CH 82

Don’t Regret It

***

The conference began. Gray, who was in charge of the opening speech, came down from the podium after complimenting him in a proper way. Neveah was waiting.

“You made an appointment?”

“Yes.”

“Guide me.”

Gray replied in a nervous tone that didn’t match his smiling face.

There was a woman sitting at the round table. He thought he remembered seeing her next to his mother one day.

“Ha, ha! Thank you for your time. It’s Gray Buchanan.”

Gray sat across from her with a likable smile. The white-haired scholar stood up lightly, bent down, and sat down again.

“I’m Margaret Hawksong.”

Gray grinned.

“You’re in the same lab with my mother.”

“That’s right.”

“How’s mother?”

“Zhenya, of course.”

Dr. Hawksong smiled softly. It was a smile that was hard to recognize. She was the type of person he hated. The kind whose unfounded affinity doesn’t work well.

“Well, I’m sure you’re doing what you want to do for your children, so you’re not going to be bad.”

Dr. Hawksong’s composure was not broken even when Gray shrugged. Gray is flat.

‘I really hate it.’

“How’s your research going?”

“Thanks to your concern, it’s going smoothly.”

“Really? What about the End?”

Despite Gray’s blatant contempt, Dr. Hawksong only smiled softly.

“Yes. What will the End do?”

“I’m glad it’s going well! I think my sister might have disturbed you again.”

After Gray spoke, he quickly looked into Dr. Hawksong’s eyes.  But there was a glimmer of wonder on her wrinkled face.

“Your sister?”

“Kyrie Buchanan. My little sister  Don’t you know?”

“I heard her name from Zhenya.  Did your sister come to the Aldrem?”

“Oh. Not that.”

Gray looked at Dr. Hawksong as if searching.  Dr. Hawksong had a bewildered face. He couldn’t tell if it was because she was an old woman or if she really didn’t know, but now he was tired of immersing himself in such a problem.  He had to go to the legendary lord again.

“…..No. Done.  Then I’ll just go  Have a lot of fun and see you again when you have a chance.”

Gray, no longer feeling the need to sit down, got up.  Dr. Hawksong sent him off with a moderately regretful expression on her face.  A sense of triumph flashed across her aging face, but Gray, who had already turned, could not see it.

***

The other two doctors were staying with Kyrie. Upon returning to the accommodation, Dr. Hawksong made sure that the curtains were properly closed as soon as she returned to the accommodation. Looking out the window, a few people were looking this way with suspicious movements.

“There are people watching.”

“What?”

“Huh, huh, really?”

“Yes, Gerry. I’m not that keen, but I’m sure they’re noble men’s servants.”

“Are they watching us?”

“I guess so. It won’t be easy to go outside.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Everyone was nervous, but immediately there was an unnerving voice heard over the door.

“Doctor, it’s Jerome!”

“…..that drunkard.”

Dr. Seward gritted his teeth with a startled heart. When Dr. Poe got up and opened the door, Jerome, who was drunk, came into the room.

“Ugh, the smell of alcohol……!”

“Jerome, how much did you drink? You are sure the wagon is wanted?”

“Oh, of course!”

Jerome replied, grinning.

“I’ve got a carriage, and I know this area very well.…. It’s a little far, but wheat beer is cheap.”

“Okay, I’ll…… back off. Whoo, smell.”

Dr. Poe shook his head. Jerome pouted when he saw it.

“But, I, I found something really funny!”

“Something funny?”

“It’s a lot of fun, wait a minute…….”

Jerome groped his head and rummaged in his pocket because of alcohol.

“Oh, here it is……. Take a look, Doctor.”

Jerome reached out with a tongue twister. In his rugged hands, he saw something like a note made to cut a rough mine into long pieces.

“What is this, Jerome?”

“Oh! It’s usually stuck on the walls of bars, but it’s used to save manpower…….”

He opened the note with a dull hand.

「Looking for people: women, between the ages of 20 and 29, waist length hair, preferential treatment for light purple or similar colors, those who can dye, 50 gold per day.」

“Inquiry says Nix inn, doesn’t this look like a lady?”

Other people couldn’t laugh. Dr. Poe opened his mouth with a terrible expression.

“Nix inn is the most expensive luxury inn in Pronoa…….Investors usually stay…….”

“Gray did it. He is going to use people to disguise themself as if it’s me.”

That means that Gray is not next to Nathaniel of his own volition. Dr. Poe sent Jerome out, wondering about the conversation. As his ears disappeared, Dr. Seward said, glaringly.

“Isn’t that a good opportunity? If you’re distracted by the band, it’s easy to get out of here!”

“What do you think, Miss Buchanan?”

Kyrie answered after a brief silence.

“We can get out of here. But if Nathaniel finds out, it might be dangerous for the person who plays the role.”

After talking, Kyrie let out a long breath.

‘Now it’s pointless.’

“…I have a suggestion.”

The doctors looked there. Kyrie, who breathed in for a moment, raised her head and whispered quietly.

“I need to see Nathaniel.” 

***

The conference passed like a stream. With nothing happening, it became the fourth and last day. There were a lot of people leaving Pronoa early after the presentation. Perhaps because of that, the wagon that leaves the accommodation has also become twice as usual. However, Aldrem’s scholars did not move.

“They are only staying in the dorms?”

Neveah asked his henchmen. The henchmen she planted around the accommodation nodded.

“We’re monitoring as you ordered, but there’s no sign of coming out.”

“You’ve been keeping an eye on the exits, haven’t you?”

“Of course.”

“What about the room?”

“The lights are still on, and there’s a sign of presence.”

“That’s weird.”

Neveah looked up and looked at the window of the room where the doctors stayed. She could see movement over the curtain.

“It’s weird.”

Ignoring Neveah’s premonitions, the conference was running toward the end. The closing ceremony will be over soon.

There was one more strange thing.

Until yesterday, scholars, who had been loitering like fresh corpses from their graves, were all dressed in ridiculous clothes. They wore bellies on their heads, pink flamingos between their legs, or carrots on their noses. And everyone was laughing.

Neveah narrowed her brows and looked around. She thought there was an event around, but there was no poster.

“What the hell is wrong with these people?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they became crazy because they are studying too much?”

“That makes sense.”

Anyway, it was time to move on to prepare for something else.

“Keep an eye on the doctors. Once their wagon leaves the accommodation, grab it and search inside.”

“Yes.”

Neveah, who ordered the men, moved. It was an old house outside the city.

“Are you ready?”

As Neveah stepped inside and asked, a woman with light purple hair nodded.

“You pay me if I run away really well, right?”

‘If he runs away well.’

“Pronoa is my courtyard. Huhu, I’ll catch a thousand.”

Neveah looked at the woman without answering.

In the end, it didn’t save a woman with natural light purple hair.

‘I guess so. It’s a rare color.’

So she tried to dye a woman’s hair and apply perfume all over her body to make it look like she was cared for.

It’s pretty much the same. But apparently it was far different from Kyrie Buchanan, who Neveah knew. Sitting position, angle of head, finger position……. No, there was a difference in the atmosphere from the back, regardless of the details. That’s what dignity was like. You don’t know if you put it in front of you, but it stands out compared to other things.

‘Will that legendary lord ever fall for it?’

Neveah has Buchanan, but she didn’t think Gray Buchanan was smart. It seems that Gray Buchanan would be particularly stupid if he was next to the legendary lord, so it was better for him to fall off the legendary lord.

“Beginning when a loud trumpet sounds. Don’t forget.”

“I won’t forget, it’s a money cut.”

A woman who imitated Kyrie Buchanan waved her hand and laughed.

“By the way, we’re doing all sorts of events! It’s unique, it’s unique! Whose idea is this?”

Neveah paused. 

Event?

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, my God!”

The woman grinned, covering her mouth with her hands.

“I’m looking forward to it! It’s going to be more fun than usual! By the way, am I the only tagger?”

“This is not hide-and-seek.”

“What?”

The woman opened her eyes wide, and smiled.

“What are you talking about? Sister, I thought you were from the Buchanan family!”

“That’s right.”

“I heard it was Buchanan who greeted you at the opening ceremony. Then, of course, aren’t you preparing for ‘that’ closing ceremony?”

“That?”

”Yes! ‘That!'”

It was a moment when Neveah felt frustrated with the miscommunication.

“You’ve waited a long time!”

A voice of enormous size exploded from the side of the Great Library of Pronoa. It was the voice of the chairman of the conference.

“Oh, it’s starting!”

The woman began stamping her feet excitedly as if she knew something.

“What is it?”

Neveah was embarrassed and took to the boulevard, and was stunned by the sight before her. People who didn’t know where it came from were filling the streets. As we advanced through them, the chairman stood in the far-off central garden of the Great Library of Pronoa.

“Nice to meet you! Scholars who are still alive this year! We just finished the 169th Conference on the Study of the Apocalypse of Pronoa!”

People around me cheered. The chairman also raised his voice and laughed.

“It seems like everyone is expecting something else other than an academic conference. I know how you feel. This city shouldn’t be so fun. You know, Pronoa is a city where people come together to keep up the good work of knowledge.”

The chairman then extended his arms to the sky.

“Then from now on, the 166th!”

(T/N: ugh I know above it was 169 and here it is 166 but it’s the same in raws)

“Waaaah!

“Let’s start a party to celebrate the safe closing of the conference in Pronoa!”

“What…….”

Neveah mumbled, opening her eyes. Soon after, a group of people walked forward next to the chairman. Numerous drinking ceremonies began to be drawn in front of them. Neveah’s face hardened when she saw it.

‘Wizards!’

Various mana then burst out, covering all of Pronoa.

“Oh, my God! It’s like a firefly! Pretty!”

“You’ve taken care of yourself this year!”

And people’s hair color began to change. In light purple.

The chairman chanted a wedge.

“This year’s event is ‘Finding the Hidden Kyrie Buchanan!'”

Neveah’s face hardened. Something was going wrong.

***

“Dr. Seward! If I do this, can I really talk to the Lord Protector?”

One wizard looked back anxiously and asked. Gerald Seward, behind the wizards, replied firmly.

“Of course.”

The sorcerer’s pedigree is not completely severed on the continent. Still, the Owrenbridge lineage is the most powerful wizard; magicians are almost going to Pronoa to study.

“I’m betting my research on it and guaranteeing it. If you help me with this, I can meet the Lord Protector!”

“If you’re trying to fool us, I’ll leave you alone! Originally, this event was supposed to be the world’s best snow swimming festival!”

“Excuse me, Chairman. I put up my research paper. Dr. Poe and Dr. Hawksong didn’t guarantee it!”

“That’s true, but…….”

Chairman Temar glanced at him, sweeping his beard.

“……If that’s really possible, I must ask about the progenitor. Is that possible?”

“Of course!”

Dr. Seward’s cheerful answer was interrupted by another doctor who used magic.

“Maybe about the end of the year.…?”

“Of course!”

Another doctor pushed his head.

“Then how did he become a transcendent in man?”

Dr. Seward opened both hands.

“I can ask you everything!”

“Oooooooooooooh!”

Wizards from each lab cheered in tears.

“Yes! I can finally finish my thesis! I can write the name of the Lord Protector in the source!”

“It’s not like you’re committing a crime, what!”

“Actually, I don’t care if it’s a crime!”

It was an irresistible temptation for scholars thirsty for evidence to have a meeting with the Protector. It didn’t matter if it was a crime. The fighting spirit of the wizards flared up.

“Just turn them all into women!”

“Long hair!”

It was a satisfying sight. At that time, Chairman Temar approached and asked secretly.

“By the way, that’s why Kyrie Buchanan…Where are you? I hope you’re hiding it.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Dr. Seward raised his eyebrows.

“Of course she’s not here.”

***

“Found it! It’s Kyrie Buchanan!”

“No! I found it here!”

“Wait, what did you say about the description?”

“They say she’s pretty!”

“What the hell is this crap?”

As soon as he heard the chairman’s voice, Gray, who ran out of the inn, tore his head off. On all sides, a shout of “I found Kyrie Buchanan” rang out. Gray caught at least one of the dogs dressed normally.

“Hey! What the hell is going on?!”

The old man, who made a ribbon with a light purple beard and tied it up, swept Gray up and down.

“Don’t you know the closing party?”

“What’s that!”

“A party celebrating the end of the conference!”

“What kind of crazy thing is that?”

“A crazy man doesn’t do research!”

The old man flew into a rage and ran away. The remaining Gray shook his head and used evil.

“That’s not the plan. Argh! Where the hell is Neveah!”

Even worse, there was still something to be confirmed.

Black shoes were seen stepping on the inn’s doorstep. Gray slowly lowered the hand that held his head.

Nathaniel walked out of the inn in a horribly unnatural gesture. It was the first time he looked insecure. He was stunned whenever he heard Kyrie Buchan’s name from a stranger. He was like a man who fell in the middle of a battlefield. Then again, when a ray of insanity began to show on his face, Gray was fed up.

‘I don’t care anymore!’

He must have taken the money, and he wanted to get out of this crazy creature as soon as possible. Gray swallowed the confusion and raised his voice.

“Mr. Nathaniel, I think Kyrie is in Pronoa! She must be trying to get out of this mess! You have to find it!”

Nathaniel looked at Gray. The two men’s eyes met. Unlike his eyes, his nervous face, Gray’s head was cold.

‘Say you should.’

Gray thought.

‘Tell him where she is. And go ahead. Just like then!’

At that moment, a certain emotion sparkled in Nathaniel’s eyes.

[That’s right.]Vsaid Nathaniel. He was enjoying himself. And it seemed a little dangerous. Gray was embarrassed.

‘Why doesn’t he disappear like it did then?’

[Buchanan]

“Yes?”

[Baggage is arriving soon from the capital. Send it to me.]

“Send it to you? Where…….”

[Luggage will know that]

In Nathaniel’s grasp, there was a white chess piece of the king. When Nathaniel gave strength to his hand, the ivory piece crumbled easily. Gray, who was watching, swallowed his mouth without realizing it. Along with the broken chess king, the last reason that supported Nathaniel seemed to have crumbled together.

Nathaniel smiled darkly.

[It’s time to go see the real thing]

At that moment, in an abandoned house 21 miles from Pronoa, Kyrie took off her veil.

Nathaniel didn’t know how to explain the sensation. Only he could tell. The veil came off. And Kyrie’s trace, which had been erased by the power of the veil, was caught by his senses. Nathaniel paused for a moment, closed his eyes and looked up.

Time that had stood still began to flow again.  The hell of eternity is over.  The world has also regained meaning.  The distance Kyrie passed, the wind she felt, the sun she saw, the land she stepped on, the world of Kyrie.

He opened his eyes slowly.  Before he went to meet her, he had a work to do.

Nathaniel appeared in front of the wizards gathered in the public garden of the Pronoia Grand Library in an instant.

[Hello. It looks fun, can I join you?]

“God…? God……!”

[Unfortunately, I’m not a god. But it’s something like that.]

Nathaniel looked around happily, saying, His eyes soon fell on Dr. Seward. He stepped down in front of Dr. Seward.

[I didn’t know Kyrie had such an old friend. Are you a new friend?]

“…..that, that.”

Dr. Seward stretched out his neck like a turtle and smoothed his collar. It seemed almost speechless, but he came up with Kyrie’s advice.

‘If Nathaniel talks to you, answer him right away. But don’t be too afraid to confront him. He did kill a lot of people, but he doesn’t kill anyone.’ 

That’s ridiculous! Dr. Seward answered with a death wound.

“That’s right……Hey, you, legendary lord.”

[Hmm. Yes?]

Nathaniel smiled brightly. He looked really happy.

[I think you have my stuff. Right?]

“What?”

Dr. Seward, who was bewildered for a moment, groped without knowing what to do. He felt something rustling in his pocket and swallowed his saliva. What came out of his arms was Kirier’s hair wrapped in paper.

Nathaniel looked strangely displeased.

[Where’s the hair?]

“Yes?  That, around the shoulder….”

[Did you cut it?]

Dr. Seward freaked out.

“No! No! No! Not at all! Buchanan gave this to me! I never, ever asked for anything!”

[Really?]

“Yes!”

[If so.]

Nathaniel nodded gently.

[Can I take it then?]

It was a soft and friendly question, but Dr. Seward could not answer immediately.

“B, but this is the thing, the thing that Buchanan gave us…….”

[But I want it]

His jaw rattled with such innocent words as a child.

“B, b, but…Without this, we can’t talk to the Lord Protector.….”

Nathaniel tilted his head languidly.

[Why Leshaux?]

“Yes? That’s a lot of things to ask…”

[Oh, you are a scholar]

Surprisingly, the legendary lord burst into laughter and tilted his head. Then he hit the floor with a cane that appeared before he knew it.

[Now. I feel very good.  So I want you to give it to me so I can keep feeling good. Instead, I’ll give you whatever you want, whatever is within my abilities. Except for things related to Kyrie, of course.]

“Yes…?  what do you mean…?”

[Yes. Whatever. But you will have to choose wisely. Excessive greed always ruins the body.]

Nathaniel giggled and looked down at Dr. Seward.  As his arrogant blue eyes flashed, Dr. Seward suddenly felt as if he had been plunged into his eyes.

‘I’m just saying this just in case, but never fall for his temptation.’

Kyrie Buchanan said so. She may have foreseen this.

But he was a scholar. Seeking for truth, wanting to see the end of knowledge

Dr. Seward hesitated, even though he knew he could just write a letter of introduction. If you reach out now, everything will be in your hands.

The face of the benevolent legendary lord was calm and beautiful, and like a man who knew all the secrets of the world. Dr. Seward opened his mouth unexpectedly.

“This, this, the truth of the world……, want the end of wisdom……!”

In an instant, Nathaniel’s black pupils were torn vertically.

[Ah. Do you want that?]

Nathaniel smiled brightly. It was such a beautiful face that he couldn’t help but laugh.

[How can you be so stupid all the time?  Kyrie wouldn’t have done that……Is it your greed?  Well, it doesn’t matter.]

Nathaniel held out his hand.  Dr. Seward, pale and tired, handed Kyrie’s hair.  Nathaniel carefully took Kyrie’s hair and held it softly.  Then, the light purple hair disappeared, surrounded by sparkling blue mana. Even the air shuddered between Nathaniel’s lips.

[Great. I’ll show you beyond the horizon.]

Nathaniel swapped his hands up and down, slowly reaching out to Dr. Seward.  A dark shadow slowly covered Dr. Seward’s face.

Only then did Dr. Seaward realize what he had done.  But he couldn’t turn back.  Through the five-pronged darkness(black fingers, it changed colour), his clear, cold eyes twinkled like the morning star of the universe and laughed at him.

[Don’t regret it……]

***

Nathaniel~