The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 677

Episode 677 A Thousand Years Ago. (1)

While Jiselle was having fun(?) in another era, only a few days had passed in reality.

Belinda, who had been full of worry at first, now looked at Giselle with a puzzled expression.

To my dismay, Giselle was sleeping so peacefully.

If that were all, I would have continued to worry. But now, it was really ambiguous to worry.

“What’s so good about it?”

Jiselle giggled several times while sleeping. It was faint, but it was definitely a smile.

“What a good dream you are having.”

It wasn’t just a good dream. If Belinda had seen the scene of Giselle causing a ruckus, she would probably have clicked her tongue and touched her forehead.

Even though she had been lying down for several days, Jiselle’s body showed no signs of abnormality. In fact, she was surprisingly healthy.

It was strange, even taking into account the continued investigation by priests and magicians.

“How can this be?”

Belinda was curious. Normally, if you lose consciousness and just sleep, you would gradually become withered and sick.

But Jiselle was really fine and unharmed. She seemed to be just sleeping soundly.

It was thanks to the divine power of the saint within Giselle that he was protected. If something went wrong with his body or he was in danger, Giselle would wake up immediately.

But no one knew that fact. No one dared try.

Everyone watched Giselle with half worry and half curiosity. Of course, they didn’t stop worrying and researching to find out Giselle’s condition.

In particular, Jerome returned to his magic tower and took out countless magic books to look through.

“There must be a reason why Jiselle suddenly became like that.”

In fact, Giselle couldn’t give a detailed explanation before she collapsed, because she wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen.

Fortunately, before he collapsed, he managed to tell us something key about his dream.

The warrior, the saint, and the companions who were with them.

It was also quite closely related to the people who were with Jisel now. In particular, one of the warrior’s comrades from a thousand years ago was very likely to be the founder of the Tower of Radiance.

The words of the saint he met in the tent were also an important clue.

“You said we’d meet again, right?”

And Erenes also looked at Giselle and said something meaningful.

― The Duke of Fenris’s consciousness… … is absent.

― There was only a divine power in his consciousness.

– There was something like a strange ‘door’.

― It seems that the Duke of Fenris’ consciousness was sucked into that place.

Jerome began to piece together the clues one by one.

“The saint said she would see Giselle again soon.”

“The saint’s divine power has taken hold within Giselle’s consciousness.”

“Giselle’s consciousness was sucked into an unknown door.”

“It was probably the saint’s divine power that opened that door.”

“And… … the saint is someone from a thousand years ago. To meet such a saint again… … .”

Jerome paused for a moment as he wrote with trembling hands.

“Got to the past? Giselle’s consciousness? To a thousand years ago?”

It’s possible. Giselle said she often had dreams about the war a thousand years ago.

If that’s true, then that scene I saw in my dream… …is now happening in person.

“Wait a minute, even if that were possible… … there’s a problem.”

If the hypothesis is correct, only Jiselle’s consciousness was transferred. She has no body that can act. So even if she goes to the past, there is nothing she can do.

If she was just going to watch in a ghostly state, why did the saint say she would meet him again?

Besides, you can’t properly exist in the world in that state. You won’t be able to stay long and you’ll be banished.

Because the rules that make up the world aren’t that easy.

“Isn’t this it? But if it’s not this, I can’t explain the current situation… … .”

If we try to force it, it could be that he is possessed by a reincarnation or a previous life form. However, that is also just a hypothesis that has not been properly confirmed.

There were still differing opinions on whether such a being really existed, whether it was a church or a tower.

There were some people who talked about their past lives, but they could not prove it properly. Therefore, most people considered past lives and reincarnation to be nothing more than imaginary things.

“Giselle has mysterious knowledge and is good at using power, but it doesn’t make sense… … .”

Jerome, who had been muttering to himself, stopped. He remembered something the people of Fenris used to joke about.

― The master used to joke a few times that he died and came back to life. No one believed him, so at some point he stopped saying such things… … .

Claude also listened to Belinda.

― But when I see you being so ridiculously successful in everything you do, sometimes I think you’re someone who came from the future and only saw the right answers. What? Are you crazy? I know it’s ridiculous! But wouldn’t it be weird if you didn’t go crazy after seeing the Lord? That’s why I think I’m crazy. Hahahaha!

– Were you a little crazy when you first saw me?

– You’re crazy because of the lord!

At the time, everyone laughed and chatted about it. But now, Jerome couldn’t even dismiss that little clue as a joke.

Because I heard that there was someone on his own magic tower who said such crazy things.

It was the story of the founder of the magic tower that Jerome’s teacher had told him.

― The story goes that the founder of the city was able to see the future.

― To be honest, they say that the founder of Matap was a bit of a strange person. He suddenly started making a fuss about seeing the future, or that someone from the future possessed him… … He even said that the result changed the cause?

Jerome chewed over those words several times. If the legend about the first ancestor was true, then his hypothesis would also gain strength.

“A person from the future possessing a person from the past? No way… If possession really exists… … .”

Jerome’s mind was spinning. As he pieced together the clues he had heard so far, he felt like he was getting closer to the truth.

Jerome hurriedly searched through the records of the Magic Tower. They were books that contained information about the previous owners of the Magic Tower.

“Surely, surely there will be some clue left about the founder.”

Most of it was stuff I had already read while I was at the top of the tower. So I knew there was almost nothing about the origin of the tower.

All of them were just short accounts of stories they had heard from their teachers for generations.

Other than that, it was mostly about the past magic tower owners’ self-bragging (?), diaries, the rules of the magic tower passed on to their disciples, and the enlightenment they each gained.

Jerome’s teacher mostly wrote about non-magical things like the best restaurants on the continent, how to meet women(?), and how to date(?).

Still, Jerome searched through the books like crazy, hoping that he might have missed something.

Then, Jerome suddenly noticed a book he had never seen before in the study.

‘what?’

For a moment, goosebumps ran down my spine.

He had lived only in the Magic Tower before he went out into the world. There were books here that he had only skimmed through, but there were none that he had not read.

But why is there a book here that he doesn’t even remember?

Jerome took out the book with trembling hands. It was a very old book, but there was no problem in examining its contents since the entire library was covered with preservation magic.

Jerome slowly opened the book with a nervous expression.

Bam.

He couldn’t read much before he dropped the book without realizing it.

The book contained incredibly shocking content.

* * *

Jerome immediately returned to Rutania with the book. He had even sent a letter in advance because everyone had to gather.

The key figures of the estate, who had been devoted to their own work in each region, gathered one by one on the day of Jerome’s return.

And Claude came in a little later than the others with a haggard look on his face.

Belinda asked him as she saw him.

“Your complexion doesn’t look good. What’s going on these days?”

“There’s so much work to do. Since the lord has fallen, we have to make decisions and proceed on our own.”

Jiselle was the most important decision maker in the kingdom. When someone like her falls, it’s a big problem.

Although he announced that he would keep the secret as much as possible and devote himself to training, he could not stop the rumors from spreading.

Fortunately, the war was over and Zwalter was ruling the kingdom well, so there was no great chaos, but it was inevitable that there would be a lot of work.

After a long war, there was a lot to recover from. The task of stabilizing the newly acquired territory was no easy task.

If war is the job of the military, then post-war management is the job of the civil servants. All the officials, including Claude, were busy moving around without a moment to spare.

Belinda snickered and asked again.

“But isn’t it easy to work with most of the high-ranking officials since they are alumni of the Academy? They are friends. I heard that they all got together a few days ago to reminisce.”

Claude frowned and shook his head when he heard that.

“Oh my, no one is like they used to be. They’re different from when they were innocent academy students.”

“Why? Now that we have gained experience, everyone is doing a good job. It’s only natural that things will be different from when we were students, right?”

The fellow students that Claude brought in have now all become high-ranking officials, each holding a position. This is because they have long been contributors to the development of the Fenris territory.

“That’s not it. Everyone came here and lived a comfortable life and got into social life, so they got all dirty. They got dirty.”

“What does that mean?”

“Other than work talk, all you talk about is money. Money this and that… … Oh my, tsk tsk… … To be honest, that’s not the reason we’re gathered here to talk about that, right?”

“That’s… … right.”

“The lord has fallen and the post-war settlement is urgent, so let’s talk about something constructive. Everyone is crazy about money. Is there nothing else to talk about in the world but money? Seriously, they are my fellow students, but they are pathetic.”

“Well… … Everyone is older now and has people to take responsibility for, so money is important. We pay a lot for the hard work, but is it not enough?”

Belinda asked with a slightly worried expression. It was Giselle’s ruling principle to compensate sufficiently so that the managers would not become dissatisfied.

Claude answered with a deep sigh.

“So I got annoyed and said something sharp.”

“What did you say?”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“… … .”

“You can just pay it back later… … No, anyway, you can just pay it back, right? Ah, I’m really sick of talking about debt and money. Where does money fall from the sky?”

Claude was very short on money these days, because he still had not paid back all the money he had embezzled.

So, I used my authority as the governor of the territory to borrow a lot from my fellow students. But I still couldn’t fill the gap, so I felt like I was going to die every single day.

When Jiselle collapsed, I had to fill it up quickly, but my classmates kept urging me to do so, which was really stressful.

I even sent a letter to Amelia secretly asking her to return the money, but she ignored me completely.

“… … .”

Belinda looked at Wendy standing behind Claude.

Wendy just shook her head with a tired expression. This kid really had an expression that said there was no answer.

The others also stared blankly at Claude, unable to think of what to say.

As everyone was looking at Claude and lost in their own thoughts, Jerome finally arrived.

Everyone exchanged brief greetings, because they were all curious to see what Jerome had discovered.

Belinda was the first to ask urgently.

“You said you thought you knew what had happened to the young master? What do you mean? What did you find out?”

Others also showed curiosity on their faces.

Jerome took a moment to collect his thoughts. He pondered several times on his way here, wondering what to say.

It takes a long explanation to make others understand. I also have to show evidence.

But Jerome decided to get to the point first.

“Don’t be surprised, everyone. From what I’ve learned through my research… … .”

He took a deep breath and then looked around at everyone and said.

“It seems like Jiselle’s consciousness… … went to the past.”

Everyone gaped at those words. It was an unexpected answer.

Belinda asked in a trembling voice.

“If it’s the past… … What past? Our master isn’t a man with a past?”

It was so absurd that it made me say nonsense. It was so hard to believe.

Jerome took a few deep breaths and then said something even more unbelievable.

“A thousand years ago.”