Chapter 263: Time Jump

Chapter 263 - Time Jump

「Ah, abababa...」

『I, inconceivable, t, th, this could, ch, child!』

「I, ii, it must beee... oh,...... oh, is this a dream?」

『M, mm hmm, such a possibility... no, a dream? This?』

Oh, this is a dream, right? It has to be.

"Who are you, Mister? An Imperial Knight? Or maybe... the Hero!"

A little kid, he doesn't even reach my waist.

A child with the same name as my father, who bears a resemblance to my father.

"Thank you for saving Hiro. Hiro, you should be thanking him more! You're weak, stupid, and you caused trouble for everyone!"

A child with the same name as my mother, who has my mother's face.

It's all a dream.

If not, it is a coincidence.

It's all a coincidence... but...

"Hiro! Mamu! What are you doing!"

""Huh!?""

At that moment, a woman ran up from among the villagers with a bloodthirsty look on her face.

A young, beautiful farmer was breathing heavily, her face pale, and her eyes looked as if they were about to overflow with tears... she looked a lot like my mother... eh!?

"Oh, granm――eh!?"

Ah, grandma!?

『Grandma...?』

「Uh huh... on my mother's side... I mean, my grandma... I haven't seen her in years...」

『I-I see... this is Mamu's... come to think of it, both Hiro and Mamu were born to commoners...』

My grandma, who looked so young that she didn't look like an old lady at all... my grandma looked as young as the mothers of my classmates if not younger... there were fewer wrinkles than the grandma I knew. Fewer... no, she doesn't have any wrinkles at all!?

That grandma hugged the boy and girl with trembling hands ... huh? This is real?

Wait a minute, what's going on...

"Hiro... I'm so glad you're safe and sound... if something had happened to you... how would I face your parents... huh! Um...... traveler!"

"Yes!? Eh, ah, yes!"

"Thank you for saving this child... for saving this village."

Oh no, it's real!?

This...... is it bad? This is bad in many ways...

"I must thank you, sir."

"No, I just did what I had to do! Now, then!"

"Ah, sir, please wait!"

Not good, things might get awkward if I stay here any longer. Or rather, I need somewhere to calm down.

Anyway, I ran to get away from this place as soon as possible.

"Wait, Mister! Tell us your name!"

"My name isn't worth remembering. Farewell!"

"Ah..."

Father? The boy stopped me, but I didn't stop and just ran away...

"Awesome... so cool... he's so strong, but doesn't show off at all... I'll do it! I'll be an ally of justice like him!"

"Huh? There's no way you can be like that, dummy Hiro!"

At the end, I heard cheers and words of gratitude from the villagers as they called out to me, but to be honest, I was far from in the mood.

"Haa, ha, ha..."

『...... Hm~m...』

"Haa, ha, ha... we came this far..."

Anyway, I went back to the forest where I appeared when I was first sent away.

Then, after confirming that there was no human presence around, I shouted out my accumulated feelings.

"Wha... what's going on, Tre'ainar! Is this that? Is this a dream? Is this a fantasy world of [Vier]?"

『Uh-huh...... child...... for now, the watch...』

"Ah, oh, oh."

First of all, there was no doubt that this whole situation started with this watch.

I took the watch out of my pocket and showed it to Tre'ainar, but he also crossed his arms and made a difficult face.

He was always like, "Who do you think I am? I am the omnipotent and omniscient Great Demon King.".

In other words, this situation is so out of the ordinary.

『This is no dream... but tis no magic either. Were that the case, I would certainly be aware of it.』

"That's right..."

『Undoubtedly, tis the technology of the Ancients ... I do not know what the principle is... but tis a power that was said to be impossible even with magic... a 'Retrogress'.』

"?"

The word 'Retrogress' came out of Tre'ainar's mouth with great emphasis.

"Uh... what do you mean by that?"

『I cannot explain the principle... but perhaps...... ah~...... to put it simply, you and I are currently in the world of the past.』

".................."

『So, the Hiro and Mamu back there are most likely the same people, as evidenced by their innate magical talents. Judging by the appearance of the two, this moment is probably... 20-odd years ago...』

"Huh!?"

If it wasn't a dream or a coincidence, I actually had a slight idea of this possibility myself.

Maybe I'm in the world where my father and mother were children... and.......

And now......

『To sum up, that watch! Tis a time-leap device that enables travel back and forth between the past and the future!』

"Wh, what's that? What the hell is that!!??

My thoughts weren't wrong.

But that's why I couldn't help but be amazed at such a ridiculous reality.

"Hohohoho, really? Time jump? No, no, but is it possible? They often say in stories, 'You can't change the past, but you can change the future.'. "

『I am surprised as well. However, so long as this is neither a dream nor an illusion, I can only explain it as such.』

"This is..."

There are things in this world that even Tre'ainar can't explain the principle of... But a time jump? Can you go back and forth to the past? That's......

"Hey, wait a minute! If you could use it, you'd be invincible! You can change all your bad past events, right?"

『No, that may not be so...』

"Huh?"

『Hmm... for instance, you saved Hiro this time, but what would have happened if you had abandoned him? If Hiro had died...』

"...... My father... wouldn't have beaten you..."

『Indeed, I would survive, and you would not have even existed... but in the world where you and I exist, I perished, Hiro triumphed, and you were born... this would create a contradiction... for now, let us call this phenomenon the 'Magical Time Paradox'.』

Paradox...... well, didn't you say it wasn't magic, so why add magical to it... but what happens now?

『I do not know what the answer will be. Will your existence disappear... to begin with, will the world itself cease to exist... I have no idea.』

"So, what does that mean...?"

『In other words, to so easily interfere with the past... and yet not.... but if your leap through time is a real event in past history, then whatever you do from now on, would it not actually be... no...』

Tre'ainar himself doesn't seem to have organized his thoughts.

He always explains things in an easy-to-understand way, but I've never seen Tre'ainar like this.

『At any rate. Ultimately, it is not wise to influence the future so easily. For instance, do not tell the Hiro and Mamu of this world who you are... or meet with me, as I still live in this era.』

"Ah..."

『Our first meeting occurs in the sealing room... that is a fact.』

"I see..."

Oh I see... in the past... Tre'ainar is alive... I feel like I want to have a look at him.

『Oi, do not have any foolish thoughts.』

"No, but... hey, why can't I meet a still living Tre'ainar~"

『Dullard! Utterly reckless, as if you meet so casually! Even if you do come across each other, you would be killed without saying a word!』

"Huh? Is that so... huh?"

『Who do you think you are dealing with? That is the Great Demon King!』

「...... Yeah. I know that. That's why I thought I could trust you..."

『Oh...ah...um... hmm? ............ so do not even think about distorting history!』

"W, wow, wow! Huh? Are you a little embarrassed?"

『I am not embarrassed!』

Anyway, it's an unbelievable reality, but after talking with Tre'ainar, I've calmed down a little bit.

Well, my hands were still shaking a bit.

"But still, I don't know why Espie and Slayer gave me this, but it means I should go back to my original time, right?"

『I suppose so... tis interesting in various ways, but... 'being unable to return'... that scares me the most.』

"Ah, I sure wouldn't like that!"

What if I can't go back to the original world... my original time? Just imagining it scares me.

In this era, I'm older than my father and mother.

Ah, but... I feel like I want to see a little Sadiz... ah, not good, I want to see that so badly... but in this day and age, I wonder if she has even been born yet...

『Even if you go to see that, you must figure out how to return home first.』

"Oh, yes... but...... how do I get home?"

『I suppose you need the watch for that.... hmm...』

「... do you understand...... how to operate it?"

『We arrived at this world by pressing on those five buttons... anyway, I recall you pressing the center button to activate the watch.』

"Hmm? Oh, that's it, isn't it?"

For now, I agree with Tre'ainar that I need to secure a proper way back home, so press the button on the watch again.

Then, the watch lit up again, just like it did the first time.

[Registered User Authentication, Confirmation Completed. 'Jump' Setting Has Been Activated]

"Oh, so this is how it starts...?"

『As there are no instructions on how to use it, I suppose we need to do a little bit of trial and error... perhaps by moving the button and knobs, you can set the era and the coordinates of the transition destination... rather than fiddling around too much, press one of the buttons and see how far it moves.』

First of all, let's take it one at a time.

With that being said, I simply clicked one button.

Then, a few seconds later...

[Setting Complete. Jump Initiated]

Just like before, a strange pattern enveloped my body with a powerful flash of light and sucked me in.

And now comes the real thing.