"Tell me about Aryandor."
After losing Aryandor in Ephomos, I asked Haruna.
What does Aryandor want?
What has happened so far, and what will happen in the future?
Haruna explained this to me.
"Aryandor's goal is the Academy."
"The Academy?"
"Do you know why Saints appear at the Academy every year?"
The Saints come to the Academy every Homecoming Day.
They don’t come because they have nothing better to do or because they’re idle.
"For the Saints, the Academy is a very important place."
"So, why is it important?"
"Because it’s the place where a Saint meets her end."
Haruna answered my question calmly.
"The end…?"
Instead of directly answering my question, Haruna asked another.
"Rudy Astria, haven’t you seen the end of this world when you were somewhere else?"
I pondered Haruna's words slowly.
When I saw this world as a game.
It was what she was referring to.
"What was the end of this world like?"
I contemplated for a moment.
The end of this world.
The last scene I saw, in essence.
"The annihilation… of the Academy."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Yes, everyone at the Academy dies. But, what happens after that?"
I don’t know what happened next.
The last scene I saw was simply the massacre at the Academy, and then it ended.
Haruna nodded when I didn’t speak.
"That must have been the end."
What I saw was from Evan’s perspective.
Evan, too, was a part of the Academy. With everyone at the Academy massacred, Evan also died.
So, the last thing I saw was indeed the end.
"However, there is no problem. Aryandor also disappears after seeing that end."
"What?"
"Aryandor will kill everyone at the Academy and then commit suicide. That’s the end of the story."
"What are you talking about?"
Aryandor commits suicide?
Why on earth?
I had thought that after defeating the Academy, the next target would naturally be the Empire.
The rebels' goal is essentially the Empire.
They gathered to overthrow the Empire and create a new world.
So, they should have moved towards the Empire for that goal.
"You should know that his purpose does not align with the rebels'."
Aryandor's goal is the resurrection of Beatrice.
He is with the rebels only for that, not sharing the same purpose.
Even so, the rebels' goal cannot be ignored.
Why would he commit suicide after achieving his goal?
It made no sense.
"Aryandor succeeds in resurrecting Beatrice. He uses some power where the Saints meet their end. But, the problem was what happened after Beatrice was resurrected. Beatrice couldn’t accept the situation. She couldn’t accept a situation where many people had died and many more would have to die."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"So, Aryandor couldn’t accept that situation?"
"Exactly. After Beatrice was resurrected, she immediately committed suicide. Aryandor couldn’t bear it since the person he sacrificed everything for died right before him."
"So, that’s the end of it."
"Yes, without Aryandor, the rebels are nothing. They become a group that can be dealt with by the Empire."
Hearing that, I briefly cocked my head.
"So, can't we just let Aryandor resurrect Beatrice?"
Essentially, that would bring an end to the whole situation.
The resurrection and eternal life of a person might be taboo according to the Empire, but the lives of those currently living are more important.
The moment we try to stop the rebels, the sacrifice of numerous people becomes inevitable.
So, if we temporarily open the Academy to allow Beatrice's resurrection...
"If it could be resolved that easily, Rudy wouldn't have come to this world in the first place."
"Does that mean that method won't work?"
"Yes, because this world is completely different from the one Rudy has seen."
"Of course..."
My arrival must have changed the timeline itself.
No...
Thinking about it felt a bit strange.
The reason I came here.
If such a situation were possible, there would be no reason for me to come.
When I had talked with Haruna before, she had mentioned it was a plan that started from Beatrice's time.
"This worldline is the worst of them all. It's the worldline where Beatrice dies before meeting Aryandor, and Aryandor takes on a different purpose."
I walked, recalling the story I had heard from Haruna.
After leaving the Tower with Luna, we entered a restaurant.
Luna looked both bewildered and happy, yet worried at the same time.
"Was it okay for us to leave work? Others will surely think it's strange... Then, my grades..."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})It was currently the first semester of the third year at the Academy, and we were doing field training.
Our performance in the field was evaluated by the people we worked with, and that directly affected our grades.
Luna was conscious of such evaluations.
Seeing Luna like this, I smiled.
"You haven't been slacking off, so one day off should be fine."
If those people thought to ruin Luna's evaluation over this one incident, I would be ready to turn the Tower upside down.
After all the work Luna had done so far...
She had already made significant contributions to the Tower, and considering how fast she processed paperwork, it was clear she had achieved too much to count on fingers.
After all, this field training evaluation was not only important in itself but also in determining what the student would do after graduating from the Academy.
The Tower would surely not want to lose Luna.
To ruin Luna's evaluation in such a scenario?
Would Luna enter the Tower then?
Absolutely not.
For the future, the Tower would surely give Luna a good evaluation.
"Let's take a break today. It's been a while since we had some rest. Both for me and for you."
"Ehehe... It's nice to have a rest with Rudy after so long."
"I feel the same."
"But, weren't you going to explain something to me?"
There was that, too.
"It won't be a long story."
I summarized the story I had heard from Haruna briefly.
The situation we were in and what Aryandor intended to do.
I cut out the deeper details and just recited the main points.
I slowly talked about the things that had happened to me while Luna was away and what needed to happen now.
"Such things..."
Luna furrowed her brow and nodded.
Having said all that, I felt a sort of relief.
The things I knew weren't deep secrets.
But they were also not something I could share with just anyone.
I always kept such matters close to my chest.
These issues were for me to ponder on my own, and I would seek help from others only when necessary.
Even if others knew, they wouldn't be able to offer a proper solution, and their opinions might differ from mine.
However, looking at the situation now, I wondered why I had always kept to myself.
Luna simply listened and empathized.
She didn't offer a solution, just listened.
Yet, my heart felt lighter.
Just by voicing my thoughts, even without finding answers, I felt relieved.
"You've had it tough, Rudy."
Luna said, as if to comfort me.
Hearing her words, I made up my mind.
"And there's something I haven't told you yet."
"Something you haven't told me? Besides everything you've just said?"
"Yes."
Until then, only those involved in the matter like Haruna, Astina, or Aryandor knew about it.
But it was something I eventually had to share with the people around me.
"I am not Rudy Astria."
"Huh?"
Luna cocked her head.
"Not Rudy? Then... is there another Rudy? The Rudy I've been seeing and the Rudy in front of me are different people?"
"The me you've seen is indeed me, but... it's complicated to explain. Basically, the original Rudy Astria is a completely different person, and I... entered this body when I came to the Academy."
"Uh, that's complicated. So, you're saying you're not Rudy, but... the Rudy I know is the real Rudy. Then, you're the original Rudy now..."
Luna scratched her head, trying to sort it out.
Though her attempt at clarification was more confusing, she wasn't wrong.
After trying to make sense of it on her own, Luna looked at me.
"So, the Rudy I've seen and the Rudy now are the same person, right?"
"That's correct."
"Then it doesn't matter. Whatever the past Rudy was like, the Rudy I know is the Rudy now."
At Luna's words, I smiled.
It was just the kind of reaction I expected from Luna.
Even as I anticipated her reaction, a part of me was still unsure, but her expected response brought a smile to my face.
"Thank you."
"There's no need for thanks. It's just obvious."
I was truly grateful for Luna's reaction.
She might have said it was obvious, but it wasn't.
It was only obvious because it was Luna.
I really liked that about Luna.
Clap!
As I finished speaking to some extent, Luna clapped her hands as if to conclude the conversation.
"So, is that everything for today?"
I smiled at Luna's gesture.
"It looks like it."
"Then let's eat to our hearts' content! Today, we rest as much as we want!"
Luna beamed with a bright smile.
It was a smile that melted away all the fatigue accumulated over time.
"Yeah, let's enjoy ourselves to the fullest."
We weren't at some resort.
We had simply entered an ordinary restaurant and sat down for a quiet meal.
There was nothing else we had to do for the day.
We could think about tomorrow's tasks, well, tomorrow.
That alone made it a very sweet break for us.
