Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Eisel Ludwig

Eisel Ludwig was an exceptionally unusual character.

The first line she spoke when she met the player was always the same.

'A new face...'

It might not have been a particularly special line.

If anything, it naturally invited reactions like, 'What nonsense are you spouting when you're a freshman too?'

Even after that, she was a character full of suspicion, leaving behind only strange lines before leisurely disappearing.

But as the player progressed through the game and eventually arrived at the truth that she was a regressor, the situation changed.

The words "a new face" meant that the player was someone who had never once appeared in her regressions, and the strange things she said were actually hints about the story to come.

This unique character trait felt, on a shallow level, like a guide for beginners, and on a deeper level, like an appealing element for users playing through multiple runs.

Lines that were a little different from before.

The story itself actually twisted little by little to match them.

It was a powerful device that drew the player into starting the next playthrough.

I, too, was no different as one of those players.

If anything, I should say I was drawn in even more deeply.

A regressor who repeated countless regressions, trying to change the future.

The player could become that regressor's sole "understander."

That alluring relationship had a way of bewitching people.

I was a fan of hers.

Not only me, but many players must have been fans of hers.

All of us were purely drawn to the character called "Eisel Ludwig."

And yet, despite repeating countless playthroughs...

'...Her death could not be prevented.'

Eisel Ludwig dies in the middle of the story, in an episode tied to the purpose and reason behind her regression.

The player, too, could be considered a regressor.

After all, through the system's save and load, one could return as many times as one wanted, and there was even a way to start a new playthrough.

However, no matter what was done, the result of her death never changed.

The game company took a lot of abuse because of that too.

'Is there really no way to save Eisel no matter what?'

'You said we could do anything, you idiots, so why can't we save Eisel?'

'I know how she dies and why she dies... I blocked everything there was to block, but she still dies in the end...'

'Guess this can't be helped? If the people who made the game say so, what can we do?'

Since the game had to be seen as highly free within the academy, these sorts of reactions were bound to leak out.

On the other hand, the game company stayed completely silent on questions related to Eisel.

Some accepted that, and some rejected it.

Because Eisel boasted unrivaled popularity in the game, a great deal of fallout came from the process.

Some quit the game, or mocked Eisel as an incompetent regressor.

Others foolishly refused to give up and continued trying all kinds of things to save her.

I was the latter.

In fact, even before entering this game, I had been unable to let go of Eisel.

At some point, rather than continuing because I liked Eisel, I was proceeding half out of stubborn defiance.

By then, it was not even stubbornness anymore. It was obstinacy.

'I thought that now that the game had become reality, some kind of clue would appear.'

The Eisel I had just encountered passed me by without saying a single word.

I had never experienced this in the game either.

'Should I consider myself not the player right now?'

In truth, I did not know Eisel well from the perspective of someone who was not the player.

In the game, the powerful force of fate called the "system" worked on things, so one was inevitably made to become involved with her.

"Hmm..."

Even after turning it over in my head, no answer came out.

In truth, perhaps a regressor in reality, whose lines were not fixed like in a game, had to be considered an even more subtle existence.

I would try everything I could try.

My desire to save her still had not changed.

Because this was not her death seen through a monitor screen.

Just imagining the warmth leaving her body as I faced it directly with my own two eyes was far too painful.

***

I could not utter a single word.

Once I actually took in his appearance again, nothing came easily.

Though I had committed no crime, I ended up hiding in an alley as if I had fled from him without thinking.

'...Do you have some business with me?'

I had to admit it.

He was now a person separate from the "Zeto" I remembered.

The memories I had shared with him no longer existed.

...He no longer knew me.

That uncomfortable and frightening truth tore through my mind.

'I thought... I had grown used to this as much as anyone could.'

Apparently, not at all.

Perhaps without realizing it, I had been keeping my distance.

From forming deep relationships with people.

That man... Zeto was special.

He was the only "variable" born within my repeated regressions.

That made him linger in my mind.

But it seemed I was not the only one who felt that way.

He approached me with an easy heart.

There had once been a time when I spoke with him in depth.

He possessed an "understanding" I could not even imagine.

Perhaps I had been thirsty... for that understanding.

He slipped into my hollow heart and began swelling in size.

Before I knew it, his presence, grown as large as the emptiness inside me, had become a definite "poison" to me, a regressor.

A single drop of hot liquid slid down my cheek.

Even now, his final moments would not disappear from my mind.

His body, barely holding itself up as it leaned against a broken wall, was pouring out dark blood.

The bandage around his eyes had slipped down weakly, and his deep, profound blue eyes, like a vast sea that had been hidden all this time, glowed faintly.

Together with the gentle smile that had remained from the very first moment.

Swallowing the blood surging up in his throat, he said it.

'Always...'

'I was looking toward the same place as you, Eisel.'

'The sea you liked... I hope we can definitely go see it together next time.'

With those words as his last, he closed his eyes, a smile still resting on his lips until the end.

The world was quiet, as if mourning him.

Even though I had achieved the goal I had wished and wished for so desperately with his help.

I could not accept the end.

'What next time is there...?'

For Eisel, there was always a "next time."

But for him, there was no such thing.

Now, going to see the sea with him.

Not only would it have little meaning for him, who was blind, but the current him would not even remember... It was truly a selfish wish.

Yet it had become my new purpose.

I regressed for him.

I completely changed the way I had acted, which had been steadily arranged through my repeated regressions.

Even methods I had once avoided no longer mattered, as long as I could achieve my purpose.

I would become stronger by any means.

I would use every move available to me.

"In this life..."

I would never repeat that experience again.

Never.

Never.

***

Something that bothered me had happened, but time was not so kind as to wait quietly for me.

Time flowed swiftly on, and before I knew it, it was the day of the class placement exam.

I had worried what I would do if my physical condition was bad.

But my condition was not that poor.

Perhaps eating the "special salamander rice bowl," which had a great effect on stamina recovery, before sleeping had helped.

For reference, it did not taste good.

'I imagined something like an eel rice bowl.'

The class placement exam was already in full swing.

Every new student, including me, was looking at the large screen positioned at the front of the exam hall.

Students whose exams had ended, as well as those waiting for their exams, could look through the transmission magic screen into the space created by illusion magic where the exam was being held.

"What... is that..."

Yuri, who I did not know how had managed to find me, had at some point naturally taken her place beside me and was narrating the current situation.

Thanks to that, I was struggling to pretend I could not see the contents of the exam, but since it was an action born from her kind heart, I could only feel grateful.

"She is quite something..."

"Is she that impressive?"

"That woman... I do not want to admit it, but... she seems to have already surpassed the level of a student with ease."

Then who was taking the exam right now for Yuri to make such a fuss?

On the screen, the woman's white-gold hair fluttered and rippled in the wind.

It was Eisel.

I agreed completely with Yuri's words.

For her to be releasing that much power already made no sense.

'...That is way too strong, isn't it?'

Of course, Eisel in the game also took first place in her group, but she had not been this overwhelming.

The current Eisel had, by herself, smashed all nine people who must have been scattered across the stage, excluding herself, in about three minutes.

Through the screen, Eisel appeared as she finished off the last surviving student.

Her face was so devoid of emotion that it was chilling, and she stood there blankly as if she had completed everything she needed to do.

That sight clearly informed every student watching.

That her class was different, and by a wide margin.

The lightning magic she mainly used was the same, but aside from that, various techniques and abilities that I had never seen from her in the game caught my eye.

Even taking into account her special ability, "regression," this was an excessively powerful showing.

'I can't keep up with what on earth is happening.'

I barely held back the sigh that felt ready to burst out.

After the meeting with her that I had anticipated so much, it felt instead as if my headache would not go away.

"I will now call the next participants."

Of course, I was not even given time to ponder while looking at that Eisel.

"...Amon Caligus....Zeto."

My name quietly flowed from the mouth of the instructor conducting the exam.

After that, the names of the remaining participants were called one by one.

Right.

I had to take care of myself first.

Being able to exert influence as I wished and as much as I wished was ultimately something that could only happen after I became strong.

That aside.

"Amon Caligus, huh..."

"The Caligus family in charge of earth among the four elemental families. I used to run into him from time to time at gatherings when I was young, and for a guy built like a mountain, he was so vicious... If he took after even half of his father, his personality would not be so twisted."

Yuri, who stood beside me, picked up my murmur and furrowed her brows as if displeased.

Of all times, I had to face one of the four elemental families in the class placement exam.

Even in the game, a start like this had to be considered a fairly difficult one.

'Nothing is going my way.'