Crow opened his eyes.
Steam. Warm stone beneath his back. The smell of cedar and hot water, a lunatic saying things in the background.
He stared at the ceiling of the palace hot springs and breathed.
This… Is this an illusion? That mage disappeared right before the scenery changed. This is bad. I need to leave, but how?
He sat up slowly. His body felt intact. No burned skin, no impact bruises, no compression in his spine from being driven into a stone platform by the Hero. The Zweihänder and Claymore were absent, he was in the wrapped linen one wore in a hot springs.
He turned his head.
The room was empty.
He looked at the Ring of Wisdom on his left hand. It sat there, warm from the ambient heat, its faint energy present and uninterrupted, as though nothing had happened.
Crow pressed both hands against his face and held himself very still.
The frontier outpost.
The golem… minion 47 was dead. The crystal, shattered, no, maybe it’s part of the illusion. Sharon, she… she was ripped in half. Sha-sha… if I don’t leave this illusion soon, she will die, and I will too.
This battle was a total carnage.
He sat in the steam with all of it, and didn't move for a brief time.
Somewhere in this place.
"Geometry... hehe."
He knew that voice very well.
The geometry clown.
Crow was seated on the hot springs bench with his arms resting on his knees, steam curling past his face, and listened to the reverent, broken murmur still drifting through the cedar walls from whichever dark corner the thing had wedged itself into.
He put both hands on his face again. “This… my head’s too blurry, but I am sure, this is an illusion or a regression… how?” he muttered.
"...geometry... hehe... geometry..."
Seriously, I can’t think with this guy, this time… I’ll just check this clown and leave. I remember him being much further away, how did he get so close, so quickly? Maybe I’m caught in an illusion while the Hero kills everyone else that is still alive.
Crow stood up and moved toward the murmurs of the Geometry Clown, approaching the very edge of the hot springs near a cedar wall. As Crow drew closer, his movement sent a small ripple skimming across the water.
The clown, who had been laughing while building a sort of house of cards on the edge of the spring, didn't notice until the ripple hit his side. Water splashed onto the cards, sending them tumbling.
“Geometry...”
The geometry clown locked eyes with Crow, his goofy face gone and attacked instantly. Crow dodged the first strike and blocked the second, though the force of it made him recoil.
What? This thing is way too strong.
“Why so violent, buddy? I just came here to confirm something,” he muttered to the clown.
“Geo... me... TRY! Me!”
The geometry clown snapped, lunging forward and hurling Crow right over the wooden wall.
Right. Maybe this isn't an illusion after all... I let him get close and land some hits on me just to be sure. Clearly, that wasn't a good idea.
The sudden and suffocating embrace of warm water found him. He sank like a stone, the weight of his exhaustion dragging him toward the bottom of the thermal spring.
Beneath the surface, surrounded by a peaceful, golden silence, he didn't struggle. He just let his eyes drift shut.
Is an illusion really this real? I can even feel the hot water here. This... if I knew more about illusions, but I've never been under a spell before, so I can't be sure. No, I know that when a mage puts someone under one, they never realize it, even when the mage casts the spell right in front of them. Maybe I'm in one right now? If I am, how do I escape this illusion before that blond Hero kills me? His leg is badly injured. Maybe I have, what, 20 seconds max before he reaches me?
Accepting this hallucination, he finally stood up, breaking the surface and slicking his wet black hair back. His eyes locked onto the figure standing just a few feet away.
Sharon.
She tried to say something, “Why this prank again, Alic—” Then she froze, her jaw dropped in absolute, speechless shock.
She looks like snow... maybe because vampires don’t like the sun. Yeah, this is definitely an illusion. She hasn't even covered herself yet. How do I escape this? I am not a mage; if only I had some type of magic resistance item...
He stared at her for some time, his expression unreadable as always, ignoring the fact that he was standing there half-naked with his towel barely clinging to his hips.
"You're... whole," he muttered, staring at her, his voice low and raspy. He was sure of what he had seen. She had been ripped in half just a minute ago.
Yeah, this is an illusion, she is still showing off…
The color rushed to Sharon's face so fast it was a wonder she didn't faint. Her shock snapped into pure, unadulterated shame. Without a word, she crossed her arms over her chest, let out a strangled yelp, and sank into the water until only her wide, fuming crimson eyes remained visible above the surface.
I thought about her not covering up, and then it finally happened seconds later? Like it was trying to make me believe it… Now I’m sure of it. Maybe that is the way to leave. If I think too much, does the illusion glitch, like it happens sometimes in dreams? If I think that a bomb exploding here is “normal,” then this illusion will try to make it occur to make me believe it is real. And a bomb might end this. The Mage doesn't know about that type of thing, since it's from my past world, after all. Ah, I don’t know, but I have what, 11 seconds now? Then the Hero kills me for sure.
Think, Crow, think…
Crow stood his ground, focused on the idea of an explosion. He kept his eyes locked on Sharon, staring her down to see if the illusion would finally glitch.
Then, she approached him slowly, only her crimson eyes visible above the surface of the hot springs. As she closed the distance, she suddenly pivoted beneath the water and swept his legs from under him.
Crow splashed into the water, and before he could recover, she reached out, still keeping her face submerged up to her eyes, and pinched both of his cheeks hard, pulling him closer until their foreheads almost touched.
"H-how long are you going to keep staring at me, Crow?" she muffled, a few bubbles rising from her submerged lips. "Did Sophia put mushrooms in your food? What are you even doing here? Have you finally lost your mind with everything that’s going on?"
Crow looked at her, his face a mask of hollow, silent suffering. His eyes didn't leak a single tear; they were just tired, haunted by a version of her she hadn't become yet in this illusion of the past; maybe he grown a little attached.
"It's all my fault," he whispered, his voice low and jagged. "If I had just thought a little more... if I had told everyone what I knew about the Hero’s abilities, you would… maybe still be alive. But I didn’t even think about it… not at that time."
He pulled her into a tight, warm embrace, burying his face against her neck.
Sharon’s face turned a violent shade of red. She felt the crushing pressure of his embrace, her breath catching as her body was pressed firmly against his. Her arms hovered awkwardly in the air, frozen in shock, unable to return the hug. It was a scandal, a complete lack of boundaries, but as she felt him tremble, the urge to shove him away died. He wasn't holding her like a man holds a lover; he was clinging to her like it was their last time.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, the words sounding like a confession. "You weren't supposed to die."
A sudden splash echoed through the steamy hall.
Still locked in that tight embrace, Crow’s head snapped toward the sound. Sharon, whose face was practically radiating steam from how red she was, followed his gaze.
"Fufufu... I had no idea you two were such lovers," a playful voice drifted through the steamy mist.
Standing there, watching them with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a smirk on her face, was Alice.
"I guess my little prank didn't quite work today," Alice continued, leaning back with a more obvious smirk. "Or maybe it worked too well."
As Crow stared at Alice, the world began to fracture. Cracks spread across the air itself, silver and jagged like a breaking mirror. The steam, the water, and the faces of the two women splintered into a thousand shimmering shards.
So... it really was an illusion after all...
A strange sense of relief washing over him just before everything plunged into total darkness.
He blacked out right there, his grip tightening instinctively one last time before his body went completely limp against her.
Next morning…
When he finally opened his eyes, he wasn't in the water anymore, and definitely not on the battlefield either. He was lying in a bed, his chest and head throbbing with a dull, internal ache but it felt less like an injury and more like something was missing.
"Hey, you're finally awake," Alice said, "You know, I analyzed your condition and... frankly, it makes no sense. Your mana veins are perfectly fine, but the pathways of your mind look like they’ve been hit by a lightning bolt. It’s as if your brain was trying to process an impossible amount of information all at once.” She leaned forward slightly, her gaze piercing. "You didn't just faint, Crow; your mind suffered a total collapse, crazy right?"
This is strange… so much time has passed, and yet I’m still alive? No one would just spare an enemy caught in an illusion. And after what happened, everyone the Hero killed, he did so mercilessly; he definitely isn’t the type to spare anyone.
Crow didn't answer immediately. He shifted his gaze away from the Queen, searching the room until his eyes landed on Sharon. She was standing beside Alice, back in her usual maid uniform.
The moment their eyes met, the memory of the hot springs flashed through her mind. Sharon’s face turned bright red, and she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest in an 'X', turning slightly away to hide herself as she glared at him with embarrassment.
Wait a moment… all that wasn't an illusion?
Crow stared at the ceiling for a heartbeat, his expression going completely blank.
This isekai is beginning to give off harem vibes. This is too much for me…
Without a word, he rolled onto his side, facing the wall, and closed his eyes.
If I don't acknowledge it, it didn't happen.
"It seems you’ve taken a liking to my bed. Planning on sleeping there once more?" Alice asked. "It’s unfortunate, Crow, but you need to get up. We’re heading to the dining hall; I want to hear more about that story you mentioned earlier to Sharon, along with some other details I’ll be passing along to everyone. And Sharon, well, just keep doing what you’re doing and keep a close eye on Crow until we find out who the assassin trying to kill him is."
Wait a moment…
Sharon reacted, stuttering, "Y-yes."
Alice continued, "Well, by the looks of it, this is going to be easy." She almost smirked, almost. With that, Alice stood up and left the room.
“Crow… I-I will wait outside,” Sharon said, still holding her arms in that ‘X’ pose to cover herself as she left in a hurry.
Did Alice just say “keep doing what you’re doing” and something about “keeping an eye on me” to Sharon? Whatever, I have bigger problems now. Right, this is a regression, no doubt about it. But how did it happen? I don't have any skills like that. Well, I’ll focus on the “now” and try to change whatever I can, so that more people live. The thing is, to end the game we need the Hero... no, maybe…
A while later, he stepped out of the room. Sharon accompanied him, though she tried to keep her interactions to a minimum. They eventually reached the royal dining hall, where Crow took the exact same seat as last time.
The same meal from last time was being served too... of course.
This tastes a little better than before.
That was the problem.
Everything here tasted fine, smelled fine, they sat in the same places as the first time, the silver catching the candle brackets at the same angles, Darius's armor still on, Berthold's elbows precisely off the table. The cup at Alice's right hand. The fork in Crow's hand. Every single thing, except for the meal tasting a little better, was exactly the same.
I need to make things go differently.
He set the fork down.
Right, this is my first regression. I know the basics from all the novels, manga, and anime I’ve read with this mechanic, so it’s going to be easy... or not. The Hero was too strong… much stronger at this point in time than when I played the game, of course… I was a noob, but still, it almost feels like he's a possessor, a pro gamer.
Yeah, I need to think from the beginning… based on what I’ve learned from all those regression works where the protagonist succeeds, and where they die multiple times… yeah, never go back to the place where you died, even after you gave it your all and it didn't change a thing. So that’s the plan: I’m not going back there. No way. I’ll convince everyone and head to the city; he’ll be delayed anyway, so that gives me time to pick up the hidden items and get ahead of him. Even if he did grab them, I can at least try to recruit those two characters he maybe didn't kill; they are in that city, one for sure at this time. Yeah, I can definitely do this.
He picked his fork back up and ate, pondering what to say to them.
Sharon stood near the sideboard; she wasn’t seated, her back straight and eyes already on him, her face still red...
Seriously? Whatever, I need to think about something else.
"Everything is ready," Alice said, to the table in general.
More like, “ready to blow.”
Darius set down his cup. "The messenger?"
"Dimitri confirmed the delivery two hours ago." Alice's head tilted, minimal, cutting off the follow-up before it formed. "The Hero will be in the realm soon."
Crow kept his eyes on his plate.
Berthold's fingers found the table edge, 4 taps, quiet, like he was organizing the next sentence. His gaze angled toward Alice.
"Your Majesty. Before the expedition departs, I'd like your authorization on a separate matter."
Alice's eyes moved to him.
"I have some ideas for improving our intelligence architecture." Even, measured, without rush, very sus, as always. "The current situation with the Hero's movement, the border activity, and the problem about the secondary houses in the north, all of them require information we don't currently have access to."
A pause.
"There is a guild; human-operated. They call themselves Limpeza."
Something shifted in the room. Darius's jaw tightened one degree. Sharon's posture changed. Crow had noticed it the first time too; the difference was that Sharon was present now.
Berthold continued, walking through the same briefing in the same measured voice. He spoke about the Limpeza organization, explaining that the contact would require him to go there directly and things like that.
Alice let the silence run a little longer.
"You're asking permission to walk into the Hero's city," she said.
"I'm asking permission to walk through it. The contact window would be short." A beat. "The mission's requirements are… too specific. I won't be specifying them further."
Crack.
The hairline fracture spidered across Darius's cup exactly where it had the first time. Tea bled through the clay onto his glove. He didn't look at his hand.
"You won't be specifying them further? To your Queen—"
Alice raised her open palm. The General's indignation stopped where it was.
"Granted," she said, and lifted her cup.
Berthold's fingers stopped tapping. Then, he inclined his head.
A little different from before.
Crow finished his plate. Set his fork down.
Here it comes.
"Sharon will accompany you as field commander for the expedition." Alice's eyes found him across the table. "Her orders carry my authority in the field."
A pause.
"Try not to destroy anything I'll need later."
He didn't stand.
Didn't push the chair back like before.
Crow rested his hands against the table in front of him, lacing his fingers knuckles-up, and looked at the space between his thumbs for a moment.
"Remarkable," he said openly. "Though..."
Then he glanced up.
"...it'll be total carnage out there. Everyone will die. The plan's already doomed, better to just give up on this idea."
Everyone in the room stood still in absolute silence.