Chapter 154: Epherene’s Time. (2)
Epherene opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the wooden ceiling, magic lights dangling down above her.
“…Haaaaaaaaa”
Epherene vacantly blinked and opened her mouth wide in a yawn, shaking the sleep away.
“Gaaaaah…”
“That’s been going on for a while.”
At that moment, Epherene stiffened. With a creak, she turned her head to follow the voice. It came from Deculein, as expected.
“Ah… my dream-“
“It wasn’t a dream.”
Deculein put down the book that he was reading. Then, he looked at her with strangely kind eyes. Epherene was afraid of his new display of thoughtfulness. It wasn’t like him.
“Why… no, are you the Professor?”
“That’s right.”
Deculein answered calmly.
“Aren’t you a monster?”
“What?”
“No, no. Where am I? Why is the kid suddenly big and the village….”
“You are caught up in a magical phenomenon.”
Was it because of the pond in the middle of the forest? No, she just touched the water for half a second. Was it so wrong that it twisted the scales of time? Deculein explained the reason as she wracked her brain.
“Because you are a special existence.”
“…What?”
“You’ll find out about the rest gradually. Follow me.”
Deculein stood, and Epherene clambered out of bed to follow. The two came out into the village assembly hall first.
“Oh.”
The landscape of the North with its sharp winds. But, people were coming and going, their expressions filled with energy. The accommodations present before, shops, market, restaurants, pubs… Epherene was speechless to see the steadily growing village sprawled around her.
“…How many years has it been?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What? Ah, so even the Professor doesn’t know how many years has passed.”
Deculein stalked forward. Epherene struggled to keep up with his pace.
“No, Professor, more than that… how can this kind of magical phenomenon be possible? Isn’t time-traveling impossible?”
“It is for ordinary wizards. But you’re not ordinary.”
Was that a compliment or a curse? Epherene looked up at Deculein then set her gaze on the road behind them. A delicious scent wafted past them, hinting at heavily seasoned chicken skewers.
“…gulp.”
Deculein smiled.
“Are you hungry?”
“*slurp*. Oh, no… but, what do you mean not ordinary?”
“It’s because of your origin.”
Epherene tilted her head, making her confusion obvious.
“Origin?”
“You’ll find out later on.”
“…What.”
She thoughtlessly glared at Deculein but then glanced away for fear of being scolded. But, the Professor didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. Seriously, what was this? A big question mark floated above Epherene’s head.
“Of course. Anyway, this is the future.”
“Right.”
“How do I go back? Back to the present?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is that so… WHAT?”
Epherene grew flustered as she asked back. She thought that Deculein would know. What she should do, how to do this… he would naturally tell her all the answers.
“This is the future. The connection between the present and the past and the future is not a simple thing.”
“Then, how…?”
“You should wait. Until the path opens again.”
“…The path?”
“Yeah.”
Deculein nodded. Then, he handed a skewer over to Epherene using Psychokinesis.
“How does the path open?”
“Maybe, on the day the second comet falls.”
“Aha…”
Epherene belatedly recalled the words of the village people. About two days ago, a meteor fell in the forest so she should be careful.
“When would that be?”
Nom—
She took a bite of the chicken skewer.
Nom, nom, nom—
The first bite was so delicious, so she picked up speed eating.
“We don’t know that, either. It could be in three days, a week, a month, or maybe even a year.”
“!”
At that moment, Epherene suddenly stopped chewing. She looked up at Deculein with startled eyes, feeling like a deer in the headlights. Deculein let out a low laugh.
“Don’t worry.”
“…”
But, this was both strange and interesting. When she listened to him, even just his words, all her worries and anxieties disappeared. That was what happened when she was next to Deculein. He never changed, always remaining consistent. He was always calm, no matter how ridiculous the situation was.
‘I just trust and rely on him.’
…But.
“I’ll be by your side until then.”
“Yes… what?”
Her heart fluttered a little, and she felt light-headed. Epherene was lost for words for a while. She blinked, then shifted her gaze somewhere else, looking for anything or anyone to focus on.
“Wow! Look at that person! Is that real tiger leather?”
She hurriedly pointed at a person with tiger skin all over his body like armor.
*****
…Epherene disappeared. The last eyewitness account from the villagers was two days ago; a meteor fell into the forest.
“What should I do, Professor? Epherene might have been eaten by bears or tigers….”
Allen and Drent felt restless, but I wasn’t really worried. I knew at least that there was no death awaiting Epherene in her future.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Let’s start the mission; I’ll assign a task for each of you.”
I wrote an official letter for mobilizing cooperation. It was a document asking soldiers from the nearby fortress to help with the mission.
“Allen, take this and collect soil near the unclaimed land along with a soldier escort.”
“…Yes.”
Allen nodded, pouting.
“Drent, you…”
Thud—!
Then, the door on the first floor opened. At the same time, three knights walked in. They stepped in without a sound other than the metallic clinking of their armor. They looked in all directions and searched between the walls and ceilings… in the end, one of the knights spoke to confirm that there was no problem.
“You can come in now, Your Majesty.”
“…Majesty?”
“Majesty?”
Allen and Drent blankly asked back. I looked through the wide-open door.
Click-click—
A woman appeared wearing a large fur coat that went from her shoulder down to her knees, fiery red long hair that cascaded down her back, and a pair of sunglasses. Emperor Sophien, a unique individual, had appeared.
“Greet Your Majesty.”
“!”
The assistants quickly bowed and knelt on one knee at the knight’s prompting. Sophien approached and looked at me.
“It’s been a while, Deculein.”
She spoke with a happy tone, but I kept my eyes down at her heels.
“It’s nice to see you, Your Majesty.”
“Never mind. Get up.”
I stood and faced Sophien. She took off her sunglasses, regarding me with crimson eyes.
“I was looking for you at the Northern Temple.”
“The Northern Temple?”
Was the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow? Sophien and temples were a weird combination. But I suddenly understood with the explanation that followed.
“That’s right. To resolve the second match that I promised you….”
Three minutes later, Sophien laid on the sofa on the 5th floor.
“Hmm…”
Less than a few minutes passed since the world’s most aloof emperor triumphantly arrived in stylish clothing.
“This sofa isn’t very comfortable….”
She quickly became a sloth. Maybe it was because of the rapid temperature change, as the inside of the mini-tower was quite warm compared to the sub-zero temperatures outside.
“Yes.”
I used [Midas’ Hand] on the sofa that Sophien lay upon. Thinking three levels should be enough, mana permeated into the leather from my hands.
“How does it feel now?”
“Hmm… that’s interesting. It has gotten better.”
Sophien let out a big yawn and rolled around. One of her legs hung from the head of the sofa, and the other one lay half off the side as she spread out to reach maximum comfort.
“Your Majesty, are you here to play a game of Go?”
“…I’m here for two reasons. We have to patrol… the North. Haaaaaaaah…”
Sophien was already half-asleep.
“This place is too small to serve as a base for the northern patrol.”
“You’re too loud. You talk too much. Get out!”
She kicked the sofa and shouted. Then, she began to nod off as if to flaunt her fatigue and idleness, which was close to becoming an incurable illness.
“Hah… hah…”
Fortunately, her sleeping habits weren’t bad. Sophien fell asleep with a quiet snore. Watching her, I suddenly remembered something.
“Epherene.”
Where did that kid go? I wasn’t worried because I knew she would be fine, but I couldn’t deny a level of curiosity. The meteor must be related to the magical phenomenon. But where and how was she struggling…?
*****
“I caught it!”
On the other hand, Epherene was spending her time in the future with Deculein. Just like now, fishing, reading books, learning what she hadn’t yet from Professor Deculein…
The only difference from the past was that this Deculein was a little warmer. What happened in the future that the Professor became like this? She was curious about that, but he wouldn’t say even if asked, so there was no way of knowing.
“Look, Professor! Isn’t this really expensive meat?”
“It’s called icefish. If it’s that big, that would be about 300 Elnes.”
“300 Elnes!”
Epherene’s eyes widened as she grabbed the fishing rod. Deculein started a fire and watched, thinking of making grilled fish.
Whiiiiing—
The fishing line was thrown back off, and Epherene watched Deculein make fish skewers.
*slurp*-
When she instinctively wiped away her drool, Deculein’s hands stopped. At that moment, the atmosphere grew stiff. The space around them froze, and Deculein’s expression froze over. Murderous intent overflowed from him.
“Why… what is going on?”
“…”
Deculein looked to Epherene. Then, he spoke in a very low voice.
“The reason why I did not tell you much is that interfering here in the future will have a huge impact on the past.”
“What?”
“But, you are not the only one who knows about this.”
Epherene belatedly became aware of the smell of blood not too far away from her.
“There is someone who is wasting their time on useless efforts.”
Deculein put the finished fish skewer on the fire.
Crackle—
Deculein pulled out his mana. Feeling unusual, Epherene also prepared an attack spell.
“So, you mean… Professor… that is….”
“These are foolish people who think that if they kill you now, then you will also die in the past. You’re a very important person here in the future, you know.”
Epherene nodded, and at that very moment.
———.
There was no sound, just the gentle movement of the wind. But Epherene had difficulty keeping up even with their movements as it seemed dozens of monsters began to gather around them.
Clang—
Then the clanking of metal. Epherene raised her barrier, worried that it might not be enough. At the same moment, a snowy white crystal rose next to Deculein and flashed vividly. The space was cut apart as hundreds of monsters started to rush in, their bodies being torn apart by the wood steel. However, their blood was frozen in the air.
Deculein’s [Snowflake Obsidian] burned their enemies as it froze them, stopping them in their tracks.
“…”
The battle was finished instantly; the field was covered in frozen shards of blood and pieces of flesh that then began to disappear. The flames of the [Snowflake Obsidian] cleansed the world. In a flash of lightning, it spread in all directions, radiating light as it melted the monsters down to ash.
Epherene couldn’t understand even as it unfolded before her eyes, but Deculein explained it simply.
“It is called the Snowflake Obsidian.”
Whiiiiing—
The wind shook the mountain.
“They will continue to target you, but you have nothing to worry about. That is why I’m here.”
At those words, Epherene’s lips parted to form a dumbfounded expression.
“…”
But in that silence, Epherene discovered something very strange. She now understood what it meant when one’s senses heightened before the battle. As Epherene stared at Deculein, her intuition rang the warning.
From the Deculein before her now, there wasn’t a single sound a human should make. His body was too quiet. In other words—
His heart wasn’t beating.
“…Professor.”
Epherene looked at his chest, her voice trembling. Deculein understood what her gaze meant and smiled a little.
“There’s no need to be surprised. My heart has already stopped.”