Haruna and I moved to a place where we wouldn't run into other people.
"Have you been well?"
Haruna asked with a smile.
"I'm not sure if I've been well. I've been swamped with work."
"Is that so? That's unfortunate. But,"
Haruna's expression suddenly turned fierce, glaring at me menacingly.
"Why didn't you take over as the head of the family?"
To which, I responded with a question.
"Was it you who passed the information to Professor Robert?"
"You were supposed to inherit the family, weren't you?"
"I'll ask again. Did you push Professor Robert into a corner?"
Our conversation stalled.
Haruna sighed.
"Let's have a proper conversation."
"If you answer my question, I'll answer yours."
I wasn't planning to back down.
If someone had sacrificed those around me once, it meant they could do it again.
Having such a person around meant that people close to me could start disappearing one by one.
I was not willing to tolerate such a situation.
"I regret what happened to Professor Robert."
"Regrets or whatever. Did you do it?"
Haruna nodded.
"Yes."
Clench.
I gritted my teeth.
"You... You drove Professor Robert to..."
"If I hadn't spoken to Professor Robert, you would be dead."
"Weren't there other ways? You could have told me about it, or prevented this situation altogether."
"There was no other way for this one."
"So you're saying that Professor Robert had to die?"
"Yes."
She was firm.
That only fueled my anger further.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Professor Robert! What did Professor Robert do wrong? All I had to do was become stronger, tell me the future properly. How could you just..."
"Have you heard of the butterfly effect?"
"...The butterfly effect?"
"A small butterfly's wings might cause a faraway storm. Aren't you afraid of the things that could happen if I told you the future and took different actions?"
"So, you're saying you didn't intervene to cause Professor Robert's death?"
"It was the way to minimize the shock. And I didn't force him to sacrifice. The choice was Robert's."
"Choice?"
I was puzzled.
What had Haruna done to Professor Robert?
"All I did was show Professor Robert the past and the future. And the decision he made was his sacrifice."
I narrowed my brows.
According to Haruna, she hadn't asked Robert to sacrifice himself.
The sacrifice was entirely Robert's decision.
But does that make it okay?
Haruna had read the future and knew that Robert would make such a decision.
She had led Robert to that decision.
"So you're saying you're not at fault?"
"If we're talking about fault, then yes, it's my fault. However, it was a necessary action."
"A necessary action?"
"Astina. Saving her changed many futures. Your growth was delayed, and the overall situation changed."
I clenched my fist.
"Then let me ask you. Has everything gone according to plan now?"
"If you hadn't given up your position as the head of the family, it would have."
"So you're saying that if I had taken the position as the head of the family, everything would be resolved? We could defeat Aryandor, no one would die, and we could peacefully conclude everything?"
"..."
Haruna couldn't answer my question.
Robert's last words.
Haruna didn't know all futures.
Just because she could see the future didn't mean she could control it.
She might change the lives of individuals, but changing the whole world was impossible.
Still, I didn't think it was right to blame Haruna for Robert's death.
Although she had forced Robert's sacrifice, the crime wasn't hers alone.
The real cause of Robert's death was the rebels, not Haruna.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Haruna, I remember that you helped us. If you hadn't come to the academy, it would have been hard for Rie, Yuni, and also Astina to survive."
That was why I was having this conversation.
Haruna had indeed helped us a lot.
She had helped at the academy, and by informing us about Astina's death, Astina was able to live.
I am truly grateful for this.
But it was difficult to accept the death of others.
"I will do my best to change someone's death. But don't induce someone's death."
"I'm sorry."
Haruna bowed her head to me.
I sighed.
If the professor were here, he'd probably laugh it off, saying, 'Why fuss over such nonsense?'
I didn't scold her further.
"So, why are you here?"
Haruna looked up at me, puzzled.
"You must have a reason for coming."
"Ah... It's about the position as head of the family."
"The position as head of the family?"
Haruna's puzzled look disappeared, replaced by a serious expression.
"Aren't you looking for Chancellor Ophillius?"
I nodded.
The reason I didn't accept the position as head and came to the academy was to draw Haruna here.
"Chancellor Ophillius is probably already dead."
"What?"
"That's the future. And Aryandor will absorb his time magic, gaining even greater power. By that time, you won't be able to stop Aryandor either."
"So you're saying if I take the position as head, I can stop him?"
"Yes, because then your family's spatial magic will be completely yours."
Aryandor, having absorbed the entirety of time magic, posed a significant threat.
To face him, one must possess the entirety of spatial magic.
"So, are you certain that Chancellor Ophillius is dead? Not in the future you saw, but in this reality."
"I can't be sure. Anyway, about the spatial magic..."
"Then, in the future you saw, where is Chancellor Ophillius?"
"What?"
"If Chancellor Ophillius is alive, then it doesn't matter. That means I can also face Aryandor."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"But Chancellor Ophillius is..."
"This situation isn't from the future you saw, right? Then that future could have changed as well."
Chancellor Ophillius.
I don't know much about him.
However, I don't think he's the type to give up easily.
He was someone who carried the weight of many people on his shoulders.
He never passed his burden to others.
He was someone who bore it alone and moved forward.
"Where is Chancellor Ophillius now?"
"Ha... Ha..."
Chancellor Ophillius had died countless times.
Well over a hundred times.
He had died so many times that it was hard to keep count, and his mind wasn't clear anymore.
"How about giving up now?"
Aryandor came again to kill Ophillius.
Ophillius stared blankly at his sword.
Perhaps dying this time would bring some relief.
Ophillius kept waiting.
He waited only for Rudy or Ian to return.
Yet, they never came.
Something went wrong.
Aryandor laughed at such an expression on Ophillius's face.
"Do you finally sense something is wrong?"
"How... What happened?"
"Ophillius, do you know where you are?"
"Where...?"
Ophillius looked around.
It was the same place he had been seeing.
His mansion.
Nothing was unusual.
Aryandor slowly approached the window.
Then, he drew the hanging curtains aside.
That's when the dim outside scenery was revealed.
Buildings in ruins and streets devoid of people.
"...Ephomos."
This was the destroyed city beneath the capital, Ephomos.
"It took quite an effort to build a mansion identical to yours here."
"How... How am I here...?"
"Do you know where this place is?"
"Place?"
"The place where you and I first met. Where you saved me, that place."
Before Ophillius could use his time magic, Aryandor had already cast his magic.
Thus, he moved the space.
To the place where they first met in the past.
Ophillius hadn't noticed.
Not using time magic much, Ophillius had become dull to such sensations.
"So, what will you do now? Plan to hold out as long as you can?"
Aryandor lifted his sword with a smile.
In a situation of despair, people feel more disheartened when they fall into an abyss from a hopeful situation than when despair arrives without any warning.
Ophillius was no different in this respect.
He knew there was a possibility someone could come to save him, but those people couldn't reach this place.
No one would expect it.
If they realized he had been moved through spatial magic, they would search the rebels' stronghold, not thinking to look right beneath the capital.
"It's darkest under the lampshade," they say, not realizing it was right under the capital.
"Heh..."
Ophillius let out a hollow laugh.
"So, how about dying now?"
"Yeah... That seems to be the only way."
Ophillius stood up as he spoke.
At this, Aryandor's lips curled into a smile.
"Good decision. Then, let's proceed with the magic..."
"But."
Ophillius felt despair.
But he hadn't given up.
"I have no intention of giving you power."
"What?"
Ophillius mobilized his mana.
"I must pay for my sins."
Ophillius made a vow.
To someone who knew his past, to Robert, he had promised.
He had vowed never to die.
Ophillius had committed many sins.
He had tried to change the future by committing those sins.
All those attempts were in vain.
Seeing now that Aryandor knew about his sister, Beatrice, it was indeed the worst situation.
Ophillius, trying to bring about the best situation, had led it to the worst.
"Ugh... You bastard!"
Ophillius's body began to fluctuate.
Time twisted.
"Aryandor, I'm sorry. I wished you could have lived a better life."
It was Ophillius who taught Aryandor swordsmanship.
It was Ophillius who taught him time magic.
Would it have been better if he hadn't taught him those things from the start?
Would it have been better if he had told him about his sister, Beatrice?
Would the situation have been better if he hadn't killed Serina's mother and sealed Priscilla?
Or, if he hadn't killed Robert's son...
Many thoughts crossed Ophillius's mind.
But now, he couldn't change the past.
The only thing humans can change is the future.
"Let me say one last thing."
A fluctuating door opened on Ophillius's side.
He was heading to a rift in time.
A place where space, time, or anything else does not exist.
If he went there, he could preserve his life.
However, he couldn't escape from there.
He would have to stay there quietly until his lifespan ended.
This would undoubtedly be painful.
But he couldn't die here.
He slowly walked into the rift in time.
As Ophillius walked toward that place, he turned back and smiled.
"Aryandor, live your life."
"Ophillius!!!!!!"
And so, Ophillius disappeared into the rift in time.
