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

Episode 79: A Friend from the Past

I met Sonia during my second life.

At that time, I was frequently visiting the academy’s library to learn magic, and there I encountered her, also studying magic.

At first, we didn’t pay each other any mind; in fact, we weren’t even aware of each other’s existence.

But one day, we both reached for the same book at the same time, and that was when we finally noticed each other.

“Did you want to read this book too?”

“Well, yes. Please go ahead and read it first.”

“Oh, thanks!”

I wasn’t in any particular hurry to read that book, so I let her have it and picked up another book I wanted to read.

“I finished it, so I’ll give it back to you now.”

“Hm? Ah, thank you!”

A few days later, Sonia diligently returned the finished book to me and, after handing it over, went to fetch another one.

As we continued this similar exchange a few more times, we discovered our mutual love for magic, and naturally began talking about magic and exchanging opinions on the books we read.

“This book says that the words you chant are important when using magic, but I think that imagining is even more crucial, like this other book suggests. If you can form a clear image, you could use magic without chanting, making it way more efficient, right?”

“True. In the end, imagining is important, but this book also mentions that chanting helps clarify that image. When you think about it, chanting is a necessary process to visualize the spell you want to use.”

Talking with Sonia was unexpectedly enjoyable. While I didn’t have any romantic feelings, she had become someone I could truly consider a friend.

However, as I got to know her more, I became curious about how sometimes she looked sad when discussing magic.

One day, there was a long summer break at the academy, and just before that, I met Sonia in the library as usual.

“What are you doing for summer break, Sonia? Are you going back home?”

“I’m not going back. Actually, I don’t have a home to return to.”

“What do you mean?”

Without thinking too deeply, I asked, but her story would reveal the reason for her sometimes sorrowful expressions.

“I don’t have a house anymore. It got destroyed… because of me…”

“…Huh?”

Intrigued by what she meant, I decided to ask her for the details, even though I felt I was being insensitive.

Before she entered the Suzette Imperial Academy about a year ago, Sonia could not use magic.

At first, she couldn’t understand why, but one day she met a magician who explained that a magic seal was cast on her, preventing her from using it.

Moreover, this seal appeared to be quite advanced, making it difficult for even that magician to lift.

But despite her inability, Sonia loved magic, and even though she couldn’t attend the magic academy, she learned much from that magician and gained magical knowledge.

One day, as she practiced casting magic she was supposed to be unable to use, she felt something hot rising from deep inside her body.

At first, it was painful, but she gradually got used to it, and to her surprise, a spell that she was supposed to be unable to use appeared before her.

“C-Could this be magic?”

Sonia was so thrilled that she could finally use magic that she rushed home to show her family and the magician she had met.

(I’m sure Father and Mother will be so happy!)

Sonia’s family and the staff at her mansion had always treated her kindly, even though she couldn’t use magic. So, she thought they would all be delighted to hear the news.

Upon arriving home, Sonia entered, looking for her parents and siblings, but she found no one, not even the maids or butlers.

(Where could everyone have gone?)

As she opened the door to the largest room on the third floor, what lay before her was a horrific sight.

Piles of human corpses stacked high, blood pooling across the floor, and the smell of blood saturating the room.

At the top of the pile were her parents and siblings—who had seen her off that morning—motionless and clearly dead.

“Ughhh…”

Sonia could not bear the sight and collapsed to her knees, retching up the contents of her stomach in despair.

As she stared at the grotesque scene, unable to accept it, something suddenly stabbed her from behind.

“Ah, finally back, huh? Took you long enough. By the time you got here, everyone had already died, huh?”

A horrifyingly thin man appeared at the edge of her vision, his gaunt body and disheveled hair sending chills down her spine.

“Well, you’ll be joining them soon enough, won’t you? Ah, what a relief to be done with this troublesome job. I don’t ever want to do this again.”

With that, the man set the room ablaze and exited through the door.

Moments later, Sonia, fading in and out of consciousness, saw the magician who had helped her rush toward her, and that was when she finally lost her consciousness.

The next time she awoke, she found herself in an unfamiliar shack-like building.

“Ah, good. You’re awake.”

“…Teacher.”

The magician who had taught her magic and saved her from the dire situation was speaking to her.

“Teacher, my family and everyone…”

“I’m sorry. When I arrived, it was already too late…”

“No way. Ugh…”

She was the only one who was saved. Everyone else had died. The horrifying reality she saw was no dream, leaving her in despair for months.

One day, having managed to sort through her feelings a little, she wanted to see the place where her house used to be and asked the magician to take her there.

What she found was that there was no longer a mansion, not even a beautiful garden with flowers—everything had been neatly cleaned up, leaving no trace of the burned mansion.

As Sonia wandered around the spot where her house once stood, she stumbled and fell.

“…What’s this?”

There was a door marked with an unknown magic circle. As her blood from falling touched it, the previously closed door swung open, revealing a path going underground.

Sonia slowly descended the stairs leading below, where she found several books, each one catching her interest.

And there, she understood why she had been sealed from using magic, who the culprit was, and who had murdered her family.

“I will never forgive them.”

At that moment, Sonia decided to seek revenge for her family and, to gain strength, resolved to leave her country and enroll in the Suzette Imperial Academy in the Ruzenia Empire.

Hearing Sonia’s story left me speechless, unable to respond to the shocking events.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I’m not looking for sympathy or anything.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t mind me.”

After that, things became somewhat awkward, and as we went days without speaking to each other, we eventually reached summer break.

And from that point, we could never go back to how we were before; I had no more interactions with her until my death.

However, at the moment of my death, she alone wore a sad expression, and that image has remained in my mind until now.

Even after I died, when Sonia met the protagonist in a different life and began to act together, she never blamed or looked down upon me; instead, she looked at me with a mix of pity and sympathy.

Perhaps that’s why I didn’t feel the usual dread or latent fear towards her like I did with Iris and the others; instead, I felt I could finally understand her feelings from that time.

(Perhaps we were somewhat similar in a way.)

Her tragic past and my repeated deaths. The situations and adversaries differed, but there was a time I too sought revenge against the protagonists who killed me and all the injustices.

(In the end, I couldn’t achieve my revenge, but I wonder if Sonia succeeded.)

I don’t know what happened after my death, but knowing the future that awaits her, I decided that this time—just this once—I would lend a hand to my friend from my second life, so she wouldn’t have to face such a tragic future again.