The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 65: Differences in Resolve

When I returned to Fiera after finishing my analysis of the spatial expansion used in the dungeon, there was someone I recognized sitting next to her.

“Why is this guy here?”

“I picked him up over there.”

“You took your sweet time. Where have you been?”

Next to Fiera, sitting there nonchalantly as if it were perfectly normal, was Shuvina, who greeted me as soon as I came back.

“Where did you find him?”

“When I was resting, I spotted him running away from a cow.”

“He wasn’t running away; that was part of the strategy.”

“Strategy? Were you partying with someone?”

“……”

“A lonely elf, huh?”

“I-I’m not lonely!”

I figured she was teaming up with someone to challenge the dungeon, but it looked like she was going solo.

“I have friends! Look!”

As she said this, Shuvina gathered magic power in her palm.

The gathered magic began to take shape and soon formed a palm-sized human figure.

“A spirit, huh?”

Spirits are beings that protect nature, and only the Elf tribe can contract with them. When they make a contract, they can use special magic known as spirit magic.

Unlike regular magic, which uses the magician’s own magic power, spirit magic sends magic power to spirits, who then use that power to cast spells.

Spirit magic usually takes a moment longer to activate than regular magic, but it can directly affect nature.

For instance, while our magic creates fire or water by imbuing power with an image, spirit magic can not only create fire or water but also interfere with campfires or rain falling from the sky.

This way, they can make fire burn even more fiercely or turn raindrops into spear-like attacks.

This is a technique only possible because spirits are guardians of nature and have a high affinity with it.

“This child is my friend, the plant spirit Dōna.”

As Shuvina introduced Dōna, she twirled around on Shuvina’s hand and then bowed her head.

“She seems smarter than you.”

“How rude! I’d like to argue, but it’s true she’s smarter than me.”

“That’s a given; spirits live much longer.”

Spirits don’t have a concept of a lifespan; they exist as long as nature does. So it’s only natural that Dōna is smarter than Shuvina.

Additionally, Dōna could potentially know how long the dungeon has existed, and since she’s a mid-level spirit, she seems unable to talk, but higher-level ones can speak, so there’s a chance she could share if asked.

(Well, it’s rare to encounter a high-level spirit, though.)

While I was petting Dōna with my fingertips, lost in thoughts about spirits, Shuvina called out to me again.

“So? Where exactly did you go, abandoning Fiera?”

“I just went to check the walls on this floor.”

“Walls? Wait, there are walls here?”

“Of course there are. We’re inside a dungeon, after all.”

“Y-Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. But…”

Shuvina struggled to find her words in confusion, but it made sense given that this dungeon is pretty expansive, so it’s natural for her to forget it was inside a dungeon and not pay attention to walls.

“Anyway, my business is done. We’re leaving now.”

“See you later, Shuv.”

Since there was nothing more to talk about, we were about to resume our dungeon exploration when, for some reason, Shuvina grabbed my wrist and wouldn’t let go.

“What? Do you need something else?”

“Um, well? I have a request…”

Shuvina said this while rubbing her thighs nervously, her long ears twitching.

“If you have something to say, just spit it out.”

“Um… I-I want to come with you!”

“Not a chance.”

I immediately shot down Shuvina’s request, leaving her stunned, her pretty face morphing into a dumbfounded look.

“W-Why not?”

“We don’t have any benefit from bringing you along.”

“Well… that’s true. But if you’re challenging this dungeon, you must be C Rank, right? We could aim for higher-rank adventurers together!”

“Oh right. I forgot to mention it.”

Remembering I hadn’t shared my rank with her, I pulled out my guild card from my pocket and showed it to her.

“No way… S Rank?!”

“By the way, Fiera is too.”

“Huh?”

When Fiera also showed her guild card to Shuvina, she was left speechless with shock again.

“See? There’s no reason for us to take you along. In fact, you’d be a nuisance.”

Shopped this way point-blank, even Shuvina seemed hurt, turning to Fiera with a tearful face.

“Fiera…”

“I’m sorry, Shuv. I don’t dislike you, but if El has made a decision, I can’t say anything.”

“Ugh…”

Told by the only person she counted on that she couldn’t do anything, Shuvina finally broke down in tears.

Curiosity about why she cared so much about joining us overwhelmed me, so I decided to sit down and listen to her.

“Hey, why do you want to stick with us so badly?”

“Well… I’ve always wanted friends around my age, and I thought becoming an adventurer would help me find companions.

But Dōna is anti-social, so I haven’t been able to form a party. Plus, when people came to form one, their ulterior motives were obvious and it felt disgusting.

I thought it might be hopeless until I met you guys. Fiera is kind, and even though your attitude is bad, you’re not a bad person, and Dōna seems attached to you. So I didn’t want to miss this chance…”

“I see.”

Her feelings were likely the loneliness felt only by elves, who, due to their long lifespans, don’t often have children, and also a struggle she faced as a contracted guardian of nature.

“But even so, you’d just be a hindrance on our journey. Sorry, but go find someone else.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me ask you this, are you afraid of dying? Would you gamble your life to become stronger?”

“What are you talking about? Dying normally is scary! And there’s no way I’d gamble my life just to get stronger!”

“Exactly. That’s the difference between you and us. We have no fear of death. When we fight, we fight with our lives on the line, and we’re prepared to die at any moment. We’re willing to risk our lives just to become stronger.

But you lack that resolve. You can’t see the same things we do.

That’s the difference between you and us. Got it?”

Honestly, I was really interested in spirit magic and found it fascinating.

However, taking someone without resolve along as a trade-off—it wouldn’t really bring us any advantages going forward, and frankly, it would just be a burden.

“If you’re looking for the kind of companions you want, you’ll find them eventually if you keep searching. Well then.”

“Bye-bye.”

As I said my farewell, casting a glance back at Shuvina, who was still downcast with her head bowed, we sped off through the dungeon once more.

“Was it okay? You were interested in spirit magic, weren’t you?”

After we separated from Shuvina and ran for a while, Fiera, who had been silent until now, spoke to me.

“I’m fine with it. It’s definitely regrettable to miss out on spirit magic, but it’s not like it can only be used by her.

Besides, I plan on heading to the Elf country, so I’ll get a good look at it then.”

“I see.”

“Were you hoping to recruit her?”

“Nope. Just like you said to Shuv, she doesn’t have enough resolve.

The scenery we see is different from hers. So while I feel sorry for her, I don’t feel like recruiting her at this time.”

Since Fiera was closer to Shuvina than I was, I thought she might try to convince her, but she echoed what I just said without changing her expression.

“You’ve really changed, huh?”

“Hehe. Maybe I picked up some traits from someone.”

“Hah. Is that so?”

After that, without stopping, we sprinted up to the 10th floor, defeated the black bull boss on that floor, and wrapped up our exploration for the day.