Changing the Predetermined Future

The plaza lay under a heavy silence after the hero candidate Leon made his descent. I fought to steady my thundering heartbeat, then bent at the waist with elegant precision, placing my right hand over my chest. First impressions decide everything, so I had to project as much dignity as possible… No, fuck. It’s completely ruined. This trash Evan—gambling addict, womanizing piece of shit, absolute garbage. How the hell am I supposed to clear this quest? Can it even be cleared from a possessed person’s perspective? Who could possibly clear something like this?

Resentment boiled up inside me like thick smoke, yet my face remained perfectly composed. I had never once practiced noble etiquette in my entire life, but the survival instinct of a man driven to the edge moved with literal, animal precision.

“This lowly one of House Balderck expresses his deepest gratitude for the fair judgment, Your Highness the First Princess.”

As polite as possible, yet never servile. Still, even after my flawless greeting, Princess Eresia simply swept her indifferent gaze over me once. It looked faintly annoyed. Or maybe she was staring at me like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was an insect. Why are they all like this? They won’t even let me try anything. Damn it, we’re screwed. Totally screwed.

Not a single spark of interest lingered in her eyes. She hadn’t saved me out of pity. The justification I’d thrown out—“the laws of the empire and the honor of nobility”—had merely elevated the authority of the imperial family. For the sake of the imperial house’s rights, which stood even above the church of the goddess, it was simply, ‘You were lucky an imperial was present.’

She looked at me for only a moment, offered a curt tilt of her chin, then strode past without a backward glance, her escort knights in tow.

I lowered my head with refined grace, but out of the corner of my eye I stole a lightning-fast, extremely brief glance at her entire figure. In that instant, but isn’t that a man’s basic duty? That rich rose scent… Ah, excellent. She’s beautiful. The artwork is straight-up insane. Every single heroine is gorgeous. Absolute top-tier beauties. Her chest is definitely F-cup or beyond—no, words fail me. The story is garbage-tier but the art is god-tier. And on top of that, the authority of being the First Princess makes her completely untouchable. So this is why status matters. Mm, very good. I like it. As a heroine, ten billion out of ten billion points. Is the First Princess still a virgin? Does she give the standard twenty-five coins, or fifty because she’s royalty? And how many coins for skinship? There must be a premium, right?

Ah! Fuck, what the hell am I fantasizing about?! She’s the benefactor who saved my neck!

“……We survived, Young Master.”

Ria let out a tiny sigh of relief behind me. Even she, a Sword Expert, had apparently found it difficult to breathe in the face of the killing intent the hero candidate had unleashed moments ago. Heroes were different from ordinary knights or swordsmen. Their power was a gift from the goddess. Besides, a mere maid had no grounds to intervene in a sacred duel between nobles.

I wiped my sweat-slick palms roughly against my trousers. When did I sweat this much? Am I actually alive? I ran a hand down my neck. Still attached. It needs to stay that way. Don’t go anywhere. I exhaled. Still, I had changed the predetermined future. This was an important milestone. The fact that my neck remained where it belonged was vital, but even more important was the realization that the future was not yet fixed. It could be altered with the right intervention at any time.

And I was the only person who knew the future of Chronicles of the Fall of the Empire.

The predetermined result can be changed. Which means the destruction of this world can be changed too.

The pitch-black future felt as though it were growing just a little lighter. Among the crowd, closer than I expected, I spotted Iliana standing frozen in place. So that’s why. The reason the transcendent skill Heroine’s Fragment of Fate had activated was because she had been nearby.

Her eyes were locked onto me. An unreadable expression, inner conflict, and a strangely complex gaze. She looked as if she wanted to approach and say something, but I was no longer her fiancé. With hero candidate Leon watching, now was the time to be cautious. I deliberately feigned indifference, turned my gaze away, and walked off.

After many twists and turns, the entrance ceremony finally ended. The dean and professors had said something from the podium, but none of it had registered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my ears.

But… wait, is this right? No matter how many times I looked or thought about it, something was off.

Standing in front of the bulletin board displaying class assignments, I could only doubt my own eyes.

Not the swordsmanship department. Magic? Wasn’t I supposed to be a swordsman? Why the hell am I even carrying a sword? And in the anime, why did I fight the hero with swordsmanship? Am I the only one who doesn’t understand this?

“……Ria.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“My name is listed under the Magic Department…?”

“Of course it is. Because you are a mage, Young Master!”

There it is with the “Young Master” again.

“…Mm… right. I was a mage after all? Not a knight?”

“Naturally. You have devoted the last fifteen years solely to the study of magic!”

“…Yeah, I… spent fifteen years on it, huh? No wonder the word ‘magic’ felt familiar.”

“It would have to. The amount of money the family head poured into it must easily exceed fifty thousand gold. The number of renowned mages he invited alone…”

Fifty. Thousand. Gold?!

This insane bastard Evan spent that much money and still couldn’t use magic? Or could he? Maybe there was some hidden card I didn’t know about? Was that why Ria believed me when I claimed to be an alchemist? If I actually had magic, my odds of surviving the upcoming duel would shoot way up. In the anime, did Evan act out of bravado and use swordsmanship instead of magic for the duel? Then there really is hope.

Sudden hope bloomed where none had existed. But then why, when I searched my room all night, was there not a single magic book in my desk drawers or bookshelves? Did he memorize them page by page like a student cramming for exams, then tear them up, burn them, and eat the ashes? That must be it, right?

“Mm… Then what was my favorite spell again?”

Ria stared at me intently before answering.

“That is something I am also extremely curious about. I have been dying of curiosity for fifteen years. After spending fifty thousand gold in one go, exactly what did you learn, Young Master?”

The mood just turned icy.

Evan, you son of a bitch, just go die already. Fifteen years and fifty thousand gold and there’s nothing?

Now I understood why the family head had spent another thirty thousand gold just to get Evan into the academy. I couldn’t afford to lose any more trust. At this point, the Sword Expert standing beside me was far more valuable than any nonexistent magic. I stepped closer, leaned in toward her ear, and breathed softly.

“I am… an immortal alchemist. Trivial magic like that can be mastered in the blink of an eye. But I never bothered to learn it. Because even learning alchemy leaves me short on time. Finding the vision of the first family head when I was young changed my fate.”

I cleared my throat and continued.

“Ria, do you believe in fate? I do. All you have to do is believe in me and follow. There is no need to follow that woman Silvia. In the end, I will become the head of House Balderck.”

This was a society of gender equality—though not perfectly equal. Still, under the right circumstances a woman could become family head. It was the same reason the First Princess and the Second Prince were currently locked in a fierce struggle for the throne.

If even Ria abandoned me to follow Silvia, I would essentially be an orphan. Hm, her eyes just turned strange. Did she notice how desperate I sounded? Looks like I’ll need alchemy again at a time like this.

“Ria, behold. This is alchemy.”

I pulled the lighter I had drawn from the gacha out of my inventory.

“Fire magic is nothing. Even a normal person with no mana circuits, someone who has never studied magic, can produce flame like this.”

“Wow.”

Her eyes sparkled like stars.

“As expected of Master.”

She switched to “Master” again.

“Take this. It is a fire spell containing the essence of alchemy. With it you can create fire anytime you wish.”

“Truly, Master?”

“Of course. But keep it secret from everyone.”

She made a gesture of locking her lips with her fingers. I nodded in satisfaction and turned away.

“Let’s go. We need to find the dormitory room.”

This was the ironclad rule of every academy story. The protagonist is assigned to the dormitory, gets entangled with a roommate, or sneaks out at night to obtain some fortuitous encounter. It’d be nice if the roommate is one of the heroines. Who could it be? Even if she isn’t a heroine, as long as she’s female it’s all good.

But Ria, who had been following behind me, naturally took my arm and led me straight out through the academy’s main gate.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you hear the maids earlier? They said the dormitory is that way.”

“You were not assigned a dormitory room, Young Master. Even before the entrance ceremony you threw a huge tantrum, insisting that dormitory life was absolutely unacceptable and that we must secure an external residence.”

What? That crazy bastard Evan?

“…I did?”

“Yes. Have you already forgotten?”

“No, well… that’s right, I did…”

Ria pressed herself lightly against my arm and whispered quietly.

“Before, I could not understand why you insisted so strongly on a private residence outside the academy. I simply assumed it was so you could sneak in and out of gambling dens and brothels more easily every night. But… now I finally understand.”

“……Huh?”

“Because you are an alchemist. You needed a secret laboratory where no one else’s eyes could reach.”

Ria’s eyes grew secretive and profound. It’s the lighter’s effect. The chocolate disappeared, but the lighter remains. She was still fascinated by it, flicking it on and off repeatedly.

“Wow, alchemy is truly amazing.”

“…Th-that is merely one of the most basic alchemical techniques left behind by the first family head.”

“Wow! Something this incredible is only the basics?”

“Just believe in me and follow. Silvia—never mind.”

That was too hasty. I let the words trail off and followed after her.

But the route was strange. We passed through the capital’s dazzling main streets and entered a dim, secluded back alley on the outskirts. What appeared before me was a two-story wooden house so dilapidated it wouldn’t have been surprising if it collapsed the very next ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠day. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yard was overgrown with weeds, half the windows were broken, and the door creaked loudly with every gust of wind.

Can a person actually live here? Who would live in a place like this? Even a beggar would refuse.

“There is no need to rest in a place like this. I am not tired. Let us return home quickly.”

“Right?”

“Mm… this can’t be right? How shabby!”

“It is. Ex. Tremely. Shabby.”

Once again, I had a hunch. That bastard Evan had caused another accident.

“……What is this? Did you perhaps take a wrong turn?”

“The luxurious mansion in the heart of the capital that the Count originally prepared for you was lost to gambling debts one month ago. This was the place we urgently secured afterward.”

Fuck. That son of a bitch Evan, that absolute bastard. The fact that I possessed this body and devoured his soul wasn’t the case—he had simply been annihilated. Still, the cheap bastard. No, could a human being live in a house like this? Even though I belonged to a count’s family, my glamorous and stylish academy life had flown out the window.

When I clutched my forehead and staggered, Ria hurriedly supported me and spoke in a voice thick with emotion.

“Ah, there is no need to blame yourself. The money obtained from selling that luxurious mansion was also… entirely used as materials for your magnificent alchemical research! To think you have been continuing your research to save the world all alone in such a humble place…”

So that’s how it gets interpreted?

“Hahaha… Y-yeah, exactly?”

When I eventually go to the afterlife, Evan, I will definitely wring your neck, you fucking bastard.

Ria’s eyes grew moist. The lighter’s effect was tremendous. I had planted the seed, but just how far would this snowball of misunderstanding roll? If I ever drunkenly shouted that I wasn’t an alchemist, Ria—noble or not—would cut me in half.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. With a bitter smile I nodded, opened the creaking door, and stepped inside.

The interior was desolate. A few dusty, worn-out tables and chairs were all that greeted us.

“Ria. How much of our budget remains right now?”

“This is everything the family head gave me to pass to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. Eight gold coins. Lady Mother already gave you a hundred gold, did she not?”

“…Mother gave me a hundred gold too? Right…?”

“Of course~ She told me repeatedly that it was emergency funds she had prepared behind the family head’s back, and that you must never lose it.”

“R-right…?”

Just in case, I frantically turned out my pockets. How can there not be a single coin? Did he gamble all of this away too? Or was it a scam? Damn, this looks really bad. If Ria finds out about this too, it’ll be a disaster.

One gold was enough for an ordinary large peasant family to eat well for an entire month. To a noble, however, eight gold was an absurdly insufficient amount to maintain dignity and last even a few months. Especially for a mage—for whom even a single magic scroll was expensive—it was pocket change that wouldn’t even buy one.

I had seen it many times in the Chronicles of the Fall of the Empire anime: magic cost money at every single step. I might starve to death before the hero even killed me.

Ria seemed to sense my growing anxiety.

“I will look for work in the imperial capital. I can handle mid-rank mercenary jobs by myself. I will somehow make up for the shortfall. Master, please focus solely on your alchemy.”

Ria spoke with solemn determination. To think a single lighter could change a person this much. I thought it was the most useless piece of trash from the gacha, but I was wrong. It really depends on how you use it.

Even now she kept flicking the lighter on and off, marveling at it.