Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 26

I had a nightmare.

The master I believed I would serve for life abandoned me.

They say I returned with a tainted body, and the world points fingers.

The King speaks of humiliation, vowing never to forget the family that dared to disgrace him.

With those words, he gave me the order: ‘Go and die.’

‘I lived for you, I killed for you.

And now you tell me to die for you.’

I felt as if everything was being denied.

I wanted to cry, but I had even forgotten how to cry.

I only learned how to hold back tears, how to endure by gritting my teeth.

I became accustomed to enduring everything for that esteemed master.

‘Still, it’s a dream… Thank goodness, thank goodness…’

When I open my eyes, everything will be as it always was.

I will greet him, and he will smile at me.

Everything will return to how it always was.

“Yeah, right. Dream on.”

With a feeling of someone pressing on her forehead, Rishikida slowly opened her eyes.

‘This is…’

This wasn’t her quarters.

It was much larger, much more extravagant, and above all, not in the style of the Nudia Kingdom.

With a sinking heart, Rishikida rose to her feet.

‘It wasn’t a dream…’

Yes, none of it was a dream.

Being abandoned by her master, hearing the order to die, and being captured by the enemy.

Even the sight of a young man throwing a sword before her, none of it was a dream.

“Stop with the nonsense and get up.

I can’t even go out because of you.”

At the chilly voice, Rishikida slowly turned her head.

Next to her sat a man with a sulky expression.

“Just so you know, I didn’t lay a finger on you.

I asked a sister I know to move you to my room.

Thanks to that, I almost said goodbye to this world after getting beaten by that sister, so keep that in mind.

It hurt like hell, seriously…”

It was no joke; Sion had almost been beaten to death by Lilith.

After doing something close to suicide, he suddenly came to her with a request to stick close to the knights and do a ‘booby-booby’ dance, and then to have a female knight moved to his room.

‘Uh-huh.

I see.

You want to die?

I’ll kill you.

You don’t seem to know much about a succubus’s possessiveness. I’m already stressed out because of that Rucia or whatever her name is, that sly fox!

You son of a bitch!’

Thanks to that, he was beaten for almost an hour.

Sion understood why his father would mutter, ‘Get married as late as possible. Dating is fine anytime, but marriage is never good,’ while lighting a cigarette.

Of course, he was immediately flattened by his mother’s backhand smash.

“…What do you mean, Young Lord Sion?

Why am I in your room…?”

“You suddenly fainted and passed out.

Someone with expertise in healing said it seemed like you came straight here after the first battle without resting.”

“…”

“And also that you seemed to have been indiscriminately assaulted.”

Even though he deliberately poked at sensitive spots, Rishikida said nothing.

Shrugging as if he didn’t particularly care, Sion stared at Rishikida and continued.

“Why did I bring you, who collapsed from such extreme fatigue, to my room?

Let’s just say I’ve given you a day’s grace.”

“A day’s grace…?”

“You said you wanted to die.

But you can’t bring yourself to slit your own throat.

Surely a knight isn’t afraid of swords or reluctant to see blood, right?

Then there’s only one answer.

You’re not sure if you really have to die, or if you just want to die.”

At Sion’s words, Rishikida seemed about to say something but then closed her mouth.

“From now until midnight.

If you make up your mind before then, tell me.

I’ll hand over your sword right away.

If you want, jump into the moat.

Ah, but that would tire out our soldiers who have to retrieve your body, so never mind.

I’ll just pick a place for you to go and die.

Then I’ll cremate you neatly.

What happens if you don’t make a decision before midnight?

I’m just going to kick you out.

Go out and die.

The Klausen family saves those who want to live, but it’s not a place that kills those who ask to be killed.”

It was an extremely cold statement, so cold it was beyond words.

Rishikida nodded.

Either way, the result is set.

Whether she makes up her mind or not, she will die.

She has no choice but to die.

A knight who has lost her master has no reason to exist in this world anymore.

“Then I have somewhere to go.”

With those words, Sion rose to his feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“What do you mean?

I am…”

“I gave you a day’s grace, so until then, you’re not a reserved corpse but a prisoner of war.

And I’m in charge of guarding the prisoner.

So, you have to be with me today whether you like it or not.

Understood, Knight?”

It seemed like strange logic, but certainly no one would leave a prisoner alone in a place like this.

More than anything, the thought that this day of grace, today, might be her last made Rishikida stand up without realizing it.

She felt like she would go crazy from loneliness and sorrow if she spent the day before her death just sitting around foolishly.

It seemed like her mind would be a little clearer if she focused her attention elsewhere.

“Then shall we go?”

Sion opened the door.

The knight in charge of escort duty bowed his head.

Even when he saw Rishikida walking out from behind, he said nothing.

This was possible because Sion had already given him strict instructions.

“…Where are we going?”

Sion simply moved his feet without a word.

Rishikida unknowingly asked the question.

She couldn’t understand why she had spoken first.

“Why is a prisoner of war curious about that?

Ah, that’s the wrong question.

Why is someone who’s about to die curious about that?”

“That’s…”

Rishikida couldn’t find a suitable answer and hesitated.

As Sion said, she was going to die at midnight anyway, so why did she suddenly ask such a question?

“The infirmary.”

“…Yes?”

“Did that fierce battle just yesterday get moved to the trash can?

Of course, I’m going to check on the soldiers who are hurt in body and mind.

So many lives were forcibly pushed into the whirlpool of war to die and get injured, and if someone in a high position doesn’t even show their face, are they even human?”

Sion’s expression as he said it casually looked very dark.

At least, that’s how it looked in Rishikida’s eyes.

‘Sigh, it hurts so much, Sister.’

Even though the Succubus Queen is a woman who could be called a goddess, she is still a demon.

And demons are originally incredibly strong.

Sion, who was beaten half-heartedly by that strong demon, groaned in the morning like a recruit who had done PRI [Preliminary Rifle Instruction] 124 times.

If he had at least been able to use mana, he might have been beaten less painfully.

Since he couldn’t even use defensive magic, let alone strengthen his body, all he could do was curl up like a pill bug, shouting, ‘Please just let me live!’

In fact, if Sion had known how to handle mana, Lilith would have hit him even harder.

“Ah, Young Lord Sion!”

Someone who was tending to the injured recognized Sion and hurriedly greeted him.

Then, not only the nurses but also the patients lying in bed reflexively rose to their feet.

“Hey!

Don’t get up for no reason and cause a fountain show from your wounds!

Lie down, damn it!”

It was no joke; yesterday, when Sion entered the ward, a soldier hurriedly got up, and a little blood spurted from his wound.

Sion, who was horrified by the fountain show he had only seen in movies, sternly told them to lie down like injured people should and poured out all sorts of nagging.

“Ah, yes!

So, sorry.”

“Ugh, you frustrating people.

If you’re hurt, show it! Is being hurt a crime?

Is it a crime to have your body wrecked while protecting the country?

The sinner is me, who’s perfectly fine, so why are you guys acting up!”

At those words, awkward laughter and sighs of ‘Hey!’ came from here and there.

In fact, Sion had also suffered minor burns here and there on his body while trying to save Jimmy Faker.

Of course, he kept his mouth shut because it was nothing compared to what they had suffered.

“Hey, Jimmy Faker.”

“Lo, Lord.”

Sion approached one of the soldiers.

Then, he struggled to get up and greet him despite Sion’s orders.

Of course, he was immediately stopped by Sion.

“How’s your body?”

“I’m fine.

I was prepared for this much.”

“Prepared my ass.

You have to be prepared to live, not die. The determination to die is not determination but a meaningless suicide attempt.

Keep that in mind.”

“I, I will keep that in mind.”

Sion then subtly revealed his true purpose.

The reason he did that crazy thing to save this soldier wasn’t because he liked him, but because of his younger sister.

Because of Trisha Faker, who would later go on a massive dark rampage.

“When you go back home later, don’t forget to stop by me.

I’m going to go with you and tell your villagers not to treat this guy I saved harshly.”

“Th, there’s no need for that!”

There is a need.

Damn it, there really is.

Otherwise, your sister will go dark and flip everything over.

“Don’t argue and do as I say.

Got it, Jimmy Faker?”

“Yes, sir.

Young Lord Sion.”

Sion patted Jimmy Faker on the shoulder and continued to look around the ward.

Meanwhile, Rishikida quietly watched him.

The Klausen County is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious families in the Kingdom of Hispania.

The position of Margrave carries the heavy responsibility of overseeing a border, as well as the power and private soldiers equivalent to a Marquis.

The royal family wouldn’t entrust that to just any dog or cow.

In other words, the Klausen family has the support of the Hispania royal family.

‘And Sion Klausen is the eldest son of that Klausen County.

Although there are some strange rumors circulating…

That seems to have been just rumors.’

Rishikida herself is a knight and a soldier fighting for a country.

From her perspective, she had never seen someone in the position of heir to such a great family freely approach soldiers and joke and laugh with them like that.

Watching him like this, Sion Klausen seemed like a regular soldier, not a noble.

As if he himself had been one of those soldiers, treated as expendable on the battlefield.

“What are you staring at so blankly?”

“…Ah.”

“Follow me.

I have a lot of appointments today.”

With that, Rishikida followed Sion again.

Afterward, Sion met with various people and handled various tasks.

In fact, they weren’t that great, just praising someone, comforting someone else.

And participating in the funerals of those who had passed away, sincerely praying for their souls.

“…”

Everything was new.

At least in Rishikida’s eyes, it was not at all like a noble.

Approaching people so freely, bowing to the bereaved families.

These were actions that the nobles she had seen would never do.

‘Just what is that man…’

She couldn’t understand.

According to the rumors, he was a foolish man who was consumed by authority, a man who was even ashamed to be called a noble.

But the man she actually faced, yes.

It was really difficult to call him a noble.

Sion Klausen was not a noble.

He was closer to the ‘master’ she had truly dreamed of.

“…Shel.”

“…”

“Rishikida Am-Shel!”

At Sion’s shout calling her name, she was startled and unknowingly blurted out, ‘Ye, yes! Senior Knight Rishikida Am-Shel!’

“…What are you doing?”

“Ah.

So, sorry.

Lord.”

“Never mind, I’m going to visit my father for a bit, so go into the room and wait.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Have you made a decision?”

“Yes?”

At Rishikida’s question, Sion let out a sigh.

“Were you too busy today to notice, or are you pretending not to know?

It’s already past dinner time, you know?

I’d like you to make a decision soon.”

At those words, Rishikida realized that the day’s time he had given her was already coming to an end.

She had been so busy watching the new side of Sion Klausen that she had barely eaten dinner, and even her sense of time had become blurred.

“I don’t want to rush you, but you seem too out of it.

You’re a prisoner, not my ‘subordinate.'”

At the words ‘not my subordinate,’ Rishikida unknowingly trembled.

She didn’t know why she was surprised, and why feelings of sadness and loneliness suddenly arose.

She vaguely answered and moved her feet.

‘Foolishly, what nonsense am I thinking.’

Rishikida, wearing a self-deprecating smile, entered Sion’s room.

Sion’s logic was that this room would be better for contemplating than a prison cell.

Stepping inside, she sat down on a chair.

She thought that a day would be enough to cleanly erase the lingering feelings that had been in her heart yesterday, but looking back, they seemed to have only deepened.

‘Why do I keep thinking such things?’

Hadn’t she told herself she would die?

Hadn’t her master ordered her to die?

‘You’ve been abandoned, Rishikida Am-Shel.

Without a doubt, completely abandoned.’

Sion Klausen’s words kept swirling in her head.

You’ve been abandoned, so abandon that esteemed master and find a new master.

Maybe that master is nearby.

Thud!

It seemed she had dropped something while turning around.

Picking up what had fallen to the ground, she soon realized it was someone’s notebook.

And that there was a short poem written inside.

With a heart that sings of stars

I must love all that is dying

And the path given to me

I must walk.

―

“Why are you giggling so much?”

Lilith tilted her head, looking at Sion.

He had said he would stop by for a moment, and he was smiling as if he was very excited.

“Ah, a trap card has been activated.”

[Author’s Note]

Until the day I die, looking up to the sky

May I have no shame

:

Poet / Yun Dong-ju

I’m sorry, it’s a trap card.