It was too early to despair.
I might have been jumping to conclusions.
The Karuga in front of me might not be the real Karuga but just a namesake.
Yeah! That must be it.
It’s like how there might be someone named Lee Soon-sin, even though it’s rare in the last life.
I asked Karuga about the year.
“Karuga, may I ask what the current year is?”
“Well, it’s 542 in the Imperial Calendar.”
What the heck!!!
The time I was in was 1053 in the Imperial Calendar.
I had indeed returned to the time about 500 years ago—the exact year when the Third Demon Lord War broke out, which was 511 years ago.
Seriously… reincarnation followed by time travel? It felt like winning the lottery on a weird experience.
But why didn’t I win the lottery in my past life?
Anyway, my mind was now a mess.
I thought I was separated from home by hundreds of kilometers, but instead, I was separated by hundreds of years.
I had no idea where to begin to resolve this.
Should I find Alicia in this time period?
But what was Alicia doing back then?
What about my Master?
Just as my head was spinning, Karuga spoke.
“Yuren, is something wrong?”
“Well… It seems I might have fallen quite a long way from where I was, haha!”
I tried to make some vague excuses to Karuga.
There was nothing else I could do.
What would happen if I told the truth right now?
I’d say I came from 500 years into the future, and you become the national hero who super carries the war against the Demons.
Oh, and by the way, I’m a reincarnated person from another world.
I bet he would seriously suspect me as a demon or think my brain was messed up from a magical experiment.
And I still didn’t understand the structure of this other world.
I had no clue whether mentioning future information would cause a time paradox or simply create a parallel world.
Looking at me with concern, Karuga then said.
“Oh dear… Do you require assistance from other wizards to return?”
“Yes… I need a lot of help.”
Honestly, even I, considering myself a pretty decent wizard, couldn’t think of any way to return to the future.
I figured I needed advice from a sage-level wizard like Alicia or my Master so that a method might come to light, and I nodded at Karuga’s words.
And then Karuga said.
“Then let’s go together! There’s an Elf wizard squad in the Southern Army. They might be able to assist you, Yuren.”
“Oh…!”
Now that I thought about it, I remembered.
I had heard that my Master and the Elf wizards, including Alicia, participated as the Elf wizard squad in the Third Demon Lord War 500 years ago.
If I go there, I might meet my Master or Alicia, and then there’s a chance I could return. So I hurriedly nodded.
“Yes! In that case, I will be in your care for a while, Karuga.”
“Then let’s depart immediately. There’s no time to lose.”
With a magical escort, Karuga was able to safely join the Southern Army, and I could gather information to return home—an absolutely win-win situation.
Thus, I temporarily traveled with the national hero, Karuga.
*
After that, for a few hours, I followed Karuga on foot through the forest.
Even if I couldn’t feel the Demons’ magical presence, I was worried that using flying magic while carrying Karuga might make us detectable.
And seriously, in marching, Karuga, as an imperial army member, was far superior, so I just kept walking behind him.
And during this trek, I learned something new not found in history books.
That is…
“My son, Norga, finally spoke up last year, you know? My heart was just bursting with joy. Once we’ve taken care of the Demon scum, I want to hurry back home and see him. Come to think of it, he really has quite the appetite…”
“Oh… I see.”
Karuga was quite the chatterbox.
He was the Great TMI Talker, sharing everything about his life over the course of several hours without tiring.
Thanks to this, I learned what time he was born, details about his friends and family, and even the password I’d need when I eventually joined their unit.
My heart was troubled, and the thought that I could cause a time paradox at any moment kept me quiet, listening to Karuga.
“By the way, Yuren, do you have a wife?”
“Yes, I do.”
I hadn’t had the wedding yet, but we had registered our marriage.
The reason we hadn’t held the wedding was that my Master said he wanted to wait just a little longer.
Upon hearing this, Karuga smiled and asked further.
“What about children?”
“Not yet.”
Since the marriage registration, we had been actively trying to conceive.
More accurately, we couldn’t not do it.
So I had been waiting for good news, only to get thrown back several hundred years.
Karuga, presumably thinking my situation was like a newlywed phase, chuckled and said.
“That must be nice. Make sure to tell your wife that you love her when you return. It’s something I regret not telling her back then.”
“Yes… I’ll remember.”
It seemed Karuga was reminded of a near-death experience.
Despite leading the victory of the Third Demon Lord War in actual history, he received a fatal wound in his fight against the Demon Lord and passed away asking me to convey his love to his wife.
Knowing the future made his words sound unbearably sad.
Wait… I realized there was a way out.
I could help Karuga not to die beside him.
If I did that, the future where Karuga dies might change.
But the problem was that if history changes, I had to wonder what would happen to my future self.
As I was thinking about this while following Karuga, I heard a noise in front of the dark woods.
Rustle… rustle…
“Shh!”
At Karuga’s signal, I crouched down.
Silent and quietly watching the forest…
There was a soldier with calm-looking brown hair in what appeared to be imperial army armor.
Seeing this soldier, Karuga seemed relieved and spoke.
“Yuren, you can relax. That’s Ahshin, one of our comrades!”
This soldier in front of me seemed to be one of Karuga’s squad members.
Karuga hurriedly ran toward a soldier named Ahshin, while I stretched my cramped legs.
Phew, I thought I was going to die crawling through the forest.
“Ahshin! You bastard! You’re alive!”
“………”
As I stretched, Karuga seemed incredibly happy to see the soldier named Ahshin.
However, Ahshin responded somewhat coldly, as if he wasn’t too thrilled to see Karuga.
What’s going on? Did Karuga bully this squad member a lot?
Just as I was thinking this when I locked eyes with Ahshin, I felt his magic power.
“Karuga, get down!!”
“Eh?”
As soon as my gaze met Ahshin’s, I reflexively used magical detection.
And it was there; I could feel a prickling, foreign magic.
That soldier named Ahshin looked human, but his magic wasn’t human.
I hurriedly shouted to Karuga, but…
Thud—
“…Huh?”
That bastard’s sword pierced Karuga’s chest.
Staring blankly at the sword that had punctured his chest, Karuga could only cough up blood, unable to say a word.
“You bastard!!!!!”
Swishswishswish!!!
I immediately unleashed “Aker (Wind Blade Magic)” and severed Ahshin’s neck.
As his head fell, the body and face turned purple, revealing his true form.
It was a demon.
During the Third Demon Lord War, I had heard that demons employed humans who could disguise themselves.
I never thought that would turn out to be true…
I hurriedly rushed to Karuga.
“Haah haah… cough! cough!”
“Hang in there, Karuga. I’ll heal you right now!”
I looked down at Karuga’s chest.
The blade had penetrated his vital organ exactly, and the demon poison coated it.
It was a fatal wound that I couldn’t heal with my powers.
But still, I used healing magic on the wound.
Boom—
“Cough! cough! This… this…”
“Don’t speak. It’ll worsen the injury.”
Karuga, while coughing up blood, pulled out a crystal ball from his pocket and handed it to me.
This seemed to be the reason why he was so adamant about reaching the Southern Army, no matter what happened.
“This… tell the Southern Army… Commander… I’m sorry…”
Thud—
He placed the crystal ball in my hand, and with those final words, Karuga passed away in my arms.
The hero of the Third Demon Lord War left this world so futilely.
All because I couldn’t sense the magic quickly enough.
In shock, I found myself frozen in place.
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