Next Prologue
Next Prologue
After the giant robot was defeated, the other robots suddenly disappeared. They’d probably retreated to the future. L and I returned to town and met up with my parents, President Momone’s group, the doctor, and the current king of Laputa.
“Your Majesty, thanks for saving us this time. Sorry for asking something like that on short notice.”
“We don’t mind... It was an emergency, after all. You can help... clean up the library later.”
“Ugh...”
I groaned a little just thinking about how many books she owned. Nevertheless, we’d succeeded in driving off the enemy. But...
“But at this rate, they’ll just recuperate and send more robots...”
They’d probably be even stronger when they returned. It was a gloomy situation, but...
“I actually have something to discuss with you concerning that matter, Rekka,” said the doctor.
“Oh?”
I turned to face the doctor as she started talking with a serious expression.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Rekka, I want you to come with me to the future.”
“What?!”
My eyes widened at the unexpected proposal. No, was it really that unexpected? I’d half figured something like this would happen. Back when I tried to capture an enemy robot and get in touch with the future...
“Something happened in the future, right?”
The heroines disappearing and the robots attacking... Everything that had happened today probably originated in the future.
“What exactly is going on there?”
“First, the moderate faction was attacked by extremists—the hardliners, as they call themselves,” the doctor prefaced. “I didn’t understand why they would do such a thing at first, but everything changed when I received a certain transmission from R.”
“From R?” I asked, cocking my head. “Come to think of it... what happened to R? Do you know, doctor?”
“She’s sleeping right now.”
“Sleeping?”
If memory served, R didn’t sleep...
“In the first place, kidnapping the heroines from this time line and erasing them without a trace was only possible because the enemy mastermind used Touko Iwazu’s power of words.”
“Touko?!”
I mean, I guess that made a certain amount of sense. Her power could do practically anything, but...
“I don’t think she’d do something like this...”
“I didn’t say her personally—I said her power. After she was first rendered powerless to resist, her power was copied with the Doppel Stone.”
“The Doppel Stone...”
The stone that had the power to copy supernatural abilities... It had previously been at the center of a dispute with Nartessia and the Margaret family. If it was used to copy the power of words, then...
“But the enemy made a miscalculation. You remember how R was once forcefully removed from your side with the power of words? After that happened, I developed a device to shield its user from the power of words to prevent that from happening again.”
“Really?”
“R realized the enemy’s scheme before anyone else, but that was after they made their move... So she used the device to protect the heroines of her own story.”
The heroines of R’s story were the heroines of my everyday life, like President Momone and Tokiwa. R had saved them... Furthermore, I’d only been able to regain my memories because R had shielded me from half of the memory-blocking effect in the first place. It was thanks to her that one crack in the floodgates was all it had taken to blow them wide open.
“But why did R disappear, then?”
“That device was still in development and had issues regarding energy supply. R compensated for that by using her own energy instead. As a result, R’s demi-material existence lost its physicality, and she was unable to maintain herself, putting her in an indefinite state.”
“What?! Is she dead?!”
“She’s fine. I said she was asleep, didn’t I? Once things have calmed down, I’ll be able to bring her back with... a certain amount of certainty.”
Hearing that, I—as well as L, secretly—heaved a sigh of relief.
“But the problem right now is the enemy mastermind who planned this... We don’t know their objective. If they were aiming for your life, there would’ve been easier methods that didn’t involve kidnapping the heroines. However, that action was the precise weak point that had a profound influence on both the past and future... as well as the War of All itself.”
“What exactly does that mean?” L asked the doctor.
“The truth is that even though we know the extremists exist, we still don’t know who’s behind it all. L, I believe you were recruited by their leader... Do you know who it is?”
“I haven’t met them directly, no.”
“I figured not. Whoever it is, they’re very thorough in making sure they don’t reveal themselves.”
“...”
A mastermind with an unknown identity and goal, huh? How unsettling.
“Rekka.” The doctor took a deep breath there before continuing, “If I bring you to the future, you may be dragged into the War of All whether you like it or not. I actually wanted to avoid that, but I hope you can forgive us for failing you there... However, at the same time, I can’t help but feel hopeful that this may just yet be the key to resolving the War of All.”
“...”
“I believe I told you about how you Namidares are crossroad keepers with the power to change fate. And of all the Namidares, you possess an unusually strong power to do so.”
The doctor had said that was the reason I’d gotten caught up in so many crazy stories at such a crazy rate.
“If there was anyone who could stop the War of All involving countless worlds, countless dimensions, and as many intersecting lives as there are stars... Then it would have to be a very special crossroad keeper like you, Rekka,” she declared bluntly. “We still don’t know who the enemy mastermind is, but they’ve quietly played a very fearsome hand. We have to make a move too, or we’ll be cornered. I know I’m asking for the impossible, but...”
“You don’t need to say any more than that, Doctor,” I interrupted. “R and Satsuki and the others... even the future world will be in trouble if I don’t go, right? So I’m going.”
“...Thank you.”
“It’s fine. What will you do, L?”
“I’ll go too... I’ll make them pay for what they’ve done.”
And so the doctor, L, and I were headed for the future. Because of the attack on the agency headquarters, that was all the time translocator was capable of right now. I turned to my mom and dad who had been listening to the conversation...
“So I’m gonna be away for a bit.”
“Away to the future, huh? Even I haven’t been there yet,” Dad said lightheartedly, patting me on the shoulder. “Well, do your best. Make sure you bring me back a souvenir!”
“No way!”
As if I’d have the time for that.
“Well, you know I’m worried. But I also know I can’t stop you,” Mom said with a sigh, shaking her head tiredly.
“Sorry to worry you, Mom.”
“All children worry their parents, son,” Mom said, hugging me once. “If it gets dangerous, make sure you run away. You take after your father... You’re both so reckless.”
“...”
That would probably be impossible, but I nodded silently. Mom probably knew it was an empty promise, but she smiled as she let go of me gently. I then approached President Momone.
“Um, so that’s how it is. I’ll be absent from school for a while.”
“Don’t worry. I think school will be closed for some time. But is that really all you have to say to us?” President Momone said, raising an eyebrow unhappily.
That seemed to be the consensus of everyone there, as several other pairs of eyes began glaring at me too.
“Um... E-Er...”
“Tch. It was our mistake for expecting something tasteful from you at a time like this,” President Momone said with a bitter smile.
That... That felt profoundly insulting.
“Pfft. Well, it’s fine. That’s just what I’d expect from you anyway.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve taken a liking to that part of you. I’ll cry if this ends up being our final farewell, so don’t make me cry.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
Hearing her encouragement, I nodded eagerly. Ai, Yulia, Poppy, and Yorun all walked over to me next. We exchanged words, but not words of farewell—promises to meet again. As I was returning their temporary goodbyes... Tokiwa suddenly clung to me.
“Come back safe,” she said in her usual whisper.
Everyone freaked out when she jumped on me, but it was somehow comforting to see her acting like normal. That said, it felt like she was clinging to me a little tighter than usual...
“Well, I’ll be off now,” I said, waving at everyone.
“Let’s go.”
There, the doctor activated the time translocator. The next thing I knew, my vision blurred, and I found myself in a strange space. When I asked, apparently we were in what was known as the stream of time—what made time travel possible. It was weird. I couldn’t feel my limbs at all, but I was hyper-aware of everything. It seemed the time translocator was actually what was moving us through the stream of time.
“Hey...”
Fortunately, I could still move my mouth. I didn’t know how long it would take to arrive in the future, but it would be awkward to just stay silent the whole time. So I decided to ask the doctor something that had been on my mind...
“What is ‘future’ Rekka doing right now?”
The War of All was the result of me not settling down with a heroine, so what on earth was future me, the cause of everything, doing in the future? It was something I’d been wondering for a long time now. And hearing my question, the doctor replied...
“In the future, you’ve been missing this entire time.”
—To be continued—