She rapidly poured out holy power.

“The unconscious is better than I thought. Even this is possible.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“I’m transferring my holy power to you. Since I can’t just remove the power of precognition, I need to exchange holy power for it. If such a massive power suddenly disappears, your body’s balance could be disrupted, causing instant death.”

“You’re using transfer magic again?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about anything strange. I’ve used it several times already, what difference will one more time make?”

The holy power poured out even faster.

Melissa continued urgently:

“W-wait a moment. Thinking about it, there’s something strange. The reason you’ve been able to live until now is because of your holy power, right? But you’re giving that holy power to me? Then you……”

“You’re right.”

Lucid said in a calm tone.

“I’ll die. As soon as all the holy power is transferred.”

Lucid’s expression was as serene as her tone.

She didn’t look at all like someone talking about her own death.

Rather, her attitude made Melissa anxious.

“You’re dying so suddenly? There are people outside waiting for the high priest to recover……”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. Those people aren’t particularly close to me. They don’t even know who I really am. They may have been with me longer than you have, but they know less about me than you do. They still think I’m Ferdina Preston.”

The amount of holy power pouring from Lucid decreased slightly.

The end was gradually approaching.

That meant Lucid’s death was also drawing near, but the face of the person in question remained composed.

“I have little attachment to the world now. I’ve lived for too long, and I want to rest. I also want to meet an old friend after a long time.”

So give back what was originally mine.

As she poured out what little holy power remained, she added.

Despite hearing those words, Melissa hesitated.

“But……”

She had lived her whole life resenting Lucid.

She thought that if she ever met her alive, she would pour out all the emotions she had accumulated over the years.

That because of you, I’ve lived so unhappily.

Why did you make such a contract.

But even though she had vaguely realized that Lucid was alive, or rather that Ferdina was Lucid, she couldn’t do it.

Initially because she had helped her.

After knowing all of Lucid’s past, somehow she felt she could understand her.

Because she realized that Lucid had lived a life no less unhappy than her own.

“If we look a little more, there might be another way……”

“Melissa Lucid.”

Lucid called Melissa’s name.

It was the first time since meeting her.

“Don’t forget. This isn’t reality, but the unconscious. It’s not good to stay in a place like this for too long. You should know that.”

“That’s true, but.”

“And you mentioned people waiting for me, but doesn’t that apply more to you? There’s someone who knows you better than anyone else and is waiting for you.”

At that, Melissa stopped speaking.

The words she had heard before entering this place came to mind.

[I understand. Travel safely, Melissa.]

[I’ll wait.]

Edgar had said he would wait.

Yes, he had said that.

Then she needed to leave.

“……You’re right. Someone is waiting for me.”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

Lucid said somewhat irritably.

Having poured out all her holy power, Lucid emitted magical power toward Melissa before her life ended. The purple magical power extracted something from Melissa’s body and took it away.

She didn’t need to ask to know.

That it was the “precognition” that the Lucid clan had carried all this time.

“It’s done. So now leave my unconscious, Melissa.”

That was the end.

Melissa was immediately pushed out by some great force.

It seemed that as the owner of the unconscious lost her life, this place was also disappearing.

As if a strong wind was blowing from somewhere, Melissa closed her eyes. Her feet couldn’t touch the ground and moved back and forth in the air.

After a moment, when she cautiously opened her eyes as the surroundings quieted down.

“Did you travel well, Melissa?”

A gentle voice was heard.

A voice very familiar and lovely to Melissa.

So she answered.

“Yes. I’m back, Edgar.”

That she had returned to him after a very long journey.

* * *

Melissa woke up after a full three days had passed.

During that time, many issues were resolved.

First, the magical contract between the Shortiras ducal family and the Lucid clan was broken.

This was natural since precognition, the main requirement of the contract, had disappeared. Although the process differed somewhat from what was planned, the desired result was achieved.

And the northern wall was completed.

Thanks to Edgar’s meticulous design from the beginning, the wall was built quite sturdily. Since Metus had also been dealt with, no monsters would cross this wall for a very long time.

The people of the north tried to return to their daily lives.

Someday, they would all live as if they never fought with any monster.

In the capital, a major investigation was conducted under Lloyd’s supervision.

The first target was Joseph.

Surprisingly, the investigation revealed that the collapse of the northern wall was due to Joseph.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, it was useless.

There was testimony from an imperial mage who had tampered with the northern wall on Joseph’s orders, and even a recording orb that captured Joseph giving those orders.

With numerous other pieces of evidence as well, there was absolutely no way for him to escape.

To think that the person who should have protected the Artzen Empire more than anyone else had committed such a despicable act.

The anger of the imperial citizens who learned the truth poured out.

It was only natural that Joseph, having lost the support of the imperial citizens, stepped down from the throne. He would likely spend the rest of his life in an underground prison.

The next emperor would be Lloyd, who was recognized for his contribution in uncovering this truth. The coronation ceremony was scheduled to take place after the north had been somewhat restored.

The next investigation target was Lionel.

By fate, Melissa had regained consciousness by this time.

He was sentenced to death for collaborating with the emperor, Joseph, and attempting to assassinate him.

As he was being dragged out of the courtroom after his sentence was confirmed, Lionel shouted as if making a last desperate attempt:

“My son! Edgar! Check Edgar’s body! He should be punished along with me! Because he used forbidden magic. His body should be covered with patterns. On his neck! On his arms! Everywhere!”

He clearly had an attitude of not wanting to die alone.

At Lionel’s words, the gazes of everyone attending the trial turned to Edgar.

But Edgar wasn’t flustered.

Neither was Melissa.

Edgar immediately stood up and rolled up his sleeve.

Enough to reveal his elbow.

“Should I show you more?”

“T-that……”

Seeing his son’s smooth arm without a single scar, Lionel trembled like an aspen tree with a confused expression.

His confusion was understandable.

The patterns that had covered Edgar’s body had been erased by Melissa, who had poured out holy power as soon as she regained consciousness.

“T-this is impossible!”

Lionel was dragged outside, screaming.

His execution date was set for two weeks later.

A miserable end befitting a villain.

* * *

“Melissa, what are you doing here?”

Melissa turned around at the sudden voice from behind.

Edgar had somehow appeared in front of her.

“Oh, I was just organizing my things and thinking a bit.”

Melissa and Edgar were in the process of packing their belongings at the Shortiras mansion. They planned to vacate this place and stay at the Magic Tower from now on.

Lloyd had suggested they just leave it and come stay whenever they felt like it, but both of them refused.

There were too many bad memories here.

Although they would visit the empire occasionally while staying at the Magic Tower, they had no desire whatsoever to stay at the mansion.

All the property of the ducal family was to be confiscated and used for the restoration of areas damaged by the monster invasion.

Since it was wealth gathered through all sorts of dirty methods from the beginning, using it this way made sense.

“What were you thinking about?”

Edgar asked, coming a little closer.

After pondering for a moment, Melissa answered.

“Just… So much has changed that it feels a little strange? Especially the fact that I can’t use precognition anymore, it feels the strangest.”

Melissa slowly looked up at him.

Her eyes now showed an ordinary purple color. This was because the precognition, which had been the cause of the mysterious color, had disappeared.

“I don’t know what will happen in the future now? I don’t even know tomorrow’s weather…… It’s really useless. Even though I was prepared for this, it just hit me that I can’t save anyone anymore.”

“You’ve already saved people several times, so isn’t that enough?”

Edgar took her hand, meeting her eyes.

“You keep forgetting, but you’re a very brave person, Melissa. I repeated several times because I couldn’t save you, but you saved me quite easily.”

“Are those the same thing?”

“What’s the difference? So if we’re comparing, I’m much more useless than you.”

“Who could say such a thing to the future Tower Master?”

Melissa slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

As she was smiling like that, she let out a small sigh as if remembering something.

“Ah, right. By the way, have you decided on a new surname? We agreed to abandon Shortiras and create a new name.”

“About that. Let’s think about it gradually.”

Edgar said in a low voice.

“It’s a name we’ll both use together.”

At those words, Melissa’s eyes widened.

It was because she realized the meaning of Edgar’s words.

Soon she smiled brightly.

“Let’s do that. Since it’s a name we’ll use together.”

Melissa burst into laughter and hugged Edgar.

Edgar received her firmly.

His broad embrace was truly warm.

Warm enough to make her certain they could be happy for a long time.

* * *

Melissa smiled as if she couldn’t be happier.

Looking at her face, Edgar thought.

And so my regression has finally come to an end.

I Don’t Want Your Salvation (End)