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Vol 05 Chapter 138: Dream

When I became aware, I found myself in a strange place—a space bathed in pale pink.

Looking down, there was no bottom. My body was floating in mid-air.

Looking up, there was no ceiling. I checked in all directions—front, back, right, left—but there was no end in sight.

It seems that the concept of space didn’t exist here, in this world.

And then I realized.

This is a dream.

After talking about founding a new country I went to bed with Julia and Tetra. After we made love, I closed my eyes. I don’t remember anything after that.

What a strange dream. I need to wake up soon.

「Wait, it would be troublesome if you were to wake up.」

I heard a voice like that of a child, but I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. It felt somewhat feminine.

I looked around, but no one was visible.

「Oh, you can really hear me, that’s great. Hello for the first time. I am… you know who I am without me saying anything, right?」

…A fairy?

「Correct! You catch on quick, that’s good.」

What do you want?

「Hmm, you’re quite calm. It seems we can have a meaningful conversation. Maybe I should have pushed aside my shyness and started talking to you right from the beginning.」

What do you want? Say what you want already. I’m busy. I want to rest my mind soon.

I need to finish this and get into REM sleep soon or tomorrow will be tough.

「Actually, I think you’re the one who has business with me. Isn’t there something you want to ask?」

Why did you grant me a blessing? Did you call me to this world?

「Haha, just the question I was expecting. I granted you a blessing because it’s convenient. Hasn’t it been useful? You were able to defeat Mari because I unlocked the potential of your blessing.」

Why did you call me to this world?

「I called you…? Hmm, there seems to be a misunderstanding here. First of all, do you know why people get transferred between worlds or reincarnated?」

How would I know? That’s what I’m asking.

「It’s related to inverse causality and the force of destiny.」

What is that?

「You know that time branches into countless paths, right? These are called world lines. To put it simply… thanks to you, Julia-chan and Tetra-chan are now happy. Many others have also become happy because of you. And you yourself, having come to this world, are quite enjoying it.」

So?

「And you might think this: Thank goodness that Almus is here. It’s good that I reincarnated into another world. These feelings influence the past. This is one of the conditions for the transfer between worlds to happen.」

Isn’t that absurd? The idea that the future determines the past… it’s far-fetched.

「Even if you complain to me about it… We don’t fully understand how it works either. Maybe our interpretation is wrong.」

I don’t even know if I can trust what you are saying, and now you are saying that you aren’t even sure of your own explanation.

「Haha, well, whether you believe me or not is up to you. Now, back to our topic. Next is the force of destiny. This is the ability to choose your desired future or past. This varies from person to person… but the total amount of force of destiny determines the impact of the will on inverse casualty. Many people wished for you to be reincarnated into this world, and deep down, you also craved excitement. That’s why the conditions for your transfer were met.」

So, you’re saying you didn’t call me here?

「We can give a push or manipulate the time and place when the cross happens to some extent. But we don’t have the power to cross the world’s boundaries. As for why you reincarnated, it’s because you died right before you crossed worlds. Only your soul crossed over. And by chance, you entered the body of a child who had just lost his soul due to mistakenly consuming soul drift grass.」

Griffon-sama said he’s never seen a reincarnated person, is it rare?

「Who knows? The ratio might not be that different. It’s rare for someone to die just as the conditions are met, but just because the conditions are right, it doesn’t guarantee a transfer. It’s easier for a soul without the constraint of a body to cross the boundary of the world. … Well, the difficulty is not that different, It’s like the difference between passing an elephant through the eye of a needle and passing a mouse through the same needle—both cases are nearly impossible.」

Well, if a mouse can pass through the eye of a needle, it seems like an elephant might too. The reason Griffon-sama didn’t know… maybe it’s because reincarnated persons don’t name themselves? They’d likely be treated as lunatics.

So, why did you give me a blessing? What you said earlier doesn’t explain anything.

「We’re in trouble, you see. That Mari… perhaps the name Merlin is more familiar to you? She’s trying to break the world’s laws by creating Arcana. We want to stop her. It was clear that if you became king, you would clash with Merlin.」

Couldn’t you guys just give her a random blessing and kill her by making the blessing run amok?

「Merlin has a different fairy with her. They will interfere if we try to meddle with her. The fairy with her is part of the Progressive Faction, while our faction can be called the Conservatives. We fairies live bound by the world’s laws. We Conservatives think of this world as a safe place that protects us from external enemies. But the Progressives consider the world a prison. That’s why they want to break it.」

Hmm… So, you could easily kill humans if you wanted.

「Please don’t misunderstand. We try to minimize interference with humans. We only give as many blessings as necessary.」

What about Alice’s father? Was that necessary?

「We have factions among us too. The one who gave the blessing that caused Alice’s father to run amok wasn’t from the Conservatives or the Progressives. If I had to say, it would be from the Pleasure Faction? They see the world as a toy, a playground. So they think of humans as toys given to them to play with. They’re terrible.」

Was it you guys who gave all those blessings to Julia?

「The one who blessed her was neither us nor the Progressives or the Pleasure Faction. It was… perhaps best described as the Favoritism Faction? They lavish blessings on humans who become nodes or those they take a fancy to.」

Nodes?

「Individuals who become key to history. While history branches infinitely, it converges at certain points. For example, the Adernian peninsula will eventually be unified. Whether it will be led by Adernians or Gallians isn’t clear. However, if it’s unified under Adernian leadership, it will be done by the man who marries Julia or their descendants. That’s how it’s determined.」

So, am I guaranteed to unify it?

「If it’s unified under Adernian leadership, yes. But there’s also a chance for it to be unified under Gallian leadership. For example, if you had lost the war against the Rozel Kingdom, the Adernian Peninsula would have unified under Gallian leadership.」

From what you are saying, it seems like you know the future… Are you able to predict the future?

「No, we can’t. We are beings of a higher order than you, so we know a lot and can make predictions and speculations based on that knowledge. But we are still bound by time like you are. How things will branch out from here is beyond us.」

You are not omnipotent, then. I thought you guys could do anything.

「We are limited. If they invest enough time and effort, humans can do the same things as us. What we cannot do includes… resurrecting the dead, immortality, time travel, stopping time, building a perpetual motion machine, and creating something from nothing. These are the limits of anything living in this world— these taboos are impossible to break without using Arcana.」

I see… Why did you suddenly show up now, anyway?

「Merlin is about to complete her Arcana. You’ve seen her possession spell, right? That was her pulling information from the Akashic Records to create a pseudo-personality of Etzel. Merlin herself hasn’t accessed the Akashic Records directly, nor has she resurrected the dead. But it’s something very close to Arcana…」

Why did you let it go this far? …Just to let you know, I have no intention of cooperating with you.

If Merlin becomes my enemy, I’ll defeat her, but if she no longer opposes me, I have no intention of killing her needlessly. It would cause too much harm.

「That’s fine. You and she will inevitably clash someday… If you ever need another blessing, just wish for it. We’ll be as flexible as we can.」

Suddenly, my vision started to blur. Slowly, my consciousness began to fade.

As my awareness dimmed, the voice of the fairy echoed…

「One last piece of advice. If you encounter a fairy who sounds very arrogant, be cautious, they are probably from the Pleasure Faction. They like to deceive people. Don’t worry. You have a strong force of destiny. As long as you refuse them, they cannot forcibly grant you a blessing.」