By Jin’s perception of time, his dialogue with Ichi lasted for nearly an entire day.
〔Hmm, hmm... how fascinating.〕
The only thing that forced the conversation to a halt was Jin’s own exhaustion.
"I’m sorry, but... could I take a rest for a while?"
Exhaustion weighed heavily on even a man of Jin’s constitution.
〔Oh, that is right. Biological beings require rest.〕
Ichi spoke as if recalling a fact from the distant past.
〔Rest well. Is there anything you require?〕
"A bed and... a private room, if you could."
〔Understood.〕
At Ichi’s thought, a container-like "private room" manifested on the spot. Inside was a bed laid with what looked like comfortable bedding.
〔There is food and drinking water as well. Please, rest.〕
"Thank you..."
Too exhausted to even wonder how the room had been manifested, Jin drank some water, bit off a piece of bread, and collapsed onto the bed. He fell into a sleep as heavy as mud.
＊ ＊ ＊
〔What an interesting lifeform.〕
〔Truly. Our spiritual activities have lacked change for so long; he provides an unprecedented stimulus.〕
〔I wish to absorb as much as we can from him.〕
〔I agree. Assisting his return to his original world would be appropriate compensation.〕
〔I am in complete agreement.〕
＊ ＊ ＊
"...I don’t feel like I slept much."
Jin woke up and rubbed his eyes.
His drowsiness was gone and his physical fatigue had vanished, but a mental weariness still felt like it was sedimented deep in the back of his mind.
He drank the provided water and ate some more bread. Regardless of how he felt, he couldn’t afford to collapse here.
"Even if I have to claw my way back, I have to return to Ars... to Elsa."
He wanted to see his child, who was due to be born in just a few months.
As he stepped out of the "private room," Ichi called out to him.
〔Did you rest well?〕
"Ah, yes."
〔That is good. Today, I would like you to teach me about 'magic.'〕
"Yes, I understand."
Jin knew he had to avoid anything that might offend the spiritual lifeforms, starting with Ichi. He found himself drawing on the survival skills he had learned during his days at a "black company" for the first time in a long while.
＊ ＊ ＊
"...And so, it works like this."
〔Heh heh heh... how fascinating! How truly fascinating!!〕
Ichi was experiencing a level of mental exhilaration he hadn't felt in tens of thousands of years.
〔The skill to manipulate free ether... To think it could be this interesting!〕
Because Ichi and his kind were experts in manipulating sub-ether rather than free ether, they were profoundly moved by the magic Jin demonstrated—the skill of handling free ether.
Magic. A "law" used by "spirits" as opposed to "gods." Or perhaps "magic" because it was mystical, yet too humble to bear the name of a god.
Since Ichi and his kind lacked the concepts of gods or demons, they didn't really grasp the name "magic" itself, perceiving it instead as a "skill to manipulate free ether."
What surprised Jin the most was that they mastered magic—or the skill to manipulate free ether, in their terms—in an instant. And they hadn't used Trans Info to do it; they had grasped it merely from having the concepts explained.
On second thought, Jin realized that was only to be expected. These spiritual lifeforms were experts at manipulating sub-ether. He speculated that handling free ether was likely much simpler by comparison. It was probably like someone who had mastered advanced mathematics being asked to solve simple arithmetic.
〔'Forming,' is it? This is fascinating.〕
Ichi was currently amusing himself by instantaneously transforming a piece of meteoric iron—a fragment of cosmic dust—into a complex atomic model.
〔Jin Nidou, you have my gratitude. We can likely spend the next hundred thousand years or so researching this skill.〕
"T-That’s good to hear."
Jin could only offer a slightly strained smile.
〔Now then, let us set aside our indulgence in this new subject for a moment. Jin Nidou, I wish to discuss returning you to your original world.〕
"Please."
〔Umu. Returning you to the world you came from is not a problem in itself. It will succeed with 99.9999 percent certainty.〕
Jin figured their refusal to claim it was absolute was likely a sign of their sincerity.
〔Sending you into the world you originally inhabited is simple enough. We know where you came from.〕
"Yes."
〔However, the timeline is not so simple.〕
"What do you mean?"
〔I shall use an analogy to make it easier for you to understand.〕
Ichi provided an example using lower dimensions so Jin could follow.
〔Time flows from the past toward the future. Let us compare that to a one-dimensional line.〕
"Okay."
〔We place a mark on that long, long line. This represents returning you to your original world. However, where on that line should the mark be placed?〕
"Ah!"
Jin understood. Indeed, without some kind of landmark, it was no wonder they couldn't specify the exact era. Even Ichi and his kind weren't omnipotent.
〔Furthermore, time is not one-dimensional. Think of it as having at least three dimensions.〕
"Uh... what?"
Jin couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion. Seeing this, Ichi adjusted his explanation.
〔This is also an analogy, but the beginning of things is a 'point.' You seem to call it the 'Big Bang.'〕
"Right, yes."
〔Time, which began from that point, 'expands' while containing various possibilities.〕
"Oh, so that’s why it’s three-dimensional?"
〔Correct. Although it is actually a much higher dimension, you likely cannot imagine a high-order space beyond three dimensions.〕
Without any trace of malice, Ichi stated the facts plainly.
〔In that analogy, time is an expanding spherical surface. The center is the zero point, the beginning of time. Points on the spherical surface equidistant from the center represent the same amount of elapsed time. The surface of the sphere represents the possibilities.〕
"Does that mean... parallel worlds?"
〔That description will suffice. To lower the dimension further and speak two-dimensionally, as time passes, the choices increase—in other words, they branch out.〕
Jin understood vaguely.
If time was an expanding spherical surface, then the later it got, the more choices there were and the more possibilities increased. His home was a single point inside a massive, expanding sphere. He could imagine just how extremely difficult it would be to find that one specific point.
〔But rest easy. While there may be a slight error, I promise that we can return you to your original world.〕
"That’s a huge relief. Thank you."
However, Jin had momentarily forgotten just how large an "error" could be when defined by spiritual lifeforms who had lived for tens of millions of years...