Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life Chapter 17

“You idiot! There’s no guarantee this will save me. Why would you give everything up for such a slim possibility—”

 

“But I don’t want you to die, Brother.”

 

Lev stared at her blankly, then bit his lip and lowered his head.

 

Since when was it?

 

Lev had given up on life. That was why he wasted his existence with all his might.

 

That way, at least, dying earlier than others wouldn’t feel so unfair.

 

He knew Brother Rodion was searching desperately in every direction to save him, but he had only pitied his brother for exhausting himself in vain.

 

But for the first time, he felt humiliated and ashamed of the way he had lived.

 

His little sister was trying this hard—while he himself made no effort at all.

 

Tiya’s hand cautiously wrapped around his.

 

He thought she had grown so much taller, but those hands were still quite small. 

 

“I don’t really know how much you hate spirits, Brother. But can’t you just be friends with the Frost Spirit this once? What if the spirit says it doesn’t want to be friends? Then….”

 

Tiya clenched both fists tightly.

 

“You know, right? The grit of a Northerner!”

 

Whoosh, whoosh. She made wind sounds with her mouth and punched the air. 

 

“Like this, like this! You grab the spirit by the collar, knock it down, and say, ‘You’re going to be my friend!’”

 

Tiya grinned, showing off her missing front tooth. 

 

Lev stared at that foolish smile before looking directly at the Spirit Egg resting in his hand. If he simply closed his fist now, the Spirit Egg would be his. 

 

‘If only I had a special power.’ 

 

Then I wouldn’t have to suffer from this boiling fever anymore.

 

And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to close his hand around it.

 

Because he hated spirits?

 

Because he didn’t believe in himself?

 

No, Lev was simply afraid. Afraid of harboring hope. 

 

As if sensing his thoughts, a familiar voice whispered in his mind.

 

‘You can barely handle one spirit. What special talent do you think you have?’

 

‘Where’s the proof that this is actually a Frost Spirit’s egg? Tiya must have mistaken something.’ 

 

‘If you get your hopes up and fail, you really won’t be able to bear it then, will you?’ 

 

The familiar helplessness. The resignation.

 

But this time, he couldn’t surrender to that voice. 

 

Not because of Tiya, who had given up something she desired enough to die for—just for him.

 

He was still her older brother, however insignificant, and he did not want to show her a pitiful figure trembling in fear.

 

“Don’t go making friends. The spirit would be the one to suffer.”

 

Grumbling, Lev clasped the spirit egg in both hands as though in prayer.

 

Crack. Like a sugar figurine shattering, the barrier encasing the spirit egg crumbled into dust.

 

When Lev opened his hands again, nothing remained.

 

“Well? Do you feel some mysterious power surging up? Any changes?”

 

“No.”

 

Taking in a Spirit Egg didn’t mean one could command a Frost Spirit immediately. It required a sufficient wait until the spirit hatched. 

 

Even knowing that, Tiya grew restless.

 

“What about now?”

 

“I told you, nothing.”

 

“…Then what about now?”

 

“Nothing!” 

 

Tiya buried her face into the bedding, then mumbled with sudden resolve.

 

“This won’t do. I’m sleeping here tonight. With you, Brother!” 

 

“Don’t say creepy things. You think I’m going to share a bed with you at my age?”

 

Lev shuddered exaggeratedly. 

 

It was then that Tiya, her lips pouting, spotted Winter tilting her head. 

 

Winter, standing in a corner of the room, tapped her upper lip lightly with a finger.

 

‘What does that mean?’

 

Tiya felt around beneath her nose, mimicking the gesture, and soon realized Winter’s intent.

 

‘Urgh, I guess it can’t be helped.’ 

 

She would have to use the negotiation tactic she had learned during today’s “walk.”

 

The next instant, Tiya dropped to one knee and clutched her mouth as though coughing up blood.

 

“Argh! The spot where my front tooth fell out throbs all of a sudden.”

 

The front tooth that had grown in by the power of the Tall-Tall Potion had hidden back inside her gums once she returned to her original body. 

 

Having felt the sensation of having something given and then taken away, Tiya’s acting reached a new peak.

 

“Wha—what? Hey, I didn’t pull your tooth! It’s normal for teeth to fall out at your age!”

 

“Uuuugh, how bitter! To think I can’t even avenge my tooth!”

 

“This brat, seriously!”

 

“If only I could lie down on that comfortable bed right there, my tooth could rest in peace in the afterworld! Argh.”

 

He knew she was faking it.

 

And yet every word pricked at his conscience.

 

After tormenting himself for a while, Lev finally surrendered and gave Tiya space beside him.

 

“Fine, come here and get kicked in your sleep or whatever.”

 

Tiya did not hesitate, promptly lying down beside him with her tired body.

 

“Hehe. Brother. Later, when we go to the North, I’ll show you Sasha. Our Sasha is incredibly cute, you know?”

 

“…Does it bite people?”

 

“What a rude thing to say! Sasha is so gentle! And clever too—it can even balance on a ball!”

 

Tiya chatted tirelessly about the North.

 

Lev, who had been listening to Tiya’s stories more obediently than usual, was the first to speak.

 

“Hey, Toothless.”

 

“Mhm?”

 

Tiya looked back at Lev in the darkness.

 

A brief silence fell between them, like the moment when she had waited for the stars.

 

“Even without some stupid spirit, you’re Father’s daughter and my sister. That was decided the moment you were born.”

 

Lev’s words lit up the shaded corners of Tiya’s heart like starlight.

 

“Even if I die, that won’t change. So don’t ever say something so foolish again—ugh!”

 

Tiya, unable to contain herself any longer, attempted a heart attack hug on Lev. 

 

“Hey—hey, let go!”

 

“Hmph, no!”

 

Tiya’s sturdy arms and legs bound Lev’s frail body tight.

 

Then she buried her head in Lev’s chest. Otherwise, she felt he might notice the tears pooling in her eyes.

 

“Hey, wait. Why are you so strong—h-hey?”

 

“Don’t talk about dying. You’re invincible now!”

 

“O-okay, I get it, just—! I’m gonna die right now, hic!”

 

“I said no talking about dying!”

 

“Guhk.”

 

Only after hearing a choking sound did Tiya peek up at Lev.

 

“Huh? Brother, why are your eyes rolling back? Pull yourself together!”

 

Barely escaping Tiya’s limbs, Lev sprawled out on the bed, groaning. 

 

It wasn’t an exaggeration; he felt like his ribs might actually be cracked.

 

‘What in the world do they do to children in the North?’

 

How did his sister, who used to be like a dandelion seed, turn into a grizzly bear that ambushes hikers? 

 

When Lev struggled to sit up, Tiya suddenly got scared and started shaking him. 

 

“B-Brother, don’t die!”

 

“I’m not dying. And I feel like I’m going to throw up, so stop— uugh— shaking me! Bleh.”

 

“Brother! You can’t die!”

 

* * *

 

After the commotion finally settled.

 

The bed where the siblings lay was filled with a warm, low hum of conversation.

 

Winter, watching the scene from the darkness, finally let out a sigh of relief.

 

‘It went according to plan.’

 

Winter’s goal had never been to reconcile Lev and Tiya—nor even truly to save Lev’s life.

 

It was to lead Tiya into giving up becoming a spirit mage.

 

To guide her instead onto the path of a mage.

 

That had been Winter’s true objective all along.

 

Currently, only Winter knew that Tiya possessed the qualities to become a Archmage.

 

But even the finest steel must be tempered in fire and struck with a hammer to become a master blade.

 

Tiya needed a powerful reason to want to become a mage.

 

For that, Winter had used Lev’s life as bait.

 

As a result, everything had proceeded according to her plan, but there was just one thing weighing on her mind.

 

‘The luck is too good.’

 

The memory within the Memorial Box, which had sparkled like water scales on the lake of the past.

 

Thanks to that legacy, in the final moment, Tiya had chosen to become a mage.

 

But what were the odds that a Memorial Box purchased by chance would happen to contain the past of Tiya’s parents? 

 

Winter found this extraordinary coincidence deeply unsettling.