Arc 25: Daydream Believer

Chapter 247: The Monologue, and [She]

Now then, I wonder where should I start from(End)

Tell me everything. Even if its only something you can say(Touya)

In one of the castles rooms, End muttered while drinking the tea that Lapis-san brewed. Next to him was Rize who had taken off her hood. The female ruler-cla.s.s was sitting down next to him, slowly drinking the black tea in the same way when she was drinking sake.

I was the only one aside from these two in here. Its not like I was avoiding the others, I just wanted be ascertain the situation by myself first. That was basically how serious it was.

Even if you say it like that, this conversation will be a long one if I talk about everything, you know?(End)

Then, Ill be asking you the questions. This girl next to you......Rize, right? Is this girl a ruler-cla.s.s?(Touya)

Thats right(End)

End easily confessed while drinking tea.

Theres no mistake that the ones called the ruler-cla.s.s are the highest cla.s.s of the frazes, right?(Touya)

Thats right. The lower-cla.s.s, the intermediate-cla.s.s, the advanced cla.s.s, the ruler-cla.s.s, and above them there is the [King]. The ruler-cla.s.s, as its name suggests, make the subordinates types abide them, they also possess intelligence and even have emotions. ...I guess they dont express feelings very much though(End)

Did he notice me glancing at Rize? End wryly smiled and answered.

Let me confirm it again, but... this girl is not an [Enemy], right?(Touya)

Your [Enemy] will change depending on how you think of them though. If Touya and your friends are trying to eliminate the [King], then we will become your [Enemy](End)

End, whose eyes filled with a slightly dangerous light, looked directly at me.

Shouldnt that mean that End is a Fraze?(Touya)

I may have said this before, but Im being called with a lot of names: a [Wanderer], a [person who moves between different worlds], a [s.h.i.+ft Walker], a [Stranger]. The world where I was born in is a world with a higher rank than the world here. I guess, I just have the ability to be able to travel to the worlds below it, but its not like Im omnipotent though(End)

A person moving across different worlds. A person with the ability to wander to different worlds, huh? It seems hes can only cross over to worlds with a lower rank than his own world, but......then this means that, perhaps he may be able to cross over to Earth, my former world.

I came to a certain world during one of my crossovers to the other worlds. That was the world of the frazes. Perhaps you can even call it the [Crystal World], I think? There I met the [King]. Although the t.i.tle is a [King], perhaps its better to call [Her] the [Queen] since it belongs to a woman(End)

So the [King] of Frazes was a woman...

We talked about a lot of things. So much that many years pa.s.sed by. Eventually, [She] came to wish to live together with me. I also thought that I wanted to be together with [Her]. However, our kind, the [Wanderers], we dont wish to be bound by one world. That is the karma of the [Wanderers] and thats what defines us. But [She] didnt give up. There are geniuses in any world, so...In that world, [She] made it. [A method to become an existence that crosses over to other worlds](End)

Apparently, it wasnt necessary that even if the world belonged to a lower rank, the people inhabiting it were inferior. Certainly, science and technology have developed in our world, but the magic engineering of this world arent inferior to it. Theres no such thing as a subst.i.tute for recovery magic that instantly cures a wound.

However, a method to crossover between different worlds...

If Im not mistaken, she became a [Core], pa.s.sed through the world barrier, absorbed power little by little from the life-forms living in those worlds, and is now climbing up to a higher world again and again ... right?(Touya)

Right. If [She] reaches a high-ranked existence, [She] will be the same as I am, and we will be able to live together. Thats what[She] thought(End)

End spoke with a slightly sad look. Whether Rize next to him was aware of that or not, or she was just pleased with handmade cookies made by Luu, she was tasting and eating them little by little like a squirrel. She was fine with sake in the bar, and now shes fine with black tea. Is it her habit to eat or drink anything little by little?

I glanced back to End, leaving her alone for now.

Of course, voices of protest were raised from the other rulers-cla.s.s. The one who objected the most was the female ruler-cla.s.s that Touya also saw the other day. Her name is Nei...(End)

Endemuon, did you meet Nei?(Rize)

Rize stopped gnawing on cookies and said this.

Eh? Aah. It seems shes doing well ~(End)

I see(Rize)

Saying only that, Rize started chewing the cookies again. Was Nei an acquaintance of hers? Its hard to read her emotions because she wasnt expressing it out that much.

After that, I was attacked by another ruler-cla.s.s named Gira(Touya)

Gira? Aah. Hes a typical ambitious person. Hes one of those trying to bring in [Her] power(End)

I could understand that by just seeing him. He felt like an arrogant guy who liked to act violently.

Going back to the story, most ruler-cla.s.s objected when [She] decided to cross over to other worlds. They all had different reasons. Some were worried about [Her], others tried to keep [Her] power from leaving, and the rest aimed at [Her] power. The [King]s power gives power to all frazes. If the [King] disappeared, then all frazes wouldve lost their power. They were afraid of that. However, even if the previous [King] disappeared, a person accepted by all frazes would be able to become [King] even if he didnt have the same power as [Her]. [She] wished for that and left world of the frazes together with me(End)

Its as if youre running away because parents from both sides oppose the marriage(Touya)

End showed a bitter smile as he continued to talk after Id tried to put my thoughts into words.

I cant really deny how perfectly it fits into the situation. Its not that Id kidnapped [Her], we both wished for the same thing. Since then, we were doing okay for some time as we climbed up the worlds. When [Her] core stopped at a certain world, I would travel all around it, and when it was the time for [Her] to fly to the next world, I would move to the same world. I could feel [Her] in a mere moment she moved away from a life-form, and I transferred as well, following after [Her]. Still, an unbelievable thing happened one day. The Frazes had the invaded the world where we had been staying(End)

Wait a minute. Does this mean the other frazes have gained the power to cross over to other worlds?(Touya)

Correct. [She] had thought of several different methods to cross over to other worlds. The easiest method among them was to forcibly break the [World Barrier] and arrive into a different world. However, [She] and I didnt adopt that method. If the [World Barrier] is destroyed, the world becomes become completely defenseless. We wanted to avoid exposing other worlds to danger for our goal if possible. Therefore, [She] became a [Core] in a state of apparent death, and adopted this method of transition. However, the rest of frazes had found the other methods [She] left behind and came chasing after us(End)

Somehow a video played in my head in which End, who had run off with the daughter of a mafia, was currently being chased by the subordinates of the girls father.

Of course, the end to the story, in this case, was that End wouldve been shot to death if the daughter was ever caught.

From that world, we then jumped to the next world before [She] was found, so we werent discovered. However, the previous world had been unreasonably destroyed. At that time, I came across Rize, and she told me what the Frazes had been doing since we left them behind. From then on, we have been traveling while being chased(End)

I can understand thats possible for End to cross worlds due to his ability, but she... How can Rize pa.s.s through?(Touya)

If End had the ability to let another person to cross over, then it was probably better to let [Her] who was a [King] to come with him instead of doing something troublesome like entering a state of apparent death.

Crossing over to a different world together with one or two will take time but its not impossible. However, what the [King], what [She] wished for wasnt [Moving] but [Evolving]. In order to keep living with me, it was necessary to wander from one world to another(End)

I see. Its something like being reborn from being a fraze to another existence. If I think about it this way, I suppose she may be like me.

However, in my case, I was changed by Kami-sama himself. a.s.suming that Fraze [King] was climbing the spiral stair, then Id apparently climbed to the top floor using an elevator.

Weve been climbing up the worlds one by one, but those guys have been waiting for us in the dimensional gap. If there are worlds with strong barriers, then there are also those that have weak ones. We were attacked several times when they aimed at the [King] when she transferred to worlds with a weak barrier. Needless to say, the people of those worlds didnt let themselves be helplessly murdered there were races among those worlds who managed to repel the Fraze. Well, Ive also helped, you see. Just like that, Ive been repelling the Fraze chasing after us and obstructing them while protecting [Her], as we were wandering from world to world. Then, I arrived at this world several thousand years ago... Its here that a large invasion of the frazes happened(End)

The world collapse from 5000 years ago, huh? As Ive thought, End was in this world at that time.

At that time, I got impatient as one would expect. The [King] wouldve been eventually found after the human race of this world would be entirely ma.s.sacred. I fought as well, but then again, I was only one person. Rize didnt help me (End)

I dont intend to actively attack my brethren. I only want to see the point where the [King] will arrive(Rize)

Because of this you see(End)

End shrugged his shoulders. It seemed Rize somehow didnt plan on partic.i.p.ating in the fight against the Fraze.

At that time, the barrier of this world was in tatters. I guess this was the reason why the frazes had overflowed to this world The ruler-cla.s.s had also surged in large numbers. Some humans and beastmen, who had continued to resist, also fell into ruin. As a last resort, I wouldve s.n.a.t.c.hed the [King] core, jumped to another world and hid there if they had ever managed to obtain it. However, the world barrier was restored just as it was about to reach that point. Though I didnt understand why or how it happened, there was something that I could do back then. I transferred all rulers-cla.s.ses and advance-cla.s.sed that appeared in this word to the dimensional gap, just like how I did it with Nei the other day. Thanks to that though, I lost my power for 5000 years, and it became impossible to use the ability to cross over to a different world. After we had transferred, the people of this world worked hard and exterminated the lower-cla.s.s and intermediate-cla.s.s frazes as it would seem. Finally, I came across Touya when I came back after regaining my powers(End)

I was surprised after hearing End finish his long talk. How should I say it......? The scale is way too large. I wonder how many worlds did he cross? I cant imagine how many months and years he has spent doing that.

Its very ironic that while you shouldve made sure to avoid exposing the other words to danger, you ended up herding the danger onto them(Touya)

Youre right. I wont make any excuses. This world wouldnt have collapsed 5000 years ago if we didnt come to this world. Were sacrificing other worlds for our selfishness. However, theres no way we can stop now. Both [She] and I cant possibly turn back after all of this. Therefore, well fight even if we turn every other world to our enemy(End)

End looked at me showing a strong sense of determination in his eyes. You could say hes serious and irresponsible at the same time. Selfishness. It appeared that theyre only thinking about themselves. However, this guy was acting even after having understood that. Its not something admirable, but I could only admire his great willpower alone.

Then, what will Touya do after hearing this story?(End)

......As of now, I suppose its true to say that nothing could be done about the current situation. On the other hand, this world will end anyway once [King]s core is handed over to Frazes, and it doesnt mean the situation will necessarily improve even if we do something about you. Of course, I hold no intention to let Frazes murder us. I will crush every last of them, be it an advanced-cla.s.s or ruler-cla.s.s, once they appear no matter what you guys say(Touya)

I declared this to the same ruler-cla.s.s in front of me. Rize, who had received that, opened her mouth.

I cant approve of it, but more than that, I cant stop you. If you are resolved to fight each other, I will remain an onlooker(Rize)

Does this mean Rize wont move even if it becomes a full-scale war against the frazes?

Are you saying you wont complain even if we destroy all of the frazes?(Touya)

In the first place we, whove attacked the other worlds, are ones who are wrong. It just means that its the fate of the frazes if they die out because of that (Rize)

Is Rize, by any change, going to take a non-interference policy for the sake of when it will come to that? The race called frazes wont die out if Rize survives at the very least.

However, if theres no male ruler-cla.s.s...... Nope, I cant say anything because I dont know how they breed. They may be able to breed by themselves.

Continuing after Rize, End also opened his mouth.

If possible, I want those who are aiming at [Her] to disappear in here too. To that end, I believe it may be good to borrow Touyas power. Also...... Ive wanted to ask this for a long time but is Touya really a human being of this world?(End)

He hit me right where it hurt the most. I guess, theres no way to hide that fact from this guy who had been wandering between worlds, right?

......Certainly, Im also not a human born in this world. However, I dont have the power to cross over the worlds like End, so I think of myself as a person of this world(Touya)

You dont have the power to cross over the worlds? Then how......? Aah. Were you perhaps involved in a disaster from a different dimension? Are you a Drifter?(End)

Well, I guess its something like that(Touya)

I replied to End who treated Kami-sama as a disaster while wryly smiling.