Reincarnated in the Same World for the Nth Time - Chapter 11

A retro-style scene was unfolding before Aquila’s eyes.

An old, yet familiar story.

And then, at some point, the scenery that had felt distant suddenly rushed toward him and began to replay.

“That proposal is a bit difficult to accept.”

Despite the difficulty, the voice remained as soft and gentle as ever.

Even if it was difficult, his usual soft and gentle voice was still just as smooth as always.

“Are you saying that we should send valuable priests to a place with monsters that have become even more ferocious after being corroded by the Black Swamp? I wonder how many people would actually volunteer to support that.”

“I’m not saying we should send them to their deaths.  That monster is currently storing nutrients to prepare for breeding.  If we’re not too late, we can still save those who’ve been captured. While we lure it away—”

“Are you saying that we should provoke an already ferocious monster even more? I know that you two are strong, but honestly, there are way too many variables.”

As Ianfel said, there were many risks involved, so he couldn’t just tell them to blindly believe him.

But even so, he couldn’t give up.

‘Last time, I failed. But if I save them this time, I can clear the main scenario more easily.’

He needed a way to pass through the forest without going around it.

To do that, he had to obtain the favor of those who had made their home in the Eastern Forest.

‘Three… No, at least five. I should be able to save the most important one.’

Of course, it wasn’t only for the reason of progressing through the scenario more easily.

To save as many lives as possible.

That was what Ark Batchel always said.

■■■ would have wanted to do the same, if possible.

But before he could say anything, Ianfel was quicker.

“Besides… there’s a perfectly safe method right in front of us. I don’t understand why we’re not considering it.”

Ianfel tilted his head as if he truly didn’t know.

What was even more questionable was that, aside from Ianfel, everyone else was clueless.

If there had been such a method, they would have mentioned it already.

Ark, who had been silently listening to the conversation, furrowed his brows.

“…A safe method, you say?”

“I’ve also heard about the monster that lives in the eastern forest. They say that after absorbing all the stored nutrients, it goes into a long sleep for several days, right?”

Like singing a song, his soft way of speaking continued on.

“A very, very deep sleep that it won’t wake up from.”

Then, Ianfel smiled a smile so perfect that anyone watching might call it enchanting.

But Ark, who had caught the implication in Ianfel’s words, immediately scowled and glared at him.

“…Are you suggesting that we use them as food?”

“I’m only reminding you that this method is safer and more certain. It would be better to deal with them when they are in a deep sleep…”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

Ark eventually couldn’t hold it back and burst out in anger.

“I might expect this from you, Ark, but I thought you’d at least consider it once. You value efficiency, don’t you?”

Ianfel looked at him, who was standing next to Ark, with a face that’s unreadable expression.

At those words, Ark took a step forward.

His blue eyes were blazing fiercely.

“This person is different from you. Can you say those words even in front of a dying life?”

“Ah, let’s not make assumptions. I only have you in front of me.”

“You must know that they have a high probability of being alive! Those who live in the eastern forest…”

“Of course, I know. Elves have more resilient bodies than humans, don’t they? They’re probably still alive.”

Ianfell replied smoothly.

“Ah! I’m not saying this because of personal feelings. I neither like them nor dislike them, after all.”

The smooth smile that had been hanging on his lips disappeared for a moment before appearing again

“Well, of course… I do find it a little hard to understand. They don’t have faith, do they?”

Elves respect great beings, but they do not worship them.

That was why they didn’t have temples and didn’t have the presence of priests with healing powers called divine power.

“……Are you going to abandon lives just for that reason? Because they don’t believe in the god that you believe in?”

“Oh dear, please don’t misunderstand. I was only saying that I don’t understand why you would take on the risks when there’s a certain method.”

Ark gritted his teeth and spat out Ianfel’s name as if he were chewing on it.

Despite this, the saint before him didn’t even blink and instead let out a soft laugh.

Ianfel whispered as if he was telling a secret.

“We don’t act only out of good will.”

And then, Ianfell unnecessarily added, “I absolutely despise that kind of thing.”

His unwavering expression showed that everything he said was the truth.

Ianfel, who had shifted his gaze, looked straight at him who was standing next to Ark, with a smile still on his face.

“I thought you were the same, ■■■.”

His amethyst eyes, considered a gift from the gods, sparkled beautifully.

“We’re of the same kind, aren’t we?”

∗ ∗ ∗

The carriage jolted violently as it hit a rock.

Aquila, startled by the shaking, quickly lifted his head and looked around.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling?”

Shen, sitting across from him, gave him a cautious look.

Aquila met those green eyes and then grasped his head.

It seemed that he had fallen asleep briefly and had a dream.

‘…I haven’t had a dream for a while during the previous rounds. My body must have changed, as I’m dreaming all the past dreams.’

It wasn’t a pleasant dream.

Rather, after recalling that impeccable face after so long, he felt nauseous.

‘And yet, he calls himself a saint. That crazy bastard.’

Aquila, who had cursed inwardly, grabbed his throbbing head.

After finishing the urgent communication using the crystal orb, Aquila’s group had immediately set out for Port Plum.

Perhaps because they had packed their bags in advance yesterday, it didn’t take too long to return to the Reshenhardt mansion, load their luggage, and leave again.

Except for the slight delay due to staffing issues and the tearful farewell they had received from the servants as they left.

Shen, who had briefly gone around the mansion and gotten back on the carriage, had told them that a rumor had spread that, “Young Master Aquila has an incurable disease and will die if he doesn’t visit the temple.”

This seemed to be the reason why the servants, gathered to see him off, were particularly tearful.

However, Aquila didn’t pay much attention to that.

Because he already knew that the rumor would spread.

What was more important was Celcia’s movements.

Shen, who had gone to investigate, had brought information that one of her servants had left the mansion to go to the market, but that was not enough.

‘They might be pretending to leave while contacting someone outside. We’ll need to be careful on the way.’

But even so, everything was going well without any issues so far.

Ianfel’s appearance was unexpected, but from the perspective of having saved the trouble of finding him, it wasn’t bad.

The problem was that, given his personality, there was no way that he would genuinely welcome him, so he clearly had something up his sleeve.

Aquila focused only on how Ianfell would make his move and got on the carriage.

Because of this, he carelessly ignored the medicine Shen had insisted he take before departure.

After all, he was currently under the blessing of the Sun God.

And now—

Aquila wanted to punch his past self from an hour ago for not listening to Shen.

“……Young Master, are you still feeling unwell? Should I give you more medicine?”

His stomach was churning like crazy, but Aquila waved his hand, expressing his refusal.

If he ate something now, it felt like he would throw it up right away.

He gripped his fiery red hair as if he was about to tear it out.

‘…I’ve never experienced teleportation sickness before in my life.’

Igrail was called ‘The Northern Fortress,’ but due to its special location, it was rather isolated.

Because the place where the Reshenhardt family had settled was still part of the frozen land.

Although the inside of Igrail, which was covered by the dragon’s wings, was warm, the frozen wind was still blowing outside.

For those who weren’t well-trained warriors, going outside of Igrail without any blessings or equipment was a foolish act of going to their death on purpose.

Even if they used a carriage, the horses would freeze to death.

Therefore, to go outside of the territory, it was necessary to use the teleportation gate located outside of Igrail.

About an hour ago, Aquila’s group had finished teleporting and had arrived on the other side of the gate that was connected to Igrail, under the Meliol Mountains.

The teleportation gate that was connected to Igrail was only installed for the purpose of escaping the frozen land.

It was a short-distance teleportation gate.

If they traveled by carriage from there, it would take half a day to reach Port Plum.

“Or would you like some water? Really! How are you going to get by if you hate taking medicine like this every single time? I told you to make sure you take it, right?”

Even though Shen mumbled with a stern voice, Aquila couldn’t argue back.

It was because he had underestimated it, having never experienced teleportation sickness even once throughout his past rounds.

‘It’s worse than the hangover I experienced when I woke up after drinking too much dwarf liquor… no! It’s even worse than when I felt dizzy from losing a lot of blood.’

Aquila wanted to hit his head right then and pass out as he had done before.

“My divine power cannot cure motion sickness… What should I do? I’m sorry, young master.”

Yuzelia looked at Aquila’s pale face with a truly apologetic expression.

He had thought that he could get through anything thanks to the blessing of the Sun God, but it didn’t work with teleport sickness.

Aquila wanted to protest to the god, but he couldn’t say anything due to the terrible motion sickness.

“We’ll reach Selten soon, so let’s rest there for a while before going. It won’t take even thirty minutes.”

Selten was a small village along the way to Portplum, essentially a rest stop.

Aquila, too weak to even nod, slumped in his seat.

He thought that he only wanted to get out of the carriage and rest somewhere, no matter where it was.

Aquila took a deep breath while trying to suppress his headache and maintain his consciousness.

Even though he had been maintaining mana breathing while awake, his body remained unstable.

The slight tremors, as if colliding with something, made the process of accumulating mana quite difficult.

‘This body is highly sensitive to mana. Maybe that’s why I’m experiencing teleportation sickness…’

Teleportation involved breaking through accumulated magical energy to move to the next location, so perhaps his body was reacting to that process.

Of course, even if he knew, it wouldn’t have lessened the motion sickness.

‘…Damn it. I should’ve listened to Shen. I’ll listen better from now on.’

Aquila made this promise to himself multiple times as he buried himself deeply into the seat to minimize the shaking of his head.

It wasn’t long after Aquila, who was experiencing the full effect of the motion sickness, had passed out again that the carriage carrying them finally arrived at the entrance of Selten.

***

“What’s their location?”

“They should have arrived at Selten by now.”

“How long do you think they’ll stay there?”

“They had stayed there for two or three hours before, so I’m guessing that it would take at least that much time this time too.”

The man who had asked the question stroked his chin.

The third son of the Reshenhardt family was said to be weak, so it was impossible to know how much time would be delayed because of it.

“What about the Great Temple?”

“It’s still quiet. It seems that there was some commotion inside because of the Reshenhardt, but ever since that guy appeared, there hasn’t been anything that was caught.”

At those words, the man clicked his tongue.

“He’s a really troublesome bastard.”

“Should I tell them to move?”

“No. He’s sharp, so it’s better to lay low than risk getting caught. We can’t afford to lose more people.”

“Yes. I will tell them that.”

The man who answered quickly left.

The man rubbed his neatly cut hair with his palm as if he was messing it up.

After that guy, Ianfel, had appeared in the Port Plum Great Temple, several informants that he had planted had been eliminated.

It was unclear how much he knew, but he was sharp and agile.

Because of this, every day was a battle of wits.

And in the midst of that, Aquila Reshenhardt had made an emergency call to the Port Plum temple where that viper-like man was.

It was a bad omen in many ways.

‘The end of the Curse of Deadly Poison is only death. But what if Aquila Leschenhardt knows something…’

As the descendant of the Reshenhardt family, known to have received the most blessings, Aquila’s message was concerning.

Therefore, the task that the man had been given by the guild, in case something might happen, was only one.

To lead Aquila Reshenhardt to his death.

‘It’s a necessary sacrifice for the future. That’s his fate.’

The man’s sharp gaze was directed towards the sword that was hanging on his waist.