I Regress if the Villainess Dies! Chapter 19: Chapter 18 Rozenfall(1)

Read chapter 19 of I Regress if the Villainess Dies! by Yuzai_Rearu on NovelPedia.

'A message?' Moris handed him a letter with an unreadable expression. “Read it when you arrive at the academy. Some gifts have been prepared for you and the two swordmaidens.” 'A gift from the duke?' There was a fifty-fifty chance that it was either a gift to the afterlife or a very good gift. The duke was one of the strongest bosses in the game, just like Carmillia. What made him different was the scale of conditions players needed to fulfill in order to defeat him. With this message, it meant the duke was aware of his existence, which made him feel apprehensive. “… Thank you.” But why would Xian feel fearful? The duke’s plans were elaborate and precise, as shown in the game scenes when the player began crossing paths with his schemes. Every action he made carried deeper meaning and intentions that couldn’t be easily interpreted. While Xian knew the future and the actions the duke took in other routes, in Carmillia’s route he knew nothing. The attention of someone like the duke was unwelcome to him. Xian felt a soft thump in his shoulder. There, someone he hadn’t expected was coming with them to the academy under the head butler’s orders. Miri, with dark circles under her eyes, had fallen asleep. She hadn’t been able to sleep properly ever since the chief maid’s death. [BLUE HEART: 36] At first, he thought Miri was about to bid them farewell. But Moris told them that the duke required Carmillia to have a trusted maid accompany her. In the game, all the maids serving Carmillia were academy attendants, or sometimes even the swordmaidens. 'Is this also part of the duke’s plan?' It might be a stretch, but he couldn’t afford to be careless from now on. Everyone in the academy had to be doubted, and not a single sentence should be believed. Even the heroines. There was a reason why Rozenfall wasn’t only about romance, but also ruin, and why players had something called the ‘Ruin End’ . Compared to the truly happy ‘Romance Endings’ , there was more than one version of bad endings for each route and heroine. There were even endings outside those routes, such as dying as a convicted criminal at the hands of the kingdom or empire, or tragic endings where the heroine left the protagonist for another rival. All in all, despite being a dating sim game, there were far darker aspects scattered throughout the player’s gameplay. It was ironic that he was going to destroy the life of the character he once played, should he exist and stand in the way. ‘The academy…’ Once he stepped foot there, Xian wondered if he would even be able to rest. His calling made him want to focus on understanding Carmillia better. Why her actions led to such extreme decisions of execution, and what kind of life she had lived. As a sub-boss, she existed in the game without much backstory. Only her bad ends and antagonistic encounters remained, as if the game itself was screaming that she was a villain. At the same time, the other heroine’s he knew too well and similarly liked now exists in reality. Right now, Xian felt torn on whether he will continue playing on the side of the villainess or forge his own route. There was one more thing he wanted try. An arrogant notion that punished players for their greediness with a guaranteed Ruin End. ‘A harem route…’ Smirking, he wondered if that will be possible now. With his power of regression backing him, he could try it as many times as he liked. Furthermore, he can make more flexible choices unlike when he's behind the screen. Xian shook his head to clear his thoughts. Right now, he was waiting for something. 'When is it appearing?' The skill window. Another function of the system that players enjoyed, listing the skills players possessed and could learn. Upon stepping into the academy, the window was supposed to appear and guide the player. There were skills that could be obtained through training, skills one was born with, and these were classified into techniques and spells. If it was martial arts, then Technique was t