Yes. He did the same thing as his supposed past self who neither used the [Prying Lens] or [Threadwatch Ticket].
After all, instead of sticking with Ruminaria, he could just wait in the other room and backtrack later. All he needed to be mindful of is the timing, not too early to scare away the culprit and not too late to let her slip away.
He still firmly believed that Castreyja is the killer.
Ruminaria and Carmillia is going to meet, then they're probably going to have a fight. If Xian was the killer and can somehow track Carmillia, he would not miss this chance to hatch his plan.
Xian waited in the next room silently. His attention turned to the [Prying Lens] and watched Carmillia progress at a steady pace. Although Xian already told her the pattern, she occasionally made sure to check if the path was correct.
Then she finally met another entrant along the way. He was the protagonist, Adrian Wylert.
He spoke to Carmillia, smiling shyly, probably entranced with her beauty. Xian didn't know lip reading, but he was definitely inviting her to go together. A pang of annoyance and irritation poked at his heart.
'This bastard never looked so annoying before.' Xian was pissed off and jealous that Carmillia had to like this loser protagonists appearance. If he wasn't controlled by an intelligent and experienced player like him anymore, he might as well be a moron blessed by potential.
Then he saw something even more absurd. Carmillia held her hand towards him and beckoned for him to follow her lead.
'Hah shit, look at those fucking eyes.' Adrian's eyes shone brightly with a smile on his face. Today, he had a newfound anger at the protagonist. But thinking about the torment he's gonna go through in the Academy, he could only pity him.
Because on top of dealing with the heroine's flags and other things, he'd have to deal with someone who knew of the game's content and story, Xian himself.
Carmillia's fascination with the protagonist stemmed from his good and naive nature at their first meeting. The more she knew and observed Adrian, the more she obsessed with messing around his surroundings and relationship.
Still, that didn't make her a conquerable heroine and all it led to was a bad ending for Carmillia or an ending where she kept Adrian as a guard dog who only followed her orders. For Carmillia, that could be considered as a good ending already because she lived.
They leisurely took their pace while conversing like good friends. Xian was both glad and annoyed that the [Prying Lens] didn't have a hearing function.
At the same time, he felt like he was being too sensitive with the way things are. He liked Carmillia very much, because she's beautiful and felt desire to take her, but to feel jealous? That's only for people who promised love with each other.
Ironically, Xian was a person who didn't believe in love. He only believed in his desire and to take what he wants. For him to feel jealousy towards such simple thing?
'No, that's not it.' He's never been in a relationship, but he didn't need that experience in this world. He just had to follow what's effective and what works. That will keep everything fine when it comes to dealing with the heroines.
The same goes for Carmillia. Although, he still need to find out what moves her.
Finally, they passed through the last room before meeting Ruminaria.
The hero's descendant had just finished off the last of the monsters but found herself lost and alone, looking around, screaming 'benefactor' in the air.
Her pouting face looked like a lost puppy on Carmillia's view and made him chuckle. Then her head turned sharply towards them who had just come.
At first, she was running cheerfully towards them, but as she got closer, her eyes was stuck at Carmillia.
Adrian shook her hand and they seemed to be introducing each other. Meanwhile, Carmillia's seemed to be in thought for a while. As if she was considering whether she's going to give her name and background.
Eventually she did. Xian could picture a faint smile on her face. He wanted to see it, knowing that it's a feast for his eyes but he held himself back.
As he expected, Ruminaria fought them. Adrian tried his best to stop her, but a level one protagonist is simply way too weak at this point in the game. Still, he managed to parry almost ten strikes before being crushed under Ruminaria's feet.
Then she pointed her sword towards Carmillia, saying something. A shield hung in her other hand, when she suddenly dashed forward.
Underneath, dark vines grew and almost bound Ruminaria, but she managed to block it with her shield and used the force to spin herself sideways.
More vines followed Ruminaria and she cut them off while moving around to dodge, slowly getting close to her opponent.
That's when Xian who's enjoying the show moved.
'Right there, while they're fighting.' Based on his prediction, the perfect opportunity to kill Carmillia will soon come.
Just like when the coachman killed her, Xian waited for a blow to activate Carmillia's barrier.
When Ruminaria got close and raised her blade, Xian ran from his position, with his vision split into two. He didn't know how, but he managed to do it without getting dizzy.
Finally, Ruminaria struck Carmillia. Only to be blocked by a barrier and fall into a trap set by her enemy.
Dark magic Circle above her appeared and rained dark light down towards her. At that moment Xian was already back in the room and he disabled the [Prying Lens], his two dagger's already out and ready to be thrown.
"AARGHH!" Ruminaria screamed in pain while bleeding from her eyes, mouth and ears. Still, she didn't let go of her sword until the very last moment. Instead, she somehow mustered the will and strength to throw it towards Carmillia.
That was when Xian noticed something that blurred in the space behind Carmillia and another figure rushing to her front. Straining his eyes, Xian didn't have much leeway to think because of them. One had a terrifying speed and the other was in close proximity.
He chose to throw the pair of daggers behind Carmillia, thinking along the logic of a culprit that if he going for the kill, why would he rush from the front?
That simple line of thought saved Xian a number of regressions he would otherwise need to take.
Clang!
"Enough! You two, killing in the exam grounds is for… Hm?" The instructor who had rushed there at Aleandro's instruction was bewildered. Two other presence were suddenly felt inside the room.
One near a door, and another behind a student.
Realizing that there are individual's present who could mask their presence over an instructors senses, he immediately used aura to emit suppression in his surroundings and prevent anyone from moving.
The two other's could be infiltrators for all he knew. While the academy was as secure as it could be, that didn't mean people didn't try to find ways to get inside.
The oppression made all the students drop at their knees. To be precise, one was already unconscious and the other two was on the ground.
Meanwhile, Xian stood perfectly fine.
However his eyes carried a shock, staring at the student behind Carmillia.
What laid there isn't the regressor but someone completely unexpected.
…
Castreyja was taking her time in the Grid Maze. The gray walls, the grassy room and finally the lush room made her feel nostalgic.
Back then, she failed to achieve notable place in the entrance examinations. It's been so long that she didn't know what the right path is.
'Wait, I never knew it.' She realized.
A total of six years. That's how far she went back in time. She didn't even know of the concept of regression until experiencing it. Until recently, she was still not herself, burdened by the trauma of losing her comrades and seeing her loved one's die.
"Adrian…" She muttered. That guy must be somewhere around in the academy this time too. In the years she spent in the academy, she never thought Adrian would become a hero like existence for humanity.
And her… significant other. Although they were never truly together until the end because of the crisis humanity faced and the nature of their work, their time spent together and promise they made was real. Just before the last mission that took their squadron's lives took place, they made a promise to live together once it was all over.
As if fate played with them, their lives really headed in that direction.
She felt bittersweet to be honest. To confess to each other in the moment before death. Castreyja despised Adrian for not talking sooner and promised to be more assertive this time around.
Also, she's going to make sure humanity wins against the enemy they face in the future.
'Wait for me Adrian…'
But then, Castreyja seemed to be reminded of something.
She touched her hair and looked at her body. She pinched her soft belly, smoothened her light red hair that went in every direction and her face grimaced. Unlike her fit and prim appearance as a high ranking officer, she was now unkempt and chubby, still relying on her glasses for better vision.
Her face reddened, despising her past self who didn't care enough about appearance and walked around like a gloomy rag.
"Achoo!" While lost in the grid maze, she felt like someone was bad mouthing her.
Carmillia immediately came to mind and her anger flared, causing faint red aura to spread out, cracking the ground.
That girl was a menace who led around and took away Adrian from her back then. Instead of being able to of spend time together, Adrian had to go through a lot of trouble because of Carmillia's schemes.
But her rage quickly died down. She was so used to releasing aura when angered that she forgot to consider her current body. A weak and untrained body of an average academy entrant.
The first things she had to do right now is prioritize passing the exam with a better result. Then train like a madman and graduate at the top of the academy. Or at the very least, near the top.
'I won't waste this chance Adrian.' He could've taken the artifact for himself and regress. But instead, he placed it in her hands. In order to let her reshape the future with her own hands and for the promise he couldn't fulfill in the end.
'I'm going to return all this pain with happiness. Just wait.' She thought, as a single tear fell from her eyes.
But she didn't know.
That the hopeful future she awaited was bound to end up shattered.