Ch#173
A puzzled look crossed Lucarion's face.
"Your dad remembering you is really impossible?"
"Yeah!"
Lucarion pondered before asking back.
"Why ask something like that?"
Tie looked down hesitantly.
"Well, Dad seems a bit nicer to Tie."
"Nicer?"
"Yeah! After telling him Tie's a child, he's been treating me better than before! No mean words, no scary glaring!"
"......"
"So maybe there's hope......? Maybe one day Dad will remember that Tie's actually his daughter!"
The room fell silent.
Tie waited only for Lucarion's mouth to open.
After a long while, Lucarion spoke.
"Honestly, the possibility is low."
Tie's eyes widened in disappointment.
Lucarion took such Tie's hand and pulled her near the fluffy sofa.
"But your dad might unconsciously recall memories from South Korea."
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
Lucarion held out one hand before Tie.
Black dots gathered atop it, turning into a few sheets of old paper.
"Tore these from the imperial library."
Tie gulped and sprawled on the floor.
Lucarion laid the papers out in a row on the floor.
Densely written on the faded paper were curly ancient characters Tie didn't know at all.
"It's written in ancient language, but...... it's about dimensional magic—precisely, time magic."
Ppuppue and Marbas, who had approached unnoticed, brightened their eyes too.
Lucarion pointed to the paragraphs on the paper one by one.
"Here, the words 'Orta' and 'Rundel' appear."
As his finger passed, ink marks automatically engraved over the words.
Tie focused on Lucarion's explanation, forgetting even to blink.
"Orta. One born riding the original flow. And Rundel. One changed, possessing a gap in time."
Lucarion stared at Tie.
"Tie, you are a Rundel in this world. Because we came from the future."
Tie's eyes spun round.
But the child answered spiritedly soon after.
"Tie knows too! Here, Tie hasn't even been born yet, right?"
"Correct."
Lucarion pointed to the paper beside, then the next one.
"So it's natural the people here don't know you. Natural your dad doesn't remember you. But."
"......"
"Here, errors arising because the essence of Orta and Rundel is the same appear."
Tie's lips parted.
As Lucarion raised one hand, the papers rustled open in midair.
Complex diagrams and symbols flashed quickly before Tie's eyes.
"Gyegeomnal. You absorbed Tese tan's mana, right?"
Tie nodded frantically.
That day, Tie had felt the power rippling explosively around Dad.
Dad had been suffering terribly because of that power.
When she ran to help Dad.
Tie had naturally sucked it in.
"Actually, you didn't just absorb your dad's power then."
"Th-then......?"
"You shared your mana at the same time. Your father unconsciously took back some of your power to balance holy power and mana."
Tie's lips parted.
"Of course, you have so much mana you wouldn't have noticed. But it says here such a situation causes a 'time magic error'."
One of the spinning papers stopped before Tie's eyes.
"「The moment the aura of the Rundel from the future mixes with an intellectual being of this world. With very slim probability, the being sees events that will occur in the future. Because it is an event that will happen in the future, and simultaneously, the Rundel's memory.」"
Tie's eyes widened.
The child, who had been holding her breath, asked.
"Then, did Dad remember too?"
Tie grabbed Lucarion's hand and opened her mouth again.
"Aura is mana, right? Since it mixed with Tie's mana, did he remember that in South Korea, Tie and Dad were family? Huh?"
Lucarion sat the child on the sofa.
And answered calmly.
"Can't know. You saw it says 'very slim probability'."
Tie's eyes drooped.
But the child soon muttered.
"No. Dad will remember! If Tie gives mana again and takes Dad's back......!"
"That's not something achieved by continuously exchanging mana."
"Then......?"
"The error occurs only in that one instant when the two manas mix for the first time. Your and your dad's mana already mixed once at Gyegeomnal. Now, even exchanging mana again won't work the same as the first time."
Tie's mouth closed.
So, mana was like colors.
Tie had learned with watercolor paints during art time.
Once two different colors mix, they couldn't be separated again.
The problem was that Dad's mana and Tie's mana were the same.
'Mixed once at Gyegeomnal.'
Meaning the time magic error could occur only once that day.
Lucarion patted Tie's back soothingly.
"If the Gyegeomnal error occurred, your dad will start slowly recalling something. Then we'll know."
Tie nodded weakly.
"It's okay, Tie. Even if it doesn't work out well, I'll find a way."
"Kyuu......"
Marbas and Ppuppue rubbed their heads sadly against Tie's legs.
A gloomy mood filled the room for a moment.
But at that instant.
"......No! Before that, Tie will say something."
Tie jumped up from her seat.
Marbas bounced off and rolled across the floor.
Lucarion asked with a puzzled face.
"What are you going to do?"
Tie made a triumphant expression.
"You'll see tomorrow!"
Then dashed out of the room.
"......"
The room left with only Ppuppue, Marbas, and Lucarion.
After a brief silence, pure white light suddenly flooded the room.
Red mist rose where Ppuppue had been, soon revealing a long-haired man.
Silver hair fluttering, Ppuppue—no, Crajar removed his elephant mask.
"Lizard."
Galaxy-like deep blue eyes were revealed.
As he raised his hand, the papers Lucarion had summoned flew into his grasp.
Crajar, picking one out with long nails, spoke in a sunken voice.
"Is Mother to perish?"
Lucarion raised his head.
Crajar continued.
"It's clearly written in this ancient record. The moment Orta and Rundel coexist, the Rundel perishes. What do you plan to do?"
"......"
"Planning to prevent the birth of the future Mother, who is the Orta of this world? But even then, the outcome of Mother perishing won't change."
In this timeline, if Tie wasn't born, the future Tie couldn't exist.
Ultimately, whether Tie was born in 7 years or not.
It meant the current Tie had no choice but to perish.
Crajar's voice trembled with anguish.
"There is exactly one way for Mother to remain in this world without perishing."
"......"
"Living alone, forgotten by the world, without meeting anyone."
A grinding sound leaked from between Crajar's teeth.
"Then Mother must leave her family again. Without even the promise of reuniting."
"......"
"Family. The moment she meets even a single person in the world—not to mention the current members—she'll turn to dust and vanish."
Crajar's sunken eyes flashed.
"Lizard. Why did you bring Mother to this world? Why did you steal her life from that world? If she'd stayed there, she could've lived at least 7 years, no, more!"
Lucarion's expression darkened.
After a long while, he answered in a trembling voice.
"......Astie couldn't stay there alone. The old woman caring for Astie was sick."
Crajar's eyebrow twitched.
"The others were the same. They weren't in a position to care for her by their side. Of course, there was a facility for taking in parentless children there, but......"
Lucarion raised his gaze.
"Astie didn't want that."
"......What do you mean?"
"Astie preferred being by her dad's side for even just one day over staying alone in that world."
Lucarion, fist clenched tight, turned away.
Black smoke soon swallowed him.
Transforming back into young dragon form, Lucarion looked back at Crajar.
"I'll find a way. So shut up and wait."
