Chapter 292: Chapter 292

The case was resolved. Although many knights and soldiers lost their lives in battle, they couldn’t mourn forever. With the information they gained from this ambush, they were closer to uncovering the identity of their culprits.

‘As I thought, I should really keep my eye on the thing I fought.’ The strongest shadow human with a face that Zich hadn’t seen on any of the victim’s portraits could be the biggest clue to this case. ‘If we draw a portrait of the face I saw and search the city, we might be able to find a person who recognizes it.’

Yet, the problem was time.

‘Before we find any clues about the culprit, there’s a higher possibility that Glen might come out and say that he found the criminal first.’ Zich couldn’t let that happen. He came up with all kinds of plans and pondered between them.

“Um, Sir Zich,” Hans said.

“Why?”

“There has been something on my mind, sir. You know the monster you fought last time?”

Zich’s eyes shone. He fixed his crooked posture and gestured at Hans to speak by lifting his chin.

“I think I have seen that woman somewhere before.”

“Is that so?” An opportunity to learn of the mysterious figure’s identity opened from an unexpected place.

“But I can’t remember it well, sir.”

“Are you sure you saw her before?”

“Yes, I think so.”

As he scrunched up his face, Hans swerved through memories that were just out of his reach.

“Did you see her in this city?”

“No, it wasn’t at Janmalpi, and I don’t think it was after we began our travels.”

“Then, are you saying that you saw her at the Steelwalls?”

“Yes, I think so, sir.”

The Steelwalls weren't a neighboring family in Janmalpi; they were even in different countries. Thus, it was surprising to hear that Hans had seen her there. If this meeting had happened while they were at the Steelwalls’ residence, it was hard for Zich to help. Although it hadn’t been that long since Zich left his family in the current timeline, since Zich had regressed, his time at the Steelwalls was truly a memory from a long time ago.

‘Even if I can recall my memories there well, it won’t help me much though.’

As the thorn in his family’s eyes, Zich spent all his time at the residence training his swordsmanship skills that no one told him to do. Thus, he rarely met anyone.

“If we complete the portrait, I will show it to you first. If you see the face again, you might be able to remember something.”

“…A portrait?”

As if that word had made him remember something, Hans fell into deep thought. It seemed as if something had come up in his mind. Zich stared at Hans with anticipation.

“Ah, I remember it now!” Hans shouted. “I’m sure I have seen a portrait of that person at the Steelwalls before!”

“Portrait? So, you didn’t see her in real life?”

“Yes, when I was getting my education at the Steelwalls, we had to memorize the portraits of many aristocrats. I saw her portrait then.”

To avoid the situation of a servant offending another noble, a selective number of them had to memorize all the portraits of different noble families.

‘The Steelwalls placed a lot of their attention and care into educating him, so it’s expected.’

However, that wasn’t the important part.

“So, what kind of person is she?” Zich got to the point. “Although she looked a bit more mature than the portrait I saw, she looked like Lady Sia Rubrent from the Viscount Rubrent family.”

“A lady from a viscount family…”

Why was the name of a lady from a neighboring kingdom getting mentioned in Janmalpi, especially as a clue to identify the culprit of the kidnapping incidents?

“Is there anything else you know about this lady?”

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t learn anything else besides that. We were simply told to pay our respects if we met the nobles by coincidence…”

‘Well, I mean, I dragged him away from that place while he was still getting educated.’

Still, even this was a big help. Furthermore, he had someone whom he could ask about Sia Rubrent by his side right now.

“Thanks for telling me. It helped a lot.”

“Yes, sir!” As if he was happy to be of any help, Hans answered heartily.

* * *

Even after the ambush, the meetings continued to take place. All the members in the meeting weren’t the type of people who would skip out because they were ambushed just once. Instead, they all were fired up with even more passion to capture the culprits no matter what. The meeting’s atmosphere was stronger than ever, and that wasn’t the only change that had taken place.

‘He’s going at it again.’ Zich muttered as he watched Glen initiate a conversation with Lyla.

It wasn’t completely unexpected though. It wasn’t as if Glen only talked about things related to work during the meetings; he also talked about personal matters from time to time, and even started conversations with Zich at times. Yet, after the ambush, the number of times he tried to talk to Lyla slightly increased.

‘Did he gain an interest in her?’ Zich wondered. Considering Lyla’s beauty, it wasn’t a strange event. Her appearance was something that could bring out the affection of any man around her. ‘But the questions he asks are too intrusive.’

Glen discreetly asked Lyla questions relating to where she was born or how she had lived her life so far. They weren’t questions that a man interested in a woman would usually ask. At the same time, Lyla wasn’t someone who could answer these questions, nor did it seem like she intended to. In the end, Glen couldn’t achieve much from his conversations.

After the meeting ended, Joachim and Glen left the lodging, and Evelyn returned to her room. Only Lyla remained in Zich’s room, and Zich said, “It seems like our genius magician has captured the heart of another pitiful man.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Lyla retorted.

Zich chuckled at Lyla’s response. “But it’s true that he is trying to talk to you more.”

Lyla’s face looked a bit displeased. She didn’t suspect Glen as deeply as Zich did, but she couldn’t help but become influenced by Zich’s negative impression of Glen. Thus, Lyla was also suspicious of Glen to some degree. Moreover, even without these factors, Glen was someone Zich disliked. Normally, people didn’t look favorably upon those whom their close companions strongly disliked; and that was exactly how Lyla felt about Glen. In other words, Lyla didn’t want to be associated with Glen.

‘Did that guy perhaps begin to aim for Lyla?’ Zich thought as he kept teasing her. ‘Since Elena, whom I suspected was his goal, came to our side, he might be looking for her replacement. That would make sense.’ If he thought about Lyla’s beauty and skills, it was reasonable that Glen would try to get her to join his side.

‘Then why would he ask about her past? It’s not as if he is trying to regress one more time and get her to join him from the beginning…!’ Zich stopped moving. Then, he tapped on his lips with his fingers and went over what he had just thought over again. ‘Regressing one more time?’

Zich had suspected that Glen might have regressed like him. He also thought that Glen might have regressed at a different time period than him. ‘Just because I regressed one time doesn’t mean he only regressed only one time either.’

Zich stared at Lyla. He recalled all the memories that Lyla had shared with him, claiming that they were ones from the future. Zich thought that was a possibility. However, what if they weren’t possibilities but events that had taken place before the regression that even Zich couldn’t remember? If that was the case, then the dreams he had were also suspicious.

‘Someone might laugh at me if they heard my thoughts right now.’

Yet, Zich continued to dive into these thoughts.

‘If that’s the case, how many times has this guy regressed?’

Three times? Four? No, it could be ten or twenty times or even more than a three-digit number.

‘What if he can control regressions however he pleases? Or what if he can naturally activate it once he meets some conditions?’

Questions led to more questions.

‘One thing I know for sure is that I can’t use things like torture to extract information out of Glen unless I know what he is doing for sure.’

If Glen could possibly use the power of the regression whenever he pleased, it was clear that he could turn back time whenever he fell into a disadvantageous situation.

‘Damn it. If that’s the case, I wouldn't know what to do.’ Zich scratched his head. As someone who had experienced it first-hand, he was aware of how great the power of regressing was. The difference between his current self and him before the regression at the same age range was like night and day. Thus, if one could control their regressions however they liked, it was…

‘It’s a huge advantage.’

It had been a while—a truly long time—since Zich felt like he had hit a dead end. No matter what methods he used to win, everything would be over if Glen decided to regress. Furthermore, if Glen regressed, it would be much easier for him to prepare measures against Zich’s plans since he would know what happened beforehand.

A normal person would’ve given up opposing such a person. They would have simply begged for their imaginations to be false and returned to their normal life. However, Zich did not do that.

‘Well, that’s the worst-case scenario.’ Zich wasn’t the type of person who gave up before even fighting his opponent. Moreover, it wasn’t definite that this worst scenario was true. Most of all, if Zich’s suspicions were correct, Glen would be the person or part of the group who had toyed with his life.

‘I can’t let that go!’

Still, since there was a serious possibility of a danger that could threaten his life, Zich had to think about his next course of action carefully. For now, he needed more information, and Zich knew a clue that could possibly lead him to the information he needed.

‘Clowon.’

It seemed like he had to fasten his research about that ancient empire.

When Zich finally made his decision, Lyla asked, “Are you done thinking?”

“Sort of. Was it obvious?”

“It’s not like it’s my first time seeing you like that. Of course, I know. So, what are you thinking about?”

Since Zich was still hiding the facts about his regression, he couldn’t tell her everything. Furthermore, he still didn’t clear his suspicions that Lyla might be the Demon Lord that came up in his dreams. Thus, Zich told her a part of the truth.

“I am thinking about the connection between Glen and Clowon.”

Without asking more questions, Lyla nodded. At that moment, they heard someone knocking.

“Mr. Zich. It’s Evelyn.”

“Come in!”

Zich got up and greeted Evelyn. Lyla also got up with him. Evelyn opened the door and entered the room.

“I see that Ms. Lyla is already here. Did you stay here the whole time after the meeting ended?”

“It’s because we still had some things to talk about.”

“As I thought, you guys hold so much affection for each other,” Evelyn said with a strange smile.

Lyla sighed slightly, “Our relationship isn’t what you think.”

“Oh my, what did I say? I was just saying that it’s nice to see the bond between two companions.”

Evelyn smiled excitedly and took an empty seat. Her face was already teasing, and Lyla shuddered at the jokes that were about to come her way once they began to officially talk. Then, Zich and Lyla also took their seats and began the conversation.

“Why did you call me, Mr. Zich? I don’t think it's just chit-chat. Did you perhaps find a clue?” Evelyn’s face was serious.

“No, we really just wanted to chat.”

Evelyn blinked.

“We all have gone through a lot recently and received a lot of help from you, Lady Rouge. Also, I know you weren’t able to enjoy your time here even though your original plan was to tour this city. Thus, since you enjoyed talking to us the last time we saw you, we thought you might like a time like this.”

“Oh my, really?” Evelyn’s eyes shone. “Then, I have no reason to refuse your offer.”

Then, Evelyn excitedly opened her mouth. The three began to chat. Zich and Evelyn carried most of the conversation while Lyla intervened from time to time. Evelyn teased Lyla sometimes and laughed or listened to Zich’s stories with great interest.

After some time had passed, Zich asked, “So what happened to the situation of the kingdom after that?”

He was beginning to play with his luck.