
As of this time, the new capital of Tulcan will be founded approximately 14 years later.
I don’t know if that time will make a difference, but I realized it when I looked at the buildings and the layout of the garden.
Similar, I guess.
As I was thinking that, Edouard said to me.
“I don’t need any compensation. I don’t need to pay you a penny. So, Leopold, forgive him.”
“… … .”
“I don’t know the details either. But I’m sure he interfered with what you were trying to do. I heard he later made a personal reconciliation with a man named Aveiro. Maybe it’s because I’m old, but I’m worried.”
Edouard reached out and grabbed my arm.
The hands of a craftsman, full of calluses, making something.
And the artist’s eye.
“You tell me with your own mouth. You say that you will let what that Leopold did go unpunished. You say that there will be no punishment. If you do that, I will work like a dog for free.”
So that’s why I asked if you had eaten.
In fact, when he first asked me if I liked apple pie, I thought there was a leftover pie waiting for me on the table in Edouard’s living room.
By the way, they made a new apple pie.
So, Edouard was offering me the apple pie because he wanted to ask me a favor.
hmm.
Advertisements
“I know it’s hard for me to bend down now that I’m older, but if I get down on my knees, will you grant me a favor?”
I looked at Edouard without saying a word.
But maybe that gaze was interpreted differently?
Edouard jumped up from his seat and knelt down… … .
Ugh.
I waved my hands to spread the mana.
I spoke to Edouard, who was tied up in mana and unable to move in an awkward position.
“Nothing will happen.”
With another wave of his hand, Mana, who had been restraining Edouard, made him sit back down on the chair.
“Why are you kneeling? This isn’t something that should fall into the category of a request in the first place.”
“… … Isn’t that something that should belong? Leopold must die in the end?”
Again, you interpret it differently.
He shook his head.
“No, it’s not like that. It’s like this. It’s unfortunate, but if Marquis Leopold had crossed the line, he would have died long ago.”
“… … What do you mean, that?”
“I left everything to Aveiro, the prime minister. But there was friction with the prime minister, and after the friction, we reconciled… … Just look at the results, just the results. Why do you think Leopold is alive now?”
Edouard looked very confused. His expression was indescribable.
“It wasn’t something that should have been killed, and it wasn’t something that crossed the line, so he’s still alive. It was Aveiro, to whom I delegated full authority, who made that judgment. As you can probably guess from the general situation, Aveiro didn’t tell me about the friction between himself and Marquis Leopold.”
I think it’s been mentioned once or twice now, but I really haven’t heard it from Aveiro.
in other words.
“Aveiro decided that it was not a matter that needed to be discussed with me. So it was not something I should talk about, and it was not something that Edouard should ask me to do. The Marquis Leopold would not die.”
Edouard quickly figured out what I meant, what my words conveyed.
After a moment of silence, he asked me.
“Did you find any weaknesses?”
“Me?”
“Oh. You, to Prime Minister Aveiro.”
I burst out laughing.
Oh, our artist is really an interesting person.
The funny artist continued speaking.
“I’ve seen a lot of powerful people in my decades of life. From nobles to mana users to merchants. Almost 99% of them never wanted to share that power.”
I was silent.
“But you want to share it. You said you regressed at the age of thirty-four. No matter what world you’ve lived in, that’s not a very old age. Even if you look at the other races, they live for a hundred or two hundred years, so thirty-four years? Not a long time. If you trust one person too much, it will come back to you like a boomerang… .”
She shook her head and interrupted Edouard.
“Isn’t that what trust is?”
“……huh?”
Advertisements
“Giving everything to those who believe.”
It doesn’t matter if Aveiro dreams of rebellion, if Aveiro vows to come after me and seize all power, because that won’t happen.
If someone asks me how I can trust people, and whether I can really trust Aveiro, I would answer like this.
I believe it because it’s trustworthy.
“The person I show everything to and who shows everything to me is my person. I trust my person infinitely. A boomerang, you have to be careful about that, but I only show everything to the person who won’t throw a boomerang in the first place.”
There may be some contingencies, but that’s not the case for me.
Do black magic exist for no reason?
But I think our artist interpreted it differently.
“Is it a bowl?”
“What are you talking about?”
“… … You’re broad. You’re more interesting than I thought.”
That’s why people say artists are different from ordinary people.
I can’t follow the flow of the conversation.
“The inspiration is also quite an interesting person.”
“What inspiration, you’re only 57 years old.”
“You said you were an old man earlier?”
“Actually, I said old man. I didn’t say old man.”
Isn’t that it?
“Still, it’s quite nice to hear people call me inspiration.”
I just laughed and ate the pie.
No matter how I look at him, he’s a person I can’t figure out.
Is this really a work of art?
