21: Hypothesis

"What I could get from this, is that first, Rea and Elisabeth know much more than I think, that's why they try to guide me on a certain path" - thought Ren while frowning slightly - "I don't like this, but they have no bad intentions against me, neither against Eric nor Erika, so I can trust them, in fact, that they said they can see or come from the future, means they have much more information than I think, after all, those words were given to me as clues, so I could more easily believe their advice"

The prince was silent again as he watched Rea and Elisabeth begin to chat with Eric about what the future held for them.

"Elisabeth and Rea became friends extremely fast, which means that Rea was aware of Elisabeth's hidden identity, possibly because she also knew about how Eric's original fiancée was a whore" - Ren thought as he analyzed everything in great detail, leaving nothing out of place - "If we take that factor into account, then it is possible that Rea confronted Elisabeth about the truth of her change, and I guess that would be the common factor... Now, if we take it that it was true that this is Elisabeth's second life, then that means that Rea has to be going through something similar"

Ren maintained his silence as he began to search for information within the [Tower of Babel], only to open his eyes as he discovered that there was information about reincarnation in Draco Dragonhart's information.

"Everything leads back to my ancestor?" - Ren thought with a frown as he analyzed the information he had managed to get, only to open his eyes at what he had discovered - "I see... this is possible, in fact, it would fit with the holes in those two's confessions..."

Another world, Draco Dragonhart confessed to his best friends that he had been reincarnated in this world with information about some important events, that's why they had managed to overcome certain traps that normally would have caused the complete annihilation of his troops.

"If this is true, then that would explain all that strange information Elisabeth has gotten, the exotic foods, the new construction methods, among other weird things I don't know about..." - Ren thought as his eyes sparkled slightly - "Now, if both my ancestor, Elisabeth and Rhea know about us and the events of the future, then we can deduce something else... Their original world has information about us, though that wouldn't make sense, unless..."

Fiction...

"In their world, Eric, Erika, and I, as well as all the important people in our world, are characters in a story for their entertainment" - Ren continued while frowning because he didn't like where his line of thought was going - "If this is true, then this would explain a lot of things, although at the same time there is something strange... no story can reveal all the paths it may take, in other words, there is no pre-established destiny, unless he is ignoring something..."

Ren was right, a normal story has that its single predetermined path, but what he didn't know was that he was the main character in a game, one where the player could slowly decide the prince's fate, and if he or she didn't like this fate, he or she could simply restart the game and begin a different fate. The lack of this information was confusing the prince, or rather, it was making coming to a final conclusion much more difficult.

"I better not think about this anymore, it is possible that in that world there came to exist an advanced kind of books" - Ren thought while shaking his head - "So I can't rule out the fact that there are many versions of this same book with all the possible decisions about my actions during the story..."

Ren had inadvertently come to a terrifyingly accurate conclusion after he decided to ignore the fact that the books had a pre-established path.

* * * * *

"This is... interesting..." - Altia said as a huge smile appeared on her lips.

The [Order of Dawn] meeting had ended half an hour ago, and she was still excited about the revelation of the heir.

"Ren B. Bahamut" - murmured Altia as she let out a laugh - "The foolish prince... oh, the irony, the wisest person in the world, is considered the idiot, the buffoon of the royal family, to the point that he has been banished to the most dangerous place on the continent"

"I see you are happy, little sister ~" - said a seductive voice.

"Little sister..." - Altia snorted as she saw the voluptuous figure of a woman she immediately recognized - "Artemis..."

"I managed to convince the council to let us go to Surt" - said Artemis as she licked her lips - "How do you like my gift?"

"You managed to convince them?" - Altia repeated with surprise - "Even my grandfather?"

"It was with the excuse that you will be the person in charge of guarding the heir, after all, the ring is important for the order" - replied Artemis as she shrugged - "Well?"

"I would kiss you if it wasn't for the fact that I know you have paralyzing poison on your lips" - answered Altia while rolling her eyes at her.

"That was a joke, there's no way I'd do something that stupid" - Artemis snorted as she folded his arms - "That aside, we leave shortly."

"Do we have any information about Surt?" - Altia asked with a frown.

"I sent a few familiars to find out what's going on, and I have to admit it's interesting" - replied Artemis as she rubbed her chin - "It looks like the prince managed to find an ancient civilization."

"An ancient civilization?" - repeated Altia while frowning - "I see, it has to be the one from the ancient kingdom of Vermut, I guess it was to be expected if he has the [Tower of Babel]"

"Anything interesting that's in there?" - Artemis asked with mild curiosity.

"Vermut was a kingdom I destroyed before I was defeated by Draco, basically they were geniuses at creating Golems, that's why I annihilated them, so the hero wouldn't have an infinite army" - answered Altia while remembering the past - "For the prince to go right there, makes me think that all this is a ploy made by the kingdom of Bahamut, possibly because they are aware of their bad situation"

"Oh, that's one is an interesting proposal" - said Artemis while stroking her chin - "Summing up, you think that the prince went to Surt of his own free will to get the supplies left behind by that ancient civilization, possibly to build a new Bahamut... Am I correct?"

"It is a possibility, or it is even possible that the king actually banished the prince to Surt to get rid of him, although I don't think that is the case, because despite the rumors that the king is a muscle-headed idiot, he has made good decisions, although it is possible that these were proposed by Ren D. Bahamut" - said Altia while shaking her head - "And if that is the case, then we would already have our first target."

"Will you send the attack signal?" - Artemis asked as she cocked her head to one side.

"No, first we have to confirm Ren's attitude for the king, because if they are hostile to each other, then we would only be doing him a favor" - replied Altia with a frown - "Although from this point, we can create a bridge between us and Ren D. Bahamut..."

"So, shall we kill them?" - asked Artemis with a huge smile.

"No, not yet" - said Altia while shaking her head - "Anyway, let's go, I want to get to Surt as soon as possible."

* * * * *

Night had arrived for Surt, time in which Ren was watching the night sky as he continued to remember everything that had happened.

No matter how hard he thought about it, his hypothesis seemed to be the most accurate.

"Are you all right, your majesty?" - Erika asked as she looked at her beloved while holding his hand.

"Yes, I'm fine, I was just thinking" - answered Ren as he shook his head - "By the way, even with your awakening, I don't plan on letting you come with us"

"No, I'm going, and you're not going to stop me!" - Erika exclaimed as she folded her arms - "I'm your wife, I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger while I'm safe, not when I have the ability to help you!"

Ren was silent before letting out a sigh regretfully - "I'm not going to convince you... Right?"

"Nope" - Erika replied as she remarked the [p] letter.

Ren sighed again before nodding - "Fine, you can come with me, but don't even think about running away, I don't want to see you charging at any monsters we run into"

"Of course!" - Erika exclaimed excitedly - "Thank you, thank you, thank you ~!"

Ren simply shook his head, after all, it seemed impossible that he could win an argument against Erika, not when she was convincing him with a simple smile.

The prince was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice the huge, seductive smile the red-haired girl was giving him.