Princess Connect: Regret Override — The Single Taboo That Saves the Fallen
This is the story of a boy who commits a taboo to save his lost comrades.
The setting is the floating guild called Cafe Etoile, at the edge of the Astraea Continent. Its member is Rent, a boy who is a trainee cook. He is an ordinary boy — no talent for swords or magic. But his devotion to his friends is unmatched.
One day, a mysterious monster called Void Gate appears before Rent and his friends. This monster erases the very existence of anyone it touches. His comrades vanish one after another
Princess Connect: Regret Override — The Single Taboo That Saves the Fallen - On the night of falling stars, you disappeared — The Book of Taboo and the First Regression —
Black mist closes in from below.
Gotta run. The thought comes, but the body won't move. The mist moves like it's alive—slow, but certain—crawling down the guildhouse corridor.
"Rent, live."
A voice. He turns. Yui stands there. Her flaxen braid sways though there's no wind. Her sky-blue eyes are brimming with tears.
"Forget about me."
Black mist coils around her body. From her feet, her waist, her chest. Yui tries to smile. But it doesn't reach her eyes.
"Stop... stop it!"
He screams. Screams until his voice tears. He reaches out. Almost there. His fingertips brush hers.
In that instant, Yui's body dissolves into the mist.
Only a silver pendant remains in his hand. Her blood's warmth still lingers.
"Yui... Yui...!"
In the darkness, only his own scream echoes back.
—He wakes.
His heart pounds. He's drenched in sweat. Staring at the ceiling, Rent gasps for air.
(A dream...)
He sits up. Outside the window, it's still dark. Far from morning. He touches his chest and feels the silver pendant against his fingers.
"...It's okay."
He mutters softly, as if convincing himself.
The pendant is there. Yui is there. The guildhouse, his comrades—nothing is lost.
Yet his heart won't stop racing.
Rent climbs off the bed and washes his face with cold water. He looks at himself in the mirror. His messy black hair is a disaster from sleep. His deep brown eyes still hold a trace of fear.
"Pathetic face."
He chuckles quietly and pulls on a white shirt. Then a black apron. On the chest, a star embroidered. Yui sewed it for him.
He traces the old burn scar on his left wrist.
(Guess I'll do my best today too.)
The corridor to the kitchen is still dim. Magic stone lamps line the walls at even intervals. Pale blue-white light faintly illuminates the stone floor.
Mirage Island.
A lone island floating about three hours by ship from the western edge of the Astria Continent. Twenty-five square kilometers. Population around three thousand. At its center rises Mount Etoile, and at its base sits Rent and his comrades' guildhouse.
〈Cafeteria Etoile〉.
An international chefs' guild founded roughly a hundred and twenty years ago by the first head chef, Etoile Mirage. Ingredients gather from around the world, and chefs confident in their skill compete. About three hundred members, including apprentices. The three-story stone guildhouse has a dining hall on the first floor, kitchens and a training ground on the second, and living quarters on the third.
Rent is an apprentice chef here.
Monthly wage: fifteen silver coins. Apprenticeship: normally three years. No talent for the sword. No talent for magic. Nothing. But when it comes to caring for his comrades, he yields to no one.
When he reaches the kitchen, Rent lights the fire before anyone else. The magic stone stove roars with blue flame. He fills a large pot with water and sets it to boil. Then he takes out the seafood stock he prepped yesterday.
"Alright."
Today's breakfast: Etoile-style seafood stew. The guildhouse specialty. Served in the first-floor dining hall for eight copper coins. Popular with islanders too—plenty of regulars come for it in the morning.
Rent starts chopping vegetables with practiced hands. Onion, carrot, potato. The sound of the knife echoes crisply through the quiet kitchen.
(Gotta finish prep before everyone wakes up.)
The one who took in Rent—an orphan—was the previous head chef. By the time he could remember anything, he was already here. So this place is home. His comrades are family.
Cooking breakfast for family.
Just that makes his chest warm.
—Though sometimes he burns it and Yui yells at him.
"Ah."
The moment he thinks it, a burnt smell rises from the bottom of the stew.
"Uh-oh."
He stirs frantically. Too late. Black char clings to the pot's bottom.
"Did it again?"
A voice from behind. He turns. Yui stands there.
Her long flaxen hair is neatly braided today, as always. Beneath her fluffy bangs, large sky-blue eyes watch Rent steadily. Height: a hundred fifty-five centimeters. Fifteen shorter than Rent. White blouse, pale blue apron. In her hands, a basket of freshly baked bread.
"What are you doing this early in the morning, honestly."
Yui sighs and sets the basket on the counter. Then she stands beside Rent and peers into the pot.
"...It's burnt. Or rather, you got the heat wrong again. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"No, it's still edible. Just avoid the burnt parts."
"That's not the point. A burnt stew ruins the whole flavor. You're an apprentice chef, aren't you?"
Yui's voice rises slightly. She's angry. But her eyes aren't truly angry. If anything, she's worried.
"...Sorry."
Rent apologizes honestly.
Yui sighs again and snatches the ladle from him.
"Okay, move. I'll do it."
"Wait, but this is my job."
"You're going to feed everyone burnt stew? Here, slice the bread."
She says it and starts scraping the burnt bits from the pot with deft hands. Her movements are incomparably precise compared to Rent's—no wasted motion.
(She's amazing, seriously.)
Rent admires her honestly. Yui has a gift for cooking. No—not just talent. She works harder than anyone. Up first every morning to bake bread, up late into the night thinking up new recipes.
Yui's Bakery.
A small shop about five minutes' walk from the guildhouse. Yui started it at sixteen. Morning bread: two copper coins. Hugely popular with islanders—sometimes a line forms before opening.
Rent sometimes skips helping out there.
No, not skips—he just ends up prioritizing guild work. And then Yui scolds him like this.
"Hey, Rent. Are you actually coming to help today?"
Yui says it while watching the pot.
"...I've got training today."
"Again? You said that yesterday and the day before, and you never came."
"That's... well, yeah."
Rent trails off.
Sword training. Magic training.
An apprentice chef, yet Rent goes to the training ground almost every day. Without talent for sword or magic.
"Why are you so obsessed with fighting? You're a chef, aren't you?"
Her voice turns a little serious.
"...Because I'm a chef, there are things I want to protect."
"Things you want to protect?"
"This guild. Everyone's smiles. And..."
He stops mid-sentence.
(And you, too.)
He can't say it. Doesn't intend to.
Yui watches his face for a while. Then she smiles softly.
"You really are an idiot."
That smile—he loved it more than anything in the world.
Morning light pours through the window, dyeing Yui's flaxen hair gold. Her sky-blue eyes catch the light and shine like jewels.
(If I could just say it, how much easier would it be?)
But he won't. If he says it, this relationship will surely change.
"'Idiot' is unnecessary."
Rent hides his embarrassment and returns to slicing bread.
Soon, the guildhouse residents wake.
The dining hall grows lively. Clatter of plates, laughter, morning greetings. The magic stone lamps' glow gives way to bright morning sunlight.
"Morning, Rent."
It's Kai who calls out.
Silver hair with a single red streak. His short, neat hair reflects the morning light white. Golden eyes, sharp—yet somehow gentle when turned to comrades. Height: a hundred eighty-five centimeters. Fifteen taller than Rent. A trained physique, a sword always at his hip.
Former monster subjugator.
Now in charge of guild security. Taciturn and awkward, but no one cares more for his comrades.
"Morning, Kai. Breakfast's almost ready."
"Yeah. Looking forward to it."
Kai answers briefly and sits at the corner seat. His usual spot. From there, he can see the whole dining hall and the entrance.
Rent places fresh bread before Kai.
"That's the hard kind Yui baked. You like it, right?"
Kai's golden eyes widen slightly for an instant. Then his lips loosen just a touch.
"...Don't tell anyone."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Kai secretly favors Yui's hard-baked bread. Crispy outside, dense inside, with a satisfying chew. A man who prefers rustic bread over sweet.
Rent sits across from Kai.
"Hey, Kai. Train with me today?"
"Again? You did it yesterday and the day before."
"It's not enough. Last mock battle, a classmate beat me in an instant."
Rent looks at his hands. Calloused from knives. Hands far too unsuited for gripping a sword.
"I know I've got no talent for the sword. Magic's no good either. But even so, I want to get stronger."
Kai watches him for a while. His golden eyes move as if searching for something.
"...Fine. But don't push yourself."
"Thanks!"
Rent answers with a smile.
Kai understands Rent's self-sacrificing nature better than anyone. And he fears it.
(This guy will whittle himself down until he breaks someday.)
Kai's worries are always right.
When breakfast ends, Rent finishes cleaning the kitchen and heads to the training ground.
The second-floor training ground is a wooden-floored space about thirty tatami mats wide. Wooden swords and practice magic stones line the walls. Through the window, the green of Mount Etoile is visible.
"Alright, let's do this."
Rent takes a wooden sword.
Swings. A hundred times.
Each swing cuts the air. His arms ache. His shoulders scream. Still, he swings.
(I have no talent.)
Swing.
(No magic, no sword, nothing.)
Swing.
(But if it's to protect my comrades—)
Swing.
Sweat drips to the floor. His breathing roughens. His vision blurs slightly.
"Take a break, Rent. You'll collapse."
At some point, Kai stands at the training ground entrance.
"Fifty more... no, thirty more."
"Rest. That's an order."
Kai's voice drops. Rent stops swinging and sits down on the spot.
"Hah... hah... damn."
"You're always like this. You push yourself too hard."
Kai sits beside him. He picks up a wooden sword and stares at its blade.
"You of all people know you have no talent. So why go this far?"
"...I don't know. But if I don't, I can't settle down."
Rent looks up at the ceiling. Wooden beams line up in orderly rows.
"I was an orphan when I was little. Never knew my parents' faces. By the time I could think, I was already here."
Kai listens in silence.
"The previous head chef took me in. Gave me food, a place to sleep, a name. Everyone here is my family."
"So I want to protect them."
His voice trembles slightly.
"All I can do is cook. But there are things cooking alone can't protect. So I want to get at least a little better with sword and magic."
After a long silence, Kai nods slightly.
"...Understood. Then I'll teach you. But no recklessness. If you collapse, Yui will be sad."
The moment Yui's name comes up, Rent's heart skips.
"W-why bring up Yui?"
"She's the one you care about most, isn't she?"
Kai's golden eyes smile faintly.
"...Shut up."
Rent turns away. His ears burn.
Training ends past noon.
Rent showers and goes down to the first-floor dining hall. On the wall hangs a decree from the Star-Law Council.
〈Time Manipulation Prohibition Act〉
The use, research, and possession of time manipulation magic is forbidden. Violators shall be punished by existence erasure or permanent exile.
Enacted roughly fourteen hundred years ago—one of the oldest laws on this continent.
The Star-Law Council.
An organization managing the mana balance of the Astria Continent, strictly monitoring forbidden magic. About fifteen hundred years ago, an ancient civilization failed in its research of time manipulation magic called the "Gate of Time," and the civilization fell. Since then, time manipulation has been the greatest taboo.
"Existence erasure, huh."
Rent mutters softly, looking at the notice.
Erased from existence. Completely, from this world. From memory. From record.
(Is that even possible?)
At the time, he thought it was just a far-off tale.
The afternoon is guild work. Prepping ingredients, cleaning the kitchen, organizing order forms. Then he drops by Yui's bakery.
"Oh, you came?"
Yui is kneading dough in the back. Her flour-whitened hands move rhythmically.
"Came to help. Got a problem?"
"None at all. Perfect timing. Stock that shelf."
Rent l
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