I roughly wrapped Rapaiyu’s severed head in a filthy scrap of cloth lying nearby.
It was a measure that carried a fair amount of personal sentiment, but I had no desire to lay him to rest with clean cloth and proper ceremony.
“You are more impressive than I expected.”
“...You really are a rotten bastard.”
I turned my head.
Sa Ujin stood there with his arms folded, leisurely watching me. Before him, the woman in iron armor had lost her helmet and was drooling onto the ground.
Sa Ujin had subdued Fredwin long ago—no, within three or four exchanges after the battle began—and had simply watched me at his leisure afterward.
“So? Do you like them?”
“What?”
“Both of them.”
Sa Ujin immediately understood what I meant by ‘both’ and nodded.
He placed one hand atop Fredwin’s head.
“She is a decent doll. Her Skills are useful, too.”
Then he gave Leia and me a quick sidelong glance.
“And you are interesting as well. I will be watching you in the Heavenly Demon Realm too, but...the way you somehow defeat an opponent you cannot overcome by normal means was rather fascinating.”
“If you had helped after ending your battle so quickly, I would have won much faster and more easily.”
“Did you want that?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
This battle had been a form of revenge—or perhaps an overreaching punishment—that I needed to carry out myself. It had also been a bit of self-promotion.
To keep the interest of a lunatic like Sa Ujin from fading, I had to show him something stimulating enough to make him hesitate to turn me into a doll.
For that, I had needed to personally defeat the strongest being in this kingdom: its mage.
Everything had gone according to plan, but still...
“That was f×cking exhausting.”
I had won, but my insides had been turned to mush by 「Oppression」. My Mana had hit rock bottom from overusing Rapid Reading, and my vision was blurred.
“Sa Ujin. Potions.”
“You are getting awfully demanding.”
Even so, Sa Ujin tossed me a high-grade Mana Potion and a Health Potion.
A D-Rank body was worthless in most situations, but it had one nearly unique advantage.
[Stamina has been fully restored.]
[Mana has been fully restored.]
A single somewhat higher-grade potion could restore it to perfect condition.
Now that I said it aloud, it did not seem much like an advantage.
“My vision is back, and I feel fine now. Good. Let us go.”
“Ah, right. You had another plan too?”
Yeah. We were almost done.
I climbed onto Leia’s back and nodded.
“This feels awfully natural now...”
The freeloader sure talked a lot.
[Leia has used the Skill 「Froststep」(C).]
***
“Have you found the Princess?!”
“Y-Your Majesty, we have not yet...”
CRASH!
A flower vase flew into the head of the official bowing before the King and shattered.
As the official clutched his head and groaned, the King roared.
“Do you not realize how much you have benefited from the Princess all this time?! How can the knights of this kingdom be so incompetent?! You useless fools! If you fail to bring the Princess back by today, I will execute every single person involved in this matter! Do you understand me?!”
The King gulped down the liquor in his bottle.
Even with alcohol in his system, his rage did not seem to subside. He raised the bottle and struck the official with it again and again.
The King continued to roar with anger before the official, who had become a bloody mess.
“Enough.”
“What?! Who dares speak so carelessly to the pillar of this nation?!”
The King whipped around to see the face of the person who had spoken.
“It is me, you bastard.”
I swung my fist straight into the King’s face.
CRACK!
“Guhk!”
The sensation of my fist sinking into the bloated King’s face was revolting.
Still, after taking my punch, the King rolled across the floor several times before understanding the situation and shouting belatedly.
“You bastard, who are you?! How dare you lay your hands upon my royal person?! Even death will not be enough to repay this sin! Your family, even your cousins—”
“You still have not come to your senses.”
I struck the King’s face again and again.
There was no need to hold back. No matter how many times I hit him with D-Rank strength, his life would not be in danger.
His body had absorbed an abundance of the Princess’s Mana.
That did not make him strong, though.
“You lived just for this?”
THUD!
The King who had consumed the Princess’s immense Mana had probably gained a lifespan close to immortality. He would never have suffered from illness or pain.
THUD!
That was why he had never considered making an effort or moving forward.
THUD!
That was why, throughout his near-eternal life, he had intended to keep ending his daughter’s life and forcibly bringing her back.
“You never spared even a glance for your daughter’s suffering, or for the heart that had been worn away to nothing.”
My emotions spilled over.
It was a variable I had never even considered after enduring several thousand regressions.
Across countless lives, I had always brushed aside even the most infuriating and unjust stories.
To achieve a better outcome, I had needed to endure a certain amount. If things went wrong, I could simply regress again and create a different outcome.
Perhaps I had treated their story as something less than real.
Like a game I could replay from the beginning with the press of a button.
THUD!
The emotions I had restrained because it was not real—
Overflowed with a sense of reality now that this was my final life.
“S-Spare...”
This was not a story. It was reality.
As my swollen emotions numbed my five senses, I raised my fist again.
[The Skill 「...is awak...ing...]
Then, just before I could strike, someone grabbed my arm.
“...! ...!”
“...What?”
My vision, which had flickered from my raging emotions, slowly regained color and form.
Leia was gripping my arm and shouting something at me.
“Do not do it! You will really kill him!”
“...What?”
As my senses gradually returned, my overheated mind calmed.
The King lay before me, reduced to a bloody pulp.
“...Huh?”
This should not have been possible. At this point, I should not have had the strength to turn the King into such a mess.
As I stood frozen for a moment, unable to understand the situation, Leia lightly slapped my cheek a few times.
There seemed to be some emotion behind the blows, but I let it slide for now.
“Are you feeling better now, Benefactor?”
“Y-Yeah... Thanks.”
Once I had regained some composure, I approached the King.
The moment he saw me, the King cried out in terror and scrambled backward.
“D-Do not come closer! Do not come—!”
Of course, I had no intention of listening.
[The Skill 「Mimicry-Pygmalion’s Web」(E-) has been used.]
With a sharp pain pulsing through my heart, a thin thread shot from my hand and pierced the King’s head.
His body repeatedly twisted with a creaking sound before going limp.
[Dollification Remaining Time: 01:00]
As expected, since I had copied an Ability rather than a Skill, both its Rank and power were pathetic.
When I copied an Ability, the result was far inferior in both Rank and performance. The strain inflicted on my body afterward was no joke, either.
However, Sa Ujin had turned Knight Fredwin into a doll, so he could not use Dollification for the time being.
That meant I was the only one who could use Dollification through my copied Ability.
The Dollification would last an hour at most. It was the best I could manage, but...
“An hour is enough. Now, then...”
Just as I was about to help the King to his feet, Sa Ujin suddenly stepped toward me and seized my throat.
“Ghk... Urk...!”
“Wait, what are you doing?!”
“Be quiet, Goddess.”
My body slowly lifted off the ground, and my legs trembled.
I squeezed every last ounce of strength from my body to shake off the madman, who said nothing and merely radiated killing intent.
Naturally, Sa Ujin did not budge from my struggling.
But after keeping the same expression through all my flailing, he abruptly set me back down.
“Cough, cough... What was that supposed to be?”
“You are truly interesting, Kang Seon. I have never seen a Skill like that before. If it had been one of your original Skills, you would have used it earlier.”
What nonsense was he talking about now?
The only Skill I had used was 「Mimicry」. I did not have any other Skill at this point...
[The Skill 「Memoir」(???) has been deactivated.]
[Enhanced Physical Rank has been restored.]
[Physical Rank B → D]
[Hunter Rank has been restored in accordance with the change in Physical Rank.]
[Hunter Rank C → D]
“Huh?”
What was this?
***
“Thus, I have discovered that all of this was a false blessing!”
The King’s resounding proclamation spread far and wide.
“It was all a scheme by the former Royal Mage, Rapaiyu! He placed a curse of immortality upon the Princess after she discovered his plans, then deceived the royal family through her suffering! The Princess never possessed an Ability to spread Mana!”
The murmuring among the citizens gradually grew louder.
“But do not worry! Sir Fredwin, the glorious captain of our kingdom’s knights, has severed Rapaiyu’s head and safeguarded this kingdom!”
“Ooooooh!”
“Sir Fredwin! Sir Fredwin!”
“Glory to Sir Fredwin!”
“And the Mage from another world, who led and protected everyone so that others would not be caught up in this disaster, deserves our praise as well! Come forth!”
“Ah, um, yes...”
Hwa Yejin looked deeply uncomfortable.
She had probably appeared before crowds countless times, but it seemed she did not enjoy taking part in such a carefully scripted performance.
[Hwa Yejin has used the Skill 「Hermes’ Journey」(B).]
Hwa Yejin stood atop the platform, wearing a beautiful smile and waving at the crowd as she sent me a telepathic message through 「Hermes’ Journey」.
《Did this really have to involve me?》
What did she take me for?
I smiled and shook my head.
《It was not strictly necessary, but I went to the trouble because I wanted to see you look uncomfortable.》
《Just you wait until this is over.》
“Thus, I proclaim from this day forth that all harm against the Princess is forbidden! Furthermore, I grant the Princess and the servants who have protected her the right to relocate anywhere they wish!”
The people repeatedly looked at one another as though asking whether this would truly be all right.
Then several among them began to cheer.
“Long live the Leporia Kingdom!”
“May eternal blessings be upon us!”
Once the first cheers erupted, the others were swept up in the mood and began cheering one by one.
The Lust Demons, who had stirred the crowd with waves of cheers, discreetly slipped away and returned to their original forms.
“I cannot let this joyous day pass without celebration! I hereby declare today a festival! Eat, drink, and make merry!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Long live the King! Long live the King!”
Once I confirmed that things had been resolved to some extent, I stepped down from the platform first.
I needed time to rest, but more importantly—
I needed to find out what 「Memoir」 was.
A Skill I had never seen throughout 7,200 regressions.
When I opened my hand, the description of 「Memoir」 appeared before me.