Capítulo 146: To You in the other side of Reality.
The contents of what was spoken at the Southern Quartet Alliance's meeting with the Amanogawa Shogun during The War of Unification was something that was tightly kept as a secret between the two parties.
Even to this day, the scroll containing their exchange is contained within a metal cylinder and sealed with the wax stamps of the five leaders and the Shogun, showing that it has never been opened since it was closed after their conversation.
There are a number of propositions regarding the content of the meeting, most of which are credible while there are also those that are purely made-up. Some say that it was the Shogun handing over the reins of handling the war to the five leaders. Some say that it was the Shogun asking for the five to take great caution in continuing the war to the north given that it was a land dear to him.
And of course, there are also those who speak about crazy conspiracy theories like how the Shogun wished to talk about conducting state-sponsored terror attacks at the northern lands in order to turn the populace into rebelling against their new leaders or something as ridiculous as the Shogun talking about some other world he came from and how he wishes to not make this world he got into become like his old one.
There is only one sure thing about this though… and that is the fact that after the meeting, the war that unified the country raged harder and fiercer than ever before as the leaders of the alliance seemed to have their heart lit with a fire of desperation and fervor.
"I'm surprised to find you here."
"Oh. It's you, Kyoko."
"Mm-hmm… So, was that revelation really that great?"
"Well… yes. I think both Rin-chan and I have to take a while to digest everything that we just heard from him. Maybe I will take a bit longer than her because of the fact that I had a close relationship with the guy that we just talked about."
"That Epu… Efu…?"
"He's fine with being called Rai. I remember that well since everyone he met back then had a hard time speaking his name."
"I see… That Rai-san, huh?"
The Shogun told us what happened in our past world down to the last second of its existence. To me who died a few years before it happened, and to Rin who was too young and was placed into a cytostatic form by her father before she was launched into space, that kind of knowledge made us think of just why we were sent to this new world and how we have impacted it due to our arrival.
For Rin, she is a newly established leader of her land and before she was awakened, a goddess that was worshiped by a cult working in tandem with a pirate force that held enough power and influence to rule over an entire island province. To that end, she hasn't done anything great yet but plans to perform well once she re-activates the A.I of her spacecraft and help out in our technological advancements.
As for me, let's just say that my almost-megalomaniac and prideful way of thinking before, as I fooled myself into believing that I am some kind of all-powerful being whose rule and decisions can never be questioned, led me to particularly unsavory situations that only until recently, I have never admitted to be my fault or even try to solve.
I changed not only the way of life, but also the entire attitude in life of a great number of people in a span of a single generation. Normally, changes like this take several generations of adaptation and correction but seeing me lead this change and pursue it made my people to believe that they should blindly follow me… but anyone with an unbiased view on reality will know that something like that is hazardous, dangerous even.
"Rai-kun is a man who is mature beyond his age. I know little of what kind of upbringing he had since he rarely opened up about his past beyond the fact that he was raised by a group of friends after his mother was bedridden with a disease… maybe because of that, he already knew what kind of person he wishes to become… unlike us during that age who is still forming our own identities."
"Didn't you say before that you left your sisters to him in case you died? Was that maturity the reason for it?"
"Well… yes. With our parents being killed by an arsonist and our older stepbrother having a great rift with us who are his stepsiblings, it was only him whom I thought to be able to handle such a thing if ever I lose my life in some way."
"Then I guess he really is a great guy."
"He is… he really is."
"…"
"That's why I am confused how he came to do those kinds of things and in the end… end the world."
The story spoken by the Shogun was so long that it was almost dawn when it was finished. But instead of falling victim to tiredness, all five of us listened intently, knowing well that missing even a pip of information would be a great loss to us.
"I already know that Rai-kun was someone who won't think twice of putting up a fight if he needs to protect or fight for something… but to think that it would come to that point where his enemy isn't just someone or something but instead, the entire world…"
"Hehe… If I am going to be honest, everything seemed like it was made-up in that story… and yet, since it came from his mouth, I have to believe it to be true…"
Rai-kun made up a large chunk of the Shogun's revelations to me and Rin… but he's just the starting and finishing points of it. The thing that I have to think of more is the fact that a number of mistakes and shortcomings that we have done in this new world is pulling towards us a situation where the ruined world that we came from might be reborn in our world.
"If we are to stop this new world from suffering the same future as our past world, we need to cut off the head of that spreading malice as quickly as possible."
"That Miyazono Keiji guy, right?"
"Yeah. He's the problem. In the past world and even in this new world."
"What do you mean?"
"To put it simply, he is one of the people responsible for my parents' and my own deaths. Alongside his cohort of equally evil people with either god complexes or just horrible hedonistic beliefs, they became the enemies of Rai and the reason why he chose to just end the entire world for everyone's sakes."
"Just like the Shogun said earlier, huh?"
"Right. Just like how he said it."
I don't know why he had to be transported here of all places… This world is supposed to be a new world of hope and change for the sake of all of humanity… but now, he's here and he's done a lot of things that is swerving the tides of the world's future to a bad one.
"What he said… he probably told us all of this since even he is beginning to suffer from that karmic cycle that he said he is part of, right?"
"I'm no expert in the subject… but I do understand why he seems to want to end this quickly. Did you see how much he deteriorated ever since we last met face to face?"
"Yeah. He became a lot paler, and he looks like his strength is being sapped constantly."
"He reminds me of your father before I gave him a bit more time to be with you."
"…That too. That appearance of his reminds me of my father."
It was buried up by her family under her orders, but a few months ago, former daimyo of Shinka and a former patient of mine, Kusanagi Kenji, finally succumbed to the secondary infections and complications of his kidney disease.
"Do you think he waited for me to come back to Shinka so he can see me again?"
"Since it's father, I don't think that part is out of the question. He's always been the kind to go on roundabout ways to make the people around him do what he wants them to do… although it's possible that he really just can't take it anymore back then."
"…I guess that's something possible too."
It happened during my visit to Shinka and as someone who knew his medical record well, I suddenly became his physician yet again. In the end, I even became the one to declare his passing.
"Have you seen Kichi-chan? His adoptive daughter."
"That little girl who ran into the room after we left… I did. Why do you ask?"
"Did you know that he killed the adoptive parents of that child before taking her in?"
"What?"
"I was in Haguro province when we first met. It was after we liberated the province and ended its longest civil war that I heard some rumors about a child whose parents was killed and was adopted by the Shogun. It was only after digging up some information through Tatsu's contacts in the black market that I learned that he knew that her adoptive parents were spies and disposed of them."
"Then… why take the child?"
"I guess that is the part of his self that has kindness. He's ruthless to those against him, but he has no wrath to show to those who has no part in those crimes."
"Just like us?"
"Yeah… I hope that we are alike in that part of being a leader."
After having this conversation with Kyoko, something in my thoughts felt like it connected, and I asked something to her out of the blue.
"Kyoko… Do you remember that time when Chief Aoyama met your army by the Iso river to delay your advance?"
"Way back then? Of course. That baldy and his men galloped around our camp and set our tents and supply carts on fire. Because of that, we were forced to stay near the riverside for a week as I ordered Mitsuhide-chan to come to our camp with new carts and supplies."
"…"
"What is it? Why do you look like you're pondering about something?"
"Sora told me long ago that he was already in contact with the Kiko Three and old man Jirou of the Misanagi clan… and that is the reason why I was chosen to become the new Daimyo out of the blue."
"Oh yeah. I was actually really puzzled why they chose someone like you. At first, I thought that it was just to make you a puppet leader, but it seems like you were in control the entire time back then."
"Well, it wasn't only you who was helping me through our treaty. He's been sending whatever my young and impoverished land needed to stand back up under the guise of merchant guilds smelling profit in the south… But with what he revealed just now…"
"Hm?"
"…"
No way…
It can't be possible… Is it really possible for that thing to be true?
"I know that there must be a number of lies in there somewhere… The kind of lies that would convince someone like me who came from the other world to think that everything really is going well for me without making me doubt anything."
"Lies?"
"Well, throughout my early rule, I never really questioned why the Kiko Three made me the Daimyo and gave me independence to rule instead of the puppet governance that I expected them to make me partake in. Probably because one of them owes me his life and I am very close to his child… but with what the Shogun said earlier, that begs the question…"
"And that is?"
"Was it not only because of the Shogun's request… but also out of their own wills that they made me the leader of Kiko and heeded every mandate that I declared?"
At that very moment, I felt a jolt of shock course through my body. It felt like something that would happen to a person who had a "eureka!" moment.
"You are right, Young Iwasawa."
"Who-?"
"It's just me, Chiasa. Sora's wife."
"Sora's wife? I thought you'd be less informal about it."
"Well… Speaking out our titles and calling him the Shogun and myself, the Shogun's wife is quite a mouthful to me. Those things are better left to our servants in more formal instances."
To our surprise, Chiasa-san stepped out into the terrace where I and Kyoko are talking and seemed like she had something to say to us.
"It took a while, but I am glad that my wager with Sora didn't become for naught. I was right with thinking that you would eventually realize that thing that the four old men in your land left out in the open for you to see."
"I only really thought back about it now after digesting what he revealed to us."
"Hey, hey… I know it's not my place to ask to be let into this conversation since I am not an Otherworlder like you two, but can you at least tell me that this conversation is about?"
"…If my theory is right, you actually have all the reason to be included in this conversation, Kyoko."
"Huh?"
"Tell me, Chiasa-san…"
I looked straight to the eyes of the Shogun's wife who seemed delighted with the fact that I am beginning to decipher what she expected me to realize since the beginning of this new life of mine.
"…are we still… in our past world?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Partial Inexistence Theorem.
This is one of the things that Ephraim taught me during our last meeting with each other. Something that he deduced would happen if every piece of information that he gathered throughout his entire war with our enemies is true.
"The world is supposed to be a non-living entity. A planet that just exists with beings that has a proof of existence which is the soul and spirit. However, the world we are in right now has its own ego… it has a desire that a non-living entity shouldn't have. Thus, I began to call this world as a Partial Inexistence."
Those words are spoken by him during our discussion. He presented all of it like it was a thesis that he poured all of his time and effort into.
"There are also those "things" and "beings" that I told you all about long ago. Even if they successfully rewrote everything in this world to erase the fact that something happened at those times, those revisions aren't perfect. They always leave a smudge or a small indent in reality that cannot be erased at all."
"And those smudges and indents are…?"
"The fact that there are inconsistencies in our reality."
I was puzzled at first when he began talking about this "theorem" of his. As a man who knew his way around science and logic, I knew how to separate factual hypotheses from obvious false information and blatant lies.
But as he stated more and more of these "inconsistencies", the more I realized that he might be right after all.
"They say that our universe is only just about 14 billion years old… but there are a large number of stars and other celestial bodies around the universe that go beyond that range. One of which is a star that is 16 billion years old."
"That can just be a mistake on the wavelength spectrum estimation. If proper technologies were made, that would've changed."
"Alright then… How about the fact that until the collapse of our Deep Space satellite arrays and the decommissioning of countless space agencies in the world, we found no traces of life in the universe nor a single pip of transmissions from other places in space?"
"I can argue with you about the Fermi paradox as much as you want. It's clear that we can never really answer the question of whether we humans are the first to emerge as living beings or we are the last in the long list of those who gained life."
We went on and on for a while about all of these "inconsistencies" that he spoke about. Each and every single one of them, I turned down with logic and my knowledge as a man of science.
But then, he began asking things that I am already aware is true.
"Both you and I are aware that Psychics exists, and their powers are real."
"Right…"
"And you yourself has been a witness of the fight between me and the late Miyazono heiress where you barely made it out alive, right?"
"I am. I will surely remember that after I almost got killed by her…"
"Well then, answer this and discredit my theory, Higuchi-san."
"…"
"Why are you still alive?"
At first, it would confuse anyone why I am asking such a question when officially and to the eyes of everyone, I was the one who stopped that person from taking his life.
But the same isn't true to both me and him who was there and aware when it all happened.
"The attack that I sent her way and claimed her life didn't connect. She cleanly dodged that before realigning her charge towards you."
"…But out of the blue, she flew back and hit a wall…"
"And the damage was so severe that she later lost her life…"
That's right… that was how all of that happened. I was saved by him, and our enemy died. And yet, there is something that both of us are aware of that is clearer than day.
"My attack didn't hit her, I didn't have enough time to recast another one, you are dead set as her target, and you are supposed to be the one who is dead…"
"But she suddenly flew back through an invisible force… and hit a wall."
"Right… something that her body can endure flawlessly through a mix of her abilities as a Psychic and the enhancements she placed in it."
"But she still died…"
"Right. She died from something that in normal circumstances, wouldn't even bother her."
That was the moment when I realized that there really is something moving in this reality that I cannot deny to be existing and can influence events to this scale.
"My connection with that bunch has been severed. But I am sure that it was their meddling that led to this kind of thing happening beyond my abilities… only they can create this outcome."
"So, everything that you told me about earlier leads to this?"
"It does. This is the only way that I can deduce for all of these inconsistencies to exist…"
[Reality has been rewritten as much as necessary to lead to an outcome that even those self-proclaimed gods cannot control or predict.]
From the restarting of the present universe that leaves celestial bodies that predate the creation of this reality…
From the fact that countless planets should already be inhabited by other creatures but only we exist with life and consciousness…
From the fact that a wrong turn of a prince's car, a young revolutionary's choice to have a snack in front of a deli, and said young one's firing of a few bullets all led to the death of millions of people…
All of these errors and so-called coincidences that led to the present time, are inconsistencies that cannot exist without someone else's meddling.
"I believe that this is a message to me who has now become aware of this fact and is sharing it to you…"
"What are you trying to say, Ephraim?"
"…I need to finish what I started. I need to become the next actor to make sure that all of this will reach the conclusion that it needs to have."
"So that Partial Inexistence Theorem that you are talking about are…"
"It is, old man… I believe that "The End" that I will be bringing soon to this world in the name of extinguishing the endless horrors of immortality and deification of all humanity will not really be the end that we first thought it would be."
"Then this world won't actually end…?"
"No… he told me that I would surely be the one to end this world. But I only recently understood the underlying message in there… why he said that "You will end this world" and not "You will end the world"."
At that moment, I felt like a child who was given a great task by someone older than I am.
"Old man… if this really will come to pass, I want to entrust you the future of the world that will come after what I will do to this one."
It is clear to me… The last paragon of hope whom I thought is just being pushed to fight by his duty and promises, instead of having faith towards his cause, still had a glimmer of hope in his heart for this world that he once cursed.
"Don't let that world to fall to the same kind of chaos that we faced in this world. Because in there…"
[I will never be able to arrive to save anyone anymore.]
That's why… I made that promise… and I intend to keep on it no matter what happens.
If that young man who almost lost everything, even his own self and sanity, can do it… why can't I do the same thing and not win.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"This is…"
"Ancient records of the past Shogunates and rice kingdom scholar scrolls dating as far back as the Korai period… A large part of it is from the Sugiyama Shogunate that ruled about eight hundred years ago who had a line of rulers who sent scholars and researchers to collect all kinds of folk tales, literature and archeological artifacts."
We were brought to the dungeon of the palace by Lady Chiasa. There, I and Kyoko saw all kinds of artifacts and scrolls placed inside glass frames around us. It was like a museum's showroom…
"Of all of these things though, there are a group of artifacts that they recovered that puzzled them so much."
"Stones? This is it?"
"…These aren't just any stones, Kyoko."
"I can see that clearly, Hiroshi. There are carvings on it… but what is its worth if it can't be understood? Only one are carved in Japanese and even it only says something about finding the answer beneath the poems and proses."
I looked at the stone pillars that contained carvings in a language distant from the Japanese logographical writing system.
"Of the nine remaining stones, four are written in English, two in Mandarin Chinese, two in Latin and the last one… is a language that no one knows."
"But you and he know, don't you…?"
"Right. It was during that time when he wanted to remake something that he received from your friend in the past world before he died, that he noticed that the words engraved in that locket and the ones engraved in the last stone pillar are the same… thus, he agreed to have you summoned here in the hope that you may be the key to do unlocking this enigma of a language."
"So that was the reason why you were smiling earlier… because you knew that your wager against him will be to your favor now."
Her smile after I said that was quite bright… as if she felt so glad that she was right to wager on me after all.
"Well then… I won't disappoint you in that part."
I looked at the stone pillar and I instantly knew what each letter, word and sentence meant. With a deep breath, I started to read it and translated it into Japanese.
{"To the only other person in that side of reality who has the key to deciphering this riddle, I confer upon you my felicitations and gratitude. I knew it… I knew that you will somehow in some way make it back to experience the life that was stolen from you."}
"Wait… is the carvings directed to-"
"Hush for a moment, Kyoko-chan… There would surely be explanations about this later."
{"I believe that once you have read these stones that those beings will leave for the sake of the other person whom I entrusted the future of this new world to, you would have already realized what I have done right over here for the sake of those that are important to me… That's right, buddy… It has come to this point already. I had to do what I needed to do for everyone's sakes."}
As I read the lines of texts, I can almost hear his voice speaking to me. It reminded me of him and how much he affected the life of even someone like me who existed for the sake of someone else's life.
{"I made a promise to not only you, but countless many others that one day, those that they hold dear will not suffer the cruel fate that awaits those who will deny the future of the world and humanity itself that leads to nothing but depravity. And as such, this is the path that I chose and was given to take…"}
"Is the writer of these engravings…?"
"Yes. It is the same man that Sora spoke about yesterday."
{"I cannot reach you anymore at that side. Even this request of mine to leave these messages to you and to that old man is already a bending of the rules. And yet, I wish to talk to you for one last time… it was my regret back in here that the last exchange that we had before you died was an exchange of fists after you senselessly chased after that girl and left your siblings behind… I wanted to at least have closure with you that you can remember in a good way."}
I tried to hold back my tears as I continued to read these lines that he left for me.
{"Mio and Yukari, even little Rea whom your step-brother left to me before he disappeared, are still under my care and have lived a joyous life all this time. Every single day with them has been the brightest and most precious of all to me… they are the reason why even though I have been waging a brutal war against the Miyazonos, I never faltered or surrendered."}
Hearing that my siblings and even my niece was doing well and has helped him greatly in his fight released such a huge burden in my heart and mind.
{"Well then, I guess I had spoken enough about personal things… I need to tell you and that old man these things before I run out of time or a line in this stone to write down these reminders and instructions."}
Once I spoke about those things, Lady Chiasa took out a notepad and pen and was ready to write down whatever I was about to say.
{"First of all, tell the old man that unlike in our previous world, this new world of yours doesn't have the same system and psychics that we have here. That's both a good and bad news. Because of this, you two need to attain power and influence as leaders in order to solve the problem that escaped into that world."}
"Let me guess whose name will come up."
"Feel free."
"It's Miyazono Keiji, right?"
"You are right. His name is the one that came up immediately after that sentence ended."
After Chiasa-san guessed his name right, I continued to the next lines.
{"Unlike the other two, he escaped from me through a way that I only recently discovered. He transferred his soul into someone who is being brought into that world… but don't worry too much, I have at least dealt the damage necessary to cripple his attempt to set a foothold right there. His spirit is already crushed before he even attempted to send his soul to that new world. Because of that, he would surely be a broken person with a twisted personality that can only have people that he directly controls around him. No one can trust and will willingly side with such a madman."}
"I see, I see… this will help us greatly indeed. Sora would surely be pleased with this confirmation."
{"Another thing, according to the others in here, the conversion of the ruins of this world will be something akin to burying everything that happened in here in order to rebuild it all for you who will be placed back there."}
"Wait… what?"
{"If ever you guys find an accessway or dug so deep in that world's Japan, you may encounter the "sludge" that they will place in there to seal the gateway between our two worlds. Don't stay too long in it or you'll lose your life. It's supposed to be some kind of "Yomi" dimension after all."}
"Y-Yomi? Wait! What is he-"
Before both Chiaki-san and Kyoko can raise their concerned voices, I spoke out something that even I was shocked to discover.
{"I wish all of you well in that side… Every single one of us who failed to protect all of you from our war do, even if they are not with me right now. All of us failed to keep you safe and well here, and we wish that even if it is already too late, you would still be able to continue on in that hopeful and new world where all of you will be brought over by this final act of ours."}
"No way…"
"So, all of us are actually…"
My thoughts earlier were right. And that changes everything for everyone that exists in this world.
{"May all of you be reborn in a life which belongs to no one but yourself."}
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