122 – Dream
“This is a dream.”
“Yes, it is a dream. But it is also a reality.”
Ike Axus replied to my words.
“It’s real….”
It’s a pity, but the reality is not like this to me right now.
The reality is that when you wake up, you lead your tired body to the manpower construction site, get a job, go out to the site, roll around all day, and then come back.
“Yes. It’s already been three years, so it’s time to forget about work in this world.”
A little bit annoyed at the sarcastic tone.
Especially, the fact that his expression never changes at all stimulated me even more.
“So, since it’s a dream, isn’t it even worth talking to for a while?”
“What conversation? Did you come to show off your memories of the 30 years you spent in that world?”
The five years I spent in the Astraia Empire were six months at most here.
In other words, one year in this world is 10 years in the other world.
Now that three years have passed, it means that thirty years have passed.
“Well, that might be fun, but the story I want to tell is a story from the distant past. To be more precise, it could be said to be the story of the original world.”
The story of the original world.
It’s a pity, but I wasn’t particularly interested.
Of course, in this world now, everything has changed to the point where I can barely remember what I remembered about ‘she heals a wounded world.’
Ike became a supporting character instead of a minor role, and Raina was not a villain but a friend comparable to Helen to Sophia.
That was definitely the story of the world I changed.
Well, the fact that the main characters are still Sofia and Leon hasn’t changed.
Anyway, to conclude, I still remember the contents of ‘She heals the wounded world’ before I changed.
You don’t have to listen to that story.
“Hmm. It’s understandable that you’re not interested, but is it really okay? You would have noticed.”
“… I don’t know.”
No, I already know the truth.
“Then I dare to ask you one thing. Are all the contents of ‘She heals the wounded world’ you know true?”
As Ike Axus said, the possibility that the contents of the ‘original’ I knew might actually be different is because I had already doubted it for a long time.
“Yes. You are right. What you showed in that other world is enough to make Her Highness Leon and Miss Sophia into supporting roles. However, in this world now, the contents of ‘She heals the wounded world’ are still the main characters, Her Highness Leon and Miss Sophia.”
“… In other words, it means that the contents of the original work that I knew were not all true.”
Then I could understand the reaction of Dite when I first met, which I couldn’t understand at the time.
‘After my death, what happened to Astraia?’
‘The organization that brought chaos to the empire has disappeared, so of course it has become peaceful.’
‘… Are you serious?’
Yes.
After returning to this world, I had plenty of time, so I thought about it every day.
How will time flow in the world beyond me without me?
As expected, since Avatar disappeared, will peace be restored like in the original work?
And the conclusion of my consideration based on the experience of that world.
I could never do that.
No matter how much Avatar disappeared, it took a lot of time to pull out the seeds of confusion they sowed.
Starting with calming down Elam and Kasit, we’ll have to sort out all the various incidents in each territory.
In other words, to put this in reverse, the ending that says ‘everyone became happy’ in the original work I saw must surely mean that it is a kind of adaptation.
“That is the correct answer. And the story I want to tell you now is a story without any adaptations of the original world.”
So I told him to listen first, and Ike Axus looked at me with a sullen face.
And in the end I had to nod my head.
“Good. Then, before we get to the point, let me ask you one question. Do you think Reina is a villain who should have died in the original world?”
To the absurd question that jumped out of Ike Axus’ mouth, I answered with my teeth gritting.
“… That couldn’t be the case, so I tried to save Reina.”
“Yeah, that’s right. And it was the same in the original world. No, if I had to explain it, Reina in the original world was much softer than the Reina you met right after you entered Arcana. At that time, Anna remained in her family.”
So, Ike Axus began to speak slowly, asking you to know and listen to it.
★
Where should I start the story?
The reason Reina and Miss Sophia grew apart is that Sophia and His Highness Leon became close.
But it was a difficult feeling to call it simple jealousy.
In the first place, Reina knew that no matter how much she was Her Highness Leon’s fiancée, in the end it was a contractual relationship, not the feelings of the parties involved.
However, no matter what the excuse, Reina and His Highness Leon ended up in an engaged relationship.
Your Highness had to refrain from getting close to another woman in the presence of a fiancee.
As you know, it can also lead to faction problems.
In other words, although the things Reina did to Miss Sophia were mixed with jealousy, most of them were good advice.
It means ‘You can get into a lot of trouble by getting close to His Highness Leon.’
And Miss Sophia understood the meaning of those words much better than Her Highness Leon.
Well, even if she knew that, it was difficult for her to get close to someone who only spoke harsh words to her.
After that… It is a repetition of a story you know.
Raina and Miss Sophia end up at odds, and of course, His Highness Leon takes the side of Miss Sophia.
Like that, Reina’s jealousy got worse and worse, and the relationship between the two got worse and worse.
So, the other Arcana students who belonged to Reina’s faction secretly harass Sophia.
However, when Sofia is chosen as a saint, Raina is suspected of belonging to Avatar.
In the end, Reina’s faction in Arcana collapsed, leaving her completely isolated.
Even Anna, who could have been Reina’s resting place at that time, was isolated due to her suspicion that she might have had an affair with Avatar along with Reina.
The Duke of Roselia tried their best to rid her of that doubt, but it was impossible.
Eventually, Reina, completely mentally driven, visits Miss Sophia in the middle of the night, and she is then accused of trying to kill her saintess out of her personal grudge because she was holding a knife.
The result, as you know, was the death penalty.
That was also a public execution in the plaza.
… After all, if the results haven’t changed, do we need to know that the details are different?
It’s not wrong, but the important thing is from now on.
There was only one person who opposed Reina’s execution.
As you might expect, Miss Sophia.
Everyone said Reina tried to kill Miss Sophia, but she, the party to her, didn’t think so.
She was Miss Sophia who was at odds with Reina, but thanks to that, she knew very well what kind of character Reina was.
And that was the correct answer. The purpose of the knife was for self-determination.
But no one believed that.
Miss Sophia expressed her will to have a conversation with Reina, but Her Highness Leon’s dissuade made it impossible.
Raina is eventually publicly executed, and the story quickly begins to twist.
After that, there was no such thing as a happy ending after somehow defeating Avatar.
First of all, Miss Sophia and Her Highness Leon had a falling out.
Ms. Sophia is guilty of not being able to save Reina and spends her every day in regret.
Looking at her like that, she came to the idea that there might have been something really different about Her Majesty Leon Reina, and at that time she dissuaded her and felt disgust at herself for standing by.
And that became the cause of the conflict, and the relationship between the two rapidly deteriorated.
In the end, it can be said that the relationship was worse than an arranged marriage.
Secondly, various problems arose between the Empire and the Roselia duchy.
Of course not.
No matter how justified it may be, the eldest daughter of the family died.
There’s no way I can easily accept that disposition.
When the Duke of Roselia stopped all of her support and investment in her empire, in a way, a greater chaos than when Avatar was present came over the empire.
Well, thanks to her successor, Prince Rupert, who persuaded Duke Rickard, the Duke of Roselia finally stepped back, but in the process, Duke Rickard handed over his title to Prince Rupert and went into seclusion.
Rupert, who was still inexperienced, tried hard in his own way, but he could not keep up with Duke Rickard’s ability, and because of that, the Duke of Roselia slowly began to fall.
And as the Rogelia duchy began to fall, the development of the empire eventually stalled.
In the end, there was no ending where everyone could laugh happily.
Miss Sophia and Her Highness Leon, who were the main characters, also lost their laughter.
The Empire has lost the pillar of the Duchess of Roselia.
Citizens lost their peaceful daily life.
Now, this is the truth of the original world.
What do you think?