[12th Round] I Will Definitely Come Back!
“After all, I have no hands.”
If the daughter of some aristocrat were the one that said that, I would have taught her a lesson, but she really had no hands. She was a harpy, after all.
Birds’ feet and legs fulfilled the roles of hands.
That also applied to harpies, but the Snow Woman had human legs, disallowing her from doing anything with them.
She needed help eating, washing, getting dressed, and going to the toilet.
To avoid being enslaved, she wanted to use the Righteous Hero as her personal servant!
Maybe it would work on the First Hero, who didn’t care whether the being in front of him was a monster for as long as she was a fine lady, but I had already learned from experience with the cunning Lanuvel, who always pretended to be cute, to avoid doing that.
In other words, I was terminating this contract.
“Oh… You’re making it sound like I’m an evil harpy… Sir Hero, you don’t need to spend a lot of time on me. After all, for my survival, I diligently practiced magic. I can do anything. All I ask from you is for you to feed, wash, and dress me.”
‘Bird brain, listen to me carefully. It will take almost the whole day to feed, wash, and clothe you.’
Ssosia could do it instead of me, though. She’d be able to look after her husband’s pet, wouldn’t she?
‘The question is what I’ll get from this deal. Tell me or get out of my head.’
She didn’t reply. She probably didn’t have anything to offer.
This stupid ghost tugged at me for such a trifling matter…
“You just asked! Give me some time to think!”
‘Hey birdbrain, how about finding yourself a dumber master? There will definitely be someone like the First Hero somewhere out there.’
I wasn’t as generous as the First Hero, so this wouldn’t work with me.
“The wizard said I was beautiful. Other harpies laughed at my feet, but people praised them and envied them. You are also human, so you should be happy with them.”
So if someone didn’t like her legs, they wouldn’t be human at all?
This harpy continued to set her traps.
Heroes like my senior, who were easily fooled, would easily fall for the onslaught of her skillful speech.
As for me, I didn’t need a decorative monster.
“Hmm… Ah! The mage also said that my feathers are a good magical catalyst. White wings symbolized light. Therefore, they are useful even for high-level magic such as moving through spaces…”
‘Accepted! You are accepted!’
“Huh?”
‘Snow Woman, starting tomorrow, we’ll be putting your feathers to work.’
How nice would it be if she didn’t fill my head with unnecessary ideas but immediately told me about her experience? She just wasted my time and nerves on a boring interview.
‘Do you really know how to move through space?’
“I studied about it with the wizard, but I didn’t practice it…”
‘Great! You can start working today! My wife will help you with food, bathing, and clothes, so don’t worry. All you have to do is pluck out your feathers and work diligently on your spatial magic. If this works, I will look after you until old age!’
The love of the universe still hadn’t left me.
‘Bad luck’ fell on my head to introduce me to the Snow Woman, who wielded such powerful magic.
I felt incredibly grateful!
However, I first had to understand how I could help her escape.
I couldn’t even figure out how to get my son out of here, which was why I enrolled in a secondary education course. This problem was no better, and it was starting to give me a headache.
How could I get her out of this system?
I decided not to think alone but to ask the Trainee Teacher.
‘Trainee Teacher!’
▶ Difficulty: Don’t ask a teacher, even a trainee, to teach you how to disrupt the learning process. That’s also the heart of one of the Five Great Disasters. Saving the soul of a simple Inhabitant A is already difficult. That means saving the souls of beings that are second only to the Demon Lord in strength is impossible. I know you’re a capable student, but I think it’s better to give up this time.
‘I understand why you are saying that. After all, I haven’t found any solution either.’
At such moments, it was best to turn to Ssosia. She was the creator of the system, after all.
“Why me?” She asked in return.
“Teach me how to get her out.”
“Hey, think for yourself. That’ll only bring me more harm than good, so don’t even think for a second that I’ll cooperate. I don’t want to keep an eye on a harpy.”
“Speak.”
For the ‘forever second’ Ssosia, my orders were absolute.
“A-asshole! The heavens will punish you… Ah! Why is the universe on your side?!”
Annoyed, Ssosia began to answer my problem.
In essence…
“In other words, I need to cheat the system?”
“Just as the Sword Princess had a dream before giving birth to your son, a similar method is needed. However, it shouldn’t violate the general settings, only deceive the system. Oh! You better not make any mistakes as the faculty members did. The value of your son and the Five Great Disasters is different.
“I understand the principle. What about the method?”
If there was no way to get her out, all explanations were useless.
Raising the corners of her lips, Ssosia replied indifferently.
“We need to change history.”
“…”
For the first time in the 63 years of my experience in the Fantasy World, reality’s direction had deviated towards science fiction.
***
For it, we moved to another place.
We needed a ‘time machine’ to change history. And one such gadget, like unnecessary junk, was kept at Ssosia’s house.
… Which was only a stone’s throw away.
Everything turned out as the heavens desired it to, almost as if it had already predetermined this outcome.
“The love of the universe is a real fraud…”
Ssosia was just jealous that the President of the Universe loved me so much.
I looked at the time machine she built from every angle.
“I want to check if my parents are okay first.”
With this thing, I could get to Earth without a graduation certificate. This machine would fulfill a dream of mine that had been delayed for 63 years.
This was probably how the student with the worst grades would feel if they saw a drug that could make him incredibly smart?
My heart fluttered.
Time Machine.
People thought that with it, they’d be able to go back in time and change the course of history as they please. However, such technology included more extensive possibilities.
It didn’t send the user into the past.
This device moved to the ‘measurement of the past’. They could never turn back time.
Simply put, if the time machine could turn back time and send them into the past, it would mean that at this very moment, the entire vast universe, which was constantly expanding, would stop and revert to the state it was in at the user’s chosen time.
The effort that would take was already at an astronomical scale that defied description.
And to use that unthinkable power, one would also need a mechanism that could store and use it.
Hence…
“Your prelude is too long, disgraceful husband. The time machine brought the magic of spatial transport to life with the help of science. It’s as simple as that.”
“…”
Ssosia’s reproach rendered me speechless for a minute.
It was hard to agree that my explanations were long, but her words were correct.
The time machine and the ‘mechanism of spatial transfer’. These concepts were synonymous.
If anyone really knew how to turn back time, they would be Master Mollan or another God.
But that didn’t mean that spatial transfer would be easy.
If everything were that simple, I would have already returned to Earth.
Even I, who boasted immense strength, needed the help of a third party.
“Well, what about my house?”
“So-so.”
She tried to show off her luxurious home… to the emperor who united two continents.
If I looked closely, I’d probably find dust under her bed and many other faults, but I was only interested in her invention right now.
It was a huge capsule, like a bathroom, with a bluish liquid inside.
This was the time machine Ssosia was talking about.
“Get in already. You don’t have to come back for the next 5,000 years,” she rushed me, opening the capsule lid.
Normally I would have scolded her, but I was so glad to have a chance to go back to Earth that I was now more generous than ever, even though it was just my soul that would be returning.
“Okay, Ssosia. See you in 5,000 years.”
“Bastard.”
“Even agreeing with you isn’t enough to make you happy.”
Laughing, I climbed into the contraption. It bothered me a little that the First Spirit also followed me as if that was natural, but I thought it would be funny, so I didn’t stop her.
“I’ll start the launch.”
“Yeah.”
I was looking forward to this moment.
“…”
“…”
“Hey. What are you waiting for?”
“Hmm…”
For some reason, Ssosia paused.
If she said something stupid, such as not wanting to let go of her beloved husband, then I would’ve immediately let go of my generosity and teach her a lesson.
“Do it already.”
“It seems to have died out.”
“Huh?”
“The mechanism worked properly, but the system intervened, considering this process illegal.”
“Damn it!”
Curses flew out of my mouth.
Her statement made my heart sink down to my heels.
“We still need to hurry. The only way for you to return home without a graduation certificate is now blocked, and soon this whole machine may become useless. What will you do?”
That was a stupid question.
I had no other choice.
If I couldn’t return to Earth, I needed to at least take care of the Snow Woman before it was too late.
“Run it.”
“Okay. Now listen to me carefully. The system knows the truth about this world’s history, and based on that, created the Five Great Disasters. One of the Five Great Disasters, Snow Queen Elsh, was born after Snow King Eshinoff ate the Snow Woman. You must not change the course of this story. You must only falsify the truth recorded in the system by going at that time.
The principle was clear.
I needed to travel to the fake past and make sure that the dragon wouldn’t eat the Snow Woman.
“You must also always remember that you don’t have much time.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Why?”
“Because your body is here. If my dad destroys this world or is killed, the course of secondary education will also come to an end. At that point, it will no longer matter whether you succeeded or not. You will be forcibly returned. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Loud and clear.
The moment I got there, I just needed to immediately get rid of the dragon.
After all, without the dragon, the Snow Woman wouldn’t be eaten.
“You don’t understand anything at all! You can’t do that no matter what!”
“What? Why?”
“Because then the Snow Queen Elsh will disappear. If you kill the Snow King Eshinoff, you will be thrown out due to an error in the system. Thorough checks will then be executed, which will result in changes that will make it difficult for us to repeat the same procedure.”
“I only get one shot at this, and I’m not allowed to kill the dragon. Is that correct?”
“That’s right. You finally understand.”
It was confusing, but it was doable.
If I kidnapped the Snow Woman, then the dragon wouldn’t have the opportunity to eat her.
“Remember. The story cannot be disrupted except to prevent the dragon from eating the Snow Woman. As far as I remember, due to doubts, the First Hero couldn’t kill the Snow King, who merged with the Snow Woman, and received a scar that he couldn’t remove as a consequence. All of that needs to be perfectly recreated.”
“That’s…”
It was too difficult of a requirement.
The First Hero was incredibly cruel in everything that didn’t concern women. If I abducted the Snow Woman, he’d simply kill the dragon without any hesitation.
The difficulty level instantly increased by several times.
“Then I’ll begin the launch.”
“Isn’t there an easier way than this?”
“No.”
“What? Damn it!”
“Have a good trip.”
Ssosia pressed the button and started the time machine.
My mind moved to an avatar, traveling to the ‘world of the past, recorded in the system for growing heroes’.
I’m totally fucked!
But this wasn’t the end of my journey.
“I’ll be back!”
I would definitely be back!
