Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 17.7
“Because I’m going to die after that.”
“…What?”
“I told you. I can’t live on if I don’t receive the reward given by ‘God’.”
I heard Arvan swallow. Although he listened to my story and pondered with me, he didn’t seem to realize it literally meant my life would end.
I turned around to look at Callion. He was speechless with his eyes wide open. His pupils were trembling as if in disbelief.
“Actually, I died once before. When I fell off the cliff with the monster aggregate. I was brought back to life here as a reward for saving people then.”
“…”
“I can keep coming back to life even if I die, as long as I save people. But if I leave like this, I’ll really disappear in 33 days.”
Callion’s face gradually turned pale. A constant trembling spread like ripples on a usually calm pond.
“You said ‘keep’, didn’t you?”
“Callion?”
“Are you saying I should watch from the sidelines as you die saving people in crisis, come back to life, and then walk back into danger to save people again, repeating this cycle?”
A heavy voice, as if submerged in deep water. Each falling syllable felt like it was piercing my heart.
“Are you saying I have to experience losing you before my eyes again?”
“Callion. I’m sorry. I didn’t explain properly…”
“Have you ever thought about how I would feel?”
The emotion in Callion’s voice was not resentment, but despair. The despair of repeating a sorrow he didn’t want to experience again, and being unable to escape from pain that might never end.
“Don’t make it hard for Ju-in. Don’t you know how to be considerate?”
Arvan firmly grasped my hand and led me away as if separating me from Callion.
“You said it was enough not to be abandoned by Ju-in, but that was a lie after all.”
“Arvan!”
“I told you, Ju-in. A man who has turned his back on you once can do it again anytime.”
At Arvan’s words, Callion’s blue eyes flashed as if to pierce.
“Huk…!”
Overwhelmed by the sudden killing intent, I staggered as my legs gave out. If Arvan hadn’t quickly caught me, I would have collapsed right there.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
As if Arvan’s shout brought him to his senses, Callion hesitated. He looked at me with bewildered eyes, then soon made an expression as if he was about to cry.
“Ju-in, I… I…”
Callion couldn’t continue. He turned around and left this place as if fleeing.
“Callion!”
“Wait, Ju-in. Calm down and sit here.”
Arvan picked me up and sat me on the sofa. He looked into my eyes, rubbed my palms, and quickly took off my shoes.
“Your body is in shock. Try to breathe slowly.”
“But Callion left. We need to go after him quickly.”
“He just ran out because he was upset. It’s common at that immature age. He’ll be back soon once he calms down.”
Arvan, dismissing it casually as if discussing a minor teenage transgression, grasped my ankle and applied firm pressure, reminiscent of an acupressure technique.
Along with a tingling sensation, the feeling returned to my numb legs. I must have been tense and stiff.
Arvan lifted my legs onto the sofa to make me lie down, then brought a cushion to support the back of my neck.
“That guy, he seems younger than I thought. Ju-in, you need to develop a better eye for men.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Why? Did you lose interest because I sound like a concubine badmouthing the wife?”
“N-no. That’s not it.”
Arvan wiped my hands with a wet towel and sat leaning on the armrest of the sofa.
“Well, thanks to him, I came to my senses quickly. If it wasn’t for that guy, I might have gotten angry.”
“…Were you angry at me?”
“Not at you. Just, I wondered if it was my karma.”
“Karma?”
A shadow fell across his typically kind and gentle features. Arvan turned his head slightly, as if deliberately averting his gaze.
“I told you before, didn’t I? I created the secret passage in the central palace.”
“Mmm.”
“I didn’t see eye to eye with the command. There were times when I wished someone else would rule this castle.”
“Huh…?”
Now the castle shares its fate with the lord, but in the past, it was inherited or taken away, he said.
Did Arvan try to drive out the lord of the central palace and install someone new as the lord?
“Is that perhaps about Arvan’s master?”
He chuckled. Though he didn’t answer, I knew it was an affirmation.
“I was very young then, I didn’t know what consideration meant. I clung to expectations without realizing the burden I was placing. I didn’t even know I would leave the castle like that.”
“……”
Seeing Arvan’s lonely expression, I realized that his master hadn’t simply left the castle.
He was either exiled or died.
“My greed ruined everything.”
Eyes that had long suffered from a terrible past that couldn’t be undone, finally letting go and resigning. I think I understood why Arvan’s kind and gentle eyes sometimes felt chilly.
The promise to save people was a kind of atonement for Arvan.
So, how painful must it have been when I said I would become the lord? He must have thought I was getting involved because of the mistakes he made in the past.
“Arvan. This is something I’m doing of my own will.”
“Then why don’t you ask for help?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you trying to shoulder this alone? When I’m here.”
Arvan leaned over, casting his shadow over me. I could feel the sofa cushion sinking under the weight of two people.
“Am I a useless man who can’t do anything for the woman I like?”
Arvan tilted his head with a self-deprecating sigh. His purple eyes looked dark up close.
As if they might sink at any moment.
“You’ve taken my heart, and if you’re gone, I’ll have to live the rest of my life without a heart. Is that what you want?”
His constant consideration and kindness towards me were a kind of defense mechanism. Because he had lost someone precious due to selfishness. He had been so devoted to avoiding experiencing the same thing again.
“I didn’t save you to put you in danger.”
“Arvan……”
“This isn’t why I fell for you.”
A suppressed voice and trembling sigh. Seeing his face desperately trying to hold back, I caressed his cheek pitifully.
“Arvan. I’m not going into the castle to die.”
I glanced at the minimized system window.
[Insight Result]
If you do not accept [Dienes]’s proposal, you cannot complete the hidden quest.
The future decided by using the insight skill at a crossroads will inevitably come true in some form. Whether it’s to protect the people in the castle or for me to live, it means I have no choice but to become the lord now.
“I’m trying to become the lord to continue being with you.”
I don’t want to disappear like this either. Throwing myself into danger now is to live once again with the people I cherish.
“Arvan. Can I ask you for one thing?”
“Tell me.”
“I’ll become the lord and protect the people. But I can’t protect everyone. So, I hope you and Callion can protect the people I couldn’t.”
As we talked that night, I promised Arvan once again.
“Let’s protect this castle together, Arvan.”
Instead of promising, Arvan smiled sadly.
“……There was a time when I really wished you would say those words.”
“Huh?”
“I gave up too early. I lacked faith.”
Saying incomprehensible things, Arvan slowly caressed my cheek.
“Thank you, Ju-in.”
