Ch.207Side Story: Time Reset – 3

I chose a time period right after Nika appeared at the imperial palace as the Succubus Queen to propose a ceasefire.

It was after the remnants of the Demon King’s army, including the Elder Lich, had been eliminated, but before Aria had started driving the demons into a frenzy by tempting them with the demon sword.

Truthfully, if possible, I would have preferred to start from the very beginning—from the academy entrance ceremony. But I couldn’t do that because Latina warned that going too far back in time might distort causality.

‘I wonder if the Sword Saint was already gone by then.’

Oddly enough, the Sword Saint had already disappeared.

In my original timeline, I received the report about the Sword Saint’s disappearance after returning from the Divine Demon’s realm, which was quite some time after this current point in time. Somehow, he had managed to travel back in time on his own.

Even more dramatically than Beatrice, who had merely experienced it as a vivid dream.

Still, I wasn’t worried. This was the Sword Saint we’re talking about. Nothing in this world could threaten him, and even most creatures from the first world wouldn’t pose a danger to him.

Especially since he disappeared carrying not his wooden sword, but his own blade made from a dragon’s fang. If fate allowed, we’d meet again someday.

‘Right. I wonder what happened to the Elder Lich.’

The thought suddenly occurred to me. By now, he was probably being enthusiastically subjected to live experiments by the Tower Masters in the basement of the Mage Association.

‘I should ask about that while I’m at it.’

I could also use the opportunity to find out if anyone had experienced unusually realistic dreams. I picked up the crystal ball that connected to the Red Tower Master from among the row of magical communication devices.

During the aftermath of my battle with Aria, when we disguised the damage as a dormitory explosion incident, I had made a deal with the Red Tower Master—she would take the blame in exchange for me teaching her sword magic and status ailment dispelling magic a month earlier than scheduled.

That promise had lost all meaning now that time had been rewound to much earlier, but that actually made her the perfect person to ask whether she remembered anything.

“Red Tower Master, can you hear me?”

As soon as I made contact, there was a crashing sound of something being knocked over, followed immediately by a sultry female voice.

—Yes. I can hear you perfectly, Mira Crate. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?

“I was wondering if you still remember the promise we made before. You know, when I agreed to teach you sword magic and status ailment dispelling magic a month earlier than the others.”

—Of course, Mira Crate. I certainly remember that.

Huh? I felt a moment of surprise.

‘Really? She remembers?’

This was unexpected. Could there be others besides Beatrice who experienced the now-erased timeline like a dream?

That would be problematic. If it were just one or two people, it could be dismissed as a simple anomaly, but if dozens or hundreds of people shared such experiences, they would start looking for patterns.

I decided to probe a bit further just to be sure.

“Then you must also remember why I made that promise. What was the reason?”

—…….

The Red Tower Master fell silent.

‘There we go.’

I looked down at the now-mute crystal ball and let out a wry smile.

Her claim of remembering was clearly a 100% lie. She probably had no idea what I was talking about but eagerly agreed at the prospect of receiving instruction a month earlier than the other Tower Masters.

“My, body… as… payment—”

“Hmm, that sounds quite different from what I remember.”

“……”

I cut off her nonsense immediately. After failing so many times, she still hadn’t given up.

“I’ll give you one more chance since you might be confused. If your answer doesn’t match my memory, some very interesting things might happen. Like, accidentally delaying the delivery of new spells to the Red Tower by ten years, or accidentally forgetting to send an invitation to just the Red Tower Master for new magic instruction sessions. So, is your memory coming back now?”

It’s not that her answer was different—it was wrong. The people here couldn’t possibly remember events from a timeline they would never experience again.

—I’m so sorry, Mira Crate! Please forgive me! I was wrong!

As expected, the Red Tower Master immediately tucked her tail between her legs and started apologizing profusely.

I knew it. As punishment for causing me unnecessary anxiety, I pretended to be deep in thought while tapping on the crystal ball. The Red Tower Master flinched with each tap, making frightened squeaking sounds.

‘Is Beatrice the exception?’

Considering that my parents, both my sisters, and even Io denied having such vivid dreams, Beatrice seemed to be a special case.

Perhaps, like Leona, Nika, and Erestica, it was because she was connected to me—not enough to move in stopped time, but enough to experience an erased timeline.

—Hieek… huk… huaak…

The sound of someone gasping for breath came from somewhere. I snapped out of my thoughts.

The Red Tower Master was making sounds like she was half-dying. I must have been tapping on the crystal ball for too long while lost in thought.

“We’ll discuss your attempt to deceive me later. What happened to the Elder Lich? Is he still being experimented on?”

—Y-yes! That’s correct!

Seeing an opportunity to divert my attention, the Red Tower Master launched into a detailed explanation of all their experiments, including things I hadn’t even asked about. A stream of specialized magical terminology followed.

After listening for about five minutes, I cut her off. The gist was that the Elder Lich still showed absolutely no reaction to any external stimuli, even after they had opened his skull and directly manipulated his brain.

“I see. Well, use him as you see fit. If you break him, it’s your loss, not mine.”

—Understood!

“And you’re to arrive six hours late to the next meeting.”

—Ah.

The Red Tower Master broke into loud wailing as soon as I finished speaking.

What a bunch of lunatics.

“This scenery brings back memories.”

“It does.”

“I thought I’d miss it for sure, but why do I already feel tired now that we’re here?”

“Because what student actually enjoys going to school?”

If we were like other students, with our shoulders held high with pride at being Bellium Academy students, it might be different. But for us, who had long since moved beyond being students, this was just an ordinary academy.

“…Yeah. I guess that’s it.”

Leona answered while looking wistfully to her empty right side rather than at me. Originally, there should have been one more person walking with us, making us a group of four.

But not anymore. Aria’s very existence had been erased from this world.

Aria’s parents now had three completely different children, and the entire village remembered Leona as having grown up alone without a childhood friend. The academy’s second-ranked student was someone else entirely, not Aria.

We were the only ones who remembered her existence.

“……”

I didn’t know how Leona felt about Aria now. She might still be haunted by the harsh words she had spoken then, or she might have forgiven her after seeing her sacrifice.

One thing was certain: Aria’s absence still left a huge hole in Leona’s life. Without me, she wouldn’t have known how to fill that void.

“What are you two doing standing gloomily in the middle of the path?”

Ellisiere suddenly inserted herself between us.

Instead of her attire as the Demon King, symbol of power, she wore a school uniform. Since the demon sword no longer existed, I should call her Ciel now.

“It’s nothing, Ciel. Just had some things on my mind.”

Leona already knew Ellisiere’s true identity. During the seven years they had spent on Earth before my arrival, they had shared countless conversations and revealed all sorts of secrets to each other.

When Leona learned that the Demon King who had driven her to the point of hyperventilation was actually Ellisiere, and that it had all been a scheme to help her grow, she apparently had a very complex expression.

In the end, she seemed to have let it go since it had helped her achieve awakening and relieved her of her burden as the Hero, deciding that all’s well that ends well.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just wondering what happens next.”

“Indeed, a question worth pondering.”

The Demon King would no longer appear, and even the Goddess and Divine Demon had not yet returned to this world. Even if monsters or demons invaded, they would clearly pose no real threat.

So what would become of this world?

Laura had rushed to conclude her work after capturing Ellisiere, so nobody really knew what would happen next. As we headed toward the classroom with these thoughts in mind, I noticed something.

In the distance, other students were gathered in a group, buzzing with conversation. This was another sight I hadn’t seen in the original timeline. Curious, I approached.

The students parted to make way as they saw me coming.

“……”

With a strange feeling, I moved toward the center of attention. There was a stack of paper flyers. It felt oddly analog in this setting. I picked one up and examined it.

“Summer festival…?”

It was an announcement for a summer festival, stamped with the Director’s seal.

“A sudden festival? I don’t understand.”

“That’s how it’s been decided.”

Bellium Academy did have various events, but they were mostly held after the midterm and final exams of the second semester. Nothing like this had ever been scheduled right at the beginning of the second semester.

“And an inter-academy exchange at that… what brought this on? In all your time as Director, you’ve never organized anything like this.”

It wasn’t even just Bellium Academy alone. Two other academies, considered the next most prestigious after Bellium, were also participating.

“I’ve observed Earth’s culture. Wouldn’t it be fun to have something similar here?”

She probably meant inter-school competitions. She must have learned about them while researching Earth, which she had to do whether she liked it or not.

I suddenly remembered the chants about “Nomo University’s Department of Uncensoring Adult Videos” that echoed throughout such competitions on Earth. I shuddered. Thankfully, such culture didn’t exist here.

“I understand. If it’s already been decided, there’s no point in arguing. What do you plan to do at the festival?”

“I have a few ideas in mind, and I’ll give students autonomy for the rest. But there’s one thing where I need your help…”

The Director smiled mischievously.

“How would you feel about playing the role of a boss monster?”