His Big Mistake

Sir Charles de Évreux lay on his back looking up at the beautiful sky, he wondered how long he had been out. He thought back on how he ended up here and wondered at exactly which point he made his mistake. It wasn't his breakfast at the Inn, he quite enjoyed his eggs and pork steak. It wasn't when he bypassed the administration and explored the campus himself. No, his mistake was assuming that his experience as a knight on the battlefield would equate to superiority over the children of the nobility who were trained with the sword since a young age. All he meant to do was exchange a few blows with the woman who was training here with a practice sword. He wasn't even sure he saw her turn around before he was lying on his back coming to from being knocked out.

The most beautiful face he had ever seen on a woman leaned over him and laughed softly, she said, "Oh! Sir Évreux, is it already time for you to join us? Time sure does fly when you are having fun. I'll bring you to meet the others today, we've all missed you. I know Claude will love having you back. You two were the best of friends before. Even Diggory will love having you back, he always enjoyed showing you his Autopainter."

He struggled to try and remember ever meeting a woman so beautiful in his life, he finally broke down and asked, "Who are you?"

She laughed softly and then slap herself in the forehead and said, "Oh my gosh, I am such an idiot, I forgot you don't have any memories. I'm Doreen Leon, a friend of yours. Come with me to lunch today, I have to reintroduce you to your friends."

"I think I got hurt badly, I can't remember any of this." He replied.

She laughed softly again and said, "No no, you're fine, I am sorry about whacking you so hard though... Here let me help you. Heal." A green light shone over him, he blinked at the brightness of it and when he opened his eyes it was as if he had never been struck. Every ache and pain he had previously felt was gone. He felt like a brand new man. He stood up and she helped dust him off. She waved her hand in front of her face and said, "Wow, you stink. Look, some things have changed here socially, you need to bathe every day from now on. It isn't polite in society to smell like you haven't bathed in weeks. Also, go pick up some deodorant. We all use it, it makes life more acceptable for all of us."

He sniffed himself not even sure what she was talking about, he did notice that she smelled very nice though and didn't want to stick out as an oddball. So he just nodded as if it was important. He asked, "Is there a place for these things here on Campus, or do I need to return to an inn?"

She grinned at him and said, "Come with me, Charles, I'll take you to the student store and then we can go to the men's bathing area. Actually, walk on this side of me please, yeah right there. The wind is blowing the other direction." She giggled.

He just said, "Oh, sorry." He followed her like a baby chick following a hen.

*****

Guy and Olivier sat in Guy's dorm room. Guy's knee was bouncing up and down as he interlaced his fingers in front of his face, looking ultra serious. Oliver had his normal goofy smile, he asked, "Why are you certain that they will plunge the world into chaos? I seem to recall that Alicia was one of the good guys in that world."

Guy looked at Olivier and said, "I didn't build the Ito Conglomerate this time. That means if Wütendes Menschenreich starts building those dreadnaughts, they will simply roll over the rest of the world making Pays Des Abrutis into exactly what Wütendes Menschenreich was in that world. Do you understand? If I do what I did last time and build that company, we'd end up in a world war. If not while we still live, after we pass on."

Olivier nodded and then asked, "The Wolter in that world didn't know Magic, why do you think she taught him this time?"

Guy shook his head, "Maybe she wants to correct something in this timeline just like we are? Who knows? It's not like we can talk with her about it. She has clearly drawn a line in the sand between us."

Olivier shook his head and asked, "Well who's fault was that? You did threaten her first."

Guy frowned and said, "She broke the agreement first, Olivier. She told him about us." He sighed and then asked, "What should we do?"

Olivier thought for a bit and then said, "Flying things come from your world, how do the governments there deal with them?"

Guy shrugged and then said, "Antiaircraft weapons mainly." He then sat up and looked at Olivier, "You're a genius. All we have to do to make them ineffective is to create antiaircraft weapons." He slapped his forehead and shook his head, "I should have thought of that myself. We can sell them to any country that Wütendes Menschenreich threatens."

Olivier chuckled and then said, "But they don't need to have those big airships to conquer another country you know. Wütendes Menschenreich is a powerful nation without any tricks. Do you intend to stop them from invading every country simply because you can? It's not like the other nations in this world are peacefully coexisting. The world is a tough place, Guy. We aren't Gods protecting them like children. Do you want to know how I honestly feel? I feel like one of the mistakes we made last time was not taking an interest in Pays Des Abrutis. We let my family run it as they pleased."

Guy nodded and said, "I'm listening."

Olivier sighed and said, "I think we should run the country. That includes making alliances and enemies. That means expanding the borders as we need to and making social changes to help our people lead better lives. You may hate what the Ito Corporation became in the end, but you have to admit you did some amazing things to increase the standard of living for the people of Pays Des Abrutis. Electricity, inventions, products, trade." He shrugged and said, "We just need to manage things more closely and think about long term solutions to long term problems this time."

Guy nodded and said, "Yeah, I can't be afraid of progress just because I failed once."

Olivier smiled and nodded, "By the way, I saw Doreen escorting Charles around today."

"Oh, is it time for him to join us already?" Guy asked.

Olivier nodded and said, "Yeah, he'll probably be at lunch with us today. Should we teach him magic like Claude?"

Guy nodded and said, "Yeah, we let him die once because we were too cautious, we can't do that to him again. Let Doreen and Algernon take care of the two of them. Claude and Charles were best friends before, I'm sure they'll get right back to it this time around."

Olivier smiled and nodded, then he said, "About my family. We can't trust them, but I would rather not kill them unless we have to, alright?"

Guy looked at Olivier and said, "I'll let you handle things there, Olivier."

He smiled and then said, "Thanks, Guy. I know they are terrible human beings, but they are my family."