Chương 84: Chapter 83

As Mr. Blackmore digested the memories, he gained a fresh perspective on everything that had happened. Unlike the personas, who were forced to experience events from within Nina's mind, he could step back and look at everything objectively. He could see the things they had noticed. More importantly, he could see the things Nina had noticed but refused to acknowledge. And from all of that, he began putting the pieces together. To understand why Mr.

Blackmore had arrived at this particular name, one has to go back to the beginning. Back when Elias had been speaking with Mr. Hemmensway. The Saintess had been searching for two individuals. One of them had to be a woman. At the time, it had seemed like an insignificant detail. Now, it wasn't. Mr. Blackmore began going through the events one by one. Nina had saved an old woman who should have already been dead. Later, that same old woman had contacted Nina and asked her to come receive some clothing.

Then there was Rosa. Then the incident in the town. Then the kidnapping. All of these events had something in common. They were deviations from what should have happened. But the old woman's survival was particularly important. Nina had arrived exactly two months later. The third month. She had saved someone who, according to the original sequence of events, should have been long dead. Why? Mr. Blackmore narrowed his eyes. There had to be a reason. And then there was the woman who had kidnapped Nina.

She was far too concerned with how things had changed. Far too concerned with the Hero Party. Far too frustrated that events weren't proceeding according to plan. The more Mr. Blackmore considered it, the more obvious the answer became. Jeanette Monet. She must have been reborn. But that only created another question. When? Mr. Blackmore went back to the beginning. There was a point roughly two months after Nina's arrival when she stepped outside and heard the news concerning Seraphina.

Seraphina was an interesting variable. If Seraphina had not yet been reborn, then she shouldn't have known anything about Nate or Jeanette. That was the first possibility. But if Seraphina had already been reborn, another problem appeared. She would have needed to find Nate and Jeanette and bring them into the temple. Once Nate entered the temple, getting him out was practically impossible, making things easier for her. The story had already made that clear. Nate had tried to leave the temple multiple times.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He had failed every single time. Therefore, if Seraphina had been reborn before Jeanette, she would have had to find them before Nate ever entered the temple. And if she had found them... Then Jeanette would never have had the opportunity to take Nate away. Mr. Blackmore's eyes narrowed. That doesn't work. Jeanette had to have been reborn first.

She had to have returned to a point before Nate entered the temple. She had taken Nate away. And then they had disappeared. Nate himself was most likely not reborn. At least, there was no evidence that he had retained any memories. That explained why he had not appeared. But then another question arose. What happened after they disappeared? If Seraphina had not yet been reborn, then she couldn't have known they were supposed to exist. At some point, however, she had regained her memories.

And when she did, she would have realized something was wrong. Nate was supposed to appear. He didn't. Jeanette was supposed to appear. She didn't. So Seraphina began searching. First, she would have sent people to investigate the area. When they found nothing, she would have needed something larger. A full search operation. One that had to remain highly secretive. After all, how could she explain why she was looking for two specific people without revealing information she shouldn't possess? That explained Mr.

Hemmensway's inability to determine exactly who the two people were. The security surrounding the search was simply too high. Mr. Blackmore continued. There was another detail. The second person Mr. Hemmensway had mentioned had originally been a man. An older man, somewhere around his fifties. Someone with connections to the Empire. Someone known by the Empress Dowager. Someone with concealment magic powerful enough to secretly remove the Empress Dowager's corpse and prevent widespread panic.

But that man had never become necessary. Because Nate never appeared. If Nate never appeared, then Seraphina had no reason to require the man's services. And that meant another event had changed. The Hero Party should have left with the so-called Saintess roughly a month after the foundation. But that never happened. The fake Saintess had never appeared. So the Hero Party remained. Perhaps they stayed under the pretext that the Saintess still needed her servant to come of age.

Whatever the excuse, the result was the same. They stayed longer. And that delay created another divergence. The people waiting in the shadows eventually became impatient. They attacked the old woman. Mr. Blackmore's thoughts moved rapidly. Ronin had been present with the old woman when Nina retrieved her clothes. He had also appeared at the banquet. Damien had been quick to leave, but he had still managed to observe the man's stance. His posture. His movements. His fighting style. And Nina had seen him as well.

Even though Nina had spent much of the event inside the carriage, she had still been able to observe what was happening outside. The man she had seen at the banquet... The man she had later encountered at the house while meeting the grandmother... They were the same person. And that person was the Crown Prince. Ronin McCann. Mr. Blackmore's expression changed slightly. If that was true... Then the old woman Nina had saved wasn't merely some random old woman. She was the Empress Dowager.

Another piece fell into place. Mr. Blackmore continued connecting the events. So Jeanette was reborn. But from which timeline? That was the next problem. Could she have come from the rebirth timeline? Mr. Blackmore considered it. No. At least, it was unlikely. Jeanette had made her hatred of the Duke clear. She wanted him dead. If she had lived through the original timeline, she would have witnessed what happened to her brother. She would have watched his so-called friends abandon him.

She would have watched the world turn against the Saint despite everything he had sacrificed to save them. She would have no reason to feel sympathy for the people who had betrayed him. And if she had returned from that timeline... Then destroying a town full of people who were already destined to die would hardly stop her if doing so meant killing the Hero Party as well. The traitors who had abandoned her brother. But Jeanette couldn't accomplish everything alone. Not if Nate hadn't retained his memories.

She would need help. Mr. Blackmore's eyes shifted toward the woman approaching with the Soul-Shattering Sword. The tattooed man. He remembered him. An organization came to mind. The Anti-Holy Nation faction. They had existed in the original storyline. A group formed by people who had suffered under the Holy Nation's tyranny and corruption. Some had been distant relatives of destroyed noble lineages. Others had simply suffered beneath the Duke's rule.

There had been one survivor in particular who eventually created the organization. A man considered a heretic. A man who had managed to cause disturbances within the Holy Nation before eventually being captured and killed. Mr. Blackmore's eyes narrowed. Jeanette is probably associated with them. That would explain the tattooed man. It would explain the resources. It would explain how someone like Jeanette could operate without acting alone. And it would explain something else.

The first time Nina had been brought here, they hadn't immediately tortured her. They had asked questions. Who was she? Why had Seraphina chosen her? What had Seraphina promised her? Those questions made sense if they didn't know who Nina was. If they were trying to determine whether she was actually connected to Seraphina. If Jeanette came from the original timeline, she shouldn't know who the Seer was. She shouldn't know about the altered events. She shouldn't know Nina.

And that was why they had questioned her first. Everything was beginning to fit. Mr. Blackmore looked toward the woman. She was still approaching. The Soul-Shattering Sword dragged against the ground. If his theory was correct... Then the woman standing before him had to be Jeanette Monet. He watched her carefully. There was only one way to test it.

"Jeanette... why?" The woman staggered. Her eyes widened.

"How?" She grabbed her head.

"How do you know that name?" Mr. Blackmore watched her reaction carefully. His expression remained cold. This woman isn't normal. The woman's expression twisted in pain as she held her head. Mr. Blackmore's eyes narrowed further. Interesting. A faint smile appeared on his face. This works perfectly for me.