Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 89: Words of Parting

Chapter 89: Words of Parting

The capital city is in the midst of reconstruction.

The academy is, of course, temporarily closed.

The location is the defensive wall surrounding the capital.

“I never thought it would come to this…”

As she gazed at the half-destroyed capital undergoing reconstruction, Annegelt muttered softly.

The ordinary, uneventful days had been overturned in just one day.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities among her acquaintances, but many citizens and knights had lost their lives.

Moreover, Raymond was missing.

A few days ago, she had heard that he had freed Rofus and then disappeared.

Naturally, Annegelt joined the search for Raymond.

With the magical assistance of Rofus, they even deployed large-scale search magic.

However, they did not find Raymond.

It was as if he had vanished without a trace.

Later, Rofus showed her a letter from Raymond, and she was relieved to know he was safe.

Rofus was angry, but Annegelt felt she understood Raymond’s feelings a little.

Even though he was being controlled, it was unacceptable for Raymond, who hated senseless violence, that his power had put the capital in danger and caused many casualties among the residents.

Annegelt was not informed of who had controlled Raymond.

However, judging by the letter’s content, Raymond had likely left the capital to defeat whoever had manipulated him.

If she were honest, she was angry.

Angry at being kept in the dark, at Raymond for not confiding in her, and at herself for not having earned his trust.

Even Rofus was only left with a letter before Raymond disappeared, so the other three probably didn’t know anything either.

It’s a ridiculous story—was she the only one who thought they were friends?

Annegelt walked along the defensive wall, collecting magic stones with a sullen expression.

These magic stones were used to forcefully return summoned beasts to their original locations when the thorny barrier was deployed.

To establish the spell, which couldn’t be activated with her own magic power alone, she had used all the high-grade magic stones she had collected as a hobby.

Now, she was going around retrieving the leftover magic stones that hadn’t been completely consumed.

Magic stones are valuable, and the ones used this time were expensive enough that each could build a mansion if auctioned.

It would be wasteful to leave them behind.

She had asked Rofus and the other three for help in retrieving them, but they all had plans and said they couldn’t make it.

As a result, she was left to collect them on her own.

However, the royal family had compensated her with similar-grade magic stones apart from the reward.

Additionally, the Lightless family—Rofus’s family—had also donated similar magic stones to Annegelt’s family, the Triandaphilia family.

This nearly doubled her previous collection of magic stones.

Overall, it was a considerable fortune.

Annegelt had tried to refuse, saying she already received compensation from the royal family, but her family had already accepted them, and Rofus strongly refused to take them back, saying, “I used them on my orders.”

Still not fully satisfied, Annegelt vowed to repay Rofus in another form.

Thinking about this, Annegelt walked along the defensive wall, using magic detection to locate the magic stones.

Because the thorny pillars had appeared when the barrier was activated, the magic stones that hadn’t been fully used were scattered nearby.

Since they weren’t in their original locations, finding each one was a tedious task.

“This is strange… the reaction should be around here…”

As she looked around, a magic stone was suddenly offered to her.

“Is this what you’re looking for, Anne?”

“Ah, thank you.”

She instinctively accepted it, and when she looked at the person who handed it to her, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“R-Ray—”

“Shh.”

The person who handed her the magic stone—Raymond—covered her mouth before she could cry out in surprise.

“Please be quiet. You know I’m being hunted.”

Raymond smiled mischievously, placing a finger to his lips, and Annegelt stopped trying to call out.

Raymond gently removed his hand from Annegelt’s mouth.

“You’re being hunted because you disappeared. Do you know how worried Rofus and everyone were…”

“For that, I’m sorry.”

Raymond apologized sincerely, and Annegelt couldn’t bring herself to scold him further, letting out a sigh instead.

“So, does this mean you’ve returned because you defeated whoever was controlling you…? I don’t know their name, but…”

“You heard that much… oh, from the letter I sent to Rofus.”

Raymond murmured in understanding and shook his head.

“Unfortunately, I’m still tracking down leads. I’m leaving the country soon, and I came to say goodbye to you.”

Raymond shrugged his shoulders.

Annegelt’s eyes widened.

“Leaving the country, why…”

Annegelt’s voice trembled.

Immediately after, there was a snapping sound above Annegelt’s head.

It was the sound of a spell being severed.

Seeing Annegelt’s wide-eyed expression, Raymond shrugged.

“A telepathic message, was it? To Rofus, I presume? As expected, he’s not one to be underestimated.”

“You’ve already dealt with the barrier, haven’t you?”

Raymond had set up a barrier around the area in advance.

It was a barrier that prohibited external communication methods like telepathic messages.

It was so sophisticated that even Annegelt hadn’t noticed.

Thus, Annegelt’s attempt to contact Rofus telepathically was thwarted.

“Saying goodbye… what about everyone else? Why just me…”

“Of course, I’d like to say goodbye to everyone… but Vallum and August would try to stop me if they heard. And as for Rofus, I can’t win against him in my current state.”

“…Do you think I wouldn’t try to stop you?”

“You understand that you can’t stop me alone. That’s why you tried to contact Rofus.”

“…”

She was spot on.

Annegelt possessed excellent magic control and technical skills.

Perhaps her abilities even surpassed Raymond’s.

However, unlike the other three, Annegelt’s magical power and potential were average.

No matter how much skill she had, the gap in raw power was too great, and she couldn’t stop Raymond alone.

“By the way, I heard you’re getting engaged to Rofus. Congratulations.”

“What!?”

At Raymond’s sudden words, Annegelt widened her eyes in surprise.

“W-wait, how do you know about that… And it’s not even decided yet.”

“If you take too long, someone might snatch Rofus away. He seems to be quite loose with women.”

Annegelt turned away with a sullen expression.

“…I don’t understand. I’ve never looked at Rofus that way.”

“Is that so? From an outsider’s perspective, it looks quite different.”

“R-really?”

“You two often spent time together. There were rumors even at the academy.”

“Well, those rumors…”

Indeed, Annegelt had heard such rumors herself.

“And Annegelt… you recently broke off your engagement with your fiancé, right? Because of Rofus.”

“How do you know that much!?”

Annegelt instinctively approached Raymond, thinking that the news should not have been public yet.

Raymond shrugged, and faintly glowing butterflies danced around him.

“They tell me about the people close to me. Regardless of my will.”

“What is that… Light spirits…? Are they summoned creatures too?”

“I can no longer use summoning magic. They… are not spirits but lower beings—small elemental spirits.”

Small elemental spirits are said to be entities in the stage before nature transforms into spirits.

They don’t possess self-awareness or will like spirits, and thus are considered an imaginary concept in the kingdom, never showing themselves.

However, the small elemental spirits in the form of butterflies were visible and appeared to move around Raymond as if they had a will.

Annegelt, her researcher curiosity piqued by this unknown magical phenomenon, stared intently.

“Small elemental spirits actually exist… indeed, they are less substantial than spirits—”

“Ah, I want to talk about your relationship with Rofus right now.”

Annegelt narrowed her eyes at Raymond, who looked exasperated.

“What? Do you want me and Rofus to be together that much?”

“That’s up to you… but I am rooting for you, Annegelt.”

“Rooting for…?”

“Just that you have many rivals. Apparently, there are already a few who have captured Rofus’s heart.”

“…What?”

Annegelt froze at Raymond’s offhand remark.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Rofus currently has one fiancée, one favorite, and three who might develop such a relationship in the future… No, maybe one more recently? This is excluding you, Annegelt, from Rofus’s relationships…”

“Raymond…”

Annegelt was left speechless, her hand over her mouth.

“You’re… looking into Rofus too much. Do you like him or something? Is that how it is?”

“No.”

Raymond denied it seriously, even as Annegelt, taken aback and slightly excited, blushed.

Annegelt tilted her head at Raymond.

“…Did you do the same with Princess Asteria?”

“…”

Raymond blatantly averted his eyes.

“Raymond…”

“No. It’s not my will, it’s the small elemental spirits…”

“Can’t you stop them?”

“…”

Raymond looked away again.

“You can, can’t you?”

“Well, that…”

Seeing Raymond uncharacteristically flustered, Annegelt spoke with genuine concern and a hint of admonishment.

“You’re bordering on being a stalker. No matter what, that’s not something to be proud of.”

“…Indeed, you’re right.”

“But I won’t deny your feelings for Rofus. In fact, I think it’s wonderful…”

“I said it’s not like that.”

Raymond firmly denied it, leaving Annegelt to mutter “I see…” in disappointment.

After their exchange, Raymond bid farewell.

“Well, I’m going now.”

“…I see. You’ll come back, right?”

“Of course. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful to those who worked for my reduced sentence.”

“Contact us sometimes. We’ll always help you—me, Rofus, Vallum, and August.”

“…Thank you.”

Smiling warmly, Raymond turned into particles of light and disappeared.

Using light attribute teleportation—only Raymond knew his destination.

Annegelt, left alone on the defensive wall, stared at where Raymond had been and sighed.

“A fiancée and a favorite… truly a womanizer—Rofus, you idiot…”

Annegelt muttered, pouting.

Incidentally, shortly after this, Rofus, Valm, and August, having finished their plans, gathered with Annegelt, and the magic stone retrieval ended sooner than expected.

However, Annegelt never spoke of her interaction with Raymond.

And it seemed she was a bit colder to Rofus for a while.