Eternally Regressing in Another World

"Did you sleep comfortably, surrounded by all those books?"

That was the first thing said to me at the breakfast table. Seriously, nothing stays private around here. No such thing as privacy left in this place.

"Word travels fast. You got surveillance cameras hidden everywhere or something?"

"Kansi kamera? If you mean a monitoring spell, this mansion doesn’t have anything like that installed."

Slipped up without meaning to, but... wait, so it does exist? Some kind of magical surveillance camera equivalent?

"Then how’d you know I was asleep?"

Saying that, I stared hard at Selva. But Selva just smiled pleasantly and pointed to the right.

"?"

I slowly followed the direction he was pointing, and locked eyes with Tender, who was serving soup. Tender immediately looked away.

"...You?"

"Who knows?"

"It was you!? Hey!"

I flung a cherry tomato at him with everything I had. Right as it was about to hit, Tender’s body dissolved into mist and shifted a meter to the right.

"Please don’t waaaste foood."

"Damn it! You made an illusion anticipating the attack, didn’t you!? Hold still, I’m smacking you once!"

While Tender and I chased each other around, Elizabeth calmly brought food to her mouth, elbow propped on the table. Watching how chaotic a mansion dining hall could actually get, I found myself oddly impressed by how unhinged the whole thing was.

"Huh!? No way, that’s impossible. What are you even thinking, wanting to do something about the summit?"

I already knew it was pointless, but figured maybe Tender might come up with some clever idea...

"That reaction was exactly what I expected, ...sigh."

"That’s the first time anyone’s sighed at me for such an unreasonable reason."

After finishing the meal, Elizabeth said she had work to do and retreated to her room. With time to kill before leaving the mansion, I’d ended up telling Tender about my plan to stop the summit.

"But why go for something this crazy in the first place?"

Honestly, only giving vague half truths while asking for opinions wasn’t very fair. Talking directly with Elizabeth about it always got complicated, though. Tender didn’t have any real influence over public opinion, so sharing a somewhat far fetched truth with him probably wouldn’t cause much damage. ...Probably.

"What’s wrong? Gone quiet all of a sudden."

"...I’ll get straight to the point. I can see the future."

"Come again?"

Explaining the whole reset loop thing would just get me written off as crazy. So I decided to fudge just that part and tell him something closer to the truth.

"Look at this. Any idea what this is?"

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and showed it to Tender.

"...Is that a magic mirror? Seems awfully small for one, though."

"Just watch, ...here, look at this!"

I hit play on the phone.

"Huh!? No way, that’s impossible. What are you even thinking, wanting to do something about the summit?"

What played on screen was the exact conversation from just moments ago, along with Tender’s own figure saying it.

"Huh? Is that me? Wait, why?"

"This is one of the legendary treasures from my homeland, the Dragon King’s Hand Mirror!"

A lie, of course.

"A legendary treasure!? What does that mean?"

"That was you, in the past. This mirror reflects the past, and sometimes even the future. The ultimate magic tool, reflecting through time itself!"

A lie, of course.

"Is that really true!?"

"Yeah, it’s true."

A lie, of course.

"...Alright, then try making a prediction! If it comes true, I’ll believe you."

Figured he’d say that. Conveniently, I had a perfect prediction lined up for around noon. I rubbed the phone screen, pretending to see something, like some kind of fortune telling crystal ball.

"Alright, listen carefully. Around noon, someone dressed in green will show up. He’ll come to this mansion and say something to Elizabeth."

Just from that, Tender should be able to figure out I meant Rick. Well, Rick’s identity and his daily over the top confessions were the kind of thing you could find out with a bit of digging. That alone wouldn’t be enough to convince him. Might as well throw in a prediction specific enough that it couldn’t be brushed off as coincidence.

"Hmm, what’s this? Winged thugs keep descending from the sky, ...maybe ten of them? Me, you, and, ...even Elizabeth hiding too!? After that the screen goes red and I can’t make it out. That’s about it, but if this comes true, you’d better actually listen to what I have to say."

"O... okay."

His voice was shaking. Looking forward to seeing how he reacts to this later.

"Alright, I’ve got some business to take care of."

Suppressing a bit of mischievous laughter, I hurried out of the room.

"...Alright, guess I should head out now."

The place where Marie Eltrick had been murdered. Heading toward the Eltrick estate, I went back to my room first. On the way, I passed by Elizabeth’s room, hesitated, and stopped a few steps back.

"...Might as well try asking one more time."

Today was my last day at the mansion. No harm trying once more, even if it likely fails. Treating it as a minor errand, I reached for the doorknob.

"Now then, ...hm?"

Looking closer, a small sign hung on Elizabeth’s doorknob reading "Working, do not disturb."

"...Hard to just walk in."

Thinking about it, being entrusted with escorting the king on such an important mission, of course she’d be busy. Guilt held my hand back from knocking. I considered waiting ten more minutes, or bringing tea in as an excuse to enter. While mulling that over pointlessly, pacing back and forth in front of the door, a voice called out from inside, "Come in."

...How did she even know I was there?

"E-excuse me..."

Stepping into the room, Elizabeth was working her quill across some documents. Genuinely busy, it seemed.

"If you need something, you could just knock, you know."

"Figured you’d be busy, made it hard to just walk in. More importantly, how’d you know I was out there?"

"With that much presence leaking out, did you think I wouldn’t notice? Even buried in paperwork, I never let my guard down! Ohhohohohohohoho!"

Impressively skilled multitasking. Half exasperated, I borrowed a chair and sat down.

"So? If you’ve got business with me, is this about yesterday’s matter again?"

"...No, it’s not."

That was a lie. But bringing that up outright would just get shot down immediately. I had another favor to ask Elizabeth about.

"Not that, but something similar. That’s about the gist of it."

"Well, something like that."

Taking a breath, I got straight to the point.

"Does the Beyonetta family own any unused property?"

"Property?"

Elizabeth tilted her head, quill pressed to her lips.

"You’re not about to tell me you want to move out of this mansion and live there, are you?"

"That’s not it. There’s someone I want to keep hidden. Once you get back from the summit, I’ll clean it up properly and return it. So please! Just let me borrow the place for a little while!"

I stood up from the chair and bowed deeply. Right, this would serve as a hideout for Shiran and Flaut. If I got tangled up dealing with the summit, the two of them would be left exposed to danger. I wanted to prevent that first and foremost.

"...I see."

Elizabeth sank into thought, then suddenly clapped her hands loudly.

"Selva! Are you there?"

Less than three seconds after she said that, a knock sounded at the door.

"You called, my lady?"

Is this guy capable of teleporting or something? His constant appearing out of nowhere was starting to genuinely puzzle me.

"Do you have the key to the book storage near the clock tower?"

"Yes, please give me just a moment."

"Then please, if you would."

At Elizabeth’s instruction, Selva left the room right away.

"Book storage?"

"Yes, an underground storage room for books that don’t fit in the library. No bed or anything, but it’s perfect for hiding out."

An underground storage room, huh. Could probably hunker down there in an emergency too.

"Thank you, this really helps!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

A voice from my blind spot made me jump again. Second time today.

"Please hand this to him. I’m not entirely sure why, but apparently he needs it."

"Understood. There’s no spare, so please handle it with care."

The key handed over was slightly discolored silver. A pegasus design engraved on this one too. Thanking him, I wrapped the key in a handkerchief and tucked it deep into my bag. But the real matter was still ahead. Seeing my expression shift, Elizabeth caught on quickly.

"Would you mind stepping out for this part, Selva?"

"Understood. I’ll take my leave, then."

As the door clicked shut, Elizabeth’s expression turned somewhat stern.

"You want to discuss the same thing as yesterday. Is that right?"

"...How’d you know?"

"Same expression as yesterday. Desperate, yet unwilling to let it go, that kind of look."

Elizabeth’s eyes felt like they saw straight through everything. But if she saw through it and still listened, did that mean she had something in mind?

"I want a say in the foreign summit. My position hasn’t changed. I absolutely need to speak with the king."

"...I don’t know what circumstances are behind this."

Saying that, Elizabeth stood up abruptly and pulled a white key from her drawer.

"But there’s one method by which I’ll lend you my cooperation."

Twirling the key between her fingers, she tossed it gently into the air. Drawn in, I caught it without thinking.

"What’s this key for?"

"The key to the armory. The armory is down the hall, to the right, at the very end."

"The armory... what am I supposed to do with something like that?"

Hearing that, Elizabeth grinned. A smile filled with mischief. Nothing but a bad feeling followed.

"If you want to move me to act, you’ll need to put in some real effort! A mere scratch will do, just one hit! Try landing a blow on me!"

"Huh?"

Cold sweat soaked my back. Wait, hold on, don’t tell me...

"The simplest, most direct way to earn a knight’s respect! A duel with me! A fair and honest fight!"