NOVEL NEXT Ch. 24
Chapter 24: A Familiar Face - 1
It was at that moment.
Magireta suddenly leaned her face toward me.
I felt as if my breath had caught in my throat.
“This sister here is really, really looking forward to it.”
“…To what?”
“The day when the monopolizer who always takes first place competes against you little brother. It’s going to be thrilling, don’t you think?”
Our eyes met again.
Even though it was already the second time, those flickering red eyes still sent chills down my spine.
Tak.
Just then, Armelia suddenly pulled me toward her.
It was as if she were snatching me away from Magireta.
“What’s this about.”
“That’s enough. You do have quite a vicious-looking face.”
“No, I don’t. How rude.”
“……”
“You two are really close, huh? That little assassin kid, too. Hm… should I make the next game one where you three fight each other?”
For a moment, my heart almost leapt out of my chest.
Then Armelia replied.
“If you create such a game, the three of us will choose to come after you. At least, I will.”
“Uh, no. That’s not how the rules work, is it?”
“I don’t care about rules. I’ve already decided that’s what I’ll do.”
“…Hmm.”
Magireta shrugged her shoulders and took a step back.
“Just kidding. I don’t make games that maliciously target specific people or groups. That’s… what should I say, just not stylish.”
“……”
“No matter how much you, Princess, get under my skin, I won’t make some revenge game that forces you to fight each other. I promise on my name.”
“I don’t know how valuable that name of yours is, but… fine.”
“Oh my, I’ve heard that line somewhere before.”
Magireta spun around.
Then Aina cut in.
“Are you insane? Do you have a death wish?”
“S-Sorry. I saw Mason freeze up and… I just reacted without thinking.”
Flustered now, Armelia turned to me and asked,
“Are you all right, Mason?”
“Yes. I’m fine. I’m sorry for causing trouble.”
“No. As long as you’re unharmed, that’s enough.”
We smiled gently at each other.
Aina muttered with an expression that said she could hardly stand to look.
“You two could’ve done that somewhere else.”
Then Magireta’s voice rang out.
“Now then. As always, I’ll have the gold coins sent separately. You all worked hard again this ti—”
“Wait a second.”
“Ah, what now, little brother?”
“Please send the three of us to Deut Territory.”
It was the place Armelia had suggested we go together earlier.
Magireta nodded nonchalantly.
“Sure. That’s not hard at all… hmm?”
“…? What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. I’ll send you three there. Anyone else have a preferred destination?”
At that, the others raised their hands one by one.
And then came the time for farewells.
All the surviving participants turned to us.
At the same time, they bowed deeply.
“Thank you so much, Princess, Sir Mason, Miss Aina.”
“What for?”
“If it weren’t for the three of you, we never would’ve survived. Please, we pray that you all remain safe from here on.”
We were a little taken aback.
None of us knew what to say.
They each called out to us.
“Please survive until the very end!”
“Yes! With you around, I feel like everything will work out somehow!”
“I hope we can meet again in the next quest! Hehe.”
“Thank you so much for avenging my husband.”
For some reason, my chest felt tight and warm.
I opened my mouth to reply—
But no words came out.
Because my mind suddenly grew dizzy and hazy.
As always, the voice of the Diary Book echoed in my head.
[You have safely completed the Third Quest, ‘Note Test.’]
[The Diary Book’s ‘Administrator Page’ feature has been upgraded.]
[The record during the Third Quest, ‘Note Test,’ has been altered.]
[Due to the changes, portions of the Future Diary have been modified.]
[You have achieved the Hidden Quest: Armelia’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have achieved the Hidden Quest: Aina’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have saved 152 ordinary participants. Reward: 152 points.]
[Current Points: 353]
After the third quest ended—
Magireta was lying on a cloud, reviewing the events of the previous quest.
Honestly, she had thought Mason would be eliminated this time. Armelia too, and Aina as well.
‘But they survived. Through cheating.’
In all three tests, they had cheated.
There was no doubt about that.
And yet, Magireta hadn’t applied the rules to disqualify them—because she had never caught them in the act.
Cheating that the teacher doesn’t notice isn’t recognized as cheating.
Her pride would never allow her to expel someone based only on suspicion and circumstance.
‘Just what did they do?’
How did they fool my eyes?
How?
How did they deceive the great Magireta?
“Interesting.”
This batch really was entertaining.
And it was only going to get more entertaining from here on.
She recalled the face of the man who had monopolized the first-place prize in both the first and second quests.
Their conversation replayed in her head.
—You’re saying I didn’t take first place this time?
—That’s right.
—Then who did? Who took the prize this round?
—You’re asking the same thing he did. Of course, I can’t tell you that. Hmm… I’ll just say he’s someone I’ve been keeping an eye on.
The man fell into thought for a moment.
Then, scratching his head, he asked,
—Then may I ask one favor?
—What is it?
—You’ll be scattering us across different regions of the continent until the next quest begins, right?
—Yes.
—Then, would it be possible to send me to wherever this first-place guy went?
A cruel smile spread across Magireta’s lips.
She had already seen through the man’s intentions.
He was planning to kill him.
That man was planning to kill Mason.
Magireta stopped reminiscing.
She twisted around restlessly on her cloud before abruptly sitting up.
Her voice dripped with a cruel kind of heat.
“Ah… that won’t do. If he wants to kill him, he has to do it during a quest.”
Should I intervene?
No… no, this is quite an amusing spectacle on its own.
Still, it’s a bit too soon. I prefer to save the tastiest things for last.
But if Mason were to die here, that would just mean he wasn’t all that “tasty,” wouldn’t it?
Well, perhaps that was true.
After a moment of deep thought, Magireta soon made her decision.
She would not interfere.
Still, a little bit of cheering wouldn’t hurt.
“I hope I get to see you again in the next quest, little brother. Don’t disappoint this sister of yours.”
We opened our eyes in Deut Territory.
Thankfully, unlike last time, we were right on a main street this time.
It seemed she had dropped us in the busiest part of the territory.
“Ugh…”
Aina rubbed her eyes and got up.
She looked around quickly, and her gaze met mine.
Her first words were—
“Bathroom.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been holding it in for three days watching over Matets.”
“Right… you really went through a lot.”
“Don’t just say that, take me to the bathroom. Now. It’s serious.”
Uh, r-right.
But the problem was that Princess Armelia still hadn’t woken up yet.
When I glanced toward her, Aina slapped Armelia’s cheek with even more pent-up resentment than last time.
Smaaack!
“Gasp—w-what is it now.”
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
“It’s not a good morning… my cheek hurts. Much more than last time.”
“Seems like Magireta’s got some lingering resentment toward you, Princess.”
“Why only me.”
Aina cut our exchange short.
“There’s a lot to review about the last quest and things we need to discuss for the future.”
“……”
“But first—bathroom. Bathroom!”
“Ah, got it. Let’s hurry.”
Fortunately, since we were in a bustling district, it didn’t take long to find a fine inn.
Aina disappeared before even paying the fee, and fifteen minutes later she returned with the brightest, most radiant smile imaginable.
“You look like you’ve conquered the world.”
“Mm. Ahh, I’m hungry now.”
“Well, you emptied yourself out, so it’s only fair to fill back up.”
“Don’t spell it out like that.”
“Let’s eat something and rest. Your Highness, will you join us?”
Armelia nodded as if she’d been waiting for the offer.
That night, we had a simple late-night meal and then returned to our own rooms.
There were many things we needed to discuss, but we put them all off until tomorrow.
After three straight weeks of risking our lives without rest, everyone was utterly exhausted.
Thud. Flop.
The moment I closed the door, I dove straight onto the bed.
Then, quietly, I called out to the Diary Book.
‘Diary Book.’
[Yes.]
‘First of all, thanks again. Without your secret conversation function, I wouldn’t have even passed the first week’s test.’
[Yes. That’s certainly true.]
‘That’s where you’re supposed to say, “It was nothing,” you know.’
[Apologies. I can’t lie.]
Let’s just get to the point.
When I finished the quest, there had been something new in the Diary Book’s whisper.
—You have saved 152 ordinary participants. Reward: 152 points.
‘So saving ordinary participants also gives points, not just hidden quest targets?’
[Yes.]
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
[You didn’t ask.]
‘You sound just like Magireta.’
[That’s quite an insult.]
Well, it wasn’t really worth fretting over.
Saving an ordinary participant gave 1 point. Saving a hidden quest participant gave 100 points.
A hundred times the difference.
Missing that before wasn’t exactly a major loss.
Besides, during the first and second quests, I wasn’t in any condition to save anyone else anyway.
Still…
‘From now on, I’ll actively try to save others.’
[It’s like gathering dust into dust—but even dust can be medicine if it knows how to roll right.]
‘That sounds like a mix of a dozen different proverbs.’
[Sir Mason currently has 353 points. Since you’ve got a bit of spare balance, would you like to view some part of the future?]
‘Are you crazy?’
Even if I used the Search function, it would only add one more day of viewable future.
There was no way I’d waste points that carelessly.
Still…
‘I want to take another look at the last page.’
[Understood. Since you’re not accessing it via Search, that’ll cost 50 points.]
‘What? Why! I’ve already seen that last page before!’
[Because of your recent achievements, the contents of the last page have changed. It’s a different future now. Naturally, the points must be spent again.]
So stingy.
Anyway, I accepted it and requested the last page.
[Opening the Diary Book’s last page.]
[Points spent: 50]
[Remaining points: 303]
—I survived until the final game.
And so, I believed this accursed nightmare was finally over.
……
……
Thinking back, I’d done fairly well in the beginning.
But Edgar Tyler.
He ruined everything.
Edgar slaughtered Armelia, and Aina.
And every other confirmed ‘possibility.’
He exterminated them all.
As if crushing filthy insects beneath his heel.
Only I barely managed to escape his grasp and make it this far.
But what good did that do?
Without the other possibilities, all of it was meaningless.
I had been careless.
I never imagined that participants would try to kill one another outside of a quest.
But Edgar was the first to do it, and I lost both Armelia and Aina.
When was that again?
Ah, right. Two days after the ‘Note Test’ quest ended.
……
……>
When I finished reading the Diary Book, my mouth hung open.
‘What the hell.’
[Please refrain from using profanity.]
‘Edgar Tyler? That bastard’s been killing off the “possibilities”?’
What kind of monster was he?
And his reach extends to two days from now, huh.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the last page was dated January 10, Year 327—after all that struggle, my lifespan hadn’t even increased by a single day.
‘Edgar Tyler.’
It wasn’t deduction or logic. It was pure, one hundred percent intuition.
That man.
He was the one.
The one who’d taken first place prizes in both the first and second quests.