The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 17

—–CROW—– 

“Wake up!!!”

Oh, God.

Ryan, who had adapted to the harsh prison life for twelve years, woke up precisely at 6 a.m.

Because he had to eat breakfast…

I forced my eyes open and was being dragged along when I found the notice board in front of the dining hall and stopped.

A notice board on the ship, where notices and job postings were haphazardly posted.

‘There it is.’

I found what I needed there.

[105th Imperial Sword Tournament]

The path to becoming a glorious knight!

‘My beloved Cali… I’ll see you again soon…’

I tore off the notice and was about to leave, yawning, when…

“Huh?”

…This was posted here now.

I was suddenly wide awake.

[-WANTED-]

Bounty.

A sentient monster, “Ratan.”

A drawing of a monster with large horns was depicted. Below it were the damages caused, the last place it was sighted, and the bounty.

Ratan was known as a sentient monster among the unintelligent monsters, one that could “talk”.

No one knew what this guy was, where it came from, or where it came from until it was captured. And when its shocking “identity” was finally revealed…

Our family was in an uproar.

The identity of this monster was!

‘Yeah, only I know it now.’

I was going to find this guy anyway.

I tore off the wanted poster and went into the dining hall.

Ryan and livan were ordering.

“I want an omelet!”

I quickly ordered an omelet. Ham stew was not tasty…

“I’ll have the ham stew and pancakes, a goose roast with bacon… and for dessert, a butter stollen.”

After meticulously examining the menu, Ryan spoke, and livan ordered.

“Three omelets.”

“Hey!”

Ryan immediately protested.

“Are you kidding me? Who’s going to get full with just one plate of omelet?”

“We don’t have money.”

“Why not? I got the child support money!”

“Ugh, you idiot. That’s child support, literally. You don’t know what child support means? That’s not money for you to stuff your face with goose.”

Ryan, trembling with anger, quickly added to the order.

“And one more ham stew.”

“Aaaah!”

livan, horrified, smacked Ryan’s shoulder, scolding him.

“You glutton! You’re a useless glutton!”

“Stop it! It hurts, geez!”

I smiled at their antics and wiped my nose.

‘They’re really close. It’s good to see.’

We took a table and sat down, waiting for our food to arrive. livan, still upset about the extra plate of ham stew, continued to pinch and pick at Ryan.

“But kid. There’s something I’ve been wondering since yesterday.”

livan, after picking at Ryan to his heart’s content, turned his gaze to me.

“…About that ability transplant experiment.”

Although there were almost no people because it was too early in the morning, livan spoke quietly, looking around cautiously.

“What exactly did they do? To transplant an ability, wouldn’t they have needed help from ability users?”

“Ah, probably?”

“Ability users wouldn’t have willingly come to help, would they?”

I smiled awkwardly and shook my head.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know that much about it.”

“Ah, no. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

I actually did know.

But, I would keep quiet at this point. It was information that Ryan and livan didn’t need to know.

Ability users who helped with the experiment?

Surprisingly, there were.

The former Duke, Evan Vasenberg.

That was my and Ryan’s grandfather.

He had suddenly disappeared after passing on his title to his successor…

‘In reality, he had gone to collude with the royal family.’

It had happened before I was born, so I didn’t know the details, but I could guess my grandfather’s intentions.

Perhaps he had also felt disillusioned by the family’s behavior. That was why he had willingly offered his body for the experiment.

And thus…

Under the tacit approval of the ‘royal family,’ ‘professors from the Imperial Academy of Magics’ conducted the ability transplant experiment using the ‘former Duke of Vasenberg’.

That was the truth of the project.

“Now that I think about it, you’re right. They would have needed help from ability users to do that kind of experiment?”

Ryan, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, said.

“Then it was probably our grandfather?”

“Pfft!”

Wow. I had just taken a sip of water and choked in surprise.

“Whoa. Are you okay, kid? But, grandfather? Are you talking about the former Duke of Vasenberg?”

“Yeah. I don’t remember his face well because I was too young, but I know that my grandfather left home when I was six or so. After that, I don’t know if the old man went into the ground or up into the sky…”

“What?! He didn’t die, he disappeared. Then it’s possible that the former Duke helped with the experiment?”

“Maybe?”

Listening to Ryan and livan’s conversation, I gulped.

Even if I didn’t tell them, they were smoothly reaching the truth.

“If that experiment succeeded… that means there could be a normal person who received the former Duke’s ability, right?”

livan, who had been analyzing it sharply, clapped his hands and asked Ryan.

“What was that guy’s ability?”

Ryan, who had been mumbling about what it was, exclaimed and swirled his index finger around.

Swirling in a circle.

A gesture of rewinding something.

“Time Reversal.”

“Huh?”

Ryan added to livan, who was puzzled.

“It’s a Bless of regression.”

***

Back in the cabin after eating.

“Sigh… haa…”

Ryan, lying face down between the beds, was doing one-handed push-ups. It had been his habit to exercise after meals throughout his twelve years of prison life.

I was holding a towel and staring blankly at Ryan’s back, which was moving up and down.

“Hey, tell me more about that regression thing.”

“It’s literally an ability to turn back time to the past. What else is there to say?”

“Tell me more specifically!”

livan’s eyes shone.

“If, just if that experiment succeeded that day, it means a normal person with that ability could exist! If we find them, they could become a great asset, right?”

“Are you stupid? How are we going to find them? It’s unlikely that such an experiment succeeded, but even if it did. Haa.”

Ryan, catching his breath, added.

“If it’s known, our family would definitely hunt them down and kill them. Unless they’re a complete idiot, they wouldn’t go around telling people they were the successful test subject, haa.”

“…You’re probably right? Still, I’m curious. Tell me more.”

“Ah, I’m working out right now. Haa. Ask her. She was taught at home when she was young, so she must know everything.”

At Ryan’s words, livan looked at me, who was sitting on the bed.

“Ah.”

I had promised to tell them everything I knew, so I couldn’t pretend not to know…

“Time Reversal is an ability that allows you to turn back time to the past. You can go back to when you first awakened the ability, whether it’s seconds, hours, or even years.”

“No way, how can there be such a cheat-like ability? Then can you go back to the past and live your life again and again?”

“Maybe? Other people wouldn’t know if time had been turned back, but the person who regresses would retain their memories.”

“Ah. So, only the person who regresses remembers?”

“…”

I wondered if I should keep quiet, but I looked at Ryan. He still seemed to be engrossed in his workout, but his ears were probably open.

There was no use in hiding information, as I would be found out anyway…

“…Co-regression is also possible. If you come into contact with someone while regressing, you can go back with your memories.”

“Really?!”

livan was excited. I added with a sad expression,

“Only for ability users. It doesn’t work with normal people.”

“Ah, darn.”

livan muttered, looking disappointed.

As I was talking with him, I became depressed.

Co-regression…

I had done it.

But I was probably the only one in this world who remembered the ‘ten years’ that had disappeared.

It was my lover, Nike, who had turned back time, but he was a ‘created’ ability user, so he couldn’t fully utilize his powers.

The limit of time he could remember while turning back time was 30 minutes.

But, he had turned back ten years, so he must have forgotten everything.

Our first meeting, our shy confessions, our loving memories…

And… even me.

***

Before the regression, Duke Vasenberg had strictly managed his daughter Vania’s upbringing.

It would be a problem if Vania, who possessed a Special Grade Bless, ever harbored rebellious intentions against the family.

He kept her from knowing what the family was doing during the period when her morals and values were forming. He said that there were too many siblings, so there was no need for her to work hard.

So, Vania lived like a happy princess without doing anything until she was sixteen.

She changed into beautiful dresses every day, adorned herself with extravagant jewelry, traveled, and ate exquisite food…

It was a life of opening countless expensive gifts that her father and siblings had given her.

“Lady, you’ve arrived!”

It was in the summer when Vania was sixteen that she first took on family duties.

It was the day she went to take care of the injured family soldiers during a subjugation, in place of the absent third child, Diana.

—–CROW—–