Ch.5252. A Secret Code Between Two

Silence filled the room.

Princess Elenoa Luden Griffin and the apprentices of the Grand Mage behind her were all looking at me with their mouths shut.

They wanted me to give them some kind of answer quickly.

“……”

I was just lost in thought while keeping my eyes on the princess.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

There truly wasn’t any evil spirit attached to her.

[Hmm?]

Even the Dark Spiritmaster was examining Princess Elenoa here and there with a puzzled expression, then turned his gaze toward me with a look that said he couldn’t figure it out.

[Do you see anything?]

Thinking I should definitely warn him not to speak to me when people are around, I took a step closer to Princess Elenoa.

There are several evil spirits and monsters related to nightmares.

For example, in my era, there was a monster called “Mak” that combined body parts from various animals.

Of course, that one was a monster that ate nightmares.

In this world, there are succubi. In a world where demons actually exist, succubi would naturally be present too, but demons weren’t beings that could be easily seen.

‘If it were a demon, the Saintess would have already dealt with it.’

The Saintess would never have missed a demon, even if she might miss an evil spirit. She was the very antithesis of demons.

In the game, having her as a party member for even a short time became established as a major route for grinding demons.

Anyway.

It’s definitely not demon-related. Nor does she appear to be suffering from an evil spirit or monster.

‘Is it because it’s inside a dream that I can’t see it?’

As I was trying to reason it out, Princess Elenoa snapped at me irritably.

“You said you’d cure me! What are you doing now?!”

Her voice was quite sharp, likely from stress reaching its peak. This was quite different from the Elenoa I knew in the game.

So I asked her honestly.

“What is the content of your dreams?”

“……”

“Are they different every day?”

I had already heard about the content once from King Orpheus, but I still wanted to hear it directly from the princess herself.

She bit her lip firmly, then carefully began to explain.

The content of the dreams is always different.

The places, situations, and characters all change.

But what’s important is that they feel so real that she can’t distinguish them from reality, and someone always appears to teach her about the discrepancies between dreams and reality.

“L-last time in my dream, someone told me there were no scents… and soon after, scents started appearing in my dreams too.”

Upon hearing this, the Grand Mage’s apprentices let out gloomy sighs. It was easy to see how terrified the princess was.

After hearing everything, I nodded slightly and answered.

“Go to sleep.”

“…What?”

“You need to sleep so I can check your condition.”

Elenoa immediately jumped up from her chair and shouted as if having a fit.

“N-no! I don’t want to sleep!”

As she backed away from me, the Grand Mage’s apprentices immediately stepped forward to block my path.

“Stay where you are.”

“Move carelessly and you’ll be crippled, understand?”

But I didn’t even glance at them and answered Elenoa.

“Are you planning to never sleep for the rest of your life? Eventually, you’ll have to sleep.”

“……”

“So sleep while I’m here. That’s the only way I can analyze the cause of your nightmares.”

The situation is different, but the dreams are gradually changing and evolving, mimicking reality.

I don’t know where this mimicry will end or what its purpose is.

“The dream is catching up to reality. Clearly, at some point, you won’t be able to tell them apart. I don’t know what will happen then, but to solve this before that happens, I need to observe the situation.”

“……”

Despite her fear making her shake her head, I thought for a moment and made a suggestion.

“How about this? Let’s create a password that only you and I know.”

“…Pass-word?”

Pushing aside the apprentices blocking me, I stood in front of the princess.

Her trembling appearance looked nothing like the Elenoa who had faced death with dignity.

“Your dreams have one thing in common. The places and characters follow your current situation.”

When she fell asleep in the dormitory, she dreamed of before enrollment; when in a carriage, she dreamed of riding in a carriage.

As time passes, the dreams are catching up to reality, so if she falls asleep now, she’ll probably dream of being in the royal palace.

“To confirm whether you’re in a dream, find me. And ask me.”

“…What?”

“Well, you don’t need anything complicated. You can simply ask, ‘Is this reality?'”

“Are you joking? If I ask that, that thing in my dream will obviously say it’s reality! Even if we set a password now, it might already know about it!”

Just like when she read a book in her dream and the content in the book was what was already in Elenoa’s mind.

If the entity in the dream discovers the password in Elenoa’s mind through some unknown method, it’s over.

But I reassured her.

“If you ask me whether it’s reality, I will say a word that Princess Elenoa doesn’t know. It will be a word you’ve never heard before, and I’ll explain it to you.”

“…What?”

At her confused response, I shrugged and signaled her to try it.

It’s faster to try it once than to explain it.

“Is this reality right now?”

“There’s a character called Dooly.”

“…What?”

I found the corners of my mouth curling up strangely at Elenoa’s frowning expression.

“It’s a dinosaur I saw in a children’s book in the past. You can think of it as a green-bodied monster.”

“Does something like that really exist? D-Dooly?”

“You don’t need to worry about that specifically. But in this way, I know countless words that the princess doesn’t know.”

“……”

“That thing is getting fragmentary information from you. Conversely, it can’t know what you don’t know.”

Princess Elenoa slowly nodded. She seemed almost convinced by my words, swallowing hard and looking at me earnestly.

“So just find me wherever you are. And ask if where you are is reality.”

“…O-okay.”

Elenoa, clenching both hands tightly, slowly lay down on the bed as if making a resolution.

She slowly closed her eyes, but then suddenly opened them again and turned to look at me.

“Wait, do the opposite too.”

“The opposite?”

“Yes, instead of me having to check every time, you say one of those words when you see me. That way I’ll know it’s reality.”

“……”

“Whoever sees the other person first says it. Like a kind of game.”

Elenoa said with a slight smile, as if feeling a little excited. Since it wasn’t a difficult request, I nodded gently.

Elenoa said good and slowly closed her eyes.

Having forced herself to stay awake, she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

About 5 hours had passed since Elenoa fell asleep. During that time, Deus Verdi and the Grand Mage’s apprentices kept watch, and outside, the sunset was slowly fading.

“Huff! Huff!”

Once again, Elenoa rose urgently from the bed, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily and clutching her head.

She felt a severe headache striking and something pushing against her brain.

“Princess, are you alright?”

At the calm voice of the man asking, Elenoa glanced over.

Deus Verdi was standing beside her, giving off a strangely pleasant scent though he hadn’t applied any perfume.

Deus maintained an expressionless face, as if he had discovered something from the recent situation, yet there was a strange confidence and assurance in his features.

“D-did you. Figure something out?”

As she took the towel he offered and wiped her wet neck, Deus nodded as if it were obvious.

“Yes, I’ve found a solution.”

“I see… that’s good.”

“Was the password helpful?”

“Huh?”

Elenoa, finally coming to her senses, smiled softly and nodded.

“Yes, thanks to that I could tell it was a dream.”

“I’m glad.”

Deus nodded slightly as if he had expected as much, and answered coldly yet firmly.

“I believe I can solve your nightmare by tomorrow.”

“R-really?!”

Elenoa, surprised, smiled brightly, and Deus answered with confidence that there would be no problem.

“Then I’ll be going now, as I need to prepare.”

“Alright, I’m counting on you.”

Elenoa got up, thinking she should take a bath. She felt slightly dizzy, but her mood was good.

Deus Verdi was just as she had expected from her first impression—precise, confident, self-assured, and cool-headed.

It matched perfectly.

…

………

……………

It matched perfectly with the first impression she ‘thought’ she had?

She breathed in through her nose again, smelling Deus’s scent that lingered where he had been.

Slowly, she extended her hand and drew up mana. Blue mana appeared brilliantly at her fingertips.

And finally.

As Deus grabbed the doorknob, about to leave, Elenoa swallowed hard and asked toward the back of his head.

“Deus.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Is this reality?”

As he released the doorknob he had turned, it clicked back to its original position.

Deus slowly turned around and declared coldly.

“Damn it.”

“Huff! Huff!”

Elenoa opened her eyes again, rising from the same bed, sweating just as profusely as before.

Outside it had already grown dark, so the room’s lights were on, and just like in her dream, Deus Verdi and the two apprentices were standing guard over her.

“……”

Elenoa covered her face with the towel Deus silently handed her, forcing herself to take deep breaths.

In that state, Elenoa asked Deus.

“I-i-is this… reality?”

To that, Deus calmly replied.

“Fermat’s Last Theorem. The most famous unsolved problem in the history of mathematics. Many mathematicians cried, despaired, and could only remain silent before it.”

“……”

“However, 358 years after the problem was announced to the world, Andrew Wiles found the solution. It was a historic moment.”

Hearing those words, Elenoa’s eyes welled up with tears of relief as she grumbled.

“What the hell is that nonsense, damn it.”