46. Old Tale (9)
Chirp chirp—chirp!
The sound of mountain birds singing.
Drip!
The damp sensation of a water droplet falling.
“…Ugh.”
And a pounding headache.
Feeling a horrifying nausea that made my insides churn, I forced myself to sit up.
I desperately wanted to lie back down, but I couldn’t stay still because the memory from just before kept flashing through my head.
Remember this well! The fate of the past must never be changed!
Silver Age November’s voice still seemed to echo in my ears.
Just how hard had he pushed that telepathic message for its aftereffect to linger like this?
My ears were almost ringing.
“Ugh…”
My head hurt enough to make a groan escape me, but first I hurriedly took stock of my surroundings.
Trees. Grass. Trees. Grass. Rocks. Trees.
And a squirrel.
“Ah, damn it…”
A forest.
And not just any forest, but the dead center of one.
No matter how all-purpose the Jikbakguri Glasses were, without satellites it couldn’t exactly pinpoint my current position in coordinates and display it for me.
So as things stood, I was basically lost.
[You have moved to a timeline 3649 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes, and 47 seconds in the past.]
[Some functions of the item ‘Jikbakguri Glasses’ are unavailable.]
[Partial system shutdown.]
[Constellatio Project loading…]
And just as expected, it seemed I really had traveled into the past.
I supposed I should be grateful I hadn’t been sucked into a crack in space-time.
Ten years in the past…
Did the original game ever even have something like this?
Hmm, I was pretty sure it did.
Time-travel content showed up once in a very great while…
but it was truly rare, and there had never been any proper walkthrough or even proper explanation for it.
Which meant that I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to survive in this era ten years ago.
Fortunately, Silver Age November had imprinted the method of returning in my mind, so I wasn’t worried about that part.
The problem was the time I had to endure until then.
It wasn’t like there was any obvious reason I’d suddenly die just because I’d been thrown into the time of ten years ago, but well—
there was no harm in being careful.
Thinking that, I rose to my feet.
For some reason, my body felt light.
“Hm?”
[For you, who are drifting through the time of the past, Silver Age November has bestowed a mysterious blessing.]
[Strength increases by 4 stars.]
[Agility increases by 4 stars.]
[Senses increase by 4 stars.]
[Mental Power increases by 4 stars.]
[Endurance increases by 1 star.]
[The skill ‘Mana Leakage Body’ has been strengthened by three stages.]
[The skill ‘Forward Blink’ has been strengthened by one stage.]
“Oh… what?”
An absurd increase in ability.
This was to such a degree that it wouldn’t even be wrong to say I had practically become a different person altogether.
[The above blessing applies only while drifting through the time of the past. Once you return to the present, the effect will disappear.]
Naturally, there was no way a broken blessing like this would remain forever.
But that was fine.
If all my stats were increased by four stars each, then even if my skills were a little lacking, I could still hold out one-on-one against a 7-Class mage well enough.
On top of that, Mana Leakage Body and Forward Blink were not all that shabby either, thanks to the temporary rise in my stats.
“Oh…”
As I opened and closed my fist, an overwhelming power I had never felt before pulsed vividly through me.
My senses had grown incredibly sharp as well, enough that I could react sensitively even to the wind blowing across me.
If I kicked off from the ground right now, I probably couldn’t leap all the way into the sky or anything, but at least I might have a shot at a long jump championship.
“More importantly, where is this?”
Even though I wasn’t all that worried for the moment, thanks to my strengthened stats, I still needed to find a safe place.
I needed somewhere to stay until I could return to the present.
“Can you use a shortest-route navigation function to guide me safely to the exit?”
[Impossible.]
“How about tracking mana alpha waves to determine dangerous zones?”
[Impossible.]
“What about phenomenon analysis?”
[Impossible.]
“There’s no registered information on this location at all?”
[Information access unavailable.]
“Sigh.”
Just as expected, almost all of the Jikbakguri Glasses’ functions were unusable.
I could read recorded information, but apparently it wouldn’t entertain difficult questions like, “Where the hell am I?”
At least there was one fortunate thing.
I could still determine direction from the constellations in the sky and the angle of shadows.
That much was possible even without the Jikbakguri Glasses’ help.
The fact that I personally possessed survival skills like this made me feel weirdly proud of myself.
[[Information: The compass function of the Jikbakguri Glasses is completely fine.]]
…Goddammit.
Anyway, before I started walking, I made a minimum amount of preparation.
Nothing special.
I just used the appearance-alteration function built into Stella’s coat to adjust my looks a little.
Part of the reason was that it would be troublesome if I happened to run into Stella students from this era.
And there was no benefit in drawing attention to myself for no reason.
Wherever they went, Stella cadets were very special existences.
Then I took out my mask and covered my face as a disguise.
[Time Travel Rule Number One!]
[Do not meet your present connections in the past!]
I saw it in the movie Back to the Future.
What kind of absolute mess it became when people met people in the past whom they knew in the present.
Though that was just a movie.
In reality, the reason was a bit different.
For instance—
Crack!
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Hm?”
While I was covering my face with the mask and rummaging through my spatial-expansion backpack, a girl with sky-blue hair came bursting out of the bushes.
I didn’t even need to think to know.
E-Eizel?
That was…
Eizel from ten years ago.
A much younger version than the one I knew now, but cute and adorable enough to make you want her as a little cousin.
She came running frantically in my direction, screaming—not because she had noticed me, but because something was chasing her.
And then—
Grrrrrr…
Appearing behind Eizel was a gigantic wolf,
so huge it was nearly the size of a whole hut.
“Are you kidding me?”
No, seriously, was something like that even allowed to exist?
The Jikbakguri Glasses instantly displayed the creature’s rank, information, and weak points, but the situation was too urgent for me to read them.
So—
Grab! Thud!
…I grabbed it by the scruff and slammed it into the ground.
Yelp! Yip!
“Eh…?”
“Huh?”
The wolf, which despite its size was unable to escape even from my comparatively tiny hand, only whimpered.
I could feel Eizel blinking her huge eyes behind me.
Honestly, I was stunned too, so from her point of view it must have looked even more unbelievable.
Wow. This is what 7-star level feels like?
When I had played the game, raising stats had basically only meant higher attack and more damage, so I had never felt much difference firsthand.
But in reality, I could pull off tricks like this?
My desire to raise my stats grew stronger and stronger.
Holding the wolf pinned to the ground, I turned toward Eizel.
Flinch.
She covered the front of her body with both hands, clearly revealing her caution.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“You? Listen to this brat talking with no manners.”
At once, her eyes widened and she hurriedly corrected herself.
“Wh-Who… are you, sir?”
“What even is that supposed to be…”
It felt like she had almost no experience using honorific speech.
Well, that was only natural. Hadn’t Eizel’s younger self been a spoiled child?
This was probably the period when she even spoke informally to her father.
When would the precious eldest daughter of the Grand Duke Morf family ever have had reason to use polite speech?
“Forget it. You’re Eizel Morf, right? I’m Baek… Seolgi.”
“Baek Seolgi? That’s the name of a rice cake…”
“A person’s name can also be the name of a rice cake. You got a problem with that?”
“S-Sorry!”
“Polite speech.”
“Sorry… sir…”
I figured I’d compromise that much, considering it was probably impossible for her to become immediately fluent in polite speech.
“So anyway, what were you doing here? Is that wolf your pet?”
“N-No, it isn’t!”
“Really?”
Well, if someone’s pet looked that vicious, even I wouldn’t want to raise it.
Since that settled it, there was no more reason to hesitate.
I pulled out my Terriphon and fired out the Blade of Light, driving it into the wolf’s neck.
Thunk!
Instant kill.
In the past, I would have needed incredible focus just to pierce that tough, durable hide, but now a light strike was enough.
Eizel’s eyes went wide, but I stood back up as though nothing had happened.
I desperately wanted to rummage through the wolf’s corpse and pocket its mana core right away, but I held back in order to preserve my cool-guy image.
“More importantly, do you know the way back home?”
“Y-Yeah… I know…”
“Really? Do you have a map?”
“No, but…”
She lifted a finger and pointed somewhere.
“This is… our front yard…”
No, what kind of front yard is this huge?
And in the first place, why does a monster like that live in your front yard?
Countless questions spun through my head, but this was a romance fantasy world, so I was about to force myself to accept it—no, forget that, what in the world was her dad doing, leaving his daughter alone like this?
“Oh. Right. Let’s go.”
“W-We’re going to my house?”
“I don’t exactly have anywhere else to go, so hurry up and guide me. I’m hungry.”
“…Okay…”
I had intended to avoid meeting present-day connections as much as possible.
And yet right from the start, I had run into Eizel.
If this too was fate, then I supposed it was fate.
For some reason, I had a bad feeling already.
Kurururung!! Swaaaaa…
Listening to the torrential downpour, Hae Seongwol quietly stared out the carriage window.
A mage who had reached a high level rarely sat around blankly without a single thought in mind.
Even now, countless problems, each one difficult enough that dozens of ordinary mages working together might barely manage to consider one of them, were swirling in Hae Seongwol’s mind.
And the one that occupied the greatest portion of that storm of thought was—
Baek Yuseol.
“…They say the Hawol Plains in monsoon season are troublesome because rain pours down without pause, but this year seems especially severe. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He spoke without even turning his head toward Zeliel, who sat beside him, but no answer returned.
It was not as though she would be dozing in a situation like this.
That meant the reason was obvious—
she was ignoring him.
If someone thought, She dares ignore a 9-Class mage? then that person surely was not a 9-Class mage.
After all, those who had cast off all attachment and impure emotions were in a state not unlike immortals or sages.
“Zeliel. Do you resent me?”
At those words, she finally turned her head to look at him.
Still, she did not answer.
The memory from just before remained vivid in Zeliel’s mind even now.
Baek Yuseol, standing on Carmenset’s chessboard, vanishing together with the collapsing time-space.
He kept appearing in her dreams too.
Why had he made such a choice?
They could have searched for the ruins of ancient Carmenset again another time.
But…
his life was only one.
“Milady, Tower Lord. We have arrived.”
The knight spoke in a quiet voice.
Their destination was the Starcloud Company.
This town—
no, this city—had been created as countless companies, including the Starcloud Merchant Guild, gathered in one place.
And by the present day, the Starcloud Company had completely swallowed it whole.
At the center of this city stood a grand mansion.
That was the main headquarters and heart of the Starcloud Company.
And it was also the hometown that had been responsible for Zeliel’s childhood.
Waaaaah!!
Come on, come on, let’s go see!
The moment they arrived in the city, countless demi-humans were already racing through the streets with quick steps.
Something had certainly happened.
But it was not something dire or dangerous.
Because every face in the street was blooming with smiles.
Zeliel stopped looking out the window.
No way.
Thump, thump.
The pounding of her heart grew fierce.
Not yet, not yet. I can’t relax yet…
They still did not know what those people were cheering for.
If she let herself hope, the disappointment would only be worse.
Calm down.
But the closer they drew to the mansion, the louder the cheers became.
In fact, so many people had gathered that it felt as if the entire city had rushed outside, and the crowd was so immense that the carriage could barely move forward.
Waaaaaaah!!!
“…They are people who owe your father a debt.”
While becoming the wealthiest man in the world, Chairman Melian had also become famous for the countless kindnesses he had shown.
If Zeliel could carry out dirty and vile acts without hesitation in the dark, then Melian had spent his unseen places performing shining acts of goodness.
And most of the people in this city had received help from Melian.
They were people who had been able to go on living because of Melian.
So what could possibly make them rejoice that much…?
What else?
The answer was obvious.
“It’s milady’s carriage!!”
Someone recognized Zeliel’s carriage and shouted, and the people parted, opening a road like the miracle of the Red Sea.
And it truly was—
a scene straight out of a film.
Clack!
The carriage door opened, and Zeliel stepped down gracefully with one long leg.
But that grace was only a mask.
In truth, it was a defensive act to keep herself from being overwhelmed by the wildly pounding of her own heart.
All sound around her faded away.
Zeliel raised her head and looked straight at the figure standing directly before her.
It was…
unmistakably her father.
Chairman Melian stood there, smiling at her.
Then why did her father’s figure keep blurring?
“Milady. Your handkerchief.”
“Ah…”
Only then did she notice how pitifully unsightly she looked.
“Go on.”
At Hae Seongwol’s words, Zeliel was finally able to take one step toward him.
Then, suddenly—
Huh…?
Even though she had met her father, she realized that the mana pooled within her heart had not evaporated.
No. Wait. Wait a second…
Some time ago, she had entered into a Mana Vow with Baek Yuseol.
[First: You must not meet your father within three years.]
The moment she violated that taboo, all the mana in her heart would evaporate and scatter into the air.
And yet now, even with her father right in front of her, her mana remained intact.
“My daughter. I’m sorry for making you worry.”
The warmth of Melian’s embrace made it clear enough that he was real.
“Ah… ahh…”
But precisely because of that,
she grasped reality more clearly than ever.
There was another rule in the Mana Vow, the contract that had seemed so perfect.
[If the other party to the contract is erased, the vow becomes null and void.]
Not death.
Erasure.
It was an effect that only activated when the very existence of the other party vanished, which meant it was practically a nonexistent clause.
So then…
why had it activated now?
Thud!
Unable even to maintain the strength to cling to her father’s embrace, Zeliel sank to the ground.
Hot tears poured endlessly from her eyes, and she could no longer hide her emotions.
“A-ah… ugh… aaaaah…”
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What she felt in this moment was not happiness, nor anything like it.
It was…
despair.
