◇
I asked Lueria and Frederick to wait in the guest room while the five of us—me, Shion, Fuuka, Telshe-san, and Hart-san—headed to Christopher-san's office.
I didn't think they would cause any trouble, but just in case, I kept a constant watch on their situation with [Bird's-Eye View], so there shouldn't be any issues.
Following Telshe-san's guidance, we entered the room. Just like last time, Christopher-san, wearing his signature monocle, came out to greet us.
The main difference from before was the look of surprise on his face when he saw me.
"I had heard that Shion had woken up, but I didn't expect you all to come as well."
"Sorry for showing up so suddenly, Christopher-san."
"…No, I can make as much time as you need, Orun."
Even though he must still have been shaken, the gaze Christopher-san directed at me was filled with gentle affection, like an older brother doting on a much younger sibling.
It felt both nostalgic and comforting.
Memories of him playing with me when I was little came flooding back.
"Thank you. There are a lot of things I want to talk with you about, but first—I've regained my memories."
When I told him that, Christopher-san placed his clasped hands in front of his face and closed his eyes for a moment, as if thinking.
But it only lasted an instant. He opened his eyes and gave me a warm, gentle smile.
"…I had a feeling something like that when I saw you. If you've really gotten your memories back, you don't have to call me something formal like 'Christopher-san.' You can call me 'Chris-niisan' like you used to, you know?"
He was a magic tool craftsman who had studied under my father.
Back when I lived in the Dawn Village, he would visit my father many times.
On those occasions, he would also play with me, and I had looked up to him like a real older brother.
But…
"…No, I'm pretty sure I used to just call you 'Chris' when I was a kid. Please don't make up weird fabrications."
That's right. I had called him "Chris."
He had stubbornly insisted that I call him "Chris-niisan," but I had ignored that and kept calling him "Chris."
I liked the wry smile he would make and say "Can't be helped, huh" whenever I did that.
"Hahaha! That's right, you did. …So it's true. Your memories really have returned. I'm so glad… truly…"
Realizing that I had regained my memories, Christopher-san murmured with moist eyes, as if savoring the moment.
"If you don't mind, can I treat you the way I used to?"
I stepped closer to him, and he smiled happily.
"Of course. In fact, you can even call me 'Chris-niisan' from now on if you want?"
"No, I'll stick with 'Chris' like before."
When I flatly refused, he gave me the wry smile I had always liked.
As we were enjoying this nostalgic exchange, Shion stepped forward.
"Sorry to interrupt your nostalgia, but I'm actually angry with you, Chris."
"What? Because I stole Orun from you?"
Chris teased her.
Shion puffed out her cheeks but shook her head.
"It's not that. You've been hiding a lot from me, haven't you? For example, about Cavadele Evans."
Cavadele Evans.
My grandfather, the legendary magic tool craftsman who had made major contributions to the development of magic tools during the Northern Domain War decades ago and was said to have advanced the technological level of magic tools by a hundred years.
In the public eye, he was supposed to have committed suicide about ten years ago.
But in reality, he had been alive, running a general store in Tsutrail while watching over me.
"Cavadele Evans…? You mean the magic tool craftsman who died ten years ago? I'm not hiding anything about him."
Chris looked genuinely puzzled as Shion pressed him.
Not only him, but Hart-san and Telshe-san wore similar expressions.
Only Fuuka remained completely indifferent as usual.
"…?"
Shion also tilted her head, surprised by their unexpected reactions.
"Shion, I think they really don't know anything more about Grandpa—Cavadele Evans—than what the public believes."
"…What do you mean?"
"This is the world after time was rewound in exchange for Grandpa's existence. In other words, it's a 'world where Grandpa died ten years ago.'"
I had thought Grandpa had faked his death in order to reset his relationships with the people around him.
But now I understood that wasn't the case.
Grandpa had foreseen the previous timeline's events even ten years ago and had arranged it so that in this new timeline, he would be treated as someone who had died ten years earlier.
Most likely, everything Grandpa had been involved with over the past ten years had either been erased as if it never happened or replaced with something else.
As I thought about that, I glanced down at the storage magic tool on my left wrist.
This had originally been a special one Grandpa made for me shortly after I became an explorer.
The shape was the same, but the formulas sealed inside were probably no different from ordinary storage magic tools.
It likely didn't have any extra capacity or the ability to store magical power either.
The one fortunate thing was that I still remembered the formulas Grandpa had used, so I could recreate it now.
"I see. So that's how it works."
Shion accepted my explanation.
But on the other hand, questions had arisen for Chris and the others.
"Quite a few interesting words have come out of your mouth, Orun. May I ask about them?"
Chris spoke as their representative.
"Of course. That's one of the reasons I came here."
I then told them about the events that had occurred before the time rewind.
How the Cyclamen Order had attacked Tsutrail in order to break my heart.
How Grandpa had used the Order's atrocities to plan the rewinding of the world's time.
How Chris, Hart-san, and the others had been part of that plan.
And how, as a result, I had regained my memories and my ability.
"…So that means we allowed the residents of Tsutrail to be massacred by the Order…? Hahaha… We really are a criminal organization, just as the world says…"
After hearing my story, Chris gave a weak, self-mocking laugh.
"I don't have no feelings about this whole sequence of events. But without that, we wouldn't be here now, and Beria's—no, the Order's desired world would have been all but certain. —That's why I won't forget this defeat. I've sworn to carry this defeat on my back and continue moving forward to achieve my goal."
"You're strong, Orun. So, what is your goal? To defeat the Cyclamen Order?"
"That's only a stepping stone, Chris. I'm going to destroy this world. And then I'm going to take the people of this world to the outside world. That is my goal."
At the end of the chaotic era of the fairy tales.
August-san and those who followed him had barely managed to win by sealing the evil god.
However, the fierce battle with the evil god had corrupted the world, turning it into an environment where most humans could no longer live.
When humanity's extinction had become only a matter of time, August-san had created a new world—the world of art principles—and people had escaped extinction by fleeing there.
They had hoped that one day they would return to their original home, the outside world.
But over the long passage of time, that hope had gradually been forgotten.
"So that's your goal now. …Let me ask you one thing. This world has developed over several hundred years. On top of that, thanks to the secret maneuvers of the Cyclamen Order, not only has the desire to return to the outside world been lost, but even the very existence of the outside world has been forgotten. No one may even want that anymore, you know?"
"I understand that. But I'm still going to do it. I spoke of doing it for this world, or for the dreams of the people of the past, but in the end, I simply want to go to the outside world myself. That's why I'm going to remove every obstacle in my way and go there—for my own sake."
"By destroying this world that stands in the way, huh. ...I see. So the time has finally come."
Chris murmured.
His voice carried a complex mix of many different emotions, too deep to be expressed in simple words.
Amuntsars.
It was an organization recognized as a powerful criminal group on par with the Cyclamen Order.
The main reason was that they opposed the conquest of the great labyrinths and had killed explorers for many years.
The great labyrinths served as the sealing devices for the evil god and were also indispensable for maintaining this world.
If all the great labyrinths were conquered, this world would no longer be sustainable and would be swallowed by the outside world.
That would mean a world where people could no longer live.
What awaited beyond that was, naturally, the extinction of humanity.
But now that history itself had been distorted along with people's recognition by the Cyclamen Order, almost no one knew that truth.
The evil god was said to have already been defeated, and anyone claiming that the great labyrinths played a role in maintaining the world would simply be laughed off.
Besides, human desire could not be stopped.
When it came to conquering the great labyrinths—something no one had ever accomplished—it was only natural that people would appear who wanted to try.
Even I had once been captivated by the allure of conquering a great labyrinth.
I understood the feelings of those explorers very well.
As a result, almost no explorers had listened to Amuntsars's warnings, and the organization had eventually resorted to force.
"...We have continued to stain our hands with blood all this time for today. Can we finally say that it had meaning…?"
Chris murmured while looking down at his own hands.
Shion, standing beside me, lowered her eyes with a complicated expression.
"I don't know whether what Amuntsars has done was right or whether it had meaning. But—"
As I mentioned earlier, the reason they had killed explorers to prevent the conquest of the great labyrinths was to protect the world.
In order to protect the vast majority of people living in this world, they had continued to sacrifice the minority known as explorers.
Sacrificing the few to save the many.
It was one of the survival strategies that had been chosen many times throughout history.
Whether that had been the right thing to do was something I, who was practically family to them, could not judge.
The people best able to judge fairly would be those living in the future, once the present had become the past.
In that distant future, would Amuntsars be cursed as mass murderers who slaughtered people, or praised as saviors who saved humanity? I didn't know.
Since I couldn't know the outcome, the only thing I could do was walk the path I believed was right.
"…From now on, there may be situations where I have no choice but to exchange lives with those who stand against me. Even so, what I am aiming for is what you would call a happy ending. I know that's a very strict condition. Still, I hope that you, Chris, and the others will cooperate with me under those terms."
"Orun…"
Shion murmured my name with a pained expression.
As a member of Amuntsars, she too had killed many explorers.
Given that she was known as the [White Demon], her presence within Amuntsars must have been especially strong.
From her expression, I could tell she carried a heavy burden of guilt.
In the netherworld, she had affirmed me when I had been tormented by guilt.
She had saved me.
That was why I wanted to reach out my hand to her as well.
As I was thinking that, Chris spoke up with a pure smile.
"Understood. If it can be accomplished without killing, that would be best. Amuntsars itself was founded together with the [Hero of the Fairy Tales] with the goal of 'finding a way to return to the outside world.' If you have inherited his will, then we have no reason to refuse cooperation. Personally, I also want to support my little brother-in-law's dream."
"Thank you. That's reassuring."
And so, I gained the cooperation of Amuntsars.
Well, you could also say we had simply returned to the same sheath.
◇