Chapter 85
“……Huh?”
<There’s no aura core inside him. But it’s not just aura. There’s no divine power either, this kid.>
“W-what?!”
What is this supposed to mean? So the protagonist basically became a level 1 weakling?
“Are you… are you serious? Are you sure?”
<Student Ailette. Who do you think I am?>
“Saint Church’s top instructor, Agnes Azlitt.”
<Then I believe that answers your question.>
“Yes, ma’am.”
The protagonist had gotten weaker. He was already a slow grower, and now even the power he had was gone.
‘What kind of frustrating twist is this?!’
[‘The Chronicler of Heaven’s Secrets’ is moved by how well the story preserves its bitter, gritty tone.]
[‘The Architect of the Trial Tower’ blesses your fate.]
[‘The Observer of Omniscient Taboo’ says it will keep watching.]
[‘The Eye Watching All Chaos’ says it wants to watch together.]
[‘The Balancer of All Things’—]
At that moment, Tessilid, who had finished eating, got up from the bed.
“If you move suddenly—oh, you walk fine.”
He left the bedroom and slowly looked around the house as if exploring it. Agnes and I watched him carefully.
He took his soup bowl to the kitchen and washed it, then moved to the dining table.
There was the novel I had been reading earlier, “The Demon King and the Hero’s Arranged Marriage Leading to Love.”
Swish.
Tessilid showed interest, flipping through the pages. But soon he frowned slightly and put it down.
<Hey! That’s an amazing book!>
Agnes trembled in indignation, feeling her taste had been insulted.
Then Tessilid noticed the bookshelf and began selecting books that suited him.
His pick was…
<Children’s books?>
He sat on the floor and pulled out all the picture books, slowly flipping through them.
…So that’s what he chose.
While I stayed silent, Agnes scoffed.
<Honestly, he’s in no position to judge others’ tastes.>
“Agnes, that’s not it.”
<Hm?>
Without taking my eyes off Tessilid, I continued.
“He’s trying to relearn language.”
<……>
His eyes, scanning pictures and text, were completely emotionless—like a machine scanning data.
After his tenth picture book, a strange light slowly swirled in his blue eyes.
Then—
Spurt.
This time, it wasn’t tears.
It was a nosebleed.
“Tessilid!”
“…That… feels like my name.”
A calm voice echoed through the room. Without hesitation, he opened another book.
It showed animals sitting around a large tree stump, eating together.
“Thank you. That was delicious.”
“….”
His gentle smile strangely made my chest sting.
Even like this… even after the world had been so cruel to him… his kindness hadn’t changed.
He turned another page. A squirrel and rabbit were greeting each other.
“Who are you?”
“….”
Yes, I expected that question.
He had died in most loops, but up until the 17th cycle, he had lived through decades.
And in those worlds, I didn’t exist. I had been erased entirely.
[‘The Chronicler of Heaven’s Secrets’ says forgetting might be healthier.]
My silence grew longer. His blue eyes narrowed slightly, as if he wondered if he had asked something wrong.
It’s okay if you don’t remember.
“I am Ailette. Ailette Rodeline.”
“…I feel like I’ve heard that name before. Haven’t we met?”
Another page turned. A wolf gentleman was flirting with an innocent sheep girl.
“….”
“….”
Tessilid quickly closed the book.
“Let’s talk later.”
He tidied the picture books back onto the shelf and picked up another one.
✠
For several days, Tessilid spent his time reading.
He picked books randomly from top to bottom, left to right.
It didn’t even look like he was truly reading—his eyes simply scanned the text rapidly.
Mechanical.
Watching him silently retrain his language alone made me feel uneasy.
Occasionally, even as nosebleeds dripped, he never stopped reading.
<Is this really how you treat aphasia?>
“It’s unusual.”
Curious, I asked him. Thanks to his efforts, his language ability had improved a lot, and he said:
“It’s not exactly aphasia. I simply lost language and written knowledge. I’m just reconstructing what I once knew from memory.”
I didn’t really understand, but I pretended I did. Something else mattered more.
“Why are you speaking politely?”
“I used to speak formally, didn’t I?”
“You did, but not with me. It feels weird.”
“Is that so? Understood.”
He immediately switched back to informal speech.
<Seems like he really has forgotten everything about you.>
After that, I let him continue reading.
While observing Tessilid, I learned three things:
First, even a handsome man looks good with a nosebleed.
Second, he is extremely practical and responsible.
Third, he dislikes darkness.
The first was obvious, so skipping it.
The second was shown by how he tried to do dishes, clean, and pull weeds himself.
The third was evident because he insisted on having moonlight, candles, or luminous stones even while sleeping.
[‘The Chronicler of Heaven’s Secrets’ notes that such detail didn’t exist in the original.]I found it strange too. I
thought I knew the protagonist well.
On the third day after Tessilid woke up, while I was trimming herbs at the table, he approached me.
For once, he spoke first.
“I remembered. Ailette Rodeline.”
“….”
“Divine Descent.”
The topic was not ordinary.
In his hand, there was no book anymore.
Without looking at him, I continued trimming herbs.
“Glad you remembered.”
“It’s strange. You always seem to save me. How many times now? Three?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Three times.”
His tone was calm as he repeated the number.
[‘The Scales That Judge Souls’ is disappointed you didn’t fall for him after three rescues.]
[‘The Chronicler of Heaven’s Secrets’ is relieved the biggest crisis has passed.]
Tessilid sat down and began helping me trim herbs.
“So this is another coincidence caused by dungeon sync? But that dungeon didn’t absorb things—it only released them.”
So he even knew about the dungeon burst?
“And this house… feels prepared.”
“That’s right. I prepared it this time.”
“How did you know?”
“I received divine revelation.”
“From Order and Good? Impossible. That would never happen.”
“….”
Wow. Saying that about his own god so casually despite being a holy knight.
<Can’t deny that.>
Even Agnes?
[‘The World-Building Word’ insists it is nothing like a god who abandoned the world.]
Indeed, the Church of the Word was great. But this was not the time for recruitment.
Even if he spoke lightly of his god, Tessilid Arzent was still a devout follower of “Absolute Order and Good.”
Moreover, he belonged not only to the Holy Knight Order but also the Inquisition Bureau of the Church.
In other words, he was an inquisitor.
No matter how kind the protagonist was, religion makes people exclusive.
So…
‘I can’t just casually say I belong to the Word Church.’
[‘The Balancer of All Things’ praises your cautious judgment.]
[‘The World-Building Word’ feels hurt.]
[‘The Scales That Judge Souls’ laughs.]
While I was tense inside, Tessilid relaxed his interrogative tone.
“You surprise me no matter what you do. From using Divine Descent alone, you’re already an extreme exception.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“No need. By the way—”
His tone suddenly sharpened.
It felt like something important was coming.
“It’s been a while, Ailette.”
“….”
His smile was bright and effortless, perfectly shaped.
I stayed silent, and he added:
“…Or is it not ‘a while’?”
“….”
“Right. For me it’s been a long time, but not necessarily for you.”
He was openly hinting at regression.
Then—
“Then it’s been a while for me too. Even if my three months might be a short time for you.”
I gave an answering hint.
“…I’m not sure if I’m interpreting your implication correctly.”
“What you’re thinking is correct.”
“Could you be more explicit?”
“You’ve regressed.”
“….”
For a moment, his ocean-blue eyes seemed to ripple like a whirlpool.
“…Do you also know how many times?”
