16 years old (4)
A quest I haven’t seen in a long time.
But Theo felt a chill down his spine rather than a sense of joy.
‘The prophet and I, who have definitely regressed, cannot get along.’
While prophets usually see a fixed future, regressors tend to try to change the future they know.
These are absolutely incompatible.
Now that we are at odds with Troyvan.
Even Theo had a hard time predicting how the timeline would be shaken if the guys got hold of the Prophet.
‘More than anything, I can’t even guess what <The Secret of Time> is.’
Theo somehow felt that he might be able to glimpse the secrets of this quest and message that only he, among the many selectors, could see.
Of course, to do that, you had to complete the quest.
The chase has begun.
* * *
“Hey, man! Hey! What if you pull something like that out there?”
“die.”
“die.”
“shit!”
“Hahaha! Then this time too, I’ll eat the egg really well!”
A short mountainside not far from Priam.
In the cabin where the hunters stayed for a rest, a dozen mercenaries were drinking and chatting noisily.
Beneath the billowing smoke were piles of cards and money.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The winners were happy and laughed, while the losers kicked the wall and threw tantrums.
As the noise grew louder, the girl who had been huddled in a corner began to tremble.
I’m scared, Mom.
Please save me… … .
“Ned, one more round? Call?”
“Damn it! Can’t you see that I’m broke now? When I come back, I’m going to have to get my salary in advance!”
“So you’re not going to do it?”
“I don’t have money, so I have money!”
The mercenary known as Ned sprang to his feet, swearing, then found the girl still shivering in the corner and slammed his fist against the wall above him.
bang!
The girl was startled and raised her head.
Two unfocused eyes turned to Ned.
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The girl was blind.
“When on earth are you going to pick up this kid! Didn’t you say you were coming at this exact time?”
“Hey, hey, don’t be so harsh and take your anger out on someone else. On a poor child who can’t even see. Right, kid? Hehe.”
The girl buried her head in his thigh again.
They were devils.
The demon who burned down the village.
He wasn’t on good terms with the townspeople.
Because they always discriminated against my mother, calling her a dirty bitch and all.
Still, I didn’t think they were the kind of people who would die like that.
At times like this, I felt so frustrated about my disability that prevented me from seeing ahead.
It would be nice if the ‘afterimage’ that occasionally came to torment him came back to visit him.
Also it was just so quiet.
“Damn it! You have to hurry up and get him so we can raise the stakes again. Ow!”
“Anyway, it’s an important item. Don’t even think about touching it.”
“Am I a real person? Do you think I can’t even tell that?”
“Okay then.”
Ned snorted, crossing his arms.
He looked at his watch anxiously, indicating that he was in dire need of money.
“Oh my. Can I borrow some?”
“Are you trying to collect interest again?”
“This time, we will offer you a very cheap rate of 450% per day!”
“A pups like a blade.”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t say anything.”
“Huh! Who said they wouldn’t do it?”
“Hehehe. This is why I like you?”
Ned eventually picked up the cards from the floor again, hugging the stakes his colleague had handed him.
“But you know.”
“what?”
“Is that true? That kid can see the future… …!”
widely!
The sound of freshly placed cards on the floor interrupted Ned’s speech.
“I won’t delve too deeply into the client’s orders. Have you forgotten our mercenary group’s rules already?”
“Hey, hey, why are you glaring at me like that? I’m just curious.”
“I’ve seen more than one or two friends suddenly go down the drain, my friend.”
The mercenary who was acting as the dealer continued speaking calmly while putting in another card.
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“Do you think that seeing the future will change the fact that you’re a fool?”
“This kid. This time, I’ll really show you. I’ll even take off his pants.”
“Do it. Do it with all your might. Phew!”
As the chatter grew louder, the cards began to turn again.
The girl who had been crouching suddenly raised her head.
Sudden, unusual behavior.
The mercenaries’ gazes naturally turned in that direction.
“The world is singing.”
The girl looked dazed, as if possessed by something.
“All of you. You’ll be buried there. Without a trace.”
“What the hell is that kid talking about?”
“Monsters will run rampant. The dead will rise above them. And again. And again… … .”
“Hey! What the hell are you talking about!”
It was at that moment that Ned, unable to bear it any longer, was about to jump up from his seat.
Kwaaaaang!
Suddenly the wall of the cabin exploded.
And the pouring black energy.
Shushu shushuk!
“Ahhhh!”
“shit!”
“It’s the enemy!”
“Fuck! My board! I was going to take a big hit for the first time! You’re going to turn it over!”
“You crazy kid! Are you even seeing that right now?”
The mercenaries turned over a table to use as cover, preparing for further attacks.
Some calmly moved to protect the girl’s recruits.
Everything looks perfect except for Ned’s whining.
This meant that they were all veterans who had undergone regular training, not a rabble.
However, if there is a problem.
“There you are.”
The raiders are veterans who have an advantage over them.
The shadows stirred.
At the same time, its large mouth suddenly popped out and chewed off the legs of the mercenaries who were trying to grab the girl.
“Kwaaah!”
“W, what is this! Where did this suddenly come from… …!”
The appearance of Umbra, which transcended common sense, sent them into a state of confusion.
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“Oh, no! My money!”
“You crazy kid! Where are you going!”
Ned grabbed his sword and ran towards the girl.
His assigned mission was to buy time for Team 2 to move the girl to another location in case of an emergency.
He was penniless and had a huge debt from this game, so he couldn’t concentrate on his mission.
Let’s just run away with the girl!
And let’s just eat up the commission fee all by ourselves. Then it’ll be okay… … !
Kwarrrrung!
But Ned’s thoughts didn’t last long.
It was because of the sudden sound of thunder and a bright yellow halo that appeared before my eyes.
-The world is singing.
For a moment, what the girl had said a little while ago flashed through my mind.
-All of you. You’ll be buried there. Without a trace.
Things I thought were just nonsense were real.
‘It was true that he said he could see the future… …!’
The vision became yellow.
His thoughts ended there.
<Thunder Calling>
The lightning that came through the roof not only split Ned in half in an instant and burned him, but also poured out a fan-shaped blast of hot air and lightning debris from the point of impact.
<Flame Dancing>
The entire area except for the girl was covered in a fever, blowing away more than half of the mercenaries.
At the broken wall, Theo and his group attempted to break in, instantly destroying the cover.
The shock delivered simultaneously to both sides destroyed the mercenaries’ camp in one fell swoop, sending them all into the abyss of death.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay now.”
It was around that time that Theo saved the girl.
A strong chest.
A body temperature and voice that is much warmer than that.
For the first time, the girl was able to relax without even knowing who Theo was.
* * *
The girl had a dream.
-You are a very precious and special child, Cassandra. Never forget that and live your life.
Her mother would always say that to Cassandra while holding her in her arms.
I didn’t understand it at the time.
What does that mean?
But it didn’t matter anyway.
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Because I was so happy living in a village with my mother, my friends, and the townspeople.
Can’t see ahead?
That wasn’t very uncomfortable either.
If there is anything that is a little inconvenient.
Just a ‘dream’ that I have every now and then?
-Did you have a dream again?
-huh!
-What did you see this time?
-A really handsome guy appeared.
-Brother?
-Yeah. Oh my, this incredibly handsome guy was carrying me on his strangely shaped plane and flying across the sky!
But sometimes, there were times when I didn’t hate those ‘dreams’.
Because when I was ‘dreaming’, that was the only time I could ‘see’ ahead.
But isn’t it probably because most people hate it that it’s a nightmare?
chamberlain,
Just like the ‘dream’ I had this morning.
-Mom… … Okay?
-Oh. Our daughter, you had another strange ‘dream’?
-Yeah… … . But there, my mom and the people, like… … ! Like!
Even if it was just a dream, it was difficult to rashly say that it was a ‘dream’ in which my mother and all the villagers got hurt.
I’m afraid that something like that might actually happen.
-That was so scary.
-Yeah. Hug me.
-Oh my, how can you still be so baby-like? But don’t worry, Cassandra. You don’t have to be so troubled by ‘dreams’.
After having a nightmare, her mother would always hold Cassandra tightly in her arms and tell her not to worry.
-No matter what you’ve seen, this world is much wider and more vivid than what you’ve seen. Someday, you’ll have a friend who will take you to that world.
The embrace was so warm that Cassandra was able to fall back into a comfortable sleep.
But I didn’t know it then.
That ‘dream’ was actually something that would actually happen.
And then a man I often saw in my ‘dreams’ appeared.
-Don’t worry, it’s okay now.
A man who always flew through the sky on the back of a strange monster.
He was right in front of me.
“Are you okay?”
And when I carefully regained consciousness.
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The same voice I had heard back then approached me cautiously.
* * *
“That, that, that! That’s a, a monster!”
“Is that all you know how to say?”
“Really! So let me go… …!”
Shelford struck the mercenary in the neck with one blow, shivering and screaming.
Puhwaak-
dump!
“Have you seen death, have you called a curse, what on earth do you mean?”
Shelford scratched the back of his head with an annoyed expression on his face.
I questioned him in the hopes of finding out something, but I just felt uneasy.
Suddenly-
As Shelford nervously opened the door and stepped outside, Theo was seen with his ‘target’ lying on his thigh.
“What the heck? When did you get so close?”
Can a blind person tell the difference between a good-looking person and a bad person?
I even had such a useless question.
“I just fell asleep a little while ago. I guess I was very tired.”
“That makes sense. Ugh.”
“Did you find out anything?”
Shelford nodded heavily in response to Arin’s question.
“These were the Red and White Mercenaries.”
“It’s the Kyo-Ryong-Hoe.”
“uh.”
Red and White Mercenary Corps.
Originally a vassal group of Ragnar, it fell to Troyvan with the outbreak of the Northern War.
“Because he originally had a very bad disposition, there were discussions about sanctions every time at Winterer… … But this time, he crossed the line too far.”
“I agree. How could someone wear such a hat and do such a thing?”
Theo narrowed his eyes as he stroked Cassandra’s head while she was sleeping soundly.
All the while chasing me here.
They have seen too much horror to bear.
Traces of massacre as well as looting remained everywhere.
Not far away, a mass grave site was discovered.
Imagine the emotional pain that Cassandra must have felt as she became an orphan, losing all her family and friends overnight because of them.
Theo felt confused as he suddenly remembered his last memory from his past life, when he had lost his family.
“The converted brats are particularly vicious. I need to get rid of them all sometime.”
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Shelford gritted his teeth and looked at Cassandra.
“But… … that kid, hmm.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Was there anything else unusual?”
Theo’s eyes sank deeply.
Somehow I thought I knew what Shelford was trying to say.
“That’s right, ha! These guys were all saying some weird stuff. Like this kid was cursed or something? That’s why they were all doomed.”
‘It’s a prediction of the future!’
Shelford continued speaking in a low voice, perhaps thinking that Cassandra might not hear him.
However, since he did not know much about Cassandra’s true identity, he seemed unsure of how to accept the information he had found out.
Theo asked, pretending not to know.
“Is there a reason why you think that?”
“This kid saw himself die. He has no idea what this is all about.”
“Hmm! Have you seen anything else besides that?”
“Oh. There’s one more, but that’s a bit absurd.”
Shelford continued, scratching the back of his head.
“Did the king appear above the world covered by death and say that if he rewinds the wheels of the clock, all the dead will rise and walk?”
How the bastard of the Return Sword Family lives
