LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 648
Chapter 648: What’s Your Name?
“Oo…”
Ghislaine’s eyes widened in wonder.
Was this what the Saint meant when she said we would meet? Am I in the past now, in a dream?
This was different from just watching the scene unfold in a dream. I could move my body freely and interact with others.
Ghislaine burst into a bright smile as if having the time of his life. Then, Yulien shouted in exasperation.
“He’s gone nuts again! Malfunctioning!”
A girl standing a little distance away pouted.
“What? Really? Why is she acting like that right now?”
Her dusty, tattered clothes and messy hair made her look like just another ordinary countryside girl. No one passing by would have given her a second glance.
But if they knew who this girl was, everyone would kneel in reverence.
“Saint?”
At Ghislaine’s question, the Saint’s face turned pale with shock.
“Why is she saying that! She’s calling me the Saint!”
The Saint was wielding a mace. With her dirty priest robe, it seemed she was a Combat Priest.
Of course, she didn’t radiate overwhelming power like Parniel. She only exuded the presence of an average priest.
Yulien and the Saint were both fighting against someone. Judging by their rugged appearance and lack of proper attire, they looked like bandits.
Puh! Puh! Puh!
Both of them were quite skilled. The bandits charging at them were swiftly beaten down.
However, they didn’t appear as formidable as I had seen in my dreams. They only possessed the strength of an average knight.
Despite this, Ghislaine just stood there, absorbed in watching the fight.
“Die, you bastard!”
At that moment, someone charged at Ghislaine with an axe.
Ghislaine’s body reacted immediately. He swung the staff in his hand, striking the bandit’s chin.
Puh!
The bandit crumpled to the ground. Yulien looked on in shock.
“W-what just happened? How did you do that all of a sudden?”
Ghislaine couldn’t answer. He simply stared blankly at his own hands.
“My body… no, wait?”
Even while moving, he felt a sense of bewilderment. There was a subtly different spatial awareness.
A quick check revealed his hands were smaller. His arms were shorter. His legs were shorter too.
While Yulien and the Saint seemed young, they didn’t look dramatically different from their dream forms.
But he was different. It was clear he felt considerably smaller than his original body.
“Wait, could it be…?”
Among the companions of the Hero, there was a boy who always wore a gloomy and melancholic expression. The smallest one, a 9th Circle Mage.
As that thought crossed his mind, Ghislaine examined his body closely.
“…Oh.”
He could feel strong mana surging from his heart. At least he seemed to have the potential of a 6th Circle Mage.
He’s not even an adult yet, but to already be at the 6th Circle—now that’s a genius!
“So… I’ve entered someone else’s body?”
It felt as if the jumbled puzzle was falling into place.
In the dream, the Saint had shown him the struggle between a hero and an adversary and asked:
— Did you see?
— Was it helpful to you? I have been told it would definitely help.
— I don’t know you well, but I’ve heard much about you from my Mage friend.
— Our friend from the future.
Recalling the Saint’s words sent chills down Ghislaine’s spine.
At the time, he had no grasp of what it all meant. It sounded far-fetched.
But now, it dawned on him…
‘So that’s what the Mage friend meant!’
Although he didn’t know why this phenomenon occurred, he was somehow watching the past from the future.
He could move freely in a Mage’s body and even converse with others.
It was clear that the Mage, who probably knew about this phenomenon, had tipped off the Saint in advance.
To allow Ghislaine to witness scenes that might prove useful.
‘Could it be that I somehow conveyed this idea?’
While he still wasn’t sure of the details, he could deduce certain things based on the Saint’s words.
“Wow, this is actually possible?”
Ghislaine curiously examined his own body, while Yulien and the Saint gazed at him as if he were a madman.
Suddenly, Yulien exclaimed in surprise.
“Hey! That guy’s getting away! The leader is fleeing!”
“Huh?”
Ghislaine turned his head. Indeed, someone was dashing away at high speed.
Given their speed, they seemed formidable. For a bandit leader, they were exhibiting knight-level prowess.
“Let’s catch up! We can’t let him go!”
Yulien shouted as he sprinted ahead. The Saint followed Yulien, and Ghislaine hurried to keep pace with them.
With Ghislaine’s extensive experience as a mercenary, he had developed the habit of taking action before overthinking during emergencies.
While running, he couldn’t help but smile at Yulien and the Saint.
‘Are they still so young?’
It was easy to see that the Hero and his companions were not yet fully grown. This would explain why they were struggling to keep up.
‘They’re strong for their age, but…’
Compared to the overwhelming presence he had seen in dreams, there was something undeniably adorable about them.
“We’re too far behind! Astion! Use any spell! Slow him down!”
Yulien glanced back at Ghislaine, who turned his head sideways.
His expression seemed to question who Astion was.
The Saint, running beside him, looked dumbfounded.
“Astion is you, silly!”
“Oh, is that me?”
The Saint nodded with a blank stare.
“Hmm…”
Ghislaine fell into deep thought as he ran. How should he use magic?
He didn’t know any spells. What good was having mana if he didn’t know the incantations?
He could perhaps employ his mana like he did with his Mana Circulation Method, but that would be inefficient. Instead…
After pondering for a moment, Ghislaine pulled back his staff. There was one spell he learned from Jerome in his previous life.
“Should I give it a try? Magic.”
Ghislaine was somewhat adept at manipulating his mana. The power of Darkness was akin to mana, and his Mana Circulation Method was inspired by a Magic Book.
His mana began to surge forth, moving as if through the Mana Circulation Method.
Drdrdrdr…
The staff in his hand trembled. His mana surged—fully concentrating in his arms and hands.
Then, Ghislaine threw the staff with all his might.
Pahar!
The staff flew at an incredible speed, striking the bandit leader right on the back of the head.
Crash!
“Cough!”
The bandit leader stumbled, bleeding from the head but didn’t fall dead—he seemed strong enough to survive.
The Saint, looking bewildered, asked,
“Wha, what was that? Is that magic?”
Ghislaine brushed his hair back as he replied.
“Ah… you don’t know? That’s called ‘Magic Missile’…”
Jerome used to deflect questions just like that.
The bandit leader staggered and tried to run again, but by then, Yulien had caught up.
Slash!
Yulien’s sword sliced through the bandit leader’s back.
“Ugh…”
The bandit leader turned to prepare for battle. But Yulien was faster.
Swish!
His sword quickly grazed the bandit leader’s neck, bringing him down to the ground, bleeding profusely.
“Phew…”
Yulien wiped the sweat from his brow, exhaling in relief.
When Ghislaine arrived, Yulien shot him a cold stare and asked,
“That was… real magic?”
“Ah… if it defies common sense, I suppose it’s magic.”
“…You know that sounds really strange, right?”
“Well, I’m aware.”
“…”
“But you’re strange too.”
“Me? Why?”
“Just because.”
Yulien frowned, tilting his head in confusion.
Seeing that, Ghislaine couldn’t help but smile. The Yulien he knew had never reacted in such an amusing way.
‘Clearly, he only shares my looks, not my demeanor.’
The Hero radiated enthusiasm, in stark contrast to the consistently chilly Yulien from reality.
Once the bandit leader was confirmed dead, the Saint spoke from the side.
“We need to hurry to save Kyle and the others!”
Yulien nodded in agreement.
“Right, they should be inside.”
Yulien took the lead, sprinting towards the largest building.
As Ghislaine followed, he asked the Saint,
“Who is Kyle?”
“Kyle is Kyle, why do you ask? What’s with you?”
“Umm…”
Ghislaine felt awkward. How should he explain this situation? Saying anything might lead to being treated like a madman.
This wasn’t the first time he’d faced a similar predicament. At times like this, it’s best to go with the flow and look for an opening.
‘Wow, as if returning to childhood wasn’t enough, now I’ve ended up in the past of someone else!’
Experiencing life in another’s body was genuinely fascinating. Maybe this would lead to the owner of this body explaining everything.
As Ghislaine chased Yulien, he pondered.
‘The Saint clearly said at first that she didn’t know me.’
Only the Mage seemed to recognize his presence. Based on the Saint’s words about how she learned who Ghislaine was from the Mage, he felt certain of this.
‘But later, she implied she knew me well.’
Could that be related to the current situation? Did the future Saint recognize him during their meeting?
‘Ugh, my head hurts.’
Ghislaine stopped thinking. Such matters were for Mages to worry about.
He had one task at hand.
‘Let’s figure out what happened in the past.’
Then it would be easier to return to reality and find the Adversary. Maybe he could uncover some leads.
Perhaps he’d even discover something Ereness was hiding.
‘Oh, but when am I going to wake up from this?’
It would be troubling if he had to stay here forever. So, Ghislaine immediately called out for Dark.
‘Dark.’
— Mas…ter.
‘Oh, you came along too?’
Perhaps because Dark was within his consciousness, astonishingly, Dark was communicating even here.
— Hah! My head feels like it’s spinning! What is this place!
Dark, regaining his senses, began to panic. Ghislaine ignored him for now and asked,
‘What’s happening with my body? How are the others?’
—I don’t know, I suddenly got yanked here too. Wait a sec, let me check.
Dark, who had said he’d check, suddenly fell silent.
— Mas…ter….
But a moment later, his voice came slowly.
‘What’s up? What happened?’
— I can’t go!
‘What do you mean you can’t go?’
— I was trying to check but suddenly, my body feels super heavy! I can’t move! Everything’s so slow!
‘Slow…?’
— Yeah! It’s a different time! This place is not the same! I’m certain!
‘Aha.’
Ghislaine quickly understood. He might have come to the past, but it was physically impossible.
Clearly, only his consciousness had been transferred to someone in the past, similar to a dream. Therefore, the timeframes were bound to differ.
In fact, that worked to his advantage.
‘For now, it means I can relax here for a while.’
Time was passing very slowly in reality. Therefore, it would be perfectly fine for him to spend a lot of time in this place.
‘Well, they’ll probably take good care of my body.’
Ghislaine didn’t worry much about his fallen body. The strongest monsters on the continent surrounded him. They would protect him well.
‘So, shall I embark on a quest for the truth?’
Ghislaine grinned. Unlike the people in reality worrying for him, he felt rather at ease.
That’s just who he was. Instead of fretting and panicking, he preferred to accept situations and break through them.
As he followed Yulien, Ghislaine questioned the Saint,
“By the way… what’s your name?”
Since they all looked like friends, Ghislaine spoke casually. The Saint clicked her tongue and replied.
“Why do you keep acting so strange? Do you really not remember, or are you putting on an act?”
“Ah… it’s a complicated story. I’ll tell you later.”
Eventually, the owner’s body would explain everything.
The Saint looked ready to scold him but eventually shook her head. Ghislaine chuckled to himself.
She didn’t press further, so there must have been an oddity about this Mage.
The Saint sighed and finally said,
“It’s Deneb. Deneb.”
Upon hearing that name, Ghislaine’s jaw dropped.
That… was a name he was very familiar with!
Astounded, an incredulous voice escaped his lips.
“My… cosmetics?”
The name given to the continent’s hottest product was exactly that of the Saint.