The moment I walked off the arena after my victory. It was a very brief instant, yet one remarkably hard to forget.
The roar of the crowd. The applause.
The sound the masses created traveled through the air and vibrated. Those sounds left their points of origin and collided with one another. They broke and shattered and tangled together.
In the end, they became a single wave that rolled in like a tide and resonated against my eardrums.
I flicked the blood from my sword and stepped off the stage without lingering.
Leaving the applause and cheers behind. I slipped into the shadows and headed for the restroom at the end of the waiting room corridor.
A space off-limits to the audience—for participants only. I let the silence carry me and locked the restroom door.
CLICK.
Inside the stall, I opened a worn bag I'd prepared in advance. I shed the ornate uniform and pulled on the coarse, grease-stained clothes of a laborer.
The transformation didn't end there.
I inserted dull brown contact lenses to mask my abyssal eyes. Over my golden hair, I pressed down a messy red wig. Finally, I fitted a set of dentures that matched my gums precisely, blunting my sharp jawline and the lines of my mouth.
Last, I slipped a ring onto my finger. An artifact with a faint blue glow. It contained a [Stealth] enchantment.
I stashed the worn bag in the space above the ceiling, then stepped out of the stall. I looked in the mirror.
HUMMM—
As the ring's cool mana enveloped me, the mirror reflected not the third young lord of House Karsen, but a Northern laborer.
Seeing myself like this brought back memories of my days as Duckie. Back then, I could disguise myself as anything.
The artifacts I'd used today had been acquired during the Golden Star Tournament period through visits to the 12 Magical Devices shop in Seiren's 14th District.
Thinking of that place drew a quiet laugh.
'The owner's attitude had changed quite a bit.'
—Well well, you're back again.
The owner of 12 Magical Devices. The white-haired old man had lit up the moment he saw me and pulled a heavy box from under the counter.
—I have a son. That boy always loved researching and building things.
I stopped the words "Your 'boy's' grandson will turn out the same way" right at the tip of my tongue.
—When he learned that someone had bought his work at full price—at a high price, no less—he was overjoyed. So he sent over some things he'd had buried in the corner of his laboratory.
The box was filled with treasures. Practical artifacts packed with cutting-edge magical engineering.
The early masterworks of a genius magical engineer who would one day dominate the continent. I knew their true worth better than anyone.
—I'll take everything. I'll buy it all.
At my words, the old man shook his head and put on a stern expression.
—Of course I prepared them for you, Young Lord. But this time, I cannot accept the premium you paid last time. My son set a specific price, and I will not sell at any other. He insists on honest business, so please pay exactly that amount and take them.
Some might call it audacious pricing, but I actually liked that about them even more.
—Understood. Ah, and please ask him if he can make more things like the Thunder Strike and April Sprout I bought before. And tell him I'll pay generously.
—Of course.
I paid the old man's quoted price without hesitation and left with a smile. It was a ludicrously cheap price to pay for earning the trust of a legendary future engineer and his family.
Those stealth rings and disguise tools, acquired just so—now it was time for them to shine.
Before the regression, the heavy favorite Silvia had suffered a devastating loss to a nameless wandering Knight in the semifinals.
Had that Knight been stronger than Silvia?
Not a chance.
On this stage where young warriors under thirty competed for supremacy—excluding myself, the regressor—not a single person could defeat my childhood friend, Silvia Maier.
But back then, she hadn't performed at even half her usual level and lost. Crushed by that defeat, she'd wandered lost in a mire of self-doubt for a long time.
I was certain that traitors had been involved.
Why? Because the wandering Knight who'd won the Golden Star Tournament and entered the [Platinum Knight Order] had been a traitor planted by the demons.
'This time, I won't stand by and let it happen.'
Not for Silvia's sake. To prevent the traitors' infiltration.
Under my covert disguise, I strolled the corridors of Kaiseus. Sometimes like a janitor, sometimes like a spectator.
I stopped for a beer along the way, bought some food. I was hungry, after all.
After walking for some time, I reached the vicinity of the waiting room for my finals opponent, Silvia Maier. Beyond this point was a restricted area, off-limits to the general public.
I blended into the crowd and watched in silence for any suspicious movement.
TICK— TICK—
But with the naked eye alone, I couldn't pick out thoroughly disguised operatives.
TICK— TICK—
Time was passing, and soon Silvia would head out to the stage...... Anxiety crept in.
'How can I...... ah.'
In that instant.
An idea sparked.
There was a way. A method that could survey the surroundings in finer detail than eyesight or even heightened senses.
I activated [Mana Detection].
HUMMM—
Pure mana waves spread outward. A flood of information poured into my mind. Dizzying in its intensity. But.
THUMP— THUMP—
Lumen's divinity, nested in my heart, responded violently and began sorting the torrent of information.
The divine pulse began filtering the indiscriminate data, and before long, it pinpointed one man precisely among the throngs of people—a man dressed as an ordinary worker.
On closer inspection. A faint but unmistakable dark mana flickered in his heart.
'That's the one.'
Certain he was a traitor, I suppressed my presence and began pursuit.
Sure enough, the moment the man reached a blind spot beyond anyone's line of sight, he produced a small magical vial from his coat.
POP. He uncorked it, and a colorless, odorless smoke seeped out. Invisible to ordinary people—but it couldn't escape my Mana Detection.
The smoke followed the man's guidance and settled along the path Silvia would walk.
Without hesitation, I drew flame domain mana from my Star Ring and sent it chasing the poisonous smoke.
A spell others could only cast from their fingertips or a staff, but that I could invoke from a distance far from my body.
The mana drifted after the smoke, rippling forward, and the instant it made contact—
[Fire Ball].
WHOOSH—
A brief flash of flame. The colorless, odorless poison burned to nothing.
"......?!"
The man was horrified when he sensed the poison had vanished. He spun around and rushed out of Kaiseus. I maintained my stealth and followed.
He moved through Seiren's back alleys. Then he pulled out the empty magical vial again to check. Am I imagining things? He seemed to be second-guessing himself.
"You're not imagining it."
"......!"
He whipped around at the sound of my voice.
"Wh-who are you?"
"An exalted Knight."
"......Wha—"
He tried to spin and run, but it was too late. My sword had already pierced his throat. Skin parted, muscle fibers severed, and as the cold blade passed through his esophagus and trachea—
"Ghk...... ghk."
The man couldn't even scream as his body crumpled to the ground. Blood welled from his throat in thick surges. He flopped like a fish thrown from water. Then went still.
PRICKLE—
A cold, alien gaze brushed against me. Following it, I spotted a small crystal orb artifact cleverly planted in the fallen man's clothing.
'Remote surveillance?'
I stared directly into the crystal orb and curled my lips into a thin, sharp smile. Then, toward whoever was watching from the other side, I slowly raised my middle finger.
And.
CRUNCH.
I crushed the orb.
The gaze vanished.
WHOOOOSH—
I poured flame over the corpse, incinerating it without leaving a trace, and disappeared into the darkness.
Emerging from the alley and heading back to Kaiseus, the streets were more vibrant than ever.
Everyone was enjoying the rare festival that had come to town.
A pang of solitude struck me. Among all the people filling the streets, not a single one knew the future.
The stagnant water bred by peace.
The shadow of ruin burrowing beneath it.
That it would ultimately bring about humanity's extinction. Only I knew.
And still, I walked. I would walk this path without faltering. That was what the regression was for.
After returning to Kaiseus, I stopped by the restroom to change back, then watched the Golden Star Tournament.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—! CRASH—!
The semifinals had already begun.
Silvia was fighting.
A beautiful and powerful female Knight in combat.
The stands were in a near-frenzy of excitement.
Frost-like frigid mana settled over Silvia's deep blue hair, and her sapphire eyes shone colder than ever.
Her opponent, the wandering Knight, charged at her with everything he had—but he was no match for Silvia.
Every swing of Silvia's sword unleashed an explosion of frost-laden Aura that froze the ground beneath her.
The wandering Knight stiffened like a chunk of ice before he could even counterattack and collapsed.
Awestruck cheers erupted from the stands. The crowd praised her overwhelming martial prowess. They praised her beauty, too.
What beauty had to do with anything, I wasn't sure, but anyway.
Silvia descended the stage with the resolute bearing of a true Northern Knight.
Yes. This is Silvia's story.
A smile crept across my lips unbidden.
I hadn't acted for her sake, but I was glad it turned out well all the same.
***
At the same time.
A dark chamber on the outskirts of the arena.
Fury shimmered in the eyes of an old man who had been watching the scene through a crystal orb.
Seared into the orb was the vivid image of a man with red hair and dull eyes—his identity unknown.
"What gutter rat is this? ......I will find you and kill you."
Toward the nameless interloper who had ruined the plan, the old man murmured with quiet killing intent.
He covertly summoned his associates.
"The plan has gone awry."
"......How the hell did you botch this?"
"Someone interfered."
"You should never have left room for that!"
Some vented their fury. Some raised questions of accountability—what would they do if the higher-ups held them responsible? Then.
"The plan has not even begun yet. Do not get so worked up."
One voice stepped in to mediate, and silence fell over the room.
"The Inspectorate hasn't caught our trail, has it?"
"No. But."
The old man showed everyone the image of the man reflected in the crystal orb. Red hair. Dull eyes. A blunt facial profile.
The man who had foiled their plan to incapacitate Silvia. Who had stuck his nose into their business.
"The red-haired man...... Find him. No matter what."
It never occurred to them—not even in their dreams—that the red-haired man might be Sion Karsen. They simply committed their new enemy's face to memory.
Meanwhile, in another hidden chamber elsewhere in the North, hostility aimed squarely at Sion was smoldering.
Post 24—a clandestine research organization that had been quietly expanding its influence in the shadows of the North.
Their headquarters were in the Central Empire, but researchers had migrated north for easier mobility.
They had received a report that their painstakingly created bio-experiment, Jeffren, had been subdued by Sion Karsen.
"Sion Karsen. What a son of a bitch."
"Jeffren is the property of our laboratory."
A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the lab.
"We never forgive anyone who breaks what belongs to us."
The hook Sion had cast was swaying enticingly on the line.