The Sage's Story
"You may have already guessed, but my eyes are rather special. I can see things others cannot — essential forces and their flow, a person's emotions, things of that nature."
Sunya lifted his eyelids and revealed his eyes.
Pupils that shone like blue gemstones drew Inanna in.
"Until then, I had been under a misconception. That though we looked similar, they might essentially be the same kind of being as the human race. But the moment I first encountered a god, I realized the truth. That I was merely a somewhat unusual 'human.' That I was nothing more than a mere Mortal."
"……"
"Even after that, I met gods several more times. I wanted to become like them. So I imitated the gods and remade my inner self in their image."
At those words, Inanna's mouth fell open once more.
"That's possible?"
"It wasn't easy. But it was possible, yes. Though no one else succeeded — not even my disciples."
"Ahh…"
Well. If anyone could become a god, chaos would have erupted on a grand scale. It was a catastrophe Inanna could easily foresee.
"Once I obtained power equal to the gods, I thought there was nothing left to fear — but that was arrogance. In the end, I couldn't protect anyone. My cherished disciples, my beloved kin… all of them…"
This time, the omissions were particularly many. He seemed unwilling to recall the memories of that era in any detail.
"I wanted to make that event as if it had never happened."
Sunya brought his hand to his right eye.
"And this eye held the power to make that possible."
"What are you talking about?"
"…Simply put, going to the past and changing the present."
There, Sunya paused. The story was so absurd that he was giving Inanna time to absorb it.
"And then?"
But Inanna showed not the slightest sign of being flustered. Rather, with a face full of fascination, she waited for what would come next.
"…One way or another, I discovered a method of traveling through time. And I actually carried it out."
"Did it not work, and that's how you ended up here?"
"That's part of it, yes. But this was my second failure. The first time, rather than reversing time, I made the mistake of leaping over it."
"Leaping over time means…?"
"I went to the future. I traveled more than twenty-five hundred years ahead."
"Ehh, only two thousand years?"
Inanna made a somewhat disappointed face.
"Two thousand years for humans is quite different from what it is for gods. The landscape of that era — when all the gods had departed and human civilization had flourished — was a sight no one could have anticipated."
"Hmm, tell me more."
"There were countless carriages that needed no horses to pull them, and in the sky, enormous ships with wings flew about. People could see each other's faces and communicate no matter how far apart they were, and anyone who wished could easily obtain whatever information they desired. This is… something you couldn't even imagine without seeing it yourself."
"That's impossible!"
Inanna shook her head, stunned. Sunya had been the same when he first fell into the twenty-first century. He had thought that place was the paradise of the gods he had only heard of in stories. Faced with the landscape of a completely different world he had never encountered before, he had stood on the road for a long time, utterly dumbfounded.
"But it was still a place where people lived."
People of the future also suffered from worldly afflictions. They each had their own worries, were all busy being crushed by life, and suffered from loneliness. Not a day passed without war. They hurt each other, rejoiced, and grieved. They died for various reasons. They gave value to life. They admired heroes. They created stories. They shared love.
"Most of the countless stories I told you, Lady Inanna, were adaptations of things I saw or heard in the future."
"…All those many stories?"
"To be precise, it would be more accurate to say that countless stories had accumulated by that time."
"Well. You could look at it that way."
"I stayed in the future for about ten years to recover the power I had expended leaping through time. After that, I tried again and succeeded in coming to the past… but as you know, this time I arrived in a past that was far too distant. And once again, the place was far from my homeland."
"And that's how you came to Kienkingir."
"Yes."
Hearing that, Inanna pondered something carefully.
"But why did you say you had committed a sin?"
"Because changing the past means killing the possibilities of the future. It's no different from killing a child who should have been born, a person who should have lived."
"But if you put it that way, you could also say you're saving people who would have died, right?"
"Even accounting for that, killing the possibilities that were originally set is a great sin. If someone saved one random person in exchange for randomly killing another, would that be acceptable? And killing with my own hands people who were originally alive is a different matter entirely."
"…Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"
A heavy silence settled between them.
"Do you believe what I've said?"
It was Sunya who spoke first.
"I believe you."
"Then that means you understand how great a wrong I've committed."
"Yeah. But so what?"
"…It means I'm a person unworthy of receiving a goddess's love. That's what I wanted to say."
"Who I love is my business."
"……"
Silence fell again.
"But why did you change your name?"
This time, Inanna spoke first.
"It wasn't intentional. The world did not look kindly upon me defying its laws. When I reversed time, the world tried to erase my very existence. In that process, a significant portion of my memories was lost. Now I can't even properly remember the faces of my father, my relatives, or my disciples."
"Then haven't you already paid the price?"
At Inanna's words, Sunya shook his head.
"I myself could not accept it. And I haven't told you the most important thing."
"What is it?"
Sunya did not speak immediately. He hesitated even longer than before. Inanna had to suppress as much as possible her urge to press him.
"I intend to return to my homeland."
Thunder cracked through Inanna's mind.
"You're going… back?"
"Yes."
"But… you, who shouldn't have existed, exist here like this, don't you? Quite a few people know of your existence. I do, for one! The past has already changed — can you guarantee your homeland will be the same?"
Unexpectedly, Inanna struck at a blind spot. But Sunya already knew about that as well.
"I know that too. But…"
"And you said the world already interfered with you once? You can't even remember your own name — this time you might not even recognize your people."
"……"
For the first time, Sunya avoided Inanna's gaze. Even so, it was an indirect expression that he could not give up.
"…Then why did you get involved with the people here, including me?"
There was moisture in Inanna's tone.
"It was a mistake. I was so lonely, so hungry for human company, that I didn't turn away those who came. And… telling stories to you, Lady Inanna, was simply too enjoyable."
"……"
"I'm sorry."
Tears began to well at the corners of Inanna's eyes. No. She didn't want to show this side of herself. Inanna took to the sky without looking back.
Sunya could only stare blankly at her retreating figure.
The next day, Inanna did not come to find Sunya.
Nor the day after that, nor the day after that, nor the day after that…
She never came again.
And so a hundred nights and days passed.
"It seems the time has truly come to leave."
Sunya prepared to depart. He did not bid farewell to the others. He did not want to speak of parting. Simply vanishing like this was best.
Hypnotizing himself as best he could, he prepared for time travel.
Left hand down, right hand up. Facing each other, he gathered power.
All things in the world are made of Prana, and by contacting the most fundamental Prana among them, one alters the world. That is the principle of time travel.
Is this the last chance?
Sunya knew instinctively. That the probability of failure this time was high. Not only that — this time, not just his memories but his very existence would disappear. It was a power never meant to be permitted to a mere being in the first place. Even if he succeeded, he could not guarantee that his homeland would match his memories.
I know the truth, really.
Doing this even knowing he would fail was solely because of lingering attachment. He had tried so hard all this time to let go of his obsession, yet in the end he could not free himself from worldly afflictions.
No matter how strong I am or how much I know, in the end I'm nothing more than a fool, I suppose.
Self-deprecation had become a complete habit by now. With a bitter chuckle, Sunya began what would be his final journey through time.