Chapter 40 – Henry’s Memories (3)

Henry’s first impression upon seeing Asher Griffin again was that the boy seemed just as timid and insecure as the first time – still obediently acting as Jullius’s shadow.

And yet, there was a difference. The eyes beneath that overly long fringe were not as submissive as his demeanor suggested. They seemed to be observing and calculating everything.

Furthermore, Asher had “accidentally” caused a scene with the fake Princess. That incident, in Henry’s eyes, didn’t look accidental at all.

Yes, Henry already knew that Claire Cassandra was never a Hero Candidate. Her successful infiltration of the party was merely a political gambit played by the Church.

In those hundred-plus loops, Henry had sought to expose the haughty Princess more than once to bolster the party’s strength. Usually, the ultimate consequence of doing so was the death of the actual, highly talented candidate -the girl whose title Claire had usurped.

Henry hadn’t even had the chance to learn that girl’s name.

Few candidates possessed scouting and long-range attack capabilities. This deficiency was a major reason the party repeatedly fell into dire straits – situations that could have been entirely avoided with a skilled scout.

Clearly, during the celebratory banquet, Asher had been fully capable of pulling the mask off the true candidate. But he hadn’t done it.

Had I overthought it? Was it truly just an accident? Henry wondered. Or does he have a plan to topple the Princess while keeping that other girl alive?

There was only one way to find out the truth: to test it.

And so, Henry killed Claire during their first sortie.

He felt no psychological burden; he had done this several times before.

Perhaps this was a side effect of dying and resurrecting so many times, Henry felt himself gradually devaluing life. His own, and everyone else’s. Why hesitate to kill someone when you know you’ll just encounter them again in the next time loop?

If Asher Griffin truly had a plan, Claire’s death would accelerate its execution. Then, Henry could be certain whether or not he should share what he knew with the boy.

And what if Claire’s premature death ruined Asher’s original plan?

Henry didn’t care. He had run out of patience.

Another side effect of the time loop: one becomes reckless, heedless of the consequences. After all, the worst that could happen was just having to start over one more time, right?

In the end, he had finally gotten exactly what he wanted.

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In the middle of the night on the Holy Prayer Day, a subordinate suddenly reported that a young girl was demanding to see the Vice-Captain of the Knights in person.

When Henry saw the red hair and a face that was an eighty-percent match to the Hero Candidate posing as the Princess, he began to understand why someone as capable as her had allowed herself to be so easily suppressed by the Royal Family.

The girl was dressed in rags, her entire body trembling from fear and the biting midnight frost. She stammered out:

“Asher… Griffin said… he knows… your secret…”

Henry frowned. What “secret” was the boy referring to? Was it the fact that he had killed Claire, or the far deeper truth that he had survived a hundred time loops?