Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Cat Was Dead
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About two weeks had passed.
During that time, Princess Elenoa had come looking for me with increasing frequency, but since there were plenty of capable mages deployed, the meck was successfully completed.
"Wow."
An exclamation came from one of the mages.
They were all smiling in satisfaction at the small yokai inside the glass case.
It was the meck.
The mages' mana-mingled thoughts had gathered and coalesced into a concept.
Artificial life had taken form within the shape we had prepared.
Seeing it like this, it occurred to me that humans weren't all that different.
Perhaps the gods had created us in much the same way.
Of course, the meck couldn't think as diversely as we could. It was more like a robot or an AI.
A being that moved and acted according to the thoughts and patterns we had programmed.
A yokai capable of nothing more.
[It's a relief we didn't have to use Remegaton.]
"......"
I silently agreed with the Black Necromancer chattering beside me. The mages had been competent enough that we didn't need to resort to Remegaton, our last bastion.
I had been able to hide it in my hand and use it against the Magic Judge, but if the mages saw it, it would drive them mad.
The Spirit Stone, as it was more commonly known, was an object that terrified the kingdom.
"Success."
The archmage standing beside me, visibly moved, offered a handshake.
I gently clasped his hand and nodded.
"You've worked hard. Without you, Archmage, and your disciples, it would have taken far longer."
"No, I'm the one who should thank you for giving an old man like me the chance to challenge myself like this."
The archmage was delighted at having surpassed his own limits and gained new insights.
We both turned to gaze at the meck once more. The meck, about the size of a small puppy, was sniffing around inside the case, searching for nightmares.
It was finally time to see results.
* * *
"Hoo."
Princess Elenoa slowly exhaled and lay down on the soft bed.
The warm lemon tea she had just drunk heated her body, while the fluffy pillow and thick comforter enveloped her familiarly.
The room lights were off, leaving only a dim bedside lamp glowing softly.
Just in case, a mage had filled the room with steam to keep it humid, and classical musicians were playing in one corner to aid her sleep.
It felt like every effort had been made for perfect rest, but to Elenoa, even that was burdensome.
Just...
Wouldn't it be enough to have just Dayus Verdi standing there, blankly watching her?
The thought crossed her mind, but she pretended otherwise and closed her eyes.
If he read her a story like a bedtime tale for a child—one of those fun stories only he knew—sleep would come easily.
But if she said that, her brother, King Orpheus, would surely glare at her with fire in his eyes.
"This really is the last time, right?"
Anxious, Elenoa asked Dayus. She still couldn't believe that the nightmares tormenting her for years would end today.
To the princess, Dayus always replied in the same flat, monotone voice.
"Yes, the final nightmare."
"Hoo."
In moments like this, couldn't he speak a little more softly?
But that's why he was Dayus Verdi—and why she could believe him.
His utterly unchanged demeanor brought calm to her heart.
"I'm going to sleep now."
Elenoa slowly closed her eyes.
Dayus Verdi at her side, King Orpheus, and Archmage Rockpelican silently nodded.
Exhausted from minimizing sleep for so long, she fell asleep in an instant.
As the lullaby performance filled the quiet room, the meck Dayus held began sniffing.
It was the signal that it had found the nightmare—and soon, it gaped its mouth wide toward the princess.
* * *
"......"
Elenoa awoke in the palace garden flowerbed. Her empty mind filled with thoughts.
For a brief moment, she stood blankly like a doll without consciousness, then suddenly looked around.
Ah, the kingdom's garden.
What was she doing right now?
She began piecing her jumbled thoughts together block by block.
Right, yes.
She remembered calling Dayus. She didn't know why she had been spacing out, but Dayus sat on a bench, indifferently scribbling in his notebook.
Without thinking—purely on instinct—Elenoa approached him.
Even as she drew near, he kept writing in his notebook.
She always thought it would be nice if Dayus gave the code first sometimes.
If he volunteered it instead of her asking, it would feel like he truly cherished her—and that she wasn't just being childish.
She even had a response prepared.
"Of course it's real!"—to show she hadn't yielded to some nightmare, brimming with confidence.
She wanted to convince herself this was reality.
With that lingering regret, Elenoa clasped her hands behind her back and skipped lightly over to ask Dayus.
"Is this reality? Mr. Dayus!"
Her playful tone prompted him to slowly look up, meet her eyes, and speak.
"There is a green animal called a cellphone. It's something I often used on a place called a website."
"......"
The moment she heard the answer, Elenoa's eyes narrowed sharply.
That single response jolted her sluggish mind awake like a slap.
This wasn't reality.
She was dreaming, asleep to face the end of this nightmare.
Her heart raced for an instant, but knowing it was almost over brought quick calm.
The Dayus across from her stared blankly at her, then his form began to distort slowly.
Soon, it took on Elenoa's own shape.
Without a word, Elenoa firmly warned the expressionless fake gazing at her.
"It's over now. Today, I'll say goodbye to this wretched nightmare. Dayus is out there getting rid of it."
The fake Elenoa gave a subtle expression and casually replied.
"Yeah, it seems that way. The dream really is ending."
The dream's background was fading bit by bit. Cracks formed, fragments shattered, turning transparent and colorless.
It felt like a cage crumbling—refreshing.
Sensing that, the fake asked, just like the real Elenoa might.
"Relieved? Since you won't have these dreams anymore?"
"Isn't it obvious? Nights were always terror for me, sleep an inescapable lump. I'm finally free."
The fake Elenoa nodded as if understanding.
It felt different from usual.
Not like before, desperately trying to blur the line between reality and dream.
Had it given up?
It seemed like it might answer anything now.
Elenoa swallowed hard, clenched her fists, and asked.
"What exactly are you?"
"......"
The fake Elenoa slowly stood. Only after staring into each other's eyes did Elenoa notice the difference.
Surprisingly.
The fake's eyes burned with longing, greed, and unyielding conviction.
Seeing that, fear crept in through her eyes, mouth, and nose.
Comparing herself to this fake now...
She couldn't shake the doubt of who was the superior Elenoa—or even feel certain.
She lacked that conviction, that self-belief and confidence.
Even at the dream's end, the fake's shoulders didn't hunch, her back didn't bend.
A will and ambition like a mountain, clashing with her small frame.
It assaulted Elenoa's body violently, but...
Crack, crackle!
The world—the dream—was collapsing.
The long, hellish dream was finally drawing to a close.
Dayus was helping.
Elenoa reminded herself and steadied her heart. The fake didn't seem pleased.
"Relying on that puny professor? Pathetic and 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 was fun while it lasted."
The fake sighed, turned on her heel, and walked away.
"Goodbye."
That marked the end of Elenoa's nightmare.
* * *
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
Elenoa bolted awake. Fortunately, the archmage had cast a spell to wipe away sweat, so she rose with a dry body.
"E-Elenoa!"
King Orpheus rushed anxiously to Princess Elenoa. I deliberately stepped back a few paces, not interrupting their brief parting and reunion.
"Ah......"
Seeing her brother, Elenoa burst into tears.
"We... we did it."
Overwhelmed with emotion, she collapsed into Orpheus's arms.
The king's face twisted with emotion, as if feeling the weight of her falling tears.
"Now... I don't have to fear the night anymore."
At Elenoa's words, releasing years of pent-up resentment, King Orpheus teared up and embraced her tightly.
No more nightmares.
Peaceful nights had finally come to the little girl.
The two clung to each other, sobbing for a long while. The archmage sent the musicians out and turned away to spare the king his dignity, though his own eyes were slightly moist.
Afterward, Elenoa slumped on the bed, strength drained, while King Orpheus approached me.
He extended his arms and pulled me into a hug.
"Truly, truly thank you! It's all thanks to you!"
"......"
Honestly, I wasn't fond of such intense displays of affection, but feeling how overjoyed the king was, I stayed still.
"Today, we'll hold a banquet! A grand feast!"
Laughing heartily, the king departed with the archmage, beaming with joy. Only Elenoa and her maids remained to change her pajamas.
As I turned to leave, I paused, slowly faced Elenoa one last time, and spoke.
"There is a thought experiment called Schrödinger's cat."
The maids looked at me curiously, wondering what I was saying, and Elenoa stared blankly before chuckling softly.
"Go on."
"It's an experiment created to criticize the incompleteness of quantum mechanics, which I mentioned before."
There is one cat inside a box.
Beside it is placed a radioactive substance with a 50% chance of decay.
If a Geiger counter detects radiation, a hammer moves, shattering a vial of poison that kills the cat.
If not detected, the vial remains intact, and the cat in the box lives.
A very famous experiment.
The maids frowned, confused by the sudden talk.
But my gaze remained fixed on Elenoa.
"Until observed, the cat in the box is both alive and dead at the same time."
Schrödinger's cat only has meaning before the box is opened.
It exists in a superposition of equal probabilities: alive or dead.
For a moment, I felt like I had become Schrödinger.
If unobserved, all possibilities coexist.
But I had opened my mouth.
Elenoa let out a small "pfft" and laughed.
Then she replied.
"What are you talking about?"
Creak.
Thud.
The door closed.
I couldn't move a single step outside the room, standing silently.
Schrödinger didn't open the box.
But I did.
And the cat was dead.