Cliff Grimoire

"Tell me, Cliff. How much do you know about me?"

"I thought I knew everything about you... but now I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't until after the Blessed Child was assassinated, or I guess 'went missing' is a more accurate description. The Church was in turmoil as you can imagine. The Pope's faction was steadily gaining power and influence, but it is because of exactly that reason that my grandfather sent me away. He was worried that the Demon Exclusionists might attack me out of desperation so that they could use me as a bargaining chip. Grandfather had sent me to study abroad to keep me out of harm's reach."

"All by yourself? Surely you didn't travel across the world all on your own."

"Why not? You don't think I can? You yourself said I was a genius! I'm as good as any A-ranked adventurer!"

"That's not what I meant. It's just that there's more to a journey like that than strength alone."

"Well, yes. In any case, you're right. He did send Frederick, one of his most trusted aides, to accompany me. The two of us left in the dead of night. We traveled under the guise of a trader and his son and we paid adventurer's to escort us from town to town along the way."

"Is Frederick still here with you?"

"No, he left to head back to Milishion so that he can assist my Grandfather."

"That's probably for the best. The longer we can keep Luna's identity hidden, the safer she will be."

"You see... that's exactly what I meant. I was certain that you were a power-hungry and bloodthirsty killer. You're not at all acting like I expected."

"What made you think that?"

"The 'fact' that you had assassinated the Blessed Child, obviously. Not only that, but my grandfather warned me about you. He told me that the newly minted Magic God was a boy a year younger than myself. Not only that, he told me that you killed the North God and that you are already one of the seven strongest people in the entire world."

"I didn't kill the North God. Sure, I defeated him in battle, but he is still very much alive."

"You spared him?"

"Yes. One of his relatives became good friends with my father, so I decided to spare his life as long as he doesn't come after me again."

"Maybe you're not the evil monster I thought you to be, but it still doesn't make any sense... How can you be THIS powerful when you're even younger than me? It should be impossible."

"You're right. It should. You really are a genius Cliff. I genuinely believe that. There's one thing you have wrong though. I'm not actually younger than you."

"You're trying to say you're older than me? You definitely don't look it."

"Haha. That's true, I don't."

"Even if you are a bit older than me, it's not like I'm going to suddenly become Divine ranked in a year or two."

"Oh, I'm much more than a year or two older than you."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That I'm actually about eighty years old"

"Eighty!? Are you messing with me? That's obviously not true!"

'Actually I'd be well over 100 if you counted my very first life. As far as I'm concerned though that never happened.'

"I know it might be hard to believe, but it's true. The truth is, I've discovered time travel magic. I haven't mastered it, but the fact remains that I managed to travel back in time into the body of my younger self."

"..."

"I was trying to go back and warn my younger self so that he could avoid the same tragedy that befell me, but it was my first and only time attempting this incredibly complex magic and things didn't go according to plan. Rather than appearing as a separate entity, I seem to have 'overwritten' the mind of my younger body with my own. Also, I had only intended to travel 50 years into the past, but I accidently went all the way back to my birth."

"That's... unbelievable. As in, I actually don't believe you. That's the most insane story anyone has told me."

"More insane than someone becoming a member of the Seven Great Powers by the age of eleven?"

"... Good point."

"The fact is that in this world, there is nothing that Magic cannot do."

I reached out my hand and lifted the chair Cliff was sitting on into the air.

"You can manipulate gravity, lifting people or objects into the air..."

I placed the nervous Cliff who was tightly gripping the armrests of his chair back down to the ground and then proceeded to greatly increase the gravity at the center of a wooden barrel causing it to implode in on itself.

"Or you can increase the gravity of an object crushing it or holding it down to the ground."

Cliff looked on in amazement. He had never even heard of gravity magic before.

"As you know, magic is also capable of healing even the most fatal of wounds if a healer is skilled enough. You can conjure and manipulate the elements at your will. There are also demon eyes which have an incredible variety of abilities, including the ability to see into the future, and there are also countless magic items and implements with an also countless variety of effects. With all this evidence, it would be crazier to think time travel *wasn't* possible."

I waited a while for Cliff to respond. I could tell he needed a little time to think about what I had just told him.

"What I don't understand", Cliff stated, "is that... if what you said is true... why tell me? Just because I met the Blessed Child? You could have come up with a much easier lie if that was the case."

"Like I keep saying, I consider you one of my closest friends. I realize that you don't really know me all that well, but I'm hoping to fix that if you give me the chance."

"So you knew my future self..."

Suddenly Cliff's expression brightened as he broke into an excited smile.

"Tell me, do I ever fall in love? Do I get married? Who is she?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I laughed a little. Yep. That's Cliff alright.

"Yes, you fell in love and got married."

"Who is it!? Is it Eris? Do I marry Eris!?"

"Eris? No. You marry- Er... Actually, I probably shouldn't tell you that. If I do it might make you act differently and who knows how things might change."

"I promise, I'll... No... You're right. I wouldn't want to risk messing things up either. Is she pretty? You can at least tell me that, right?"

"She's one of the most beautiful women I know."

"Wow! Really?"

"Definitely."

Cliff stared off into space daydreaming about his future wife. He seemed to completely forget about everything else at hand.

*Cough*

I coughed rather loudly to snap him out of it before continuing.

"Anyway. I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us. The only other person I've told this to is my father."

"Is it really alright for you to keep this from the rest of your family?"

"I... I'm not sure. I want to tell them... but at the same time I'm scared to. I never had the chance to have a normal relationship with my parents in my first life so I'm cherishing the time I spend with them now."

"I understand...", Cliff answered solemnly.

"We'd better get back to the Cafeteria pretty soon. I had Sylphy order my food; she's sure to scold me if I let it go to waste!"

"Yeah. I'm getting pretty hungry myself", Cliff agreed.

The two of us walked back towards the cafeteria together. Cliff was pretty surprised to find out we were in the research building once we made it outside. I suppose that's only fair, he had no way of knowing where I had taken him, after all.

Once we made it back I noticed Cliff walking to an empty table to eat by himself so I insisted he join our ever growing group that ate at our fancy weather regulated table outside.

"This is basically just the special class", Cliff commented. "You have everyone besides Nanahoshi here."

"Yeah, she likes to eat by herself in her room at the research facility. Evidently she finds us loud and irritating."

"I couldn't imagine why..."

I noticed Cliff couldn't manage to make eye contact when he said that.

"Like you said, you already know everyone here from the special class, but hey, now's your chance to get to know us better."

"He's in the special class, nya? I don't remember him at all."

I bonked Linia on the head.

"Nya!? What was that for!?"

"Pay more attention from now on."

Zanoba stood up and held his chest out proudly as he announced, "I remember him Master! He's that kid who always calls himself a genius!"

Gah! This isn't a competition, Zanoba! And if you say it like that you're going to make a bad impression.

"That's because I *AM* a genius!", Cliff chided.

"Hmph! All you ever do is read books. Master Rudeus is the only true genius here!"

"Cliff has already reached Advanced rank in nearly every school of magic. Your struggles with learning how to make dolls with Earth magic should let you realize just how impressive that is. Cliff is my good friend, Zanoba. Please be careful not to be rude."

"Is that so? I'm terribly sorry Cliff. I did not realize you and Master Rudeus were friends. Please forgive me."

"Uh... That's quite alright. Please, you don't have to bow."

"Speaking of dolls..."

Zanoba perked up and his eyes focused on me like a laser after that lead.

"I've found something quite interesting. I was thinking you might want to take a look."

"I would love nothing more!", Zanoba said as he stood up from the table. "Where is it? I'm ready to leave at once!"

"Calm down, Zanoba. Finish eating for now. The doll is at my home and it'll still be there waiting for us when we get there, I promise.

"Cliff, why don't you join us?", I offered.

"That's alright, I've got stuff to do. You know..."

"Haha! Stuff like what? Come on and join us! I insist. You were just going to go back to your room to study some more, weren't you?"

Cliff didn't bother answering but instead just averted his eyes. Looks like I called it.

"I think you'll find it rather interesting as well. It's got some really cool magic circles engraved on it that allows the doll to move on its own. I was thinking we could try to replicate something similar togeth-"

"THE DOLL CAN MOVE ON IT'S OWN!?!?"

Zanoba once again stood up from his seat, this time accidently bumping the table and knocking everyone's glasses over. If I hadn't secured the table to the ground I'm sure he would have flipped it over. Good thing I made it so sturdy... wait... is that a crack!?

"I suppose this is my own fault. Knowing you, I should have waited to tell you until we were all finished eating."

"Ah! Look what I've done! I'm sorry everyone."

"Haha... don't worry about it Zanoba. Mistakes happen", Sylphy smiled as she used magic to dry the spilled water off her clothes.

Eventually, Cliff agreed to meet us at the gate after school so we could all walk to my house together. Once he sees that doll, I'm certain he'll be glad he came.

I still remember how the three of us worked together studying the doll and came up with my prosthetic hand. We were all so engrossed in the project we ended up working through the night. Hopefully it will be a great project for Cliff and Zanoba to get to know one another once again.

Once we arrived at the house, Lilia answered the door.

"Master Rudeus. You've returned."

Is it just me or does she look kind of annoyed?

"I'm afraid your tea has gotten cold."