Infinite Regressing Knight

Chapter 16

Stage 2. Celestial Stone (9)

Blink.

The sensation of eyelids closing and opening, closing and opening again, felt foreign.

My whole body was supple and soft.

I seemed to lack strength, but I felt comfortable.

It felt like being reborn.

Reborn?

What's new?

My body has always been like this, hasn't it?

It was a fleeting thought, but I quickly dismissed it.

That couldn't be.

How many aftereffects were left from the injuries I sustained while wandering the world?

I don't feel them, do I?

I deny the denial.

Wandered the world?

Me? When?

I question the denial.

Blink.

Blink.

At that moment, someone's voice reached me.

“Dominic Diamond.”

It was a familiar voice.

A firm and stubborn voice.

His grandfather, whom I had never forgotten, even in my dreams.

Kedral Diamond.

“Dominic Diamond.”

As the voice called my name once more, a multitude of thoughts flooded in at once.

A fugitive.

An academy dropout.

Tera Defense Army.

8th Squad Search Commander.

And……

The murderer of my grandfather, Kedral Diamond.

It was a false accusation, but Dominic thought the words weren't entirely wrong.

To stop Dominic's rampage, the family's soldiers had rushed in, creating a loophole in the mansion's security.

It was an assassination that targeted that opening.

If it hadn't been for Dominic, the assassination might have failed or never even been attempted.

“Dominic Diamond.”

But why was I hearing Kedral's voice now?

At the third call, Dominic's eyes snapped open.

What came into his sight was Kedral's face.

"What are you doing?"

His brow was deeply furrowed.

* * *

Kedral always lived alone.

Despite gaining a noble title and building a great family, only Kedral resided in the mansion called the 'main house'.

Although guards and maids were stationed there, they had no decision-making power as human beings.

So, Kedral was the only human living in the Diamond family's mansion.

Traditional nobles scoffed at Kedral's behavior, saying he didn't know the honor that fluttered on the family's emblem, but he didn't care.

Kedral was not the type of person to confine himself to the gaze of others.

However, it wasn't as if no one else ever entered the Diamond family's mansion.

Whether it was a child or a grandchild.

Once they passed their seventh birthday, they were given the opportunity to enter the mansion.

Then they would live with Kedral for a week.

It was to make a judgment.

Whether his bloodline was a mere imbecile, or a 'human being'.

Since so many were born into the Diamond family, usually three or four children would enter together, but not this time.

Dominic Diamond was the only child in the family turning seven this year.

And today was the first day Dominic Diamond had entered the main house.

* * *

Right. I remember now.

I came to this mansion at this time, and I left as the successor.

I was so young that I don't remember what happened at all.

I only have a vague impression that Kedral liked me.

Usually, three or four people come in together, so the children tell each other what happened, but not Dominic.

For a while, how Dominic pleased Kedral was a hot topic among the Diamonds.

Although his parents did not welcome Dominic becoming the successor.

But…….

"You will experience the future."

Surely, it was said I would see the future, wasn't it?

This is the past, isn't it?

Besides, did experiencing it really mean experiencing it?

It doesn't feel like a dream, nor like an illusion.

The sparkling jewels in the chandelier were radiant, the clothes I was wearing were soft and fragrant, and the food on the table instantly stimulated my appetite.

At that moment, an absurd question flew at me.

"Multiply 127 by 17."

"2159."

As I answered reflexively, Kedral, who had been staring at Dominic, shrugged.

"Not lacking in intelligence. Is he as timid as your father?"

Then he started cutting the steak.

Was Kedral like this?

The Kedral in Dominic's memory was a tyrant, a monster with greed flowing instead of blood.

But what he saw now was an ordinary man.

Probably in his late 40s.

Dominic was thirty-seven, so there was only a difference of a dozen years or so.

At that moment, I felt uncomfortable.

I don't know what this illusion is trying to show, but this can't be the real Kedral.

Kedral is dead, and that's my responsibility.

Are you suggesting I spend happy times with Kedral?

To shake off the guilt?

Dominic had always been a runaway, but what set him apart from other runaways was that he didn't turn a blind eye to his sins.

I don't know what exactly the singularity means, but at least it's not this.

Dominic left the food untouched and got up, but Kedral didn't react much.

As I was about to leave the table like that, I heard a voice.

"What do you think will happen to the Diamond family in 10 years?"

Dominic turned around.

"You will die, the noble title will be revoked, and the family will begin its descent into ruin."

In reality, Kedral Diamond dies 10 years later.

In the year Dominic turns 17.

But I wasn't trying to make a prophecy.

I just wanted to say something that I would never have said back then.

I wondered if the illusion would end if I broke the justification of this space.

But Dominic's statement didn't break the justification, but seemed to only pique Kedral's curiosity.

"Really? Why 10 years later?"

I didn't think there was any significance to the timing.

The nobles had always regarded Kedral as a thorn in their side.

But now that I received the question, it was a bit strange.

Kedral was able to receive the noble title because his gold was essential to the kingdom.

So, did that mean it was no longer needed when he died?

That doesn't make sense.

The Tera royal family is always struggling with financial deficits.

Paradoxically, the era of war, when materials could be levied from nobles and merchants, was the most financially sound time for the Tera royal family.

At that moment, Dominic decided to test Kedral's intelligence.

I don't know the answer to this question.

And the Kedral in the illusion cannot be superior to Dominic's intelligence.

Perhaps he'll give a clumsy answer, or say something plausible based on the facts of the future.

"Is there any need to fixate on 10 years? It could be 11 years later, or 12 years later."

"No. If I die, it will be exactly 10 years later. What do you think is the reason for that?"

"Do you need a common enemy?"

"A common enemy?"

"Once the era of war is over and the power of the nobles increases, they tend to be divided into moderates and hardliners. It is the royal family's concern to resolve this."

"So? Make me, a fake noble, a common enemy? To stimulate their self-esteem?"

"Nobles take risks because of their self-esteem, but……. It's probably because of the vested interests monopolized by the Diamond family."

Kedral shook his head.

"It's not wrong, but that's not why it would be exactly 10 years later."

“…….”

"Dominic Diamond. You are only looking at small pictures. Draw a bigger picture."

I felt unpleasant.

That it's just an illusion, but it's similar to the real thing.

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer."

"I said I don't know."

"I said that's not an answer."

"I don't know!"

The moment Dominic exploded with anger, Kedral shrugged.

"Okay. I guess you can't know that far yet."

“…….”

"That's excellent enough."

“……!”

It was the first compliment I had ever heard from Kedral.

"It is important to be aware of exactly how much you know. It is also important to acknowledge ignorance and to be angry at one's own ignorance."

“…….”

"Most of your assumptions were based on the ugly nature of human beings. Good judgment."

“…….”

"Tomorrow morning, let's go out together. Let's confirm the puzzle pieces of 10 years from now there."

* * *

The next day morning.

Before the sun even rose, Dominic left the main house with Kedral.

The place they headed to was a construction site where a large waterway construction was in full swing.

It was a familiar place to Dominic as well.

Because he had seen it enough throughout his time living in the capital of the Tera Kingdom.

Connecting the entire kingdom with waterways was a long-term construction project that lasted 15 years after the end of the war, and it was a project that allowed the Diamond family to accumulate endless wealth.

Above all, it was a task that made Kedral a nobleman.

I also remember the enormous conflicts that occurred due to the alliance and separation after Kedral's death.

Kedral checked this and that at the site and gave instructions to the construction supervisors, getting angry.

The supervisors bowed their heads as if they had met a heavenly Valkyrie and dared not even answer back.

"I will carry out your orders."

"And cut that guy off."

"Yes?"

"There is no moisture on his shoes."

Kedral, who had finished everything, looked at Dominic, who had been following him all day.

"The waterway will be opened throughout the kingdom exactly 10 years from now. Do you know what this means?"

"It means that the amount of logistics will increase dramatically."

"Yes. We took on the construction, and Diamond will also control all the waterways."

In other words, they would monopolize more than 35% of the logistics movement within the kingdom.

Kedral asked with expectant eyes.

"Can I still be alive 10 years from now, even with this?"

“…….”

Dominic did not open his mouth.

It wasn't because he didn't know the answer.

Dominic's intelligence is also outstanding, if not as much as Kedral, who was called an unparalleled genius or monster.

Perhaps several times more than he thinks.

So, the moment he saw the waterway construction, he immediately knew why Kedral had to die.

His body trembled the moment he knew it.

This is…….

'It's not what I knew.'

It's not a part that I had even unconsciously guessed.

He had never thought deeply about the waterway construction.

So, he didn't know how far Kedral was looking ahead.

But now that I know everything.

All the bizarre actions Kedral had committed over the past 10 years began to make sense.

I can feel real vitality from Kedral standing in front of me.

But does that make sense?

This is an illusion, isn't it?

At that moment, Dominic spasmodically snatched the water bottle hanging from Kedral's waist.

A magical tool that maintains the temperature of the contents.

There was hot tea inside.

Splash!

As I poured it on my arm, I felt extreme pain and my mind became clear.

But the illusion did not end.

Yes, this is.

'……Because it's not an illusion.'

The moment I finally admitted it, goosebumps spread all over Dominic's body.

Originally, there is a faint burn mark on his arm.

His mother said it was a burn he suffered as a child, but he didn't remember when or where he got it.

So, he thought it was something that happened when he was very young.

But Dominic's arm was clean before he poured the tea…….

Now a burn has appeared in that spot.

Does this make any sense?

That burn happened now?

But this is an action to wake up from the illusion.

This could not have happened in the original history.

Then how did I act in the original history?

I remember picking flowers in the field with my mother at the age of 5, but I don't remember coming to the main house at the age of 7.

Only a very faint impression remains.

A memory of talking with Kedral.

A memory of him being satisfied.

And a memory of being chosen as his successor.

Is that what I did now?

My mind is a mess.

Surprisingly, Kedral did not react much even while watching his grandson pouring hot tea on his arm.

He just asked.

"Did you realize the reason?"