Chapter 161: Time. (3)
She was expressionless as usual, with a cold complexion and darkened eyes.
“Sylvia.”
Looking at the still young Sylvia, I imagined Sylvia in the distant future. This child was a key Named in this world, a talent that could become an Archmage who would lead the continent. I didn’t know who would be first between Epherene and Sylvia, but the future was certain to some extent.
“Long time no see.”
Sylvia said nothing, standing still there like a doll. I slowly rose. At that moment, mana surged all over Sylvia’s body, manifesting into a sharp aura filled with murderous intent.
“Don’t come.”
Sylvia spoke. I paused for a moment. We remained still in that place where the glowing tree served as the only source of light as she lost herself in thought. I had a lot of things I wanted to ask Sylvia, like how she came here and why, but I didn’t intend on questioning it.
Step— step—
I approached her again. The air now felt congested, but it wasn’t because of Sylvia.
Step— step—
The sound of my footsteps was clear, and Sylvia raised her hand to stop me.
“Stop.”
I didn’t listen to her. Rather, I spoke to push ahead.
“You stop.”
Whiiiiiiiing—!
The wood steel moved, revolving around me and warming up their mana.
“…”
Sylvia stared at me with eyes full of hostility. But the problem right now wasn’t her. The death variable… the dark red energy glaring behind her.
“Shh.”
Now Sylvia felt the murderous intent but immediately thought it was coming from me. So, the odd but definite energy of death wriggling in the darkness was…
“Don’t come any closer.”
Sylvia, who misunderstood my movement, mobilized her mana.
Boom—!
She sprinted forward, kicking off the ground and shooting like a bullet toward me. I immediately used Duct Tape to suppress her.
“…”
“You still have a long way to go, Sylvia.”
She had great talent, of course, but it was a hard task for a wizard to surpass me in actual combat. Unless you had overwhelming power like Adrienne or Rohakan or were physically much stronger than me like Julie, it was impossible.
“Someone is tailing you.”
“What…?”
Sylvia, about to retort, closed her mouth. She was still expressionless, but she looked quite surprised. I pointed to the darkness behind her, to the man scattering death variables. He was a strange human. No, saying he was human was too much.
He possessed a large body almost 3 meters long and a wide mouth like that of a shark. His skin was corpse pale, and his eyes glimmered red. I had seen that visage before.
“Is that the ghost that you made?”
He would be a quite troublesome jerk given he was able to exert death variables toward me.
“…”
Sylvia ground her teeth.
“Release me.”
“Now, you’re speaking informally.”
“…”
Sylvia creased her brow and twisted her arms. But, even opening her mana would be hard because of Duct Tape. Even if it were Sylvia, magical analysis of the structure of Tape would need at least three minutes. Still, Sylvia shook her arms around. She was about to break her wrist.
“Are you losing your temper?”
“No.”
I dismantled [Duct Tape]. At that moment, Sylvia faltered, and the ghost suddenly stuck its sharp tongue out.
Clang—!!
The wood steel moved to defend. Friction sparks sprayed off the steel as it deflected the monster’s attack.
Goooooo…!
It was followed by Sylvia’s magic that ate into the space. The whole area quickly turned into sandy open terrain as she flaunted her flawless magical ability.
“You’ve grown.”
“I don’t want any compliments from you.”
Sylvia’s eyes were busy glancing between the ghost and me.
“Good. Then, work hard.”
“…”
Sylvia frowned. Her eyes darted to me again, revealing her confusion.
“It’s an opportunity for you to fix your own mistakes. If you tame that ghost, it will become a great help for you.”
There was no need for me to help. Of course, that ghost was a death variable for me, but that didn’t seem to be the case for Sylvia. It had deliberately aimed for me and evaded Sylvia. And, above all, even if I helped her out, I would only interfere with Sylvia’s growth.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
The wood steel gathered under my feet.
“Go.”
I nodded.
“I trust you, Sylvia.”
“…Why would you?”
Sylvia stared at me with an expression like one wronged. At that time, the wood steel became a stepping stone and rose in the air while the ghost extended its tongue towards me. But, his attacks scattered into dust before drawing near to me. Sylvia’s magic was the most basic and powerful manifestation of three primary colors, Eraser.
*****
…At the most luxurious restaurant in the North in the future, called the Deer Antler’s Tea House, Epherene was sitting with Sophien. Having been entrusted by Her Majesty to choose a meal, she eagerly looked over the menu, but that faint feeling of depression wouldn’t leave her.
That bad temper matched the noble before her.
“…”
Sophien’s expression was sour, to put it mildly. But, this was why she was a little different from Epherene. Even if Deculein died in this future, it didn’t matter much. She could commit suicide and regress.
“…What a fucking environment.”
Therefore, Sophien didn’t like this environment right now. Sophien had lived for almost 200 years in the Imperial Palace, where everything was adjusted to her liking. No matter how luxurious the chairs and tables were, they couldn’t match up to the Imperial Palace, so Sophien felt a strong suicidal urge. It would be better to go inside the snow globe. At least the air was perfect over there.
“What? What did you say?”
“…Nothing.”
She felt itchy. Sleepy. Annoyed. Uncomfortable. She was suffering the biggest hardships in her life, but she tried not to show it.
“By the way, why did Your Majesty come with me?”
Epherene asked the question after she finished ordering.
“Because this world’s evidence is me.”
At first, it sounded like self-conceit, but Epherene naturally nodded and asked again.
“Do you have something more to say?”
“No. That guy is probably…”
Sophien stopped and smirked. No matter how intelligent an animal was, horses couldn’t come to the future. But, she remembered all of this moment. Therefore, one guess was possible. That herself in the future sent the horse personally.
“Hmm?”
Sophien’s eyes suddenly widened as she looked out the window. Epherene tilted her head.
“…What are you doing?”
“Look. There’s a game of Go.”
On the other side of the restaurant, in the cold park, a great game was taking place. A war between the black and white stones.
“Oh, I see.”
Sophien smiled. Certainly, the game of Go had been properly passed onto this future. Something worthwhile had appeared for Sophien.
“…Here is your meal.”
At that moment, the food Epherene ordered arrived. One, two, three, four, five, six… almost a dozen plates were set before them.
*gulp*
Epherene began to drool.
“By the way, Your Majesty, I’m asking just in case, but do you have money?”
“I don’t.”
“…What?”
Sophien picked up her knife and fork and cut into the steak. Her every small movement was filled with grace. On the other hand, Epherene hurriedly searched her pockets. Fortunately, she still had her allowance for the trip.
“Whew…”
Epherene wiped the sweat off her forehead, then Sophien picked up a napkin and spat out the food in her mouth. Then, with a spell, she burned the napkin and food together.
“Your Majesty…?”
“It doesn’t suit my taste.”
She tried another piece. She frowned as if it didn’t suit her taste again, spat it out again, and rinsed her mouth with water.
“…Tsk.”
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
“You eat it.”
Sophien stood up. The food quality was terrible, but thanks to that, she had come to her senses. With this, she could move around for another hour or two without dozing off.
“I am going to relieve my curiosity.”
Not only for the game of Go, but Sophien also moved her legs to pursue the tracks left by Deculein.
“Oh… okay. I’ll also think about the Professor.”
“Do what you want.”
Epherene didn’t dare follow the Emperor but instead picked up her fork and knife. Since she received the order to stay and eat, she devotedly set herself to the task.
……
“Wow~, you are a master!”
Sophien visited the Top Goal Park and played Go. She would head to the library at first, but she got carried away when she saw them setting down the stones with a steady clack.
“Everything shines. You’re amazing…”
“Where did you come from? I don’t think you’re from around here.”
She enjoyed their praises. It wasn’t just flattery but their sincere admiration.
“Is there someone else here that plays Go well?”
“Oh, that elder is in first place.”
Some woman pointed to the elder that was defeated by Sophien. The bald old man avoided her gaze by feigning a cough.
“There’s not much. Then, who is the most powerful Go master on this continent? Someone who deserves to be called a master?”
Sophien was expecting her name. Sophien, the Great Emperor, or something like that.
“If it’s the continent… then, at some point, Yukline’s-“
“Stop.”
Sophien didn’t listen any further. It was a future she didn’t want to hear. Things seemed to be changing, so she decided to leave the possibility open. He may have mentioned Yukline for fear of bringing up the name of the Emperor. It was then-
“Excuse me! Excuse me~! Uhm, is ‘Deus’ here?”
A mailman approached.
“Mr. Deus~, Mr. Deus~?!”
Sophien found the shouting bothersome at first. But in a short while, she realized the meaning of the word Deus and the very next moment.
“Mr. Deus, who plays Go?”
Sophien took away the envelope from the mailman with Psychokinesis.
“Aaah!”
The mailman fell in surprise. Sophien looked silently at the envelope.
[To Deus, who is playing Go]
Deus meant Emperor in the rune language. In other words, herself. Sophien pulled out a torn letter from the envelope.
—Your Majesty, this is Deculein of the distant future.
It was conspicuous from the very first sentence.
—From now on, I will leave my life to Your Majesty.
“…Hmm.”
It was ridiculous and odd, but the more she read, the deeper the smile on Sophien’s face grew.
*****
At the bottom of the crevasse.
Sylvia, having run out of magic during her battle with the ghost, was vacantly thinking with her body lying exhausted on the ground. Inside her head was all Deculein, Deculein, Deculein.
It was all Deculein.
—Grrrrrrr
“Shut up.”
She quickly shot back at the growling ghost. The ghost, whole body, covered with blood, coughed once and crouched down. Sylvia had taken a while to take control of him but finally succeeded in taking full control. Since she succeeded…
…Deculein. Sylvia thought of Deculein again and the conversation she had just overheard. She repeated the words over and over, thinking of the future Epherene and the present Deculein.
“…Hey.”
Sylvia approached the blue tree and spoke to it.
“Answer me.”
There was only silence. Sylvia put her hand on the tree.
“Arrogant Epherene. Answer me.”
…Empty.
‘You talked about this and that with Deculein. Everything that I can’t say.’
Somehow, Sylvia felt like she was doing something foolish.
“Epherene, it’s Sylvia.”
The polite ghost approached as she fiddled with the tree.
“Sit down.”
—Grr.
The obedient ghost sat and watched her. Sylvia fixed her gaze toward the tree again.
“I’m going to wait until you answer back.”
Then, she sat down in the nearby chair. The chair that Deculein was sitting in. When she thought of that, she felt nervous, and her body grew strangely hot. But anyway.
Sylvia turned the dark space bright with a spell and spoke to someone who might not even be there.
“I want to know, too.”
She recalled the face of Deculein from moments prior. Beautiful blue eyes as always, broad shoulders and back, and a clear and cold voice.
“…”
She hated- No, she loathed him. Just being in the same space, breathing the same air, no. At every moment, her heart was trembling like crazy.
“…Am I going to kill Deculein?”
Sylvia was curious whether she would kill someone she loved and hated so much with her own hands. And maybe, no way… whether Deculein wanted her to kill him.
“Tell me.”
But, there was no answer. Sylvia puffed her cheeks and stared at the tree.
Ziiiiiiiing—
Her eyes were almost firing lasers, but there was only silence.
“You fool.”
As expected, Epherene was arrogant. Sylvia waited at the tea table.
Until this girl answered…