Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

Chapter 39

Ah, that? You know that familiar smell when you walk around?

A familiar smell?

I smelled a goddamned long-eared frea ahem, high elf, so I went and found their barrier!

The sword could smell?

Ignoring the deep-seated question, Allen asked about the barrier.

A barrier?

Yeah! It seems to block all living things other than spirits, but!

Stab.

Ta-da! It was no match for this beautiful genius!

Allen stopped for a moment at Vestla, whod suddenly disappeared right in front of his eyes.

Is this how she got around it?

He spread out his sensing range, closely searching around the space in front of him, but he couldnt find anything. Nothing but an ordinary forestno traces of mana or barriers.

If it weren't for Vestla, I wouldve never found it.

After Allen didnt follow, she shouted back loudly, thinking he was hesitating:

You come in, too! If you use your body, cant you just force yourself in like me?

Taking note of his surrounding terrain, Allen walked forward slowly. He walked for a moment, resisting against something gently pushing his body away.

Why are you taking so long!

He turned towards the familiar voice, finding Vestla shouting and flapping around in the distance.

Allen walked in her direction and looked around. A gentle windcontrasting the chilly outsidea fresh green sprout peeked out from through the ground, and a small waterfall flowed across the forest, creating a refreshing landscape.

Is this the Spring of Spirits?

Yes, its the entrance to the barrier, to be exact! The Spring of Spirits is in the middle of it!

Vestla finished her statement and flew away. Allen had a strange feeling as he followed her towards the center of the forest. It seemed like something important was missing 

I havent seen any life here yet?

He sensed around, but strangely enough, there wasnt even a single creature to be found. From knolls or bears, which were common in the forest, to squirrels running through trees and birds flying through the skybasically, there was a total absence of animals that should be living in a forest.

I guess a barrier is a barrier.

Allen left his thoughts behind and headed towards the center of the barrier.

He would be interested if he were a sorcerer who studied barriers, but since he wasnt, he didnt care much. He walked a little further to the place where the sound of water came from, and he immediately found the Spring of Spirits.

So, this is the Spring of Spirits that Ive heard about.

Just looking at the springwhich was clear enough to see both the waters surface and its floor, sparkling with dozens of colors in an instantmade him feel thirsty. Allen carefully knelt down on his knees and brought his face close to the water.

Be careful! Because once you drink it, its effect disappears.

He stopped.

What did you say?

Allen stopped in his tracks as if he were possessed.

Ah, those high-elf long-eared freaks. What was even the point of having a barrier?

She made her remark and jumped into the spring before Allen could stop her.

Splash.

Whoo, this is refreshing. When a creaturenot a spirittouches it, the spring becomes contaminated, so make your choice!

But, Vestla, youre

Is a sword a creature?

Allen reflected on himself having moved rashly and backed away. He was beginning to give up internally, so he opened the book to review the contents, which he'd only glanced at earlier.

Julius completed the Quest to restore his reputation as a rascal, and was subsequently rewarded with a space-shifting scroll moving towards the Spring of Spirits

Quest Rewards, barriers that no living creature can enter, space-shifting scrolls, and the Spring of Spirits that ends once you drink from it.

Even with Allen's sensing abilities, he couldnt find a single trace of the barrier, and if it wasnt for the black book, he wouldnt have even known of its existence.

There were other things, too, but this in particular

Combining the knowledge hed extracted from the book and what Vestla had told him, he came to his conclusion.

This was a reward prepared for Julius.

That much was clear. The Spring of Spirits was designated to be a reward for Julius only. Otherwise, it would be nearly impossible to find.

The reason he was able to discover it himself was thanks to the combination of the black book, Vestla's guidance, and his transformed body. That bastards abnormal strength would be easier to understand, considering that he had the help of these things, too.

Im constantly getting these kinds of things.

He shook his head. It was him, not that bastard, who was occupying this place. There were many opportunities ahead. This way, he could prepare step by step.

Allen drank the springwater without hesitation.

At that moment,

The book linked to detects ! reacts to !

The book linked to detects ! reacts to !

The book linked to detects ! reacts to !

Right after, the pages of the white bookwhich had appeared to have no special abilitiesquickly fluttered like crazy.

Allen jumped to his feet before he could even taste the springwater.

What is this?

But as soon as Allen came to his senses, the white book settled down, returning to its normal state.

Flutter, flutter.

The book linked to detects ! reacts to

As Allen hurriedly opened the white book, the letters in front of him began to disappear just as quickly as theyd appeared.

The book linked to

What ya doin over there?

When Vestla opened her mouth,

Allen Reinhart, 

Drinking the water of the Spring of Spirits, he suddenly begins to analyze the current situation.

Itd been a long time since it had been a normal book. Allen stared deeply at the white book.

Does the white book have more abilities than simply recording me?

What did everything that just happened mean?

Allen looked at the white book for a while, but the white book did nothing but document his actions, as usual.

* * *

The springwater was surprisingly blandbut although hed just drank what was essentially plain water, he believed in its properties.

And its effect was clear.

There were translucent spirits roaming around right in front of Allen's eyes. Allenwhod had no relationship with a spirit in his previous life nor in his presentcould clearly sense the presence of several spirits staring at him with curious faces around the spring. It was proof that his affinity had improved by so much that it likely wouldnt be difficult to make a contract with a spirit.

Ordinarily, he would have contemplated his newly raised affinity for spirits, but Allen was too busy thinking about what he had just experienced.

Ah, the Spring of Spirits

When he looked at the Spring of Spirits, he saw that the water, which had been shining and sparkling in various colors, turned into an everyday, ordinary spring you could find anywhere.

Ah.

What did I tell ya? Once you drink it, its done for. Are you upset?

No, Im fine.

He didnt care about the Spring of Spirits anymore. To Allen, it was more important that the books response was related to what had caused him to regress.

How do I get back out? Can I just leave?

Yeah!

Allen quickly collected the remaining spirit elixir after exiting the spring.

A spirit jade located in a broken eagle statue. A moonflower blooming in a pit under a cliff. Even a potion hidden in the sixth cave.

In addition to that, he took all the spirit elixirsthe locations of which he had estimated and foundand returned to the place where the carriage was.

Linbelle and Inellia had gotten back there first. Vestla shut her mouth as soon as Allen joined them.

Sir!

We got everything from the map.

Allen received the goods Inellia handed to him and asked her something hed been worried about.

Did you leave any traces?

We left as few traces as we could, so no matter who finds them in the future, they wouldnt know that wed been here.

Allen was relieved by her response to the question, which had been worrying him.

Good work.

This is

No, we'll make time for this later.

Allen felt very grateful to her. She covertly did what he asked without question nor complaint. Hed had no idea how reassured she would make him feel, having her as a subordinate.

So I certainly must compensate her.

He needed to talk to her anyway so he could give her the spirit jade he got, while he was at it.

Ill call for you when I have time, so dont forget about it.

Ah

At those words, she wore a grim face, as if she was going to cry, and nodded.

Yes, understood.

Seeing her reaction, he asked her separately, thinking she was nervous about just the two of them meeting.

If youre nervous, you can come with, Lin

I-I can go alone!

Allen accepted her response, as she blushed and quickly shook her head as if it were all okay.

Itll be alright.

They put all the items theyd obtained from the mountain into their carriage and headed for the manor. After several hours had passed, and theyd successfully snuck back inside the manor, Allen was able to put his mind at ease.

This, alone, cant stop him from growing, but it can at least slow down for a while.

Allen was satisfied with that.

And once some time had passed and their period of probation had ended,

Yes, Julius. Have a safe trip.

Brother, why dont you go with

Im fine. So, you have a good time sight-seeing. There are many strange items to behold around the Capitol, so go look around.

Julius and his companions headed for the Capitol.

* * *

Julius was headed to the Capitol to put up the ancient relics that hed found in the county at an auction, held in the Capitol around this time every year.

Sir, is it really alright if I ride in the same carriage as you?

Yeah, I dont discriminate against any other types of people.

Julius nodded slightly to Anna, as she fidgeted and looked around.

B-but still, what if other people see

I dont care about that either.

Actually, it would be more beneficial for her to be fully recognized as a person close to Julius.

Laina.

Yes, sir.

You told me that wed stay on Mount Nicaea for a day, right?

Yes, well enter the entrance of the mountain in a minute or so.

* * *

* * * 

Knock, knock.

Laina paused at the noise at the carriage door.

Sir, weve arrived at the mountains.

Alright, lets go.

As he opened the door, Byronthe knight who was supposed to have followed him in Garviagreeted him without any slipup.

Weve arrived.

Sir Julius, if theres anything you need to do in the mountains, then by all means

No, thank you.

This would be an event that nobody else could know about.

Im going to take a little walk.

I could escort you

Im alright.

Julius stopped Laina, whod been quietly following him, and went somewhere alone, where there werent any other people. The reason why he moved alone was simple.

Im going to take the Quest Reward for myself.

Until now, hed been dealing with the ancient ruins, the Thanksgiving festival, and the duelall while taking care of his normal workloadso he hadnt been able to get compensation for his work yet. So, surely itd be okay if he got a little reward on his way to the Capitol.

First off

An elixir, [Blue Meteor Rainstorm (A)], was located under a royal foxglove tree. It was easy to find with the help of the map. Julius dug at the bottom of the tree, which hed arrived at via the guidance of the map.

But

Huh?

There was nothing there.

W-wait a second, this cant be happening. Is this not it?

Julius checked his map, but it pointed exactly to this place. Julius looked around his surroundings but found nothing, as if there were nothing there to be found.

No, this cant be happening.

It had to have been just this one. The others must still be there, right?

Hiding his anxiety, he headed to the sites of the other rewards, but

Haha is this a joke?

The spirit jade located in a broken eagle statue, too.

Is this one gone too?

The moonflower blooming in a pit under a cliff, too.

This is fucking crazy. This cant be right. Its gone? Its really gone?

And so had all the potions that escaped sorcerer had finally finished, too.

No, no, dont tell me this one is gone too.

There was nothing there. The snow-covered Julius frantically searched the mountains for his rewards using his map, but

Dont fuck with me! I said dont fucking mess with me! Shit!

It was all the same.

They were rewards scheduled to be received after completing quests. Most of the rewards listed on maps were located in Mount Nicaea, so he was planning to take them all at once.

Fuck.

Julius hurriedly pulled out a space-shifting scroll.

No, no, no, no, no.

The map he got after Fathers test. It was a reward that hed saved, thinking that hed receive something even more special.

Tear, rip.

After the scroll had been torn, Juliuss body levitated and quickly moved through the boundary where the Spring of Spirits was located.

What? This is barely even a space-shifting scroll. Please, please.

He didnt use it until now because he thought it would seem suspicious if someone who never left the house suddenly returned from the mountains.

This isnt how it was supposed to be. Fuck. Fuck.

He saw nothing. There was nothing in sight. His heart beat wildly, and he broke out into a cold sweat. The moment he arrived at the Spring of Spirits

Whew, thank God.

The Spring of Spirits maintained its serene atmosphere like nothing was happening. After a moment, he hurriedly swallowed some of the springwater, worried that it may suddenly disappear.

Gulp, gulp.

How refreshing.

Julius settled down and waited for something to happen. He heard that it would be a special reward, so he was expecting something to happen.

But

This elixir is a little slow.

10 minutes passed.

Is this something else? A different special reward?

And 30 minutes passed.

Wait, something something may be wrong

And one hour passed.

After realizing that nothing had happened, Julius forced himself to take a deep breath and head back to the spring.

Haha, I guess I didnt drink enough.

There was no way that it wouldnt work. Julius drank more of the springwater.

Gulp, gulp.

Is this enough yet? More?

One mouthful. Two mouthfuls. Three.

Its notcoughits not enough. IcoughI need to drink more.

He drank 10 mouthfuls of springwater. Then 20. 

No, no, this cant be possible. It cant. No way. No fucking way!

He plunged his head into the spring and inhaled. He drank the springwater until he felt like his stomach would burst, yet nothing happened.

Whimper

Was it because he drank too much? Julius, who had only just barely been able to suppress the rising feeling of vomit, gazed at his own reflection on the surface of the water.

Torn clothes and scattered hair. Red eyed and breathing roughly.

His heart pounded like crazy, and his eyes trembled.

Not a single one?

It wasnt until that moment that Julius realized that the reward from the Spring of Spirits, too, had disappeared.

Not even one?

He couldnt bear the realization.

This couldnt be happening. It wasnt what hed been hoping for.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Deep within the forest, Juliuss screams rang out.