Raviel’s visit threw the lodgings into chaos.
“Wait. What’s going on?” the Black Witch asked, flustered.
She and my other friends had just left work and were enjoying a calm night, so Raviel’s visit threw a wedge in their plans.
“Did something serious happen in the empire? A rebellion? Someone ambushed you? Is that why you suddenly had to—”
“You can add poisoning to that, Master of Black Dragon,” Raviel answered.
“What? Seriously?”
“Fortunately, all three were solved not long ago. I’ve come to see Gong-Ja for another matter.”
Raviel sat down on the sofa and looked at me, silently demanding an answer from me. Though she didn’t show it, I could tell from the sound of her heartbeat and breathing that she was feeling uncomfortable.
“Although I said I’m here for another matter, I don’t know the details either. I’m actually the one who wants to ask what in the world happened, Gong-Ja. You would rather die a thousand times than let me die once, so I can’t help but wonder why you would make such a request.”
Before I knew it, it wasn’t just Raviel staring at me, but all my friends, too. Raviel demanded an answer while the others wanted an explanation. Strategizing would soon begin.
I took a deep breath. “Yes, Raviel… If thousands of my deaths were what was needed to solve this, I would never ask this of you.”
“Then?”
“I almost lost the chance to see you again forever,” I said.
Everyone in the room stared at me.
“In twenty-four hours, I’m at the risk of being sealed away for eternity.”
Silence settled in. Everyone reacted differently. The first to understand the situation was Raviel. She took out a fan, rested her chin on it, and said, “So that’s what happened.”
“Hmm.”
The next person to understand what I was implying was the Paladin, which was both surprising and unsurprising in a way.
Patricia crossed her arms and stared at me. “I see. An enemy that uses a strategy that perfectly counters Gong-Ja has appeared. When you say ‘in twenty-four hours,’ does that mean you regressed a day just now?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“If someone knows what your ability does and is strong enough to subdue you, it’s inevitable that they would become an obstacle. Don’t worry about it too much, Gong-Ja.”
After hearing our talk, my other friends slowly began to understand what was going on. The Countess nodded while the Black Witch sighed. Since I had told the people here that I was a regressor, they understood things quickly.
Only the Viper looked around, confused. “Hey, what? What are you all talking about? Why do you all look at each other as if you understood everything? Respect your elders, please, because I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple, Rao Fan. Even when Gong-Ja dies, he doesn’t stay dead. The more he dies, the stronger he becomes, so sealing him away is the only strategy that works against him,” Patricia explained casually. “The only way to counter that is to isolate and seal him for eternity so he can’t kill himself. No one can help him that way, either.”
“Ah... Oh… I get it now, but how did you understand it so quickly only from what Gong-Ja said?”
“It’s one of the plans I made to eliminate Gong-Ja, so I could tell immediately.”
“Uhh… What? Eeeeh? What?” the Viper asked.
“Forget I said that. It’s all in the past now.” Patricia shook her head and looked at me. “So, Gong-Ja, who is the enemy? Who tried to seal you? Sealing you is easy to imagine but hard to do. Is there such a strong enemy?”
“Yes, it’s a man known as the Constellation Murderer.”
I told everyone what kind of person the Constellation Murderer was. The more I spoke, the more serious my friends became. Not even the worst fashion mix—gym clothes and three-striped slippers—could undermine the gravity of this situation. Well, it still somewhat did, but whatever.
My elimination would mean the fall of the Lion Realm. That may sound arrogant, but I was vital to this world. The first reason was that the Five Guilds had put an end to their old grudges and decided to cooperate because of me. Secondly, the Aegim Empire worshiped the Goddess of Protection as their deity. The goddess called me “hero” and accompanied me. This had allowed me to intervene in the Aegim Empire’s affairs.
The same applied to the empire where Raviel was. In truth, our marriage was the reason the two worlds could communicate smoothly. It would be needless to talk about the world where Uburka had been born. I was the pillar of the Lion Realm. The peace between many species and other realms rested on me. I couldn’t fall to my knees or disappear.
Raviel broke the heavy silence. “What a coincidence. This Constellation Murderer is an ancestor of mine. My family once belonged to the working class, but a hero who saved the empire helped us rise to great power instantly. He gave Prayer to my family before he left.”
Prayer was the sword that Raviel had once used to pierce her own heart while facing the mirror.
“Using Prayer, I once became a Constellation. Because of this, my world was treated as one of those apocalyptic books, which is how I got to meet you, Gong-Ja.”
“Yes, Raviel. I also always felt that life is filled with strange coincidences,” I said with a smile.
Kim Yul was the reason my orphanage director had founded the orphanage. Because of the director, I was who I was right now. It was truly a strange case of cause and effect.
Anastasha, who had a sour expression on her face, finally spoke up. “Yes, I get that it’s a weird coincidence. So, what’re you going to do now?”
“I’m going to get my revenge, of course.”
With that one sentence, we said our goodbyes to going to bed early tonight. We gathered at the coffee table in the living room, and the vassals needed for the task were summoned. The Countess even called in the Goldcoin-Biting Cat.
We were facing a natural predator of the Constellations. Hearing directly from a Constellation was the best way to seek advice about what we needed to do. When we asked how we were supposed to get the Constellation Murderer out of our way, the calico cat swayed their tail.
“The Constellation Murderer? Woooof, it’s hard to say. He’s a Hunter who has cleared the ninetieth floor. The rule is that Hunters who clear up to the ninetieth floor are granted their own bases.”
“I know. It’s a holy ground like the Great Library of All Life, so we just have to barge into that place, don’t we?” I asked.
“Wooof, that is possible…”
The cats’ expressions changed subtly. After exchanging glances with each other, they looked at me.
“But that’s the problem, Lord Scream Sky. No Hunter, not even a Constellation, has ever entered his holy ground. In fact, very few Constellations even possess a fragment of information about the place.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How so?”
“Because the nature of the Constellation Murderer’s holy ground lies in stealth. More exactly, it borders on oblivion. As you know, Lord Scream Sky, the Constellation Murderer is a crazy bastard who abandons his memories more easily than people do with a free napkin. He himself knows nothing about the life he has lived so far, what kind of person he is, or why he kills Constellations. No one knows, and the Constellation Murderer himself doesn’t really know either. That’s why oblivion is his core nature. Woof. We don’t know where he is. Even if he stood before us, we wouldn’t know who he is. Even if we knew his location, it would probably be impossible to reach him."
I sighed. Nothing had changed from the Kim Yul who sat by the window in the classroom, a stranger to everyone, including his peers.