Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The One Who Dreams of the Future (3)
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I had worried that Lutia might clam up and refuse to answer our questions, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.
She hesitated for a moment, but with Maria glaring at her intently, she stammered out her story.
"I can see the future in my dreams."
Her explanation matched exactly what I'd read in the settings.
Lutia was a succubus who had possessed the special ability of Precognitive Dream since childhood.
She had seen Fabian in her dreams and had been acting to help him all this time.
"You might not know this, but a great crisis is coming soon. And there's no one who can stop it."
"A great crisis?"
As Maria looked at her puzzled, Lutia nodded.
"They call it a 'Disaster.' Each one is a terrifying existence that could hasten humanity's extinction. I have to help the one who can stop those Disasters to overcome the crisis that will befall Aintban."
Maria sat there with her usual impassive expression, listening to Lutia's calm tone.
"Is that why you abandoned me?"
"......I didn't want to do that."
Lutia gritted her teeth and shook her head.
"But I had no choice. If I don't, everyone will die. That's my role."
Her muttering about "my role" sent a chill down my spine.
It couldn't be, but it sounded just like she was reciting her assigned part in the novel.
"So, who is the one who will defeat the Disasters?"
"You know about the incident happening in the Empire right now, right? A plague must have spread there by now. The man who will resolve that incident...... Fabian. He's the savior of this world."
Lutia quietly added,
"He's a man with blue hair. He wields the sword left by the gods and has the power to defeat the Disasters."
Lutia's Precognitive Dream was more detailed than I'd expected.
Her description of Fabian included details even the synopsis didn't reveal.
'Well, there was no description of Fabian's appearance to begin with.'
Deep blue hair and black eyes.
A sleek impression overall, with handsome features.
I pictured Fabian's appearance in my mind.
"Mother."
"Uh, yeah."
At Maria's quiet call, Lutia's face turned awkward. It seemed she wasn't used to being called "Mother."
"Are the Disasters something only that man can defeat?"
"That's right. He's the savior of this world, chosen by the gods."
"But......"
Maria's gaze turned to me.
"From what I know, it was Clay who defeated the Disaster."
"What?"
"There was definitely a strange incident in the Empire recently. A man who turned into smoke intruded on the Imperial Martial Tournament."
"......'Was'? Are you saying it's already been resolved?"
"It's been two months already."
From her reaction, it seemed she hadn't heard about the incident in the Empire.
[The Thieves' Guild knew about it, right?]
'They're in the information business to begin with. Given Aintban's closed-off nature, it's natural she wouldn't know.'
It appeared all the information Maria had came solely from her 'Precognitive Dream.'
Otherwise, she wouldn't have spoken like that.
"It nearly turned into a huge disaster, but it was concluded when Clay defeated that enigmatic man. The Emperor of the Empire declared it to be a 'Disaster.'"
"Clay...... I, I don't know anyone like that."
"Yes. Your prophecy doesn't include anyone like that. But I believe the 'Disaster' you're talking about is the same as the one the Emperor mentioned."
Maria's gaze was endlessly cold and cynical.
"I've never even heard the name Fabian. I do know a woman who left on her own due to a false prophecy, though."
"N-No, that's not it. I definitely......"
Lutia panicked and reached out toward Maria, who was looking at her, but Maria ignored it and stood up.
"It would have been better if you'd just said you left because you hated me, instead of making excuses like that."
With those words, Maria rose from her seat.
She acted as if she had no more business with the dazed Lutia staring at her.
I slowly stood as well, watching Maria quickly move away from the table.
"Lutia."
"Uh, y-yeah?"
Her dazed expression was pitiful.
Maria might not understand, but I knew her feelings.
In fact, the reason I'd come to Aintban was similar to hers.
The only difference was that, unlike Lutia, I was aware this world had already changed.
"Fabian is dead."
"......What?"
Avoiding Lutia's stunned gaze, I followed Maria out of the tavern.
Our first meeting was enough for now.
I'd see her again soon anyway.
* * *
"Not enough, not enough......"
In the skies above Nabez, the capital of Aintban.
A boy floated in the air, buffeted by cold snow winds.
Blue hair and blue skin.
He was clearly no ordinary human, and his eyes had an alien, crystalline shape.
A single sword was strapped to the boy's back.
"Still not enough."
Blue mana swirled around the boy like a vortex, spreading outward.
The mana gradually turned into crystals like snowflakes, falling to the ground. The range covered only a portion of the capital Nabez.
"Not enough."
The winter spirit, Sior, gazed down at the ground with cold eyes.
Among the many humans wandering Nabez, some collapsed after just a few steps upon touching the snow crystals Sior had created.
They weren't dead. They had simply fallen asleep.
That was Sior's power.
A power symbolizing the silence and solitude of winter. A very special ability possessed by the winter spirit Sior.
"The next time they sleep, it will be even deeper......"
Sior slowly drew the sword from his back and swung it through empty air.
A straight line appeared in the void, cracking it open.
"I need to put more to sleep."
The more humans fell asleep, the stronger his power grew.
At least until he could put everyone in the capital to sleep at once, he had to wait quietly.
Until then, he had to remain silent.
Sssr.
Sior's figure slipped into the dark rift torn open in the air.
Into a spatial gap no one could find.
* * *
Nights in Aintban come quickly.
By the time the sun begins to set, the moon is already up.
It's only natural for Aintban, which is always winter.
Moreover, with Lintria's poor public safety, wandering at night raised the risk of getting caught in unnecessary trouble, so Maria and I had checked into an inn early.
"......I'm sorry."
We were eating the dinner the innkeeper had prepared when Maria suddenly apologized out of the blue.
"For what?"
"I think I acted emotionally. It seemed like you had business with Mother too, Clay......"
The perceptive Maria had vaguely noticed I had something to discuss with Lutia.
"We can meet again later for that, so don't worry about it."
"But......"
"If I were in your position, I would have done the same."
"......Thank you."
Maria bowed her head to me slightly, then began picking at the stew in front of her.
She said nothing more during the rest of the meal.
"Whew."
The inn room wasn't very spacious but was warm, so it wasn't bad. For reference, Maria's room was right next door.
[So, what's your plan now?]
No sooner had I washed up and lain down than Gransesia asked as if she'd been waiting.
"First, I need to track down this Sior guy."
[And then?]
"I need to think about the demons too....... Once I've sorted out my thoughts, I'll meet Lutia again."
It was almost certain her succubus abilities would be key to defeating the Dream Disaster.
To defeat the Disaster, I had to recruit her no matter what.
'The real problem is the demon.'
The Count of Crimson Flame, Margal.
The being who appeared the moment Fabian claimed the Boundary Sword Solaris and drove Lutia Timons to her death.
To change the future where Lutia dies, I had to deal with him somehow.
But honestly, I had no confidence against an enemy even Fabian couldn't handle.
'I'll sleep on it and think more.'
With that thought, I slowly closed my eyes.
There was no rush anyway.
* * *
'......Huh?'
When I opened my eyes, my vision was filled with an entirely white world. No matter where I looked, it was just an empty expanse of white.
"Where is this?"
I'd clearly fallen asleep in the inn, so why was I here?
As I wandered aimlessly, looking around, I spotted something in the distance.
"That's......"
Drawing closer step by step, I realized it was a person.
And somehow, that person felt familiar.
'Why?'
I could only see their back.
Long, sparkling golden hair reaching down to the waist and a body with soft curves—it was clearly a woman.
"......?"
Sensing my gaze, she slowly turned around. Sparkling golden hair like the sun and vividly shining golden eyes looked back at me.
"......!"
Only then did I realize who she was.
Yes, I remembered seeing her once.
When Michel handed me the Eye of Simosa.
When the Saintess Casket opened, I had seen her.
"......Gransesia?"
I murmured her name in a daze.
The woman who had lain in the Saintess Casket as if asleep now stood before me.
She, too, froze stiff upon seeing me, her red lips slightly parted.
The Gransesia standing before me now was completely different from the one I'd seen before.
The Gransesia asleep in the casket had certainly been beautiful, befitting the title of saintess, but compared to the one now before me, she fell far short.
It wasn't just physical beauty.
She was the sun.
Damian had always said it.
Gransesia was like the sun itself. So dazzling it was hard even to look at her.
Now I finally understood what he meant.
"How...... are you here?"
Her bewildered voice snapped me out of my daze.
"You're Gransesia, right?"
"Yes! More importantly, how did you get in here!"
Her softly drooping eyes narrowed like a cat's as she strode toward me.
"Where is here?"
"Where? It's the Eye of Simosa."
At Gransesia's words, I looked around.
An entirely white world.
This was the Eye of Simosa, where Gransesia's soul resided.