Parallel World Reckoning
What the hell! I immediately warped straight to the palace bar, a space big enough for the whole group to sit. Spotting the pile of empty bottles clustered at one end of the bar, the culprit herself—Hames—flinched for a moment, but no one paid it any mind. Everyone had been through worse by now, after all.
"Sit."
I pulled out a chair to make some space, but I ended up being the only one who sat.
"I'm fine standing."
"Suit yourself."
Arios glanced at me nervously as she spoke, while Ares shot her a cold look in response. Everyone reacted more or less the same, so in the end, I was the only one seated.
The first to speak to me, sitting there alone, were the ones only half-involved in this mess.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Red crossed her arms, irritably scanning the others.
"You lot were always crazy bitches, but today's antics were way over the top. There's no way you'd act like this just 'cause you're in a bad mood—there has to be some trigger, right?"
When Red turned to me with a grilling stare, Niobe chimed in next.
"My lord, please explain what's happened in a way we can understand. I have no clue what's going on here."
Niobe sounded frustrated, but she's actually pretty sharp with deductions. So I could tell she wasn't just confused—she couldn't believe it because the truth was too absurd.
"You really have no idea? You heard the conversation between me and the others."
"...So you're saying we should believe that? Parallel worlds and all that crap?!"
Even for a Sword Master-level Death Knight like Niobe, it was beyond comprehension, and her voice rose.
Finally, with "parallel world" coming up properly from the others' mouths, Red looked blank.
"Parallel world? What's that?"
"A place just like this one, except the gender roles and the characters' sexes are swapped."
"...A place like that exists?"
Red asked in disbelief.
"So in that world, you're a woman. And I'm a man, conversely."
"Yeah."
"...Meaning, over there, these guys—as men—did something to the female you."
Red's pretty quick on the uptake too. She got it right away once I explained.
"Looks like the Heavenly God showed it to you."
"Right."
"Then why didn't it show me?"
Because you're just an extra. For a guy who kicks off the major incidents, you don't even appear in the original story—just get mentioned. Nothing worth showing.
While I pondered how to explain, Arios cut in with a sneer.
"The male Red died."
"On the day I fought you, the day Seres first used his power—that very day, killed by the male Arios's hand!"
"What kinda bullshit is that?!"
"It's true. You were supposed to die here too, originally—you just got lucky and survived."
"... "
"He wasn't important enough over there to bother showing."
Arios explained while mocking Red. But—
"So how important was the male Arios that he pulled that fucked-up shit on the female Seres?"
Red's sharp comeback made her face stiffen.
"Tell me. Just how great were you that the female Arios denied it was her—trying to dump the blame on innocent me instead?"
"No, I didn't do jack shit here! Shut your lying mouth!"
Arios snapped back hysterically, but—
"You confined the female Seres in the house, crippled her legs so she couldn't escape, and even tried to force her pregnancy."
Someone else spilled the fact she'd desperately denied.
Sibylius suddenly jumped in and spoke up.
"Especially the forced impregnation—that's reviled even here, and with genders reversed over there, it's even worse. What a trash heap pretending to be sweet."
"...And what about you?"
Arios turned on Sibylius, who had barged in, as if seeking revenge.
"The male Sibylius treated Seres like food, didn't he? You too?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Not food, then—research material? He ran all sorts of experiments to keep him from leaving!!"
"Don't lump me in with that bastard!"
"You started it!"
Right before my eyes, a pathetic argument unfolded as they desperately tried to shift blame.
"And if we're getting technical, all our problems stem from those guys, right?"
With the bickering going nowhere, Arios dragged in the other two.
"Viol the Emperor, you! You're the root of all this! Things went to hell when you started your dirty tricks to keep Seres!"
Her emotions boiling over, she spoke as if fully identifying with the original characters.
"That's right."
When Arios cursed Viol casually, Sibylius agreed.
"If the male Viol hadn't forcibly confined the female Seres in the palace, it wouldn't have escalated that far."
"... "
"Viol the Emperor, you'd admit it if you saw. Especially accepting Nemeth's claims to break Seres—that was the turning point."
"... "
Viol stayed silent. Normally she'd snap back with something, but she just hung her head.
Then,
"Hames High Priestess, you were a problem too!"
With Viol quiet, Sibylius switched targets to Hames.
"When the female Seres came to the temple seeking help, who let her get labeled a fake saint and thrown in prison without lifting a finger?"
"...Me."
"The reason was a masterpiece. You did it on purpose to keep her to yourself! If the male Sibylius hadn't gotten her out, she'd have rotted in there. Or begged the male Hames to rescue her after submitting."
"...Probably."
Hames just quietly affirmed it, offering no excuses.
That was when—
"Everyone, shut up!"
Ares bellowed, unable to take it anymore.
"Hearing about it again makes me want to puke! Talking about their crimes like it's something to brag about... "
Ares glared at the four, especially Viol. But,
"Honestly, didn't the male Ares screw up too?"
"One of the reasons the Seres over there died."
Arios and Sibylius coldly stared back at Ares.
"In the end, that Ares plotted rebellion to get Seres back, got caught, and ended up imprisoned."
"Then killed herself out of nowhere so as not to burden Seres. Leaving him without a single shield later on."
They took turns pointing out the original Ares's fatal mistake, and honestly, I agreed. The original Ares had acted way too recklessly.
"Even in this world, things could've gone that way if they'd gone just a bit wrong!"
"...Shut up."
"Ever think your actions were a burden to Seres instead?"
"I said shut it!"
Ares kept yelling "shut up" in growing agitation as the two relentlessly pressed her. Everyone looked ready to throw down right then—
"Enough."
They all flinched and froze at my words.
"Looks like you all enjoyed the show from that other world. You're all so worked up."
I coldly eyed the troublemakers.
"What, you wanna pull the same shit here as your other-world selves?"
"N-no!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Then both of you shut it. Don't make this already messy situation even worse."
After silencing the ringleaders,
I scanned the group.
"Alright, that covers it. Let's call this done."
"...What?"
Viol reacted when I said to end it, lifting her head to stare at me in disbelief.
"Just end all that?!"
"It's from another world anyway. Didn't happen here, so no need to feel anything about it."
Yeah, thanks to my efforts, none of the original tragedy happened in this world. These girls aren't their original male leads—they're different people, as far as I've seen.
So I suggested letting it go, but their reactions were odd.
"No way we can just accept that!"
Hames covered her face with both hands.
"God showed me those sins directly—how can I just let it slide?!"
"Exactly. What the Heavenly God showed can't just be brushed off!"
Sibylius added her piece.
"Sure, since it's another world, if Seres says to drop it, maybe that's that. But it doesn't erase what happened there, right?"
Arios said, dazed.
"What if we take measures before it happens in our world?"
Ares asked cautiously.
Head already hurting from this headache, I opened my mouth to repeat myself—
"My lord!"
One of Niobe's subordinate Death Knights burst in. As all eyes turned to her, she said,
"The temple priests from the capital are here. They say an oracle from the Heavenly God came down—they want to meet you."