Memoirs of the Returnee
chapter-279

Late at night.

Johanna returned to the Libra Medical Center.

“My lord. The press has caught wind of this.”

Victor said.

Of course, the fact that she, the eldest daughter, had been hospitalized for so long was a major event that could shake the stock prices of the affiliate companies.

“lt doesn’t matter. If an article breaks, will it drop by about 5%? We’re flush with cash, so let’s use this opportunity to buy more and increase my stake.”

Johanna nonchalantly grasped the doorknob of the WIP room.

“Oh, and.”

She turned to look at Vitro and continued.

“From now on, Zia is my enemy. Apply as much pressure as possible.”

“Yes.”

Johanna entered the hospital room.

“Hmm.”

Having stayed for quite a while, it now felt as familiar as home.

Come to think of it, this might be the first space she had stayed in continuously since becoming an adult.

Thump—

She lay down on the plush bed and looked up at the ceiling.

It was stark white.

No decorations whatsoever.

Thanks to that, she naturally fell into a certain line of thought.

—Stay as far away as possible. From Shion Ascal.

It was a sudden crazy remark from the Doctor, but perhaps it was the right thing to say.

Objectively thinking, she was obsessed with Shion Ascal.

Even if it was just greed, it was too much.

She was trying to acquire just one Chaser, who wasn't even a Balancer yet, by giving up a stake in the Golden Casino.

……Then.

Why did she want that bastard whose cost-benefit analysis didn’t add up?

Because of the potential he possessed as a talent?

Or, as Doctor Yu Hains said—

“……Love.”

Johanna murmured quietly to herself.

If it really was that kind of emotion, it might explain things, but unfortunately, she had never even felt something akin to Tove.’

“…….”

Suddenly, a certain knight came to mind.

It must have been about a decade or so ago.

Back when she was still a student, there was a time when she quietly watched an unnamed man practicing on a dummy.

Thud— Thud— Thud-

Watching the knight hone his swordsmanship on the dummy was Johanna’s routine.

One day, that knight died.

It was a strange thing.

The guy who was almost always there suddenly disappeared, and when she asked why, they said he was dead.

She thought people didn’t die easily, but he died easily.

Since she didn’t know the process or scene of his death, he was simply ‘dead’ with just that one word.

From that day on, Johanna consciously avoided that place.

Even as she avoided it, she occasionally walked there.

And so, some ten years later, one day.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

Johanna found Shion Ascal striking the dummy just like that man did back then.

The final destination of this recollection was inevitably Shion Ascal.

“……Damn it.”

Johanna twisted her lips into a wry smile.

More than anything, she couldn’t understand Shion Ascal.

Why does he like her yet refuse to come to her side?

Is it simply because he serves Zia? Because of a promise made to his already deceased father?

If that’s the case, if he doesn’t come to her, Zia will instead become her enemy.

For Zia’s sake as well, crawling under her would be the right choice.

—If you truly care for his heart, stay as far away as possible.

The professor's hint… it seemed like one, but it was a hard pill for Johanna to swallow.

She had honed the skill of gauging moments and discerning intentions for the sake of ‘winning,’ but this mess of emotions was decidedly a first for her.

—When you acknowledge that love, come to me.

“……Crazy talk.”

Johanna let out a hollow laugh.

To admit that she loved someone would be to deny her entire life’s journey.

Even if that were the case, the object of such feelings couldn’t possibly be Shion Ascal.

For starters, his bloodline is inferior.

“Sigh……”

Half-rising, she placed her laptop on her knees.

She was officially hospitalized now.

In other words, she was in a weakened state.

The various bugs, leeches, and maggots that had infiltrated her ranks would take this opportunity to engage in their foul play, so she might as well use this chance to weed them all out and kill them off…

This is how Johanna doesn’t waste time.

Time is the only thing in this world that is given equally to everyone. It’s too precious a treasure to waste on mere emotions.

Eternal life.

Today, I pondered the information Sheron had revealed.

“lt’s strange.”

“What is?”

Soliette asked.

For reference, this is the old Endex building. Now owned by soliette, my former residence.

“Was Sheron always so insightful?”

The reason she’s chasing Knightmare is still uncertain, and it’s odd that she includes her own family, Aventagher, in the list of suspects.

She’s different from before the regression—meticulous, smart, and cold.

“……YOU seem quite inte rested.”

Soliette gave me a peculiar look.

“Well, she is as white as a snowman.”

“What are you on about? That’s not it, I just don’t get it. Why is she helping us?”

“Huh? Why don’t you know? Of course, she should help.”

Soliette tilted her head in confusion. I slightly furrowed my brow.

“What’s so obvious about it?”

“We've made significant contributions to the realization of [Bethune].”

“……Ah, right.”

“Once the server stabilizes and [Bethune] is integrated into the dungeon system, the siblings Sheron and Erick will be sitting on a gold mine.”

Indeed, while we were slaving away underground, the Aventagher family poured their time and effort into laying the ‘foundation.’

They probably own a significant portion of the central city by now.

I heard they’re even planning to build a new town.

“Shion, don’t be too bitter. We’ve received our shares as well. 2.5% each.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Once the server stabilizes, we’ll be sitting on a pile of money too.”

“Well then… that's a relief.”

I may not know about Aventagher, but Sheron seems trustworthy.

“Hmm… But Shion,”

Soliette sank into the sofa, her expression quietly hardening.

“Why do you think the high families researched eternal life?”

“They’re rich and powerful. Plus, since eternal life isn’t completely out of the realm of impossibility, they’d want to give it a shot.”

Suddenly, I remembered what Dr. Vito from Libra had said.

—Originally, they researched eternal life. In theory, it’s possible.

Soliette's eyes widened.

“Really? It’s not impossible?”

“Yeah. There’s a guy in the underworld who’s 300 years old. He’s hardly human anymore, replacing his decaying body with monster parts, but he exists.”

If there was no possibility, it would be easy to give up.

But if there’s even a slight chance, it’s hard to let go.

Simple logic.

I'm also clinging to a slim chance of a cure, pouring money into Yu Hains, right?

“lf Knightmare is a byproduct of the research into eternal life…”

Maybe, Vito knows something about it.

“Shion.”

Soliette called me with a notably somber voice.

“What?”

“Sheron also mentioned Arkne as a suspicious candidate.”

“Right…”

She murmured, stroking her cat.

“lf Knightmare was born out of a mistake, or even intentionally by the Arkne family, what should I do?”

…

I pondered silently.

If it were the soliette from before regression, she would probably—

“Suicide.”

“What?”

Soliette jerked, staring at me with eyes full of shock.

“Are you insane, Shion? You don’t seriously wish for me to die”

“lt’s a joke.”

I was just testing the waters. To see if she retained even a sliver of her preregression memory.

If she had her memory, she wouldn't have reacted like this.

Soliette’s face turned into a sulky bulldog.

“That’s too harsh for a joke.”

“Yeah. So don’t ever think about suicide. Don’t die, fight and win. Even if Arkne is one of the families behind this, you’re soliette, not Arkne.”

“…I was planning to do that anyway.”

Soliette nodded sullenly.

“For now, let’s keep today’s information under wraps.”

“Of course.”

“Then I… have something to do today. I’m leaving.”

I got up from my seat.

…

“Eternal life, you say?”

As soon as I arrived at the lab, I asked Vito about eternal life.

“Yes. Dr. Vito, you once researched eternal life…”

“That’s right. Why, is our current research not interesting enough for you?”

Vito chuckled. I quickly waved my hands.

“No, that’s not it. But I wanted to follow in the glorious footsteps of Dr. Vito. Eternal life and artificial intelligence seem somewhat related…”

“ln fact, they’re not related. You might think that housing a soul in an inanimate object would grant eternal life, but in reality, they have a lifespan.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. They say the soul wears out and vanishes. That’s why we overwrite them. If you overwrite the soul thoroughly, it can last without worry for a hundred years.”

I followed Vito around the lab, jotting down his words in my notebook.

“And, eternal life was impossible.”

“Even with Dr. Vito’s intelligence and wisdom?”

“Ha ha.”

Vito laughed. He shook his head as if to say it was a hopeless case.

“lt’s not as easy as it looks, right? Eternal life means overcoming all the shackles, laws, and logic of the human world. That’s why ‘he’ eventually gave up.”

‘He’ would naturally be Sherlock.

“lnstead, he now seeks to perpetuate the Libra family eternally.”

“Aha…”

“Enough chit-chat. What about the thing I requested?”

“Ah, here it is.”

I handed Vito the paper with the checked formula.

“This time it’s perfect. There wasn’t a single thing to correct.”

“Thanks to you. Writing with Dr. Killian's intuition in mind, I tried to write it correctly from the start.”

“You flatter me.”

“lt’s not flattery.”

“Then it’s an honor.”

“Ha ha. You’re something else.”

I pretended to hold Vito in infinite awe, but in my mind, I was thinking about Sherlock.

“The prototype will be ready for release soon.”

Vito had just said that Sherlock gave up on eternal life. But since he wasn’t a perfect liar, there was a slight tremor in his voice and expression.

Perhaps it was the result of my time spent honing my gambling skills.

“We have more orders than expected, so we’ll need to find more humans to overwrite… I suppose I can ask the Intelligence Agency for that.”

“Yes.”

I had an intuition.

Vito knew something.

And Sherlock had a secret.

A secret shrouded in dark veils, of unfathomable depth…

Ding-

A message alert sounded on my personal phone.

There was only one person who would trigger an alert on this phone, ‘Zia’.

[Z: Big trouble. Sister suddenly cut off the funds.]

It seems Johanna has started to lose her patience.

Maybe it’s time to accelerate the setup.

I glanced at the back of Vito’s head and slowly typed a reply.

[I have a suitable plan. Please invite Lady Johanna to the Aerial Garden.]

Johanna immediately cut off Zia’s financial lifeline. She had put intense pressure on the banks and creditors that had lent money to her.

The effect was tremendous.

The very next day, Zia was begging to meet—

“……”

Anyway, Johanna had come up to the Aerial Garden to meet Zia, but her mood suddenly soured.

Because Jade had appeared.

“……”

Jade also had a face like he’d eaten shit.

Johanna asked, running her fingers through her hair.

“What are you doing there?”

Jade lifted his coffee cup.

“Tea time.”

“……”

“I heard a rumor you were hospitalized. Already discharged?”

This time it was Jade’s question.

Johanna raised her middle finger.

“No. Haven’t been discharged yet.”

“Lucky for you. Maybe you’ll die tomorrow?”

“Ha ha.”

Johanna laughed. This bastard Jade, he’s the same as ever, hasn’t changed a bit.

“G0 die yourself.”

“lt’s a bit difficult, you see. If anything could kill me, it’s probably overwork. Huh.”

Jade smiled at his own joke.

“What the fuck are you saying, you moron. Just fuck off.”

Now that they were both of a certain age, they should be able to maintain some decorum, and she really wished they could, but whenever they were alone together, there was always trouble.

“Extreme mana stone ore management, cafe balancer diplomacy, and conversations with various royals among other things…”

Dodging the idiot who wouldn’t stop bragging about himself, Johanna stepped out of the mansion. She picked up her phone and called Zia.

Tu-tu-tu-

She doesn't pick up again.

Is this bitch playing games with me again? Just as her anger was about to spike.

Thump-!

The sound of hitting a straw dummy echoed.

Johanna belatedly realized she had entered 'that place’.

Thump-!

She followed the bursting sounds down the path.

Around the garden, stopping behind a grassy wall, she saw someone’s back.

Shion Ascal.

Thump-!

He was swinging a wooden sword at the dummy. He must have been at it for a while, as sweat droplets flew.

Thump! Thump!

His swordsmanship was quite exquisite. It was a style she hadn't seen before, but it was not chaotic. There was a formality to the swordplay, and the moves were as elegant as they were precise.

Johanna watched him with her arms crosse d…

…Cough.

Suddenly, he put down the wooden sword. Clutching his chest, he coughed.

—Cough!

Blood streaked through the gaps in his teeth, dripping down. The dark red blood spread on the sandy floor like spots.

…Phew.

He quickly wiped his lips and gripped the wooden sword again, but Johanna was momentarily speechless.

A strange tremor went through her heart.