9. No Man Is an Island

"...Me?"

"What else would I be?"

Chloe and Chloe stared at each other.

One was the dreamer, the Chloe who was still a student. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, utterly bewildered.

The other was the Chloe inside the dream, one who had grown into an adult unlike her present self. This one showed barely any reaction to the situation, and her eyes were half-dead.

Chloe shook her head for a moment, then glared at Adult Chloe.

"No. There's no way."

"No?"

"It's obvious no matter how you look at it. Just like what happened at the Magic Tower—"

"Mental magic, a curse, or a manifestation of your inner ego caused by stress?"

"..."

"Predictable. Well, it's a rational conclusion for you as you are now."

Adult Chloe looked down at the wary Chloe with her dead eyes.

Hands in her pockets, she spoke flatly.

"Shall we just leave it at that, then?"

"...What?"

"Honestly, this is nothing more than a coincidence nobody could have anticipated. Naturally, I didn't want this either."

Adult Chloe's words were not what Chloe had expected.

If this were mental magic or a curse trying to manipulate her, it would be trying to persuade her right now. So why wasn't it?

For an instant, Chloe thought it might be a lie, but Adult Chloe was already turning away, walking off as though she truly had no interest in continuing the conversation.

Chloe shouted hastily at Adult Chloe, who was about to resume chasing after Adam.

"W-Wait!"

"What? Don't bother me. Get lost."

"Are you really me? Not mental magic or a curse?"

"I told you, you don't believe it. So let's just call it that. I'm leaving."

"I said wait!"

[Jade Shackles]

As Adult Chloe ignored her and kept walking with an air of sheer annoyance, chains erupted from the ground beneath her feet.

In the end, this was a dream space. The one dreaming was Chloe, and whether it was mental magic, a curse, or anything else, as long as Chloe herself kept her mind clear, she could overwhelm anything here.

Even if it was a dream—or rather, precisely because it was a dream—Chloe could use every kind of magic she knew. Of course, she still couldn't cast anything beyond her actual capabilities, but that hardly mattered. If her opponent was mere mental magic or a curse, it would have no combat ability beyond mental interference.

That was why Chloe had used [Jade Shackles], one of the most powerful spells at her disposal.

"Jade Shackles? Boring. So boring."

"...Huh?"

[Dispel]

With a single gesture, the woman erased [Jade Shackles], a top-tier 5th Rank spell.

This wasn't possible simply because they were in a dream. Just now, Adult Chloe had used magic not as mental magic or a curse, but clearly as an independent agent.

Dispel. A dissolution spell that only functions properly when the gap in ability is overwhelming.

If Dispel could work on Chloe, a 5th Rank mage, there was only one conclusion.

"7th Rank? F-For real?"

"You're annoying me, so don't make that stupid face when you're wearing my face."

"Then you're..."

Mental magic and curses worked by imitating a form within a dream to beguile the target. Chloe had already encountered another version of herself like this at the Magic Tower.

But beings created that way could never use magic. They had no combat ability; all they could do was talk. The being before her now was unmistakably different.

Not a construct born of external interference, but a living mental body possessing its own will.

Its abilities far surpassed the current Chloe, and the spell just now—Dispel—had that distinctive tic. The slight tension she put into her left elbow just before casting. That was a tiny habit known only to Chloe herself. None of the things that had imitated her in the past ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had ever known about it.

Chloe arrived at a conclusion she could scarcely believe even as she formed it.

"A future... me?"

"..."

By all common sense, it was absurd. Even a cursory thought made it clear this violated every fundamental law of magic. Time magic was the nonsense of fairy tales.

But having faced it directly, having confirmed it, she couldn't simply deny it any longer.

"H-How? Was time magic actually developed in the future?!"

"Tch, I told you. This is a goddamn coincidence."

"Coincidence?"

"You've been having the same dream for weeks now, right? Chasing after Adam."

"Y-Yeah."

"That's the influence of the residual thoughts inside the Dark Sword. On its own, that would've just been a dream, nothing more. But when you made contact with the Dark Sword, my residual thoughts inside it met this dream, and... my ego awakened."

"What?"

Dark Sword? Dream? Residual thoughts? Ego?

Chloe was thrown for a moment but managed to piece together a rough understanding.

'So the dream served as a kind of body, and the consciousness from that Dark Sword thing merged with it, letting it take on a form and ego inside the dream?'

But that only raised more questions.

"Then why did I start having this dream in the first place?"

"I told you. Because of the Dark Sword."

"Hold on, wait. What is this Dark Sword in the first place? And why were my future residual thoughts inside it?"

"Because I was killed by that sword."

"...Excuse me?"

"The Dark Sword is a goddamn sword. It absorbs a little of everything it cuts, gradually growing stronger. The residual thoughts of everyone it's killed are probably in there, not just me."

The Dark Sword. She didn't even need to think about it—it was obvious. The sword that unidentified stranger in the forest had been carrying today.

Had it been because that sword touched her nape?

"I was in there without any ego, just drifting, until I made contact with 'me' and got pulled along for the ride. It's a shit situation."

"But that's... that doesn't make sense."

Chloe had only touched the Dark Sword today. So how could Adult Chloe's residual thoughts have been inside that sword?

A logically impossible contradiction. Chloe fixed her gaze on Adult Chloe, a trace of suspicion in her eyes.

"That's because we regressed."

"What? Re-Regression?"

"The Dark Sword regressed to the past along with that bastard. He probably kept his guard up against the Dark Sword since it has a will of its own, but he wouldn't have known that the residual thoughts and memories originally inside it would return to their 'past selves.' How could anyone reasonably know that? It's not like he'd ever carried it into the past before."

"Return to their past selves..."

"Everyone who was killed by the Dark Sword is probably going through strange dreams or flashbacks right now. It's not like only one or two people died to that bastard."

Adult Chloe looked genuinely disgusted as she spoke.

Regression. Returning from the future to the past.

Everything she'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heard up to now had been hard to believe, but if it really was regression, it explained everything.

More than anything, the more they talked, the clearer it became. Adult Chloe really was Chloe herself.

The natural mannerisms, the voice, the way she breathed, the movement of her muscles and mana—every bit of it was real, beyond the ability of any mental magic or curse to imitate.

After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, Chloe looked at Adult Chloe again.

"So I was killed by that stranger? But if that's the case, I look older here..."

"Stranger?"

"If you're a future me, you'd know. I met a stranger carrying the Dark Sword just today. He said he'd keep watching me. Did that bastard end up killing me? After I reached 7th Rank? Is that even possible? He looked like a 6th Rank."

"Hey, didn't you hear what I just said?"

"What?"

"That bastard regressed with the Dark Sword. Obviously, he's trying to change the future he knows. He didn't have the Dark Sword back during his academy days."

"That's... true. But the conclusion is the same, isn't it? I have to stop him from killing me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh? Isn't that what you're here for? To stop my future death?"

If her future self, Adult Chloe, had also died to that stranger, this was practically a miracle. She could avoid the death that stranger would bring, with help from her future self.

If she'd used forgetting magic to erase the dream, she would have died to that stranger without ever knowing any of this. She had assumed they shared that goal.

Adult Chloe looked incredulous.

"I said it right at the start. Don't bother me. Get lost. I have no intention of helping you."

"W-Wait! Then why did you explain all of this to me?!"

"Because I know exactly how annoying your personality—my personality—is. If I hadn't explained, you'd have kept bothering me to the bitter end, wouldn't you?"

"...Well."

"Anyway, I've told you everything, so get lost."

"No, but still! You're me too! Why are you being so damn cold about this?!"

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, so let me make this clear."

"...!!"

Crack.

Immense mana bled from Adult Chloe's form.

In an instant, the dream space shuddered, fissures spreading under the weight of that overwhelming presence.

This wasn't merely 7th Rank. At this level, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was on the very doorstep of 8th Rank—on the verge of reaching her master's level.

Even with that much power, even having returned to the past, however accidentally, Adult Chloe's eyes remained dead.

As though there wasn't the slightest trace of hope left in them.

"You are me, but you are not me."

"What...?"

"You are certainly Chloe Pisti, disciple of the Archmage, a student at Grandis Academy. But you've already diverged too far from me."

"What... are you..."

"I read your memories. You've never met Adam, have you?"

"A-Adam?"

Adam Caines. The Finance Director?

She'd been so shaken by everything else that she'd forgotten. Why had the Finance Director even appeared in her dream in the first place?

No way. Future me.

"You... actually loved the Finance Director?"

"From the moment you never met Adam, you stopped being me. You're just another possibility."

"W-Wait."

"What I am now is residual thought. Dregs. Obsession. Nothing more. I'd rather chase after Adam for all eternity than help a Chloe who never even met him."

"If I die, this dream will—!!"

"Vanish. That's exactly what I want. In the end, I'm just a loser who failed to protect Adam. I should have died and disappeared long ago."

Gloomy. Clinging. Sticky.

That was the voice she'd heard the very first time she had this dream. It had been the same voice during their conversation earlier, but now it felt far heavier.

Was this it, then? The end?

Turned away by a future self encountered through coincidence piled upon coincidence, told to just wait to be killed by that stranger?

The version of her that had reached 7th Rank had died. Marked at a point when she was far weaker than that, she couldn't even be sure she'd graduate the academy safely.

The bastard with the Dark Sword had regressed and was trying to change the future, she'd said. Did that mean he'd try to kill her quickly, before she could reach 7th Rank? But then why had he spared her in the forest?

A storm of thoughts and stray anxieties whirled through her mind as Adult Chloe walked away without the slightest hesitation.

And in that moment, Chloe realized something.

'No matter how different she says we are. No matter how much she says I'm not her.'

In the end, this Chloe was still herself. Still Chloe Pisti.

Which meant.

"Then what about the Finance Director?"

"..."

"Honestly, I can't relate, but you love the Finance Director, don't you? Wouldn't it be better to go meet the real Finance Director again, instead of chasing after him until I die?"

"I can't listen to any more of this."

"The current Finance Director is still alive."

"...You."

"From what you said earlier, you—future me—couldn't protect the Finance Director, right? But this time is different."

Just as Adult Chloe had explained regression and the Dark Sword to get rid of her.

Chloe needed to do something to persuade Adult Chloe.

Because Chloe Pisti had a truly troublesome personality. She preferred justification and logic over simple emotional appeals.

Engaging in this kind of self-reflection was rather painful.

"And I'll say this clearly. I, the one standing here right now, do not like the Finance Director. And I never will."

"Bullshit."

"You called yourself nothing but obsession, but if you still possess the abilities of a 7th Rank, you could possess me, couldn't you? You could meet the Finance Director that way, couldn't you?"

"You're offering me your body?"

"If you cooperate with me, anytime. You're a future me, so you can teach me efficiently, right? Teach me magic until I reach 7th Rank, until I reach your level, and help me not die to that stranger."

"..."

"In exchange, I'll approach the Finance Director actively. You can even use my body if you want."

She still looked lukewarm about it.

It pained her a little to say it herself, but she had to land the decisive blow.

A statement that would claw at the pride of Chloe Pisti.

"Or would you prefer to just sit back and let the Chairwoman snatch away the Finance Director you love so much?"

"...What?"

"You said you read my memories? I heard your voice too. 'That dead woman'—you meant the Chairwoman, didn't you?"

"That is..."

"Honestly, I can't believe the Chairwoman died, but every time I see her, I feel this inexplicable jealousy boiling up, so it must be true. In the end, you lost to a dead Chairwoman, didn't you? Are you really planning to stay a loser this time too?"

"...You really are me, rotten to the core. You know exactly how to be infuriating."

"That's because I don't care whether the Finance Director loves the Chairwoman. But you do, don't you? I'll cooperate with you fully. Isn't it time you finally won that love you could never have?"

An instant later, Adult Chloe was right in front of her. She'd used teleportation magic without Chloe even perceiving it.

Adult Chloe's eyes were still dead, but her expression was twisted now.

"Still. You made one good point."

"Then...?"

"Meeting Adam again is far too much to ask for someone like me. But at the very least, I can't stand by and watch that woman take his heart again."

"See? No matter what you say, you're me."

"Looking at that insufferable pride and shamelessness, you're definitely me too."

And so Adult Chloe and Chloe faced each other once more.

This wasn't about suddenly developing goodwill or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trying to be considerate of one another. Whether in the future or the present, the woman called Chloe Pisti wasn't built that way.

She simply used even herself ruthlessly, as the need arose.

Relieved that her persuasion had worked, Chloe was about to ask ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her to start teaching magic first—

"Anyway, a deal's a deal, so I'd better tell you about that bastard."

"You mean the stranger who regressed with the Dark Sword? Right. He's an academy professor, isn't he?"

"Professor? No. He's someone you know."

"Huh?"

Not a professor?

She'd been certain he was an insider at the academy. And it was someone she knew?

A name flickered through Chloe's mind.

Someone she'd already thought of once but dismissed as impossible.

And someone she'd spoken to just a few days ago.

A fellow student at Grandis Academy.

"Rus Spero."

"...You're kidding."

"That bastard is the Regressor."