Editor : Amethyst00



"Isn't it a little strange?"

That night, after completing their scouting mission.

Eliza, who had finished resting and was now eating, narrowed her brow and spoke.

Watching her, Chelsea tilted her head and asked, "What is?"

"We've now explored most of the area inside the Wall of Limitation."

"Right."

"Yet we still haven't found the entrance to the Legion's world. Not even that—we haven't even encountered the Giant King's Legion."

"Hearing you say that… it is kind of strange."

Chelsea's expression turned serious.

She recalled the Giant King's Legion that had once attacked this place.

An overwhelming sense of dread that had sent shivers down her spine.

'If Lord Dweno and Leo hadn't been there… could we have stopped them?'

She gulped dryly at the thought.

"Maybe it's just well hidden?"

When Luke cautiously suggested that, Duran spoke up.

"That could be the case. But in this situation… there's a not-so-small chance it's inside the fortress."

"Inside the fortress?"

Luke's face showed surprise, and Drianna responded.

"That's ridiculous."

Drianna waved a finger and spoke with pride.

"Have you forgotten who the commander of this city is? It's Lord Dweno! Lord Dweno!"

"Just like Drianna said. If it's Lord Dweno, he would've been the first to figure out what's going on inside the fortress."

Aru nodded in agreement.

Hearing the conversation, Carl asked, "Leo, what do you think?"

"Hmm."

Leo, fork still in his mouth, fell into thought.

The dungeon entrance was inside the fortress.

And Leo had a good idea where.

But what Dweno had said made him hesitate to assault the dungeon.

'I want to take them, if even just a little, into the future. That much… that much of a wish should be allowed, shouldn't it?'

It wasn't a wish for Dweno himself. It was a wish to show the people of Ivaldi a future.

And it wasn't about letting them live in the future.

Just to let them see a world that had truly become peaceful.

Just like when they were granted a sky filled with stars.

He simply wanted to show them beautiful sunlight.

'Of course, it's absurd.'

Bringing beings from the past into the future?

An impossible wish.

But the one who made that wish was someone more deserving than anyone else of having it granted.

Leo owed a great debt to Dweno. The whole world did.

Dweno had never hesitated to devote and sacrifice himself for a peaceful future he would never get to enjoy.

Thinking of Dweno's small yet overwhelmingly grand unfulfilled wish, Leo tapped the fork in his mouth a few times before speaking.

"They could be well-hidden… but I also think there's a decent chance they're inside."

Saying that, Leo stood up.

"Black Rabbit, where you going?"

"To the walls."

"Oh! I'll go too!"

Aru jumped up and quickly followed Leo.

'Figured Leo might've found a clue.'

Watching their backs, Carl tilted his head.

'Then again… it's not like Leo's some kind of omnipotent god.'

But then he tilted his head again.

'Wait. Come to think of it… isn't he basically a god?'

He saved the world once and was trying to save it again.

Even the gods themselves revered him.

'At this point… maybe he is a god?'

As Carl pondered such a silly thought with strange sincerity, he noticed Chelsea watching the direction Leo and Aru had gone with an intense gaze. He smirked slyly.

"Jealous Leo and Aru are going on a date?"

"You call that a date?"

Chelsea shot him a disgusted look, and Carl looked sheepish.

Chelsea let out a small sigh and stood up.

"Carl, come with me for a sec."

"Huh? Why?"

"I've got something to talk about."

Chelsea dragged Carl to a quiet, secluded spot where no one was around.

Then, sharpening her senses and confirming they were alone, she began to speak.

"Don't you think something's off with Leo?"

"Leo?"

Carl folded his arms and tilted his head at her words.

After a moment of thought, he shook his head.

"Didn't really seem off to me. Why?"

"I don't know. It just feels like… he's got a lot on his mind. His face looked more troubled than usual."

"You can tell that much?"

"Of course! I'm always watching Leo."

"That's basically stalking—"

"Excuse me?"

"Mercy, please."

With Chelsea's staff right in his face, Carl raised both hands in surrender.

As she lowered her staff and half-closed her eyes, Chelsea continued.

"Normally, Leo would've found a clue by now given how far we've explored. Don't you think it's weird?"

"I guess. But Leo's not actually a god, you know? If things are complicated, it's normal to take a while."

"Yeah, but still…"

Chelsea seemed conflicted. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Leo came to your side this afternoon, right? Nothing strange happened?"

"Something strange? Hmm… not really. He came to the orphanage, used that flower-blooming magic once, then went right to sleep."

"Just that?"

"Yeah. Didn't really get a chance to check his condition—he was only there a moment."

"What do you mean? Be specific."

"He didn't come to the orphanage directly. He was at the workshop with Lord Dweno first."

"With Lord Dweno?"

"Why?"

"So Lord Dweno saw the flower-blooming magic?"

"Yeah. The orphanage kids showed him some flower drawings, and then Leo used the magic."

At that, Chelsea's face turned grave.

Carl looked puzzled.

"What's wrong?"

"Carl. What if… just what if…"

"Huh?"

"What if Lord Dweno remembers… what happened in his world, when you and Leo went there?"

"What?"

Carl looked incredulous.

"Didn't Lady Luna and Aaron say they remembered Leo?"

Chelsea recalled what Leo had told her about Luna and Aaron.

"Come on. This is the Legion's world, not the Heroes' world."

"Yeah. But originally, it was Lord Dweno's world, wasn't it?"

At her words, Carl's expression turned serious.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "What makes you think that?"

"When Lord Dweno saw the flower-blooming magic—how did he react?"

"He seemed… a little surprised?"

"Just a little? Don't you think that's weird?"

Chelsea opened her hands.

A magical formula floated above them—the very one for the flower-blooming spell.

"Carl, you're a mage too. You know how ridiculous this magic is."

It was the essence of Luna Luminance, the Poet of the Star.

"It's a higher-level magic than any other. No, it's basically in the realm of miracles."

The result was just flowers blooming, but the process was impossibly complex.

A miraculous spell that disregarded the laws of the world and touched upon the realm of creation.

"The deeper your understanding of magic, the more this spell will shock you."

Fwoosh—

The spell above Chelsea's hands dispersed into light.

"And Lord Dweno has a deep understanding of magic formulas."

Though his expertise was mainly in magical engineering, he was still a legitimate mage.

Carl's expression turned grave.

'It's true.'

When he saw the spell, Dweno was surprised—but that was it.

'To someone like Lord Dweno, that should've been an incomprehensible miracle-level spell.'

As that thought crossed Carl's mind, his face turned uneasy.

"But still! Why would Lord Dweno hide that he has those memories? Did he only tell Leo?"

"What if… Leo only found out today?"

"That makes even less sense! If Leo knew, why would he hide it?"

"Maybe he's hesitating… because of Lord Dweno."

"What?"

"Think about how Lord Dweno treats the people of Ivaldi. You said it yourself—he's different from how he was during Godthrone."

Even Carl had noticed that present-day Dweno was different—colder.

But now, Dweno treated the people of Ivaldi like family, not just people to protect.

And they returned that affection, treating him like a father, an uncle, an older brother.

"Lord Dweno promised to show the people of Ivaldi the sun."

Carl had seen him say that many times.

"But if Leo… if Leo knew…"

The Leo Carl knew would do anything to save the world.

An ideal hero right out of a storybook.

Because that's what Leo was—one of the great heroes who formed the very archetype of all modern heroes.

A perfect hero from the beginning.

That was Leo.

"Carl, you said it just a moment ago."

Chelsea bit her lip.

"Leo's not an omnipotent god."

"…"

"He's human. He smiles when he's happy, cries when he's sad."

He had just become emotionally worn down from all he'd been through.

But he wasn't the kind of man who could ignore the wish of a comrade as dear as family.

"Leo wants more than anything for the Great Heroes to live in peace like he did."

At her words, Carl held his face in his hands.

"Haa… then what are we supposed to do? If Dweno and Leo both know where the entrance is but are hesitating because they want to show Ivaldi's people our time… what do we do?"

"I… don't know."

'Aaron… what should I do?'

Aaron had once told her that Leo was Kyle, and asked her to support him.

She wanted to be Leo's strength—especially if he was conflicted now.

'What should I do?'

Just as Chelsea bit her lip hard—

"Hmm? So basically… you're saying you guys are from the future?"

A voice from above made Chelsea and Carl jump.

Looking up, they saw Enniha leaning over with a brush in hand.

"Wh-what?!"

Chelsea was flustered, but Enniha smiled and tapped her ear.

"I'm an elf. I'm sensitive to the wind's movements."

Meaning, she'd dodged Chelsea's detection spell earlier.

"So let me get this straight: That dwarf has future memories. That Leo guy is his friend. And the dwarf doesn't want to storm the dungeon entrance, even in a crisis, because of us."

Enniha grimaced.

"That damn dwarf. Treating us like baggage. Deciding who gets to go to the future or not? Arrogant prick."

"Wait, our conversation—"

"This isn't beautiful at all! As an artist who values aesthetics, I refuse to accept this."

"Sorry, what?"

Enniha looked at them both and said,

"Let's find that entrance."