Chapter 732
Neftis explained the full story behind this mission.
“Let’s go back in time, to the time of the ‘Dark Emperor’. It was when you were fighting Ever Kire.”
At that time, Neftis had been fighting against the Executioners. The Executioners had captured her precious people and thrown them into a dungeon, and Neftis had rushed in to save them.
And the dungeon she entered was one where space and time were twisted.
A world where bizarre flows of time and distorted laws coexisted. Neftis had used the ability of time in this place to rescue people and stop the Executioners' wicked plot. With that power, she managed to escape the dungeon unharmed, crossed over to Roke Island, and even succeeded in eliminating Ever Kire.
Everything looked fine, but the Executioners' true purpose was never to imprison Neftis in the dungeon, nor was it simply to hold her back for Ever Kire’s plan.
It was precisely to make her overuse the power of time. Because of that, a warped rift in spacetime was created, and it was exactly that rift one of the Executioners' members burrowed into.
“That man jumped in, prepared never to return to this timeline again.”
Neftis spoke.
At the mention that the infamous ‘Executioners’ was involved, Simon’s expression grew more serious.
“What was their goal?”
“I don’t really know.”
Neftis shrugged.
“The cases are just too vast. In time, countless events can happen, more than human intelligence can even comprehend. For example, even in the timeline we live in now, there are cases where only a certain range or person’s time flows back and forth, or where going back to the past can affect the present or future, or cases where you enter another timeline and can’t affect the future, and then……”
“We’re not here to listen to a lecture.”
Lete interrupted.
“As the Witch of Death, with the clues we’ve gathered so far, shouldn’t you at least be able to roughly guess what the Executioners' goal is?”
“Well, I suppose so.”
Neftis closed her eyes.
“He entered a past 22 years ago. Before you two were even born. He must have chosen that timeline in Executioners to alter some historical event that happened then.”
“A historical event from 22 years ago…….”
“Without a doubt–”
She gave a meaningful smile.
“It has to do with Richard and Anna.”
The two’s eyes widened. Neftis walked around in small steps.
“Think about the incidents the Executioners has caused so far. They’ve always thrown the continent into confusion, trying to spark wars between the Dark Alliance and the Holy Federation. But now is an era of peace. Likely, they want to erase that peace for their own goal. If so, then without a doubt–”
She raised her fingertip and continued.
“The Executioners is probably near Richard and Anna. Conveniently, 22 years ago, the two hadn’t yet come together.”
“Then right now…….”
Simon’s mouth fell open.
“Does that mean the meeting of my father and mother is tied to the ‘era of peace’?”
Neftis merely smiled gently.
Lete raised her hand.
“Before accepting the mission, I have a few questions. If that bastard changes the past, could it affect the present as well?”
“No one knows what might happen. Nothing might happen at all, or a time paradox could occur and all our common sense could shatter, or the spacetime of the world could be overturned. Or, according to the Executioners' purpose, if Richard and Anna fail to come together–”
Her small finger pointed toward Simon.
“Simon, your very existence could disappear.”
Simon’s pupils quaked with shock. Lete bit her lip with a sharp “Kuh!”, then swung her arm.
“How can you say that so calmly! If it’s such a serious matter, shouldn’t you be the one to go into the past yourself and resolve it……!”
“I can’t go to the past. Especially not with a case in the 1700s like this one.”
“Why not?”
“There are some rules to time travel. Among them, the most important is the First Principle.”
Under no circumstances can a being from the present go to a time period in which their past self exists.
This is an act that completely denies the laws of the world, and the world treats that time traveler as a virus invading its body, and tries to erase that existence altogether.
“I’ve lived for 300 years, haven’t I? If I, a time sorceress, go back to the past, my past self would immediately realize it. Then it won’t just end in a simple time paradox.”
“…….”
“For the same reason, sending Richard or Anna back to the past is also impossible.”
Neftis turned her eyes toward Simon.
“Which is why it must be you, Simon, the one who didn’t exist 22 years ago, the one who can influence those two emotionally, the living fruit of their love.”
Simon nodded, seemingly convinced.
“I understand. If it’s about my parents, of course I should be the one to go.”
Neftis turned her head.
“And the Saint here seems to be related to Anna in her own way. If you treasure Anna, you should cooperate, right?”
Lete frowned.
“It’s true I treasure Teacher Anna, but to be blunt, I don’t approve of her getting together with a necromancer.”
Neftis chuckled.
“Hehe, but if Richard isn’t there, then the Simon we know won’t be born.”
“Kuh.”
Lete glanced briefly toward Simon, then quickly snapped her head back.
“Fine, fine! I get it, alright.”
“Good, good! Then you’re accepting my mission?”
Neftis approached them and pulled out a necklace artifact with an hourglass attached.
“The moment you enter the past, the sand in this hourglass will begin to flow. And when all the sand runs out, regardless of how the incident has progressed, I will forcibly pull you back to the present. Stay too long in the past and you might be devoured by time.”
“Yes.”
Neftis put the necklace around them.
“Remember, time is relative. Just because there’s a lot of sand left doesn’t mean you have plenty of time, and the opposite is true as well. Don’t rely only on how much sand you see.”
“Yes!”
From subspace, she took out a bag and handed it whole to Simon. Simon opened it to check, and Neftis explained.
“That’s a map from 22 years ago. These are books about the culture and knowledge of that era, and! Here’s some old currency.”
Clink!
She shook a pouch of coins inside the bag.
“If money doesn’t work, you can always hand over food instead.”
“Huh?”
“Well, that era’s a bit peculiar.”
After handing over all the supplies, Neftis continued.
“Now then, this is the mission briefing. Your destination is what’s now called the Neutral Zone, but was then known as Bahila Fiefdom.”
Tracing her fingertip along the map, she spoke.
“Talking casually with people along the way is fine, but it’s best to avoid influencing their values. Small changes could turn into major incidents later.”
“Of course.”
Lete crossed her arms.
“The Executioners is trying to change the future, while we’re trying to restore it to its original state.”
“Exactly. You catch on quickly!”
Neftis looked at Simon.
“Simon, you must minimize variables as much as possible. If possible, don’t even use sentient Ancient Undead. Even if they’re dead, having a past and present existence coexist could be dangerous.”
“Herseba should be fine, right?”
For now, he had only brought Herseba along. And Herseba was an undead that didn’t exist 22 years ago.
Neftis nodded.
“That lich? Perfect. Anyway, back to the point, once you enter the Neutral Zone, find Richard and Anna, who should be on the front lines in the middle of war.”
She clapped her hands.
“And while stopping the Executioners' interference, make sure those two come together. No matter what, don’t reveal your true identities.”
“Understood!”
“Then we’re out of time, we’re going now!”
All preparations were complete. Neftis unleashed her power.
Wooooooong!
A golden radiance surged. Simon and Lete clasped hands and carefully stepped into the magic circle.
“When you return from the past, only about one or two minutes will have passed in the present. So don’t worry too much about things here.”
As she awakened the time-clocks of her ability, Neftis spoke.
“Remember. Keep checking your remaining time, and never let your guard down, because you don’t know who among them is the Executioners’ member from the future.”
“Yes!”
“Here we gooo!”
Fwaaaaaaash!
Amid the surging golden light and the ticking clock hands, Simon closed his eyes.
He felt his body blur, his senses fading away.
Clocks filled his mind.
All ticking at different beats, in different flows, spinning as they pleased.
It was dizzying.
A headache struck.
And then, at some point.
Tick! Tick! Tock! Tick!
The clock hands, which had been spinning wildly, slowly began to align. The slower hands moved faster, the faster hands slowed down, waiting for the others.
Tick!
At last, all the clock hands pointed to noon.
“!”
Simon opened his eyes.
As the sensations of his body returned, he quickly looked around.
‘Did I really arrive in the past?’
However.
The sight before him was far too strange to be called the past.
‘This is Leshill…… really?’
A sky of ashes.
The clouds were ashen, and strange dust like cinders fell from above like rain. It landed on Simon’s hair and shoulders.
The grass on the ground had blackened and withered, the trees left only with bare, skeletal branches.
Kwoooosh!
A nearby valley stream flowed with a stench like sewage. Simon looked around in confusion. It wasn’t the scenery he remembered, but here and there, familiar geographical features remained.
Yes.
This was Leshill.
‘Is this really the past?’
It would have been easier to accept if someone had said this was the far future instead.
“Would you let go of my hand now.”
A quiet voice came from beside him. Turning his head, he saw Lete glaring at him beneath lowered eyelids.
Startled, Simon let go of her hand and stepped back.
“A-are we really here, properly?”
“Yes.”
Lete sighed as she looked up at the ashen rain falling from the sky.
“I recognize this phenomenon.”
“What phenomenon?”
“The Holy Federation’s tactical weapon, ‘Ashen Judgement’. A weapon that rains down death, supposedly killing only the evil demons who deny the Goddess, but well.”
She looked over the withered trees and plants, and spoke bitterly.
“Seems to me it just killed everything equally, demons, civilians, nature, all alike.”
“......Ah.”
“And according to history, this weapon began to be used in earnest in the latter half of the Hundred Years’ War.”
Lete turned to Simon.
“It’s certain, we’re in the past. Before the era of peace, in the age of war.”
Simon blankly gazed at his hometown.
It was horrific, and dreadful.
To think this was the Leshill where he had been born and raised.
“I understand you’re shocked at the sight of your hometown, but we need to move.”
Lete pointed at the hourglass hanging from her neck.
“The countdown has already started.”
“Right.”
Simon slapped both his cheeks, regaining focus, then pulled the map from the bag Neftis had given him.
Flap!
The map of 22 years ago, that is, of the Hundred Years’ War era, differed from the present maps.
Instead of fiefdoms or terrain names, terms like ‘frontline’, ‘fortress’, and ‘high ground’ were written all over. The entire Dark Alliance region had been a battlefield.
“First, as the Witch of Death said, we need to head to the Neutral Zone where Teacher Anna and Richard should be fighting, or rather, what was then called Bahila Fiefdom.”
Scanning the map, she pointed with her fingertip.
“Leshill seems not to exist at this time, but luckily, the neighboring fiefdom ‘Hove’ does.”
As expected, Hove, being a large city, still existed intact in the past. Simon picked up her words.
“So you mean, we head down to Hove and find a carriage there?”
“Exactly.”
She raised her head.
From the black clouds, ashes and sparks of fire continued to fall.
“Let’s hurry.”
Simon and Lete followed the river as they walked toward Hove.
Thanks to ‘Ashen Judgement’, the river was severely polluted. It reeked with a vile stench.
On their way down the mountain, they saw countless corpses of dead monsters. There were also contaminated or mutant creatures, ones impossible to find in the Leshill of today.
Lete cast purification magic several times on both herself and Simon, washing off the ashes.
‘In this era, my father and mother were at war……’
Simon’s thoughts grew tangled.
And thus, they arrived at Leshill’s neighboring fiefdom, Hove.
“Ah……!”
Leshill was nothing in comparison.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.
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