/
“I did.”
His words had gotten shorter again. However, Keira didn’t want to waste time criticizing this practice.
Keira: “How did you know? That I returned to the past.”
“Hearing you say that you seem like a real regressor. Of course, I know because I was the one who turned back time. The memory-preserving magic is there, behind your neck.”
Keira reflexively groped around her neck. She didn’t feel anything.
The stranger saw what she did and spoke.
“You won’t feel anything. It’s magic only the caster can see.”
Keira: “Why… did you do such a thing?”
“That’s what you should be telling me, isn’t it? I wouldn’t mess with time either. Unfortunately, it’s a complicated type of magic that causes the caster to lose their memories, so I left it as a last resort.”
“…?”
Keira couldn’t understand what the man was saying.
When she opened her eyes after being executed, she had already returned to the past. But the stranger was talking as if she knew exactly why things had happened this way.
This conversation was absurd.
The man’s face hardened as if he had noticed, too.
“Did the shock wipe your memory? What’s the last thing you remember before returning to the past?”
Keira: “Last thing…”
Memories Keira didn’t want to dwell on came to mind.
It was either the feel of a cold stone floor or the upside-down view from when her neck was cut off.
Her body trembled.
Keira: “…the death penalty.”
“What? Death penalty?”
Keira: “Yes, at the guillotine.”
“Ah, what’s going on here…”
The man slumped on the bench on the terrace, his expression troubled.
Keira carefully asked the man who had buried his face in his hands.
Keira: “You…Are you a wizard?”
“That’s right.”
Keira: “Oh, my God. Turning back time really is possible with human power…”
She was speculating that the power of the god or the great spirit might have been involved in it.
Didn’t the wizards of the tower say it too? If it’s possible to reverse time, it’s not magic; it’s more of a miracle.
Keira: “Why did you not officially announce it? You could’ve received the Great Sage title at a young age.”
It might not just be the title, either. He might become the master of the tower and might possess great honor and wealth.
But he replied indifferently as if he had no interest in such a thing.
“What would I use that thing for?”
What would you use it for? The man still looked young. There were many opportunities to gain wealth and honor.
The man spoke more before she could say anything.
“I told you, there’s a flaw in this magic. If the caster can’t take their memories with them to the past, there’s no point in turning back time!”
Keira: “But in the end, you still used it. In any case, this means that casting it wasn’t meaningless.”
“Oh… That’s true.”
He looked blankly for a moment, then shook his head.
“Anyway! I didn’t want to use it at all because I thought something like this would happen! I used this method in the past, which means that I was in such a desperate situation that I had to use it as a last resort. I can’t remember what happened, so…”
His sigh grew deeper and deeper.
Keira: “Please explain the magic in detail. How do you invoke it?”
“Why should I? Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a wizard such questions?”
Keira: “You said you probably used the magic as a last resort. I’m the only clue right now. I’m not trying to dig into any secrets; I’m trying to help you.”
He still looked hesitant about confiding in her. However, it didn’t take long for him to start explaining.
‘It seems he’s as desperate as I am.’
“……First of all, this magic requires two people. One is me, the caster, and another person.”
Keira: “What’s the role of the other person?”
“It doesn’t matter, so let’s move on. What’s important is that there’s only one person other than me who can go back with the memories of the past.”
What kind of magic was that? Keira’s head tilted slightly. This was the first time she’s heard that a spell required one person other than the caster to activate it.
‘Don’t tell me it’s black magic?’
It’s an evil method that demons used. Keira heard that black magic had spells that required sacrifices.
Of course, now that communication with the demon realm has disappeared since the war a few hundred years ago, it was impossible to know how accurate the records on black magic were.
Finding Keira looking quite perplexed, he added.
“No sacrifice was used, so don’t think about reporting it to the temple. I just told you. Only one person can retain their memories. The other person’s role is to choose whose memory to preserve.”
So, there was another person involved, apart from Keira and the man.
Keira: “You usually choose yourself.”
“Now. It’s a great merit that you’ve experienced what’s going to happen in the future. Usually, it is. Then I’ll place my mark on the regressor and hear what happened in the past after they return.”
Keira: “So, the other person’s role is to fill the flaw of this magical?”
“Well, so to speak.”
While Keira spoke, the man’s expression didn’t change. At first glance, he seemed to be telling the truth.
But Keira remained suspicious.
Keira: “So, you approached me since you saw the mark, but you’re perplexed since I don’t remember anything?”
“Yes! I didn’t want to use this magic because unexpected situations would usually happen!”
The man groaned and gripped his hair in frustration.
For now, it was clear that this man was the one who turned back time.
‘If this were all a lie, I wouldn’t have known that I had returned to the past.’
She swept the back of her neck once again. She still couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.
‘To summarize, the fact that I have my memory means that the other person involved in the magic chose me to preserve my memory.’
Keira: “So, someone other than me cast the magic with you, and he chose me as the person to remember the past timeline.”
“You’re smarter than I thought, aren’t you?”
“…”
Keira frowned. As expected, this man was quite rude.
At first, Keira couldn’t come to her senses because she thought the man was holding a clue to why she came back in time, but after their conversation, reason began to return.
She’s not the only one who wanted to know the hidden secrets of time regression.
When reason returned, problems that had not been pointed out began to bother Keira.
Keira: “But you, why are you so reticent?”
“?”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No, does that matter now?”
Keira: “I don’t think our conversation ends after a day or two, but it’s difficult if it goes on like this in the future.”
“…”
He blinked slowly as if finding the situation absurd. Keira felt the same.
No person approached her first to talk to her. It was the same before Cosette appeared. To some extent, everyone was wary of Keira and was careful around her.
At first, the reckless attitude was refreshing, but this attitude would be quite difficult in the future.
She could only count in one hand the number of people who could talk so casually to her.
Not only did it make her feel bad, but how would others take it if they see this man treat Keira the way he did. For her dignity’s sake, she couldn’t let it slide.
Keira: “If you treat me in front of people like you did just now, I would be in trouble. It’s a matter of saving face for my family and me.”
“It’s just the two of us here though?”
“…”
Look at this? Keira’s eyebrows wriggled. She had no reason to scold him if he put it like that.
Keira: “Then, I’ll also speak casually to you in private. However, I hope you’ll at least mind your manners when there are other people around.”
“…”
The man stared at her blankly. Keira went on without caring.
Keira: “Come to think of it, I still don’t know your name.”
“Uh, uh?”
Keira: “You must reveal your name. I can’t keep calling you ‘you.'”
Besides, wouldn’t it be important to know what family this man was from so that she could contact them in an emergency?
His face was filled with admiration, his thoughts transparent on his face. ‘Wow, your personality’s no joke.’
Naturally, Keira’s eyes became colder. Then, as if he was surrendering, the man raised both hands and said.
“Erez Shore. I’m a wizard from the tower.”