The battle was over, but despite successfully repelling the enemy, the gains we gained were minimal.

We wounded the Warforger but didn't subdue him, and although we destroyed the Envoy, it wasn't its main body.

In fact, Tyr, enraged by seeing the Envoy, used up too much of her darkness.

Though it was regrettable to waste the darkness we had carefully conserved, Tyr was rather indifferent about it.

[It was inevitable. If I had not hunted the angel, I would have fallen ill from the stress.]

"Illness from stress? Just don't let the blood rush to your head and you'll calm down naturally."

Despite my grumbling, the Sanctum was Tyr's trigger.

Like a cat chasing a mouse, Tyr lost her reason and became enraged when she saw the Sanctum.

I understood her, so I didn’t criticize her further.

I stepped on the now-useless pedal and turned the steering wheel.

"Anyway, the damage is significant. The Six Star Generals of the Military State are each national powerhouses, so even a surprise attack is bound to do some damage."

In a world where a single strong individual could fight against a thousand, what was the most troublesome enemy for a country?

Naturally, it was guerrillas.

A single powerful individual with high mobility caused mass destruction across the land.

Unless faced by someone equally strong, they couldn’t be opposed.

Like a parasite within the body, they systematically ate away at the country, causing massive damage.

Of course, sending such a strong person to die in another country was a loss, but historically, there were many stories of heroes who infiltrated enemy nations during times of crisis to buy time.

That was exactly what we were doing, but so were our enemies.

If we got separated, the weaker ones would be hunted down first.

I glanced at the biggest victim of this attack.

"Selphy…."

The Princess sat in a corner of the luggage compartment, hugging her knees and mourning the death of her beloved horse.

Since we couldn't carry the horse's body in the cramped luggage compartment, the Regressor used Jizan's power to create a grave for Selphy.

After a brief mourning at the grave, the Princess, eyes red with tears, got back into the automaton carriage.

Before Selphy's death, Selphy was all Selphy, but after Selphy died, most of Selphy seemed to have moved into the Princess.

She remembered Selphy while feeling the vibrations of the automaton carriage, thought of Selphy when seeing the passing scenery, and got sad when she instinctively prepared Selphy's food while eating.

"Woof. Woof woof."

Azzy silently stayed by the Princess's side, sensing her emotions and trying to comfort her.

The Regressor also glanced over.

She felt sorry for her former comrade from the previous timeline, but that was a story of the past.

The Regressor didn't approach the Princess despite her feelings and experience in the past timeline.

Was it because she was not good with words?

That was part of it.

Was it her personality?

That was also true.

But the most important reason was the sense of estrangement.

｢…Her way of speaking and appearance are similar, but she's definitely different from the Princess I knew. Back then, she wasn't weak enough to show tears over a comrade's death.｣

The Regressor didn’t mourn someone's death.

She felt regret and sadness, but there was no time or need to mourn.

One could say her heart has worn out, but more importantly, she could just reset everything with regression.

｢Well, it's still early. The Princess is still young and inexperienced.｣

The Regressor nodded, concluding that the accumulated scars had shaped the Princess she once knew.

I lowered my voice and suggested the Regressor.

"Mr. Shei now's your chance. Go say a few comforting words."

"How do I comfort her? Comforting won't change anything."

｢I could change things with regression. But, I can't regress just for a horse. Besides, even if the Princess dies, I won't regress at this point.｣

"It will ease her mind."

"What good is easing her mind? Selphy won't come back."

｢I have the power to erase the Princess's sorrow, to bring Selphy back… but I'm not using it. I have the ability to undo all this, yet saying comforting words without doing so is just hypocrisy. So, at least for me, I have no right to offer comfort to her.｣

Geez, why so negative?

I can understand her way of thinking.

Actually, with my Mind Reading ability, there's no one I can't understand.

Still, it's frustrating.

I sighed.

"That's why you're not popular."

"What? You want to die?"

Her ears sure were sharp for things like that.

I raised my voice slightly and changed the subject.

"Mr. Shei, the Princess isn't fit for combat, is she? Was it necessary to bring her into this fight?"

"We can't send her back now, can we?"

"True, but shouldn't we have refused when she insisted on coming? We already have Shiati to make contact with the spy inside the Military State."

"That's true, but…"

｢Why ask now when the horse just died? Wait, could it be? Because the horse died?｣

The Regressor looked at me with suspicion.

"You don't think the Princess is useless now that the horse is dead, do you?"

"What? Did you learn mind reading?"

"Do you have no sympathy?"

"Of course I do. I'm just a normal person who bleeds and cries. I just have nothing to spare for a beast."

"You're really too much! And yet this jerk was talking about easing her mind?"

｢He's so harsh to Azzy and Nabi too! This guy is really harsh on beasts! Even the Human Regime didn’t treat them as badly!｣

Treating them badly? As long as you treat a beast like a beast, what more is there?

The Regressor sighed while scolding me.

"I haven't properly explained to you yet, have I? The power that runs in the Grandiomor family."

"I have a general idea."

"If you understand, it makes explaining easier. The power of the Grandiomor family, simply described as the ability to avoid hostility, is essentially peace."

The Regressor began to calmly explain what she knew.

"The belief that the other won't harm you. The promise that neither side sees the other as prey. The power that forms society. We need that power."

"Why? To end everything peacefully?"

"Exactly. My goal is to stop the war, not start a new one."

The Regressor's power was immense.

Now, holding both Chun-aeng and Jizan, she could single-handedly cause a great disaster.

Jizan was the relic left by the Grandmaster who created the Abyss alone.

With Chun-aeng, the Regressor possessed a combat power that, although no less mysterious than the Abyss, could cause even greater casualties.

But she didn’t do it.

Because her goal couldn’t be achieved through mindless killing.

"By destroying the Communications Headquarters and disrupting their war capabilities, the Military State will fall into chaos due to communication disruptions. Anyway, we'll have to retreat after stopping the fight at the right time. That's when the Princess's power of peace will shine."

｢It might be a bit forced, but with the Beast King secured and Tyrkanzyaka with us now. And... now that we have the Gunmaster, we have enough power. We can do it.｣

Hoo.

So the Regressor had a plan all along.

I feel bad for thinking she was just winging it because she could reset her life.

I took the chance to ask what I was curious about.

"But a coup still happened against the royal family, didn't it?"

"They must have been incompetent. Even knowing the power in their bloodline, they never showed their faces to the public. How can you use your ability if you don't have a chance to use it?"

"But Star General Maximilien openly tried to kill the Princess."

The Regressor made a very displeased face when I mentioned Maximilien.

"He's an exception. He tampered with his own perception to counter Arcanes. I don't know how, and I don't want to know, but... rest assured."

The Regressor tapped Chun-aeng and Jizan with her fingers, showing a confident smile.

"When we meet again, he won't be able to escape. He won't have time to even glance at the Princess."

It was a strategic statement, but the Regressor overlooked an important fact in her engrossed storytelling.

Even though the front seat and the luggage compartment were separated, her voice could still be heard by the Princess.

The way to overcome the grief of loss was not by mourning but by moving forward.

There is a reason why time is considered the best medicine.

With clenched lips and fists, the Princess lifted her head.

The Regressor, who had been talking about the Princess until a moment ago, flinched but brushed it off.

｢Huh? Did she hear? Well, I didn't say anything wrong.｣

But, Ms. Regressor, you still don't quite understand how you appear to others.

The Princess moved from the narrow luggage compartment to the front seat.

She clasped her hands near her chest and spoke.

"...Sir."

"Me?"

The Regressor pointed to herself, and the Princess nodded with a small smile.

"Thank you. Though my power is weak, and I don't even know how to use it properly, I'll do my best to assist you. For myself and... for you."

"Uh, uh? Thanks."

｢...? What's going on? I wasn't the one who saved the Princess... it was him...｣

Indeed.

Lately, I've been the one helping the Princess, so why are you getting the thanks?

But I couldn't send a cold gaze her way while still focused on driving.

The Regressor collected the reward for my clever trick.

"And if... when all this is over…"

The Princess, deep in thought, shook her head and retracted her words.

"It's too early to discuss that. For now, I'll prepare to contact the spy."

"Uh, okay."

The Princess bowed and stepped back.

Still not understanding what had happened, the Regressor lowered her voice with wide eyes.

"She's motivated? I thought she'd be downcast after losing the horse."

"She must have been, until a moment ago."

"Good to see she's recovering."

You're really pure.

Well, given the Regressor's point of view, it's her first time in this situation, so it's not exactly pure.

You were more popular as a man, weren't you?

No, maybe you were also quite charming as a woman. If only you hadn't done that silly cross-dressing.

From the shadows of the back seat, Tyr, who had been watching this unfold, couldn't hold back and spoke up.

[...Hu. Your resourcefulness is quite extraordinary.]

"Resourcefulness? I don't understand what you mean."

[Deny it all you want. If you think I'm as oblivious as Shei, you are mistaken.]

｢Comforting the Princess and subtly suggesting what she should do next in such a short time. You have quite the silver tongue. In your prime, you must have made many girls cry.｣

Hey…

That's not fair. I'm a magician. I made people smile, not cry.

Well, except for a few cases.

"Ugh...."

At that moment, Shiati, who had been asleep due to her usage of black magic and injuries, woke up.

She clutched her bruised chest and looked around in surprise.

That was when Historia, who had been silent until now, stood up.

Despite being tied up with the precious Sky Silk, Historia showed no signs of discomfort.

Compared to that, Shiati, though not tied up, looked much smaller.

"...Ugh, what do you want?"

Like a typical injured person, Shiati instinctively felt wary of Historia.

It wasn't because it was Historia; it could have been anyone.

Sensing her wariness, Historia reaffirmed her resolve and declared firmly, not allowing any rebuttal.

"Shiati, you're out."