Epilogue 1: A Dance With You(2)

MISTERLP

Madam Tiamat put a hand on one of the chairs, and encouraged the rest

of us to take a seat. "It must be hard to talk while looking up. Please, be

seated."

"You have a point," I nodded.

Once I saw that everyone sat down, I asked Madam Tiamat, "Let me

cut straight to the point. What was that thing in the cloud that caused the

storm?"

"That is... not something I have authorization to answer."

I knew it: the authority issue was going to get in the way. But I couldn't

just back down.

"You can just tell me what you're able to, and if this... authorization

makes it hard for you to say something, you can be vague, but give us as

much information as you can."

"Let's see... It is, like me, one of the Old Ones."

O-Old Ones? Old... Were they like gods, maybe?

"Each of the Old Ones has a duty," said Tiamat. "Mine is 'to watch

over,' its is 'to create.' Normally, the Old Ones are not supposed to

interact, and the Old Ones are to do their utmost to avoid influencing the

New Ones. However, that thing broke free of its bonds, and tried to bring

harm to my children. While this is unforgivable, it also shows how badly

that thing wanted to..."

"W-Wait, hold on a second." I stopped Madam Tiamat, who was

quickly going through her story.

Fair enough; I asked for as much information as she could give, and I

said she could be vague where she had to, but if she was just going to keep

going without us really understanding, we would only be left with no clue

as to what she said. Maybe I needed to question her about the details.

Also, it would probably be best to have one of the Factory Arms I left

my consciousness in back in the castle take notes so I could go over them

later. I wanted to consult with Hakuya, too.

"What are the 'Old Ones'?" I asked.

"Those with a different origin than the New Ones who live on this

continent."

"You're one of these Old Ones, Madam Tiamat? What about the other

dragons?"

"I am the only Old One in the Star Dragon Mountain Range."

It seemed Madam Tiamat really was a being on a different level from

the rest of the dragon race.

"Are there any Old Ones other than you and the cube?" I asked.

"There were, at one time. However, that thing and I are the only ones

left. The other Old Ones vanished with time, leaving their names behind as

godbeasts, and other such things."

"Did you say godbeasts?!" Aisha yelled out in surprise. "In my

homeland, the God-Protected Forest, there is a legend that says a godbeast

is protecting the forest."

"That would be the forest of the dark elves in Friedonia. It's true, there

was once an Old One who took the form of a serow in that forest."

The "once" in what Madam Tiamat said made Aisha grasp her head.

"What... am I supposed to think about this?" she burst out. "Should I be

happy that it once existed? Or should I be sad that it no longer does?"

"W-Well, isn't that what faith is like?" I asked.

"Oh... Should I tell my people the truth about this?" she asked

hesitantly.

"...Let's talk with Wodan before we decide that."

It was a being no one claimed to have seen for a very long time, so

even if it didn't exist now, that wasn't going to raise any problems for it as

an object of worship. After all, gods were always a thing where you never

knew if they were real or not, but it would be nice if they were.

But, still... Old Ones and New Ones, huh? Was it time that separated

the new from the old? The flow of time in this world? If so... what did that

make me, who had come from outside that time?

"No. You are neither," Madam Tiamat said, as if to answer my doubts

before I could ask.

Oh, right, Madam Tiamat could read my mind, couldn't she?

"I thought I was human, like Liscia and the others," I said.

"Yes. Your race is most certainly human. However, you cannot be

categorized as a New One like the rest of the human race."

"Is that because I was summoned from another world?"

"...I can find no way to answer that."

"The cube called me a familiar one," I said. "And you yourself once

called me 'You who have a familiar smell.'"

In that dream where our consciousnesses were synchronized, Madam

Tiamat brought her nose close to my chest, and called me, "You who have

a familiar smell."

At first, I thought it was because she was comparing me to the first

King of Elfrieden, who I heard had also been a hero summoned from

another world, and who had formed a contract with a dragon from the Star

Dragon Mountain Range. However, that cube in the cloud also called me a

"familiar one."

That cube had no connection to the first hero.

Furthermore, Madam Tiamat and the cube, who both called me

"familiar," were also both Old Ones. I was human, but didn't fall into the

category of New One, and the Old Ones called me familiar. That meant...

"Could it be I'm an "Even Older One," or something like that?" I put

forth.

"What do you mean?" Liscia asked, so I decided to explain my

hypothesis.

"I think maybe this world and the world I came from are on the same

temporal axis. Basically, that would mean this isn't a different world for

me."

"Souma's... not a hero from another world?" Liscia mumbled with a

look of shock on her face.

Everyone seemed confused by my statement, but I was more

bewildered than any of them. The inside of my head was utter chaos. But it

added up in a lot of ways.

"If I think back, there are a lot of connections to the world I was in

before. It's most obvious with names. Tomoe and Kaede come from my

former country's language, Japanese."

"Th-They do?" Kaede's eyes went wide.

I nodded and said, "Yeah. Kaede was the name of a plant that turned

red in autumn. The red leaves looked pretty in the setting sun, and girls

were often named after it."

"I knew it was a common name among families with ties to the NineHeaded Dragon Archipelago Union, but... I never knew it came from a

plant."

They were using it without knowing that? I looked at Madam Tiamat.

"Also... the one that caught my attention the most, Madam Tiamat, was

your name."

Tiamat was silent.

"I only know this from games and such, but Tiamat was the name of a

dragon that appeared in old legends in my world. And, what do you know,

the Mother Dragon who rules over the dragons in this world is also called

Tiamat. If the name is so fitting, I'm not about to write it off as

happenstance. Weren't you given the name Tiamat because you were the

Mother Dragon?"

Madam Tiamat neither confirmed nor denied. She must not have had

the authority to. If that was the case, then wasn't it because my thinking

was on the mark?

Take the overscience relics from the dungeons that Genia was studying,

for instance. The jewels used in the Jewel Voice Broadcast were total

overtechnology from the point of view of a society whose technological

level approximated the end of the middle ages, and they still were by the

standards of the world I'd come from. But if this was the world of the

future, there was at least some explanation for it.

However, it only raised more questions.

If I were to assume the two worlds were connected on the same

timeline, what on Earth could have turned that scientific world into a

world of sword and sorcery? Besides, there were more than just humans in

this world. There were a variety of races: beastmen, elves, dragonewts, and

more.

How were all of them born?

What exactly were this world, magic, overscience, other races,

monsters, and demons...?

I didn't have one clear answer to any of it. This was no good. The

matter had gotten too big to resolve inside my one, tiny little head.

"The answer to your questions may become clear in time." Madam

Tiamat's quiet voice came to me as I was holding my head in confusion. "I

cannot tell you everything, but if you wish to learn of this world, I am sure

you will eventually find the truth."

"Is that... a prophecy?" I asked.

"No. This is a wish."

"A wish?" I asked, but Tiamat simply gave me a soft, lonely smile.

"Eventually, you will arrive at the truth, and then go north, to where

that child awaits you."

Ultimately, all I'd learned from my conversation with Tiamat was that

this world might be on the same timeline as my own. Even when I'd asked

for more, Madam Tiamat hadn't answered.

Obviously, looking at the shape of the continent, I wasn't going to have

an "It was Earth all along!" moment, but... while, when it came to that

cube and how this world came about, I had to imagine the world I came

from was involved in some way, I was left frustrated, unable to come up

with a clear explanation.

Even after being led from the great hall to what seemed to be a waiting

room, I was going over our conversation in my head while sitting on the

comfy couch.

"Eventually, you will arrive at the truth, and then go north, to where

that child awaits you."

Augh, what did she mean "the truth"? I couldn't help but let it bother

me. If I didn't have a country resting on my shoulders, I'd have started

flying around everywhere, looking for traces of the past world.

"Are you letting what Madam Tiamat said bother you?" Liscia asked,

resting her head on my shoulder.

"...Well, yeah. It involves my origin, so I can't very well not."

"That's true. But, Souma, you're you... and you're also the king."

Liscia put her hand on top of mine. "As king, you have the ability to move

people. The people's literacy rate is on the rise, and you've gathered so

many intelligent people to work for you. So... don't try to carry the burden

all by yourself. No matter who you are, where you're from, or what

happened to your world, I will accept you."

"Liscia..."

"Though, I'm also saying that selfishly, because I want you to stay as

king." Liscia gave me a mischievous smile as she said that.

Aisha, who was sitting on the opposite side of Liscia, leaned in close

enough that our shoulders were touching. "Indeed! No matter who you are,

sire, we're with you!"

"Aisha... Thanks. Both of you."

With their encouragement, I felt like I could finally relax my shoulders

a bit.

Meanwhile, Hal was sitting on the couch across from us, with a look on

his face that was half exasperation and half admiration. "I'm amazed you

can get such a syrupy sweet mood going with two partners, Souma."

Kaede was sitting next to him, clinging to him closely, and, for lack of

other spots, Carla was sitting on the same couch, feeling a little awkward.

Halbert sighed, then started scratching his head. "For me... it still

doesn't feel real that I'm taking Ruby as my bride. I mean, sure, political

marriages are normal in the noble and knightly classes, but I already have

Kaede. We were childhood friends, and... well... I wanted to make her my

wife, eventually."

Is he going to brag about her? I thought, but I stayed quiet and

listened.

"But now I've gone and decided on a second wife."

"Oh... I'm happy for you, Hal," I said. "I'm glad Madam Tiamat

accepted the situation with you and Ruby."

At the very end of the earlier conference, I apologized to Madam

Tiamat for the fact that Hal rode on an unwed dragon like Ruby. Even

though it ultimately was to Dracul's advantage, it was something my

subordinate had done without sufficient thought, so I gave a proper

apology to prevent a diplomatic incident.

Madam Tiamat smiled at Hal and Ruby. "I am sure this bond was also

fate." Then she lowered her head for Hal, too. "Sir Halbert. I leave Ruby in

your care, until the day you die."

When the being worshiped as Mother Dragon bowed her head to him,

Hal reflexively stood up from his chair and responded, "Y-Yes, ma'am!"

with a tense look on his face.

Thinking back to that moment, I put on a wry smile and said, "The

Tiamat bowed her head to you. You'd better make Ruby happy."

"About that..." Hal held his head in his hands. "I never thought it would

come to this, so I have no clue how to interact with them. Should I accept

it as a political marriage? Should I love them equally? Once I start

thinking, 'Isn't that unfair to Kaede?' or 'Isn't that unfair to Ruby?' there's

no end to it."

"Do you hate the idea of marrying Ruby?" I asked.

"If I hated it, it wouldn't be bothering me so badly!"

Hal was, at his core, a simple and devoted guy, so he must have found

it hard to come to terms with the idea of loving two women. It made me,

the guy with five fiancées, feel pretty bad about myself.

When I looked at Kaede, wondering how she felt about how Hal, she

had a hand to her mouth and was shaking. It looked like she was stifling a

laugh. It was funny that Hal was wracking his nonexistent brains and

worrying over something Kaede had already come to terms with.

I'd feel bad for Ruby if he kept that depressed look on his face, so I

decided to try blowing things up a bit.