Starting a Reversal in Life From the Time of Release

15 – Who Are You? (1)

I stayed in one place for much longer than I had originally intended.

I didn’t have any complaints about being here.

After all, it had taken a long time for the two couples to finally meet.

I just found it difficult to decide what to say when the gap had become too long.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as if the timelines of our different worlds had diverged significantly.

I could still return quickly now.

“Yes, you did leave your position vacant for too long.”

Mr. Alberto regretfully accepted my decision.

Although I didn’t intend to accept the compensation for the inconvenience caused by my extended stay, he insisted on providing compensation in the future.

It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but in the end, I had no choice but to accept it due to the strong push from the Emperor of this country.

It weighed on my mind, and even my pride was at stake.

I could let it slide up to this point, but…

“Is it possible for me to go with you?”

I was troubled by the princess who had come to find me and offered to accompany me.

She spoke at length, making it difficult for me to refuse…

“It could be quite dangerous. Would it not be better to send someone else, if possible?”

“Well, I have to go. It’s important to experience and assess the new world.”

The princess seemed firmly determined and showed no signs of backing down.

The sense of responsibility as a member of the imperial family, governing the vast empire.

Curiosity.

Judgment.

With various other reasons, she persuaded me step by step.

“Let me ask one last thing. Are you really okay?”

“Yes.”

The princess answered firmly to the end, her eyes shining.

Even if I had opposed until the end, she would have clung to me somehow.

In the end, I had no choice but to nod my head reluctantly and give permission.

She smiled, saying that she would repay the favor no matter what, and I thought it was truly remarkable.

Unintentionally, I found myself with a substitute for Mr. Alberto.

***

“So, how are you planning to solve the language problem?”

A few days after bidding farewell to Mr. Alberto.

The princess and I were comfortably riding in a carriage, thanks to the favor of the viscount.

During the journey, we engaged in conversation on various topics, mostly with the princess asking and me answering.

Then, suddenly, the issue of communication came to mind.

“Shifu writes in Korean? I’ve already learned that. The translation artifact only conveys the meaning, it doesn’t distort the pronunciation.”

“Oh… that’s right.”

Suddenly, Mr. Alberto’s words came to mind.

There was a saying that people from the Galia imperial household had a fast language interpretation ability.

“But why did Shifu hide the talk about the crack? From Shifu’s perspective, wouldn’t it be better to inform them first?”

As I hesitated for a moment, a rather sharp question came at me.

I crossed my arms, looked up, and slowly opened my mouth.

“This is also Mr. Alberto’s hometown, and I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.”

“Yes…?”

Perhaps because the answer was too abstract, the princess tilted her head in confusion.

It was a look of not quite understanding.

I felt like I needed to explain a bit more clearly.

“First of all, the world I live in is quite complicated. There are more than a hundred countries alone. And each of those countries has a voice that can be heard in the world.”

And those countries are all very greedy.

Of course, just because it’s a country that can’t make noise doesn’t mean it has no ambition.

It’s just that it can’t make noise because it’s being crushed by a large country.

“So many?”

The princess asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Yes. That’s why the international situation is complicated. I don’t know much about it… Anyway, considering the situation, it’s better to keep it hidden. If it’s known that there is a gateway connecting to another world, it’s obvious that there will be conflicts from various countries.”

In an instant, the Age of Exploration, when each country competed to discover the New Continent, came to mind.

Even then, they competed from all directions to find different lands, so would it be any different now?

If anything, it would be worse, not better.

No matter how much the gate was in Korean territory, there would have been a big dispute.

The size of the investigation team.

Distribution of profits from what could be gained here.

Leadership and so on.

The distance to fight over was overwhelming.

That’s why I wanted to hide it when I could.

“…I see. If there are many countries, such problems can arise.”

Fortunately, it seemed like the princess was pleased with my explanation as she nodded a few times.

To be honest, I didn’t know much either and just said whatever came to mind roughly.

Now that I finished speaking, it seemed quite plausible.

“Thank you. For thinking deeply about my father and us.”

In the voice of the princess as she spoke to me, there was a strangely moist feeling.

In addition to that, her burdened gaze made me extremely uncomfortable.

“We’ve arrived.”

The female coachman driving the carriage stopped talking and opened the carriage door, speaking kindly.

Thanks to her timely words that spoke to the atmosphere that was getting heavier, I felt grateful.

Father said something about change… and that’s true. The White Viscountcy is also a kind of change, in a way.

After the princess got off the carriage first, she looked around and spoke.

I stood behind the princess, stepping off the carriage a step late.

After a few weeks, I felt a sense of nostalgia when I came back.

“You’ve worked hard. When you go back, please convey my thanks to the Viscount.”

“Understood.”

The servant nodded nervously as if receiving a very important command.

“Here!”

When the servant mounted the carriage and vigorously brandished the reins, the horse neighed loudly and galloped forward.

Only a simple baggage remained in the place where the carriage had been.

“Could you show me the way?” the princess asked, carrying the backpack with her.

I had intended to carry the backpack myself, but she insisted on carrying it, so there was nothing I could do.

Thanks to that, I, holding only the dagger in my hand, nodded silently and moved towards the gate.

Tapping. When I created a small vibration in what seemed like a roughly suitable spot, the gate seemed to have been waiting and unveiled itself.

“Wow…”

The princess who followed after me exclaimed in astonishment.

It was understandable, as seeing something firsthand was different from just hearing an explanation.

“There really was a crack in a place like this. And not just any crack, but a disc-like one…”

“I was also surprised the first time I saw it.”

The princess reached out to touch the crack but quickly withdrew her hand.

It seemed like her curiosity got the better of her, and she hastily regained her composure.

“You’re an Awakener just like me, Princess. A Physique Enhancement Awakener.”

Before entering the gate, I held the princess and spoke.

We had already coordinated our words in advance, but I wanted to double-check before going in.

Fortunately, the princess seemed to have no qualms and even smiled as if things were going well.

“Awakeners refer to humans with special abilities, right?”

“Yes. You, Princess, pretend to be someone with the ability to enhance your physique. It fits well since you know how to handle mana, and the spear suits you perfectly.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yes. And you’re known to be from North Korea. The territory in North Korea is still under development, so it’s a good place to wander around.”

Thanks to the joint operation, a route to North Korea had been opened, and the operation to reclaim territory based in Pyongyang was in full swing.

Still, there was a lot of uncharted land, so saying we came from the top down was sufficient.

We could even add a lie that we were lucky to have escaped.

Because even though the demon-infested territory was considered heaven, it wasn’t entirely devoid of people.

“I’ll do that. Is it okay to use your real name?”

“Yes. As long as you say my father is a foreigner, it should be fine.”

“It’s fine. Is there anything else I need to be careful of?”

After carefully thinking if there was anything I missed, I concluded that this was enough for now. I thought I could say that I learned Korean from my foreign father who was fluent in the North Korean dialect.

“No, there’s nothing else. I think it’s enough to hide this continental story.”

“Okay.”

The Princess nodded as if understanding and stared at me intently. She seemed to have something she wanted to say.

“If you have anything to say…”

“Yes. It’s not something else, but I hope you can call me by my name comfortably from now on.”

“By your name? Well, since we decided that, of course I will refer to you by your name…”

“Just without the title. Just call me by my name, like how I would call you Sihu instead of Sihu-ssi.”

“Hmm…”

She wanted me to call her by her name without any title.

It wasn’t a difficult request, but it was difficult to answer willingly.

“May I ask why you want that?”

“Well, I want us to become closer.”

“With me?”

“Yes.”

The Princess nodded without hesitation as she casually blurted out that she wanted to become closer.

“Sihu has saved my father and is different from the men I’ve seen before, so I’m interested. So, I want to get to know you better.”

“Oh…really?”

“Yes. And it doesn’t seem right for my benefactor to address me so formally.”

Although the idea of being interesting was a bit overwhelming, it didn’t make me feel bad.

Furthermore, mentioning “right” made my heart feel lighter.

I didn’t plan on being impudent…but I was very grateful for her considerations.

“Understood. From now on, I will call you by your name without any titles. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I’ll leave it to you. Nice to meet you.”

The Princess, Mari, extended her hand with a twist at the corner of her mouth.

After a moment of hesitation, I shook her offered hand.

Contrary to her smooth appearance, her hand was very rough and coarse.

“Shall we… go?”

“Yes.”

Mari let go of my hand first and snuck into the gate.

Having no reason to drag it out anymore, I lifted my foot and went in.

Soon, the familiar no man’s land forest greeted us.

“This place… is like another world…”

Mari, who stepped out first, looked around in awe.

If one only looked at this place, there probably wouldn’t be much difference from the world on the other side.

Considering we’re entering a different world, every leaf, every blade of grass carried a strange shape.

[Screech!]

A very familiar sound pierced our ears, as the disc-shaped gate faded like a mirage.

It was the sound of a predator rushing in to devour its prey.

“Are those things here too?”

“Yes. What do you want to do?”

“I’ll take care of it. You just watch.”

Mari chuckled, finding the squirrel darting up from underfoot amusing.

She had been frequently participating in subjugation teams while training her mana, she seemed at ease.

“Wow…..”

When Mari lightly stepped and leapt into the air, an admiration unintentionally escaped my lips.

The squirrel’s head was accurately kicked in the air right as she had done a flip.

Thud.

The headless Squirrel’s body dropped to the ground.

It was difficult to find words for what had happened.