Ch.338338. Destiny (4)

    The exit had disappeared. Along with the advice that I couldn’t be sent away from here.

    Even though it’s my dream. Even though it’s my dream, not someone else’s, I cannot wake up from this place at will.

    Not unless I convince the deity known as the Sagittarius Constellation.

    “The magic spear I used, or rather… the power of Alcaide, as you called it. Why are you so certain that I’ll use that power again?”

    “Isn’t this a situation that calls for it? If the remaining Named Beast, Peltiburgos of Erosion, cannot be handled by the Duchy’s forces, they will inevitably seek your help, won’t they?”

    “But I’m not going there to die!”

    “I know. You’ve been constantly struggling to stay alive all this time. As always, you’ve found the best moves and created your own breakthroughs in times of crisis.”

    “Then, couldn’t I create my own breakthrough this time as well and overcome it?”

    “On what grounds?”

    I was struck speechless by her question about what grounds I had for creating a breakthrough.

    “Your approach to crises has always been correct. But each time, wasn’t there something insurmountable blocking your path?”

    I couldn’t readily deny it. As she said, my plans hadn’t completely separated the time before and after regression.

    “Your interventions did make notable differences. The Duchy’s forces are much stronger now than before the regression, and not only has the timing of resolving various incidents improved, but the damages have also been drastically reduced. Yes, if you’re going to argue that your interventions changed many things, I do recognize these differences. But has all of your past experience disappeared because of that?”

    No. The past I experienced… all of it…

    “The Giant Kudrat that grew from the beast blood deliberately released by Marquis Flocan tried to ruin the Tveshar Joint Training, which was the beginning-of-term evaluation. Of course, you responded knowing that you were weak against Mistelis, but you couldn’t prevent Charlotte from going berserk, could you?”

    After that incident, Charlotte was called a monster for a while and was physically assaulted. It wasn’t something that never happened.

    “During the Canolatlé suppression, when you encountered the southward-moving Osopteras, your intervention prevented casualties. But you couldn’t prevent the incident itself. As a result, Aris and Erica were seriously injured again this time. Did you prevent that too?”

    By the time I arrived, both of them had already fallen. It had already happened.

    “You somehow prevented the first and second Inferior Student Rampages through your intervention. The first with Reni’s help, and the second by directly intervening during the aptitude test. But what about the Dubekan? What happened to the Dubekan, which you considered a means to counter Pimpert’s distortion waves?”

    It collapsed. First to Cayden. Second to Demian. The reality of the Dubekan’s collapse remained unchanged.

    The same was true for the mana stone hoarding incident after the Illusion Duel. The same events unfolded in the end.

    I don’t think the attempt by Count Kutelli’s family to kidnap Adel and force her into marriage was a one-time occurrence either.

    The same with Cain and Octagon. The atrocities committed by the nobles there still required Charlotte’s help in the end.

    Furthermore, the Plague of Shanbereshu. The Distortion of Pimpert. And the Oblivion of Ashpern.

    It was merely my excuse to think that these were events I couldn’t prevent in advance.

    So as the two paths I had walked until now echoed in someone else’s voice, I couldn’t refute a single word.

    “Junon. Having faced such realities repeatedly, do you still insist on being stubborn?”

    As she said, I had only slightly twisted the outcomes of the past, and everything had flowed smoothly as before.

    But.

    “In the one second I remain in this dream, someone’s life could be extinguished. I… I can’t stay asleep.”

    “Since your regression, things haven’t always gone as you wanted, have they?”

    “You’re right. But just as my plans haven’t always worked out, that future isn’t predetermined either, is it?”

    Yes. Nothing had been handled smoothly.

    No, perhaps there had been such one-sided repetitions that it seemed like there might be a predetermined path. Both before and after regression.

    I couldn’t dismiss it as merely a feeling, but I had still managed to create differences.

    So I could change something in this future too. Like finding a way to defeat it without using Alcaide’s power.

    And like the collapse of this space before my eyes.

    *Crack!*

    “W-what are you doing, strangling yourself…! What are you thinking?!”

    “A dream, is ultimately, mine, isn’t it! If I, die in the dream, I should, wake up in reality!”

    “Stop such a reckless act…! Stop it right now!”

    “I don’t, mind being reckless. I want, the country where I live with, my precious people, to not disappear! And I…!”

    *Crack! Crack! Crack!*

    “I must, protect the one I love, from even a speck of the beasts!!”

    The cracks in the space grow larger, and the fractures expand.

    When I watched the exit disappear earlier, I suspected that if I damaged the space itself, the exit might be revealed. Besides, in a dream, pain shouldn’t be felt at all. Strangling myself is nothing.

    Convinced this method was correct, I asked:

    “Was it, in my fate, that I would, do something like this?”

    “…”

    The Sagittarius Constellation parted her lips slightly but only sighed without answering.

    Finally, the burst-open crack splits even the space where I stood. Like a crevasse in ice, I fall into the deep abyss, no longer strangling myself.

    “Thank you for understanding, Constellation. I’ll definitely change at least the final fate.”

    The face of the Sagittarius Constellation reflected in my vision as I fell into the endless abyss wore an expression that seemed to say, “This child is hopeless.”

    ***

    “Haah, really.”

    The woman who had been talking with Junon and trying not to let him leave the dream rested her chin on her hand and sighed deeply as she looked at the extinguished space.

    “I was absolutely determined not to let him go… but when he acts so recklessly, what can I do?”

    Since it concerned the life thread of the one called as Alcaide, she couldn’t simply let Junon go.

    But what? The dream itself is his? If he dies in the dream, he can wake up in reality?

    It was truly hard to watch him strangle himself to wake up from the dream with such an outlandish idea.

    His will to escape the dream was too firm, and she hadn’t expected him to commit such a reckless act.

    The moment she decided to let him go was when he said:

    *I don’t mind being reckless. I want the country where I live with my precious people to not disappear! And I…*

    *I must protect the one I love from even a speck of the beasts!!*

    The object of his affection was… obvious.

    “It’s good that he cares for our daughter… but how can he do the same thing as you?”

    The Sagittarius Constellation, Reinesia Arcave von Lantana, turned around with a worried expression.

    There stood a man with an equally troubled expression.

    “Indeed. Well, if only he had waited here a little longer. He’s a smart boy, but I guess this didn’t occur to him.”

    “…He’s a satisfactory son-in-law. Seeing how much he cherishes our Reni, he’s truly a first-class catch. But at this rate, it’s too dangerous.”

    She had clearly told him that if he used Alcaide’s power even once more, he would die.

    That wasn’t a lie. To instill a sense of caution and fear, she had appeared in his dream to tell him that if Junon used Alcaide’s power even once more, he would certainly die.

    Due to Alcaide’s fate.

    But he had returned to reality saying that if all fate had been predetermined until now, he would definitely change at least the final fate.

    “Haah. It can’t be helped. He’s already beyond our hands.”

    “Isn’t there any way you can help more? Like using more of the Great Bear’s nebula?”

    “Impossible. I’ve already used most of my power on that child.”

    All that remained was to watch.

    To see what future awaits Alcaide, Junon, who had fallen to the Duchy.

    ***

    Aris’s hands trembled.

    The reason was a letter held in her hands.

    “…Where did this come from?”

    “Ah, yes. A soldier brought by Lady Senia asked me to deliver it.”

    The soldier added one more thing while watching Aris’s reaction.

    “But, um… the torn part wasn’t like that before I delivered it, but it seems it was unavoidably lost when it got cut during battle…”

    He asked her not to misunderstand that it was his mistake in delivering it, but such words didn’t reach Aris’s ears.

    If it was a soldier brought by Senia, it would naturally be students from Schütt Road School who had stayed in Schütt Province or surviving soldiers cured of the Lemtert Plague.

    Since Hiplisia was a plant of the Seirens effective in treating the Lemtert Plague, all infected people would have lived with the Seirens.

    And what was written in the memo was news that their disciples, the children they thought had died since the start of this war, were currently with the Lakan tribe in Algenib Province.

    “Aris teacher! We are in Algenib Province with the Lakan tribe ──! ────── so ───!”

    The torn parts were illegible.

    However, just these words were enough to disturb Aris.

    Below were the playful handwritings of her disciples, easily recognizable. Each one contained a message for Aris; it was a rolling paper.

    ‘If it’s the Seirens… they could certainly deliver such news. But the Lakans…!’

    The news that the Seirens were alive was understandable.

    Schütt Province was a place untouched by Ashpern’s domain, and since Junon had directly led troops to draw attention to the Ripol River, there was no reason to look in that direction.

    But what about Algenib Province?

    Algenib was where Peltiburgos had invaded toward Levrant. At some point, news from the Lakans stopped coming, and subsequently, they had given up on Algenib.

    The Duchy forces had briefly mourned, believing the Lakans were already dead.

    Thinking that her disciples were gathered in such a place, Aris wanted to move immediately.

    “Aris? What are you doing there?”

    “Huh? Oh? Senia…?”

    “…Why do you look like that? Are you sick?”

    Senia immediately noticed that Aris’s face had turned pale and asked.

    Then her eyes fell on the torn memo in Aris’s hand.

    Before Senia could ask, Aris extended the memo and confessed:

    “I know they’re my disciples…! But, I, I won’t make the same mistake again!!”

    Aris, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut, handed the memo to Senia as if avoiding it. Her long internal conflict had tipped the scale toward not repeating the same mistake.

    The desertion of just one Tembris member had caused the Duchy forces to waver and soldiers to tremble with anxiety. She had seen the precedent with her own eyes.

    She couldn’t make that terrible mistake again, and in confessing this, Aris had already grown.

    “When Junon wakes up, I’ll ask him about it. Until then, this memo…”

    “Yes. You, you keep it… If I look at it, I might cause another incident…”

    “Alright. Don’t think only negatively, as things might not have progressed in a bad direction.”

    “I’m sorry… Senia.”

    “Forget the apology. Michelle was looking for me, so let’s go together for now. It seems she wants to discuss something important.”

    “…Is it just us gathering?”

    Senia nodded in affirmation. Aris silently followed Senia afterward.


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