Once I made up my mind, hesitation in executing it disappeared. Emotions are fluid. So if I reversed time and decades passed, this unique emotion I held only for Ruvlian might hide itself away. The probability was extremely low, but as I blocked the Demon God’s attacks, I sought out God.
‘God.’
[Yes?]
‘If I reverse time, what happens to the heavenly realm and demon realm?’
[The heavenly realm and demon realm won’t be reversed. Time is originally a god’s authority, you see. There’s no way they’d be swept up in a human’s time magic. But why are you asking about time magic?]
It was a puzzled voice. I didn’t answer. While blocking the Demon God’s attacks, I closed the distance with Ruvlian. It wasn’t easy with the following attacks, but I succeeded. I quickly conveyed my words.
“Ruvlian.”
This would probably be the second time I called his name affectionately. After blocking an attack with magic, a faint anxiety swirled in Ruvlian’s eyes as he looked at me. I had nothing to say to him, having provided that anxiety. Because once again, I was trying to leave his side.
“……Why are you calling me?”
Since it would be a forgotten memory, since it would be a memory only I knew, wouldn’t it be okay to say it just once? As that thought arose, the true feelings I’d always buried deep down slyly rose to the surface. The words that rose to my throat wandered about on my tongue.
It was terribly unsuited to this situation, and since the one hearing my true feelings would eventually forget this memory, it was even cowardly. However, I wouldn’t speak unless it was moments like these. I knew myself too well.
I blocked attacks and fired offensive magic in rapid succession to create as much distance from the Demon God as possible. Boom! A loud sound rang out as it clashed with defensive magic, and smoke became thick. Taking advantage of the brief gap, I grasped Ruvlian’s hand and lifted it. Then, gently pressing my lips to the back of his hand, I whispered to him, whose face couldn’t be more shocked.
“I like you.”
And I’m sorry. Without continuing my words, I withdrew my lips. This was the maximum skinship I could do.
Then attacks poured down as if the brief gap I’d given was just amusement. Having caught Ruvlian whose mind had completely escaped, I took him and descended below.
“……Sihyeon?”
A flustered voice pierced my ears, but I had no intention of explaining. I felt sorry for showing him my dying appearance, but there was no other way.
“Ruvlian, I’m really sorry, but could you cast defensive magic on me?”
“……You’re not doing something dangerous, right?”
“No.”
Lies were easy to speak. I was trying to save everyone to begin with. It was dangerous, but wasn’t it not dangerous? Was it because I was thinking about parting forever? My head was strangely tangled.
When I recalled and deployed the magic circle for reversing time from parallel world Ruvlian’s memories, a magic circle larger than expected revealed itself. The Demon God seemed to recognize the magic circle burning in golden light and screamed in shock.
“No!”
Then attacks flew as if to quickly stop the magic, but it was already after I’d cast it. Blood came out from every hole in my body. My vision spun dizzily, and the degree of pain was considerable. It was similar to the sensation of dying I’d felt through parallel world Ruvlian’s memories. It seemed even worse because I was experiencing it directly.
With Ruvlian’s wounded face as the last thing I saw, my vision was swallowed by darkness. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the point when I’d just arrived in front of Scalane.
I immediately cast sleep magic on the parallel world Ruvlian who was an infant. His clear eyes smoothly disappeared beneath his eyelids. Referring to his memories I’d glimpsed, he remembered my angry appearance. So this much should be enough.
The moment I felt relieved, that kidnapper bastard sent me a suspicious look. Then he opened his mouth.
“What are you?”
“I’m a mage of the Magic Tower. I was helping Mage Charles on the 39th floor with chimera research, and when I went to the cafeteria just once, they said they were bringing the owner of today’s unusual mana fluctuation, so out of such curiosity I couldn’t contain it and secretly followed. I’m sorry……”
I explained in detail while recalling memories. Though I planned to tamper with memories anyway, since I had things to confirm by entering the Magic Tower, this way was better.
“Huh, ‘that’ Charles took you as a disciple?”
“Yes, that’s right. I completely understand that you might be suspicious since he’s always only in his room. But when he started chimera research, he went outside the Magic Tower just once, and that’s when he brought me and worked me like a slave.”
Even the Master of the Magic Tower couldn’t remember the entire schedule of every mage belonging to the Magic Tower. The Master of the Magic Tower was also a mage—shouldn’t he proceed with experiments? Ruvlian had said he only knew things like their personality and what magic they were researching.
The suspicious gaze softened. The kidnapper bastard held the sleeping infant parallel world Ruvlian and teleported including me. I’d secretly cast tracking magic, but it became useless. The place we moved to was the cafeteria inside the Magic Tower. He seemed to plan to announce success here first, then go to the forest later.
I immediately knocked out the off-guard kidnapper bastard. Thud. With the Master of the Magic Tower’s collapse, the frenzied cheers all disappeared in an instant as if coordinated. Silence descended, and before the mages could finish grasping the situation, I cast sleep magic on a large scale. Everyone fell asleep.
Then I took care of the infant parallel world Ruvlian and used divine power and mana to modify memories. Since there weren’t that many mages in the cafeteria, I could finish quickly.
Based on all the mages in the cafeteria forgetting my existence, I changed it so that the Master of the Magic Tower and the black-haired mage like me attempted kidnapping but failed because of an unidentified person. The rest had drunk themselves to sleep in sadness over the failed kidnapping. I changed just that much.
Having changed my appearance with illusion magic, I headed to the security post near the ducal household. I put down the three people who’d fallen asleep in front of it where no one was, and wrote a note. One that said, ‘Men can’t give birth, you know?’ If discovered, the Master of the Magic Tower and the Magic Tower mages would be misunderstood as homosexuals while being revealed as kidnappers.
Using invisibility magic, I sat on the roof and waited for people from the ducal household to come here. It would become troublesome if someone else discovered them first. Not much time had passed when people who came to the security post with the mindset of grasping at straws discovered the child and the kidnappers.
Having confirmed that, I had no more reason to remain here. If you touched just one part of the future, everything would change. Now when I returned to my world, many parts of the future I knew would have changed.
[Sihyeon!]
‘God?’
[You reversed time and changed the future!]
Seeing God say this urgently, it seemed the future had indeed changed. That was fortunate. Relieved, I was about to ask him to tell me how to go to my world. However, as if he had urgent things to say, God took the initiative.
[You can’t stay here. Right now you’ve touched the future so everything has been turned upside down. The past, present, and future. If you stay here, you’ll be swept away by the flow of time and wander, so I’ll send Sihyeon to Sihyeon’s unique world.]
‘The penalty?’
[Ah! Did I not mention that? Fortunately, thanks to Sihyeon reversing time, it went back to before the Demon God obtained a physical body, and the heavenly realm was all sorted out so I received permission from the higher-ups. I’m not powerless anymore!]
It was a somewhat excited voice. Soon a portal appeared before me. It was unpleasant with the bad memory of parting from Ruvlian, but I had to move quickly. I could feel the world’s energy changing. As I stepped into the portal, God’s voice was heard.
[I hope we can meet again later.]
With those words as the end, the scenery reflected in my eyes changed. Somehow tacky wallpaper entered my view. A sharply folded blanket on the ondol mat, the drawer and wardrobe in front of it. Faded memories arose. This was the house where I lived with my grandmother who passed away around when I’d just turned six.
It was so identical to the house where I lived with Grandmother in the parallel world that confusion came for a moment, but since God said he’d send me to my unique world, this seemed to be the world I was originally supposed to be in. Not parallel world Baek Sihyeon’s world.
I snapped to attention as I blankly looked around the room. Soon I grasped and turned the round-shaped doorknob and went out to the living room, and Grandmother’s back was visible. My nose stung for a moment. Excluding the sensation of my head flipping, I hadn’t cried in years, but it felt like tears would come. She was almost the only proper adult of my childhood. Though the world was different, the feeling was the same.
My biological parents loved each other so much that they had no intention of having children. They didn’t want them. However, they had twins from one mistake, and afterward, saying it would be too much to entrust both, they entrusted only one of the twins to Grandmother. And that was me.
“……Grandmother.”
When I called out to Grandmother very softly, she immediately heard and turned around. The wrinkles around her eyes deepened further. Smiling brightly, Grandmother opened her mouth.
“Our little poop puppy. You’re already up.”
“Yeah……”
That ‘poop puppy’ too was something I hadn’t heard in such a long time. I approached Grandmother from my original world and spread my arms wide. Rather than embarrassment, the desire to be held in the embrace I’d particularly missed after growing up was strong. Saying what’s gotten into you to be acting cute, Grandmother whose knee joints weren’t even good held me tightly.
There was the scent characteristic of elderly people. Because I grew up smelling that scent in my childhood, it felt like coming to a mental hometown. Perhaps because it was warm and reassuring, perhaps because I was seeing Grandmother who I thought I’d never see again. Tears flowed.
“Oh my. Our little poop puppy, did you have a nightmare? Why are you crying from the morning.”
Unsuited to ‘our little poop puppy’ that seemed like it should use dialect, Grandmother spoke standard Korean. I later heard from Grandmother’s friend when I came back here that it was a term of endearment she’d used after worrying about how to increase closeness since she wasn’t a parent.
Though I could no longer meet precious ones, I’d come to meet another precious person. Having reversed time was both sad and happy. Once the dam broke, tears didn’t stop easily.
