Eternally Regressing in Another World

Chapter 37: Square 30: Shackles of Agony

Pain. My whole body screamed with pain. ...Pain?

"I’m alive!? ...ngh..."

The pain in my right eye was unbearable. Something like a red hot iron rod jammed into it, a sensation of heat and pain tangled together, hit my right eye.

"But... I’m alive. This isn’t a reset!"

Looking around, I found myself laid out on the floor of the run down inn, right in front of the counter. Everything nearby was soaked, but the first floor barely showed any burn marks. Someone must have put the fire out upstairs.

"Aghh... it hurts... what’s going on right now?"

Pressing a hand to my right eye, I forced my upper body up. The pain kept my eyelid from opening. And my hand was thickly caked in blood. I checked my reflection in a piece of broken glass lying nearby.

"Whoa... what the hell is this..."

A deep gash across half my face. The wound looked pretty severe.

"Wait, isn’t my eyeball cut too?"

I leaned in close to the glass shard, checking the wound more carefully.

"Shouldn’t an apology and a thank you come first!!"

At the sudden shout, my whole body jumped. Turning toward the voice, the innkeeper stood there with arms crossed, looming over me.

"Tch. Well, I kept quiet about it too. I’ll let it slide this time instead of finishing you off right here."

"Kept quiet? ...Hey, what does that mean!!"

"Nothing complicated about it. Some weird guy just walked into the kid’s room, that’s all. Not like I owe you an explanation."

"Why the hell not!? You knew this could happen!? Why didn’t you say anything!!"

The innkeeper looked down at me with contempt.

"Money, idiot. Got paid a fat sum, more than enough to rebuild this whole dump. And what’s with that tone? I kicked your ass all the way down the stairs myself. Not one word of thanks for the guy who saved your life, huh!?"

Ah, so that explains the injuries I don’t remember getting. Judging by how the fire had spread, if he’d just left me there, I probably would’ve only gotten burned, nothing worse.

"Screw you... saved my life, my ass. You got pissed off about the fire and kicked me out of spite, didn’t you?"

At my retort, the innkeeper’s temper flared up even more.

"Guess I really should finish you off, ungrateful bastard! Trash who doesn’t even care about someone’s business. No wonder the brat who got attached to a guy like you ended up dead."

The kid, dead? Who’s he talking about?

"Hey... dead...?"

Seeming to enjoy my shock, the innkeeper let out an ugly laugh that scraped against my ears.

"What’s wrong? No way a brat could’ve escaped in a situation like that. Turned into garbage right nearby. Wanna go join the crowd of gawkers? Ahahahahaha... ngh!"

A dry gunshot echoed through the room. The smell of gunpowder mixed unpleasantly with the burnt scent still lingering around. Filthy, sludge like blood gushed out from the innkeeper’s leg.

"Ngh... you, after everything I did letting you stay here... hii!?"

There was no light in my eyes. I aimed the gun with unmistakable killing intent.

"Wait, hold on, what the hell is that magic tool!? Wait, just wait, I’ll split the money with you, let’s settle this, okay?"

I didn’t take my finger off the trigger. The pressure on my fingertip kept building, and before I knew it, I’d pulled it all the way. The bullet tore off the innkeeper’s right ear and left a mark in the wall behind. The disgusting pig of a man foamed at the mouth, twitching, but I couldn’t have cared less anymore. Without even letting the barrel cool, I tucked the gun back into my coat.

"Shiran... Flaut... Please, please..."

I didn’t want to believe it. I desperately wanted to keep thinking they were still alive. I left the inn without even grabbing my bag, and up ahead down the street, a crowd had gathered.

"...Right, there’s a crowd because of the king’s foreign summit over the oil field. A crowd like this isn’t unusual at all."

But my feet moved faster anyway. Making excuses to myself, insisting it wasn’t what I feared. I pushed through the crowd, and... I saw it.

"No... don’t tell me... this is, no way..."

One glance told me everything. The right arm was gone. The stomach torn open. The neck bent well past ninety degrees. A pool of deep red spreading across the entire street.

"Flaut... why?"

His dried out eyes stared back at me. It felt like they were blaming me, for not saving him.

"...Where’s Shiran?"

Flaut lay there in a horrific state, but there was no sign of Shiran anywhere. The obvious conclusion was that she’d been taken. Flaut had risked his life to protect her, but hadn’t been able to see it through. But I was too exhausted to even process something that simple right then.

"...Right. Flaut’s secret hideout."

My stomach ached. Probably from being thrown down the stairs.

"Why didn’t that man kill me in the first place... why Flaut, and not me..."

No answer came, no matter how much I thought about it. Right now, all that mattered was Shiran. Dragging my feet, I made my way toward Flaut’s hideout.

About thirty minutes later. A path that should’ve taken under ten minutes had taken a full thirty. But the real challenge started here. I still had to make it up to the attic space above the stable. Getting through the hole wasn’t a problem. The problem was this.

"This rope... can I even climb it?"

I gave it a try, and the moment I put strain on my stomach, a sharp pain shot through me.

"Damn it! Why does this have to..., ugh..."

Pulling up my shirt, my whole stomach had turned a dark reddish black. Broken bone, maybe, or internal damage. Looking at the wound made me hyper aware of it, and the pain only intensified.

"Hey! Shiran! Answer me if you’re there!"

Then, some kind of noise came from the attic above.

"Shiran!? Hey, are you up there!?"

Gritting my teeth, I climbed the rope. I clenched so hard my gums started bleeding. The pain made my vision swim. But none of that mattered anymore. As long as she was alive, that alone was enough! I grabbed the edge of the ceiling and hauled myself up in one motion.

"SHIRAN!!!"

Peering my head through, there sat a small cat. A beautiful gray cat with odd colored eyes. Curled up small on the floor, staring quietly back at me.

"A cat..., seriously?"

I crawled the rest of the way up. Trying not to frighten the cat, I gave it a small smile. That’s when I noticed it. Dim as it was, hard to make out clearly, but the furniture in here had been knocked over. More than that, there were multiple muddy footprints across the floor.

"Footprints? And this many of them. Like someone searched through here thoroughly..."

Don’t tell me someone had been lurking up here too?

"...Everything’s ruined. Did they see through my whole plan from the start!?"

I punched a nearby chair as hard as I could. The chair let out a loud crash, and the cat, startled by the noise, leapt away.

"Guess I really can’t do anything on my own, huh?"

Thinking I could protect a kid in this pathetic state was ridiculous. Before I noticed, even the cat had wandered off somewhere. There was nothing more I could do here.

"...Guess I’ll head back down."

I turned and grabbed the rope.

"Ugh!"

A sudden, sharp pain shot through my right eye.

"Ah! Damn it!!"

The pain sapped the strength from my grip, and I lost my hold on the rope. I lost my balance badly. I tried to recover, but it was already too late. I fell without any grace at all, slamming hard into the dirt below. I’d covered my head with my hands, so it probably wasn’t fatal, but my body had already gone well past its limit.

"...Damn it, ...in a place... like this..."

My hand, clutching at the dirt, trembled with frustration and helplessness. It didn’t take long before I lost consciousness.