I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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After Regression, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 22
Having thought it through, Beatrice turned on her heel and cut across the hallway.
“Beatrice—wait, Miss Ria!”
“Just stay there a moment! I’ll be right back!”
Astrid called after her in a startled voice, but Beatrice didn’t slow down.
She winked reassuringly and gave a thumbs up, then dashed quickly toward the Lobby.
From there, she hurried straight to the Inn’s entrance and nimbly pulled the door open.
She meant to slip outside before the other attendants—especially Clyde—could notice.
Only…
—Click, click!
“Huh? What—why won’t it open?”
The front door of the Inn was locked firmly shut, foiling her attempt.
As Beatrice’s eyes narrowed at this unexpected development, a deep male voice reached her from behind.
“I’m afraid you cannot leave at this hour.”
“…Eek! Who—who are you?”
“Ah, forgive me. I am the proprietor of this Inn. My name is John Doe.”
“Oh, the innkeeper…”
“Indeed. The reason you cannot leave is because it is against the Rules.”
“The Rules?”
“Night is not a time for activity, you understand. Perhaps you would do well to return to your room and rest?”
A Rule preventing her from going outside? What kind of nonsense was this?
Confronted with this utterly incomprehensible explanation, Beatrice found herself asking reflexively, forgetting her own predicament.
“But surely I’m not some first-year Academy student. Couldn’t you just let me slip out for a bit?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Really? Well, if the Rules absolutely must be followed, you could always drop the key on the floor with an ‘oops, my hands slipped’—and I promise you won’t even notice I’m gone.”
“This is for your own good as well, so I would greatly appreciate your understanding.”
The innkeeper, drawing a firm line, continued in a soothing tone.
“Besides, even if you were to venture outside the Inn at this hour, you would see nothing but a sleeping Village.”
Was he really treating her like someone itching for a midnight romp?
‘No, I need to check the state of the Dolls outside and sense the surrounding currents to verify whether this is actually a trace of Mana!’
She’d found no signs of the anomaly during the day, so she had to go out now to understand it.
‘But the fact that he’s blocking me like this means there’s definitely something going on…’
“Miss Ria!”
Astrid, who had followed her down moments later, caught her breath and examined her carefully.
“You dashed off so suddenly—I was worried. Are you all right?”
“Well…”
“Is something the matter?”
Before Beatrice could open her mouth, a familiar voice interjected.
‘Ugh.’
At Clyde’s appearance—someone she’d deliberately tried to avoid—Beatrice clamped her lips shut.
Astrid, placing a gentle hand on Beatrice’s shoulder as if to reassure her, answered his question instead.
“Did you perhaps receive a note as well, Lord Dalton? There was a small commotion in our room, so we dealt with it according to the instructions in the note and left the Doll there. I think Miss Ria was rather startled by it all.”
“I see. How troublesome. Not to worry, miss. We shall arrange a different room for you. And should you fear such incidents recurring, there’s no cause for concern. Once one such disturbance occurs, things tend to remain quiet for some time.”
What the innkeeper had just said was yet another piece of evidence supporting her hypothesis.
Just as a volcano falls quiet after erupting, Mana possessed similar properties.
‘This makes me want to go out and investigate even more…’
But with both the innkeeper and Clyde present, that seemed unlikely.
‘Well, if it’s come to this, I’ll have to make a different plan. I’ll sneak out later.’
Beatrice hunched her shoulders slightly and spoke in a meek voice.
“Is that truly the case?”
“Why, of course.”
“…Sigh. Very well. If you insist so strongly, I suppose I must trust you. When will the new room be ready?”
“I shall prepare it at once.”
“Thank you. Oh, if it’s not too much trouble, could I have an extra Blanket? My arms feel a bit chilled from the fright.”
“Of course. Not to worry. While we prepare the room, would you care for a warm cup of tea?”
Beatrice nodded and retreated docilely to her seat.
She waited for Astrid to go to bed, then for Clyde to finish his business and depart.
Clyde, whom she’d expected to leave shortly, spent a considerable amount of time on the Lobby sofa.
He’d claimed he wanted to read there, though she hardly believed it.
‘Since when did Clyde Dalton become such a devoted reader?’
The Clyde Dalton she knew was not the sort of bibliophile to read during an Inn stop on a mission.
Each time their eyes met, he’d smile awkwardly, and Beatrice found herself wondering.
‘But why did he come to the Lobby anyway?’
Yet her curiosity was short-lived. Soon Beatrice shook her head.
‘Forget it. I’ll figure that out later.’
After all, she’d be traveling with Clyde Dalton all the way to Yeongdo.
With that thought, Beatrice sipped at the tea the innkeeper had given her.
* * *
Once back in her new room, Beatrice moved the moment the door closed.
‘I asked for the extra Blanket to make a rope. Hehe.’
Beatrice had considerable experience in this particular field.
As a child, she’d sneaked out of each other’s rooms with Clyde, and later, from Academy dormitory rooms with friends—many times over.
Using a Hairpin to carefully pick at the Blanket’s stitching, she skillfully tore it apart.
Making knots without difficulty, Beatrice secured them to the window frame, then nimbly began to descend along the wall.
Or rather, she intended to descend nimbly.
“I didn’t expect you to sneak out.”
“Kyaaaah!”
Had she not heard Clyde’s voice from below.
He caught her steadily as she startled and fell, offering a calm apology.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“When someone speaks to you out of nowhere while you’re sneaking out, of course—!”
Beatrice had been about to respond as she normally would, but she caught herself, glancing at him warily and lowering her voice.
“Ahem, I mean… either way, how did you know…?”
“My wife tends to do the same thing rather often, so I had a hunch.”
“…”
“It seems Miss Beatrice also has quite the stubborn streak, rather unlike her outward appearance. Or perhaps you simply have a pressing reason to venture out.”
This was bad. How was she going to handle this?
Beatrice felt her mouth go dry.
Either way was a recipe for suspicion.
Setting her down on the ground as she smiled awkwardly, Clyde held her gaze steadily.
Raising both hands as if to show he meant no interrogation, he smiled warmly and continued.
“To clarify—I’m not here to stop you. I was planning to slip out myself, you see.”
“You were planning to go out? Then surely you don’t mean…?”
“If you’re asking whether we must go together, the answer is no. It seems you also have areas you wish to investigate separately, and wouldn’t it be more efficient if we each pursued our own inquiries?”
Beatrice paused at his unexpectedly straightforward reply.
Perhaps because she’d only seen his overly protective side lately, this version of Clyde felt oddly unfamiliar to her.
“Let’s share what we learn when we return. Just—please be careful, and if anything happens, don’t forget to use the cloth I gave you. You can tear or cut it if needed.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
Clyde studied her face for a moment, as if scrutinizing every detail, before soon taking his leave.
Beatrice watched his receding figure with an ambiguous feeling, then refocused on her escape.
* * *
Outside the Inn, surveying the Village, Beatrice’s suspicions hardened into certainty.
‘Just as I thought.’
All the Dolls she’d positioned around the Village that morning were now tattered and worn.
Inside those worn Dolls lay small stones identical to what she’d seen in the room yesterday.
‘The purity isn’t high, but yes—this is Orhalcon.’
Orhalcon was a Mana-affine metal, one of the materials frequently used in alchemy.
In other words, these Dolls were essentially Conductor Devices—substitutes meant to absorb Mana collisions in place of people.
It was then.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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