◇
I followed Telshe-san deeper into the building.
We arrived at a room where a magic circle was drawn on the floor.
"Is this the teleportation magic circle?"
I had seen many magic circles because I also worked on magic tool development.
Even so, the magic circle before my eyes was extremely complex, and I could not understand it at all with just a quick glance.
It looked very much like the spell formulas engraved on the magic tools that Gramps made.
"Yes, it is. I will now activate the teleportation magic, so please everyone step onto the magic circle."
When we moved onto the spot where the magic circle was drawn, the circle began to glow.
Immediately after, my vision warped for an instant.
"We have arrived."
"Eh, already...?"
Since my vision had only warped for a moment and the shape of the room had not changed, even when Telshe-san said that, it did not quite feel real.
Seeing my reaction, Telshe-san gave a wry smile.
"It does feel a little anticlimactic, does it not? However, this is without a doubt the main branch of the Downing Trading Company in Celest, the capital of the Hitia Duchy. Now then, I will guide you to the president, so please bear with me a little longer."
When we left the room with the teleportation magic circle, it was indeed different from the place we had passed through earlier.
As I followed behind Telshe-san again, Fuuka unusually spoke up along the way.
"Will you also be present for the talk with Chris?"
"Yes. Since I will be accompanying you when heading to that place, I would very much like to join you if possible."
"Orun, is that all right?"
After nodding once at Telshe-san's reply, Fuuka asked for my permission to have her join.
I did not think my permission was necessary, but...
"Yeah. If you and Hart-san do not see any problem with it, then I am fine with it too."
"Thank you very much, Orun-sama."
"No problem... More importantly, Telshe-san, you can speak to me in a more casual manner. It feels a little awkward having someone older treat me with such formal respect..."
Since Telshe-san could speak so harshly to Hart-san, her attitude toward me and Fuuka was probably farther from her true self than the one she showed Hart-san.
However, Telshe-san shook her head at my suggestion.
"I intend to respond to Orun-sama's requests as much as possible, but I am sorry, that is the one request I cannot fulfill."
"I see."
I sensed an extraordinary resolve in Telshe-san's tone and hesitated to press the matter further.
It was only a slight discomfort on my part, and there was no real problem, so I decided to let her do as she wished.
Still, the more I heard her voice, the more a somewhat nostalgic feeling welled up inside me.
Could it be that I had met Telshe-san in the past...?
Just as I was about to fall back into the trap of unanswered thoughts, Telshe-san, who was walking ahead, stopped in front of a door and turned back toward us.
"The president is waiting for you in this room."
"Thank you for guiding us, Telshe."
Fuuka thanked Telshe-san, placed her hand on the door without hesitation, and opened it.
As I watched Fuuka enter the room, Hart-san called out from behind, "Come on, let us go in too," and I stepped inside.
◇
The room was an office, and inside sat a gentle-looking man in his late twenties wearing a monocle.
The lens of that monocle, like the glasses worn by Hart-san and Telshe-san, contained a large amount of magic power.
When the man saw us, his face broke into a smile.
"It has been a while, Fuuka, Hart, and... Orun."
Fuuka and Hart-san each responded to his greeting.
As for me, I was still processing his words, so I spoke one beat later than the two of them.
"...The way you phrased that... It seems I have met you in the past after all, President Christopher Downing."
The man with the monocle — Christopher-san — widened his eyes slightly at my statement.
However, he quickly returned his expression to a gentle one.
"Should I say 'as expected'? Fuuka and Hart did not tell you anything beforehand, correct?"
Christopher-san muttered in an impressed tone and shifted his gaze to Hart-san.
"Yeah, I did not tell him any specifics. But I think Orun might possess more information than we assumed."
Christopher-san nodded with a "I see" and showed a thoughtful expression for a moment.
At last, I would face my real memories.
They had created the pretext of going to the Hitia Duchy and concealed it as the princess's secret order.
On top of that, they had used the outrageous method of long-distance teleportation.
This was only my guess, but the reason for the long-distance teleportation was probably not simply because it was faster, but to ensure that no one would see me arriving in the Hitia Duchy.
Just as Fuuka had said before, this encounter was far more significant than I realized.
Even after learning my real past, would I still be able to remain myself?
I had a frightening premonition that the very foundation of who I was would be overturned, but I had to correct the discrepancies in my memories one by one.
This was something I had wished for.
No matter how frightening it was, I could not run away.
Having made up my mind, I opened my mouth.
"Just to confirm, the person Fuuka and Hart-san wanted me to meet, the one who knows my past, is Christopher-san, correct?"
Fuuka nodded at my question.
"...Yes. Bringing Orun to meet Chris was our goal."
"I see. Then, Christopher-san. Please tell me. About my past."
"Of course. But before that, allow me to introduce myself properly."
"An introduction? I know you are the president of this company."
"Yes, that title is certainly correct. However, do you not think it is somewhat insufficient for some random company president you have only just met to speak about your past? The person speaking needs to be someone appropriate for the task."
"Well, I understand what you mean, but..."
To me, this felt like our first meeting.
When asked if I could honestly believe his words, it was true that I could not nod with full confidence.
"That is exactly why this introduction is necessary. Well, I will not drag it out, so I will reveal my position right away. I was the foremost disciple of your father, the magic tool craftsman Lens Evans. That is why I met you several times when you were small."
"...Evans?"
Multiple question marks floated up in my mind.
It was true that the name of the father I remembered was "Lens."
But my surname was "Dura."
Moreover, Evans...
"'Dura' is your mother's maiden name. Master — Lens-san — married into the family. And Lens-san was the son of Cavadel Evans, the legendary magic tool craftsman. In other words, you are Cavadel Evans's grandson."
"————"
My thoughts stopped for an instant.
(Gramps is... my grandfather...?)
It was true that Gramps had called me "grandson" several times.
But I had thought it was something like a figure of speech.
After all, I had believed I no longer had any blood relatives left.
And yet, he had actually been watching over me all this time...
"How about it? Have I become someone worthy of speaking about your past?"
Christopher-san looked straight at me.
"...Originally, such qualifications were never necessary. But I will ask again properly. Please tell me about my past."
"Thank you."
"Right away then, I was subjected to recognition alteration by Philly Carpenter and my memories were tampered with. There is no mistake about that, correct?"
Christopher-san nodded at my question.
"Yes, there is no mistake. After the so-called 'that day' when you came into contact with Philly Carpenter, your words and actions changed dramatically."
"When exactly was that?"
When I asked about the timing of the contact with Philly, a shadow fell across Christopher-san's face.
His expression looked as if he were peering into painful memories.
"I will never forget it. It was October 20th of the year 619 of the Four Saints Calendar."
I matched the period Christopher-san mentioned, heavy with atmosphere, against my own memories.
The comparison was made instantly.
Because that period was one of the major turning points in my life.
"...That is the period when I became an explorer?"
"Yes. At that time our information network had not yet reached Tsutrail, so it was quite some time later when I learned that you had become an explorer in Tsutrail."
"No way..."
Upon hearing Christopher-san's words, I felt as if the ground beneath my feet was collapsing with a loud rumble.
I had sworn to become strong enough to protect what was important even if unreasonable things happened, and I had chosen to become an explorer of my own will.
Was even that vow something fabricated by Philly Carpenter...?
"How do you remember the time before you became an explorer, Orun?"
Seeing my state, Christopher-san asked while directing worried eyes at me.
"I remember being born and raised in a remote, cold village that was not even marked on any maps. That village was attacked by bandits, and after losing all my relatives, Oliver and I became explorers in Tsutrail."
"'A remote, cold village not marked on any maps,' huh. Specifically, where was that? You have an excellent memory. You should be able to remember almost anything you have seen or heard once. In that case, you should be able to answer the specific location of your home village, right?"
"That is..."
I desperately searched my memories, but I could not recall the village's location or even its name.
Not only that, the appearance of the village and the faces of my comrades there were hazy, and I could not recall them clearly.
Yet for places I had been and people I had met after becoming an explorer, I could remember them distinctly.
Until now, I had never paid any attention to that fact at all.
My heart pounded so hard it felt difficult to breathe.
My limbs trembled, and my breathing grew shallow.
A dull, heavy pain spread through my head.
"Regarding 'that day,' we only heard about it secondhand, but Orun, you are remembering the events of that day by mixing fiction and fact together."
"What do you mean?"
"The place where you were born and raised — we called it the Dawn Village — was indeed attacked by the enemy. And the people of the village, including your parents, were completely wiped out except for you and Oliver."
"...Ugh...!"
As I listened to the story, the headache grew more intense.
Until now, when this happened I would stop thinking any deeper.
But now I would not stop my thoughts.
Because this was not the time to look away.
Because I had decided to face my past no matter how painful it was.
"I will never accept such unreasonableness! Remember this! I will definitely crush you all one day! I swear it!!"
Even while suffering from the intense headache, I recalled raising my voice in fierce emotion toward someone.
This emotion, my vow, was not fake.
I instinctively understood that these were real.
Christopher-san's statement that I was mixing fiction and fact in my memories was undoubtedly correct.
However, I should think that the memories carrying my stronger emotions could not be altered even by Philly.
"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation."
While struggling against the headache and facing my memories, a familiar voice echoed inside my head.
In addition, although I could not see the form of the voice's owner, I sensed an overwhelming presence along with an alien magic power.
"This voice... Titania...?"
"Correct. It has been a while, Orun Dura."
The last time I had spoken with Titania was around July of last year.
Nearly a year had already passed, but for Titania, whose sense of time differed, it must have felt like a recent event.
Even as I thought such things in the corner of my mind, the biggest question was why she had appeared here.
"...Why are you appearing in a place like this?"
"I had a little transaction with the Downing Trading Company. —And this is no time for idle talk. Everyone... can you hear my voice?"
At Titania's question, everyone except me — Fuuka, Hart-san, Christopher-san, and Telshe-san — nodded.
Humans normally could not perceive magic power.
Therefore, fairies, which were existences like conscious magic power, could naturally not be perceived either.
To perceive fairies, one needed the unique ability Spirit Domination or spirit eyes.
Yet everyone here was perceiving Titania.
(I see. So that is why the glasses.)
It made sense that I had felt magic power contained in those lenses.
They must have been lenses crafted from spirit eyes.
But Fuuka and I were not wearing glasses.
So why could we perceive the fairy...?
I felt doubt about that, but it was blown away by Titania's next words.
"Tsutrail is under attack by the Cyclamen Cult... The city has already been reduced to ruins. The number of casualties is still increasing even now."
At Titania's statement, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy in an instant.
I doubted my own ears.
My mind went blank.
Tsutrail was my home.
Even if it was a place I had arrived at after my memories were rewritten, it was still the place where I had spent half my life, and many important comrades, friends, and acquaintances lived there.
And that place was under attack by the Cyclamen Cult...?
(I have to return to Tsutrail right away! But how...? We are in the Hitia Duchy. The physical distance is too great — no, there is a way!)
Just as I thought of the fastest way to return to Tsutrail, Fuuka stepped forward.
"Chris, we are returning to Tsutrail immediately. Give me the activation key for the teleportation magic."
"Understood."
At Fuuka's words, Christopher-san agreed without hesitation. Fuuka took out the same card-like item she had shown the employee when entering the Downing Trading Company.
Fuuka touched her own card to it.
"Can we teleport to Tsutrail?"
Fuuka nodded firmly at my question.
I had been thinking we would teleport again to get closer to Tsutrail, just as we had moved instantly from the Tsaharib Kingdom, but I had not expected we could teleport directly to Tsutrail from here.
Perhaps the reason the Downing Trading Company had absorbed the Flockhart Company, which was dissolved last year, was...
"Then let us return to Tsutrail right now! Christopher-san, please allow me to continue this conversation another time."
"Of course. It is better to return to Tsutrail quickly."
Just as I was about to leave the room after interrupting the conversation with Christopher-san, Telshe-san spoke up.
"Orun-sama, please allow me to accompany you as well."
"I guarantee Telshe's ability. You may think of her strength as equal to or greater than mine."
Hart-san backed up her request.
There was no time to spare now, and more fighting strength was always better.
"Understood. Telshe-san, please lend us your strength!"
"Thank you very much."
Once the members heading to Tsutrail were decided, we quickly finished our greetings with Christopher-san and hurried to the room with the teleportation magic circle.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the room that had grown quiet after Orun and the others left, Christopher sat with his hands clasped in front of his face, his expression filled with grief.
"...How is the situation?"
Christopher let out a dark, sunken voice that matched his expression.
"It is proceeding smoothly... for better or worse."
"...I see. Hahaha... We have not changed at all, now or in the past... Just as the world evaluates us, we are a criminal organization. After all, we are taking these many deaths into account."
"We are not the ones killing them. The ones killing are the scum of the cult, are they not?"
"Even so, we permitted this. To the people who have died and those who will die, that must be unforgivable. To them, it is as if we killed them ourselves."
"..."
"But I believe this defeat... holds meaning. Even if it ultimately incurs Orun's anger, I will accept it willingly."