“…So that’s how it is.”
“Is that so? That’s good to hear.”
“……”
It’s been about two weeks since I realized we could travel back and forth across the world by absorbing Claire’s power.
During that time, I showed my friends another world.
With the apartment available, I didn’t have to worry about the location. Every time I brought a new friend, I even had a new ID, just like the times we went there before.
In fact, there might be issues after a few decades.
Right now, it’s easy for friends to meet, but in the far future, it’ll be difficult to find time.
What if it’s around their fifties? Some might never get to visit Earth again.
An ID left untouched, without even a death certificate…
Well, it would be best to keep taking them along consistently to avoid that.
And among all these situations, the most dangerous person was, of course, the Emperor.
“We’re still researching. Why is the place we return to always the starting point when we go that way, and conversely, why do we get similar results when going this way to that?”
It’s unlikely that a multi-story apartment building would just vanish randomly. I think it would last for as long as we could go to Earth.
But what if, by some chance, the apartment disappears while we are here?
As soon as we arrive in that world, we would appear dozens of floors up and fall straight to the ground.
Would the Goddess adjust that? Does she think it unnatural for people to fall from the air?
It felt a little troublesome to think too optimistically.
Well, it wasn’t something to worry about right now, anyway.
“The people over there miss you quite a bit.”
“Do they?”
The Emperor chuckled at my words.
“Yes. It’s not just because you helped them earn money through stocks; they enjoyed the moments when they talked while watching broadcasts. It seems your speaking skills are remarkable.”
“Well, it wasn’t all for nothing to have been in politics my whole life.”
The Emperor was still under house arrest.
It’s true he didn’t start a world war, but he did recklessly meddle in other countries. While I can’t disclose detailed stories, at least those in the leadership of the countries involved know what his objectives were.
So, it can’t be easily resolved. But at the same time, it was difficult to just throw him in prison.
As a result, he’s kept under this separate house arrest in the mansion right now.
“…Have you met the other kids?”
“I haven’t told them yet that we can go to another world.”
“…Perhaps that could be an alternative?”
“An alternative, you say?”
“Yes. Rather than keeping them in this world, it’s better to send them to another one.”
“…Have you developed any feelings of sympathy now?”
The Emperor fell silent, which was quite rare.
He looked a bit surly with his mouth shut.
“You’ve learned how to see people as people, huh? It hasn’t been long since that happened.”
“Perhaps it’s because I never really lived as a human.”
“…But, I still can’t fully trust you.”
“Probably so.”
“Therefore, I will… hold off on sending my… siblings to that world for now.”
The Emperor probably didn’t consider the possibility of going to Earth. Even if he knew it was a possibility, he had no intention of going until things reached this point.
Naturally, he wouldn’t have given orders for his children to conquer that world, nor had the time to do so.
But even so, every time I see the Emperor, I can’t help but think of that one chance.
“Is that so.”
The Emperor simply responded calmly.
I paused for a moment, then spoke to him.
“Maybe it’s because I’m one of them that I can think this way.”
“……”
“I can’t claim to be completely innocent either.”
That’s right. I’m someone with blood on my hands.
I’m not only talking about Mia’s father.
Due to the ability to rewind time, I’ve killed people and then put them back. I personally went in holding a gun when figuring out the inside of the Imperial Palace and the Dreadnought-class battleship.
Separate from rewinding time, I’ve killed before. In that earlier battle, I inadvertently rescued the Gryphon. I clearly committed murder. Although it was a combat situation…
I will definitely never go back to before then. Even if I rewind time, that ‘fact’ remains.
As I remember…
“……”
“In a way, you might be my father.”
I spoke with a self-mocking smile.
“I lived thinking I hadn’t learned anything from you… but, it seems I actually learned a lot.”
“…Hmm.”
The Emperor merely hummed in response.
“To be honest, I can’t just sit here talking to you pleasantly. Years of built-up suspicion and emotions can’t be washed away in an instant.”
I stared intently at the table.
Doing so, I felt the Emperor’s expression flicker.
I didn’t want to see that face directly. I didn’t want to show him my face either.
Yet, what I was saying eventually needed to be shown.
Thus, I ended up in this awkward position.
I intertwined my fingers on my lap, leaning back in the chair, I took a moment to gather my thoughts and said,
“But, I definitely appreciate what you did for my previous parents.”
Not everything in this world can be solved with money.
But that doesn’t mean nothing can be resolved without money. A lot of money makes a lot of things possible.
Having that buffer for my family was certainly welcomed.
“So… yes. I’m thankful to you for that.”
“……”
“Maybe I’m thinking a bit that it could have been your true intention.”
“Thank you.”
At the Emperor’s words, I fell silent again.
What else should I say?
“…My siblings are all under separate house arrests in different places. Fortunately, none of them have lost their lives.”
The Emperor didn’t reply.
“Someday, even after a long time has passed, I hope there will be a chance to do those things for each one of them. And that, like you and me, we could understand each other even just a little.”
“I understand.”
“…It’ll probably be a difficult task. Just a thought, but my siblings’ personalities are all a bit rough around the edges compared to me.”
“I know that much.”
With the Emperor’s reply, I raised my gaze slightly.
That smiling expression at the corner of his mouth never fails to throw me off.
“Of course, I believed you were the most difficult being to deal with.”
…..
Should I be happy about that?
I stood up from the chair.
“Someday… I’ll make arrangements for us to go back to Earth and spend time there again. Collecting money seemed to have been enjoyable for you.”
“Yes, that was the case.”
“Someday the resources over there will be needed too. To fix the broken bits of Azernar, we’ll need the information, technology, and inventions from that side. Perhaps even your talents will be needed to learn all that.”
“Do I have the right to meddle in such important work?”
“That’s why I said ‘someday.’”
I replied.
“Someday… when we truly do not need to doubt each other anymore. By then… Alice and I would think seriously about it too.”
“……”
The Emperor remained silent.
I slowly pushed in the chair.
“…Then, I will come again when there is time next.”
“Alright. I’ll be waiting.”
The Emperor replied like that to my words.
I nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped back to leave the room.
*
“How was it?”
Claire, who had been waiting outside, asked.
“…It was better than I expected.”
Claire nodded with a smile in response to my answer.
“Then, shall we take a walk for a bit?”
Claire said that and walked ahead, and I followed behind her.
We walked silently for a while, even passing by the car parked in front of the building.
In this place, slightly away from the Imperial Capital, the smoke covering the sky was nowhere to be seen.
The sky… was blue. I guess it would be hard to see such a sky even on Earth.
“Thanks to you, various technologies are being introduced here. Pollution like that should decrease a lot.”
Claire said as she looked at me watching the sky.
“I hope so.”
And perhaps, based on the research results here, we could help Earth too.
“It’s going to happen, undoubtedly.”
Claire replied with a smile.
Under the blue sky, her fluttering blue hair looked remarkably good together.
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