Ch.5555. The Cat Was Dead

About 2 weeks had passed.

During that time, Princess Elenoa increasingly sought me out, but thanks to the many capable mages stationed there, the Mak was successfully completed.

“Wow.”

An exclamation came from one of the mages.

They were all smiling with satisfaction as they looked at the small monster inside the glass case.

It was the Mak.

The mages’ mana had mixed together, their thoughts gathering to form a concept.

An artificial life had been instilled into the form we had created.

Looking at it this way, I wondered if human existence wasn’t much different.

I thought perhaps God created us in a similar fashion.

Of course, the Mak couldn’t think as diversely as we could. It was essentially like a robot or AI.

A being that moved and acted according to what we had designed and programmed.

It couldn’t do anything beyond that—that kind of monster.

[I’m glad we didn’t have to use Lemegeton.]

“……”

I honestly agreed with the Dark Spiritmaster chattering beside me. The mages were skilled enough that we didn’t need to resort to Lemegeton as our last resort.

When fighting the Magic Tribunal, I could hold it and use it discreetly, but it was something that would drive mages mad if they saw it.

Furthermore, this item, better known as the Stone of Necromancy, was something the kingdom trembled at.

“We’ve succeeded.”

The Archmage standing beside me, seemingly moved, offered his hand.

I gently shook his hand and nodded.

“Thank you for your hard work. Without you and your disciples, it would have taken much longer.”

“No, I should be thanking you for allowing an old man like me to take on such a challenge.”

The Archmage was delighted to have surpassed his own limits and learned something new.

We both turned simultaneously to look at the Mak again. The small creature, about the size of a puppy, was sniffing around inside the case, searching for nightmares.

It was finally time to see results.

* * *

“Phew.”

Princess Elenoa slowly exhaled and lay down on the soft bed.

The warm lemon tea she had just drunk made her body feel cozy, and the fluffy pillow and cotton-filled blanket familiarly wrapped around her body.

The room lights were off, with only a soft lamp still on.

Just in case, a mage had created water vapor in the room to keep it moist, and classical musicians were playing in one corner to help her sleep.

It felt like every effort had been made to ensure a comfortable sleep, but all of this actually felt burdensome to Elenoa.

Just.

Wouldn’t it be enough to just have Deus Verdi staring blankly at her from beside her?

That thought suddenly occurred to her, but she pretended otherwise and closed her eyes.

Like reading a fairy tale to a child, if Deus would tell her an interesting story that only he knew, she would gradually fall asleep.

But if she said such a thing, her brother King Orpheus would glare at her with fire in his eyes.

“This really is the last time, right?”

Elenoa anxiously asked Deus. She still couldn’t believe that the dream that had tormented her for years would end today.

Deus answered her in his usual flat, monotone voice.

“Yes, this is the last nightmare.”

“Huh.”

She thought he could speak a little more gently at times like this.

But then she realized that this was what made him Deus Verdi, and why she could trust him so much.

His demeanor, so identical to his usual self, brought a sense of calm to Elenoa’s heart.

“I’m going to sleep now.”

Elenoa slowly closed her eyes.

Deus Verdi, King Orpheus, and Archmage Rockpellican at her side silently nodded.

Since she had been minimizing sleep and was constantly fatigued, she fell asleep instantly.

As a lullaby softly played in the background, the Mak that Deus was holding began to sniff.

It was a signal that it had found the nightmare, and soon after, it opened its mouth wide toward the princess.

* * *

“……”

Elenoa woke up in a flower garden. She felt as if her brain was filling with fluid after being empty.

For a moment, she stood blankly like a doll without consciousness, then suddenly looked around.

Ah, the kingdom’s garden.

What was I doing?

She began stacking her scattered thoughts like blocks, one by one.

Yes, that’s right.

She remembered calling for Deus. Though she wasn’t sure why she had been standing blankly, Deus was sitting on a bench, indifferently writing something in his notebook.

Elenoa approached Deus instinctively, almost by reflex.

Even as she approached, he continued writing in his notebook.

Sometimes Elenoa wished Deus would say the code first. Rather than her having to ask for it, if he volunteered it, she would feel that he valued her and that she wasn’t just being childish.

Besides, she had prepared her answer.

“Of course this is reality!” she wanted to say confidently, showing that she wasn’t succumbing to nightmares.

She wanted to convince herself that this was reality.

With that lingering disappointment, Elenoa walked lightly with her hands behind her back and asked Deus:

“Is this reality, Mr. Deus?”

When she asked somewhat playfully, Deus slowly raised his head to meet Elenoa’s eyes and spoke.

“There is a green animal called a cell phone. It’s something I often used in a place called a website.”

“……”

The moment she heard the answer, Elenoa’s eyes narrowed sharply.

With that single response, her sluggish thoughts were jolted awake as if struck.

This is not reality.

She was in a dream, and she had fallen asleep to end this nightmare once and for all.

Her heart momentarily raced, but thinking that this would finally end brought her comfort.

The Deus across from her stared blankly at Elenoa, then slowly began to distort.

Soon after, it took on Elenoa’s form.

Facing the expressionless fake that was staring at her without saying anything, Elenoa made a firm declaration.

“It’s over now. Today, I’ll say goodbye to this wretched nightmare. Outside, Deus is getting rid of this nightmare.”

At those words, the fake Elenoa made a peculiar expression and casually replied.

“Yes, it seems so. The dream is really ending.”

The dream’s background was gradually disappearing. It cracked into fragments, and those fragments became faintly transparent, losing their color.

It felt like a cage was collapsing, which was refreshing.

As if reading her mind, the fake asked just like the real Elenoa would:

“Are you relieved? Now that you won’t have any more dreams?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Night was always a terror for me, and sleep was a burden I couldn’t shed even if I wanted to. I’m finally free.”

Hearing those words, the fake Elenoa nodded and said, “I see.”

It felt different from usual.

Unlike before, when it tried to find differences between reality and dreams and eliminate discrepancies.

Had it given up?

It seemed like it would answer anything now.

Elenoa swallowed hard, clenched her fists, and asked.

“What exactly are you?”

“……”

The fake Elenoa slowly stood up. Looking at each other, meeting eyes, only then could Elenoa notice the difference.

Surprisingly.

In the fake Elenoa’s eyes, there was desire, greed, and unyielding conviction.

Seeing that, fear began to creep in through her eyes, mouth, and nose.

When comparing herself with this fake now.

She couldn’t shake the question of who was the superior Elenoa, and she couldn’t even be certain.

She didn’t have that level of conviction, nor did she have belief and confidence in herself.

Even at the edge of the dream, the fake Elenoa’s shoulders didn’t shrink, and her back showed no signs of bending.

A mountain-like will and desire, unlike her small frame.

It was violently overwhelming Elenoa, but.

Crack, crack!

The world, the dream, was collapsing.

The long, hellish dream was finally announcing its end and coming to a close.

Deus was helping her.

Elenoa recalled this and regained her composure. The fake didn’t seem too pleased about it.

“You’re relying on that professor nobody? How weak.”

“……”

“I don’t know how long you’ll live like that, but fine. If that’s what you want.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been fun all this time.”

The fake sighed, turned around, and walked away.

“Goodbye.”

It was the moment when Elenoa’s nightmare came to an end.

* * *

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

Elenoa woke up urgently. Fortunately, the Archmage had used magic to wipe away her sweat, so she woke up in a dry state.

“E-Elenoa!”

King Orpheus urgently approached Princess Elenoa. I deliberately stepped back a few paces to not interfere with their brief separation and reunion.

“Ah……”

Elenoa looked at her brother and began to shed tears.

“I did it.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Elenoa fell into Orpheus’s arms.

The king’s expression also contorted with emotion, feeling the weight of the tears falling.

“Now… I don’t have to fear the night anymore.”

At Elenoa’s words, which released years of pent-up resentment, King Orpheus also shed tears and embraced her tightly.

No more nightmares.

A peaceful night had finally come to the small girl.

The two held each other for a long time, crying. The Archmage sent the musicians outside and turned his body away to avoid seeing the king’s tears, though his own eyes were slightly moist.

Afterward, Elenoa sat on the bed, seemingly drained of strength, and King Orpheus approached me.

Then he stretched out his hand and embraced me.

“Thank you, thank you so much! It’s all thanks to you!”

“……”

Honestly, I didn’t particularly enjoy such intense displays of affection, but I could feel how happy the king was, so I remained still.

“We shall hold a banquet today! There will be a grand feast!”

The king said with a hearty laugh.

As the delighted king and Archmage left, and only Elenoa and her maids remained in the room to change into pajamas.

I was about to leave as well, but I paused, slowly turned toward Elenoa, and spoke one last time.

“There’s a thought experiment called Schrödinger’s cat.”

The maids looked at me as if to ask what I was talking about, and Elenoa also stared at me blankly before smiling slightly.

“Go on.”

“It’s an experiment created to criticize the incompleteness of quantum mechanics, as I mentioned before.”

There’s a cat in a box.

Next to it is placed a radioactive substance that has a 50% chance of decaying.

When the counter detects radiation, a hammer moves and breaks a vial containing poison, killing the cat.

If it doesn’t detect it, the vial remains intact and the cat inside the box stays alive—a very famous experiment.

The maids frowned, suddenly wondering what on earth I was talking about.

But my gaze was solely directed at Elenoa.

“The cat in the box is both half alive and half dead until it’s checked.”

Ultimately, Schrödinger’s cat only has meaning when the box isn’t opened.

It exists in a state of coexistence with a fifty-fifty probability of being either alive or dead.

I suddenly felt as if I had become Schrödinger.

If not confirmed, all possibilities coexist, but.

I deliberately spoke up, and.

Elenoa chuckled softly.

Then she answered.

“What are you talking about?”

Creak.

Bang.

The door closed.

I could only stand silently outside the room without taking a single step.

Schrödinger didn’t open the box, but.

I opened the box, and.

The cat was dead.