Chapter 336 - To the Future (6)

“We can go back tomorrow? What do you mean?”

Amelia averted her eyes at my question.

“I'm not certain, but I've had an idea from the beginning.”

“From the beginning...?”

For a moment, my mind went blank.

'Is that why she looked so awkward whenever we talked about how to get back?'

The sense that something was off during our earlier conversations hadn't been my imagination. But there was still something I didn't understand.

“If you had an idea from the beginning, why on earth didn't you tell me?”

As I stared at her, Amelia glanced at me once more, then looked away again. In the end, I had to ask her outright.

“Do you... not want to go back?”

“That's...”

She trailed off, then shook her head.

“That's absolutely not it. I just thought it wouldn't be so bad to stay here a little longer...”

“What? Why?”

I tilted my head in bewilderment, but after calmly considering things from Amelia's perspective, I understood.

“Th-that's—”

“Oh, I see. I understand.”

“You understand...?”

“You were worried about leaving your sister behind, weren't you?”

Once we left, Laura would have to live on her own for the next twenty years. Of course Amelia would want to help her from behind the scenes so she could have a better life. At the very least, she must have wanted to see what sort of life her sister would lead before leaving.

“You could have just been honest with me. I didn't realize I'd failed to earn even that much of your trust.”

“Ah...”

“We're comrades, aren't we? Just tell me these things.”

“... All right. Next time, I'll tell you beforehand.”

“Good.”

Having swiftly cleared up the misunderstanding between us, I moved on to the next matter—possibly the most important part of this conversation.

“So what was this idea that made you so confident we could go back as soon as tomorrow?”

“Oh, that.”

Amelia collected herself and explained the method. I listened attentively, asking a few questions along the way, then nodded.

'Hmm, that certainly... '​

It sounded plausible.

No, to be honest, the moment I heard it, I instinctively knew.

Yes, this was it.

The last role we had left to play.

* * *

The next morning, we checked out early and headed to a nearby restaurant. Amelia had said there was somewhere she wanted to go.

Personally, I wanted to finish what we had to do and get back as quickly as possible, but...

“This restaurant won't be here twenty years from now... Oh, of course, if that's too much trouble, we can just go straight there.”

How could I say no when she put it like that?

'Well, we won't have time to relax once we're back. And she's been out working every day all this time.'

Amelia even looked embarrassed as she asked. Apparently, showing such an ordinary desire embarrassed her...

It was a positive change worth encouraging. Didn't it mean we'd grown close enough for her to ask for things like this?

“Tell me if there's anything else you want to do.”

“Then... would you mind stopping by the Arangde Art Museum in District Nine?”

“... An art museum?”

“There's a painting I want to see. I... wanted to see it, but when I went there later, it was no longer on display. Apparently, it had been sold to some wealthy noble.”

Anyway, that was why we headed to the museum after our meal. Amelia stood in front of the painting she'd wanted to see, silently studying it for over thirty minutes.

Then...

“... Would you mind if I looked at some of the others, too?”

“Of course not.”

After that, we toured the art museum, admiring the other paintings and sculptures.

Honestly, I was a little surprised.

'I never knew she had a hobby like this.'

Just looking into her eyes, I could tell she was genuinely enjoying herself.

Still, that was one thing, and this was another.

“Amelia, sightseeing is all well and good, but I'm getting hungry...”

Before we knew it, it was midday, so we grabbed a meal at a nearby restaurant.

And then...

“Jandel, could we stop at just one last place?”

At Amelia's request, we took another carriage ride. Our destination was an orphanage run by the Order of Leatlas—the very place Dwalki had stayed as a child.

'I have strangely deep ties to this place.'

Rather than enter the building, we sat on a bench across from it and watched Laura through a window. Having recovered, she was now sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

Hadn't Amelia said she'd gotten a job at the orphanage through a priest's recommendation?

“I thought she was just helping with odd jobs. If she's doing paperwork, she must already be able to read.”

I mentioned it to Amelia, wondering whether her memories hadn't been completely erased, but she merely shook her head with a bitter smile.

“That won't be it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“My sister... couldn't read.”

“... What?”

Then she'd gotten good enough to handle administrative work after only a few weeks of lessons from the priest?

It was bewildering, but not impossible to accept. People like that did exist in the world.

“... She was a genius.”

“Even I didn't realize she was this gifted. I knew her memory was exceptional, but...”

“What about the priest who taught her? Didn't she find it strange?”

“She simply thinks it's part of the process of recovering her memories. My sister thinks so too.”

Perhaps these sisters' true talents had never been anything so crude as killing people. Their circumstances had simply made them that way.

How would Amelia have grown up if she'd been born into an ordinary family? She seemed to like paintings. Maybe she could have become famous in that field—

“What's that look for?”

Oh, had I been staring too hard?

“... Nothing. More importantly, how long are you going to keep watching? Your sister seems to be getting off work.”

“I suppose... it's time to go.”

Once Laura finished her paperwork and put on her coat, we got up.

And then...

CREAK.

We picked the lock on a sewer entrance and descended. After all, this was the only way to Noark.

“I didn't expect to go back there again. Nothing's going to happen, is it?”

“It should be fine. There's another way to sneak in besides the cemetery.”

Previously, we'd needed identities in Noark, so we'd entered legally through a broker. This time, there was no need, so we slipped in through a route Amelia knew.

Apparently, it connected to the lord's castle.

“By the way, what happens to Noark after this?”

We talked about Noark along the way. With the royal family, Orculus, the lord, and even us as a fourth force involved in that huge incident, I'd been curious about the aftermath.

“As far as Noark goes, the next lord should be hard at work sorting things out right about now.”

“Sorting things out?”

Of course, I knew things would work out somehow. I was curious about the process.

“They joined hands with the royal family and launched a surprise attack, only to lose. How do you sort that out?”

“Well, Orculus needs this city too.”

I wondered why they couldn't simply take it, but as I listened, it turned out there were reasons.

“For a portal connecting Noark to the Labyrinth to open, someone of the lord's bloodline is needed.”

That was why, as soon as the next lord learned of his father's death, he killed everyone in his family who shared that bloodline except himself. He'd feared they would make one of his weak-willed siblings a puppet and rule the city through them...

'He's certainly something. To make that decision on the spot.'

Afterward, the next lord secured a truce by making certain concessions to Orculus, gradually stabilizing the city.

That was the story of this city for the next twenty years.

“We're here.”

After passing through the sewers and arriving at the lord's castle, we slipped out, moving stealthily to avoid the guards. Then we crossed streets that still smelled of burning and arrived in front of a modest house.

“Jandel, could you wait here a moment? I'll go in alone.”

“All right.”

It was Amelia's home.

* * *

There was no need to knock. At this point in her life, she hadn't bothered locking the door. She'd given up, resigned to whatever might happen.

CREAK.

Amelia opened the door, stepped inside, and looked around. It contained only the basic furniture it had originally come with, but that made it all the more familiar.

The home the old alchemist had provided for her had always looked like this, right up until she'd left it as an adult.

“...”

Perhaps sensing her presence, the girl huddled against the wall raised her head and looked at her.

“Lady Emily...?”

A spark appeared in her dull eyes.

Amelia couldn't read minds, but since the girl was her past self, she knew exactly what she was thinking.

“C-could it be...?”

A faint hope. The hope that her sister might still be alive.

“Your sister is dead.”

“Ah...”

At Amelia's blunt declaration, the girl lowered her head. The spark in her eyes was already gone.

But Amelia pulled the girl to her feet and spoke without waiting for a response.

“Before long, you'll enter the Labyrinth again. You'll go on living the same miserable life as before, meeting people and killing them.”

“... So?”

Perhaps the harsh words had worked. The girl, who'd seemed like an empty doll, raised her head defiantly. Amelia held out an open hand to her.

“Promise me that you won't kill barbarians, at least.”

“... Why should I?”

Amelia answered without a trace of doubt.

“Because one day, you'll think keeping this promise was the greatest stroke of luck in your life.”

The girl pressed her lips together. Her face showed no particular expression, but Amelia knew.

Hearing this, her younger self was thinking that, although she didn't understand why this woman was saying such things, at least she didn't seem to be lying.

No, rather, it seemed she was offering sincere advice for her sake.

Just like the sister she no longer had...

Amelia firmly took the girl's hand and interlaced their fingers. Then she squeezed and relaxed her hand three times.

It was what the sisters had always done when making a promise.

“How... do you know that...?”

Amelia didn't answer the girl's question. She simply released her hand, turned her back, and walked toward the door, her footsteps steady.

When Amelia reached the door, the girl spoke in a weary voice.

“What if...”

“...”

“What if not killing that barbarian would put my own life in danger? Would I still have to keep that promise?”

It was just the sort of question her younger self would ask. If only for the sake of her sister, who'd taught her countless times how important promises were, she wouldn't make a promise she couldn't keep.

But Amelia spoke confidently.

“In that case, you can do as you please.”

It would never happen anyway.

She opened the door and stepped outside.

Then...

“Oh, one last thing.”

“...”

“Keep your door locked.”

Amelia quietly closed the door and turned around. She could see the barbarian waiting for her in an alley a little way off.

“Finished talking?”

“Yes.”

The promise would be kept.

Even if her younger self didn't understand their intentions, even if they hadn't prevented her sister's death, they had still helped her.

And her sister had taught her to always repay anyone who helped her.

“Amelia. There's a blond kid over there who's been watching me for a while... Shouldn't we do something about him?”

Amelia followed the barbarian's gaze and saw a boy with a familiar face.

“Oh, I was wondering why he looked so familiar. Is that Gardweaver Draus?”

“Yes, that's him. Though his real name is something else.”

Even as she said it, Amelia felt strange.

In the future, that boy would tell her about a treasure called the Stone Fragment of Records. Then, just before they stole it, he would betray her and flee alone, becoming her enemy.

That was when she'd gotten the scar on her ear, too. He was also the reason she'd entered a pact with the lord forbidding her from killing within Noark. Granted, it had a precise start and end date, so it didn't function in this era.

Anyway, that wasn't what mattered.

'It's strange how little I feel.'

Even seeing his face stirred no anger. It was as though those stale emotions of rage and hatred had vanished from her heart.

“Shouldn't we take some kind of action?”

His worried question made Amelia realize why she felt so utterly at peace.

“No, it doesn't matter. Leave him alone.”

“Leave him alone?”

Looking back, it had all been part of the journey. Even the pain she'd suffered through getting involved with that boy.

A journey that would one day lead her to this man.

“... What? Why are you suddenly smiling?”

“I'm not.”

“You were, though?”

“...”

Ignoring the persistent barbarian's questions entirely, Amelia walked ahead. He hurried after her.

“Hey, why isn't this working, anyway?”

“Who knows? It should work soon.”

“But what if it still doesn't?”

“Then the two of us will simply have to live here. I wouldn't mind.”

“Uh... that would be a bit... No, it's definitely not that I dislike you...”

The barbarian trailed off awkwardly.

Before she knew it, Amelia let out another small laugh. A real laugh, not the awkward smile she'd practiced in front of a mirror.

She stopped and spun around, colliding with the barbarian following behind her, their bodies pressed together.

And at that very moment, a flash erupted.

The world was dyed in pure white light.

* * *

'Iron Mask...?'

The blond boy had discovered them entirely by chance. He'd been roaming the streets looking for drunks worth robbing when they caught his eye.

The man wasn't wearing an iron helmet like the rumors said, but...

There wasn't a human in this city with such an enormous build. In fact, the boy doubted there were more than a handful even on the surface.

Unless they were barbarians.

'More importantly, that red-haired woman beside him... '​

They were the famous Iron Mask and Emily.

After seeing the woman enter the house, the boy hid and watched them. Before long, she came out and rejoined Iron Mask.

But had they sensed his gaze?

“...!”

The boy shrank back, feeling as though their eyes had met.

That was when a brilliant light burst forth, illuminating the dark underground city.

A flash that lasted only an instant.

As the flash faded, confusion swept through the deserted street. Drunks sprang to their feet, and people inside buildings hurriedly threw open their windows.

“Wh-what was that light?!”

“... Magic?”

“It didn't do anything to us, did it?”

Everyone was bewildered, searching for the cause.

But one blond boy hidden in an alley was different.

'Iron Mask disappeared... '​

They were gone.

But the boy didn't question why. Having had to survive in Noark from the moment he was born, he simply surrendered to instinct and ran out.

Then...

'... This stone! The light came from this stone.'

He picked up the stone lying on top of a pile of clothes, tucked it inside his clothes, and quickly slipped into an alley.

Some time later...

“There! The light came from over there!”

“I saw it from that window over there. I'm telling you, the light flashed, and people disappeared!”

Guards responding to the late-night disturbance began taking statements and realized who the man and woman at the center of the light had been.

“A man who looked like a barbarian and a red-haired woman?”

“Iron Mask! It's Iron Mask! The very man the lord has been searching for! Examine everything left behind!”

“An identity tag! There's an identity tag among the clothes!”

“Rank-6 explorer, Nivels Enche... Is this Iron Mask's real name? What about the woman's identity tag?”

“Unfortunately, we haven't found it!”

“Captain, someone says a kid picked something up here.”

“What? Which way did he go?!”

The guards hurried into the alley where the boy had disappeared, but he was already gone, and they couldn't find him.