The Extra's Regressor Wives

Inside the bathing room, Pandora suddenly burst out laughing.

Lathel, soaking in the water, immediately frowned.

’What are you laughing at now?’

"Nothing."

’There clearly is something.’

Pandora kept laughing, with no intention of explaining. "I just think the woman outside is more interesting than I expected."

Lathel looked toward the door, puzzled, but of course he had no way of knowing what Catrina had just done with his clothes.

Pandora had no intention of telling him either. Once she had laughed enough, her voice gradually grew more serious.

"Forget it. Different subject."

Lathel waited.

"Lathel."

’Hm?’

Pandora was quiet for a beat, then asked:

"Do you want to learn magic?"

The hot water came up nearly to his chest. Lathel leaned back against the rim of the tub. The lingering ache in his body was easing under the herbs. The bruises Aldric had left were already much fainter; only his ribs still throbbed now and then when he breathed in too deeply.

Pandora’s question left him silent for a while.

Learn magic?

It would be a lie to say he did not want to at all. Lathel had lived for years in a world where strength decided far too many things. Before, he had still been able to comfort himself that finding an ordinary job and living quietly would be enough. Recent events had left that thought with nowhere to stand. If Pandora had not been there the last time he faced Aldric, he would have died. If Catrina had not appeared at the right moment, he could still have died. A person who could not even protect himself could hardly talk about protecting anyone else.

But Lathel quickly remembered another problem. He could not chant. His mana channels had only just been opened. Even if he forced himself to study, most ordinary magic would still be unusable.

Pandora could solve that problem. But her power had a price. In the previous life, that price had once been a life. He did not remember everything clearly, but after what Leviana and Pandora had said, he was wary enough of any power that appeared too easily.

Pandora seemed to read the hesitation on his face.

"You’re thinking about the price?"

Lathel nodded.

What surprised him was that she did not tease him.

"Being careful with something you don’t understand is a good thing."

He was a little startled.

"Don’t look at me like that." Pandora immediately lost patience. "I don’t always want to trick you."

Lathel looked at the empty air in front of him. "...Most of the time, then."

He: "..."

Pandora quickly changed the subject. "I’m not telling you to learn a pile of complicated spells either. With your current mana channels, that would only give you a headache."

Lathel nodded.

"But there is one thing that doesn’t require you to chant."

He tilted his head slightly.

"The body." Pandora said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Strengthen the body first. Stronger bones, stronger muscle, better endurance, higher recovery. You don’t need to become a warrior. Just being healthier would already let you do a great deal."

Lathel thought it over. It sounded reasonable. He had never wanted to split mountains or level cities. If it only made his body stronger, less prone to illness, better able to protect itself, and less likely to lose all ability to fight from a single blow of Aldric’s—he had no reason to object.

Lathel nodded.

’As long as the price isn’t my lifespan.’

Pandora suddenly went silent.

A sense of unease appeared at once.

’Pandora?’

"I’m thinking."

Lathel grew even more wary.

A few seconds later, Pandora made a sound as if she had just remembered something.

"Ah."

He frowned.

"Lucky."

’Why?’

"I still have something left."

Lathel began to have a very bad feeling.

’Something like what?’

"An Original Sin Core."

He had never heard the name.

’What is that?’

"Something very good."

The answer came too quickly. Lathel immediately did not believe it.

’What does it do?’

"It strengthens life force." Pandora answered in a voice of perfect innocence.

Lathel thought for a few seconds. It still sounded ordinary. But he had been with Pandora long enough to know that whenever she tried to make everything sound too ordinary, there was usually a problem.

’The price?’

"It isn’t a transaction."

’Side effects?’

Pandora was silent.

Lathel sat up at once.

’There are, aren’t there?’

"You ask too many questions."

He: "..."

Lathel was about to demand a clear explanation when a strange ripple suddenly appeared deep in his soul. His eyes flew open.

’Wait.’

"Too late."

A point of purplish-red light appeared deep in his chest. Lathel could not see it with his eyes, but his soul-sense showed him a small crystal slowly drifting out from the place where Pandora resided. Dark veins crawled across its surface, moving continuously, as if it were alive.

’Pandora!’

"Calm down."

The crystal shattered into countless threads of light. Lathel braced a hand on the tub, about to stand.

’Boom!’

All of it rushed into his body at once. Water in the tub exploded upward. Lathel arched.

The first sensation was not pain, but heat. A surge of warmth burst from deep in his chest, raced with his blood to every fingertip and every joint, then sank into muscle. His heart pounded so hard his chest shook with it. His breathing turned ragged at once.

’What is this?!’

Pandora laughed, thoroughly pleased.

"Original Sin."

’Speak clearly!’

"Lust."

Lathel’s entire body locked. A second later, his face changed completely.

’...WHAT?!’

Pandora repeated it calmly. "The Original Sin of Lust."

Lathel truly wanted to drag her out of his soul and throw her through the window.

’I DON’T NEED IT!’

"I know."

’THEN WHY DID YOU USE IT?!’

"Because you would have refused if I told you first."

Lathel: "..."

The reason was so blunt that he did not even know where to start being angry.

’Take it out.’

"I can’t."

’Pandora.’

"It’s already fused."

’PANDORA!’

"Don’t be angry." Her voice was still perfectly innocent. "Lust is one of the Original Sins most closely tied to survival instinct, life force, recovery, and physical vitality. I was not wrong when I said it could strengthen the body."

Lathel clenched his teeth.

’Then the side effects?’

Pandora was silent for a second.

"The sensation will be a little... intense."

At that moment, the heat in his body suddenly spiked. Lathel no longer had the mood to argue. Every sense became far too sharp at once. The heat of the water, the scent of the herbs, the sound of droplets hitting the rim of the tub—all of it was so clear it made his head ache. His muscles tightened, then a tingling ran down the length of his spine.

At the same time, the remaining wounds were healing at a very visible speed. The bruises under his skin faded. The pain in his ribs eased. Even the scant mana in his body circulated more smoothly. Judging by effect alone, Pandora had not lied. The problem was that the surge of life force was far too strong for a body that had never received this kind of energy.

Lathel braced both hands on the rim of the tub, trying to keep himself lucid.

"Bear with it a little." Pandora finally stopped laughing. "The body is adapting. After the first stage it will be better."

Lathel gritted his teeth.

’A little intense?’

"I underestimated it."

He wanted to curse her. He no longer had the strength.

’Bang!’

Lathel’s knee slammed hard into the side of the tub.

Outside the bathing room, Catrina stopped at once. She had just turned back, a clean towel still in her hand.

"Lathel?"

No reply. She waited a beat. From inside came another violent splash, and a hoarse sound forced from a throat.

Catrina’s face changed at once.

"Lathel!"

She shoved the door open and rushed in. The towel fell to the floor.

Lathel was curled in the stone tub, both hands locked on the rim so tightly his knuckles had gone white. Skin that had been pale was flushed with heat. His breathing was ragged. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead.

Catrina dropped to her knees beside him at once. "Lathel!" She caught his shoulders, paying no attention to the water soaking her sleeves.

Lathel lifted his head. His eyes had already gone hazy.

Catrina touched his forehead and immediately started—the temperature was far higher than normal.

"Healer—"

She had just begun to rise when Lathel suddenly seized her wrist.

"Lathel?"

The grip was too strong. Catrina turned back. In the moment their eyes met, Lathel’s awareness was nearly empty. His senses were being driven into oversensitivity by the Original Sin Core. The warmth from Catrina’s hand, the familiar scent, the feeling of someone standing so close—those things seemed to be the only ones that could pull him out of the chaos.

He pulled her in on instinct.

Catrina lost her balance and immediately braced her other hand on the rim of the tub so she would not fall into the water. "Lathel, calm down."

He could not hear her. Or he was no longer lucid enough to understand.

Lathel caught Catrina’s shoulders and yanked her close. The distance between them vanished in a single jerk. His mouth struck hers—not an accidental brush, but a hasty, hot, uncontrolled bite.

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