Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

1463 times.

To be honest, the number was so large that I couldn’t really grasp it. If it had been closer to Priscilla’s 100 times, I would have sincerely said something like, “You’ve been through a lot.”

But nearly 1500 times was… It was too absurd for me to sympathize, empathize, or comfort her. Just the time she had lived added up to over 7,000 years.

[Now you know why I went as far as putting triple seals and dividing my memories, right? I didn’t have the confidence that I wouldn’t break even after receiving that much. I trust that you understand. Even if you don’t, there’s nothing I can do about it, so accept it. After all, the fact that you’re reading this means you haven’t accessed the third seal yet, right?]

[This is advice for my sake, but it might not be a bad idea to never regain your memories for the rest of your life. Accepting how I, the original writer, broke while repeating the world of my own novel 1463 times and repeating and repeating it again and again is a miserable thing to do, even for me now. Of course, if I return to the original world…]

[But if you still insist on regaining your memories, I won’t stop you. It was my choice, after all. And I have one request. I don’t know who did this to me, but if you get the chance, hit that bastard hard. It would be even better if you could hit them several times. Got it?]

[Finally, what I must never forget. My name is Lee Seo-ah. March 8, 2000. Got it? I’m not Laura Ercarencia Cresenne von Euperantis Bellium, but Lee Seo-ah. Don’t forget who I am, no matter what.]

[Never.]

I closed the notebook after confirming the last word, which was underlined and starred for emphasis. Laura, or rather, the Possessor Lee Seo-ah, was looking at me blankly.

“So, you don’t have any memories of the past at all? The memories of the regression are still sealed.”

“I don’t have the memories, but I have the feelings. I remember the emotions I felt in this place.”

That made sense. No wonder she screamed when she saw the servants and destroyed and burned this place. The Imperial Palace would have been like hell to Laura during the regression.

Laura, sensing my sympathetic gaze, retorted bluntly.

“Give me sympathy when I regain my memories. This body doesn’t deserve or have a reason to receive sympathy right now.”

“Will you regain your memories?”

“…… I don’t know. I can guess what kind of emotions I had, but even with just the feelings I have now, I can imagine what it would be like if I regained my memories.”

A small sigh escaped her lips. Her hand was trembling slightly.

“Do you have any other stories? I don’t want to talk about the past right now.”

“There are many other stories. What about the content of the original novel you wrote? That’s fine, right?”

Laura nodded.

“Then, about this novel you wrote. Um, what was it called…?”

“‘How to Survive as the Hero’s Childhood Friend.'”

“Yes. That one. It’s a little embarrassing to say in front of the author, but I only read the prologue. So, what genre was it? I asked the other possessors, and they said it was a yuri romance novel at first. That ‘at first’ qualifier is a bit worrying.”

“It’s a yuri romance novel… Yes. It’s an extremely accurate description.”

The corners of her lips curled up in self-deprecation.

“This was my second work. But the problem is, my first work was a dark fantasy misery. The protagonist suffers endlessly, the people around her are endlessly unhappy, and just as one incident is barely resolved, she starts suffering again.”

The mention of dark fantasy misery made me quietly gather myself. It was a relief that I wasn’t dragged into her first work, which would have been even worse than this.

Being dragged into a dark fantasy misery and barely surviving, only to be dragged into another dark fantasy misery… There’s nothing more horrific than that.

“So, why did I keep holding on to something that obviously wasn’t working? Because I wanted to write it. Before I was a writer, I was a reader. I was reading other romance novels, and suddenly I really wanted to write one, so I came up with the setting on the spot and started writing. So, what… I didn’t do any prior research, and since it was the first yuri novel I’d ever seen, I didn’t know much about the genre, so I broke a lot of taboos.”

“Didn’t you set the Academy as an all-girls school?”

“That was the first one. I didn’t know that it was better not to include men at all in yuri novels, and most of all, I failed to control the intensity of the misery. I thought it was a mild misery, but a lot of people were coughing up blood. My first work was about blatant misery, so my threshold must have risen.”

“……”

“But there were people who consistently read it, so I continued the serialization, but at some point, my interest completely faded. How could I continue a series when my interest in a hobby project faded? I hastily ended it by killing the Demon King and pairing the two protagonists.”

The two protagonists were probably Aria and Brynhild. At least, the Aria and Brynhild I knew weren’t that close, so it felt strange.

“It was technically a complete work, but in my opinion, it was a rushed ending. I tried to make it look as natural as possible, but I didn’t even bring out the final boss I set up in the early stages of the serialization. If there were any readers who noticed the clues, they would have definitely commented, asking why that character didn’t appear.”

If the final boss was the clues that had been planted, then there was something that came to mind. The existence of the Demon God, which Elysier had mentioned.

If that Demon God was the final boss of the original work, it would explain why the source of that strange black aura and the magic sword that claimed to judge the Demon King made sense.

“Was the final boss a Demon God?”

“…… How did you know? Since the goddess of the Starlight Church handles light, I wanted to contrast her by having the Demon God handle darkness… Has it appeared already?”

“No, not yet. I’ll explain later.”

While many of my questions were answered, not everything was clear. Priscilla, Rosalia, and Elysier had all said that it was ‘at first’ a yuri romance novel, as if their memories were vague.

If that was their way of saying it was ‘at first’ a yuri romance novel, there was no reason for them to act as if their memories were vague.

“Oh, and one more thing. Did you design the Starlight Church’s saint outfit as well?”

I asked, suddenly remembering Rosalia’s attire. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t tell if it was clothing or rags. Laura frowned.

“Saint outfit? Oh, the one the saint candidate wears? Why?”

“Why are you asking if you don’t know? Isn’t it a pretty absurd design?”

“…… Isn’t it normal?”

At my reaction, Laura, who had been puzzled, stiffened.

“Can you draw it for me? The saint outfit you’re talking about and the one I’m talking about seem to be very different.”

I quickly sketched Rozalia’s attire, which I remembered because I had seen her wearing it for quite some time, even though it was a sweater made of threads connecting starlight.

“Huh…”

Laura took the drawing I gave her and stared at it for a while. Then, she said with a bewildered expression:

“What the hell is this crazy outfit?”

“……?”

.

.

.

‘Who would go to such lengths…?’ My mind was a whirlwind as I headed toward the Mage Association. Laura hadn’t designed that saintly robe, so how did it come to be? It was unlikely that everyone’s memory had been collectively distorted.

There were several instances where the settings Laura remembered differed from the actual world, mainly concerning women’s clothing and the nature of the succubus species.

‘I have no idea.’ No matter how much I pondered, nothing concrete came to mind. The information I could get from Laura was limited, and I couldn’t even make any guesses.

“Have you arrived?”

“…?” As I entered the front gate of the association, the female mage who had been jumping around in joy over her healed draconification was now kneeling on the floor, addressing me formally. Despite her youthful appearance, wasn’t she embarrassed at her age?

“What are you doing?”

“I thought if I could please you, even a little, there might be more to gain.”

“Good luck with that.”

The female mage, who had been momentarily sullen, immediately regained her energy.

“The new clothes look fantastic on you! Is it because the original form is so great?” I looked down at myself with a wry smile. I was wearing ceremonial formal attire from the palace instead of my usual academy uniform. The reason for the missing uniform was simple: Laura had taken it.

She had used my uniform to make a makeshift blanket and curled up to sleep on it, claiming she’d die of anxiety if left alone in the palace. As a result, I had to come up with various excuses to get new clothes.

“And also… Ah! Just a moment!” Ignoring the female mage’s attempt at further flattery, I headed into the grand presentation hall. Despite it being 2 AM, there were still 53 people present.

Originally, I planned to spend more time with Laura, but given their incessant urging, I decided it would be better to finish up with them quickly.

“I have a lot to do, so let’s get this over with quickly. First—”

“Please, wait a moment.”

As I was about to start drawing the magic circles according to the hierarchy, a mage in the front row knelt and bowed his head. It was incredibly burdensome.

“I have something to say. This is a question on behalf of everyone gathered here.”

“Just speak normally. What is it?”

“Do you happen to know any other magic that doesn’t exist in this world?”

They were already eyeing future prospects after learning healing magic. Quite ambitious.

“Yes.” Since there was no reason to hide it, I answered truthfully. Dozens of eyes lit up instantly.

“Oh, oh…! Then…!”

“But the ones in need are you, not me. Right?”

They all nodded vigorously, clearly understanding.

“Do you have any specific requests?”

“Well.”

I was about to say that I didn’t, but then I remembered how they had peeked into our room every five minutes.

“Do I really have to say it out loud?” Maybe I should exact a little petty revenge.