Even though his base level had gone up, it hadn’t caused any drastic changes, so Nigel didn’t really care. …However, his <Foresight> skill had leveled up. It was one of the most useful skills he had, so that was a pretty satisfying bit of progress.
After confirming this small gain, Nigel came to a stop in front of a building. No one else could see it, but to Nigel’s eyes, a glowing golden arrow was clearly pointing inward.
After verifying the arrow, he launched a small firework into the sky. It was a signal flare to call the city guards.
Having done what was necessary, Nigel followed the arrow inside the building. From the outside, it looked like a regular residential home… but Schumacher had already torn it apart, revealing the truth hidden beneath.
“Damn, you really made a mess.”
Nigel muttered with a crooked smile. The goal was to raise the reputation of the Divine Messenger title and accumulate Achievements. There was no need to handle things quietly. Schumacher, well aware that Nigel desired fame—even if he didn’t fully understand why—always took pride in delivering results that satisfied him.
Nigel entered the interior through a secret passage that Schumacher had already exposed. True to its name, the passage was narrow, dark, and intricately twisted. Thinking that Schumacher must’ve had a rough time navigating it, Nigel made it through the maze without any trouble.
A foul stench wafted from the hidden chamber at the end. It was a pungent mix of blood and rot. In the dim interior stood several cages—usually used for holding monsters. And inside, as one would expect from an illegal slave trader, were people.
“Schumacher, you didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“Of course not. I’m more worried about the ones who were locked up.”
Though replying politely, Schumacher finished restraining the unconscious slaver completely. Nigel looked around the room with a faintly displeased expression before speaking again.
“Schumacher, that man you’re tying up right now.”
“Yes?”
“Check around his groin. There’s something there.”
“His… groin, sir?”
Schumacher looked visibly revolted, but he knew from experience that Nigel was never wrong at times like this. Grumbling under his breath, Schumacher reluctantly reached around the man’s lower body. And sure enough, he found a key hidden in a small pouch tied near the man’s crotch—the key to the cages.
“Why the hell would he keep it there? Freak.”
Still grimacing, Schumacher stood up, key in hand. Relief and joy immediately spread across the faces of the people locked inside the cages.
One of the freed women, overwhelmed with emotion, grabbed Schumacher’s hand.
“You’re the Radiant Knight, aren’t you…?!”
“……Yeah.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I thought we were done for.”
“I was just doing my duty.”
“You really are the Radiant Knight…!”
The title still made him cringe, and Schumacher, cheeks flushing red, gave an awkward reply.
Leaning against the wall, Nigel watched quietly as Schumacher began freeing the rest. It seemed like he was fumbling with all the keys, so Nigel could’ve helped, but his headache was getting worse by the minute.
Instead, he opened the Skill Window to check what he hadn’t had the chance to earlier.
Foresight
Combines the user’s experience and current circumstances to produce the most probable foresight. If a similar situation occurred in a previous Loop, the chance of success increases. However, the foresight only applies to events not directly related to the user.
Upon activation, the user receives a hint to help interpret the foresight. Hints can only be seen by the user and only when perceived visually.
After each use, the user is inflicted with one random status condition from the following: [Headache], [Chills], [Fever], [Hallucination]. If used more than 3 times within 24 hours, the user will also suffer from [Bleeding].
MP Cost: 176
Hint Colors:
Red: Indicates a person directly related to the foresight.
Gold: Guides the user to a location related to the foresight. Will not appear if the location is not fixed.
Blue: Points to an item indirectly or directly related to the foresight.
Effective Radius for Hint Activation: 12km
Current Foresight: Illegal Slave Trader in the Capital (Completed / Penalty: [Headache] Active)
Since the skill had leveled up, the MP cost had decreased slightly. The activation range for hints had also been significantly smaller at first but had grown over time with consistent use. After confirming the active penalty, Nigel closed the window.
<Foresight> was a skill that had appeared not long after he arrived at the academy.
At first, he had been suspicious—why had such a skill manifested in him? He must’ve asked Glarus a hundred times in thin air what the hell he was up to, but no answer ever came.
Not that it had to do with this skill specifically—Glarus was abnormally silent overall. Maybe once or twice a year he’d throw out some cursed remark, but other than that, total silence.
A skill emerging out of nowhere with no known source—it was ominous. Nigel had originally planned to shelve it and never use it. But then, on a whim, he activated it—and ended up saving a student who had nearly fallen from one of the academy buildings.
There’d been no warning. He had just appeared and rescued them. Rumors about Nigel quickly spread—well beyond the walls of the academy.
After a few more instances where he couldn’t turn a blind eye, he’d inevitably become recognized by everyone as the Divine Messenger.
Nigel decided to capitalize on the situation. This was a golden opportunity to rack up Achievements. Compared to the fake <Revelation of Lies>, <Foresight> was far more useful. He still didn’t know why he had this skill, but…
NOW LOADING……
26.9%
Completion: ???
There was something unsettling about the mysterious gauge bar that filled up occasionally whenever he used the skill and experienced those hallucinations, but Nigel ignored it. He didn’t have the luxury to question everything.
The heavy sound of boots echoed. Nigel lifted his head. It was the sound of military boots hitting stairs—must be the city guards.
As they descended, the guards checked on Nigel and Schumacher before taking charge of the criminals and rescuing the victims with practiced efficiency. The squad captain approached Nigel.
“Lord Montstein. Thank you for your assistance, once again.”
“Of course. You all did well too.”
Though it had mostly been Nigel and Schumacher who had handled everything, Nigel didn’t point that out and simply nodded.
“Truly incredible, as always. These scumbags had been giving us endless trouble.”
“I’m just glad it’s resolved. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Understood.”
The captain gave him a polite bow, face full of respect.
The city guards hadn’t always liked Nigel. Because he kept interfering in all sorts of incidents in the capital, they’d earned a reputation for being incompetent.
That’s why Nigel always made a point of officially handing off the criminals to them. The guards had wanted full control from the start, but that wouldn’t help Nigel raise his fame or earn Achievements. They had eventually reached a compromise, and now their relationship was decent enough.
After turning the slave trader over to the guards, Schumacher returned to Nigel’s side.
“Lord Nigel, are you heading back now?”
“Yeah. Time to rest.”
The headache from the foresight penalty was starting to throb hard. Knowing how severe the side effects could be, Schumacher nodded seriously.
“Understood.”
“Lord Montstein, we’ve stationed a carriage up top.”
That was the city guard captain again. This level of favor, even in a cooperative relationship, was thanks to the debt King Roderick owed Nigel from seven years ago. The city guards served the king, and even when tensions were high between Nigel and the guard, the king had often stepped in. Nigel accepted the offer without hesitation—he was used to this kind of treatment.
“Thanks. Schumacher, you stay and help with the handover.”
“Yes, sir.”
Leaving Schumacher behind to handle the rest, Nigel headed upstairs.
Fortunately, there weren’t many people around the carriage, which was being guarded by knights and soldiers. If this were a busy area, it would’ve been swarmed with people desperate for a glimpse of the Divine Messenger. Days like this, when the headache made things unbearable, he was thankful for the peace.
“Shall we head to the estate?”
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t handle anything else right now. Back at the estate, he’d rest, wait for Schumacher… then maybe tomorrow, he’d drop by the academy to pack up, meet Bale to settle their promise, and then return to the duchy.
“Haa…”
Exhaustion hit him hard, and Nigel let out a deep sigh. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the pendant hanging from his neck. Pressing the enchanted necklace to his forehead dulled the pain slightly. He leaned against the carriage window.
“……”
His lips moved without a sound. Muttering a name he could never call out loud, Nigel closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, hoping to get a bit of rest.
But before he could even drift off—the door burst open.
Nigel jolted upright. With all the assassination and kidnapping attempts he’d survived—easily in the hundreds—it was a natural reaction. The one who’d flung open the carriage door turned out to be one of the estate knights.
“What is it?”
“Young master, you must return to the duchy immediately. Lord Ruder is in critical condition.”
Nigel’s face went ghost-white.
He would’ve preferred another kidnapping attempt over this.
He nodded instantly, and the carriage changed direction.
They headed straight for a nearby magical facility.
The biggest difference in this Loop compared to the others was that teleportation magic had become functional. Nigel had poured a fortune into Professor Rangini’s research, and she had used the funds to excavate an ancient teleportation circle. Nigel had then translated the discovered records using <Observer’s Eye> and handed them over to her. That was how the teleportation circle was brought into the modern era.
Under any other circumstance, he might have felt a touch of pride seeing the legacy in action—but not today.
His father had collapsed last year—Kingdom Year 279. In most Loops, Ruder had passed peacefully that same year.
This time was one of the rare exceptions.
At first, Nigel had thought it was a blessing to keep Ruder alive even a little longer. But now… he wasn’t sure. Was it really a good thing to keep him clinging to life, frail and suffering, just for one more year? He wanted to believe this was better—that at least now, they had time to prepare for the end…
At the very least—please, let him hold on until I get there.
Nigel prayed with everything he had.
