The darkness that had filled the field of vision faded, and a familiar landscape came into view.
Lubetia. The empire where she lived.
But even though the scenery was familiar, the perspective of looking at it was not. She was floating in empty space, after all. And not just floating—she was without a body, only consciousness remaining.
‘What the heck is going on?’
It was confusing, but she tried to quickly understand the situation.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness—the words “Check the future.”
The landscape was familiar, yet the atmosphere felt somewhat disordered.
And above all, there was the sight of herself, slightly more matured, visible beyond the distance.
‘…So that’s what this is.’
She understood. She was now seeing a future version of Lubetia.
Living life, one ends up experiencing all sorts of things. Even the day comes when you get to see the future.
Of course, it was an absurd situation, but she wasn’t in the mood to rationalize it by denying what was right in front of her.
‘Wait… Was it checking the future of the person the target knows?’
The person referred to by “the target” was definitely Rudion.
It might be a little embarrassing to say this, but… the one she harbored affection for was the only one.
The future… Thinking of his actions, she quickly realized that he must know something.
But even he, the one who knew, didn’t seem to be paying much attention to it, and since he didn’t bring it up first, she simply pretended not to know.
Yet, the fact that what he knew was the future…
She had never really been curious about the future, but now, she found herself quite interested in what future he knew.
It probably wasn’t anything too serious. From her perspective, Rudion didn’t seem to be the type of person driven by some grand mission or purpose.
This wasn’t meant to undermine him. On the contrary, it was a conclusion she drew because she knew him so well.
Despite possessing exceptional abilities, he seemed to want nothing in particular. And as for acting with a clear goal in mind, that wasn’t the case either.
He was simply focused on and enjoying the present, as if there was no need to think about the future.
Because of that, she didn’t feel much anticipation about the future he knew.
The only thing she was curious about was what kind of relationship the future version of herself and him might have.
‘Hmm… Should I try getting closer?’
What would she be doing in the future he knew?
To satisfy her curiosity, she moved toward the place where her future self was.
Although she had no physical form, and the sensation of moving her field of vision through thought was incredibly strange… it wasn’t so different from using surveillance magic, so she was able to handle it fairly well.
When she finally arrived at the location where her future self was, it turned out to be a place just before leaving the empire.
For some reason, there were countless knights gathered, and judging by their focused expressions, it seemed like they were about to head into battle.
And then… familiar faces appeared next to her.
Lilith and Alkine. Both of them looked just as she remembered, only a little more matured.
There was something subtly different about the atmosphere and the distance between them, but on the outside, there was no mistaking that it was them.
Along with them, there was Harold, her fellow upper-class student, and, for some reason, a lower-class student… No, wait, he had apparently been promoted to the middle class during the recent midterm exams.
In any case, there was also Artes, the man who he had helped with the “training” that wasn’t really training.
…But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find him.
‘Where could Rudion be?’
From the situation, it seemed like things were getting pretty urgent, but Rudion was nowhere to be found. In fact, no one seemed to be searching for him either. Considering the situation, his presence seemed absolutely essential.
It was honestly hard to imagine that he would leave at a time when his presence was clearly needed.
And it wasn’t like he had gone off to do something else on his own… Her expression seemed too calm, almost as if she didn’t even know who Rudion was.
‘…Huh?’
Could it be that in the future he knew, we never met?
Then, that strange shift in atmosphere and the distance between them…
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the sky suddenly turned crimson.
It happened so quickly that she couldn’t even tell when the change occurred.
“Hey, look over there!!”
“The sky…!”
Everyone present looked up at the sky, their faces filled with shock, as if they hadn’t expected such a situation. That was the last reaction I could see.
Whoooosh—
The crimson sky opened its mouth.
It was a sight that could only be described that way.
Inside the sky’s mouth was pure emptiness. A deep, black darkness that seemed like it would vanish the moment you touched it.
‘…Huh?’
An intense, never-before-experienced fear washed over me.
Even though I didn’t have a body in this place, it felt as if my entire being was frozen, unable to move.
Before I could even think of anything else, the sky swallowed the world whole.
That was the end.
‘What… is this?’
Everything disappeared, and darkness flooded in.
The once vibrant and colorful landscape of Lubetia was nowhere to be found. The world had been replaced by pure black.
In that darkness, words began to appear before my eyes.
They were familiar phrases, the kind I had seen often regarding favorability, but the content itself was anything but familiar.
[The end is coming.]
A stark, unflinching sentence that described the current situation.
It was easy to understand, but difficult to accept.
‘Is this really the future?’
A sudden, all-encompassing end… Was this how it would be? To die without being able to do anything, along with everyone else?
Judging by the last version of herself she had seen, it didn’t seem like it was too far in the future.
Lilith, Alkine… They still had traces of their youthful appearances, so it was likely around the time of their academy graduation, at most.
How could this happen? She still had so many things she wanted to do.
Was it just her? Everyone living in this world would surely feel the same way.
And yet, such an empty ending… She couldn’t accept something like this, not at all.
As she was thinking this, new words began to appear.
[A new story begins. I wish you luck.]
As the words appeared, the surroundings that had been filled with darkness suddenly turned white, and then…
“Hah!”
Thud!
In an instant, her consciousness snapped back to reality.
She was sitting in a chair, almost falling over from the sudden shock, but right now, that wasn’t important at all.
[The future known to the target has been confirmed.]
It was never something that could be opposed. Having witnessed both the moment when the world itself vanished and the aftermath, she could confidently say that.
It would be hard not to go mad upon facing something like that. Honestly, she herself had wanted to give up on everything in that instant.
‘But how about Rudion…?’
How was he able to live so calmly, knowing such a future?
[Calculation complete.]
[Current progress: 21%]
[Current progress: 34%]
[Current progress: 35%]
What exactly was he doing right now, to be changing that future in real-time?
The way he had always focused on and enjoyed the present started to look different now.
It wasn’t that he didn’t think about the future. For someone who knew about the sudden end, the present was, in fact, the most brilliant moment of all.
She couldn’t know where he was or what he was doing right now, but one thing was certain.
He was fighting alone, for the future.
…She thought she understood him well, but now, it felt like a sudden distance had opened up between them.
‘How did I appear to Rudion, I wonder?’
Her mind was in turmoil.
After sitting in the chair, lost in thought for a while, Rudion suddenly appeared before her.
Seeing him appear out of nowhere sparked a different kind of relief—one she hadn’t expected.
“Where did you come from just now?”
But she wanted to hide the fact that she had figured something out, so she spoke in a curt tone. It almost felt like she had come to understand a little of why he kept his knowledge a secret.
Rudion only gave an awkward smile and didn’t continue the conversation, but then, her eyes were drawn to one of his arms.
As if realizing she was looking, he hastily tried to hide it behind his back. But his delayed reaction only seemed suspicious.
She immediately pointed it out and insisted on checking. To her shock, a torn wound was revealed.
In that moment, her mind went blank.
It was the first time she had seen him injured.
Unconsciously, she had always thought that he wouldn’t get hurt.
Watching him dodge attacks so effortlessly had led her to believe, almost automatically, that he was untouchable.
But that wasn’t the case. He was just an ordinary person who could be hurt by an attack.
Of course, it was just a minor injury now, but the fact that he was wounded was enough to make the vague belief she had held all this time come crashing down.
With that realization, her previously conflicted emotions cleared up in an instant.
She wanted to be someone who could help him.
She had no idea what it would take to stand by his side as he fought to prevent the end in real time, but at the very least, she wanted to be someone who could protect him.
He might not know it yet, but now that she shared the same future, perhaps he would need at least one person who could fully trust him.
That’s why she stopped him from saying whatever he was about to say.
Of course, she was curious about how he would explain it, but… if he tried to lie and she could tell, it would only hurt him.
[As a reward for favorability, you gain the ‘Concept Manifestation’ bonus.]
[The specialized stat ‘Time’ has increased.]
[Current time stat: 1]
For now, she decided to focus on how to use what she had gained in order to stay by his side.
…Really. If only she hadn’t blurted out about the tracking spell.
Her mind had been so tangled that her mouth moved before she could think things through, and now it had become a problem.
Her specialized stat was “Time,” but was there any way to undo what she had said?
She tried to figure it out desperately, but there was no sign of success.
In the end, the words she couldn’t take back lingered, and she hurriedly left the room, almost as if running away.