Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Am I Caught?
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“The Book of Fate…! So this is what you were talking about.”
It was a very rare sight.
For Sea to pour out her emotions like that with her eyes and voice.
Even more so,
“Can I see it, too?”
She made such a request. The girl who rarely ever showed her likes or dislikes.
“Oh, sure.”
But the strange thing was that as soon as Sea took the Book of Fate, its light suddenly died down.
“…It’s not working.”
Her voice sounded somewhat dejected.
Flipping through the book, Sea eventually realized there wasn't a single ancient word she could read and handed it back to me.
“I guess it only reacts to you.”
She was right.
*Voom—*
The moment it was back in my hands, the Book of Fate began to vibrate faintly again, casting its light.
“Maybe because it’s a royal treasure…”
Sea reacted to my muttering.
“A royal treasure?”
“Yeah. A treasure the Vanroah royal family has protected for generations.”
“For generations…? Since when, I wonder?”
“Who knows? The Age of Magic? I feel like an artifact like this could only have been made back then.”
“You think so? But to allow travel through time… that’s absurd, even for an artifact from the Age of Magic.”
“But it works, doesn’t it?”
“…That’s what’s so strange.”
Indeed. It was strange even to me.
The small, glowing book.
It wasn't some massive device the size of a castle, so how could such a small object contain such a divine power?
No matter how advanced ancient technology was…
“Besides, if you really did go to the past… that’s strange, too.”
Sea furrowed her brow.
“Huh? What is?”
“You said you drank the elixir. Then what’s the elixir that was discovered two hundred years ago?”
“Huh?”
It was a sharp question.
She’s right. What could it be?
Ah, maybe that’s it?
“I didn’t drink all of it, only half. I dropped the other half on the floor. Maybe that’s why?”
“You didn’t drink it all?”
“Yeah.”
“…Then was only half an elixir discovered two hundred years ago?”
“I don’t know. I never heard how much there was.”
“Me neither.”
Sea concentrated, her face expressionless.
Her eyes, like the deep sea, seemed to pull you in.
“In that case… we can’t know for sure.”
“Know what?”
“Even if we assume that the elixir discovered two hundred years ago was only half full.”
Sea raised her right and left hands alternately as she spoke.
“We can’t know if history was changed because you drank half of what was originally a whole elixir… or if only half was discovered in the first place and we just never knew.”
Huh?
Is… that so?
“First of all, was the place you went to really the past? If it was, is it possible to change the future… our present history? Or does our current history remain the same, while a new history on a different timeline is created?”
What the… Why is she so smart?
I had never even considered something like that.
I didn't feel the need to.
Glancing at my dazed face, Sea let out a deep sigh.
“Brother. This is a more important issue than you think.”
“I-Is it? I thought I could just bring back good stuff from the past…”
“No. Even though it was ten thousand years ago… there’s a theory that history is so complex that even a single, trivial variable can change it drastically.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. The probability isn’t high, but… in a worst-case scenario, something you did in the past could change this entire world.”
“No way. To that extent?”
“Of course. For example, what if the Ruceras civilization didn't fall because of you? What do you think would happen then?”
“Uh… Wouldn’t the world be completely different from how it is now?”
“That’s my point. It might become a world where I, Vanroah, and the Empire have all vanished. And you wouldn’t exist either, of course.”
“…That’s too weird, isn’t it? If I disappear because of the history I changed by going to the past… then who changed history? I don’t exist…”
“Nobody knows. Time is something that exists beyond a tightly locked door… So. When you go to the past, you must act with caution, remember everything you did there, and then check what kind of effect it has on the present. Got it?”
“Y-Yeah.”
She’s the one teaching me…
I was newly amazed.
Just how smart was this girl?
What if this brilliant kid had been taught better in a better environment?
The thought was tinged with a hint of regret.
As I was lost in my own thoughts, Sea’s voice pulled me back.
“But shouldn’t you open that?”
The Book of Fate was still glowing a bright, verdant green.
The bookmark area was shining with particular intensity, as if begging to be opened.
But I quickly shook my head.
“Not now.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. What if I open the book now and end up in the past again?”
“…You said you were missing for about twenty minutes last time, right?”
“Yeah. The time I spent there was about two hours. They said about twenty minutes had passed here.”
“A time ratio of six to one…”
“I don’t know the specifics, but imagine if I go this time and end up staying there longer. That would be a problem, wouldn’t it? Given our current situation.”
“That’s true. Definitely. We haven’t even touched the territorial army yet.”
“Right. And all the families running rampant in Kushan City are a problem too.”
I had killed the Count, and Rivera was planning to wipe out the remaining vampires, but that didn't mean order would simply return to Kushan City.
The biggest problem was the territorial army that Ksias had commanded.
For now, we had killed the Count in a swift strike, giving the army no time to intervene… but it was obvious the situation would change in a day.
The army was a mix of those loyal to the Count, those who secretly despised him, and those who didn't care who was on top as long as they were paid. One thing was certain, though: they wouldn't just obediently follow our and Rivera’s orders.
Even if we had a just cause,
the loyalists would oppose us because they were loyalists, and the opposition and pragmatists would likely voice their own opinions on who should rule Kushan City.
Add to that the various families who had handled the dirty work as the Count's vassals…
Ugh, just imagining it is horrifying.
Therefore,
I had to be there.
I had to use the overwhelming force of a Sword Master who had killed the Count to suppress them.
Otherwise, Kushan City would be plunged into a maelstrom of chaos.
Sea must have had the same thought, as she waved her hands, her face a little pale.
“You’re right. Put that away quickly, brother.”
“Yeah. Let’s get rid of it.”
I brought the Book of Fate to my subspace necklace to put it away.
But in that instant,
*Flap!*
The crazy book suddenly shot up like a leaping salmon, breaking free from my hand and flying into the air.
“Uh…?”
And then,
*Whirrrrr!*
Its pages opened on their own.
I tried to close the book again, but as if information were being forcibly injected into me, the words on the open page bored into my eyes first.
‘Ruceras Calendar, Year 4673. November 21st, clear skies. Master has returned after seizing the treasure of the heretics…’
Ah,
Dammit.
*Tick-tock-tick-tock*
It had begun.
The ticking of a clock.
The river of time.
Reality receded with a sudden jerk, as if I’d been hooked by a fishing line.
“B-Brother?”
Sea’s voice, looking around for me, grew fainter and fainter, and I tumbled once again to the other side of time.
***
*Clip-clop, clip-clop.*
Again.
By the time I came to my senses, I was already thrown into the situation.
I was riding a horse.
Wearing a cloak.
It was quite different from last time.
Before, even though it was ten thousand years in the past, I had started in the same place, the Ilneon Dungeon…
Now, I was in an unfamiliar field.
It must have been summer, as the sun was blazing, and it was a beautiful landscape dotted with low hills.
We were traveling through it on horseback.
‘I have companions this time, too.’
Around me, I could see three people.
Two elderly individuals, a man and a woman, dressed in flowing robes.
And right beside me, a man with a sturdy build and a stoic expression, guiding his horse.
*Gulp.*
A sudden shiver ran down my spine as I observed the man.
‘What… what is this pressure…?’
The man and woman in robes were no ordinary people either.
Despite their unfamiliar attire from ten thousand years ago, their flowing, ornate robes and the long staves stuck in their saddles seemed to scream, ‘I’m a mage.’
But right now, I couldn't even see those two.
The middle-aged man riding next to me.
I felt a suffocating presence emanating from him.
It was similar to the ominous aura the cult leader had exuded… but the pressure was on a completely different level.
Was it because I had now learned ancient sword ki?
That formless presence, which modern swordsmen lacked, pressed down on me with even greater clarity.
I’m scared.
The thought startled me.
‘Scared? Me, who defeated Count Ksias… I’m feeling scared right now?’
Who in the world was this man…?
Tension coiled in my gut.
I couldn't afford to be reckless.
‘It’s not just… his presence…’
All the mana in the area was revolving around him.
To an extent that would terrify even a Sword Master like myself…
This man was truly immense and powerful.
Was this what a Grand Master, a being I had only heard of in stories, was like?
‘Even for a Grand Master… is this even possible?’
Could a single superhuman be this strong?
His presence was like a great mountain—no, like the sun itself—strong enough to bring down the Empire alone.
Suddenly, the man turned his gaze toward me.
*Thump. Thump.*
My heart pounded with tension.
I couldn't read his eyes.
What was he thinking?
Was he observing me?
Had he seen through me?
Or was it just a casual glance?
Under that inscrutable gaze, I suffocated, my mind racing with a thousand different possibilities.
I was frozen stiff, like a rabbit caught in a lion’s stare.
After looking my way for a long moment, the man abruptly spoke.
“Yes. Lansen. I met him by chance and took him as my disciple.”
Only after hearing his voice did I feel like I could breathe again.
Ah, so this time, I’m supposed to be his disciple?
I quickly bowed my head.
“Yes. I, your disciple Lansen, am honored to serve you, Master.”
However,
The man fell silent again.
He simply looked down at me, his thoughts unreadable.
Then he turned his head and asked the two mages.
“Is that what you two think as well? When did I take this child as my disciple?”
The mages tilted their heads as if to ask what he was talking about, but they soon bowed to the man with extreme reverence.
“Yes, Grand Duke Celsius. Although Lansen’s level is not high, he has a unique constitution that allows him to handle mana directly. You took an interest in this and accepted him as your disciple a week ago.”
“Yes. That’s right. I did. I took him as my disciple. A week ago.”
The man named Celsius nodded and muttered to himself.
“How truly strange. This is something that seems possible only through divine intervention, is it not?”
Something was odd.
The way this man spoke.
It was completely different from how the cult leader and his followers had treated me in the heretics’ chapel.
Every single word was tinged with a sense of dissonance.
The way he looked at me was the same.
Not as if he was accepting me naturally, but as if he was seeing something alien…
Was it just my imagination?
But it was strange.
His attitude was completely different from the two mages, who accepted me as a matter of course, wasn’t it?
The man stared at me for a moment longer, then a smile touched his lips.
“Listen. I am Grand Duke Laitena Celsius. I am also called the greatest sword in the world. My current aspiration is to eradicate the heretics who disrupt the order of souls. Lansen Vanroah. You became my disciple a week ago, and we are now on our way to my castle. You will stay there for a while and receive my teachings.”
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
His words only amplified my anxiety.
It sounded as if he was explaining the current situation to me, didn't it?
If he had accepted my existence naturally, he wouldn't be saying things like this, would he?
This was like…
“But this is truly fascinating. I had no idea I had another disciple.”
Grand Duke Laitena burst into a hearty laugh as he looked at me.
“I do not know what fate has bound us together… but I’m counting on you. May our aspirations be fulfilled.”
My breath caught in my throat.
This is…
He’s saying all this knowing everything, right? He is, isn’t he?
…What.
Am I caught?