Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter One Epilogue, Part Two: A Boy Named Ren Ashton
A little more than a week later, Roy and Mireille arrived in Clausel.
The moment they saw Ren, they embraced him and wept with relief. They remained at Lessard’s mansion for several days, allowing Ren to hear the full state of the village.
As Lessard had said, no villagers had died. The losses among the Clausel knights were another matter, and Ren could not celebrate without thinking of them.
Little Boars and other monsters had destroyed several homes. Many families, including the Ashtons, had lost nearly everything. With the Clausel family’s assistance, however, reconstruction was progressing steadily.
Roy and Mireille had spent each day helping direct that work. They could not remain in Clausel for long; the village needed its headman during the rebuilding.
Ren understood, though the thought of parting made him lonely.
On the morning they left, Roy pointed to a wooden box in the corner of Ren’s room.
“We brought everything from your room that survived the fire, along with a few new sets of clothes. Send word if you need anything else.”
“Thank you. Did you bring much luggage for yourselves?”
“Enough. Lessard provided horses and guards, so the journey was easy.”
Roy opened the box.
“Grandma Rigg also sent this.”
He removed a blank book bound in black leather.
“It was left over from the books she uses for medicine recipes. She thought you might keep a diary.”
“That could be useful. I certainly have enough time while I’m recovering.”
Roy laughed. “I thought you might write an autobiography instead.”
“I haven’t lived enough of a life for that.”
Autobiographies of the Seven Heroes were popular throughout this world, but Ren could hardly compare himself with them.
“From where I’m standing, you’re already a hero,” Roy said.
Mireille smiled through tears. “You are our pride.”
Licia, Lessard, and Weiss had all praised Ren in much the same way. Hearing it from his parents was even more embarrassing.
They both patted his head until he protested.
Soon it was time to depart. They had to leave before nightfall if they were to keep their schedule.
“I’m sorry we cannot stay longer,” Mireille said.
“Thank you for coming at all. I know the village needs you. I’ll return as soon as I can walk properly.”
“Recover first,” Roy said. “Since you’re here, look around Clausel and tell us what the great town is like when you return.”
“I will.”
They embraced him once more and left with the horses and escort Lessard had provided.
Ren forced himself to the window and watched until they disappeared from sight.
(I’m so glad they’re safe.)
The effort exhausted him. He returned to bed and looked at the black book on the desk.
“An autobiography…”
A knock sounded.
“May I come in?”
Licia entered after he answered.
“Did you have enough time with your parents?”
“Yes. Thank you for arranging their horses and escort.”
“Father and I owe you far more than that.”
Licia had bowed and apologized repeatedly to Roy and Mireille as well. They had panicked at being addressed so formally by a baron’s daughter, but she refused to leave her gratitude unspoken.
Ren could understand her feelings. His actions had saved not only Licia but all of House Clausel.
“How are you feeling today?” she asked.
“Better than yesterday.”
“I’m glad.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, her back to him. A breeze stirred her hair.
Ren’s thoughts returned to the nameless magic sword and Licia’s internal magic stone. The sword’s power had been overwhelming—far beyond anything his other magic swords could produce.
Perhaps that was why the Ren Ashton of the game had killed Licia. If he had discovered the power within her and sought to take it for himself, the infamous scene made a terrible kind of sense.
Ren remembered first seeing that scene while talking with a friend who loved the game.
In the grand auditorium of the Imperial Military Academy, the protagonist had found Ren Ashton standing on the stage and holding Licia’s bleeding body.
“Ren… what have you done?”
The mastermind stood in darkness, his expression unseen.
“Exactly what you see. I killed her.”
He disappeared soon afterward, taking her body with him.
Ren had never known the full reason. The game had left much of the mastermind’s purpose unclear.
Licia noticed the black book on the desk.
“What is that?”
“Grandma Rigg gave it to me. Father suggested using it for an autobiography.”
“That sounds good. What will you call it?”
“Does it need a title?”
“Of course. Otherwise it is only a diary.”
“I’m not much of a writer. Do you have an idea?”
“You must decide for yourself.”
Ren considered changing it to a diary, but Licia pointed out that diaries could have titles too. Her enjoyment made further resistance pointless.
“Then perhaps it can be half diary and half autobiography.”
“Good. Put your name in the title.”
“That is far too embarrassing.”
“Then use something about the way you intend to live. I once read an autobiography called My Path to Becoming a Sword King. It was written by a practitioner of the Sacred Sword Style.”
“The way I intend to live…”
Ren had always wanted a peaceful life. The past weeks had shown how little the world respected that wish.
Then a title came to him.
“I have one.”
“Already?”
“It is strange, even by my standards.”
Eight years had passed since his birth in this world. He could now say with confidence that he was Ren Ashton—not the man described in Legend of the Seven Heroes, but a separate person.
The Licia beside him was likewise not merely the doomed saint from the game.
The world’s fate had already changed. Yelquq had died in an event that never occurred in the original story. Marquis Ignat’s daughter had survived, removing the cause that turned him into the final enemy of the first game.
Ren himself was an irregular presence altering history for better and perhaps sometimes for worse.
The word mastermind surfaced in his mind.
(Changing fate may create new dangers. Something that never existed in the game may appear again.)
If another mastermind was destined to threaten the world, Ren could become a different kind of mastermind—one who used knowledge and planning to protect himself and the people around him.
He could respect this world as real rather than treating it as a game, while still using what he knew of the story to oppose the future it once had.
A fitting title followed.
(Reincarnated as the Mastermind of the Story.)
He had no intention of saying it aloud. It was enough that he understood its meaning.
“Actually, I’ll think about the title a little longer,” he told Licia.
She stared at him. “What was all that confidence for?”
Ren smiled lightly.
The late-afternoon light caught Licia’s profile as she smiled in return. A warm breeze brushed Ren’s bangs.
After overcoming their first great ordeal, both children looked a little older than before.
â—‡ â—‡ â—‡ â—‡
One spring day, a woman stood at the window of the dean’s office at the prestigious Imperial Military Academy.
Her porcelain skin and doll-like features possessed an almost unreal beauty. A neat white shirt covered her graceful figure. Golden hair moved in the breeze, and amethyst eyes watched the students outside while she hummed.
A knock interrupted her.
“Excuse me, Dean.”
Another woman entered carrying several documents.
The dean turned, and even someone accustomed to working with her could not help being struck by her appearance.
“What is it?” the dean asked. “I’ve been doing an excellent job lately, haven’t I?”
“There is a problem with the field-training schedule.”
The dean accepted the papers and frowned.
“This is confirmed?”
“Yes. We will need an alternate location.”
“Then let me think.”
She folded her arms, looking so picturesque that even her troubled expression seemed deliberate.
After several minutes, she brightened.
“I know the perfect place.”
She crossed to a wall of bookshelves and pulled out a volume. Several neighboring books tumbled to the floor.
“Would you mind helping me?”
Her visitor sighed and replaced them.
“What were you looking for?”
“A map. Here—what about this area?”
“The Baldor Mountains? Most monsters there are around E-rank, so the students could manage. However, underground mana currents have caused unusual monster activity there before.”
“Then I’ll inspect the region personally.”
The visitor considered this, then nodded. By the time she finished returning the last fallen book to the shelf, she had accepted the proposal.
“I will consult the board and the relevant nobles.”
“Thank you.”
After she was alone, the dean went to her desk. Approval would require her signature.
“This should be enough, I suppose.”
Her pen moved across the final line.
Chronois Highland.
She was of mixed human and elven blood, one of the greatest magicians in the world, and dean of the Imperial Military Academy.
In Legend of the Seven Heroes II, she too was destined to die at the hands of Ren Ashton.
Chronois looked up at the blue sky beyond her window.
“I wish someone would appear and relieve this boredom of mine.”
I doubt that Ren killed her
That wooden box has survived all kind of hardships lol
LMAO its sounding more and more sus! If OG Ren was just power hungry, why would he care about his victims corpse?
And she’s said to be “the unclaimable heroine”
The heroes couldn’t make her fall in love with them.
Well, we can safely assume it’s because “she won’t belong to anyone but Ren”.
My theory is that OG Ren Ashton figured out that everything that happened in his village was because of the heroic factions’ manipulation thus the reason for his betrayal. Regarding Licia, my theory is that something happened to her off screen that Ren had to “kill” her. Whether the magic stone was extracted by Ren or someone else before that, we have no information yet.