Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life Chapter 18

Just then, a small voice thick with sleep called out to her.

 

“Winter.”

 

Looking back, Tiya was beckoning her from beside the now deeply sleeping Lev.

 

When Winter stepped closer, Tiya whispered as though sharing a secret.

 

“Thank you for helping Brother. You know, I think meeting you is the greatest stroke of luck in my life.”

 

<…Stop saying embarrassing things and go to sleep.>

 

“Mmm. …Winter.”

 

<Yes.>

 

“I really, haam, really like you….”

 

Blink, blink. The trust lingering in the child’s eyes flickered between her eyelids. 

 

For a moment, Winter’s resolve wavered. She hardened her heart and smiled bitterly.

 

<What am I going to do with you? I’m not actually that good of an adult.>

 

“Mmm…?”

 

Cowardly, her true feelings only tumbled out once Tiya was half-asleep.

 

<You mustn’t forget, Astiya.>

 

She had no right to feel regret or guilt.

 

Hadn’t she resolved it the moment she summoned the Spirit of Time? That she would sacrifice anything—family, conviction, whatever it might be.

 

Even herself, if necessary.

 

<That everything is for the sake of Vladizev.> 

 

As though speaking to herself, Winter murmured it aloud.

 

Soon, when Tiya fell asleep, darkness came to Winter’s world as well.

 

03

 

Among the merchants who ran shops along Molber Street, where all manner of stores gathered, there was a riddle left unsolved for ten years.

 

‘How old exactly is Roxanne, the owner of the Golden Owl?’

 

Since she looked to be roughly in her mid-twenties when she inherited the shop from her grandfather, wouldn’t she be in her thirties now?

 

No, perhaps she simply had an incredibly youthful face—maybe she was in her forties. Or perhaps an ageless witch in her eighties.

 

All sorts of speculations ran wild regarding her, as she hadn’t aged a day in ten years.

 

However, no one could guess the right answer, because they did not know the fact that she was only fourteen when she first began managing the business.

 

How did a fourteen-year-old child look like she was in her mid-twenties?

 

The secret lay with her assistant.

 

“Sister Roxanne! I’m back!”

 

Black hair, golden eyes, and front teeth jutting out like grains of rice.

 

At the visit of Tiya, who had become a streak of interest in her tedious life, Roxanne immediately took the kid to the VIP room.

 

Then, serving her plain water, she asked.

 

“How did you know my assistant is a mage? And how did you know I used to take that?”

 

On Tiya’s first visit—

 

“Your assistant is a mage, right? If you don’t want to be reported to the Magic Federation for ‘illegal misuse of drugs,’ then share the potion that makes you an adult with me. You’ll be an accomplice!”

 

This audacious blackmail had extorted the Growth Accelerator ver. 10 created by the assistant from Roxanne.

 

It wasn’t as though Roxanne had ever lived a life so careless that a single remark could be used against her, nor did she have any further need for the potion.

 

Nevertheless, the reason Roxanne gave Tiya the Growth Accelerator ver. 10 was—

 

‘I have something I absolutely must do, but my age gets in the way. So I really need a potion that makes me an adult.’

 

That shameless little brat’s words had shaken her.

 

‘Come visit again sometime. You can call me “Sister” then.’

 

Now, as Roxanne probed her with questions, Tiya glanced subtly at Winter.

 

‘I can’t say Winter told me—’

 

“It’s a trade secret.”

 

She answered shortly.

 

‘So she doesn’t spill information carelessly.’

 

Another point added for being sharper than her age.

 

Unaware that her value was steadily rising in Roxanne’s estimation, Tiya carefully asked,

 

“I need more Tall-Tall Potion; is there any left?”

 

“You’ve already finished it?”

 

<The effects were inconsistent regardless of the dosage anyway.>

 

Tiya repeated Winter’s words.

 

Roxanne clicked her tongue lightly.

 

“It was crafted specifically for my body, so of course the duration would vary for you….”

 

Her gaze swept over Tiya from head to toe.

 

“Well, it’s not impossible to make more, but taking a magic potion tailored to someone else’s body so recklessly could lead to side effects later on. Are you sure you’re fine with that?”

 

It wasn’t okay. But there was no time to wait until a Tall-Tall Potion specifically for Tiya was created.

 

“Phew, I suppose you could say I’m carrying a mission? My age was getting in the way of that mission.”

 

Roxanne sympathized deeply with that sentiment. 

 

She, too, had needed to become an adult in order to protect and manage the pawnshop her grandfather left her.

 

Because it felt like looking at her younger self, Roxanne was starting to grow increasingly fond of this audacious blackmailer.

 

As their conversation deepened, Tiya asked,

 

“Sister. By any chance, do you remember who sold that Memorial Box I bought?” 

 

She did not truly expect an answer.

 

No matter how sharp the owner, a pawnshop saw dozens of items come and go in a single day. 

 

She would have considered it fortunate if there were even records kept.

 

But Roxanne’s reaction was unusual.

 

For a fleeting instant, her black eyes lost focus, as though staring at nothing.

 

Then she slowly closed and opened them, as if turning the page of a book.

 

Blink, blink, blink.

 

When light returned to her gaze, she began reciting as though she were peering directly into that past moment.

 

“Imperial Year 548, April 12th. Around 4 PM. Female. Wearing a black cloak. Eye color, unconfirmable. Estimated light blonde hair. Height, between 163cm and 165cm. Judging by the Jillian satin dress and silk shoes glimpsed beneath the cloak, assumed to be a commoner from a wealthy family, or a noble.” 

 

“…?”

 

“That’s the information of the customer who sold the Memorial Box to the Golden Owl.”

 

“Amazing! You remember all that?”

 

Not only Tiya, but even Winter let out an admiring “Oho.”

 

Roxanne tapped her temple lightly and said as though it were obvious,

 

“Everything I see and hear is stored here.”

 

She was essentially a walking library.

 

Afterward, upon returning to the mansion, Tiya tried to visualize the person who sold the Memorial Box based on the information from Roxanne.

 

It felt like she resembled someone.

 

Perhaps because the information was completely devoid of personal emotion, she couldn’t quite bring a specific person to mind.

 

* * *

 

After giving the frost spirit egg to Brother Lev.

 

Relief that she had finally prevented her brother’s death arrived, but she soon realized this was not the end.

 

Tiya steeled herself and asked Winter,

 

“I’m… I’m ready. So tell me honestly. My family… how does everyone die?” 

 

She couldn’t just keep avoiding it. Tiya finally found the courage to face her family’s deaths head-on.

 

Contrary to expectation, Winter told her everything without hesitation.

 

<…And in that way, the entire direct line of Vladizev is annihilated.>

 

Tiya trudged to her pile of belongings, pulled out her cherished doll, and crawled under the covers.

 

And she cried her heart out for half a day.

 

“Hnghh—sick and die, die in battle, die from false charges!”

 

<There’s no such word as ‘die from false charges.’ If you’re executed under false charges, it’s just a dog’s death.>

 

“Hnghh—Father d-dies a dog’s death!”

 

Shurka Valloze, executed for treason.

 

Rodion Vladizev, died of pneumonia.

 

Yekaterina Vladizev, died of an epidemic.

 

Astiya Vladizev, killed in battle against barbarians.

 

There were far too many unjust deaths to count over and over again.