Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 144

144

“Stop right there, are you cheating?”

Woo-ooh!―.

The wind was so fierce that its sound could easily be mistaken for a monster’s howl.

This was no surprise, given that the location was near the Blade Mountains, a region even seasoned warriors hesitated to venture into.

“···It’s still intact.”

“Isn’t that obvious? Hardly any tribesmen, or even monsters, come to this harsh place.”

In this desolate landscape, two women appeared.

Though their hair colors differed, their striking resemblance made it clear they were blood relatives.

“That’s true, but we did some strange things when we escaped here as kids.”

“Come to think of it, we did. I hope the inside hasn’t collapsed.”

Eos and Zann, having dismounted their horses, exchanged words.

Ordinarily, sisters being together wouldn’t be strange. However, until recently, they were the leaders of Kalta and Aigiur, respectively, pointing swords at each other and even exchanging blows. Seeing them dismount and engage in casual small talk was quite surprising and astonishing.

“Is it here?”

Behind the two women, Sion appeared, followed shortly by Kim Yu-hyun and Rishikida.

The place was several hours away by horse from both Aigiur and Kalta.
A place where the frigid wind, like the north wind of midwinter, blew fiercely near the Blade Mountains.

Eos looked at Sion, pointed ahead, and spoke first. “There’s a cave inside here, Sion Claussen.”

“A long time ago, when we were young, we came here to hunt and almost died in a blizzard.”

“We took refuge inside and saved our lives.”

“At the time, I thought we survived because we were lucky, but as time passed, it became clear that it wasn’t just luck. There was a reason why Eos and I became stronger.”

With those words, Zann slowly pushed aside the massive rock blocking the small entrance leading below.

It was truly a massive rock, about the size of a carriage.

Finally, the entrance was revealed.

Eos, holding a pre-prepared torch, took the lead and began to move. Behind her, Zann and Sion’s group followed, heading inside.

The cave was deeper than expected.

While walking down the gently sloping descent, Zann subtly spoke. “As I said before, it might be quite useful to you, who can’t handle mana at all. It’s a place where mana is strangely concentrated, even if faintly, in this land where all energy is scarce.”

“Of course, it’s completely useless to those who can handle mana to some extent.”

“···Only Eos and I know that you can’t handle mana, so don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried. In the first place, you’re not the type of warrior who’s so light-lipped as to blab other people’s secrets.”

As if she knew it all along, Sion replied, and Eos exclaimed, ‘Heeh?’

“What is it? You’re already on familiar terms with my sister?”

“It just happened. More than that, I wish you’d continue the story you were telling.”

“Shall I? Anyway, there’s a small spring inside here. It’s a very mysterious place that doesn’t freeze even in this cold weather. Back then, when we were 9 and 8 years old, we tried to quench our thirst and ended up falling in with a ‘plop!’”

Eos giggled as if remembering that time, and Zann shook her head and opened her mouth. Even as a grown adult, she reacted as if she still felt dizzy when she imagined it.

“Even though it wasn’t deep, it was so cold and so scary. When we barely managed to climb back onto the land after floundering and struggling, we both noticed that something had changed.”

“Our proficiency in mana manipulation, which had been scraping the bottom, had improved a little.”

“We thought it was a gift from the heavens, and after that, we worked like crazy. After that, we both became the strongest warriors in the North.”

“···So, that spring had some kind of special effect?”

When Rishikida subtly spoke, Eos and Zann shook their heads at the same time.

How could they not have been tempted? So they went into the spring again, but nothing happened.

Wondering if it might be possible for each person, they brought a few warrior candidates and had them do the same as they had, but again, the warriors said that there was nothing different except for having done cold-water bathing in this cold weather.

“It’s here.”

Reaching a place where the sound of water could be heard, the sisters stopped and turned their heads towards Sion.

Sion narrowed his eyes and checked the place where the sound of water was coming from. A natural spring had formed due to the water falling from the ceiling of the cave and the water gradually springing from the ground.

“···It’s quite a mana-rich place.”

The person who could best understand and follow the flow of mana among them, Kim Yu-hyun, stepped forward and proved that this place was more special than he thought.

Since it was a place that was not described at all in the novel, Sion waited quietly, hoping that Kim Yu-hyun would give him some additional explanation.

“It’s better compared to the rough and desolate land of the North. However, it probably won’t have a big impact on ordinary people. It might be a good place for those who are just getting to know mana, but beyond that, it’s just a spring where groundwater is collected.”

Kim Yu-hyun was simply reading the surrounding mana flow and drawing conclusions.

Zann and Eos both let out exclamations, and Rishikida also looked inwardly surprised, so the one who became proud was none other than Sion, not Kim Yu-hyun.

‘That’s right! You have to have that kind of eye to be called the main character! I racked my brains so much to keep that guy by my side. Yu-hyun, you’ve grown up so well!’

That’s bullshit. In the first place, Kim Yu-hyun was already a man as big as a whale. All Sion did was, well, a little mental care and just some odd jobs.

“Amazing. Kim Yu-hyun. You recognized it right away?”

“···It just happened.”

Oh, is that so? Did you do some work while I was away?

Sion chuckled inwardly as he looked at Kim Yu-hyun and Eos, who seemed subtly close.

With Lucia gone, Lilith gone, and Lia gone, Kim Yu-hyun definitely needed a woman to hold onto his mentality.

In this kind of novel, if there is no heroine, the main character has too little reason to move, a reason!

‘My father said that the reason why men can’t give up even when life is hard is because of their wives and children.’

Sion was thinking of making a woman next to Kim Yu-hyun first, since going as far as children was too much.

Although the possibility is not high, if he doesn’t have much attachment to this land, Kim Yu-hyun might desert in a large-scale battle with the Celestial Race, or he might wander without finding a reason to fight.

It’s best not to create a possible situation. If you block that possibility in the first place, you have nothing to lose later.

For that reason, Sion hoped that Eos and Kim Yu-hyun would have a good relationship this time.

“Now, without hesitation.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, his body floated up.

With a feeling of disbelief, he raised his head and saw Zann, who was holding him in her arms in a so-called ‘princess carry’ pose, filling his eyes.

“Th-there? Zann? What are you doing···.”

“The water isn’t deep. Your feet will touch the bottom. But it’s quite cold, so be careful.”

No!

If it’s cold, shouldn’t we start with warm-up exercises first!

If I go in like this, I’ll have a heart attack!

Damn it, I’m going to die. You reckless woman!

Whizz!―.

“Gack!”

Splash!

“Puhawk!”

It was truly a mind-awakening taste.

The water was cold, but above all, the power of Zann, who threw him, was too strong. This wasn’t just throwing him into the water, it was completely slamming him down, or rather, flinging him.

Thanks to that, his whole body was aching, so it was all said and done.

“Hey, you crazy! Are you really throwing me?”

“Shh. Close your eyes and concentrate. And feel the energy of nature permeating you.”

It’s not like I’m doing some kind of Taoist practice, I don’t know anything about that.

Sion, who grumbled like that inwardly, followed Zann’s instructions without complaint for now.

It would be nice if I could use mana.

Do I want to get stronger?

No, if that were the case, I would have found other more innovative methods. I just want to protect at least my own body. I don’t even dream of becoming a munchkin protagonist [overpowered character] like Kim Yu-hyun.

In the first place, the body I was given is a mana failure and my stamina is barely at a level where I don’t get called a premature ejaculator, so if I just put my body in a spring and get stronger, everyone who does cold-water bathing would become Kim Yu-hyun.

‘···But what if this spring really has an effect? What if it changes this mana-failing body?’

If that really happened, I was going to blow up this spring. I can’t stand seeing others benefit, so I’ll just enjoy this good thing myself.

‘Selfish? Bullshit. If I leave this place, the guys who might become my enemies in the future might crawl in and shout ‘Super Evolution!’ and get stronger. If it really has an effect, this place will be blown up right away.’

Sion let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Zann and Rishikida, who were staring at him as if they were watching a good show.

He absolutely hated taking off all his clothes and going in, so he ended up taking off only his cold-weather clothes without undressing and falling into the water, but he didn’t know why the two women kept blushing.

‘···But how long do I have to keep doing this? I’m getting colder and colder and I feel like I’m going to die!’

Sion was seriously worried that he might actually freeze to death.

―

“So? What’s the conclusion, Rishi?”

“···Unfortunately, it hasn’t improved at all, Lilith-nim.”

Among those who were preparing to leave, Rishikida answered weakly to Lilith’s question. She glanced at the carriage and carefully continued.

“Sir Kim Yu-hyun examined it several times, but he said that not even a little mana was able to settle in the master’s body. Temujin and Buhler were also very disappointed.”

“···I see. I roughly expected it. Why else would humans call Sion’s condition an incurable disease? It’s not that he can’t handle mana. He just can’t accept mana itself.”

“Could there be other problems?”

At Rishikida’s question, Lilith crossed her arms and fell into thought.

Clearly, when she first faced each other in Sion’s consciousness, the width of that boundary was much wider and larger than that of ordinary people. She thought that mana could fill that empty space, but it seems that it can’t be helped after all.

‘I told him not to expect anything in the first place, but honestly, I was secretly expecting it too.’

Sion said to her, ‘Can’t I get a little stronger!’

It was the part where the two sisters of the North, Zann and Eos, told him about a place that had made them a little stronger when they were young.

You can’t see it as luck sent by God. Sometimes such places naturally arise in the world. In places where mana is overflowing and in places where it is lacking, there are places where that energy is full in a certain special place.

The current prediction of several scholars was that if you give a light shock to the body there, you can widen the path through which mana can flow.

‘But does that mean that there’s nothing you can do if there’s no path at all···.’

Lilith sighed and slipped into the carriage.

Lilith was sure that he would be secretly disappointed even if he didn’t show it.

Inside, Sion was sitting leaning against the window, thinking about something intently.

“Hey, Sion.”

“Did you come?”

“If, if you were expecting something, don’t be too disappointed···.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything, and rather, an unexpected advantage has arisen, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“Huh?”

At Sion’s too confident reaction, Lilith blinked her eyes and stared at him. Then, after confirming that Sion had changed in some strange way, she exclaimed, ‘Huh?’

“You, something is quite···.”

“The mana I wanted didn’t come, but health that I never expected came. Damn it.”

Although he didn’t get mana, his body became a little lighter and firmer than before. It wasn’t at the level of a metamorphosis that Kim Yu-hyun experienced, but his body was a little better.

Zann and Rishikida were surprised, ‘Eh?’, and Kim Yu-hyun genuinely exclaimed for the first time in a long time, saying, ‘The god must have felt sorry and gave him compensation like that.’

Lilith kept exclaiming, ‘Oh, oh, oh, oh!’, poking Sion’s body here and there, and then suddenly licked her lips and opened her mouth with a heehee!

“···In our terms, you look quite delicious, you.”

“I didn’t do cold-water bathing on that cold day to become a more delicious meal for Lilith-nim.”

“Why, why! Ah, damn it! I can’t do it. I was honestly going to give you a little break? But you can’t come back looking so delicious! Let’s do it, let’s do it! Sion, let’s do it here!”

“Why are you suddenly coming to that conclusion! Get away from me! I have something to think about!”

“What, what? Are you perhaps sulking because you were inwardly disappointed?”

“I wasn’t expecting anything. In the first place, if you just fall into that kind of water and get stronger with a jjan-jjajan [onomatopoeia for ‘ta-da’!], would dogs and cows all be running around calling themselves high-ranking knights?”

“That’s true.”

Lilith gave that answer, but she kept clinging to Sion. She was already complaining that she was hungry and that she was losing strength in her body, so it was even difficult to get her off.

“Later, let’s do it later. I have some problems to sort out right now!”

“What is it! I don’t want to! Let’s do it, let’s do it!”

“Ah, come on!”

Sometimes she was a queen full of force, sometimes she was an understanding older sister. And sometimes she was Lilith, who became like a child and rushed at him.

‘Which is the real one!’

Sion screamed like that and recalled the story that Kim Yu-hyun had told him a while ago.

‘I found out while talking to Eos Buhler, but something seems strange.’

‘What’s strange?’

‘It’s about the trade between the northern barbarian tribes and the kingdom. According to Eos Buhler, they have been trading for 3 years.’

‘That’s right. But why is that? Is there a problem?’

‘···Something is a little strange. They prepared and sold goods to the point where the number of monsters decreased, but it seems that they didn’t earn much compared to the by-products that are quite rare in the kingdom.’

‘That’s because the value can fluctuate depending on the rarity of the goods···.’

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

At that moment, something flashed through Sion’s mind.

Honestly, it was a little strange. It was strange that the goods were drying up even though the trade had been going well so far. Above all, the fact that the tribes’ lives returned to the way they were as soon as that trade was cut off.

I clearly said that the nobles in the northern part of the kingdom were reporting that they were buying goods after paying the price and distributing them all over the kingdom···

‘Aha, are these guys doing this?’

As expected, they were the ones who caused the rebellion in the novel. Where did they dare to do such a ridiculous thing?

‘What happens if you get caught cheating?’

Well, what would happen? In the gambling world, it’s your wrist, and in the power world, it’s your real neck that flies off.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

Continuous updates!

Well ···. I’m not in normal condition yet. I haven’t been able to write properly since the 8th continuous update, so I don’t have much in reserve ㅠ I’ll try my best, so please wait a little for the ultimate cool time!

And the number of heroines is ···. Well, I don’t think it’ll go up to double digits!

I sent out random stickers!

Thank you all, and I look forward to working with you in the future!

So, recommend!