Chapter 58: Is it wrong to decompress?
An orange sky, slowly turning blue with the rising sun.
I glanced up at it for a bit and then walked along the streets of Orario, lost in thought.
Everywhere around, the aftermath of the incident was clear to see.
Because of that, I was lost in thought, pondering on what exactly to do next.
Tia and Freya had returned late last night and explained the current situation after the Denatus.
On the plus side, it didn't seem like I'd need to start up the plan <Rally Against the Heavens> anytime soon. On the down side, there were a ton of new variables to account for.
Lady Hera, long absent from Orario and near impossible to track down, had suddenly showed up at the Denatus to argue in our defense.
Since I had never met her before in my life, and since I had no memories of meeting her before in Bell's memories either, it was a tremendous red flag.
...Come to think of it, the number of red flags that I'd come across recently would be enough to make dozens of quilts from.
Thinking about that, I let out a deep sigh and continued walking. As I did, I glanced at my surroundings. Before I just had a casual look of things, but now that I focused... it was worse than I thought.
Main Street was devastated, the road filled with cracks and potholes. While the worst of it had been filled by people volunteering with Earth magic, there were still plenty of spaces left untouched.
Not only that, but the buildings alongside Main Street were completely demolished. Homes turned into ruins overnight and I could see countless ordinary people huddling in the dark, curling up with blankets.
It made me furious.
None of this had to happen.
It was one thing if it was a natural disaster. If this was the aftermath of say a giant earthquake or tornado, it would be understandable.
But this was intentional. Someone had gone out of their way to plot and plan for this chaos to occur. And if I hadn't been there to help stop the worst of it along with Welf and Ryuu, Orario might not even be standing right now.
So I was furious.
There wasn't a point to it.
I had gone over everything again and again, but there were no rational benefits to gain from inducing terror like this.
Money? The economy was devastated by wiping out key infrastructure, so it couldn't be that.
Power? The ones who gained the most from this were those who volunteered, like the Freya Familia and the Loki Familia. And while there were a few suspicious points there, the risk wasn't worth the reward.
Revenge? Maybe. But to have a grudge against Orario itself... it was more likely to try and tarnish a Familia or a particular adventurer. And this incident didn't have a rhyme or reason to it.
Was it to lure someone out? To lure me out?
I considered it. Especially since Lady Hera had appeared out of the blue, but that didn't feel right.
Like countless times before, my gut and intuition was telling me something was happening. And that something wasn't due to wanting to lure someone out.
No. This was the handiwork of a madman. One who wanted to see nothing other than pure chaos, just like Evilus in the dark past of Orario.
I grit my teeth and kept walking making sure to scan the surroundings.
Even if I didn't catch something myself, I was sure that [Compilation] would pick up on it later.
Like that, I continued on my way. And then I passed by a small collapsed home.
The front had been sheared away, revealing the internal structure... or it would have if the building hadn't folded in on itself. As it stood, only a small clearing that must have been the living room was unscathed. And there, a young mother and her child, a young girl, huddled together, sleeping beneath the open roof.
For a split second, Tia and Fina's images overlapped the two. It was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I had already walked towards them.
The young woman opened her eyes, immediately on guard. Seeing my appearance, she trembled and held her daughter close.
I paused and then crafted a blanket before handing it to them, along with some valis. After that, I resolutely spun around and kept walking.
"T-Thank you, Sir." A weak voice called out, filled with gratitude and relief.
I kept walking, doing my best to suppress the anger in my heart.
This was a world where villains and heroes clashed at the whims of the gods, so it was impossible to save all the weak caught in the middle.
Even so, it pissed me off.
Why did it have to be that way?
The heroes of the past didn't need to rely on the gods. That enough was proof of things. And my recent experiements had affirmed that fact.
So I could change it. I could change the paradigm of despair here where mortals clung to the mercy and whim of the strong. But...
I sighed and shook my head. "A hero trying to save everyone will turn into a villain to everyone. Come on, Bell. You know this."
It was Pandora's box. Granting the ability for everyone to become on par with Adventurers didn't necessarily mean that everyone would be equal. Not only that, but it wasn't my job.
Moreover, I had responsibilities.
*Maybe* if I had never met Tia I would have done that. But right now I had a family to provide for and friends to protect.
Tia, Fina, Bella... Freya too. Then there was Welf, Pyrrha, Artemis, Ryuu...
No. I had to focus on the things in my reach, not the things I could see.
I might be white-haired, but I'm not about to go and pull a certain wanna-be superhero.
That was Welf's schtick.
And speaking of white-haired wanna-be superheroes...
I idly swept my right hand through the air.
The moment I did, light flickered and a window that only I could see appeared. As usual, it showed my inventory. But it was also a bit different now. Maybe because I had leveled up?
Probably.
Still needed to go actually do a status update. First priority when Tia gets up.
But anyway, in addition to my usual inventory window, there were a few different tabs now. One for crafting, one for warp points, and one that was currently grayed out with a bunch of question marks.
Probably the next upgrade after I do a proper status update.
That aside...
I looked at a certain icon tucked away in the corner of my inventory that was constantly flashing.
...Yeah. I'd put it off enough.
A quick tap on the icon later and the air rippled, resolving into a transparent figure.
He looked familiar. In fact, he was pretty much what I saw every day when I looked into the mirror.
Messy white hair, crimson eyes, black armor and a lean build... except not quite.
His eyes were a bit more rounded. His facial features a bit less sharp. Even so, that didn't diminish the air of experience around him. Especially when his crimson eyes looked a bit glazed, like an old veteran.
I tucked my hands into my pockets and glanced to look at him. "You finally up for talking?"
The figure walked beside me and let out a deep sigh. "Did you really have to separate out my existence and chuck me into a corner of your inventory like that?"
I continued on my walk and muttered, "Considering your actions are the source of this mess and since you didn't give me any helpful information last time... Yes. Yes I did, Mister Cranel."
Bell Cranel. He was me, but not me. According to him, he came from a different timeline where he managed to reach the depths of the dungeon only to fail and gamble everything on a regression magic that he earned last second from a random grimoire.
He was also the reason why I was a Gary Stu-style MC since that magic apparently twisted fate, time, and destiny to fulfill the user's deepest desires.
I tilted my head to look at him and said, "You didn't expect anything else, did you?"
The other Bell- No. Let's call him Cranel.
Cranel wrapped his hands behind his head and said, "Look, I said I was sorry already. How was I supposed to know that it wouldn't just send me back to my own timeline?"
I sighed. "Whatever. What's done is done... Are you still going to stick around by the way?"
Cranel chuckled and said, "What? Sick of me already?"
"Considering you're living in my head rent free, yes. Especially since you haven't told me anything useful."
My previous interrogation only confirmed that his timeline and mine had branched at the very start.
Apparently, his mother had been a sickly woman named Meteria, who was supposedly the twin sister of the crazy strong Alfia lady who had declared herself my mother.
Verdict was still out on whether Alfia was really my biological mother or not, but it *did* explain a lot. Especially my abilities.
For example, Alfia was notorious for being able to copy fighting styles at a glance.
I could do the same thing with <Compilation>.
Alfia was infamous for her incredible prowess with magic.
I could do the same with <Energy Manipulation>.
All this time I thought it was just because of my reincarnation thing, but I was starting to think that Bell just had a broken bloodline.
...Wait. Didn't I make a joke about this with Welf at some point a while back?
...Do I have the power of foreshadowing now? No, have I always had the power of foreshadowing? I mean, I spotted flags a mile away and purposefully raised a few to make things happen, but doesn't this-
Gah! Gotta stop thinking.
Cranel glanced at me and said, "Parallel timelines are weird. I remember being all naïve and idealistic at this point and thinking I could solve everything with pure skill and strength. How the heck are you so jaded and contemplative already?"
"I blame you."
"Fair."
We made our way through town. It was mostly just aimless wandering, but it seemed like people thought I was doing a patrol since the citizens we passed gave me a grateful nod.
Cranel noticed and said, "Not even a whole year in Orario and you're already recognized as a hero, huh?"
"Don't remind me." I sighed and said, "Being the protagonist is suffering."
"Oh I know. Being a hero is far from easy. But with proper preparation and foresight-"
"Says the dead man."
"Hey! I might be a spirit, but I'm not a ghost!"
"Should I go find an exorcist?"
"D-Don't be too hasty! We don't know if that'll send me back or kill me!"
"Does it look like I care either way?"
"Dammit! Just listen to me, okay!? I promise, I can-"
"Tell me about major bad guys, plot points, etc... We went over this already. This is a different timeline, so things could spin completely different directions. Better to not know things and have false expectations... especially with my skill."
"...You're just mad that I won't give you my skills."
"Was it that obvious?"
Cranel let out a deep sigh and said, "Do you really need my skills? The only thing that you lose out to me on are raw stats, you know?"
"Knowledge is power. Literally, figuratively, metaphorically, and actually in my case. Now, are you gonna start paying rent yet? Or do I have to turn you into a bunny plush for my kids to play with before you change your mind?"
"..."
"Plushy it is."
"W-Wait! Let's talk about- ??!?!"
I flipped the new black bunny plushy a few times in my hand and then started walking back home. "Alright. Since the next major plot point will probably be a War Game... I guess it's time to do some recruitment."
Me, Welf, and Artemis. Right now, that was our main force. Technically, Pyrrha, Fina, and Bella were included in our Familia as well and could take part in a War Game, but I'd raze Orario to the ground first before I let them risk getting hurt.
Even if Fina was technically immortal, Pyrrha was invincible, and Bella could charm anybody in existence.
Cranel squirmed around trying to smack my body, but I wrapped a few mana thread around him to keep him still.
Anyway...
We needed to recruit people. At least three more to make a decent expedition team and to have a decent force in a potential War Game.
Ryuu was pretty much a guaranteed recruit at this point, but I wasn't sure how long she would take, so I needed to account for that.
Even then, I needed to find people who would be loyal and actually willing to join as family members instead of just a business relationship...
A faint inkling in the back of my mind, pointing me towards a certain direction in Orario.
I glanced towards it and frowned. "...Well. I guess it's a good place to get intel too... And I suppose it shouldn't be that hard to find people who'd be eternally grateful there."
The red light district... or in more polite terms, the 'entertainment' district.
Also the only place that was completely unscathed in all of this mess.
But for now...
I tossed Cranel over my right shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then started walking back home.
"Let's see... what should I cook for breakfast today? I'm thinking something sweet... maybe crepes? And I owe Freya too... Hm... Guess it wouldn't be bad to go all out for a fancy breakfast for once."
[author]Whoever said third year of law school was easy didn't say how much paperwork and check-offs need to be done in the last few months. orz.[/author]
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