BXBX NOVEL Chapter 393: D-1
Glare, who had been fighting monsters along the West Coast just moments ago, suddenly found herself in a completely different environment.
“If you don’t go away…! Uwahhhh?”
Due to the spatial displacement, she ended up losing her balance and falling to the ground.
“…Huh?”
She looked around in confusion, unable to comprehend the sudden change in scenery, and slowly got up, dusting herself off.
- Drip… drip…
The seawater dripping from her soaked clothes began to form a puddle on the dark room’s floor.
Roswyn’s Room“Where did that bald monster go…?”
Glare mumbled in confusion as she looked around the room, filled with white may lilies and star flowers.
.
.
.
.
.
- Thud, thud…
After a few days of sailing, Frey and his party disembarked from the ship at the harbor, trudging along wearily.
- Click! Click, click!!
The loud sounds of shutters clicking surrounded them as they walked.
“Over here, please look this way!”
“Is it true that you’ve lost your powers as a consequence of overthrowing the Church!?”
“What’s your relationship with the Hero Ruby? There are rumors of one-sided violence…”
Reporters swarmed around Frey, bombarding him with curious questions.
“There are reports that the victims of your recent actions are voicing their grievances. What do you have to say about that?”
“There are accusations that you were responsible for the harbor freezing incident in the Western Continent. Is that true…?”
Frey, struggling to walk amidst the barrage of questions, stopped and began to tremble.
“Victims…?”
Frey muttered with a pale face, slipping his hand into his pocket.
“Oh right. I had changed my perspective…”
He secretly held the helper potion given by Eurelia, which glowed faintly in his pocket.
He planned to drink these potions as much as he could once the system was restored and penalties were imposed, in order to face Aishi.
Rather than the potions given by the thought forms of the Hero Party from a thousand years ago, the half-filled potion given by Eurelia was likely to be more effective. ŕ
So, Frey pretended to drink the potion in front of Eurelia and the others, hiding it in his pocket.
The children would think he had taken the potion, and wouldn’t worry excessively about his mental state.
“I-it’s all my fault… hehe.”
However, this choice left the Curse of Mental Weakness persistently hanging over him.
“Sorry…”
Although the curse had almost worn off after being in effect for so long, it still affected him enough to hurt his feelings when he heard the aggressive questions from the reporters.
“How did you lose your left arm?”
“What’s your response to the scandal involving Princess Clana?”
“You’ll be facing trial soon. Do you have any plans?”
The reporters’ sharp, knife-like questions continued to rain down on Frey, who kept his head bowed.
Convinced by his missing left arm that he had indeed lost his powers, the reporters began to push their luck.
“What are your plans for the future?”
“…My plans?”
As the heroines glared at the reporters and tried to take Frey away from the harbor, he raised his hand to stop them and began to speak slowly.
“I plan to spend a day wandering around the empire… and then I will attend the academy.”
His eyes looked incredibly hollow.
“For just one day.”
The reporters, who had been taking notes with bored expressions, suddenly widened their eyes at Frey’s words.
“I’ll spend just one day living a normal academy life… and then I’ll drop out. I’ve already submitted my withdrawal form.”
As soon as he said this, the cameras started flashing again.
“What will you do after dropping out?”
“Do I have to tell you that?”
“Please answer!”
“We need to know where you’re going to prepare for it!!”
Looking at the reporters with weary eyes, Frey slowly turned his gaze to the people gathered at the empire’s harbor.
Victims of Frey Association
Send the Monster Frey to the Gallows!
You Could Be the Next Victim!
There were still some of his former servants who hadn’t come to their senses, the families, and friends of the villains Frey had punished, and imperial citizens holding placards and shouting along with these people.
“…It doesn’t seem like I’ll be staying in the empire.”
Frey, looking at them with a forlorn expression, answered while biting his lip.
“I’m planning to hide away somewhere in the mountains of the Eastern Continent, living out my days peacefully… or at least that’s what I intend to do.”
“Anyway, I’ll be leaving.”
After finishing his words and giving the people around him a vacant look, Frey trudged down the stairs.
“Who said you could leave!?”
“Stop him! Frey is trying to escape!”
- Thud, thud…
“…?”
The five main heroines, Ruby, Lulu, Isolet, and the Hero Party quietly followed behind him.
Thanks to this, the reporters and protestors halted their pursuit, staring blankly at the scene.
Without paying them any mind, the group moved forward, surrounding the dejected Frey.
.
.
.
.
.
“…We finally arrived. This brings back so many memories.”
Leaving the harbor, Frey and his party headed to none other than the Starlight Mansion.
“I always wanted to visit this place one last time.”
The longing in Frey’s eyes as he looked at the mansion, a place dearer to him than anything, shone brightly.
“B-Brother…”
Aria, watching him with a worried expression, opened her mouth with a pale face.
“W-Well, the thing is… right now–”
“Aria. Father is also staying at the mansion, right?”
Frey asked, cutting off her words.
Following his advice, Abraham, who had been in a long coma, had been temporarily moved to the well-guarded mansion for better care than the hospital could provide.
“That’s good. Since I’m here, I should see Father too. I might as well visit my room, have a meal in the dining room, and visit Mother’s room as well…”
“But… there’s ancient magic… and since I exiled you, Brother, you can’t enter…”
“It’s okay. Ruby is with us.”
Mumbling to himself, Frey turned to look at Ruby.
“Ruby, is it possible?”
“…It’s impossible.”
“Huh?”
But Ruby shook her head firmly and replied.
“The restriction placed by the First Hero utilized the system so intricately. That along with ancient magic from the Star God, it would take at least five days for me to dismantle.”
“What if the heroines help?”
“Even with all their power, it would take two days. And you wouldn’t be able to stay even for a minute. It wouldn’t be worth doing.”
It just so happened that it would take two days—a cruel twist of fate for Frey, who only had one day left to live.
“Oh…”
Realizing he couldn’t enter the mansion, Frey quietly lowered his head.
“…”
A deep silence began to flow.
“Wh
“W-Wait! Brother!”
Aria looked at Frey desperately.
But she wasn’t ready to face her brother’s cold look.
“…Aria?”
“I-I have a way!”
She exclaimed.
With her newfound hope, she started running towards the mansion with all her might.
If I write my brother’s name back in the head family’s register, wouldn’t that work?
Exile was unprecedented in the Starlight family.
So although she wasn’t sure, Aria somehow felt she knew the answer.
“Huff, huff…”
Bursting into the head family’s room, Aria caught her breath and moved forward.
“If I fix this…”
Fixing her gaze on the bottom of the wall listing the names of previous members of the Starlight family, Aria picked up a pen.
- Swish, swish…
She began to inscribe her brother’s name in silver beside her own, ‘Aria Raon Starlight’, where a charred mark had been.
“I, I cancel it. I cancel my brother’s exile. I command this as the acting head of the family.”
After writing in the name, she urgently spoke in front of the register and then moved to the window.
“B-Brother! You can come in now!!”
“…Hmm.”
Watching her, Frey hesitated, but then started walking.
- Crackle!
“Ugh!?”
“Frey!!”
“B-Brother…”
But the door, which Frey had always opened and closed since childhood, sent a powerful spark his way, and he was thrown back.
“Ouch…”
Watching the scorch marks on his body, Frey started to tear up, and the heroines holding him began to look somber.
“No, it can’t be.”
Seeing this, Aria hurried back to the register.
“I-I want to apologize… and have a meal together, show him to Father, and then… and then…”
She began frantically rewriting his name over the charred spot.
- Shrrrr…
“Why… Why does it keep erasing!!”
But the name she wrote for Frey was erased without a trace.
“I cancel it! I said I cancel it!! Let me cancel it!!!”
- Shrrrr…
“I-It’s my fault!! Please!!!”
With her hands trembling, and her voice filled with desperation, Aria kept writing.
- Snap!
“Ah.”
She came to her senses only when the pen broke.
“Sob…”
Watching the silver ink turn to powder and disappear, Aria drooped her shoulders and left the room.
“Brother…”
She opened the front door after coming down to the first floor with no results.
“…Ah.”
But there was no one there—not Frey, nor anyone else.
When the defensive magic began to activate in the mansion’s yard, Frey went into shock, and the heroines had no choice but to quickly take him out of the mansion.
“I-I didn’t know exile would be like this…”
Looking at the now empty yard with hollow eyes, Aria slumped down on the front steps.
“I’m sorry… Brother…”
Tears of regret flowed from her eyes.
.
.
.
.
.
“Ruby, we first met here in this cycle.”
“…”
Frey, after spending some time recovering from the damage incurred at the mansion and seeing off the heroines who were spreading out to find a way to save him, turned his steps towards the orphanage.
Now, he spoke to Ruby, who stayed by his side until the end.
“Back then, I didn’t know if you were an enemy or what. My only thought was ‘a girl named Ruby? That’s unusual.’”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Talk to me.”
When Ruby didn’t respond, Frey began tapping her shoulder with his finger.
“Who told you? About my condition?”
“I found out on my own. Something felt off, so I set up a listening spell in the dining room.”
“I didn’t see any signs of magic…”
“Only Irina or Serena would have been able to detect it.”
“So that’s what happened.”
Nodding quietly, Frey continued to look curiously at Ruby as he asked another question.
“Then when you first discovered my identity, did you use that magic?”
“…A crow spirit that you had killed sent a vision of what it had seen and heard.”
“Ruby, you can handle spirits too?”
Frey’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I’m envious… I can’t handle spirits yet. Spirit magic isn’t something just anyone can do, right?”
“That’s true. Originally, only three races in the world could use it.”
“Can you teach me how?”
“…Spirit magic?”
Ruby, who had been mechanically answering with a lifeless expression, slowly turned her head to look at Frey.
“Yes… Please. I beg you.”
The desperate look in his eyes was apparent.
Although he didn’t say it, it was clear that Frey’s wish was to leave a part of himself with everyone somehow.
- Grab…!
“Focus.”
Realizing this, Ruby clasped Frey’s hand.
“I can’t teach you now, but I can guide a spirit.”
“R-Really? Then please.”
“Take a deep breath and calm your mind. I’ll handle the rest.”
Soon, their hands began to glow blue.
- Shaaa…
After a while, a silver light began to form in their hands.
“…Purrrr.”
“W-Wow.”
A curious sound came from within, and Frey looked on in amazement.
“A kitten?”
A silver kitten lay between their hands, sleeping peacefully with its eyes closed.
“Ruby, please take good care of it.”
“…”
“Spirits grow when they receive love, right? You’ll take good care of it, won’t you?”
Without answering, Ruby lowered her head. Her composure was gradually breaking down.
“…It’s your spirit. You should take care of it.”
“Ruby.”
“Take care of it… Frey.”
“Here.”
Playfully, Frey placed the kitten in Ruby’s arms.
“Meow?”
The silver kitten poked its head out and looked at Ruby, tilting its head.
“Ruby… Have you thought about my proposal?”
“…”
Watching this scene with sad eyes, Frey cautiously asked.
“If it’s a burden or makes you uncomfortable… I’ll think of another way. There are quite a few methods…”
“If you want, I can offer my body.”
“No. No, no. That’s not necessary.”
Frey hastily shook his head and caressed Ruby’s cheek, whispering softly.
“I just want to be with you and shine.”
“The reason star rubies shine is because of the impurities inside.”
Staring coldly at him, Ruby began to speak.
“If you come inside me… will it really be you?”
“…”
“Or will it just be a soul fragment filling the wounds in my soul, a soul fragment that sacrifices itself until the end?”
“Who knows?”
Frey shrugged, and Ruby bit her lip.
“I don’t know which it will be, but… personally, I hope it’s the former.”
“Frey.”
“I still want to see you all.”
“…”
“I want to raise my spirit, and I want to see our children. I want to give love to you and our children.”
As he spoke, Frey fought back tears.
“So, please pray that it will be the former?”
Leaving those words, Frey turned to the orphanage director who had been watching anxiously.
“L-L-Lord Frey… T-Today is a bit…”
“Please take care of me today.”
“What? Ah… Yes!”
And so, time passed.
“The villain has appeared!!”
“Ahhh!!”
“Stop right there!!”
“No way!!”
At first, the children were wary or afraid of Frey, but thanks to his dedicated efforts, they eventually laughed and played together.
“Got you!!”
“Hehe! Hehehe!!”
“The boss has been defeated…”
“Run away!!”
Ruby, watching Frey smile more happily than ever while playing with the children, quietly turned her back.
“By the way, do you know a girl named Glare?”
“She’s my sister.”
“Really? Do you know where she is?”
“She went on a trip. She might take a while to come back.”
“…I see. I wanted to see her one last time.”
Ignoring the voice from behind her, Ruby began to walk out of the orphanage.
“Oh, by the way…”
“…?”
“Got you!!”
“Ahhh!”
Outside the orphanage, it was raining heavily.
“Meow…”
“Ugh.”
Ruby, staring blankly at the scene, sat down and began to pet the kitten in her arms.
“Hic, sob. Hic… Huu…”
Her whole body trembled as she tried to hold back her tears.
- Lick.
“Help us…”
When the kitten licked her cheek, Ruby finally broke down, crying out in a cracked voice.
“Someone… Anyone… Please…”
Time passed, and the people walking by on the street glanced at her curiously.