Reincarnated in the Same World for the Nth Time

As the sunset warmly colored the room and shimmered by the window, he finally opened his eyes.

A familiar ceiling was the first thing that caught his eye.

“You’re awake?”

As he turned his still drowsy gaze in the direction of the voice, he saw the sun being swallowed by the horizon to the right.

He frowned because the light was so bright.

“……Just a moment. I’ll draw the curtains a bit.”

Because she was standing with her back to the window, the face of the person sitting next to the bed wasn’t properly visible.

But it was definitely a familiar voice.

‘……What playthrough is this now? It can’t be a dream.’

His dazed mind hadn’t fully returned yet.

Above all, his head was very heavy.

He grabbed his aching hair and suddenly asked.

“Is it black hair?”

“Pardon?”

“White. No, no. That round was definitely eaten… … .”

He groaned, then suddenly lifted his head.

“…Is it red hair?”

“Uh, yes? Ah, red hair. That’s right. You have the only red hair I’ve ever seen.”

The person, who had a flustered face at the unexpected question and answer, nodded.

“But is that a question you have to ask as soon as you wake up? I think I heard it on the day I first met you, young master……”

Red hair!

The realization struck him like lightning.

Aquila Reshenhardt threw back the blanket and abruptly raised his upper body.

“……Ugh!”

However, his vision immediately spun and dizziness came over him.

Aquila hit his back against the bed again and clutched his head as it was.

“Oh, really! You shouldn’t get up right away!”

A familiar face caught his eye.

A woman with brown hair tied high as usual.

Yuzelia, with a flustered face, came closer to the bed and examined him.

She was wearing comfortable clothes instead of her usual pure white robe.

“Do you have a bad headache? I don’t know if it will help, but just a moment…”

Yuzelia carefully brought her hand to Aquila’s head.

And from there, a soft energy washed over him like a wave.

The divine power of the Sun.

The energy, which resembled her nature, gradually pushed back the pain that was pounding Aquila’s head.

With more comfortable breathing, Aquila looked at the strands of his hair scattered on the sheet.

Red hair.

A symbol that only those blessed by the Red Dragon can obtain.

Aquila recalled the situation before he lost consciousness and brought up the status window.

【Character of the 30th Iteration: Aquila Reshenhardt】

Traslator’s Note: “iteration” refers to a complete cycle of life, death, and rebirth experienced by the protagonist, Claude, within a game-like, fantasy world.

Then, a now familiar name greeted him.

‘It’s indeed the 30th iteration. Unfortunately, my mind is still intact.’

Aquila quickly scanned the status window.

【Mana at 5% or lower. Caution advised!】

【Condition: Fatigue】

As a result of using the skill, his mana was still bottomed out, but his current condition wasn’t bad, thanks to acting in time.

Just before he fainted, it felt like someone was squeezing his heart, but he didn’t feel that pain now.

Aquila ignored the yellow warning window and turned his gaze.

He closed the status window only after finally confirming that the blessing of the Sun God was still flickering.

‘It’s good enough for this. Luckily, I didn’t die.’

“This time, no. You almost died this time too.”

Yuzelia said quietly.

Her voice was calm, as if stating a fact, but it carried underlying concern for Aquila.

Since Aquila first met her, Aquila had almost died twice already.

But Aquila couldn’t hear those words properly right now.

‘I lost a whole day just from Mana Depletion?’

Originally, he should have regained consciousness within an hour once his Mana had recovered to a certain extent.

Even if he took his time, three hours would have been enough.

Could it be because his body wasn’t in a normal state after all?

Considering the original mana vessel of this body, it couldn’t even contain that much mana in the first place, so the fallout from depletion must have been severe.

This was probably his first time experiencing mana depletion.

‘This body is as fragile as glass. How annoying.’

Aquila frowned and forced himself to get up from his bed.

Perhaps because he had been exposed to divine power, he was less dizzy than before.

“Young Master, you shouldn’t move yet…”

“Shen and Kahena… no. Could you call Saint Ianfel as well.”

Aquila quickly stopped Yuzelia as she tried to lay him back down.

“Huh? Not just the two of them, but Saint Ianfel too?”

“Yes. They’re probably already waiting for me to wake up anyway.”

Aquila’s gaze went around the surroundings.

The place where he had woken up was a room for patients prepared on one side of the Great Temple of Port Plum.

Even if he hadn’t seen the decoration with the emblem of Rasphallara engraved on it, it was a familiar place just by the arrangement of the room.

It was a place he had often come to when he was a priest in the Great Temple of Port Plum.

Considering the situation before he lost consciousness, the fact that he had opened his eyes in this place rather than the dungeon underground conveyed a lot of information.

‘It seems he explained the situation well to Ianfel, who brought the temple knights.’

From the beginning, there was clear evidence, so it would be a natural story, but still.

“It’s an urgent situation, so I’ll ask you right away.”

Yuzelia’s face, which had been immersed in doubt for a moment, quickly changed at Aquila’s words that it was urgent.

She nodded right away.

“…Alright! But please, do not leave the bed!”

Yuzelia, who made a stern face on purpose, hurriedly headed outside.

Once the door closed, Aquila’s expression hardened.

‘If a day has passed, the information here might have already gone to Igrail. I need to keep that in mind and make a plan.’

Aquila threw back the blanket and got out of bed.

His mind raced as he waited for the people Yuzelia had called to return to the room.

***

“…And so, I confirmed the beast tooth shape that was the Dark Guild member’s mark and recovered the corpse. The evidence was so clear, but thanks to the testimony of Priestess Chelsea there about the previous incident, Martio was immediately imprisoned.”

Ianfel’s light purple eyes turned to Aquila.

“That’s the situation right after you fainted, do you have anything else you’re curious about?”

Ianfel, who had finished explaining, made a soft smile at the corner of his mouth.

Shen and Kahena had rushed in first at the news that Aquila had woken up and poured out their worries to him.

And before he could even look back on the situation, Ianfel had come.

And then, as soon as he sat down on the sofa, Ianfel poured out the explanation of what happened right after he fainted without Aquila having to ask, which was the current situation.

‘I do like the fact that he doesn’t waste any time in these parts.’

Aquila carefully picked up the cup placed on the table.

Perhaps because the explanation had been quick, hot steam was still rising from the teacup.

“What will happen to Bishop Martio after this.”

“The sinner Martio will be transported to Saint Roya, where the Vatican is located, and then be referred to the Holy Tribunal.”

“A formality, I presume.”

“Yes. You know it well? We will put him on trial once… but it will probably be a death sentence?”

Ianfel smiled as if it were obvious.

“He was colluding with the dark guild and was selling orphans. The end of a sinner is usually like that.”

No one was surprised, as if everyone except Aquila knew that fact.

Aquila was also not surprised by the news of Martio’s death sentence.

He had already predicted how the Temple of the Sun would dispose of the bishop.

The only one whose expression changed in this place was Yuzelia.

It wasn’t compassion or pity, but it seemed that various emotions were rising as she heard the news of the death sentence of someone she had known for a long time.

“Still, I was really surprised? I thought it would take a little more time, but we were able to catch Martio so easily.”

Ianfel seemed to be in a good mood.

That was because he had been thinking about how to bring down Martio, who was in the position of bishop.

It is said that the reason why Priestess Chelsea had attached himself to Ianfel was also to accuse Martio.

For him, who had been slowly gathering information and looking for a good time, this incident was nothing short of an opportunity that had rolled in.

‘The Dark Guild must’ve been in chaos when a man who was supposed to die from a deadly curse showed up at the temple alive.’

Anyway, thanks to that, he was trying to quickly pull out, and Aquila happened to catch his tail as a result.

“We’ll pretend we didn’t know you secretly infiltrated the temple this time. But there won’t be a second time.”

“I’m very grateful for that.”

“Still, I never thought you’d find the secret passage. Did you know it would be there?”

“I’m a bit smart, so I’m good at finding things like that.”

“Your confidence is good.”

Ianfel said that and then clasped his hands together.

“Then shall we have a more proper conversation now? I’m someone who feels comfortable when I give and take things for sure.”

Aquila smirked faintly

It was an unintended consequence that only Ianfel had done many good things, but if he thought that the range that he could demand as compensation had increased as much, it wasn’t bad.

The more it was like that, the less easily he would be able to refuse.

Aquila swept his hair back.

“If it were any other time, I would have discussed it gently one by one, but I have something specific in mind now.”

“What is it?”

“Lend me the temple knights.”

The Temple Knights of the Great Temple of Port Plum.

Their martial arts are by no means inferior to the Imperial Knights, and they also have healing abilities.

They don’t move for personal, private requests, but…

However, Ianfel silently nodded.

“I expected it since you said you knew the culprit and had a way to catch the Dark Guild. I still don’t believe that you can catch the Dark Guild if you catch that culprit, though?”

“You’ll find out about that gradually. Not now, but later.”

“Even so, I can’t lend you all of them. They’re quite expensive as they’re something to be proud of.”

“How many will do. For now.”

“For now…”

Ianfel’s light purple eyes looked at Aquila as if searching him.

“Where are you going to take them?”

“To Igrail, of course.”

“The Temple Knights of Great Temple of Port Plum setting foot on Igreil’s land… You know that won’t be easy.”

The Temple Knights are those who follow the words of God, but as the name implies, they are ultimately a military group.

It would be problematic for such people to set foot on another’s land without any justification.

Moreover, this was especially true in the Reshenhardt Territory, which was a place that worshipped the Great Dragon.

If something went wrong, the problem could become very serious.

Aquila also knew that fact.

But.

If there is no justification, you can just create one.

Aquila’s gaze met straight to Ianfel.

“Lend me the Temple of the Sun’s artifact, the ‘Scales of Judgment’.”