Reset Life – Chapter 96

Chapter 96: What Have You Been Doing Until Now?! (2)

Blood belatedly seeps out, trickling down my bones and dripping to the ground.

Pain belatedly sets my mind ablaze.

“Ah, ah……! Aaaaaah-!”

“I’m sorry, Risel. I know there will be no forgiveness.”

Crack!

This time, it’s my left arm. My elbow bends in the opposite direction before going limp.

“Kuhurk……!”

Screams won’t come out. It hurts. There’s only pure pain. Lights flash before my eyes. I wonder if this is what it feels like to have your brain skewered and roasted on fire?

Aila, after rendering both my arms useless, stood up.

Her hands were white and slender, making it hard to believe they had just broken my arms.

“Ah, Ai……! Kugh! Aila-!”

“I won’t ask for forgiveness.”

Her face was pale, like a sculpture made of plaster. She indifferently lifted one foot.

With pure force, she stomped on my right shin.

Crack?!

“Kkuhhh……!”

A scream swirls within my mouth. The sensation of bones shattering and tearing through flesh is vivid. I can’t even crawl. I just lie there, with my dangling arms, welcoming the pain.

It feels like countless skewers are piercing my entire body along my spine. My head throbs as if it’s already been burned black. Cold sweat pours from my body.

Even being burned alive wouldn’t be this painful. Every time my heart beats, the pain shoots through my entire body. I’d rather have my heart ripped out!

“Ah, Aila……! Aila-!”

I called out her name. I couldn’t help it.

Why?!

Why are you doing this all of a sudden, Aila!

I forced my eyes open, fighting against the pain that kept trying to shut them, and looked at her. She, after breaking three of my limbs, quietly crouched down beside me and stroked my head.

“I don’t deserve forgiveness, but…… I still want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I believe you’ll understand why I had to do this. Just like you said, this is an ‘unavoidable situation’.”

“Kugh……! What, what situation! Why, Aila!”

“I’m even more sorry that I can’t tell you.”

Her face was expressionless, like a wax doll. Her eyes were cloudy, devoid of light.

Can even gold lose its luster? If so, that’s the color of her eyes.

Those faded golden eyes approached me.

“You don’t resent me. Those eyes only hold questions. Even with your pain-distorted expression, you never blame me. Is it because you don’t know anything? I……”

Her expression wavered. I endured the pain from my arms and right leg and looked at her face.

Tears, which she didn’t bother hiding or even try to, burst from her eyes like a dam breaking. They fell onto my face. They were hot tears, like candle wax.

“I, the ‘me’ right now, can’t be forgiven. If we meet ‘next’ time…… Please listen to me, Risel……”

She gently lifted my body, careful not to cause me more pain. Just like that, I ended up in her arms.

Tears continued to stream down her chin and fall onto my face.

Her sadness was transmitted to me through every point of contact.

Why is that? Aila, you’re so sad!

Why are you doing something that would make you……! Sad!

“Aila……”

I called her. She didn’t answer.

She just quietly placed her trembling lips, quivering with sadness, onto mine.

It was an incomprehensible act. But I felt sadness from those lips.

If sadness had a taste, would it be like this?

Her trembling lips parted. Her face slowly lifted. She looked at me, still with tears flowing freely.

“This shouldn’t be happening…… I know, but, sob. Dad would scold me, but Risel is different. Yes. Different.”

“What are you……?”

“It’s time to sleep now. I hope you have sweet dreams.”

Aila smiled, a smile so sorrowful it felt like it was tearing my heart out, a smile I couldn’t just ignore.

Why……!

Don’t smile like that……!

She kissed me again. The moment I thought something was being pushed between my lips……

My consciousness slowly faded, like a landscape disappearing into fog.

Blurry.

My pain too.

Her form too.

Even the sadness I felt from her.

Everything became so hazy……

I think I cried.

Hot.

Whether it was my body that was hot, my mind, or both.

It felt like the primordial heat, the first warmth that appeared in the world, was circulating within me, a heat that could be felt if I searched for the source of this heat. It was a heat that scorched both body and soul.

Thump!

The sound of my heartbeat shook my entire body. It felt like my body was trembling, but could I truly say I was awake?

It felt as if I was right in front of a gigantic, majestic drum, several meters wide, being struck with force. It was a vibration that resonated not just in my ears, but throughout my entire body. If so, then that might not be the sound of my heart beating.

Thump!

I’ve felt this vibration before.

The battlefield.

The sound of a giant drum beating to boost morale before every charge.

That vibration that whipped the heart and released excitement throughout the body.

Man and horse became one, spurred on by the excitement coursing through their bodies, shouting and raising their spirits.

Am I on a battlefield now?

Thump!

No. This isn’t a sound exclusive to the battlefield.

The drumbeat is merely an igniter of excitement, setting fire to the heart.

If the drumbeat is used to physically experience war, then everyone is already listening to the war drums of the battlefield.

The relentless pounding of the heart.

It’s the oldest drumbeat, heard from within the mother’s womb, preparing the soldier that is man for the war that is life, on the battlefield that is the world.

Being alive itself is a war.

And the victors of war are all survivors.

Then who are the victors in life?

Those who can feel that they are alive.

Those who cannot die.

Those who will break free from the forces of oppression and coercion.

I am alive……

Nothing can suppress me.

I am the one who controls everything!

Don’t crawl up from beneath my feet!

I am the master of this war!

Nothing can bind me!

“Aaaaaah-!”

A suppressed yell bursts forth.

My heart was racing madly.

With a frantic beat, as if it would leap out of my chest, beating at least three times a second.

“Haa! Haa!”

I gasped for breath and examined myself.

My legs and hips were on the ground, my upper body raised.

I must have jumped up.

“Haa……! Hoo!”

What was that? Just now? It felt like my own thoughts, yet also like eavesdropping on someone else’s?

Yes. Familiar yet strange, and strange therefore repulsive…… That contradictory feeling I could only sense from Artshever.

Is that why? I heard Artshever’s voice in my ears.

“Have you finally opened your eyes? You’re later than I expected.”

“Damn it…… Now I’m hearing things. I guess I must be in love with that bastard Artshever. Damn.”

I grumbled and scratched the back of my head.

Huh? My arm moves?

I hurriedly looked at my right arm. It wasn’t broken, not even a scratch.

Could it have been a dream?

Just then, a playful voice rang out.

“Oh dear. You shouldn’t be in love with me.”

“Huh?”

The voice came from above and to the left.

I turned my head and saw legs clad in white leather pants. Following them upwards, I saw a white belt with a silver buckle, a white shirt, and a white leather cuirass.

And resting atop that torso was the head of a man with white skin and green eyes. His hair was a milky white that matched his attire.

As far as I know, there’s only one person with that face.

“Artshever?”

“It’s not the first time I’ve received a confession from a man, but I never expected to hear it from you.”

“Ah, right. It’s my first time confessing to a man too.”

I grumbled as I massaged my left arm with my right.

My left elbow also ruthlessly betrayed my memory.

I think I finally understand how a ruler feels when betrayed by the loyal subject he trusted until the very end.

As I was checking my right leg, Artshever spoke.

“I’m your first? Oh my, that’s delightful. Well, as a courtesy, thank you, but I must decline your overwhelming affection.”

“If I were a rejected man, I’d start drinking now…… But let’s skip the trivial matters. I thought I’d go crazy when I woke up, but seeing you here makes me strangely calm. Huh? What’s this?”

The moment I heard Artshever’s voice, my mind settled. That’s why I could even make twisted jokes.

But more importantly, what’s this blood on my lips? It doesn’t taste like mine (?).

I turned my head to look at the white-clad man standing beside me. He grinned and raised his left hand, which was roughly wrapped in a handkerchief.

Blood was seeping through the handkerchief.

“You……?!”

“Yes, that’s right. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. Actually, I heard that blood, aside from the iron which gives it that peculiar metallic smell, is quite tasty.”

“Kugh……! You’re quite the heroine. Why?”

“I needed a detonator to trigger your suppressed consciousness from the outside. I did it out of pure goodwill. You understand my sincerity, don’t you?”

To be precise, I didn’t understand, I just knew. It’s true that he woke me up by feeding me his blood out of goodwill. But I don’t know his ulterior motives.

And my body feels strangely hot.

The peculiar throbbing of my heart, the strange sensation flowing within me…… how should I describe it? It’s like I’ve grown an extra set of blood vessels throughout my body?

I looked around.

It was an ordinary clearing under a tree, and Al and Lucy were lying next to me, breathing slowly. There was no one else besides them.

“Ah, they probably won’t wake up for another 12 hours. They have a high tolerance, but they couldn’t withstand the special anesthetic Mangya prepared.”

“Made with powdered poison dart frog?”

“Oh? You know about that?”

I shook my head.

Aila, you’re honest in the wrong places.

Thinking about her suddenly made my head throb.

I asked the only person around who could communicate with me.

“Artshever, what’s the date today?”

“It’s July 13th, 375th year of the Imperial Calendar. It’s been about 10 hours since you lost consciousness.”

“How do you know that…… No, never mind.”

I got up.

I don’t know why Artshever is here, but it doesn’t feel strange that he is.

It’s been almost three years since we last met, but it feels like yesterday.

“Ah, right. It’s been a while.”

“Oh? My! To think I’d hear Sir Arisein greet me! My, this is surprising. Haha! No, should I say Viscount now?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“Haha! You haven’t changed a bit. Hmm. I understand.”

Artshever grinned and nodded. I left him alone for now and looked for my belongings.

They were neatly arranged under the tree, next to where I had been lying.

It seemed they had even removed my armor so I’d be comfortable while unconscious, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I picked up a white letter on top of my backpack.

<From Aila, to Risel.>

The rounded handwriting belonged to Aila.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• What if Disney Princesses Were Real? (Spoiler: Not So Magical)
• My Early 20s Emo Profile: A Journey Back to Myspace (And Why It Still Haunts Me)
• Demon Slayer: Tengen Uzui – The Ultimate Husbando?
• My Therapist Told Me to Stop Saying “Back In My Day” – Unrelatable TikTok Kids got me STRESSED
• Yo, Millennials: This TikTok Dictionary Translates Gen Z So You Don’t Sound Like a Boomer