The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 197

Midra Fenin.

To be honest, I know almost nothing about him.

He was a character who wasn’t even given much importance in the Flame Butterfly arc.

Aside from being the second-ranked combat student in the first year, there was nothing else notable about him.

That was Midra Fenin.

But after I possessed this body, he gradually began to stand out.

And then, finally, he reached his peak by bringing up the topic of Olfram.

Crackle—

The sound of the makeshift campfire burning reached my ears.

Since it was a flame conjured by Sharin’s magic, there was no risk of it extinguishing, even in the mist.

Midra and I were on the second watch.

The children were deep asleep, and the first watch had just dozed off as well.

The silent stillness of the fifth floor lingered.

Midra and I sat facing each other across the campfire.

“Midra.”

I was the one who spoke first.

“Yes, Instructor?”

Midra replied nonchalantly.

His demeanor was completely different from when he had dropped that bombshell last time.

“You’ve already seen through my true identity, haven’t you?”

Midra blinked at my next question.

Then, he tilted his head.

“Your true identity? Well, you’re Instructor Vicartmen Niflheim, aren’t you?”

Playing dumb, huh?

I could sense the teasing glint in his eyes beyond that casual response.

I had no intention of indulging his games.

“What you said about Olfram—I’ve been thinking about it on my own. Including why you told me that and what your intentions were.”

“Oh-ho.”

For the first time, genuine interest flickered in Midra’s eyes.

He seemed curious about what I was going to say next.

I hoped that interest would last.

“The method to sever the regression between Olfram and Jerion—I don’t know what that method is.”

A way to cut off the absurd power of regression.

Even as someone who had played through the Flame Butterfly arc, I couldn’t begin to guess how.

But Midra’s words had contained a hint.

Why had Midra personally corrected me about Jerion’s gender?

And why had Olfram recklessly revealed the secret of regression to Jerion, of all people?

Nowhere in the Flame Butterfly arc was there any indication that someone knew Olfram had regressed.

Even the other heroes only described Olfram as a unique individual.

At that point, it was clear they didn’t know about his regression.

So why had Olfram shared the truth of his regression with Jerion alone?

“Olfram and Jerion were lovers.”

One of the relationships where people are most likely to open their hearts and trust completely.

A romantic relationship.

That was the answer hinted at by Midra’s clue.

Across the campfire, Midra silently watched me.

He didn’t respond to my answer.

So, I continued.

“There’s been a persistent rumor that Jerion had a child.

Though the exact lineage hasn’t been confirmed, the fact that a story from a thousand years ago has survived to this day suggests it holds some credibility.”

If so, then who was her child?

The answer didn’t take long to figure out.

The reincarnations of the heroes were all individuals connected to their past selves in some way.

The Fallen Flame, Rozelie, was born as a descendant of the Zebra royal family because she resented the Zebra Kingdom.

The Soul Keeper, Aquiline, was linked by blood to Musica.

The Noble Saintess, Narea, shares the same title of Saintess.

The Sage of Transcendence, Jerion.

What connection did her reincarnation, Jenia, have with Jerion?

“Jenia inherited Jerion’s bloodline.”

The Niflheim Count’s family, as the Count claimed, truly did carry Jerion’s blood.

That bloodline continued unbroken, eventually blossoming into Jenia—Jerion’s reincarnation.

“And that bloodline doesn’t belong to Jerion alone, does it?”

Olfram and Jerion were lovers.

With that hypothesis, the answer became simple.

“The Niflheim bloodline also carries Olfram’s blood.”

A child born between Olfram and Jerion.

That blood mixed and intertwined over generations, eventually forming the present-day Niflheim Count’s family.

The moment I pieced it all together, I realized one thing.

Vicartmen Niflheim’s abnormal stamina.

How could someone who had spent his life studying magic possess such physical endurance?

It was because Olfram’s blood had manifested more strongly in him.

Clap, clap—

Midra applauded.

He looked pleasantly surprised, as if he hadn’t expected me to deduce that far.

“Impressive. I didn’t give you that many hints, yet you managed to piece it together.”

Midra himself confirmed it as the correct answer.

I let out a long exhale.

It felt rewarding after racking my brain for so long.

Now, it was time to ask about the information I couldn’t confirm with what I currently knew.

“……Is the method to sever Olfram’s regression related to his descendants?”

After mentioning regression, Midra had revealed that Jerion’s gender was female.

This implicitly linked regression to descendants.

The corners of Midra’s lips slowly curled up.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t like vague answers.”

“I believe you’ll come to understand that part in due time.”

I frowned.

His attitude made it clear he had no intention of saying it outright.

Fine.

I hadn’t expected him to answer everything anyway.

So, next question.

“Is Vicartmen Olfram’s reincarnation?”

A third-rate villain who met an early end in the Flame Butterfly arc—Vicartmen Niflheim.

The hypothesis that he might be Olfram’s reincarnation.

I voiced that speculation.

Even I wasn’t sure about this one.

The reincarnations of the heroes were all overflowing with talent.

But Vicartmen had nothing but his stamina—hardly enough to qualify as Olfram’s reincarnation.

Even that was only second-rate compared to Aisha’s endurance.

He was far too lacking to be considered Olfram’s reincarnation.

Midra’s eyes met mine.

Silence fell once more.

Crackle—

The sound of the campfire burning echoed softly.

After a while, Midra hugged his knees and laughed.

“No.”

My hypothesis was denied.

It was true that Vicartmen carried the bloodline of both Jerion and Olfram.

But that was all it was—just blood.

He was not Olfram’s reincarnation.

“Lucas.”

So, I brought up the next person that came to mind.

The protagonist of the Flame Butterfly arc—Lucas.

The possibility that he might actually be Olfram.

“Is he Olfram’s reincarnation?”

“The Flame of Tenacity is an excellent ability. It wouldn’t be out of place for a hero’s reincarnation.”

Midra gave Lucas a brief compliment.

“But Olfram never died.”

Reincarnation implies death—what does that mean?

The Lucas hypothesis was also discarded.

To be honest, I didn’t think it was him either.

If Vicartmen had been Olfram’s reincarnation, at least the bloodline connection would have made sense.

But Lucas had no ties to Olfram.

My head was spinning.

Then who the hell is Olfram’s reincarnation?

“Still, I’ll give you credit for deducing this much. You’re about half right.”

“I see you have no intention of giving me a straight answer.”

“Ahaha, don’t look at me so harshly. I have my own restrictions, you know.”

What kind of restrictions?

Midra didn’t seem inclined to elaborate on that either.

A long sigh escaped me.

Still, my all-day pondering hadn’t been in vain.

The answer wasn’t entirely satisfying, but I’d gotten close.

All that was left was to gather more information and piece together the next answer.

“Midra, I assume you won’t tell me about your true identity either.”

“Unfortunately, that’s also restricted. But it’s nothing bad for you, Instructor Vicartmen. If anything, it’s a restriction for your sake.”

He’d dropped another hint.

Midra hadn’t done much in the Flame Butterfly arc.

So why had he suddenly become active now?

‘Midra only started acting after I possessed this body.’

After Lucas’s death, the world had headed straight for a bad ending.

In that world, Midra had done nothing and let the bad ending unfold.

But in this world, why was he moving now?

The only explanation for this was my possession.

Since taking over this body, I’d intervened in the scenario countless times.

The original plot had already derailed with Lucas’s death.

To steer it back on track, I’d had to involve myself in everything, sparing no means or methods.

As a result, the scenario had progressed much faster than originally intended.

I’d tried to follow the sequence of events as much as possible, but circumstances hadn’t allowed it.

And it was only in this chaotic situation that Midra had finally appeared.

Almost as if my possession had been the trigger for his actions.

“……Midra, just what are you?”

How did he even know all this?

And what were these so-called restrictions placed on him?

Midra hadn’t shown any hostility toward me.

No matter how mysterious his actions were, he maintained a friendly relationship with me.

In fact, when I was searching for Vinesha regarding the Ghoul incident, he had helped me.

Just what was his goal in aiding me?

I couldn’t even begin to guess.

“Who knows?”

Midra threw my question back at me.

“What am I even doing all this for?”

A bitter smile, tinged with something unreadable, crossed his face.

“Maybe I’m helping you, Instructor Vicartmen, to find that out myself.”

He was helping me to discover an answer even he didn’t know.

I couldn’t decipher what that meant.

But one thing was certain.

“You’re saying you’ll help me.”

“Yes, that’s right. I have no intention of being your enemy.”

“That’s enough for me.”

Midra blinked.

He looked surprised that I’d accepted it so easily.

“With enemies coming at me from all sides, I’ll take any ally I can get.”

I was already drowning in foes.

No need to add more.

If Midra was willing to cooperate, there was no reason to oppose him.

In fact, it was better to embrace it.

“I already saw last time that you’ve got hidden strength. That’ll come in handy someday.”

The spatial movement Midra had demonstrated.

Even Sharin hadn’t been able to fully grasp what it was.

I had a few guesses about Midra.

One of them was that the method Olfram used to sever regression was related to him.

The restrictions were likely part of that.

And the fact that he couldn’t reveal it to me suggested that Vicartmen—and by extension, I—was somehow connected to Olfram.

Maybe even my possession was tied to Olfram’s regression.

“Hah.”

At that moment, Midra covered his mouth and laughed.

“That’s such a you thing to say.”

There was something almost nostalgic in his words.

“Time’s up.”

Before I could ask anything else, Midra stood up.

“Let’s go wake the next watch.”

It was already time for the shift to end.

The conversation had gone on longer than I’d realized.

“We’ve got plenty of time left, don’t we?”

Midra grinned slyly, saying there’d be more opportunities for questions later.

Hearing that, I stood up as well.

“I’ll uncover everything eventually.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Midra, back to his usual tone, left to wake the next watch.

Crackle—

The sound of the campfire burning quietly echoed into the night.