The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 646

‘It knows my name?’

The voice at the end had clearly called his name correctly.

He wondered if it had somehow read his memories, but it didn’t feel that way. The voice had been warm and familiar, as if it truly knew him.

“Young Master!”

“Your Highness!”

“Hey! Are you okay?”

Everyone rushed toward Ghislain, who was still standing in front of the shroud, his expression dazed.

“Young Master! Are you all right?”

Belinda grabbed his shoulders, shouting. Only then did Ghislain snap back to reality.

“Oh, uh… yeah, I’m fine. You all must have been worried.”

“I thought I was going to lose my mind! That thing wouldn’t even break!”

“Oh, right. Well, thank you, everyone, for your concern.”

Ghislain, still a bit absent-minded, tried to reassure them. Jerome, filled with equal parts worry and curiosity, asked,

“What exactly happened in there? What did you see?”

Ever the inquisitive mage, he couldn’t hold back his questions.

“Hmm… one moment…”

Ghislain pressed his hand to his forehead, organizing his thoughts. It was clear that everyone had been extremely worried.

This wasn’t something he could brush off lightly anymore. Sooner or later, they would face the Adversary and work to ensure the seal wouldn’t break.

Slowly, Ghislain began to explain what had happened inside.

“Since I obtained this necklace, I’ve been having strange dreams…”

He had already shared this story with Ereneth, who had dismissed it as mere delusions. However, the others needed to hear it too.

Ghislain carefully summarized the important parts. He told them about how he had seen the war from a thousand years ago in his dreams and learned many things.

He also mentioned how Julien was the hero and how the Adversary bore an uncanny resemblance to himself.

Everyone was stunned. Belinda, alarmed, asked urgently,

“Does that mean you’re the Adversary?”

Parniel tightened her grip on her mace, her intent clear—she was ready to strike Ghislain down if necessary.

Ghislain took a small step back and quickly clarified.

“No, no, of course not! That form only appeared because of Dark.”

“Oh.”

The group nodded in understanding. Indeed, Ghislain’s unusual appearance only manifested when he used Dark’s powers.

Before obtaining Dark, Ghislain had no such abilities.

Fwoosh.

As if to prove his point, Ghislain summoned Dark. The raven blinked innocently, sitting still.

Jerome pointed dramatically at Dark and shouted,

“It was you! You’re the Adversary!”

“What nonsense is that!”

Dark flared up in anger. The accusation of being the Adversary could lead to his destruction.

The group stared at Dark suspiciously—not because they thought he was the Adversary, but because they found the idea absurd.

Dark felt even more offended by the disbelief in their eyes.

“Why would I be! What did I even do!”

Belinda narrowed her eyes and muttered,

“That… doesn’t seem likely, does it?”

Ghislain nodded.

“Exactly. There’s no way it could be him.”

Everyone agreed, and Parniel immediately loosened her grip on her mace.

Still, Dark couldn’t help but feel insulted. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly wanted to become the Adversary.

Ghislain continued explaining what had happened inside the shroud.

“I encountered a light that seemed like the Saintess. It said it knew me…”

When Ghislain finished, Belinda asked curiously,

“What did it mean by meeting again? Think carefully—do you have any forgotten friends?”

Jerome chimed in,

“Yeah! What about a girlfriend you met in the past?”

Ghislain crossed his arms and closed his eyes. After a long moment, he answered.

“I’ve… never had a girlfriend.”

“Oh, uh… my bad. I didn’t realize…”

Jerome gave him a look of sympathy.

Ghislain’s expression turned incredulous. As far as he knew, Jerome wasn’t any different. He quickly shot back,

“You’ve never had one either. Why are you pretending you have?”

“…”

An awkward silence fell over the group.

Belinda, after some thought, nodded in agreement. The only woman Ghislain had known closely was his former fiancée, Amelia.

In their territory, everyone had avoided Ghislain, and noble ladies from other families had no interest in a penniless scion of the Ferdium family.

This only made things more puzzling. If Ghislain himself had no memory, how could the entity inside the shroud claim to have met him?

Everyone fell silent, their minds racing with unanswered questions.

Parniel gripped her mace tightly.

“It’s a demon. You were bewitched by a demon in there.”

She refused to accept that what Ghislain had encountered could be the Saintess. The only thing she could acknowledge was that the power used there was connected to the Salvation Order.

She couldn’t tolerate the idea of heroes or saintesses not mentioned in the church’s records.

Ghislain cautiously took a step back and said,

“Hey, I’m fine, really.”

Vanessa quickly intervened to change the subject.

“Why don’t we just wait for now? If it said it would come to us, then it will. It’ll probably find His Highness first.”

“Hmm, that seems to be the only option.”

Despite everything, a flicker of hope remained. Whoever—or whatever—it was, the entity had assured him they would meet again.

Ghislain smiled faintly and said,

“Anyway, I’m fine now, so you don’t have to worry. Let’s head back. Everyone’s probably exhausted from using so much mana, so let’s just walk.”

Having secured the central area, the group planned to withdraw, allow the soldiers and workers some rest, and then gradually expand their operations in the forest.

The party let out a collective sigh of relief. They were eager to leave the unsettling place behind.

“Want to hear a fun story while we walk?”

Ghislain began sharing the tales he hadn’t gotten to earlier—stories of the hero, the other champions, and the Apostles.

He deliberately left out anything about Ferdium. Not because he couldn’t accept it… but because it wasn’t entirely certain.

The more they listened, the more fascinated everyone became. Jerome and Belinda, in particular, showed great interest.

“Wow, that sounds just like the founder of our mage tower!”

“Could Anette and the Shadow Knights be their descendants?”

The two eagerly discussed connections between their knowledge and the figures Ghislain had described. The similarities were too striking to dismiss.

“At least we don’t have any Apostles in this era.”

Jerome’s remark drew nods from everyone.

It was hard to fully accept Ghislain’s dreams as fact. But if they were true, and the enemies from those dreams still existed, the damage they could cause would be unimaginable.

Lost in these discussions, they soon reached the soldiers’ camp. Preparations for withdrawal began immediately.

Though Ghislain continued to smile and lead the soldiers, he couldn’t shake a growing unease.

‘Something’s wrong with my body.’

Since returning from the shroud, he had been experiencing strange symptoms. His concentration wavered, and an overwhelming fatigue weighed on him.

‘What is this?’

Even after observing his inner state, he found nothing unusual.

He had long since reached a level where he could maintain peak condition with almost no sleep. Yet now, he felt utterly drained.

There was only one plausible explanation.

‘The Saintess’s divine power.’

An uncontrollable energy lingered in his mind. Nothing else could have caused this effect.

‘Damn it…’

The Saintess’s divine power was something Ghislain couldn’t suppress or expel.

He didn’t sleep a wink on the way back to their territory. He feared that if he slept now, he wouldn’t wake for a long time.

“Young Master… are you all right?”

Belinda was the first to notice something was wrong.

Though Ghislain’s strength concealed it well, Belinda, who had cared for him since childhood, could easily see the fatigue in his eyes.

“I’m fine. I guess I’ve just been working non-stop for a few days and got a bit tired.”

Belinda’s expression grew more puzzled.

Ghislain had endured far worse before. He had fought wars and even battled dragons without showing such exhaustion. This was unprecedented.

‘Could he really just be tired?’

Perhaps it was simply the relief of finally having a chance to rest.

For now, since there were no other obvious issues, Belinda decided not to press further.

Back in their territory, the soldiers and workers were quickly reorganized to begin expanding their camp into the surrounding forest.

Ghislain immediately sought out Ereneth, who had remained inactive.

Without hesitation, Ghislain spoke.

“I met the Saintess.”

Ereneth, not even looking at him, replied in a bored tone.

“The Saintess is dead.”

“I went inside the sealed shroud.”

“…”

Only then did Ereneth turn to face him directly.

After a long pause, she asked,

“What did you see?”

“Nothing but darkness… but there was a small light. It spoke to me.”

“Whatever happened, it’s your delusion. That place isn’t made that way, and no one can enter it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you really think the Saintess and the Hero could have sealed such an enormous power by themselves?”

“……”

“The dragon, the elves, the dwarves, the humans—all the leaders and elders of each race gathered to help create the seal. It’s not something a mere human could break through.”

Ghislain sighed. He had expected this reaction from Ereneth even before starting the conversation.

There was just one thing he wanted to confirm.

“You said you worked alongside the Saintess, right?”

“Yes.”

“She said she had met me before and that we would meet again. So… have you ever met me?”

If the Saintess had truly met him, Ereneth must have as well.

After all, she was the only surviving hero from a thousand years ago.

Ereneth’s eyes widened in surprise. She stared at Ghislain for a long time, her expression filled with disbelief, before finally speaking.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“……”

“I fought alongside the Saintess a thousand years ago. So how could you have possibly met her?”

“……”

As expected, it wasn’t true. Her reaction was too genuine to be a lie.

Ghislain clicked his tongue. He had wondered if there was any chance they had crossed paths in his childhood, but it seemed impossible.

The only way to confirm the Saintess’s words was to wait.

Without gaining any useful information, Ghislain returned to his duties. No matter how tired he was, he couldn’t neglect his work.

The first thing he checked was the status of the pursuit teams.

“We haven’t found any traces yet.”

“Several kingdoms have promised to send reinforcements for the pursuit teams.”

“We’ve also devised a plan to intentionally let some remnants loose to track them.”

Ghislain nodded as he listened to the reports. Finding Gatros immediately was unlikely; it was a matter that required time.

More urgent was the research on the rifts. Most of the mages, aside from a few assigned to other tasks, were fully focused on studying the rifts.

“How is Julien doing?”

“We haven’t detected anything unusual yet. We’re still investigating the cause.”

The energy that had invaded Julien’s body was also being examined by the mages. However, they had yet to uncover anything.

Still, the mages trusted Ghislain and Julien’s words and continued their meticulous research. Even priests were assisting, regularly checking Julien’s condition.

“Make sure you investigate thoroughly,” Ghislain emphasized multiple times. The energy from the mad dragon’s body couldn’t be taken lightly.

Everyone in the territory was working tirelessly. Despite the war being over, there was still much to be done.

Ghislain, in particular, was deeply involved in overseeing both territorial development and domestic affairs, dedicating himself to stabilizing the kingdom.

It was no different from his usual routine—this was how he had always lived.

But as time passed, the abnormalities in his body grew worse.

“Young Master! Please, get some rest!”

“Your Highness, it’s been a month since you last slept.”

Belinda and Gillian were visibly alarmed every time they saw Ghislain, urging him to rest.

“Hmm…”

Ghislain bit his lip, his hollow eyes betraying his condition.

If he were in normal health, he wouldn’t have been affected even after a month without sleep. But now, he was in terrible shape.

Dark circles lined his sunken eyes, and his body had grown gaunt. Even Piote and Parniel had tried infusing him with divine energy multiple times, but it was no use.

People began to whisper that Ghislain had fallen ill.

Even other superhumans found it strange. Someone of Ghislain’s caliber shouldn’t deteriorate this much just from a lack of sleep.

Belinda, worried, asked cautiously, “What’s really going on? This started after that day, didn’t it? Could it be from consuming too much poison?”

“No, it’s not the poison.”

The poison had long since been converted into mana. In fact, his mana reserves were now greater than ever.

That left only one plausible cause—the time he spent inside the shroud. There were no other suspects.

Dark, who had been loitering nearby, offered a theory.

“Could it be that the Saintess wants you to meet her in the afterlife—ahhhh!”

Before he could finish, Belinda grabbed Dark by the neck, shaking him for spouting such an ill-omened idea.

Still, it was hard to deny that his suggestion carried some weight, given the circumstances.

Ghislain felt trapped. He had no idea what was happening to his body.

It felt as though his mana was sealed, as if something was tightly binding him.

By using his willpower, he could partially free himself from the constraints. That was how he had managed to endure until now.

‘This is a first.’

In a way, it became a form of training. Struggling against the restraints daily had helped him grow more adept at wielding his willpower.

Meanwhile, Ghislain continued to reassess his theories.

? "It’s time for us to meet again."

There was no way to meet someone from a thousand years ago.

‘But if it’s in a dream…’

It was possible. He had already encountered the Saintess that way.

‘Could it be calling to me?’

Since noticing the abnormalities, Ghislain had been forcing himself to stay awake. It seemed that something was continuously sending him a signal.

Perhaps if he endured long enough, the current symptoms would disappear. The stronger his willpower grew, the weaker the force binding him became.

It made sense. No matter how powerful the Saintess’s divine energy was, there had to be limits to its influence over him in the real world.

‘In that case…’

? "The choice is yours."

Ghislain chuckled softly.

After all, wasn’t everything he had done up until now a series of choices?

‘Fine, I’ll accept it.’

Now that it had come to this, he would see it through to the end.

Ghislain relaxed his body, ceasing his resistance to the force calling him.

At that moment—

Thud.

Ghislain closed his eyes and collapsed.