Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 404

404―――――

This Opportunity

Between the allied forces of Hispania and Nudia, and the Holy Prussen army, an unspoken boundary had formed between the two camps some time ago.

After the fierce battle, the damage was so great that instead of fighting, they were taking a break to assess the situation, which was only natural.

“Hoo.”

Fintz, known among the fairies as the ‘Successor to the Will of the Forest,’ sighed.

She was patrolling the area with her fairy subordinates.

Hostile acts hadn’t completely ceased, so vigilance was essential.

Moreover, they were quite busy dealing with those who foolishly kept trying to defect and become sinners.

‘Foolish humans. I don’t understand why the descendants of light still embrace those who are so easily shaken by a single defeat.’

“What can we do? Isn’t it because the descendants of light want to save as many as possible and take them to a new world?”

“It infuriates me to think that we are treated the same as them.”

As news of their crushing defeat spread, those seeking to defect sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

In particular, the nobles who had been the first to welcome Holy Prussen with open arms were now the first to defect, only to be quickly killed by the fairies who had been wary of them from the start.

‘To move towards the right path, one must overcome great trials. Humans can’t even think of overcoming these trials and become so weak. They are truly inferior beings.’

The death of Rill, the highest-ranking Celestial, and the disappearance of Shah.

The eight rays of light had quickly dwindled to six, but neither the Celestials nor the fairies showed any signs of discouragement or despair.

Without this level of sacrifice, it couldn’t be called a mission.

Hadn’t they all secretly expected such a thing to happen?

Hadn’t they steeled themselves for the loss of more than half of their comrades!

Rather, it is by overcoming adversity and hardship like this that one can be called true light.

Light shines even more nobly and brilliantly in the darkness, so Fintz firmly believed that this was the darkest moment, and soon the brightest dawn would arrive.

“We’ll stop here for today and prepare to hand over to the next team. You’ve all worked hard today.”

“You’ve worked the hardest, Fintz.”

“We all did it together. In the name of light, in that noble name.”

At a time when they had suffered their worst defeat, they absolutely couldn’t afford to have their strength scattered by unnecessary disputes.

For that reason, Fintz was even remaining silent and overlooking the humans.

She would never even consider treating her own kind carelessly when she was being lenient even with them.

‘…Hmm?’

Then, suddenly, Fintz felt a strange sensation.

Something was slowly approaching from beyond the plains.

It was dark, and even the moonlight couldn’t penetrate, so it was hard to see, but she could clearly sense the presence of the other party.

Could it be enemy spies trying to infiltrate under the cover of darkness and the faint moonlight?

In the current situation, that seemed the most likely possibility.

However, instead of drawing her bow, Fintz narrowed her eyes and continued to watch that direction.

‘Something’s strange. It’s as if they’re deliberately revealing their presence, it feels unnatural.’

Just as she was pondering this, the other fairies who had sensed the presence immediately showed hostility and began to nock arrows on their bows.

Seeing her comrades’ actions, Fintz raised her hand to stop them, and while not lowering her guard, she continued to watch the person approaching them without harboring any hostility.

And soon, they were greatly surprised.

“Shah?”

Shah’s disappearance had been the worst news for the allied forces after Rill’s death.

They had assumed she had been captured by the enemy or had died like Rill, so the sudden appearance of Shah, looking relatively unharmed, was shocking.

“Ah, Fintz Moahen. It was you after all. I felt a familiar energy, so I deliberately made a bit of a presence, and I’m glad you noticed.”

“How could I dare to harm the body of the great descendant of light!”

“…Great descendant of light.”

Shah murmured in a small voice.

Fintz, worried that she might have made some kind of mistake, looked at her with a concerned expression, but Shah waved her hand as if it were nothing and opened her mouth.

“More than that, I’m really glad. To be honest, it was very difficult to walk any further.”

At Shah’s words, Fintz tilted her head in confusion before becoming aghast.

Red blood was still seeping from her chest, which they had thought was unharmed.

Fintz, as well as the other fairies, were shocked and quickly sat Shah down, tending to her in a frenzy.

It was only natural, as Shah, the highest-ranking Celestial and the one said to have the most radiant heart among them, was seriously injured.

“There’s no need to worry too much. They gave me emergency treatment.”

“That…! You mustn’t trust sinners. They might have done something harmful to Shah’s body! You must return and receive proper treatment! A horse! A horse!”

Fintz placed Shah on the horse she had been riding and personally led the horse to the Celestial’s camp located in the center of the Holy Prussen army.

Having lost one of the highest-ranking Celestials, and now with Shah, whom they had thought was dead, returning safely, she thought, what could be clearer proof that the light was watching over them?

“Shah!”

“Shah has returned!”

The Celestials also rushed out to greet Shah, wanting to ask about her well-being.

However, Shah clearly conveyed her wish to rest for now with a smile and a gesture, so they closed their mouths, fearing they might disturb her, and only bowed.

“Shah, I will bring the other descendants of light. Please rest comfortably in the meantime.”

“Thank you, Fintz.”

After entering the tent, Shah slowly moved and sat on a makeshift chair.

Then, she subtly lifted her clothes and bandages and began to roughly examine the wound inside.

‘…It’s certain. If they hadn’t treated me, I would have surely died.’

The damage she had received from the human man named Kim Yu-hyun was truly terrifying and could not be offset.

Even though she had taken a precise defensive stance and used defensive magic, she still felt the chilling energy of that eerie blade that had cut through everything and pierced her chest.

She wanted to heal immediately with magic, but her body was completely exhausted, and she had almost no mana left.

Moreover, for some reason, the internal magic power had been completely disrupted by this wound, making it impossible to operate properly.

In other words, the moment the sword touched her body, everything was sealed.

“Shah!”

The first to enter the tent was Anne, who was closest to Shah.

She grabbed Shah’s shoulders as if she hadn’t expected Shah to return alive, and looked her up and down before frowning at the gruesome wound on her chest and immediately using healing magic.

“…What is it? Why isn’t the magic…”

However, even her magic was not working well.

Anne looked very flustered as the healing progressed much slower than she had expected.

Shah, who already knew the reason, smiled as if to tell her not to be surprised and continued to allow Anne’s healing magic.

As the wound healed to some extent, the others entered one after another.

“Wow, you came back alive? I thought you were broken and dead.”

“Be quiet, Dan. You always have to say something.”

“I’m just saying what I think honestly. Lying is bad, right?”

“Don’t argue with Anne again and just shut your mouth.”

At Finn’s warning, Dan shrugged and indicated that he understood.

And following behind, Hon, who had been forced to retreat with Rill and Shah, approached Shah with a gloomy face and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, Shah. I’m really sorry for leaving you behind at that time. And about Rill’s matter…”

“No, Hon. Rather, I should apologize. I pushed you away and stood in front of Rill, only to become a burden to her and ultimately cause her to fall.”

“Still, I…”

“Ah, come on! Stop it already. Are you going to have a contest here to see who can apologize better? Hon. Stop talking. I’m already frustrated to death because the healing isn’t working well!”

“S, sorry, Anne.”

At the shrill woman’s shout, Hon stammered and scratched the back of his head.

Shah smiled and looked at those whom she had thought she would never see again.

“More than that, it’s surprising. If you were alive, that means you were eventually captured by those vile beings. But how did you come back? Did you escape on your own?”

“That’s not it, Finn. To be honest, you could say they let me go.”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

Shah’s words were quite shocking, and everyone except her was surprised.

It was very strange that those who had so brutally murdered Rill had captured Shah but sent her back in such good condition.

“Have those guys finally gone crazy? Did they kill Rill and now they’re going to show mercy?”

“It seems like we’ve been greatly underestimated. Wow, I’m suddenly filled with rage.”

“Are those crazy things finally going to regard us as insignificant beings!”

Finn, Dan, and even Hon.

As the three highest-ranking Celestials revealed their anger without restraint, a chilling wind swept through the tent due to the terrifying murderous intent.

The fact that they could bring about such a change simply by expressing their anger, without even revealing their full power, meant only one thing.

Aside from being pushed back by Kim Yu-hyun, they were, in any case, the strongest beings on this continent, unmatched by anyone.

“Don’t do useless things and get out. Shah needs to rest! Can’t you see she’s injured? Everyone get out, get out! It’s noisy, so get out!”

Anne stepped forward and drove the three of them away at once.

Her momentum was so fierce that Finn, Dan, and Hon didn’t even put up any resistance and were chased out, leaving only Shah and Anne inside the tent.

“You have something to say, Anne. Right?”

At Shah’s question, Anne let out a groan.

Because they were close and knew each other well, they could now easily predict the reasons behind each other’s actions.

“Shah, there’s something I want you to know.”

“What is it?”

“…”

Anne hesitated for a moment, unable to answer immediately.

Sensing that it was something unpleasant, Shah looked at her as if urging her to speak, and finally, Anne sighed and slowly opened her mouth.

“Cha announced that you had been captured by the enemy and met a gruesome end at their hands, and was preparing for the final battle.”

“…Cha? What about Ru…”

“After losing Rill and judging that you were also lost, he pushed Ru aside and took over the leadership position. He said that he would no longer engage in foolish actions or suffer damage from ambiguous behavior, but would simply wipe everything out at once.”

Among the highest-ranking Celestials, Cha is the opposite of Ru, the most hard-line and the least Celestial-like figure.

Although they are both Celestials, Shah was subtly wary of Cha, and it seemed that the current situation was the best opportunity for him to push Ru aside and complete the mission according to his own will.

“Anne, where is Ru now?”

“He’s with Cha. He’s probably wondering how to change things after hearing the news of your return.”

“I need to go see him right away.”

Then Anne stopped her, telling her to heal a little more before going, but Shah shook her head as if this was enough and immediately got up.

She had a duty to inform those who were still ignorant and only talking about judgment and punishment about how the current situation was unfolding.

‘Cha is dangerous, even if Ru doesn’t know. That person is not suited for the mission, no matter how Celestial he is.’

He was also the one who dragged out the highest-ranking demons one by one and killed them in the most brutal ways.

He was a figure secretly feared by the Celestials, and known as an Inquisitor to the radical fairies and the followers of light, the second-in-command of the Celestials.

“Ru.”

As she pushed open the entrance to the tent and entered, Ru was indeed in the middle of a conversation with Cha, as Anne had said.

When Ru saw Shah enter, his face lit up and he stood up, while Cha clicked his tongue lightly and opened his mouth towards Shah.

“I heard you came back in one piece, and it’s true. I’m just saying this in case, but you didn’t beg those dirty and vile beings to save you, or make some kind of strange deal, did you, Shah?”

“Cha! Watch your words!”

“This is my duty, Ru. You know that, right? What’s important to me is not the same race, not the followers, not the doctrine, but the completion of the mission. Anything is fine as long as it’s possible, and anything that interferes with it is also not okay. Only that is important to me.”

Cha, who had snapped at Ru, turned back to Shah and continued.

“Tell me, Shah. Did anything happen that I’m worried about? Answer yes if it’s true, and no if it’s not. Honestly, so I don’t suspect you. So I don’t punish a comrade.”

“Nothing you’re worried about happened, Cha. So stop it.”

“…Is that so? Then that’s a relief. Then that’s it. That’s the end of it.”

Cha returned to his usual face with a subtle smile.

He got up from his seat and patted Shah on the shoulder.

“I’m only doing this because it’s my duty, because we have our mission. I apologize if you were upset. And I hope you understand. I think I’ve become a little sensitive because we lost Rill.”

After saying those words, Cha left the two of them to talk.

Shah watched him go, then turned her head and looked at Ru, who was sitting down.

“Ru.”

“I heard you were hurt. If you’re not fully healed yet, you should rest first.”

“I have something to say.”

“It’s good that you’re back, but you can’t help with that body. Go back first…”

“I said I have something to say.”

At Shah’s firm tone, Ru sighed.

Then he covered his forehead and shook his head.

“Don’t be fooled or fall for whatever those guys said or did. That’s an act that disappoints me, my comrades, and everyone who believes in us.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want to talk about. Because of our Celestials, because of those people who are only looking at us, aren’t we missing the most important thing we should be looking at?”

“Stop it. It’s a meaningless question, a useless curiosity. Finn has already found a justification to strangle the enemies, so we’ll wait until they raise their momentum and push themselves all the way here.”

“Justification for what?”

“I found traces of demons [evil entities]. With that, we’ll put an end to this meaningless fight by saying that they were trying to plunge the entire continent into chaos by colluding with demons, even though they pretended not to be.”

“What about the man who killed Rill?”

“Everyone except you will face him. All those with the Holy Mark have been called. There’s no room to look back, and now we have to run only forward.”

At Ru’s words, Shah almost shouted.

That while running only forward, they were missing the most important things.

That we need to look back and think about the things we’ve overlooked, but we don’t acknowledge that and keep heading in strange directions.

“Step back, Shah. This is the mission and destiny placed upon us.”

Shah couldn’t say anything at Ru’s words.

No matter what she said, he was not in a state to listen.

Ru also seemed to be angry and shocked by Rill’s death.

“Ru.”

After a moment of silence, Shah slowly opened her mouth.

“Light doesn’t always point to the right place. Trying to move towards the right place is true light. I hope you don’t forget that. Me, you, and all of us.”

―――――――Author’s Notes―――――――

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