Retire 272

272 Prophet (3)

It’s a mess.

If you only listened half-heartedly, you might think these so-called Prophets are incredibly useful—but that’s not really the case.

If it sounds that way, it’s a trap.

A person from the future who doesn’t even know how valid their own information is?

What if they confidently guide you with knowledge they believe to be absolute, only for the next Prophet to have already used that knowledge up and escaped?

Imagine that kind of thing looping endlessly, one after another. It would be even harder to tell what information was truly useful and what was worthless. In that case, it might be better not to know anything at all. A little knowledge could just make things even more of a disaster.

Look at me.

From the start, I’m in no position to enjoy the supposed advantages of coming from the future. In this era, I was nothing more than a ten-year-old kid, and I didn’t know a thing. At that age, all I cared about was scheming for an extra snack at the orphanage.

If I’d gone back just five years, maybe I could have tried to do something, take some initiative. But as it is… No, it’s not even ambiguous. I’ve landed in a time where I know absolutely nothing, and the best “future knowledge” I have is something like who’s going to become a great mage someday.

Even the database from the Magic Clock Authority that came along with me isn’t much use at this point. This is why backing up past data is so important….

That doesn’t mean Alex Hope’s words are entirely useless, though.

At the very least, I’ve learned that my arrival in the past wasn’t the result of a random roll of the dice. Well, I suppose it’s obvious it wasn’t random, given that my father and sister could have planned it… Still, it means those two had some kind of reason to attempt such a reckless plan.

And isn’t that a relief? At least it means my father and sister actually thought things through.

—So, do you really have no more questions? Really? After hearing all this, you don’t have any thoughts? I’m telling you, this was super, super important stuff!

“Even so.”

Hong Seok-young glanced at Gamble, who sat sulking, then looked at me.

Then, as if remembering, he gave Kim Chae-min a quick look as well.

Ah, well… Yes. I suppose it’s a relief that people are at least thinking.

“As you say.”

Hong Seok-young slowly turned to look at Alex Hope on the monitor. At least it was easier to see than on a palm-sized phone.

“In front of me… Well, it sounds trivial when I put it like this, but. How many people do you think I’ve caught who claimed to be from the future?”

—Ah, I knew it!

“So I’m not surprised. With so many popping up, it would be stranger if there wasn’t a name for them.”

Hope burst out laughing, all too nonchalant for someone who’d just said what he had.

But there were still a few things that bothered me.

Just how many… Prophets? No, I’m not one of their Prophets. Anyway, I have no way of knowing what number I am, let alone whether someone else came back to the past after me.

“I do have a question.”

—Yeah! I can’t say I know everything, and honestly, I’m not even sure I’m explaining things well, and, uh, there’s probably more I don’t know than I do, but I’ll tell you whatever I can!

“……”

He probably doesn’t know anything, does he.

Still, even a little explanation is better than none at all.

“I have a few.”

—Yeah! Go ahead! I can’t answer unless I hear the question!

“First.”

I frowned.

That item I picked up—the one that sent me to the past—was, judging by the circumstances, something that popped out after I killed a monster. The image of that centipede corpse filling my vision came to mind.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue inwardly.

“Those things are in the dungeon.”

—Right.

“But you said the item only appears when they die. And you said dungeons can’t communicate with each other, so how could someone use it to send another Prophet—or themselves—back to the past?”

Unless Prophets were being born one after another in the same dungeon, it should be impossible.

—Ah, that.

Hope’s face brightened, relieved to have a question he could answer.

—It’s not that complicated. I can’t say I’m absolutely sure, but… They probably slipped out of one dungeon and crawled into another, don’t you think?

“That’s possible?!”

Kim Chae-min shouted in my place.

But Hope only tilted his head.

—Why do you think it’s impossible?

“Huh? Well, that’s…”

—Awakened ones go in and out of dungeons all the time. Sure, the escape pod you first board is complicated to leave because of its protective functions, but… Once you’re outside, getting into another one is easy. All you have to do is pay the toll.

I didn’t know if that toll applied to monsters as well.

—Still, once they’ve been outside and gone back in, they don’t live long, same as always.

“……”

—Or maybe, by coincidence, two dungeons popped at the same time and they ran into each other by fate on this strange land called Earth?

I’m not sure “fate” is the right word for that.

—Anyway, it’s not like it just goes poof and disappears, then poof and appears in front of the next Prophet. If that’s what you were wondering.

“……Alright. Then.”

I frowned again.

“That one you mentioned, the one in Mont-Saint-Michel.”

The fairy who supposedly bewitched Noah Michel.

“Is that one a Prophet too?”

Hope blinked a few times.

—Ah…

He tilted his head to the side.

—Yeah.

The answer was simple.

—Yeah. That’s right. The king is a Prophet too. I’d totally forgotten.

How could you forget something like that? I felt a surge of irritation.

No matter how much he pretends to be human, I can’t forget that, at his core, he’s still a monster.

—He’s a really early Prophet. So he doesn’t really… show much as a Prophet, I guess?

Noticing my discomfort, Hope hastily added,

“…Early?”

—Yeah, I mean, he became a Prophet before we fled to this world.

“Then.”

Hope explained in a subdued voice.

—I saw him when I was a kid. It was before the usage restrictions were lifted… So you can imagine how amazing a fairy he must be, to have passed those qualifications.

“I don’t really know how impressive those qualifications are supposed to be.”

—In your terms… let’s see. Like winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

From the start, it was clear how absurd it all was. I should have known when they talked about loving peace.

A species that supposedly loves peace deciding to kill the natives? That doesn’t add up.

—It’s not fair! Even if you love peace, if a cockroach appears, you’ll scream and spray it with poison, right?

Hope protested, looking genuinely aggrieved.

—I’m not saying humans are cockroaches, but you have to look at it from the perspective of the species! Like how that man over there is called a hero!

“Huh? Me?”

Hong Seok-young, suddenly called out, was startled and opened his eyes wide.

—Tch. I don’t know exactly when he went back to the past. It was so long ago, he probably doesn’t know much either… At this point, it’s probably not that important that the king is a Prophet.

Hope had a point.

“How long did it take you to escape to Earth?”

—If you count in Earth years….

Hope frowned, thinking hard for a while.

—It’s not exact, but counting from the day the price was paid to the day we entered the dungeons, about three hundred years. You know what happened after we arrived on Earth, right?

It’s a strangely realistic number—long and short at once. If you compare it to a nation, three hundred years of resistance before being conquered is impressive.

And if you count the time since the dungeons appeared and threatened humanity separately….

As Hope said, with that much time passed, there’d be little left of any Prophet’s advantage.

—Still, he’s an incredible fairy.

“If he’s a king, he’d better be.”

—The word “king” doesn’t mean quite the same thing here, but… it’s close enough.

Hope shrugged.

—Next question?

After that, I asked a couple more, and Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min joined in as well.

But in the end, my first impression didn’t really change.

Beings from the future are certainly variables. If used well, they could be very useful.

But then there’s me.

Yes. Me.

Someone could kill me and go back to the past. That’s something that hasn’t happened yet—it’s still in the future.

But then again. As my father said to his past self, I shouldn’t get complacent… but honestly, isn’t it likely that I’m the last one?

Think about it.

I looked at Hong Seok-young. He had his arms crossed and wore a serious expression, but there was a strange lightness about him. At least now he knew the true identity of the crazy monster that had been after him, and that seemed to satisfy him.

I came from a timeline where the one considered humanity’s savior had failed. Earth was doomed, and even the humans who survived that hell wouldn’t last long.

I don’t know if Noah Michel got what he wanted, but at least the ones who boarded the dungeons—the escape pods—and fled succeeded. They adapted to the harsh new world, killed all the natives, and took their place.

Do you understand?

They succeeded.

There’s no need for them to go back to the past.

If anyone did try to go back, they’d have to be stopped. After all that effort to succeed, if someone messed with the past, it could all be for nothing.

Unless it’s someone like Hope, whose position would be threatened by their success.

So even if I’m not the last, I’m probably close to it.

And how could I confirm that…?

“Is there any way to verify if someone really came from the future?”

—If there are two of the same thing, then that one’s from the future.

“…That’s a bit vague.”

—Or they’ll just go around bragging that they’re from the future? Of course, there’s always the possibility they’re just crazy. Ta-da, monsters can have mental illnesses too!

If they have intelligence and even emotions like humans, being trapped in a dungeon indefinitely would be maddening… especially if the fairies aren’t all clustered together.

—The surest way is to kill them and see if an item drops. But that only works for the last Prophet, so it’s not exactly reliable.

“Oh. I have a question too.”

Kim Chae-min suddenly interjected.

“If time paradoxes don’t matter to time itself… then if your past self dies, does it have no effect on the you who returned from the future?”

—Yeah.

Hope answered firmly.

—Look. Imagine a future mage appears in front of the mage here. Would you really consider that mage to be the same person? Like a clone of yourself?

“……”

—Once you’ve come back from the future, as far as time is concerned, you’re a different being. Each of you has accumulated different time. Time isn’t something that exists on a single line for everyone.

Hope smiled meaningfully and continued,

—Time is fair to all, but it isn’t equal.