En Passant

The house has been pretty lively recently.

Miss Rostelina's boyfriend... Husband? Partner? Partner. Anyway, her partner recently showed up at the house to visit. Apparently he's a famous adventurer who ran into trouble with a cursed mask and wanted to take a break to spend time with Miss Rostelina until the curse wore off.

Personally, I thought he was suspicious. Especially since Dad, Mama Lily, Uncle Philip, and Auntie Hilda were all giving him weird looks.

Not to mention that the guy seemed vaguely familiar. Something about his silhouette But at least he wasn't someone on Being W's side.

Orsted also vouched for him, so that was the end of that discussion.

And speaking of Orsted...

"You have grown stronger."

...He was hanging around our house-

My house?

...Yeah, I'm just gonna call the new house my house from now.

Anyway, he was hanging around my house whenever Ariel was preoccupied chatting with Mama Lily or playing with Norn and Aisha.

And right now, it seemed like he didn't have anything to do since he was watching me train.

I swung my sword through the air, testing out ways to reinforce my body using the same method as with creating everything else. In other words, believing that I was stronger and imagining my mana reinforcing my body.

A *snap* echoed as my sword whipped through the air. And then I felt a crack as my body overextended.

I quickly flooded my body with healing mana and straightened. When I did that, I felt a jab of pain and a muscle cramp. But it quickly started fading.

"...And a great deal more reckless as well." Orsted added as he stared at me.

I lowered my sword and glanced at him. "And you've gotten more relaxed since I last saw you."

Orsted nodded and said, "I have less concerns than before. More questions, but in sum, all is well."

"Good for you." I shifted my gaze away from him and focused on my sword.

Just 'thinking' it wasn't good enough. It seemed like you still needed a proper image for things to work.

That or I didn't 'believe' hard enough.

Maybe it was necessary to practice my concentration and willpower? Did I need to do some meditation or something?

...Well, that was for the future. It'd be nice to be able to go all 'in the beginning there was the word' and just will things and concepts to happen, but I guess it was sufficient to just use an image for now.

I shook my head and then recalled the pattern that I did the first time against Orsted. A mesh of mana, tightly woven together and overlaying my muscles like an artificial layer of muscles.

That worked. All of a sudden, I felt my body get lighter. And a few casual swings showed that my speed got better too. But...

"Hah. Still limited by my age."

Right. That form of enhancement was still limited by my body. Since I was small, I could only do so much to add onto it. While I *could* keep stacking layers of mana to basically form a mech suit, it was too bulky. Great for being a tank, but not for fighting with a sword or moving around.

...Maybe that could be solved with teleporting? Warp magic of some kind?

Orsted spoke up and said, "Should I teach you?"

I looked over at him and frowned. "Not that I don't appreciate the offer, Orsted... But don't you have anything better to do?"

This guy was Being W's mortal enemy. I got why he came here with Princess Ariel since making her Queen would be useful setup for the future. But just standing around like that...

"No."

"Oh. Really?"

Orsted nodded and said, "Princess Ariel is playing with your sisters."

"...And you don't want to train?"

Orsted paused and then said, "Would you like your home to become a wasteland?"

Words that sounded like a threat.

If Mom or Mama Lily heard that, they would panic and sic Dad on him. Probably.

But I understood his reasoning.

It was basically the same reason why I stopped testing out elemental magic outside of carefully controlled experiments on shaping raw elements. Namely, things would get out of hand and probably wipe out half of the continent if something went wrong.

Yeah, having high-density mana was spooky if you tried using it for normal stuff. Kind of like trying to start a fire with liquid oxygen. Bad idea.

"Fair." I conjured a chair and sat down. After that, since Orsted was still standing there, I conjured another chair for him and said, "Take a load off."

He raised an eyebrow but nodded and sat down across from me.

After that, I made a glass of water for myself and took a sip, mulling over what I still had to do.

Since so many guests were over, I couldn't do *too* much. There were some things I wanted to talk with everyone about, but I didn't want to bring it up when it could be overheard.

Mostly by Rostelina, Eris's parents, and that weird Perry guy.

Eris's parents because they couldn't really protect themselves or any information they picked up. Also because I still found it weird how Sauros acted when I went over there with Dad.

Rostelina... While Mom and Dad knew here, and while she was Sylphy's grandma, she was still suspicious. Clearly she knew more than she let on. And her husband/boyfriend/lover Perry was even more suspicious.

Especially since I could barely see him.

It was weird. For some reason, he was always blurry and out of focus. Kind of like staring at an optical illusion. And apparently, it was only to me.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind for a child, Rudeus."

I looked up to see Orsted staring at me with a concerned look.

Well, concerned for him. It was still pretty intimidating, but I could see his eyes softened a bit.

Did he have a weakspot towards kids? I remembered him smiling a bit with Norn and Aisha too...

But as to his question...

I sipped on my water and nodded. "You could say that."

There was still the issue with Being W. From what Dad said, that guy was taking more active steps in things. Of course, things were resolved, but that was because Orsted happened to be in the area-

Ah, wait.

I stared at Orsted.

He stared back.

"Hey, Orsted."

"Yes?"

"Are you a time traveler?"

Silence. Orsted's golden eyes narrowed. There wasn't any hostility in them, but they were sharp. As if trying to peer through me.

I met his gaze without flinching.

...It was pretty intimidating though. Even without that weird mana thing that Being W stuck on him, the fact that Orsted was super strong didn't just disappear.

But after a while, he slowly nodded. "...It is something to that effect. And you?" He frowned and said, "I can understand Laplace's gambit and the result of inheriting a great portion of his abilities and memories. However... you seem to be a result of more than just that."

I laughed. "It's... complicated. I'm not really a time traveler, but it's something like that too?"

*I* wasn't the person who went back in time. 'Rudeus Greyrat' did though. Well, he did a 'time leap' and sent his mind back somehow. Not sure if that really counted. Especially if it was the result of Being W doing some tampering in it that let him be here.

"Is that so?" Orsted looked thoughtful, his eyes absently scanning the air, as if flipping through notes in his head. "Interesting." He looked at me and said, "Care to elaborate?"

Was it because I showed my worth to him before? The fact that I made it clear I didn't like Being W? Or was he serious about that offer from before about working with me?

Whatever the case, Orsted was taking me seriously.

And conveniently, there wasn't anyone around to interrupt our chat this time and think he was a bad guy. Especially since he cleared things up a bit.

...Though I think Master Roxy still had a grudge against him.

But anyway...

"Do you know anything about a mana calamity coming soon? Ah, I think it might also be called a metastasis event."

That was the big concern. Or rather, the big question mark.

According to Rudeus, it should be happening fairly soon. And for something that big, there should at least be signs of it happening.

But I didn't see anything.

I vaguely remembered seeing *something* back in the sky when we visited the Citadel of Roa, but it was gone now.

Orsted furrowed his brow and said, "No. Neither of those are familiar. But if they are to you... Does the river of time flow in multiple streams?"

I paused. "Wait. So you don't know about that? It's supposed to be a pretty major event. You know, the disappearance of the entire Fedoa region via massive teleportation? Worldwide search parties? Years of scouting and adventurers looking for survivors?"

"The only notable events in this century should be Princess Ariel's ascent and a revolution in the Shirone Kingdom resulting in its conversion to a republic. A mana calamity... No." He shook his head. "I have never witnessed such an event."

"...Really?"

"Yes."

...Alright. I had a headache now.

I could confirm the hypothesis Rudeus had about Orsted being a time looper. The way he talked about those events made it sound like he experienced them more than once. There was also his extremely polished skills... Though those could just be natural talent.

Still. From the way he talked... Did that mean that this 'loop' was separate from what Rudeus experienced-

Ah, wait. There was something else too, right? No, some*one* else.

"How about someone called Seven Shooting Stars?"

A masked lady that was by Orsted's side when Rudeus first met him in that guy's timeline. It was still a bit early, but-

"No."

"...Are you sure you're a time traveler?"

Orsted frowned and said, "Are you?"

"...You know. At this point, I'm not sure." I frowned and went over what Rudeus told me.

That guy was clearly 'me.' Or at least, a version of me.

But it seemed that our lives split pretty early on. And not just from our rebirth here in this world.

The guy didn't go into his past very much, but from what he implied, it was pretty different.

Was this a world line change then? Like St*ins;G*te? Or was it an actual parallel timeline sort of deal?

Not only that, but Rudy didn't mention anything about Princess Ariel becoming Queen or a revolt.

...Then again, he had become a super edgelord after Master Roxy died in childbirth.

...And that was another weird thought. That guy was married to both Master Roxy and Sylphy while Eris was his first love who still liked him even after he cheated on her.

Come to think of it, Rudeus was kind of an asshole. And a pervert. And pretty twisted...

...Yeah. I guess multiverse theory was just weird like that. But then...

"From what I know, there should be a big mana calamity in a couple of years that wipes out this entire region. But at the same time, I'm not sure if that will happen... Though I also don't know exactly *why* it happens either."

Dammit, alternate me. Why didn't you work on training your memory too? Just what the heck were you doing in your boring baby years to pass the time if not that? I could really use all of those finer details right about now...

"Hm." Orsted crossed his arms and tilted his head, thinking. "...If Laplace is behind your presence, then it is possible that your method of return differs from mine." He paused and looked at me. "Do I appear in your memory?"

"Yeah." I nodded and said, "It's supposedly a bit of a rough start."

He raised an eyebrow. "Worse than our first encounter?"

I paused to think about that.

Considering Rudeus mentioned getting a hole punched in his chest...

"I'd say so. Ah, and I think you also weren't aware of the mana calamity? Or something?"

Rudeus brushed over it, but he did mention that Seven Shooting Star person researching it.

...And now I wish I had probed him for more details about that instead of his magic research and what happened to everyone else-

No. It was better this way. After all, that guy came from the end of a life that had a much different starting point than mine.

Didn't he talk a bit about how he would have been heading off to teach Eris in Roa or something by now?

Right. So it was better that I just had the broad strokes instead of clinging to things that probably wouldn't happen.

...Though that mana calamity...

"And it was not caused by an early revival of Laplace?"

I looked at him and said, "You keep mentioning Laplace and me having a lot of his abilities... Are you talking about the Demon God Laplace?"

"Yes. And you do. ...Although since you are unaware, it seems that was likely not the source in your memories. Hm."

I paused to think about it.

...Yeah. Rudeus would definitely have mentioned if he was the reincarnation of the Demon God or if he ran across the Demon God. Even if he was an old man and going a bit senile due to both regret and fueled by decades of revenge, that was definitely something he would have brought up.

Which meant we were back at square one about this upcoming big major catastrophe.

I finished drinking my water, wishing very much that I had some headache medicine.

And no, Healing magic didn't help with that. At least, not the sort of headache I had right now.

Orsted frowned and then said, "...In that case, it seems that Hitogami- No, Being W must be involved." He paused and said, "And there were some oddities in the Milbotts region. The flow of mana had been strange there."

I tossed my glass of water aside, dissolving it into mana. After that, I placed my elbows on my knees and leaned forward to think, resting my head on my laced fingers.

Alright. So maybe I was tempting fate a bit too much about that disc 1 thought I had when chatting with Dad.

Orsted didn't know anything about that big incident, but then again, he didn't seem to in Rudeus's timeline as well.

In that case, it was possible that Rudeus was on a divergent timeline from the loops that Orsted usually had.

It was probably something like Orsted running a roguelike game keeping all of his skills but resetting his level every time and trying to reach the true ending. Not only that, but it was probably a roguelike where doing the same actions led to the same results.

Except this was reality. You couldn't do things *exactly* the same way each time. But even so, there was probably a decent margin of error. Especially with Orsted's already aloof personality.

Then where did 'Rudeus Greyrat' fit in?

The Orsted I knew didn't recognize me. That meant that I wasn't in his loops before now.

And it seemed like the Orsted that Rudeus knew didn't recognize him either.

While I was definitely in a different timeline than Rudeus, we had similar starting events in this world.

After all, Norn and Aisha were born. Sylphy was my first friend. Master Roxy took me as her student. Eris... Well, that was definitely different. But it was also a result of my different personality from Rudeus.

Knowing him, he probably would have let Dad go off by himself with Ghyslaine instead of forcibly trying to hold him back. After all, he didn't have very close family ties.

At least, that was the vibe I got from him.

But anyway, even though the details were different, key points were the same. Sylphy was my best friend and someone I loved- *liked* a lot. We both admired Master Roxy. We both met Eris in Roa after a chaotic event.

...And come to think of it, that guy mentioned having a fight with Paul before meeting Ghyslaine and Eris too, right? So that was another similarity.

Then, if the pattern continued about key events-

Ah, wait. Princess Ariel definitely never showed up in Buina village. And Rudeus never met her until he was grown up.

And Master Roxy never came back to stay with us. Dad also apparently never went off to pull that stunt in Roa...

...Which meant that all sorts of things were different. And that also meant that the butterfly effect would mean that things would go completely off the rails.

Unless 'Fate' was a thing too? Where key events had to happen no matter what unless active steps were taken to avoid them?

Ah, wait. Being W was a thing. And while I didn't know if he knew about time travel shenanigans, as the supposed god of humanity, and from the 'visions' that he gave Rudeus, he definitely knew about 'Fate.' Which meant that he would be pushing things to certain events.

Like the mana calamity. *Especially* since it would be devastating to me personally by scattering my friends and family as well as killing a lot of people off.

But if it was a 'mana' calamity, then it shouldn't be a problem for me. I didn't know much about teleport spells and summoning magic, but I *definitely* knew a lot about stalling and preventing foreign mana from getting into the surroundings. And now that I had those tips from Rudeus about the fundamental nature of mana, I just needed a bit more research to protect the area.

Although-

"Rudeus."

Orsted's voice.

I blinked and realized that I had been ignoring him. My face heated up and I coughed. "Sorry about that."

He shook his head. "It's fine. Did you realize something?"

"Yes, and no." I frowned, still mulling over how to prepare for the future.

I couldn't go around the entire Fedoa region and place down barriers to stabilize mana distortions or prevent Being W's interference. After all, I was just a kid. Not only that, but I was pretty sure people would get super suspicious and go out of their way to dismantle them. So how-

Wait.

I turned to look at Orsted.

He looked back, tilting his head.

"Hey, Orsted. My pal."

He blinked and hesitantly responded. "Yes?"

"You want to stop Being W, right?"

"Of course."

"And you'd obviously take steps to foil whatever plan he's doing, right?"

"Obviously."

"Great!" I clapped my hands together and said, "Then I've got a few spells to teach you that will definitely help you out and piss him off..."

-LIV-

A dark void, in a dimension just beyond the Human world.

There, a certain god glared at the world below him. "Those cheating bastards...!"

It was wrong. All wrong.

Sure, he flipped the board. It was a bit much, but it was well in his Authority to send a few visions and move a few apostles around. And since he had given up on seeing the future, he had more freedom to act.

And so when he saw Paul Greyrat and Lilia Greyrat head off alone with the Boreas to Milbotts, he took the chance to finish them off.

But...

"How the hell did this happen?"

Hitogami ran his hand through his non-existent hair and growled. "Paul Greyrat doesn't get this strong. Lilia Greyrat should be crippled. And why is Buina village *still* invisible to me?!"

It made no sense.

Fate and destiny should be on *his* side. He was the god of this world. *HE* decided what should happen and how.

But even when he went out of his way to make it impossible, to ensure what he wanted came to pass... it fell apart. Something- Some*one* interfered and ripped it to shreds.

Not only that, but things were changing. People whose destiny should have run out were alive. Others who should have stayed alive had disappeared. And then there was still that wildcard holed up in a place where Hitogami couldn't see or reach.

"Rudeus Greyrat...!"

Hitogami gnashed his teeth and glared at Buina village.

He had helpers. That *had* to be the explanation.

At least one. There was at least one person helping him who could not only distort Destiny, but were unaffected by Hitogami's authority.

"Tch."

Time was flowing. At this rate, Hitogami's advantage from flipping the board over would be washed away.

Rudeus Greyrat was a ticking timebomb. And a bomb that not only shortened its fuse as time went on, but got bigger as it did as well.

Hitogami was sure of it. Unlike in that other timeline, if he allowed Rudeus to grow, Hitogami wouldn't just end up as an eternal prisoner. And since Hitogami's future simply vanished...

"...I have to do it."

Hitogami glared at Buina village... No, at the entire Asura Kingdom with bloodshot eyes.

"Mana and simple teleportation won't work. That kid's helper can rip it apart somehow. But from what I learned in Milbotts..."

Spatial rifts. Suggestions sent in the form as visions. Quiet whispers to cement doubts and suspicions...

And the weakened seal on the person that would just *love* to have a second crack at wiping out Humanity.

"...Alright, Rudy." Hitogami smiled and said, "I'll admit. You played me and bought some time. I'll give you that. But now I know." He narrowed his eyes and said, "...My dear mortal enemy. I'm not pulling any punches anymore."

Cracks started to appear over the world. Not just in the sky, but across the land, in the deepest recesses of the earth, in the sea...

Watching all of that, Hitogami hummed and said, "A God should run a purge every with an apocalypse every now and then, shouldn't he?"

Mad cackles echoed throughout the void.