84
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 84
Caesar was honestly too surprised to speak.
Various Arch Duke's from different time periods gathered in one place, transcending space-time for a meeting.
This was something that didn't even appear in the game.
How long have these Arch Dukes been doing this crazy thing?
Raven said while looking at the Arch Dukes,
"How is this even possible?"
"As a mage, having questions about principles is natural, but right now is meeting time, not education time. So please set aside those questions and watch the meeting for a moment."
Laar pointed politely to the first Arch Duke.
"Ancestor. Please tell us what problem needs to be solved in the current time period."
Prime stepped forward, leaning on his cane.
"I am Prime Arch of the Eileen calendar year 12, June 8th, at 6:06 PM. We are currently laying the groundwork for building the Ark, but the ground in the Shegel region is too weak to expand. So, I think it would be better to twist the Eileen River, reverse its flow, and then solidify the ground from the bottom. What do you all think?"
Laar Arch responded,
"Currently, we have established the foundation of the Ark project based on that method. Please proceed as you think."
"Understood."
Next was the 2nd Arch Duke.
"I am Prime Arch, 2nd generation, from the Imperial calendar year 28, March 2nd, at 6:06 PM. Count Dior seems to be showing signs of rebellion. What measures should I take?"
Laar Arch responded,
"What is meant to happen will happen. Count Dior will cause a rebellion and block the path to the East Sea. Do not antagonize Count Dior, but secretly assist the rebellion."
"Understood."
Next was the 3rd Arch Duke.
"I am Sion Arch, from the Imperial calendar year 46, May 5th, at 6:06 PM. Demons have formed a union, calling themselves the 'Cursed Fingers' and settled in the southwestern wilderness of the continent. The Imperial court has sent a request for suppression. What do you think?"
"What is meant to happen will happen. The Cursed Fingers do exist, but it's an excuse for the Imperial family to reclaim the Mama Mountain occupied by the Barbarians. There will be no major problems if you ignore the Imperial family's request, so you can reject the support request as you are thinking."
Other Arch Dukes continued to ask questions, and Laar Arch answered.
There were occasional questions that Laar Arch couldn't answer. When such questions arose, he would say,
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember that part. Does anyone else know about my future?"
Other Arch Dukes would raise their hands and provide explanations.
The last, 35th Arch Duke spoke.
"I am Regal Arch, from the Imperial calendar year 210, August 7th, at 6:06 PM. Currently, the supply of magic stones has drastically dropped, causing significant delays in the Ark project. As a solution, I'm considering trading with the demon race to mine magic stones in the demon realm. Is this possible?"
Laar Arch responded,
"What is meant to happen will happen. The trade with the Demon King will fall through, and in retaliation, the Imperial family will declare war on the demon realm."
"Understood."
Finally, Laar Arch pointed to Raven and Caesar.
"Now, as the 36th and last Arch Duke, I will ask our ancestors. These two are special point candidates who have undergone significant changes after the 37th Arch Duke disappeared. They discovered the ancient relic 'Akashic Record' by their own power. This was something that didn't even exist in the 37th Duke's era."
The first Arch Duke spoke.
"How did they find it?"
"Using the Moonflower invented by the adventurer Cheche, they broke through magical barriers and reached it."
"Who is Cheche?"
The 28th Arch Duke spoke.
"A former mage from Gale Magic Tower. A mage who preferred wandering the world over being trapped in the tower. However, even Cheche couldn't discover the Akashic Record."
Laar Arch spoke again.
"So, I want to determine their treatment through a vote. Please prepare your pens and papers and put them in this top hat."
At that moment, the 35th Arch Duke spoke.
"Wait, Laar Arch. You are the only one who hasn't mentioned your own time period. What era are you living in?"
"I am living in the Imperial calendar year 232, November 29th, at 11:59 PM."
Caesar was shocked.
11:59 PM.
This was more than an hour in the future from when Caesar and Raven found the Akashic Record.
'Now all the secrets are unraveling.'
For some reason, Caesar had informed the Arch Duke that he had psychometry abilities and when he would use them. That's why the Duke of Archhad completely blocked Caesar's psychometry.
The 35th Arch said,
"Then, do you know the result of this vote?"
"No. Not yet. But I know what will happen to them."
Despite the cryptic answer, all the Arch Duke nodded as if they understood.
"Understood."
The Arch Dukes each wrote their opinions and put them into a top hat.
And Laar Arch also wrote his opinion on a piece of paper and put it into the top hat.
And he began to stir the wand and open and categorize all the notes.
"Kill them. 8 votes."
"Hide them secretly. 10 votes."
"Keep them alive and manage them. 12 votes."
"Finally keep them alive and give them free will. 6 votes."
Laar Arch put all the voting slips into the top hat and then said,
"The side of keeping them alive and managing them has the most votes. And there are quite a few who want to hide their very existence."
The 1st Arch Duke opened his mouth.
"Those two are dangerous. They might cause a major disruption to the Ark Plan. Then this meeting itself would become meaningless."
The other Arch Dukes also nodded as if they shared similar thoughts.
The 35th Arch Duke spoke up.
"Laar Arch. What are you thinking of doing? After all, we can only follow your decision. Because you are the last Arch carrying the future of us all."
Laar Arch began to explain.
"It has been exactly 12 hours since the 37th Duke did not appear at this meeting. During this time, various things happened in the demon realm. People who should have died did not die, and people who should have lived died."
"In a situation where too many variables have already occurred, creating more singularities is tantamount to throwing away the future knowledge given to us by the 37th Arch."
Laar Arch put his hand into the top hat.
"But we all know, don't we? That we could never determine whether this Ark Plan we've dreamed of for the past 230 years has failed or succeeded. So I think we need to know if these 'singularities' are truly 'singularities'."
The 35th Arch spoke.
"What are you talking about?"
"We must find out whether they have approached us due to the butterfly effect from a singularity that occurred 4 years ago from my perspective, or if they are the real cause of a reversed future. So my choice is."
Laar Arch pulled out the note and showed it to everyone.
"To keep them alive and give them free will."
Caesar and Raven unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
"Even if they are not the cause of the reversed future, they are deeply related to the demon war that we all consider the cause of the changed future. Because both of them participated in the demon war."
"So, I believe it is best that we, who know the future, do not unnecessarily intervene and potentially distort a predictable future, but instead observe them as they live according to their own flow, giving them free will."
Laar Arch looked at the other Archs and said,
"Is there anyone who objects?"
Some Arch Dukes made dissatisfied expressions but ultimately accepted it.
The 35th Arch spoke.
"Your decision, the last Arch, is the only one not predetermined among us. I hope you proceed with caution."
"Yes. I understand."
Laar Arch looked at his pocket watch.
"Then I will adjourn the meeting at 6:06 PM. I will see you at the 6:07 PM meeting."
Laar Arch politely greeted and grabbed the doorknob he had entered through earlier.
Caesar and Raven followed behind Laar.
"Oh, absolutely do not look back."
"Pardon?"
"Because you might face your future selves."
Raven couldn't contain her curiosity and glanced back.
Caesar also looked back.
But there were only other Arch Dukes.
Some Arch Dukes were laughing as if something was amusing, with some giggling and some chuckling.
Laar said, laughing quietly,
"I never dreamed I would tell this interesting joke to you two instead of my son."
Laar looked at his pocket watch and immediately opened the door and left.
The two followed, feeling deflated.
Laar traced the path they had come and spoke.
"You must have so many questions."
Raven asked carefully,
"...May I know?"
"Why not. To solve the problem I want to ask of you two, you also need to know something about our circumstances."
Laar waved his wand once.
And they instantly moved to the place where the ancient artifact was, in just one step.
It felt like they had used a space-folding technique.
"First, the name of this ancient artifact is the Akashic Record."
"Are you talking about the book of omniscience that contains information about all things in the world?"
"No. Not quite. To be precise, it records everything that happens inside this Great Ark Library. When a new book enters, its entire content goes into this Akashic Record, and when a new person enters, it records when and how they entered. It even records details about insects, birds, rats, and..."
Laar glanced at Caesar and said,
"...Even a soft slime can be confirmed."
A cold sweat ran down Caesar's back.
Indeed, Laar knew that Caesar was a doppelganger.
Despite this, what was the reason for keeping him alive?
He wanted to use psychometry but couldn't muster the courage.
"Can you read the language written in this book?"
"I can't dare to say yes. This language is called 'Yongeon', and it's not a language system that can be produced by human vocal cords. I can't even perfectly understand it. But inference is possible."
Laar looked into the book and spoke.
"Hmm. Around 6:07:22 PM, a human male walked through the Great Ark Library's main entrance. And that man passed through the main hall and immediately headed to the women's restroom. That man took out his small but self-perceived large object and was about to urinate in the women's restroom..."
Laar looked at their serious expressions and chuckled.
"You two seem to enjoy being teased?"
"...From what point is this a joke?"
"From the urination scene."
"Is it true that he went to the women's restroom?"
"Yes. That part is true. Hahaha."
By this point, I understand a bit about this person.
This gentleman likes to play around with his power and strength.
If you're under someone like this, you'd be completely drained.
But there's one thing that's certain.
If Caesar uses psychometry on Laar, it will be recorded in the Akashic Record.
However, what's curious is that the content of Caesar 'using psychometry' would be recorded in Yongeon, so can Laar actually interpret those characters or not?
He wants to discover through psychometry... But doesn't dare to use it.
"Then shall we talk about something more interesting? The current time is 8:05 PM. But I said I returned to the past at 11:59 PM. This means we can peek into about 3 hours and 54 minutes of the future from the current point."
No, that's not the important thing.
"And that means you can meet your past self."
"Is that possible?"
"It is possible. By the way, have you ever entered the Great Ark Library and seen your past self?"
Raven and Caesar shook their heads.
"No. We haven't."
"Then no matter how hard you try, it would be impossible for your past self to recognize you. Or you might have met, but that person didn't know it was you. In other words, as long as the Akashic Record exists, a time paradox is impossible."
"Does that mean it's absolutely impossible to go back to your past self and kill yourself or provide future information?"
"One courageous ancestor once tried. He attempted to meet himself and cut off one of his own fingers. But this Akashic Record seems to prevent it, creating a situation where it never happened, no matter what."
Laar pointed to the bizarrely twisted library shelves, books, and furniture.
"I hear that when trying to cause a time paradox, these complexly intertwined magics would cause strange phenomena and interfere."
"Are you saying the Akashic Record has its own will?"
"Yes. We at least feel that way. That's why we always have a saying."
Laar created letters floating in the air.
"What was already going to happen has happened."
Caesar thought for a moment and then spoke.
"Does that mean the entire meeting was also recorded in the Akashic Record?"
"That's right."
"But isn't that strange? Laar Arch and we two have essentially come from the future. Doesn't that mean we could have anticipated the content beforehand? You might have already known. Isn't this a time paradox?"
"There are two barriers that prevent complete future foreknowledge."
Laar created a picture in the air while explaining.
"First, the Arch family has been trying to analyze Yongeon for 230 years, but so far, we can only interpret an extremely small portion. So even if we want to see the meeting's content, it's impossible to precisely grasp the details. We call this the 'Barrier of Ignorance'."
Laar created images of events considered important in the imperial history.
The birth of the empire.
Count Dior's betrayal and the birth of the Dior Kingdom.
The barbarian invasion.
The imperial great earthquake.
...
Images began to be drawn one by one.
"And even if my future self tries to advise ancestors to prevent a specific past event, the ancestors will either interpret it their own way or cause the past event because of that advice. So, paradoxically, if specific advice is given, they might reach the same conclusion through the worst possible process. We call this the 'Barrier of History'."
"Then why are we having this meeting? If we're just discussing things that will happen anyway, it seems completely meaningless."
"That's the most attractive point. The most effective way to utilize past and future knowledge is, paradoxically, not to speak."
"What?"
"We can gain significant benefits just by knowing what events will occur. Of course, explaining the method of gaining those benefits would actually hinder it."
Laar displayed an image of Count Dior waging an independence war against the imperial state.
"For example, except for the 1st and 2nd Arch Lords, everyone knows Count Dior will betray. So from the 1st Arch Lord, we'll slowly make the relationship with Count Dior more favorable. While other families, including the imperial family, would be against Count Dior, we can stand in the middle and benefit from both sides."
"Ah, so that's why the ceasefire negotiation between Count Dior and the imperial family happened in Sapientia."
"Yes. That's exactly it. That's the method of gaining benefits by not speaking."
In other words, it's about believing in the wisdom of past ancestors, providing minimal information, and gaining maximum benefits.
To have been doing such an unbelievable thing for over 200 years.
Now I perfectly understand how the Arch family has been firmly controlling the wizard state.