153 – Tales of the Past: Serena Elizabeth – 4
“To be able to… die?”
The boy nodded. Help me die, I couldn’t understand what the hell that was talking about. Blue eyes trembled.
“What do you mean?”
So I asked.
Serena was extremely anxious about someone’s death. It was largely because of watching my father and mother closely.
After the family relationship was driven to a catastrophe by Lyla, the mother’s condition worsened, and she was walking a tightrope on the line of death.
My father thought we would meet again someday, but he realized the truth that he had already died several years ago and all he sees now is a simple corpse.
It wouldn’t be strange if her mother died anytime and her father was already dead, so it was only natural that Serena would cling to life so she wouldn’t have to go through that kind of loss again.
Moreover, the boy appeared like a comet and was the one who solved all the problems Serena was facing.
It was only after the boy came that her mother’s condition improved to the point where she was able to worry about the distant future instead of just tomorrow.
It was also after the boy came that she woke up in the morning and was afraid that her mother might be cold and could not fall asleep.
Not only did she receive all kinds of magic tools, but Serena herself became strong enough not to blink an eye at moderate violence.
Serena, who lived day by day unable to die, was the person who found light again, so he couldn’t even guess where to start repaying the favor he received.
When the person who was no different from that benefactor suddenly asked to kill him, he had no choice but to react passionately.
“Why, why are you saying that?”
His voice trembled.
Serena herself thought that she treated boys normally based on common sense, but in fact, she showed a strong dependency.
It was worth it.
Since her parents’ relationship ruptured, Serena hadn’t felt true love except for hugging her mother in a shabby bed after a hard day’s work.
Her father locked herself in her room and didn’t show up, Layla couldn’t treat Serena kindly, all the old attendants were kicked out, and the new ones joined Lila.
The only time Serena could put her mind at ease was when she was held in her mother’s arms, and even during that time, she had to worry that her mother might die.
In such a situation, another warm sanctuary was created, so it was only natural to show obsession with that warmth. Because her mother and boy were all that Serena had in her world.
Tears welled up in his blue eyes. Her tongue stiffened from holding back her tears.
“S-Don’t say that. Yes? Don’t say you’ll die. I’ll do better. If there’s something you don’t like, I’ll fix it. So, so…”
Seeing Serena crying as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment, the boy smiled wryly and then stretched out his finger and wiped away the thick liquid around her eyes.
Serena held her hand tightly.
“Serena.”
“Brother, brother. Hehe…”
Serena pulled her hand into the boy’s arms and rubbed her face against his chest. It was something I would never have done because it was embarrassing.
It was because the shock of the last few hours had been too great.
I met my father face-to-face for the first time in years, and out of the blue, I learned the shocking truth that my father was actually a corpse.
Mother was dragged out of bed and nearly subjected to abuse, and even Serena herself was nearly subjected to similar abuse.
In such a situation, when the boy who followed him like an older brother even asked to kill him, he was completely psychologically intimidated.
The boy patted Serena on the back. Serena crouched down like a newborn baby animal and dug deeper into the warm yet reliable arms.
“Why would I ask you to kill me? It’s all because there’s a good reason.”
“I don’t know. Something like that. I don’t even want to know…”
“Serena. Raise your head.”
At the boy’s gentle request, Serena looked up with cloudy eyes full of tears. In that blue wall, I caught the figure of a boy cutting off his own throat with a dagger without hesitation.
The dagger pierced his left carotid artery, tore through it, and bounced back out through his right carotid artery. Blood gushed out like a fountain from the severed veins, staining the lawn red.
The neck was hunched back. The bright red muscles and flesh inside it were exposed.
“……uh?”
Serena, who witnessed the shocking scene right in front of her eyes, was unable to even scream and stiffened for a moment.
The blood splattered around him began to flow back into his body.
The red-stained lawn turned green, and the blood scattered in all directions gathered into the carotid artery. Finally, the cut off skin and neck muscles were glued together and restored to their original shape.
The boy who had completely restored his neck shrugged.
“Did you see it?”
“…”
Serena was shocked in a different way this time and couldn’t answer. It was because he couldn’t figure out how he had recovered from that fatal wound.
Did you use a scroll enchanted with healing?
not. With one hand slitting his neck and the other hand patting his back, there was no time to use the scroll.
Did you use healing magic?
not. To say that he used magic, there was no sign of a change in the flow of mana. Because magic always accompanies the flow of mana.
While learning swordsmanship in earnest and developing her talent, Serena learned how to read the flow of mana. It’s also very sensitive.
Since Serena was in the boy’s arms, if she had used healing magic, she would have noticed that the flow of mana had changed.
However, the mana floating around the boy did not change at all. If it’s not a healing magic or a healing scroll, what is the identity of the boy’s regenerative power?
Serena completely forgot about crying and had rabbit eyes in surprise. It was because I was much more surprised than I thought at the eccentricity unfolding in front of my eyes.
“I’m not someone who dies so easily. As you just saw, I can recover from any wounds. I think this is a kind of super regenerative ability. It’s powerful enough to even reverse aging and make me never die. “
“Well, then… isn’t that better? Not dying is a good thing.”
It was a natural question, since I had seen stories in fairy tale books several times about a monarch who wanted immortality, believing only rumors and putting his knight to death from which he could never come back alive.
In addition, it was all the more so because my mother had been suffering from heartache in case she would die. Isn’t it better if you never die?
If he doesn’t die due to his super regeneration ability, he could become infinitely stronger. Serena convinced herself inwardly. That’s why I thought that brother knows so much knowledge.
“Normally. But, my case is a little different.”
different? Serena wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and met the boy’s eyes.
“I can’t use mana.”
“yes?”
When the unexpected words came out, Serena blinked.
“I can’t use mana. My super regenerative ability defines the process of raising mana in the mana circuit as damage and recovers it. And I can’t grow my muscles. That’s also because of my super regenerative ability. My regenerative ability does not damage the body. It’s recovering to the original state, but the range of damage is very comprehensive. I can’t use mana or grow muscles, so what can I do? Memorize swordsmanship with the body, and memorize magic with the head. That’s it. Even though there is a limit. Because you can’t use mana, even if you know it with knowledge, your body won’t keep up with you. It’s ironic that you can never grow stronger than a certain level because of a body that never ages or dies. Serena Have you ever seen me put mana on my body? Using body enhancement? Or how about using magic without a scroll?”
Serena thought for a moment, then shook her head. And then it was. The boy had never put mana on his body or used body enhancement before.
Even when she was teaching defense using mana and strengthening her body, she tried to understand Serena in a way that Serena realized somehow, rather than demonstrating herself.
Of course, Serena had a genius talent in that way, and the boy’s explanation was very detailed and fluent, so there was no problem even without a demonstration.
I thought it was because I simply didn’t feel the need to use mana, but in fact, I couldn’t use mana. Serena was hit in the head with a hammer.
“…But, you don’t have to die.”
But the shock hadn’t completely gone, so he didn’t even hide his pouty expression. Seeing Serena like that, the boy scratched his cheek shyly.
“So, um, what should I say? I didn’t mean to die like this from the beginning either. Even if you can’t use mana or increase your strength, it doesn’t mean you can’t even build knowledge in your head, right? Especially when it comes to studying, it’s rather much It’s better. No matter how difficult the problem is, no matter how many problems you have, if you have infinite time, you’ll eventually be able to come up with the right answer. There’s quite a lot of knowledge that you just randomly crammed into your head with that thought. It’s probably the size of a decent library, right? Serena, you’ve learned the swordsmanship you’ve learned so far. Among them, there are quite a lot of things that have been practiced because there is no one to teach them?
“Then there’s no reason to die anymore. Why do you want to die? Even if you can’t use things like mana, if you save knowledge—”
“It doesn’t make any sense.”
The voice was so hollow that Serena kept her mouth shut.
“I worked very hard at first too. Right after I got this ability, I didn’t know how far the regeneration range of my super regeneration ability was, and I also thought that I would become stronger if I just recklessly practiced. I gave up quickly because I couldn’t use mana, but I mean, you know how important the use of body enhancement is in a fight, right?”
He nodded. In fact, the reason Serena didn’t break down even after taking on all sorts of chores at the age of eight was because of the mana she unconsciously raised.
If he was an ordinary 8-year-old who could not use mana, he would never have endured.
“Still, I didn’t give up and tried to become stronger. First of all, I couldn’t die no matter what kind of attack I received, so I stood at the forefront and received all the attacks instead. It hurt really badly. I can’t do it, but it wasn’t like that before. I also hurt when I was cut, screamed when I was stabbed, and rolled on the floor holding on to my arm when it was cut off. Thinking about it now, it was stupid. I should’ve just packed up antiques from then on. It’s just a waste of time for nothing. I’m talking about me.”
“A waste of time?”
“If the monster’s level rises above a certain level, I’m useless. Think about it. From mid-level monsters, there are a lot of normal humans who can blow away several tens of meters with one swing of their arm, but even if my body recovers indefinitely, I won’t be able to join the ranks. What’s the use of waking up in a place where you’ve been away for a long time? While I’m returning, the monsters will be eating the adventurers in the back row with excitement.
Serena remembered the day she first met the boy. I shuddered and unconsciously swung my sword and tore the wolf to pieces, but what if there was no mana? What if I couldn’t use body enhancement?
It would have been chewed up by that monster in one go. The boy’s words made some sense.
“So, well, when the level of the kids I went with reached a certain level or higher, I quietly left alone and found other adventurers, and when they grew up to a certain extent, I went out alone and found other adventurers. I just kept repeating that. I couldn’t kill those adventurers because of me. isn’t there?”
“Yes…….”
“But after repeating it for several decades, I felt skeptical about why I am doing this. I was quite a celebrity around me. No. I’ve been going around with beginners and doing meat shields in front of them for decades, so I can’t help but become famous. The problem was that. I was a really simple meat shield. No matter how much experience I accumulated, in the end, the fundamental power gap Because I can’t do anything about it. Even if people ignored me, there was nothing I could do. At first, it was just one or two bad guys, but as time went on, I started to take it for granted that adventurers ignored me. Dozens of I’ve lived for years, and I haven’t aged or died during that time, so they probably thought of me as a monster, not a human being.”
The boy’s eyes darkened. Serena couldn’t say anything.
“I didn’t have to take care of food, clothing, and shelter properly, so of course my share of wages gradually decreased, and there were even days when my share didn’t fall at all. Sometimes, I was stressed out and I ended up being beaten for no reason. Doesn’t it regenerate regardless of being beaten? It’s impossible to counterattack by using less mana, so isn’t it a perfect item to beat up just because you’re stressed out?”
The smile on his lips gradually turned bitter.
“If I had been treated like that from the beginning, I might have accepted my fate in moderation. But it wasn’t like that, so it was a problem. There’s only one thing, but even that kind of thing can’t be done properly once a certain level is exceeded, and handling it is getting worse and worse every day. Do you think I considered this super regenerative ability as a blessing or a curse?”
Serena couldn’t answer. Whether the boy regarded his super-regeneration ability as a blessing or a curse, the answer was obvious.
“Well, that’s the fundamental reason why I want to die. Later on, I tried to get a job as a secretary somewhere, taking advantage of the fact that my lifespan was infinite, but my name was spread all over the neighborhood, so they wouldn’t allow me to continue doing what I was doing. Think about it now. Looking at it, I sometimes think that the adventurer’s guild tolerated me being treated like a dog. First of all, the survival rate of the low-level adventurers I work with is much higher than average.”
“Well then!”
As the boy was about to finish, Serena involuntarily interrupted.
Listening to the boy with sad eyes and the voice calmly recounting what happened in the past was because a part of my heart kept tickling.
“I’ll protect my brother!”
After saying that, I felt sorry for him. Without thinking about it, it was just the words that came out of my tongue. protect me? a boy?
I can’t die anyway, so why?
But it was already spilled water. Serena spoke up, and the boy overheard it.
“Thank you for your heart, but I—”
“It’s not like that!”
Serena groaned.
“I heard you were always attacked in front of people. You said you only defended people. Then, you just have to stand behind me. You just have to leave the front to me and trust me from the back.”
I wasn’t even sure what I was talking about. I simply wanted to relieve this tickle in a corner of my heart. And I was convinced that this was the way.
“I’ll stand in front of you. I’ll stand in front of you and protect you. You say I have talent? You say that after a few years, you’ll be able to get an A rank? I’m confident. I just need my brother and my mother to stay by my side. I’ll make sure that you don’t go through something like that again. I can do well.”
Finally wedged.
“I’ll be your knight. Even if the whole world turns against you and points fingers at you, at least I can stand on your side. So, so…”
Serena conveyed her small wish, which she had always wanted to say.
We talked a lot while living together with the boy for over a year. Among them, there were many stories about knights in fairy tales that were no different from Serena’s romance.
And, Serena had cherished a wish to become the boy’s knight if she could achieve her dream. There was no particular reason.
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Just as the knights in fairy tales owed their masters a favor they could never repay, Serena also owed a favor she could never repay to the boy.
All I could think was that I wanted to repay the favor with my whole life.
“Please don’t say that you will die.”
It wasn’t until the words came out of my mouth that the unknown tickle in a corner of my heart completely disappeared. The boy made a blank face, as if he hadn’t expected Serena to say such a thing.
No, it wasn’t enough that the tickling sensation was relieved, so I felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction and pride. Serena’s expression changed to triumphant.
The boy looked like he was lost in thought for a moment while watching Serena. Seeing this, I raised my head in anxiety. Did I say it too boldly?
No matter how talented he was, he was only an 11-year-old child. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to be shocked that such a young child would suddenly become a knight who would protect him for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, the words I just uttered came to mind and my head felt warm. He bowed his head.
“Serena.”
“……yes?”
Not long after he lowered his head, the boy called Serena’s name. He raised his head reflexively. The eyes were right.
The boy’s expression in his eyes was so serious that Serena was very nervous without realizing it. My heart was beating like crazy. I had never seen a boy with such a serious expression.
What the hell are you trying to say?
“trust me?”
Fortunately, the boy asked a question that Serena could answer very easily.
“What are you doing, you bastards! Can’t you move quickly? How long has passed and you still can’t break that defense spell!”
“Oh, it won’t break! No matter how much I beat it, it’s still intact without a scratch!”
“You idiots! When you’re wasting your time here when you don’t know what they’re doing inside? You guys are still A-class adventurers! I’ve given you all so far, and it’s worth it! You idiots!”
The adventurers were perplexed by Layla’s harsh criticism and pounded the blue wall with the best of their skills. But the wall was not even cracked, let alone scratched.
It was natural. The defense magic surrounding the boy and Serena was the highest level of defense magic drawn on the scroll that Charlotte made and handed over to her.
Ordinary adventurers are at a level that you might only see once in your life, and it was impossible to imitate even the wizards of the Mage Tower with a fair amount of determination.
There was no way that only A-class adventurers could break such a magic circle.
Of course, Lyla also failed. Even though he used all the mana he had and cast magic to the point of mana exhaustion, that barrier was not broken.
Because of that, the necromancy was cut off, and the aristocratic man who was controlling it returned to a cold corpse.
‘Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn! It was perfect! The plan is almost done! What’s the matter with that bastard appearing out of nowhere!’
I couldn’t hide my nervousness and bit my nails. It was only natural that this unprecedented situation had occurred with only one step left until the completion of the plan.
Layla was one of those wizards who ambiguously stepped into the dark and the sunny. Originally, he was in the Mage Tower, but got tired of its rigid organizational structure and secretly ran out to live as he wanted.
At first, she stayed up all night with her eyes open, fearing that Charlotte would come to catch her, but now, 20 years after she ran away from the Mage Tower, there was nothing to hold her back.
Initially, he operated in the shadows, providing magic to criminal organizations.
Because she was quite talented in magic, she made enough money, but because Layla herself had a very extravagant personality, money was always lacking.
It was all because of that extravagance that he was doing this.
At first, there was a risk that Charlotte would find out, so I only adjusted it to the extent of applying light brainwashing magic so that it could be solved at any time. In the unlikely event of being summoned to the palace, it might happen.
Well, no matter how weakly he controlled it, it was quite unexpected that he went to his wife and daughter and apologized with tears in his eyes even after he was under the brainwashing magic. Even Layla was quite surprised to see that.
And after being convinced that there was nothing wrong with her, she killed her and took real power pretending to be the wife of an aristocrat. It was a move aiming at the fact that Charlotte did not care whether the noble died of illness or not.
She is a queen with the character of having her child go to the palace to be cured of an incurable disease and instead answer by cutting off his head and sending him back.
There was no doubt that he would not care if aristocrats fell ill and died.
After kicking out all the original servants, he attacked and killed them on the street, and took in the servants who were with him.
I thought about killing his daughter and wife, but since Layla had a very sadistic temper, I deliberately kept them alive to enjoy the suffering they suffered.
If you commit suicide because you can’t stand being treated worse than servants, that’s it, and if you persist, you’ll just have to feed them once and then kill them.
He bribed the Adventurer’s Guild and enlisted A-class adventurers who would become his strength in the event of an emergency.
After that, all you had to do was waste your fortune on a spree. The aristocrat had to preserve the corpse somewhere, and at the right time, he had to announce that he had died due to a deep illness, and it was over.
Quite a bit of time must have passed now, I was thinking of announcing my death and taking over the position of head of household. As Serena grew rapidly, everything got messed up.
If left as it is, it would not be long before it was a year that would become a great threat to itself. It had to be killed by any means here.
‘Seeing that Serena believes and obeys, it’s clear that bastard has done something.’
Lila was sure that the boy was the main culprit in raising Serena. Otherwise, Serena, who grew up with all sorts of abuse, would not be able to trust and rely on her that much.
“You have to kill them now so there’s nothing to worry about! Either use that great skill or whatever you do, destroy it quickly—-“
Lila was speechless and stiff. It was the same with other adventurers. Everyone around me stared blankly at the dissolving barriers.
Serena appeared through the shield that emitted blue light.
The atmosphere was different from Serena, who was tied up with ropes and restraints and poisoned with poison right after she was brought here, and groaning as if she would run out of breath at any moment.
And after that, the boy who broke through the defense magic surrounding the mansion and came here said, ‘Is this real?’ I was standing with that expression.
Lila suddenly came to her senses. And I cried and cried.
“You fools! At least that shield was what saved your lives, but did you get rid of it with your own hands? I guess they gave up on everything now? Or, did the defense magic run out and disappear?”
Serena ignored Lyla’s words and pulled out a longsword she didn’t know where she got it from. Immediately, I felt my legs stiffen.
‘What happened? Even if the atmosphere is different, it’s so different!’
Even before being wrapped in defensive magic, Serena had a strong feeling that her skills were far below that of an A-class adventurer. In reality, he was easily overpowered by adventurers.
But now, on the contrary, it seemed that A-class adventurers would not be far behind Serena. How can you become this strong in such a short moment? It was unbelievable.
The adventurers and servants surrounding Serena also seemed to have noticed the gap in power, and even though they had a clear numerical superiority, they did not dare to attack.
“Oh, before we begin, let me say one word.”
The standoff that lasted for several minutes was broken by the boy who was watching Serena’s mother behind Serena’s back. Dozens of pairs of eyes focused on the boy.
“None of you will survive here. Serena will make it.”
Another chilly silence fell over the surroundings. The adventurers were now glaring at the boy, not Serena, and so were the weapon-bearers.
Looking at Serena, the momentum was too terrifying, so he turned his arrow towards the boy who seemed a little more easygoing.
Of course, Serena’s eyes widened when she saw that.
“Hmm, how come you don’t believe anyone?”
The boy made a puzzled expression.
It was hard to believe, and I couldn’t believe it. If you believe that statement, it’s the same as saying that we all have to die here, but would you say that you’re crazy?
“That kind of bluff doesn’t work! How many of us are there, and the two of you can beat that—”
One adventurer shouted vigorously, but the man could not finish what he was trying to say. It was because Serena swung her sword and cut off his head.
The neatly severed neck rolled on the floor, and the headless body struggled with its arms several times before falling to the ground. Red blood gushed from the cut section and soaked the grass in the garden.
Lila’s mouth fell open. I couldn’t even see how Serena moved. It was an astonishing speed. It was the same as the other guys, and they seemed to be in a state of panic, wandering around.
Confusion spread between adventurers and users. Serena and the boy were the only ones who were at peace in the chaos and fear that spread like a plague.
The boy calmly opened his mouth.
“Because it’s real.”
Using those words as a signal, Serena’s sword began to flash again.
