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Chapter : 2
I Can Do It. Whatever It Is
Whoosh.
Lowell pulled his cloak tightly around himself as a biting cold wind swept past. It was a season that came around every year, but the air at this moment—when winter was just beginning—never quite became familiar.
“Huff, huff… I think it was around here somewhere.”
His breath came up on its own, heavy and labored. Climbing a mountain alone in the middle of the night, every time he turned his head, long plumes of breath followed him, drawing white arcs in the air.
“Huh?”
Just as he began to worry that the morning sun might rise before he found it, a shape from a very distant memory caught Lowell’s eye.
“…Found it.”
A pond shimmering under the moonlight, and at its center, a black, low tower quietly asserting its presence. It was the “Hidden Tower” he had been searching for all this time.
“How does it look exactly like the description?”
Catching his breath as he stared at the tower, Lowell muttered a thought completely out of place for the situation.
Perhaps because he had suffered so much just to get here, instead of joy at finally finding it, a pointless remark slipped out first.
“Anyway, this means he’s here. ‘That person.’”
Shaking his head to clear the stray thoughts, Lowell stepped toward the tower.
The person Lowell was seeking—“Leon Riefman”—was the villain of this book.
The problem was that although Lowell had set him up as the villain, he had created the character by focusing more on his role than on who he was. Aside from his name and a few basic settings, Lowell couldn’t remember much about him.
Because of that, going to meet a villain with almost no prior information was deeply unsettling. Still, Lowell had no time to hesitate over such worries now.
“…Wait, what did he look like again?”
Hearing dry leaves crunch underfoot, Lowell paused. Closing his eyes, he tried hard to recall how he had described Leon Riefman.
After all, it wouldn’t do to finally meet him and then pass right by with a polite bow because he didn’t recognize him.
“Hmm.”
No matter how much he wracked his brain, nothing came to mind beyond the most basic details: a man with silver hair and blue eyes. It seemed he had paid far too much attention to the protagonist. Looking at how vague everything about the surrounding characters was.
‘Still, at this point in time, there’s no one stronger than him.’
Just as he was about to let out a sigh, Lowell reorganized his thoughts and began walking again. Right now, how Leon looked mattered far less than how strong he was.
Leon Riefman was certainly the villain of this world, but villains were, by definition, beings strong enough to stand against a protagonist endowed with every powerful setting imaginable.
To emphasize that strength, Lowell also remembered giving him a very villain-like personality: “reckless and never looking back, but flawless when it comes to getting things done.”
“That’s exactly why I need him.”
Muttering that, Lowell lifted his gaze from the ground and looked ahead. Lost in thought, he realized he was now only a few steps away from a massive gate.
“Huh?”
Reaching out to open the door, Lowell hesitated. The doorknob was densely set with jewels.
‘What a taste.’
The thought flashed through his mind. Well, whatever. If he was strong, then having such flashy, beautiful ornamentation even on a mere doorknob was understandable. Didn’t villains usually like shiny things?
Shaking his head again to chase away the stray thoughts, Lowell placed his hand on the doorknob and reviewed his plan once more.
“First, I meet Leon Riefman and show him what I’ve got. He’ll be totally shocked, right? When he looks surprised, I’ll quickly introduce myself. And once introductions are done, we’ll sit down, have some tea, and discuss what’s going to happen next…”
Just thinking that far, a smile naturally spread across his face in anticipation of a hopeful future.
“I might finally be able to escape this regression for real!”
Lowell shouted energetically and thrust his clenched fist forward.
Creeeak—
The sound of the tower door opening felt eerie and ominous somehow, but Lowell’s steps as he walked inside were full of confidence.
“How did you get in?”
In this world, nothing ever goes according to plan.
“Mmph!”
In other words, being bound in darkness, forced to meet blue eyes glowing faintly in the dim light, was not part of Lowell’s plan.
“I asked how you got in.”
The elegant plan of sitting down to drink tea together had been thrown to the ground, replaced by listening to threats from his opponent.
“Mmph, you need to untie this—”
Struggling, Lowell managed to force out something resembling an answer. Because of the rope-like magic sealing his mouth, his words came out completely garbled.
“Ah.”
Only then did the man seem to remember that Lowell wasn’t in a state where he could answer. With a snap of his fingers, the long strands of magical energy binding Lowell’s mouth fell to the floor.
“Puh—”
Lowell clutched the area where the magic had touched and gasped for breath. As he sucked in air frantically, he felt the clear outside air fill his lungs once more.
“I’ll ask one last time. How did you break through the traps and get in here?”
“Traps? I didn’t see anything like that…”
His breathing still hadn’t fully settled, so his words trailed off, making him sound like a liar.
“You think such a pathetic lie would fool me?”
As if to confirm that intuition, when Lowell finally lifted his head, he saw the already cold blue eyes of his opponent grow even colder.
“It’s—it’s true!”
Seeing him look as though he might attack at any moment, Lowell shouted almost instinctively.
He tried to recall whether he might have passed any traps without noticing, but no matter how much he thought, he remembered nothing unusual—only the flashy decorations lining the corridors.
“So you’ll lie to the very end. Then, goodbye.”
Lowell’s shout had no effect. Dark blue, rope-like magic began flying toward him once again.
“Ack! W-wait!”
Summoning every ounce of strength, Lowell screamed at the top of his lungs this time. If that magic wrapped around his neck again, it was obvious he’d be “gone,” just as the man had said.
This time, fortunately, it worked. The flying magic stopped right in front of his neck.
“……”
The man then looked Lowell up and down with an unreadable expression. At that moment, a gust of wind shifted the hanging lights on the ceiling, and for an instant, Lowell caught a glimpse of interest on the man’s face.
“P-please listen to me. Just for a moment.”
Seizing the opportunity, Lowell opened his mouth immediately. As magic crept up to hover right in front of his eyes, his pronunciation grew slurred again as he tried to avoid it.
“…If it’s not worth hearing, prepare yourself.”
The man’s words carried no hint of bluff. Feeling an instinctive threat to his life, Lowell slowly swallowed.
“So, to put it simply, the same time keeps repeating.”
When Lowell finished his explanation, the man hadn’t moved at all from his original position, leaning against the wall.
“Yes.”
“And in all that, only you and the master you serve remember everything.”
“That’s right.”
After that reply, silence fell.
Rigid with tension, Lowell watched closely to see whether the man was taking his words seriously.
But whether the light had grown dimmer or not, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t read the man’s expression.
“I see.”
“Huh?”
After a long while, the man finally spoke. Thinking, Does that mean he believes me?, Lowell’s eyes widened.
“As expected, it was a waste of time.”
The moment the man finished speaking, what returned was magic sharper and more refined than before.
“Ack! I-I’m telling the truth!”
Lowell reflexively curled up and shouted again. Thinking that his eyes would have been pierced if he’d moved even a little, goosebumps rose along his arms.
“If time were truly repeating as you say, there would have to be a problem with the time axis. But not just one person—the entire world’s time axis moved?”
“…Yes.”
“And after casting such high-dimensional magic, only you and your master are outside its influence…. And you expect me to believe that?”
“I know. It’s hard to believe. But it’s true.”
At Lowell’s words, barely suppressing their tremor, the man frowned deeply.
“Fine. Let’s assume you’re telling the truth. Even then, what can someone like you possibly do?”
“That’s…”
“I’m asking what you can do, someone with no power at all.”
Pushing himself off the wall, the man slowly walked toward Lowell. A sneer was visible on his slightly upturned lips.
“No.”
In the next moment, Lowell’s body tensed, and he raised both hands forward—surely out of defiance stirred by that mocking tone.
“I can do it. Whatever it is.”
After that, everything happened in an instant.
Fwoosh—
Less than a second after Lowell finished speaking, intense blue flames burst forth from his fingertips.
“Because I have magic power.”
As he said those final words, there was not a trace of trembling left in Lowell.
