The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

Translator: FusionX

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Although it was good to have defeated Bunta, the sense of exhaustion that came afterward was quite serious.

Was it because it had been a long time since I had operated mana like this?

Even though I thought it would be fine and used it, it seemed like it was quite a reckless move to even slice through the armor.

So, when I was barely holding the sword and steadying my body, someone approached and supported me.

“You must have overdone it. Did you want to impress me that much?”

Adele asked playfully with a smile.

I couldn’t say I had no desire to impress her.

At least, I thought I had to show enough to gain her support.

As I smiled awkwardly, she tapped my shoulder and flowed a bit of mana towards my body.

So that others wouldn’t notice, I looked at Adele with the mana that was enough to steady my body.

Adele lightly brought her index finger to her lips and moved away from me.

As if telling me not to say anything, I just nodded at that gesture and silently gazed at her.

“I didn’t know you could defeat Bunta, but I still think he has the best skills among my deputies. The problem is that he sometimes gets excited.”

“It was a close call. If it had dragged on longer, I would have lost.”

“Don’t say that in front of Bunta. It’s better to tease him that he can’t fight.”

I knew Bunta’s personality well.

If I acted humbly, he would rather get angry, so it would be better to say he couldn’t fight.

His pride was so firmly established that it would be best to refrain from offering a hand to the seated Bunta unless absolutely necessary.

Crack.

Those thoughts were momentary as the sound of the sword in my hand breaking, unable to withstand the mana, was heard.

I blankly watched the blade crumble, dropped the sword with only the handle remaining, and laughed slightly.

I thought it would endure at least once, but at this rate, wouldn’t I have to get a new sword?

“I remember my sword being intact.”

“It’s not an ordinary sword, is it? Anyway, I’ll have to get a new sword.”

Then Adele shook her head. Saying there was no need for that, she added with a faint smile.

“There’s no need to get a new one. It’s something you can just request from me.”

“What do you mean? Don’t tell me-”

“Now that you have to serve as my deputy, do you think I can’t even buy you a sword? Don’t worry about that.”

Adele, with her chest held high, approached me and whispered softly as if boasting.

“Although I may not look like it, I have quite a lot of money.”

“… Is that so?”

Unable to figure out what to say, all I could do was agree with her.

Subtly bragging about having a lot of money was the same as before.

Well, it would be strange if that changed.

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Once things were roughly wrapped up, all I did was lie in my room and spend time.

Although I had become Adele’s deputy, the official appointment would be a bit later.

If I were to make a move, it would be after the subjugation of the tribes, so I had some free time.

“… Not answering the call.”

I tried contacting Miragen, but she showed no sign of answering.

I thought she would be busy in her own way, but I didn’t expect her to come all the way to the northwest without a plan.

I told her not to act recklessly and to prioritize her safety in case of any unforeseen situations, so I thought she would at least take care of her own body to this extent.

The tribes in the North were much more brutal beings.

Adele had unified this place, which had been close to a lawless zone, to establish this system.

Originally, it wouldn’t be strange for the tribes to be hanging people on pikes and walking around by now.

Miragen must have known that this was such a place, but I wondered if she was pondering more about her position than I had thought.

Sigh.

The sigh that inadvertently escaped was due to the helplessness lingering in my mind.

That was the reason I didn’t often wield a sword.

When I believed I could do everything with a sword, there was a time when I repeated several regressions, ultimately unable to do anything.

By the time I was called the Sword Saint and had even attained enlightenment, I had the confidence that I could do anything.

Just by wielding a sword, I easily captured several decent knights, so didn’t it establish the assumption that even if assassins came, they couldn’t kill me?

So I thought death was quite far from me.

Around that time, I got along well with Yuria’s temperament, and my relationships with Theresa and the princess were also good.

I thought I could overcome any crisis that came.

The problem was that I thought too easily, even if I was falsely accused of treason, I could just run away.

As I repeated the regressions, there was one thing I felt.

Things I didn’t know kept appearing, and unexpected variables popped up.

If it was simply because I was stupid and couldn’t think of it, I wouldn’t have found it strange, but even when I encountered the same situation several times, there were occasionally special situations that occurred.

For example, Yuria’s madness intensifying, or Theresa quickly revealing her true colors and engaging in unexpected schemes.

The reason I got rid of Theresa a bit quickly in this life was to erase such variables.

It no longer mattered what kind of variable it became.

Since I wouldn’t have any lingering attachment even if I killed Theresa now, I was just wary of my life that had been strangely entangled in each regression.

100 lives were by no means few.

It was enough for someone without talent to become a Sword Saint, and for a fool to achieve great things and still have time to spare.

300 years, if I were to convert the life I had lived into time, wouldn’t it be about that much?

However, even so, I couldn’t twist my fate.

It wasn’t even that I had lived to avoid death.

It was a life lived simply to gain trust, with the thought that perhaps the already twisted people might change.

At least until my last regression, I had the expectation that Yuria or Theresa might repent.

Resolving the false accusation of treason and surviving was secondary, so that feeling remained the same.

Surviving was not my purpose.

No matter how miserable, I simply lived to gain trust.

Just as I believed in them, I wished for them to believe in me as well.

All I wanted was for them to step forward for me when I was in the most dangerous situation.

… Of course, now I had completely let go of such expectations.

However, the question was why my death alone wouldn’t change.

As if it was predetermined, as if it was unavoidable.

Whenever I thought success was almost near, hope always crumbled in an instant, so throughout my lives, I could never let my guard down.

It was the same now.

Am I doing well now?

Even if the path I’m taking is different from before, can I really extend my sword towards the Crown Prince’s neck?

That alone could still be considered an unknown.

Should I have lived for myself?

A sudden question occurred to me as I briefly looked at the ceiling.

Perhaps that was the easiest way to avoid death.

If I had proceeded by thinking of people as means and using them, discarding them if necessary, I could have stopped the regression long ago.

But then, what would be the difference between me and Yuria?

What I thought as I started the 101st regression was not to live for myself.

I just wished for an eternal death, I just wanted to put an end to this regression I had started.

So I wondered.

Have I done well so far?

Although I couldn’t say I was completely satisfied, it was certain that I was moving in the direction I had thought.

I just needed to keep going like this.

Although living to die wasn’t very pleasant, death would be the best ending for me.

As I closed my eyes again and was about to empty my mind, I suddenly felt a vibration from the artifact I had placed on my chest.

Thinking it was Miragen, I answered the call, but the voice that came from it was unexpected.

“Ah… Can you hear me? I was told Lord Taylor would answer.”

The voice that asked cautiously was Adriana’s.

Wondering why I could hear her voice, it was momentary, and then Miragen’s voice was heard loudly from the side.

Maybe the two of them were together.

If it was Miragen, she must have come out on an outing, but I didn’t expect her to come all the way to the northwest.

However, it seemed she wasn’t in the northwest, as I heard Miragen talking about the Magic Tower in the background.

The Magic Tower… It made sense to hear Adriana’s voice.

Since the Moon Tower and the Magic Tower were close in distance, if she responded from the Magic Tower, she could use this artifact to transmit her voice remotely.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re in the northwest. It’s been a while, greetings to you.”

“Ah, it is Lord Taylor! I was surprised when Miragen said she would connect the artifact, but since it’s Lord Taylor.”

“Did Her Highness the Princess say that…? I was surprised to hear that she had gone all the way to the northwest, but it seems she keeps surprising me in various ways.”

“Ahaha, Miragen is a bit like that. Rather, I think it’s good. Because of her personality, it’s always fun when I’m with her.”

If we were to talk about fun, there was no woman like Miragen.

She always turned people’s minds upside down with ideas they had never thought of, so when I was with her as a lover, I smiled quite a lot.

Adriana, who had been talking about Miragen for a moment, then asked about my well-being.

“Come to think of it, I heard you went to the North. If you had been near the capital and then went, it must have been difficult to adapt. Are you doing alright?”

“I’m fine. Fortunately, the Grand Duchess is taking good care of me, so I’m staying well without any discomfort.”

“… Aha, the Grand Duchess is taking good care of you. That’s a relief.”

Although her voice was a bit darker than before, Adriana laughed brightly and continued.

“Miragen is also in the northwest right now. Do you happen to know that?”

“I’m aware, but aren’t you together with her? I thought I heard her voice.”

“It’s coming from the crystal ball next to me. Miragen needs to teach me how to connect the artifact.”

I see, so Adriana was in the capital. But Miragen was still in the northwest.

If Adriana had also come to the northwest, it would have been a headache in many ways.

I didn’t know why, but the relationship between Adriana and Adele was very bad, so if they were together, I didn’t know what kind of discord would arise.

“By the way, I didn’t expect you to contact me like this. Saint.”

“Ah, that. I told you to call me something else before. Did you perhaps forget…?”

At that cautious question, I pondered and was able to recall what I had heard last time.

She had told me to call her by her name now.

However, calling the Saint by her name was quite a difficult task.

Others might misunderstand if they found out.

Still, I couldn’t go against her request, so after a moment, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Then, is it alright if I call you Adriana?”

“Yes, I’d like that. Can’t we say we’re a bit more comfortable with each other now?”

“I think it would be fine for you to call me Robert as well. In fact, it’s discourteous of me to call you like this in the first place.”

When I said that, a rather long silence flowed from the other side of the artifact.

Occasionally, there were sounds of “Ro- Ro-,” and when I called her name after a long silence, Adriana’s voice continued again.

“Ah, yes. I’m listening. Robe- No, Lord Taylor.”

“If it’s difficult, just call me comfortably. I didn’t mean to force you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not used to calling someone else by their name.”

It was natural for her to feel awkward with me, even though she had been close with Miragen since childhood.

It was a strange situation where I called the Saint by her name, and she called me Lord Taylor.

But what did it matter?

The fact that the more progress this relationship made, the better direction this regression was heading in remained unchanged.

As I chuckled like that and was about to continue the conversation, a voice was heard from beyond the door.

It was Adele’s voice, who had disappeared earlier, leaving me in the room.

“Robert, it’s about time for you to come now.”

“I understand. I’ll be right out.”

It was probably the finalization of my appointment as her deputy.

Just as I answered Adele and was about to wrap things up, a chilling voice came from the artifact.

“… Calling you by name, I see.”

“Pardon?”

“No, I heard a woman’s voice earlier. She called Lord Taylor by name. I was wondering if I might have misheard.”

Adriana, who said that, then laughed slightly and moved her lips with an even colder voice.

Although her voice was still gentle, for some reason, it made my back shiver.

“Would it be alright if I learned about the whole story?”

Faced with that gentle threat, I had no choice but to open my mouth.

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