Chapter 126: Seeing the Returnee
———Wiina———
<10: 27 pm>
“Yeah, see you later.” Jennla said to the girl who chose to go back to her house, while she remained here, lost in thought. I guess she must’ve still been reminiscing on her time in another world. I wasn’t quite sure if she would still be roaming about, I thought that maybe she would’ve holed up in her house for today. Might be a good time to strike up a conversation.
…Do I be cryptic about it? I mean it’s not as if I have much incentive to do so, but I want to at least maintain some clear sense of authority and power in this form. If nothing else, it’d help get them to listen when I needed them to.
…Maybe that’s more of an excuse, I know that I don’t really have a good reason in mind when I act as a mysterious cool figure. I just think it’s cool, that’s about it. Anyway, as for what my opening line should be…
“You seem to be holding up well, to be able to walk around at night.” I said as I approached from behind, taking her by surprise.
She stood up and turned around with her hands raised. Seems like she has certain kinds of habits drilled into her in her prolonged absence.
“Y-You are…” She is quite surprised at my presence. Looks like it took a while since the dark night makes it harder to make out faces.
“So, I assume your reunion with the others went well?” I already know that she went to her parents first, and doubt they’ll have any problem with her return. I’m just asking as a way to open up the conversation.
“Well. Yeah. They bawl their eyes out, somehow not even realizing how long I was gone for…” She said, her tone carrying a hint of suspicion. I wonder, does she think I have something to do with the memory suppression? That was done completely without my knowledge.
“I see. It’s good to see that your return is nice and sweet… Aside from the initial ambush. Unfortunately, those two are not known for their gentleness.” Not really a perfect return by any means, but at least nothing harmful really happens in the end.
“Yeah. Talk about rude.” She replied with a slight tone of amusement. Probably not too amused considering how big of the news it became. That’s gonna sting a little bit, even if no big names identified her so far. Karra thankfully managed to keep her name out of the public view despite all the pressure put on her. “It was you who bailed us out at the end, right?”
“Indeed I was. It’s hard to not notice the fight with all the attacks being hurled around.” Even if I wasn’t there to observe the fight from the start, the mana readings would’ve given it away. Even people who aren’t that proficient in sensing energy could tell the scale of the fight is quite large. “You have grown a lot in your time in a different world entirely.”
“...So have you been knowing about my absence all this time?” Oh boy, looks like the accusations are starting to trickle in.
“Of course. It’s not just me, the people who suppress your existence also know, naturally.” I think that should quell some suspicion towards me at least. With the others, they won’t really care about being seen as a bit sinister. “The spell is meant to be lifted when you return, which leaves some with quite a sharp headache.”
“So you weren’t… I guess it’s meant to protect more than anything else, right?” She asked, starting to sound uncertain. She believed it just like that? Does she not think that someone here might be fooling around and causing the incident in the first place? From what I know the spell seems to be for summoning those from a different world. It would’ve been very obvious if someone used such a grand spell here, and it’s less apparent if you’re on the receiving end.
“Indeed. No one really has a good way to go after you, so this was the best compromise.” Technically it’s not, but I don’t want to admit that. Someone might consider it a case of ‘building character’, but I personally don’t buy that excuse. “I’m sure the others will understand your struggle and probably let you take a long break if you need to.”
“...What does that mean?” She asked, sounding rather oblivious.
“Something for you to take solace in later. Now then, what kind of world did you get sucked into? If it’s a particularly dangerous world we may need to do a few checkups.” I already know that she doesn’t have any weird status condition on him that could spread, but I want to know what kind of world she was put into.
“...It’s nothing too out of the ordinary, I guess.” She said, sounding like she is having a hard time recounting. “I was mostly just… trying to survive. Got put in a forest and I just have to try to survive, make sure none of the stuff on me breaks, all that jazz.”
“...So was there no reason for your summoning? That’s rather concerning.” The brief glimpse of the spell I can analyze seems to imply some sort of intent, so that’s unlikely. If that’s truly the case, I really need to find a way to jump ship fast.
“Well… Someone I met there said it might be due to botched summoning. I might’ve died if I wasn’t already part of that world, so they said.” …Okay. A few things to unpack there. I think I can figure a few things out just from that comment.
“...That would explain why your return trip is quite convenient. Jumping through both time and space is very much not precise. I guess whoever sent you back is quite proficient. Usually the margin error is much larger than nineteen days. Remember that you are not the only returnees.” I said just to make sure she knows that I can grasp what she said just fine, and to tell her how lucky she is.
“...By the way, can you or no one else just… send me back right to the time after I disappeared? So it looked like nothing happened?” She suddenly requested something absolutely ridiculous.
“Do you want to die?” I asked, my tone turning harsh and cold.
“H-Huh?” She seems quite confused as to why I say something like that. Do the people on the other end never tell her anything? I don’t think she’s usually this clueless.
“The fact that you aren’t present before this moment is all you need to know. You’re fated to not return until today. No more, no less. If we tried to put you back in time, then the world would conspire to keep you from truly returning. Maybe another magic mishap would’ve put you somewhere else, unable to return until much later than now, or you will be cursed with misfortune and die, no one knowing where you went and how. Do you understand? Asking to do such a thing is akin to a death sentence.” I explained with a firm tone. If those things suddenly become possible and paradoxes occur, then we’re royally screwed. Not to mention, I never tried time traveling before. I know I have the potential to do it, but there was never a need, much like hopping through worlds. Sounds like way too much to worry about for just… possibly getting jumped, much like Jennla just went through on her way back.
She looks quite spooked, justifiably. Probably raises a lot of questions in her head like how the timeline even works in the first place.
“U-Uh… Seriously?” She seems quite uncertain of what to say to that. I don’t think this is something you’d lie about, but I can see why she finds the whole thing hard to believe.
“Deadly serious. Don’t involve yourself with any more magic related to space and time. Those could easily be the end of you.” I replied with the facts. No beating around the bush. I really don’t want to see her being in danger a second time. “Let’s put all that nonsense behind us. I’m sure you know better than to do something potentially so lethal. At least willingly.”
“Did you really have to…” She was clearly about to ask about that little snide comment at the end, but dropped the issue. If I hadn't presented myself in the way I do right now, maybe she’d actually took a more combative approach in the conversation. “Okay. So… What have I missed?”
“Not much. The one main thing is that the world received another change after the Eclipse. Just four days ago, actually. Everyone is still figuring things out. It started with salt and snakes raining on everyone. Many parts of the world were changed to be more full of life, and monsters. Fantarban Realm, it is called by the school. You’ll get to see it next week… Hm. Your family never got to sign any agreement about a school trip, now did they… Or did they sign it before you went missing…” Does she even remember that? It seems to be longer than nineteen days for her. “Do you remember about the school trip to a dungeon?”
“...Not really?” She said after a pause, trying her best to remember the school trip, but those memories eluded her.
“Nevermind then. I’m sure the one at the school will handle the rest. What matters is that you’ll be caught up soon enough. There’s nothing urgent you need to do to acclimate back into this time period.” Let’s leave the explanation on those agreements with those actually in charge. “The danger level of this place hasn’t risen, but the others aren’t so lucky. Still, it’s good that you came back strong, better to be safe than sorry.”
She has a rather complicated look after that remark. Does she think she’s not that impressive? Or did I hit a sore spot somehow.
“Right… So how strong is everyone in my class right now?” Hm? So she is still hung up on the fight?
“Those two are outliers in many ways. As it stands right now you are in the top 3. Those two are very powerful in many ways, especially Emmie.” As I said to Karra before, but being a match for those two is telling a lot. I’m pretty sure out of everyone who haven’t already known about magic before the Mythical Eclipse, those two are among the strongest and keep those seats. “No need to feel down about your performance. How was your performance on the other side for you to have such a face?”
“I… I wasn’t that big of a deal there, really. I don’t think I’m even in the top 5 during my time there fighting.” She replied. Well that’s interesting, was she perhaps sent to an ancient time where people were much more focused on cultivating magic? Or perhaps those otherworlders she implied to have also been there? She said it was botched, but they could’ve tried a second time, as disturbing as such a premise is.
“I see. It’s good that you don’t have your head in the clouds. ‘There is always someone better than you around the next corner’, as the saying goes.” I kinda suspected her to not be overconfident already based on her behavior. While she clearly didn’t expect either Emmie or Kenni to be able to push her around so consistently, she still tried to be careful and not do anything she might regret later on. It’s those two who are way too reckless with the things they did, especially Kenni with those destructive spells. “So, you got anything you want to ask me? This won’t be the last time we meet, but you probably still have a few questions that are nagging you.”
She looked rather surprised at my offer. Did she run into people who won’t give her the time of day over there? I’m surprised she seems so down despite running into quite the fantasy trope. Of course it’s not literally isekai, but it’s functionally very similar and with less difficult return. Was the reality of the situation hitting her a bit too hard? I don’t exactly feel like nudging her for all that. I’ll let the others do it if they are that curious. Doing it in this persona might make her feel a bit too pressured.
“N-Nothing…” Hmph. How typical, but I’m not going to press her further then.
“I see. Then let’s end this meeting here. It’s quite late, you should be getting a good long rest after all you’ve been through.” I said before walking back into the darkness of the night, leaving her to her own device once more.
Hopefully I haven’t left Karra waiting for too long. This might be a long night…