I Am Still Interrogating

One of the first things I did when I arrived in this world was the limits of [Rulebook].

The second was the nature of the [Transmigrator] skill.

What did I learn?

It was not exclusive to me. That alone told me there were other transmigrators here in Paresica, and it was a thought that chilled me to the bone.

Unless they were extremely flashy about their abilities, I wouldn’t be able to tell who they were, but there was a chance that I’d eventually run into the one “Level 999 Commoner” whose fists shattered heaven and earth.

The super cliche type that absolutely dominates the setting. The Main Character.

It was the person that I had to avoid the most, because they would have the power to immediately put an end to my entire plan.

Maybe I was just being paranoid or overly worried.

Maybe I was that character.

I didn’t know, and I had no way of knowing. After all, neither [Complete Analysis] nor [Rulebook] gives me a census of who has which skills and where they are.

But right here in front of me, there was a possibility that I’d been traveling with that person without knowing, and if I hadn’t used [Complete Analysis] on them, then everything would’ve worked out fine and dandy.

It was too late for that now.

Antenora stopped in front of me, her hands on her hips. She wore a frown of displeasure mixed with contemplation.

“Lucrezia. I think Ryuuko and I need to have a little chat.”

“Huh...? W-We weren’t saying anything bad about you, Antenora.” Lucrezia frowned. “And what did Ryuuko see?”

“Lucrezia. I think you and Priya should watch over the librarian while Antenora and I sort this out. Sorry to leave you like this, but this is pretty important.”

My eyes never left Antenora, and neither did her gaze leave mine. In my peripheral vision, Lucrezia nodded.

I stood and walked away from the campsite with Antenora. If she was some sort of cheat ability munchkin, this was probably a pretty fucking bad idea for me. Not only could she turn me into a red smear right now, but we were far enough that Lucrezia and Priya couldn’t see or hear us.

No, that’s not entirely correct. If we started fighting, we’d probably be loud as fuck. I mean, even if she is a level 999 cheat character, I could probably take a hit... Right?

Nah. The only option then would be to dodge.

“I am the Hero.”

I stared at Antenora, stunned. That was the last thing I expected her to say.

“Sorry, what?”

“My apologies. I suppose it is much more accurate for me to say that I was the Hero. Whether or not you believe me, this world faces a dire threat every few centuries. When that occurs, a Hero and a Demon Lord is designated. It is a cycle that produces fuel.”

“Fuel?”

Antenora nodded and pointed toward the night sky. “Fuel for those who watch us from above. The entity who claims to be ‘God.’ It is not the deities of our religions, but something far greater and far more nefarious.”

Whoa, back up a little. So you’re telling me that this asshole of a God is known to the people of this world!?

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“Only the previous Demon Lord and I. We abandoned our respective roles in order to save this world from its destruction once we found out the purpose of our conflict and the result that it would create.”

Well, fuck me.

I was honestly expecting the worst to come out of this, but it turns out that Antenora might actually be a valuable ally if I play my cards correctly.

“...Yeah? And how’d that work out?”

“I would not be in this form right now if I had succeeded. In the end, both the Demon Lord and I were defeated and destroyed. It was only because of the God of Rebirth’s mercy that I stand here before you.”

“God of Rebirth, huh? Lemme guess, a disgustingly perfect being that you couldn’t help but acknowledge?”

“I would not call them disgusting. They were my savior, after all. They offered me a second chance... I would be reborn as a different person in this world and I was given two special skills to choose from.”

That sounds awfully familiar.

“Right. And what’d you pick?”

Antenora held up two fingers. “The first skill I picked was [Observation Obfuscation]. It prevents all attempts to inspect me and whatever skills I have. It also alerts me to any attempts as well. As for my second skill, it was [Temporal Regression].”

Well, that sounded like one hell of a cheat ability.

“Does that let you control time or something?”

Antenora snorted. “If only. Every time I die, I get sent back to the point where I was reborn in this body. I suppose the God of Rebirth thought it was amusing to have the former Hero become a part of the eastern tribes.”

Ah. So we’re dealing with that kind of trope. I suppose that explains why Antenora was going crazy about Lucrezia searching the area. But I had to confirm it first. I mean, all of this just sounded too convenient.

“What’s the furthest you’ve gotten?”

“This loop. Otherwise, here to Juryez. But the situation was a little different last loop and we ended up dying. Lucrezia and Aurelia were together last time... That is probably how I was caught in this loop. Everything happened differently this time around. Even the patrol routes of the guards were different.”

“So you rescued Lucrezia and Aurelia together last time? Before they were transported to Count Oswald’s fief?”

“That would not be entirely correct. Lucrezia and Aurelia were not transported to Count Oswald’s fief previously. I believe Lucrezia was retrieved from one of their hideouts after a ritual and placed with Aurelia in order to be transported to this ‘Precipice of Night’ mentioned in the documents we discovered this loop.”

I frowned.

“That... doesn’t exactly make sense. Why would you need to come here to Juryez if you already rescued both of them? Plus, the cipher. Wouldn’t you already know what was in those documents?”

“No. That is why I specified ‘this loop.’ There were no such documents last time as we did not have to infiltrate Count Oswald’s castle. Every loop before this, Lucrezia had already undergone a ritual as the ‘offering vessel’.

“I am not sure what that is, but there was something embedded within her as a result. We sought out the hidden library to find a way to remove whatever was placed in her.”

I nodded, understanding dawning in my eyes. Because of my actions, Lucrezia never fulfilled her role as the offering vessel and thus, never would’ve been placed together with her sister for transport.

“What about me? I wasn’t in any of the loops, right?”

Now it was Antenora’s turn to nod. “Correct. This is the first time I’ve seen you, and in fact, that is partially the reason why I was so hostile toward you. Your actions have made this loop rather unpredictable.”

“Well, unpredictable or not, I’m the reason that this is the furthest you’ve gotten.” I grinned.

“...Yes, I suppose so.”

Although I felt like there was still much more I could ask, I could at least trust that she was visited by the God of Rebirth. If she could block [Complete Analysis]—a skill that worked even on [Rulebook]—then there was some semblance of truth to her words.

For the former Hero though, she had quite a lot of pride in the eastern tribes. Honestly, I’m far more inclined to believe that she was the previous Demon Lord. I guess that was just another thing to ask about down the line.

“By the way, what did you talk about with Lucrezia after Priya and I left this morning?”

I figured it’d be best to hear the story from Antenora too, but before she could answer, I heard a voice calling me. It was Priya’s.

“Ryuuko! The librarian’s awake!”