Clutching Nigel’s outstretched hand, Kay bolted into a run. His hand, roughly the same size as Nigel’s, was much firmer. As they sprinted, Nigel glanced back over his shoulder.
“…”
Inas stood in the dark—paler than any ghost—gazing at him with pitch-black eyes that gave away nothing. He didn’t move an inch, nailed in place like a statue. He didn’t try to follow.
It was a strange comparison, but the only one that came to mind—it felt like abandoning a loyal dog that had always followed him. The guilt gnawed at him. Technically speaking, Nigel had always been the victim, and yet…
Gritting his teeth, Nigel squeezed his eyes shut and ran down the corridor. Only when they reached the stairs did he open them again. The space around them, wrapped in heavy darkness, felt like a different world entirely. The way down was eerily quiet, almost as if the whole world was holding its breath for them.
Kay led the way through the garden. The deserted garden lay bathed in moonlight, quiet and still. But Kay didn’t head toward the edge of the wall. Instead, he took them to a hidden entrance tucked deep underground—a secret passage.
“How do you know about this place?”
“Because we’ve run away together before.”
With that cryptic reply, Kay began to operate the complex mechanisms with practiced ease. Nigel, tense, scanned the area.
“You’re really going to escape like this?”
“Yes.”
“What about your companions…?”
Was he really going to leave them behind, completely in the dark? Kay glanced once toward the lodgings where the others were staying, his face clouded, then quickly looked away.
“They don’t remember anything. If I leave them be, he probably won’t kill them. Better that I die alone. Even if I come back to life, dying hurts… always.”
His words trailed off, and his hands stopped moving. With a soft clunk, the mechanism clicked into place. The massive gears began to turn with a low, grinding hum—not loud, but loud enough to put any fugitive on edge. Thankfully, no alarms sounded, and the doors opened.
“Wait—I need to leave a message for Hayes.”
“Contacting him won’t do any good.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
Kay’s tone left no room for debate as he stepped into the tunnel first. In the end, Nigel had no choice but to follow.
The passage hadn’t been used in years. After squeezing through a narrow crevice, a steep drop appeared. Nigel braced for a rough landing—but Kay caught him.
“You okay?”
“Y-Yeah.”
It was the first time, since becoming an adult, that someone besides Inas had held him like this. It felt… strange. Inas had always been the one at his side through everything. All these moments had always belonged to them…
There was no time to dwell on the thought. Nigel hurried to keep pace with Kay.
The path ahead was narrow, barely wide enough for one person. It was a confusing maze, one Nigel had memorized only by constantly reviewing the estate’s map. But Kay? He moved through it effortlessly, like someone who’d walked it countless times before.
“If you go against Inas, most of your subordinates will take his side.”
Kay said it after they passed the fifth fork in the path. Nigel stopped in disbelief.
“What are you talking about? Hayes is my second-in-command. He’s just colleagues with Inas—”
“That’s true. But trust is a different matter.”
Nigel froze. Stunned. But Kay didn’t stop walking, and Nigel was forced to move again.
“Right about now, Inas Idenbach is probably saying something like, ‘An adventurer in the estate used some malicious trick to kidnap the Duke.’ That you’re not in your right mind, and won’t listen to reason.”
“That’s ridiculous…”
“They’ll believe it. They have before.”
“….”
Nigel didn’t want to believe it. But—thinking back—in the second timeline, when Inas had committed mass murder and fled, Hayes had been one of the few who’d continued to believe in him… even when Nigel himself had struggled to.
If Hayes had to choose between his loyalty to Nigel and his faith in Inas, he’d normally pick the former. But if the two were intertwined just right, he might side with Inas. Especially since this situation—Nigel running off with only Kay—was completely out of character, even by his own standards.
If Hayes had already been swayed, then Nigel had no allies left at the Ducal estate. The knights followed Inas, not him. The rest would believe whatever Inas said. That he’d gone mad.
An overwhelming sense of despair made his steps falter. When his pace slowed, Kay stopped too and turned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Isn’t this pointless? Inas can cross space. We’ll be caught no matter what.”
Kay shrugged like it was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard, then started walking again. When he noticed Nigel hesitantly following, he glanced back.
“It’ll be fine. If we go by his track record.”
“Track record?”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve run away like this. Do you remember?”
“No. Not at all.”
Nigel couldn’t even remember the location of the secret passage, but Kay moved through it like it was second nature. To him, everything felt new.
“My memories are scattered. One day I just became aware the timeline was looping… and then bits and pieces started returning. This is the fourth time I’ve lived with that awareness.”
“Is that so?”
Kay looked as curious as Nigel felt. They both fell silent, lost in thought.
Their thoughts were interrupted not by words, but by a shift in the path. The air grew damp with the faint stench of water. The passage narrowed drastically. After crawling through the tight space, they reached a dead end. Without hesitation, Kay operated another mechanism, pushing aside a slab of stone.
They slipped through a small gap and emerged into a stretch of the royal capital’s underground waterway. The network extended beneath the entire capital—and with the right path, could even lead outside the city.
“Anyway… in situations like this, Inas usually doesn’t come after us himself.”
Kay glanced around the canal and began cleaning his sword.
“Sure, as Deputy Duke of Magnus and knight, Inas Idenbach will pull every official string he can. But he won’t use the supernatural power he personally holds.”
“Why not…?”
Kay shrugged.
“Beats me. You’d have to be insane to understand a lunatic.”
“….”
Nigel wasn’t insane, but he thought he understood Inas, at least a little. In one of the loops he didn’t remember clearly, he’d once heard him say:
“If I solve everything with magic, it gets boring. So I put some limits on myself. Who knows? Maybe I’ll stumble into an achievement while trying something new. It’s more efficient this way. More correct.”
From the victim’s perspective, it felt belittling—infuriating—but at the same time, it was reassuring.
If Inas really was giving them a head start, then they had time. Right now, Knight Inas Idenbach should still be in the northern territory. It’d take a while before he arrived in the capital.
Which meant what mattered now was: Where should they go?
“So… where to next?”
“Good question. I don’t have a specific place in mind.”
They’d run off in a blaze of adrenaline—but had no destination.
“Anywhere you’d like to go?”
After a moment of thought, Kay asked. Nigel hesitated, then replied.
“I want to see my brother.”
“Knew you’d say that.”
Kay grinned. When Kay had first regained his memories in front of Inas, he’d seemed so hollow and twisted—but now, a hint of boyishness returned to his face.
“I don’t know how much you overheard before you woke up, but… Etna’s coffin is empty. He’s not really dead. He’s a Servant of Odelrat now, sleeping inside a temple in the Pagan Mountains.”
“As a hidden boss?”
Nigel used the most game-like term he could think of. Kay didn’t react right away—but after a few seconds, he frowned.
“…Are you listening?”
“I am listening.”
Nigel had casually ignored the term hidden boss. Apparently, Kay had only regained past memories, and wasn’t aware this was a game world. There was no need to force that truth on him. Nigel himself had been devastated when he learned. Telling Kay now would only rattle him.
“But… are you sure it’s okay for me to see my brother?”
“In my memories, yeah. I haven’t seen the two of you meet that often, but… he always cared about you. You’re his little brother. He did bad things, sure—but who cares? Everything’s going to reset anyway.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Then let’s go north.”
“It’ll be dangerous.”
“So what? Worst case, we die.”
That would be a nightmare for most—but to the two of them, it meant nothing. Nigel met Kay’s eyes, and they both chuckled softly.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“Yeah. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing. Maybe helping you is what triggered my memories. They’re not complete, but maybe more will come back.”
He had a point. Nigel wouldn’t make it there alone. He’d need Kay’s help.
“There’s only one issue—it’s kind of far. We can get there, but not like this.”
“Why not?”
“Do you have money?”
“….”
Of course not. He’d fled straight from bed in his nightclothes—he didn’t even have a button to sell.
“Right… we do need money to travel.”
Horses, carriages, food, lodging—all cost money. Obvious, but oddly unfamiliar. Nigel had never really had to deal with minor travel expenses himself.
He felt a sharp stare and looked up. Kay was watching him with clear skepticism.
Nigel rushed to defend himself.
“I know we need money. I just didn’t think about it right away.”
“Right.”
“So… how much would it cost to reach the north?”
“Let’s say ten days by carriage… Hmm, could you sleep in a barn?”
“I could.”
He never had before, but he answered quickly.
Kay narrowed his eyes, sighed.
“Even if we go cheap, we’d need at least 30–40 rubels.”
“That’s not a lot.”
The way Kay looked at him—like he was some clueless noble brat—shut Nigel up instantly. That kind of money was pocket change to the old Nigel. But right now, he didn’t even have a single rubel.
Still, it wasn’t hopeless. There was one person—someone who knew the truth about their escape, wouldn’t talk, and had the means to help.
Nigel glanced at Kay, hesitating.
“What’s wrong?”
“You said you remember things, right?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t get mad.”
“I won’t.”
He warned him first—but still, his heart raced. Nigel took a deep breath.
“…Schumacher knows about our situation. Let’s go to him.”
Kay’s eyes instantly sharpened.
