That Man’s 101st Bad Ending

Saint and Robert-2

I always thought about it, but a day spent at the Wall Tower was boring.

Even if you can’t see the front, there’s a lot you can do.

For example, if I could go out often, it would have been a little better.

A life where you can’t even go out and spend time praying.

Maybe if I had been raised as a saint from birth,

Adrian, who came as a child and became a saint, was gradually feeling bored with things like this.

No matter how much you get used to it, it would be a lie if you didn’t feel bored with this repetitive life.

A thin breath leaked from Adrian’s mouth as he prayed with his hands together.

Why can’t I focus on prayer lately?

I already knew it, but whenever I thought of the name, it seemed to make things more complicated in my head.

For one person to live dozens of lives, is such a thing possible with common sense?

“Robert Taylor,” Adrian’s eyebrows wrinkled at the name he could now utter naturally.

What he saw was only a snippet.

However, even that piece goes over 10 times, and if so, I couldn’t even guess how many lives I’ve lived.

Reading memories has always been about looking at an achromatic world.

Reading the momentary memories made in black and white while watching the story of the person with Robert’s voice.

However, the end of this continuous memory was always heading towards death.

Perhaps, if my memory is correct, it was to my older sister, Yuria.

In Robert’s memories, there were cases where Miragen appeared, or the grand duke who guarded the north appeared.

However, not having confidence… Maybe I only read memories without confidence.

What was more nerve-wracking than that was the fact that one person had memories of many lives.

…Among the relics he knows, there is nothing that allows him to return.

And as long as there is no contact with the church, the power of the artifact cannot be used.

Since there is no explanation other than regression for one person experiencing the same event multiple times,

Adrian thought that Robert’s return was somewhat certain.

‘No. 12.’

The way he saw Robert dying.

In that memory, Robert died in many ways.

He died from being strangled on the gallows, and was poisoned by a woman presumably Yuria Taylor.

What I noticed in the process was Robert’s attitude.

Like a person who has died many times, the appearance of being calm in the face of death was rather bizarre.

There is no one who is not afraid of death.

No matter how heroic you are, it is your nature to want to survive ugly in the face of death.

How can you be so calm? However, only once did Robert falter in the face of death.

-You finally came to kill me. I’ve been waiting…for a very long time.

– You’ve been waiting for someone you’ve never seen since you were born, do you think that saying that will save your life?

-Has your life been peaceful this time?

Adrian’s memories are very fragmentary.

Mirazen thrusts a sword at Robert, who has wounds and scars all over his body.

It was a scene where the corpses of countless knights were scattered, and only Mirazen survived and looked at the kneeling Robert.

That expression was expressionless.

With a mixture of anger at losing all the knights and doubt at having seen him for a long time.

It was a face Adrian himself had never seen before, but the expression of a man who looked like Robert was more bizarre.

As if she really wanted death, she was smiling softly at Mirazen.

Several wounds large enough to show bones,

Seeing him gasping for breath as if he were going to die at any moment, it felt like his heart was getting stuffy for some reason.

-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wasn’t it the first time you saw me?

-…I’m glad you weren’t hurt. Because you are still alive, you are healthy until this time. I feel very fortunate.

The incomprehensible sound continued.

Memories that Miragen and herself cannot understand, only Robert’s.

Adrian realized it was one of the memories he hadn’t seen.

Could it be that Robert and Miragen had a special relationship?

However, I couldn’t know anything unless Robert told me.

For now it’s just speculation,

To say that even that was accurate was flawed in many ways.

Mirazen, who had been silently listening to Robert, raised her sword and swung it.

It was an expression that said it was not worth listening to.

But Robert was still smiling.

Until the moment when the sword cut his throat and brought him to death, he was just smiling and saying that everything was fortunate.

“…Because I have certain memories.”

Can you smile like that until the moment you die?

And what kind of relationship did you have with Mirazen to have such complicated feelings?

It was something that I couldn’t easily understand with my current self.

I thought that if we headed south together this time, we would be able to catch the clue.

Relics hidden in the South, relics I studied sometime ago, could explain Robert’s return.

So it was complicated in my head.

It was because of the inexplicable memories of a man named Robert Taylor, and the emptiness of his mind that bothered him.

Come to think of it, did you say you were still in the North?

It was around the time Adrian slowly got up from his seat, recalling the contact he had with Mirajen a few days ago.

“Saintess, there has been a call from the imperial family.”

After thinking about Paladin’s voice from behind for a while, he realized that it was Miragen’s call.

It’s a bit early to contact you, but I wonder if something urgent has happened.

As I followed Paladin to the room, I heard a vibrating sound from the crystal ball.

“Miragen? Did something urgent happen?”

-…Ah, I got it.

It was a dark voice unlike usual.

Even without looking at his face, his gloomy expression seemed to be visible even outside the crystal ball.

For a moment, even wondering what the hell had happened, Adrian’s shoulders trembled at Mirajen’s continued words.

-I think Prince Taylor has something he wants to say to you. He contacted me, so I said something. Don’t you know I’m not a crystal ball?

“Me, to me?”

-Yes, I’ll connect you anyway, so take it right away. I won’t be contacting Prince Taylor anymore. Don’t forget to tell that.

“…Uh, okay.”

Is there anything you want to say to yourself?

The fact of the momentary regression came into my mind, but there was no way I could tell it to me.

If he did, he would have already told Mirazen.

However, since Mirazen also didn’t know that,

Realizing that he was talking about something else, Adrian slowly cleared his voice.

…I was just thinking about Robert,

I never thought I would get in touch by coincidence.

I trembled with my nervous mind, and then exhaled calmly.

once, twice. It was at that moment that Adrian, who was regaining his saintly form, heard his voice.

-Adrian, long time no see.

“Hey!”

The voice that came at an unexpected moment was enough to open Adrian’s closed eyes.

This situation that makes you scream in surprise… Haven’t you already experienced it once?

Robert, who laughed with a small chuckle, quietly opened his mouth.

– It’s been a while since you’ve been so surprised.

#

I didn’t mean to make fun of him, but Adrian seemed to think I’d make fun of him for being surprised.

He said that he was never surprised, and that all he had to do was bite his tongue at the sudden voice.

If you think about it, maybe that’s a surprise.

Rather, I think that Adrian who looks like that looks better, but

It must be that she was concerned about the name of a saint in her own way.

As the memory of the scream earlier faded away, Adrian let out a clearing of his throat and cautiously opened his mouth.

-By the way, why did you try to contact me? I heard you’re still in the North.

“In fact, we are already at the center. Is it correct to call it the capital?”

-If it’s the capital… It’s been quite some time since we left from the north.

“Because I have a question for Adrian. It would be more correct to say permission.”

Adrian was puzzled by the word permission, but he continued talking as if he guessed what I was about to say.

If it was coming to the capital at this time, it would probably be one, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to guess.

-If you want to meet Miragen, you won’t need my permission. You can meet at the Imperial Palace instead of the Wall Tower.

“Why would I go to the imperial palace? And speaking of Her Highness, the princess, I’ve already met too many of them in the north.”

-…ah. Come to think of it, yes.

Why can’t I remember that I’m trying to meet Adrian?

Her thoughts seem to be heading in a slightly different direction,

It seemed better to be a little more direct.

It was because he had to be with Adrian unless he was going back to the duke’s mansion anyway.

“I’m going to see Adrian now.”

-yes…?

“The reason why I came back quickly from the north and the reason I came right to the capital was to see you in person. Isn’t it a new year now? We’ll have to go to the South together, so shouldn’t we meet before that?”

Adrian did not answer my question right away, as if pondering for a moment.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a slightly flustered voice in my ears.

Perhaps he was taken aback by something, and a smirk came out of his slightly raised voice.

-Ahh! Yes. I should have told you about the South, but are you planning to come in person?

“I tried to get permission. Isn’t there a lot to do in the South?”

Going to the Temple of the Moon with seeking relics.

In addition, I had to finish the investigation on Theresia and the dragon.

Is it really possible in one month?

The reason I started preparing as early as possible was to shorten the preparation period even a little bit.

– There is nothing to ask for permission. If you want, I can meet you right now, but would you like to come to the Wall Tower right away?

“I see. If so, we’ll talk about the rest later.”

-But um… I had something I was going to say.

After hesitating for a while, Adrian pondered for a while and then opened his mouth small.

It was such a small voice that even the artifact couldn’t contain the sound.

-Robe- Robe…Robert.

What was contained in the kind voice was my name.

The words I had previously said about being hard to name passed through my head.

It seemed that he was still having a hard time calling out the name, but even so, it seemed as if the image of him struggling to say it was drawn in front of his eyes.

Those white cheeks dyed red, what expression would I make if I said that in front of me.

-I can call you by my first name now. Robert… even calls me Adrian.

“Haven’t you already decided to do that?”

-I think the meaning is a little different now. In a way, I guess you could say they were close friends.

be friendly Let’s laugh a little at that, Adrian continued.

-Then, shall we see you a little later?

He seemed a bit shy.

It must have been very difficult to say my name, so I could hear my small sighs in my ears.

I don’t know what name calling means to her, but I think it will get better.

I didn’t know that we would call each other by name, but

If this life ended in failure again, it seemed that there would be many regrets in many ways.