Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)
As the static buzzing in the back of my mind started to spread throughout my entire body, I blinked back to awareness at the sound of something falling.
Tap.
When I checked, it was the Fragment of Records Stone. I was sure I had been clutching it tightly in my fist even when light was bursting from it, so how did it fall? I quickly walked over and picked it up. That was when I noticed there was something else on the floor.
"Clothes...?"
The robe was made of a high-quality fabric. The important thing wasn't the material but the owner, though. It wasn't just a high-quality robe—it was the robe Auril Gavis had been wearing, now on the floor in the exact spot where the old man had been standing just a moment ago. It was as if his body had been sucked somewhere, leaving this behind.
"Don't tell me..." I looked down at the Fragment of Records Stone in my hand. "This activated for the old man?"
I was starting to understand what had happened, although I was momentarily dazed by the unexpected twist. The Fragment of Records Stone had reacted to Auril, not me.
Ugh, I can't wrap my head around it.
I forced myself to focus and started running through this from the beginning. There were two possibilities. First, Auril had received a 'call of the times,' just like I had.
"Have you used the Fragment of Records Stone before?"
"I have used it before."
Second, Auril had already used the Fragment of Records Stone. Which meant the old man had been living in this era after answering the call, just like me. That was how he met me, and once the work he needed to do—the role he needed to fulfill—was completed, he returned to his original time.
If it's the former, that means he was sent to the past. And I guess the latter would mean the opposite.
That was how the puzzle pieces in my head started to come together.
No, it's still too early to jump to conclusions.
Then I realized just how much information I was lacking and changed my mind. I didn't know enough about the Fragment of Records Stone to make any inferences. It was wise to keep all possibilities open. It was possible that the call of the times wasn't always a call to the past—it could also be a call from the future.
I should think about that later.
I put the Fragment of Records Stone back into my sub-space and picked up the robe from the ground. Then I rummaged around excitedly.
Looting!
After all, this was a rare drop item from Auril Gavis. Chances were that he carried around something interesting.
Are you joking?
As a result of my enthusiastic rummaging, I found nothing much besides the robe. Just ordinary socks, shoes, and luxurious panties made of pure white silk.
"Ahh, fuck!" Realizing the piece of cloth I was touching was underwear, I hurled it on the ground. Annoyance overtook me.
What kind of old man has nothing?
I had been getting my hopes up because this man gave off the air of a final boss. What a massive bust.
"Ah." Belatedly, I remembered seeing Auril take water out of his sub-space. At the time, I figured it was a sub-space ring. "But I guess it was a subordinate sub-space." A subordinate sub-space could only be used by top-tier wizards. In such cases, there was no physical object; it was directly connected to the user's soul by a tattoo or something like that.
Uh, no, wait a minute...
Then if I used a subordinate sub-space, would that mean I could take all of the equipment I collected here back to my time? The thought suddenly occurred to me but it was nothing to shout Eureka! over. I wasn't a wizard. Unlike a magical device, a subordinate sub-space could only be opened by the wizard's unique mana.
Ha, then it's another bust...
I sighed and let go of any regrets. Getting angry and venting my disappointment would change nothing. I had something else I had to do right now.
First, I should meet up with Amelia.
I picked up Auril's belongings and put them in sub-space before walking through the sewer again. It was clearly ordinary clothing, but since I might have missed something, I figured I could check one more time later.
Splash, splash.
As I retraced my steps, I came across five or six corpses.
This is where the infighting broke out.
Since I had the common sense to take unclaimed equipment with me, everything was looted. I guessed because these people were trying to migrate to the overworld, they were all carrying expandable bags or sub-space rings, so inventory was a non-issue.
Wow, how much is all this?
Using my shoulders, neck, arms, and everything, I carried all the bags and continued moving. Before long, I arrived at the location I left Amelia and found she wasn't there. Judging by the traces of the battle with the head of Orcules, this was definitely where she passed out. Where did she go while I was gone? There was no need to think for long.
She must be there...
Unable to ignore the acid in the back of my throat, I quickened my pace.
A collapsed ceiling blocked more than half the passageway. I could see Amelia clearing away the debris. She was clawing at it so frantically that she didn't even seem to notice I was there.
"Aaaah!"
What the—why are you screaming all of a sudden? It's scary.
The sight of her grasping her head was brutal, so I quickly walked over and grabbed her wrist.
Tap.
The moment my skin touched hers, Amelia shuddered and turned around. "...Yandel?" She seemed surprised to see my face, then tried to shake off my hand. "Let go. I need to find—"
"Even if you look, you won't find anything."
"What?"
I grinned. "That's why I told you. It'll all be over when you wake up." Despite those words, Amelia still stared up at me with a blank expression on her face. It seemed she wasn't picking up on what I meant. "Just follow me." It would be easier to let her see it with her own eyes.
***
When she came to, Amelia was filled only with despair. She was alone in the dark sewer and the familiar silence told her that everything was over.
Yeah, it's all over...
Amelia got up and started to trudge. There was somewhere she had to go, something she hadn't been able to do that day.
"Forget... all the painful memories here. A normal life... this is the start for you."
She had had to leave her sister's body behind. When she came to look for her sometime later, Laura's body was already gone. Apparently, the workers restoring the passage cleared away all the corpses. This became a source of painful regret for her.
"I have to find it."
She had to find her, even if she may just have been a corpse. She had to retrieve it, not leave her sister's body in this dirty sewer. Now that she'd traveled twenty years into the past, she could at least do that much. No, perhaps that was the only thing fate had been willing to allow her from the very beginning.
"Ugh, heugh...!"
Soon reaching the site of the tragedy, Amelia started to clear out all the rocks she could find. She was so desperate as she did so that she looked almost deranged, and that wasn't all that inaccurate a description, either.
"W-Why...?"
Her sister was nowhere to be seen. She had to be in here somewhere.
Could it be that I'm not even allowed this?
"Aaaah!" For the first time in a long time, Amelia let out a scream. Even when her flesh was cut and her bones were broken into pieces, she could swallow back her groans, but she couldn't this time. It felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Tap.
At that moment, she felt the warmth of another person. "...Yandel?" It was a person she had seen every day for the past six months, someone all too familiar to her. "Let go. I need to find—"
She immediately tried to shake him off, but the barbarian refused to let go, as always. After saying something incomprehensible to her as she resisted, he forced her to stand.
"This place is..."
They walked for ages to reach the overworld—the giant city of Rafdonia, a place where the palace's influence reached every corner.
"Ugh, my eyes..." Midday in the city was too bright for eyes that had just emerged from a dark sewer. But before her eyes had time to adjust, the barbarian dragged her forward by the wrist. "W-Where are we going?"
"I told you you'll see when you get there."
Amelia scanned her surroundings even as she was being dragged along by force. Pedestrians were passing by on the street, smiling children and parents, merchants touting their wares, and pure white marble buildings reflecting the sunlight. It was a place she had once longed for desperately, a world filled with warm sunlight where she could live a normal life, unlike Noark. Of course, she knew now that even the overworld was not a paradise, that it was a place where beasts even worse than those who roamed Noark lived, and where mundane tragedies occurred every day.
"Just once..." Nevertheless, she had wanted to see it just once, her sister and herself living a normal life, at times crying and at times laughing.
"Huh? What did you—"
"Yandel, go on your own from here. I have something to find below—"
"Ugh, I told you, you won't find her." When Amelia stopped walking, the barbarian looked at her with frustration and said, "She's alive, your sister."
"...What?"
Alive? But how...?
"I'll... explain that later, so just follow me, okay?"
The barbarian tugged the confused woman along and continued walking. Amelia did not resist. She didn't have the presence of mind to do so.
"Whew, it took a while because he never mentioned which first-aid station it was."
After who knew how long, Amelia arrived at a first-aid station located in the overworld. Then, after explaining why she was there to a staff member, she found the hospital room.
Drag.
When she opened the door, the figure of a girl lying in bed entered her line of sight. Warm sunlight was shining through the window.
"L-Laura..." It was an unbelievable sight, the kind she never thought she would get to see in her life. Amelia approached the bed like a possessed woman. Then she grabbed Laura's hand. She could feel her sister's heartbeat through the place where their skin met. "How did this happen?"
In response to Amelia's question, the barbarian told her everything that happened so far. He had made a deal with Auril Gavis. In order to eliminate potential paradoxes, the Blessing of Lethe was used to erase Laura's memories, and then they staged a carriage accident to explain her amnesia.
"When she wakes up, your sister will probably remember nothing. She will live her life thinking that the name on the identity tag is her own."
"A-Ah..."
"But don't be too sad. Once we get back to the future, there shouldn't be any problems. You can reveal your identity then and live as friends."
Her heart pounded. It was then that it hit her.
"Besides, you said the Dragon Slayer is trying to regain his memories too. Let's look for a way together once we get back—see if we can recover her lost memories."
He had really done it.
"Okay? So please say something. You're making me anxious..."
The sight of him eyeing her cautiously despite the fact that he'd just accomplished something miraculous, clearly not sure what to do with himself, made Amelia laugh. "No need."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It means you don't have to worry about it anymore. I won't be trying to get my sister's memories back."
"Eh? How come?"
Amelia smiled at his question. As she didn't smile often, the muscles of her face felt awkward as they moved into place. "It's better to not remember."
From now on, her sister would be different. The life she had longed so desperately for would begin, and painful memories would only get in the way of that life.
"...Goodbye, Laura."
I'm okay. Even if I'm not with my sister. Even if the life I lead is far from the normal life I wished for. Even if it's still awkward to even lift the corners of my lips.
Her sister would have nothing to worry about.
"Let's go, barbarian."
"It's Yandel, not barbarian."
"Yes, Yandel."
She was not alone anymore.
Uh, no, wait a minute...
Then if I used a subordinate sub-space, would that mean I could take all of the equipment I collected here back to my time? The thought suddenly occurred to me but it was nothing to shout Eureka! over. I wasn't a wizard. Unlike a magical device, a subordinate sub-space could only be opened by the wizard's unique mana.
Ha, then it's another bust...
I sighed and let go of any regrets. Getting angry and venting my disappointment would change nothing. I had something else I had to do right now.
First, I should meet up with Amelia.
I picked up Auril's belongings and put them in sub-space before walking through the sewer again. It was clearly ordinary clothing, but since I might have missed something, I figured I could check one more time later.
Splash, splash.
As I retraced my steps, I came across five or six corpses.
This is where the infighting broke out.
Since I had the common sense to take unclaimed equipment with me, everything was looted. I guessed because these people were trying to migrate to the overworld, they were all carrying expandable bags or sub-space rings, so inventory was a non-issue.
Wow, how much is all this?
Using my shoulders, neck, arms, and everything, I carried all the bags and continued moving. Before long, I arrived at the location I left Amelia and found she wasn't there. Judging by the traces of the battle with the head of Orcules, this was definitely where she passed out. Where did she go while I was gone? There was no need to think for long.
She must be there...
Unable to ignore the acid in the back of my throat, I quickened my pace.
A collapsed ceiling blocked more than half the passageway. I could see Amelia clearing away the debris. She was clawing at it so frantically that she didn't even seem to notice I was there.
"Aaaah!"
What the—why are you screaming all of a sudden? It's scary.
The sight of her grasping her head was brutal, so I quickly walked over and grabbed her wrist.
Tap.
The moment my skin touched hers, Amelia shuddered and turned around. "...Yandel?" She seemed surprised to see my face, then tried to shake off my hand. "Let go. I need to find—"
"Even if you look, you won't find anything."
"What?"
I grinned. "That's why I told you. It'll all be over when you wake up." Despite those words, Amelia still stared up at me with a blank expression on her face. It seemed she wasn't picking up on what I meant. "Just follow me." It would be easier to let her see it with her own eyes.
***
When she came to, Amelia was filled only with despair. She was alone in the dark sewer and the familiar silence told her that everything was over.
Yeah, it's all over...
Amelia got up and started to trudge. There was somewhere she had to go, something she hadn't been able to do that day.
"Forget... all the painful memories here. A normal life... this is the start for you."
She had had to leave her sister's body behind. When she came to look for her sometime later, Laura's body was already gone. Apparently, the workers restoring the passage cleared away all the corpses. This became a source of painful regret for her.
"I have to find it."
She had to find her, even if she may just have been a corpse. She had to retrieve it, not leave her sister's body in this dirty sewer. Now that she'd traveled twenty years into the past, she could at least do that much. No, perhaps that was the only thing fate had been willing to allow her from the very beginning.
"Ugh, heugh...!"
Soon reaching the site of the tragedy, Amelia started to clear out all the rocks she could find. She was so desperate as she did so that she looked almost deranged, and that wasn't all that inaccurate a description, either.
"W-Why...?"
Her sister was nowhere to be seen. She had to be in here somewhere.
Could it be that I'm not even allowed this?
"Aaaah!" For the first time in a long time, Amelia let out a scream. Even when her flesh was cut and her bones were broken into pieces, she could swallow back her groans, but she couldn't this time. It felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Tap.
At that moment, she felt the warmth of another person. "...Yandel?" It was a person she had seen every day for the past six months, someone all too familiar to her. "Let go. I need to find—"
She immediately tried to shake him off, but the barbarian refused to let go, as always. After saying something incomprehensible to her as she resisted, he forced her to stand.
"This place is..."
They walked for ages to reach the overworld—the giant city of Rafdonia, a place where the palace's influence reached every corner.
"Ugh, my eyes..." Midday in the city was too bright for eyes that had just emerged from a dark sewer. But before her eyes had time to adjust, the barbarian dragged her forward by the wrist. "W-Where are we going?"
"I told you you'll see when you get there."
Amelia scanned her surroundings even as she was being dragged along by force. Pedestrians were passing by on the street, smiling children and parents, merchants touting their wares, and pure white marble buildings reflecting the sunlight. It was a place she had once longed for desperately, a world filled with warm sunlight where she could live a normal life, unlike Noark. Of course, she knew now that even the overworld was not a paradise, that it was a place where beasts even worse than those who roamed Noark lived, and where mundane tragedies occurred every day.
"Just once..." Nevertheless, she had wanted to see it just once, her sister and herself living a normal life, at times crying and at times laughing.
"Huh? What did you—"
"Yandel, go on your own from here. I have something to find below—"
"Ugh, I told you, you won't find her." When Amelia stopped walking, the barbarian looked at her with frustration and said, "She's alive, your sister."
"...What?"
Alive? But how...?
"I'll... explain that later, so just follow me, okay?"
The barbarian tugged the confused woman along and continued walking. Amelia did not resist. She didn't have the presence of mind to do so.
"Whew, it took a while because he never mentioned which first-aid station it was."
After who knew how long, Amelia arrived at a first-aid station located in the overworld. Then, after explaining why she was there to a staff member, she found the hospital room.
Drag.
When she opened the door, the figure of a girl lying in bed entered her line of sight. Warm sunlight was shining through the window.
"L-Laura..." It was an unbelievable sight, the kind she never thought she would get to see in her life. Amelia approached the bed like a possessed woman. Then she grabbed Laura's hand. She could feel her sister's heartbeat through the place where their skin met. "How did this happen?"
In response to Amelia's question, the barbarian told her everything that happened so far. He had made a deal with Auril Gavis. In order to eliminate potential paradoxes, the Blessing of Lethe was used to erase Laura's memories, and then they staged a carriage accident to explain her amnesia.
"When she wakes up, your sister will probably remember nothing. She will live her life thinking that the name on the identity tag is her own."
"A-Ah..."
"But don't be too sad. Once we get back to the future, there shouldn't be any problems. You can reveal your identity then and live as friends."
Her heart pounded. It was then that it hit her.
"Besides, you said the Dragon Slayer is trying to regain his memories too. Let's look for a way together once we get back—see if we can recover her lost memories."
He had really done it.
"Okay? So please say something. You're making me anxious..."
The sight of him eyeing her cautiously despite the fact that he'd just accomplished something miraculous, clearly not sure what to do with himself, made Amelia laugh. "No need."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It means you don't have to worry about it anymore. I won't be trying to get my sister's memories back."
"Eh? How come?"
Amelia smiled at his question. As she didn't smile often, the muscles of her face felt awkward as they moved into place. "It's better to not remember."
From now on, her sister would be different. The life she had longed so desperately for would begin, and painful memories would only get in the way of that life.
"...Goodbye, Laura."
I'm okay. Even if I'm not with my sister. Even if the life I lead is far from the normal life I wished for. Even if it's still awkward to even lift the corners of my lips.
Her sister would have nothing to worry about.
"Let's go, barbarian."
"It's Yandel, not barbarian."
"Yes, Yandel."
She was not alone anymore.
"I have to find it."
She had to find her, even if she may just have been a corpse. She had to retrieve it, not leave her sister's body in this dirty sewer. Now that she'd traveled twenty years into the past, she could at least do that much. No, perhaps that was the only thing fate had been willing to allow her from the very beginning.
"Ugh, heugh...!"
Soon reaching the site of the tragedy, Amelia started to clear out all the rocks she could find. She was so desperate as she did so that she looked almost deranged, and that wasn't all that inaccurate a description, either.
"W-Why...?"
Her sister was nowhere to be seen. She had to be in here somewhere.
Could it be that I'm not even allowed this?
"Aaaah!" For the first time in a long time, Amelia let out a scream. Even when her flesh was cut and her bones were broken into pieces, she could swallow back her groans, but she couldn't this time. It felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Tap.
At that moment, she felt the warmth of another person. "...Yandel?" It was a person she had seen every day for the past six months, someone all too familiar to her. "Let go. I need to find—"
She immediately tried to shake him off, but the barbarian refused to let go, as always. After saying something incomprehensible to her as she resisted, he forced her to stand.
"This place is..."
They walked for ages to reach the overworld—the giant city of Rafdonia, a place where the palace's influence reached every corner.
"Ugh, my eyes..." Midday in the city was too bright for eyes that had just emerged from a dark sewer. But before her eyes had time to adjust, the barbarian dragged her forward by the wrist. "W-Where are we going?"
"I told you you'll see when you get there."
Amelia scanned her surroundings even as she was being dragged along by force. Pedestrians were passing by on the street, smiling children and parents, merchants touting their wares, and pure white marble buildings reflecting the sunlight. It was a place she had once longed for desperately, a world filled with warm sunlight where she could live a normal life, unlike Noark. Of course, she knew now that even the overworld was not a paradise, that it was a place where beasts even worse than those who roamed Noark lived, and where mundane tragedies occurred every day.
"Just once..." Nevertheless, she had wanted to see it just once, her sister and herself living a normal life, at times crying and at times laughing.
"Huh? What did you—"
"Yandel, go on your own from here. I have something to find below—"
"Ugh, I told you, you won't find her." When Amelia stopped walking, the barbarian looked at her with frustration and said, "She's alive, your sister."
"...What?"
Alive? But how...?
"I'll... explain that later, so just follow me, okay?"
The barbarian tugged the confused woman along and continued walking. Amelia did not resist. She didn't have the presence of mind to do so.
"Whew, it took a while because he never mentioned which first-aid station it was."
After who knew how long, Amelia arrived at a first-aid station located in the overworld. Then, after explaining why she was there to a staff member, she found the hospital room.
Drag.
When she opened the door, the figure of a girl lying in bed entered her line of sight. Warm sunlight was shining through the window.
"L-Laura..." It was an unbelievable sight, the kind she never thought she would get to see in her life. Amelia approached the bed like a possessed woman. Then she grabbed Laura's hand. She could feel her sister's heartbeat through the place where their skin met. "How did this happen?"
In response to Amelia's question, the barbarian told her everything that happened so far. He had made a deal with Auril Gavis. In order to eliminate potential paradoxes, the Blessing of Lethe was used to erase Laura's memories, and then they staged a carriage accident to explain her amnesia.
"When she wakes up, your sister will probably remember nothing. She will live her life thinking that the name on the identity tag is her own."
"A-Ah..."
"But don't be too sad. Once we get back to the future, there shouldn't be any problems. You can reveal your identity then and live as friends."
Her heart pounded. It was then that it hit her.
"Besides, you said the Dragon Slayer is trying to regain his memories too. Let's look for a way together once we get back—see if we can recover her lost memories."
He had really done it.
"Okay? So please say something. You're making me anxious..."
The sight of him eyeing her cautiously despite the fact that he'd just accomplished something miraculous, clearly not sure what to do with himself, made Amelia laugh. "No need."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It means you don't have to worry about it anymore. I won't be trying to get my sister's memories back."
"Eh? How come?"
Amelia smiled at his question. As she didn't smile often, the muscles of her face felt awkward as they moved into place. "It's better to not remember."
From now on, her sister would be different. The life she had longed so desperately for would begin, and painful memories would only get in the way of that life.
"...Goodbye, Laura."
I'm okay. Even if I'm not with my sister. Even if the life I lead is far from the normal life I wished for. Even if it's still awkward to even lift the corners of my lips.
Her sister would have nothing to worry about.
"Let's go, barbarian."
"It's Yandel, not barbarian."
"Yes, Yandel."
She was not alone anymore.