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"Hello, Eleonora-san."
A few days later, I arrived at the Explorer Guild and called out to Eleonora-san, a staff member who had been kind to me since my rookie days.
"Oh, Orun-kun! Hello. It’s been a while. I heard you were off conquering labyrinths across the country. Does your return mean you finished them safely?"
Noticing me, Eleonora-san greeted me with a warm, happy smile.
"Yes, I managed to wrap things up without any issues."
"As expected. Good work. In that case, are you here to report to the Guildmaster? He was scheduled to be in all day today. Let me go check for you. Wait just a moment."
Guessing my business before I could even say a word, she disappeared into the back of the building.
Finding myself with a moment to spare, I wandered over to the guild’s Reference Room. This was where a massive volume of reports submitted by explorers was archived, and any registered explorer was free to browse them.
Navigating by memory, I quickly located the specific report I was looking for and flipped it open.
"Haha... looking at this again, it really is a crude piece of work."
I was staring at the very first report we had ever written after becoming explorers. Oliver, Luna, and I had struggled through it together while receiving a lecture from Eleonora-san. Reading it now, the quality was terrible, but the handwriting itself felt vibrant, practically radiating the excitement we’d felt as new explorers.
The Cult had attacked our village, stolen our companions, and altered our memories—and Tsutrail was where we had finally ended up. Even our dream of conquering the Great Labyrinth of the South had been a desire intentionally planted in our minds by Philly.
Now that I had my memories back, it would be a lie to say I didn't have complicated feelings about that. However, that version of me was undoubtedly a part of what made me who I am today. It wasn't something to be denied.
There were so many things I had gained precisely because I came here. I had found people and things that were precious to me.
I really didn't want to lose this place. Even if I could never come back, it would be enough for me if everyone here could live their lives as themselves.
"Ah, Orun-kun, here you are. The Guildmaster is waiting in his office. Could you head over?"
I was still lost in thought, staring at the report, when Eleonora-san found me.
"I understand. Thank you for coming to get me."
I thanked her and made my way toward the Guildmaster’s office.
"Excuse me."
"Glad you could come, Orun-kun. I've heard the gist from Eleonora-kun. It seems you've safely completed your conquest of the various labyrinths. Excellent work."
The Guildmaster greeted me with his usual smile and a few words of praise as I entered the room.
"...Thank you."
"Even so, a report to Eleonora-kun would have sufficed. You’re quite diligent to come all the way to see me personally."
"Actually, while I’m using a report as a pretext, I really came because I wanted to speak with you about another matter, Guildmaster."
"Hmm. A talk with me? What might that be about?"
"Before we get to that, let me ask you one question. What is your understanding, Guildmaster, of the Explorer Guild's True Goal?"
The Guildmaster’s expression didn't twitch, but his eyes were no longer smiling.
"The True Goal? Are you referring to the guild’s principles? To 'manage the labyrinths and provide a steady supply of magic stones to the world'? If so, I consider it a vital mission. In this day and age, magic tools are indispensable to daily life. I believe it is the duty of the Explorer Guild to supply the magic stones that power them, without lack or surplus."
What the Guildmaster said wasn't wrong. As an organization that exerted influence across the globe while remaining independent of any nation, the Explorer Guild acted as a neutral balancer for the world.
But I wasn't interested in the public facade.
"I’m not asking for the textbook answer. You should know the truth, Guildmaster. The real reason the Explorer Guild exists."
Beria, the Grandmaster of the Explorer Guild, was a man who had lived since the fairy tale era. Back then, he had fought the Evil God alongside Augustus-san, and after the god was sealed, he had assisted in the creation of this "world of principles of magic."
Even afterward, he had served as a close aide to Augustus-san, who had become the King of the Hitia Kingdom. And yet—he had suddenly turned traitor.
Immediately following his betrayal, the Special Ability User of Perception Alteration at the time sacrificed their life to rewrite the world’s perception through the principles of magic.
The changes were threefold: the people forgot the outside world, they forgot the purpose of the sanctuaries, and they came to believe the Evil God had already been defeated.
Those three points were troublesome enough, but the true masterstroke was the erasure of Augustus-san from human perception. Consequently, even if he stood directly before someone, they could not see his form, hear his voice, or read his script. Should he move an object or shatter a glass, they would remain utterly oblivious to his presence or the cause of the disturbance.
Beria’s objective was to resurrect the Evil God. He began acting to conquer the sanctuaries—now known as the Great Labyrinths—which served as the sealing devices for the god.
Augustus-san, rendered a ghost to the rest of the world, did not give up. He added a mechanism to the sanctuaries that would forever bar Beria’s entry. Since Beria could not conquer them himself, and because his followers could never hope to defeat the Final Guardian, Beria founded the Explorer Guild.
He created it to use the people of this world to conquer the Great Labyrinths for him.
While the public perceived the Explorer Guild and the Cyclamen Cult as separate entities, they were wrong. Both were organizations run by Beria for the sole purpose of resurrecting the Evil God.
"...Orun-kun, the principles of the Explorer Guild are exactly as I stated. To 'manage the labyrinths and provide magic stones to the world.' It is nothing more and nothing less."
The Guildmaster seemed intent on maintaining his official stance to the end. At this rate, we would just be talking in circles. I had wanted to hear his personal stance first, but it couldn't be helped.
"Is that so? Then I take it you are in favor of the Guild’s True Goal? The resurrection of the Evil God?"
The Guildmaster, whose face had been a mask until now, finally winced.
"............I didn't think you actually knew the truth, Orun-kun."
He had likely assumed I was just fishing for information. But now that I had stated the answer clearly, he seemed to realize there was no point in feigning ignorance.
This was a gamble. If he were a supporter of that goal, he would inform Beria that I had regained my memories before I could make a move. In that case, I would have to consider using Perception Alteration myself—something I desperately wanted to avoid.
However, based on his character, I believed he was a man who despised the guild’s hidden agenda. So, which was he? A supporter, or a detractor?
"............I—I loathe it. I loathe the Guild’s True Goal."
The Guildmaster’s voice trembled as he squeezed the words out.
"I see. I’m relieved to hear that. In that case, please help me. At this rate, Tsutrail will be overrun by the Cult in the near future."
The Guildmaster’s eyes flew wide, and he practically lunged toward me in shock.
"Tsutrail!? Why!?"
"To eliminate me, most likely."
"The Cult executives are certainly a pack of monsters. They have no sense of morality. They wouldn't hesitate to destroy a city just to erase a single person. But why you, Orun-kun? Why are you a target?"
"Because I am an atavism of the King of Special Ability Users."
"—!?"
"I am the one person with the potential to truly bury the Evil God."
In truth, Oliver shared that potential, so I wasn't the only one, but I kept that to myself for now to avoid overcomplicating things.
"The King of Special Ability Users... Are you saying you’re the reincarnation of the fairy tale hero, Augustus Sans?"
"No. My 'soul' and Augustus-san's are different. Genetically, however, I’ve inherited a massive influence from his specific abilities."
"I see... I think I understand now. That’s why the Grandmaster was so focused on you."
"Last year, the Great Labyrinth of the West was conquered. Now that they’ve begun moving in earnest to eliminate me, we don't have much time left."
Nearly six hundred years had passed since Beria organized the Cult and the Guild. Even with his Eternal Immutability effectively granting him immortality, he had taken far too much time. It was because of that delay that he allowed someone like me—a genuine threat to his plans—to appear.
He had waited so long to ensure that the mana concentration of this world was high enough. Their goal was the resurrection of the Evil God, but the god's power would be severely restricted in a world where the mana was thin. To put it simply, it’s like trying to put a saltwater fish in a freshwater tank.
For centuries, the Cult had been conducting experiments and causing incidents to raise the mana levels while waiting for the right moment. They had even used a Hero as a trial run for a Great Labyrinth conquest, and in the previous timeline, they had successfully plotted to eliminate Titania and me—the two greatest obstacles to the Evil God.
There was no doubt that the world’s mana concentration had finally reached the threshold they needed.
"I want to protect Tsutrail. I want to protect the things I care about. Please, lend me your strength!"
The Guildmaster closed his eyes and slowly looked up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
"...I loathe the Guild’s True Goal. However, no one can deny that the Explorer Guild is an essential part of society as it exists now. That is why I work here. For the sake of the innocent people who live their lives believing that a normal tomorrow will always come."
The Guildmaster lowered his gaze and pierced me with a sharp, intense look.
"What do you fight for?"
"To seize a future where I can spend my days with a smile."
I answered him without a moment’s hesitation.
"And for that to happen, the people I care about need to be smiling and living as themselves, too. And those people have others who are precious to them."
The people I loved might not be able to be themselves if someone I’d never met wasn't there for them. A person precious to my loved one might be a total stranger to me. If so, then that stranger was also someone I wanted to protect.
"I think people only truly become 'human' when they nurture bonds with others. The future I want is a society where everyone can live as a human being. That’s why I fight—to win a world where everyone can smile as a person."
I expected him to laugh at such an impossible dream. But even if I was mocked, even if I was told it couldn't be done, I would keep saying it.
I will win a future where I can smile. I’ll defeat the Evil God and make this a world where everyone can smile with me.
In the ancient culture of Kyokutou, there is a concept called Kotodama—the power of words. If saying it enough could make it a reality, there was no reason to stay silent.
A gentle smile finally touched the Guildmaster’s lips.
"It sounds like a child’s fantasy. But... yes. I think it’s wonderful. I want that future to come, too. Very well. I will help you, Orun-kun. Let’s aim for it together—a future where everyone can smile as a human being."
"Thank you. That’s very reassuring."
"So, what do I need to do?"
"First, I need you to let me into the teleportation room that only the Guildmaster can access."
"I can do that, but why the teleportation room?"
"Because the Cult will use that teleportation circle when they attack Tsutrail. I’m going to tamper with the formula in advance so they can't teleport inside the city."
"To think such a thing is... no, if you have the same power as the hero of legend, it’s not so surprising. I understand. Follow me."
The Guildmaster led me to the room housing the teleportation circle. Just as my grandpa had done in the previous timeline, I began altering the engraved formula.
I made sure they wouldn't be able to use this path. With this, Tsutrail wouldn't become a battlefield, and the people wouldn't be slaughtered.
Right. Next task.