Vol. 1 Chapter 1 - Return from Death

Do you know about something called “reincarnation upon death”?

Reincarnation upon death refers to when a person who has died for some reason goes back in time to a certain point and repeats their life from there.

Ordinarily, when a person returns from death, they would use their knowledge, use their strength, and rely on others to try to change their future so they don’t die again.

However, not everything follows that pattern. There are supernatural existences. For example, if there were gods, and if the future were determined by those gods, no matter how one struggles, the ultimate destination of the future remains unchanged.

To put it in a simple example, let’s say the world is destined to end exactly 24 hours from now.

During those 24 hours leading up to the apocalypse, one might sleep, spend time with a loved one, study, train, or even try to escape to the other side of the world. Each person would do what they wish.

But since the predetermined future is the world’s inevitable destruction in 24 hours, no matter what one does within that time, ultimately, they cannot escape the future of the world ending and dying.

This is the order of nature, the decree of destiny, and a predetermined future set by a god.

In such a world where the outcome is determined, I have experienced countless returns from death.

The reasons for dying vary. I attend school, get involved with the protagonist, and ultimately get killed due to wicked and outrageous crimes.

I attempt to incite a rebellion using monsters just for fun, but I am abruptly slaughtered by a demon king that suddenly appears.

I am killed for being an obstacle to the protagonist getting together with their fiancée.

Because my powers are deemed dangerous, assassins are sent to kill me.

Having been killed over and over again, I unfailingly return from death before enrolling in school.

Something is amiss in this world. This world is like a fairy tale or a story, where once an ending is reached, time rewinds.

A common story is the classic tale where a hero rescues a princess kidnapped by a demon king.

The hero overcomes numerous hardships, encounters many companions, defeats the demon king, and lives happily with the rescued princess.

But what happens after such a story concludes? Do the hero and princess create a happy family, contributing to the country’s prosperity? Or does a new formidable enemy appear, prompting the hero to fight once more?

The answer to both questions is no.

In the case of stories, they are all works of fiction, and there is no continuation after the ending.

Once the story concludes, it returns to the first page, with the princess being kidnapped by the demon king again, and the hero heading out to rescue her.

The same phenomenon is occurring in this world. And in this repeating world, I, Louis Valentine, am what is known as the villain.

I am the eldest son of the Valentine Duke’s family, which manages the Valentine Duchy located to the north of the Luceria Empire. I am Louis Valentine.

Inherited silver hair from my father and golden eyes as radiant as gold from my mother. My face has a slightly sharp and cool appearance, and despite my age, I stand at a slightly taller height of 160cm.

For some reason, my hair is allowed to grow long due to my mother’s preference, and it currently extends down to my shoulders.

Despite my appearance, it seems that many envy my beauty from the sidelines, as numerous young ladies approach me at parties.

Currently, at the age of 12, I will turn 13 this year and three years from now, I am destined to attend the prestigious Shusette Empire Academy located in the capital of the Luceria Empire.

This Shusette Empire Academy produces top-tier individuals in various fields, and most of the individuals who have left a mark in history are said to be graduates of this academy.

Furthermore, it is known for its merit-based approach. Regardless of one’s status, whether they are from the imperial or royal family, nobility, or commoners, anyone with the capability can enroll, and upon graduation, it becomes a significant status, eliminating any concerns about future employment.

Therefore, not only do many individuals from within the country apply, but people also come from overseas to take the entrance exam, ranging from foreign royalty to commoners.

By the way, Shusette seems to be the name of the academy’s founder, but such trivial details don’t matter, so let’s move on.

This super-prestigious school, Shusette Empire Academy, is where the so-called story takes place, and my fate of death truly begins upon enrolling here.

It was during my first life, when I knew nothing yet. On the day I enrolled, I challenged the commoner protagonist to a duel for a certain reason.

Even though I hesitate to say so myself, I am what they call a child prodigy, possessing considerable strength as a child, being capable of using all elemental magic and martial arts.

Well, I never bothered with proper training and indulged in my talent.

Due to this, as expected, I lost to the protagonist, who had considerable combat experience due to their battles for daily survival. From then on, driven by the sore loser mentality masked as revenge, I kept challenging them to duels, and in the end, I was easily killed after involving myself in wrongdoing.

It’s quite a foolish story.

Now, let me explain a bit about magic. Magic comes in several attributes: fire, water, wind, and earth are the four main attributes, while lightning, ice, light, dark are special attributes, and there’s also the non-attributed magic that anyone can use as long as they have magical power.

Additionally, there are forgotten attributes and weapon magic in this world, but I’ll explain those on another occasion.

Next, the reason I don’t return from death upon entering the academy is that there’s a crucial event at the age of 12 that I cannot avoid no matter what.

This event, which occurs at this time, is the unavoidable, extremely important event where a noble gets engaged.

This event marks the starting line for me to reach the goal of death. Once the engagement happens, there’s no other future except dying.

“Ugh. I’m so tired. It’s such a bother. I don’t want to meet them.”

I can’t even muster the will to live anymore, let alone do anything.

And no wonder. This engagement event is the starting point for me to achieve the goal of dying, and once the engagement is done, there’s no future other than death.

“Ugh, I want to die already. I want to enter eternal slumber. Or at least erase my memories, seriously.”

I grumble aimlessly like this while rolling around on the bed.

“Maybe I should just commit suicide again.”

Just as I was considering committing suicide like in my previous life, there’s a knock on the door, and I give a casual response to allow entry.

“Excuse me.”

“Come in.”

The one who enters is my personal maid, named Millia.

She has light green hair and matching green eyes, transitioning from a girl to a young woman, and is 15 years old, three years older than me.

Back in the day, I somewhat liked this girl. Because she was older, I relied on her, and she was as close to me as an older sister.

(But she betrayed me in the end.)

I’ve forgotten which life iteration it was, but she sold my information to help the protagonist who fell in love with her.

Moreover, in a different life, she was poisoned and killed. So, I don’t really care about her.

At first, I was angry, but after dying too many times, I stopped caring.

“Louis-sama, today is the first meeting with your fiancée, so if you could prepare early, I’d appreciate it. Is that alright?”

“Do whatever you want.”

Feeling too lazy to even sit up, I use magic to levitate my body and create a cushion of water, then lay down on it.

Millia seems surprised by my sudden use of magic, her eyes widen as she gives me a puzzled look.

(Oh, that’s right. I wasn’t good at using magic like this back then.)

After all, I’ve died so many times. Memories of my early childhood are practically non-existent, and having gone through various childhoods, I’m not sure what’s accurate anymore.

“Hey, can you hurry up? How long are you going to keep me waiting?”

“I, I apologize.”

But really, it doesn’t matter whether I did something strange due to memory confusion.

(Anyway, it’s useless to worry about it since I’m going to die.)

In one of my previous lives, I immediately slit my throat and committed suicide upon returning from death.

In that fleeting moment when my body, surroundings, and the environment were unaffected by the world’s influence, I materialized a knife with magic and cut the thickest vein in my neck.

Because I had never committed suicide in any of my past lives, I decided to try it somewhat impulsively. But in the end, I returned from death as usual, unchanged.

Unable to die and with no purpose in living, I’ve decided to just do what I want and die. So, while Millia arranges my hairstyle and attire, I absentmindedly gaze at my own face in a mirror more than at my parents’ faces.