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Side Story 6 - Lies
'...Where is this?'
The Hero awoke, taking in the unfamiliar landscape from his last memory.
A vast, desolate rocky area.
Sharp winds howled as they brushed past his ears.The Hero, dazed for a moment, corrected his question.
'Whose memory is this?'
In front of him was a boy, someone he'd never seen before, sitting on a large rock, staring at him.
The boy looked somewhat cute, but nothing particularly stood out about him.
...They had certainly never met before.
But soon, the perspective shifted to third-person, and the Hero roughly understood the situation.
'...Zero?'
A flicker of recognition crossed the Hero's eyes.
Zero looked younger than in any memory he had seen before.
'At best, he looks like he's in his early twenties.'
His dark brown hair showed no signs of graying.
There wasn’t a single wrinkle on his face, and youthful confidence filled his expression.
Curiosity surged within the Hero.
‘The First Era, long before the “Gate” opened.’
So who was this boy sitting alone with Zero?
As the two started a conversation, the Hero focused on them.
"Um, excuse me..."
The boy, seeming shy, asked Zero something in a small voice.
"...Do you think humans will dislike me? My abilities... My existence is definitely a threat to them, isn't it?"
The Hero's eyes trembled slightly.
But despite his shock, the conversation continued.
Zero responded in a gentle voice.
"Ordinary humans might, yes."
"...Ordinary humans?"
"I'm saying you're lucky to have met me!"
"Uh, who are you, exactly?"
Thump-
Zero pointed to himself with his thumb.
It was somewhat comical, yet hard to look away.
"I'm a magician!"
Beneath his thick eyebrows, his bright eyes sparkled.
"Magicians are different. We explore the unknown and seek understanding in the incomprehensible! Beings like you are always welcome."
...Suddenly, a long-forgotten memory surfaced.
After decimating the Holy Army gathered for his extermination, Zero sat down in a daze.
At that moment, someone approached him.
That person had said this:
"It’s been a while, magician."
This memory, from when the "Gate" opened and the Demon King arrived, bringing the First Era to the brink of destruction, came flooding back.
"You're the first of my mates of the game. Sit there and decide who you'll root for, though the result will be the same regardless."
The Hero finally recognized the boy's identity.
However, ??? looked completely different from how he remembered.
...He was just an innocent child.
'He called him the first of his playthings.'
The Hero focused on the conversation again.
The young Zero was confidently persuading ???.
"Come with me. Of course, not all magicians are kind... Actually, most of them are pretty eccentric... But my companions are good people. They won’t harm you. I promise."
??? tilted his head in confusion.
"...Companions?"
"I'm part of a small magic tower nearby."
"So, what will I do there?"
The boy kept asking questions, but Zero answered them all without a hint of annoyance.
"We'll teach you about yourself. In return, we’ll provide a safe environment and teach you about humans. How about it? We’ll exchange knowledge and become 'companions'."
The Hero silently watched them.
Until ??? smiled softly and nodded.
'...You were the same back then, too.'
??? possessed the original Polymorph ability, allowing him to replicate the essence of anyone he encountered.
Of course, at this early stage, his ability wouldn’t be as complete as it was at its peak.
But there was no real need for the “safe environment” or “exchange of knowledge” that Zero mentioned.
Still, ??? willingly took Zero’s outstretched hand.
The reason was obvious.
'He was curious about humans.'
Thus, the young magician and the boy set off on the same path together.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Uh... The person I replicated is named Martin."
"No, your real name."
"Uh... I don't think I have one."
Zero burst into laughter, seemingly incredulous.
"Well, we’ll have to give you a name, then. I need to introduce you to people, after all."
??? bounced on his toes, clearly delighted.
"Then... I’ll leave it to you."
After a moment’s thought, Zero grinned confidently and patted the boy on the head.
"Possero."
"Possero...?"
"It means 'possibility.' It suits you, don’t you think?"
"...Yes!"
As the boy’s bright eyes sparkled in the fading light, darkness gradually settled around them.
The Hero could only laugh bitterly in the growing gloom.
"Another '-ro,' huh, you damn archmage."
As everything was once again swallowed by darkness, the Hero sensed someone nearby and turned his gaze.
"......"
An old, worn-out armchair stood in the darkness, and an elderly man sat slumped in it, staring blankly into space.
His face was lined with deep wrinkles, and liver spots dotted his skin.
His body had collapsed in on itself like wet salt.
Yet, despite the frailty, the Hero could easily recognize glimpses of the young magician who had just been full of life.
Step by step, the Hero slowly walked toward him.
Their eyes met.
The old man spoke first.
"You don’t seem surprised."
"I figured we’d meet at least once before the end."
"Why is that?"
After some thought, the Hero replied.
"Because you’re a magician."
The old man met his gaze with empty eyes.
* * *
After blinking a few times, the background had changed again.
This time, thankfully, it was a place the Hero recognized.
Creak-
The armchair made the same familiar sound.
The Hero asked for confirmation.
"This is the house you used to live in."
"It is."
"And that chair is where your wife used to sit."
"Your memory is good."
The Hero recalled the fairy woman gently cradling her swollen belly.
A scene he could never forget: Zero, middle-aged, looking at her with a blissful expression.
"There must be many things you’re curious about."
"There are."
As the Hero glanced around the house, he asked,
"So, what happened to Possero after that?"
Zero hesitated, as if the question caught him off guard.
"He got along well with me and my companions. We kept Possero’s existence a secret, and he began learning about humans in a safe environment."
"Is that all?"
"...No."
For the first time, something resembling emotion flickered across Zero’s face.
"There are no eternal secrets. As you likely know well."
"......"
"Rumors of a shapeshifter... a doppelganger, spread to the upper magic towers. It didn’t take long for one of my foolish companions to fall for their schemes."
"And then?"
"The tower captured him... subjected to torturous experiments, but eventually escaped."
The Hero, puzzled, asked again.
"Possero just let that happen? He can read the essence of people. He must have known what they were planning."
"...He didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that the person who had treated him the best had betrayed him. You understand that, don’t you?"
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Zero looked at the Hero with hazy eyes.
"Whether a doppelganger or a human, it's the same. Sometimes, we turn away from the truth, even when it’s right in front of us."
"......"
"Both tend to look away from the obvious."
The Hero met Zero’s calm gaze.
Zero continued in a dry tone.
“I decided to believe what I didn’t want to believe.”
“What is it that you didn't want to believe?”
There was no immediate reply. Zero, sinking deeply into his armchair, turned his gaze away from me.
After a brief silence, a rather unexpected question followed.
“What do you think the world will look like in the future?”
“…Well, I don’t know. No one can say for sure.”
I added,
“Since the demons are gone, things will probably be much better than before, right?”
“Do you remember the first era?”
“…….”
“It was an era of abundance and peace, beyond comparison to the second era, but it eventually collapsed due to human selfishness and desire.”
I frowned, knowing where this was going.
“Are you so sure of failure in the future just because we failed once?”
“What if it wasn’t just once?”
“Pardon?”
“What if this isn’t the second era, but more like the hundredth era?”
At that absurd suggestion, I was left speechless.
Zero’s hand trembled.
Vmmmm—
Then a strange image appeared before my eyes.
It was as if I was watching the development of civilization recorded at billions of times the normal speed.
From caves to huts.
From stone buildings and fortresses.
To towering skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the clouds.
Metal objects soared through the sky, and dazzling lights caught my attention.
While I was marveling with my mouth agape,
Explosions and flames erupted, and everything turned to ashes and disappeared.
Zero spoke calmly.
“If dozens of civilizations have already vanished, and we are standing on their remains, what then?”
“…Is that true?”
“It’s why I devised Plan B… to end your existence.”
The old man continued,
His voice like a judge delivering a final verdict.
“I love humanity. But it’s inevitable that they will one day be consumed by their desires and fall into corruption. So, what will happen to someone like you, who reflects humanity’s nature?”
“…….”
“Without a doubt, you’ll become another disaster. Just like Possero.”
Humans have always succumbed to their desires.
Thus, the chain of conflict never ends.
Eternal peace doesn’t exist; there’s only fleeting respite.
That was what Zero said.
An enormous anger, disappointment, and confusion welled inside me for the first time.
“Even if you don’t want to, the world won’t leave you alone. Of course, you might disappear without causing any harm, just like how you killed the Demon King, prepared for your own destruction.”
“…….”
“But I didn’t want to leave even a small threat behind. I wanted the humanity I loved to reach their free end. I decided to eliminate all variables.”
…It was at that moment.
The anger and resentment building inside me suddenly dissipated.
As I watched Zero calmly continue speaking, I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling.
Something felt off.
And this wasn’t the first time I’d felt it.
‘When did this start?’
Right.
When I saw Zero’s final memory, Rosalyn left me.
“A doppelgänger is destined to bring chaos to the human world. That’s my conclusion. So, this is merely a safety measure.”
“Even after a hundred years… two hundred years, will he still be able to love humanity?”
Why would someone voice their distrust of humanity?
It was a disadvantage to let the other person know.
The answer was clear.
‘…Because they want to believe.’
Because they hope their doubts will be proven wrong.
Suddenly, I remembered Zero placing his hand on the bio-reactor where I had been stored and murmuring an apology.
“I’m sorry. I…”
In that instant, my thoughts accelerated.
From the beginning, how had Rosalyn sent me that memory?
A typical homunculus could never go against its master’s will.
And why had Laplace, the great sage of the Grand Forest and Zero’s collaborator, left me a prophecy that I would die alongside the Demon King?
I would’ve been better off not knowing.
Why had they all given me a ‘choice’?
‘…So that’s what it was.’
I stood before the frail, shrunken old man.
Zero looked up at me with an expressionless face.
His eyes seemed devoid of light, as if staring into deep darkness, and his lips were tightly sealed like a lock without a key.
Faced with someone who seemed like they wouldn’t respond no matter what I said, I took a deep breath.
“Did you see it?”
“See what?”
“Us, falling to our desires and perishing at the end of a chain of conflicts.”
“I didn’t see it.”
“Did you see me turn away from humanity in disappointment?”
“That too, I did not see.”
“Do you know what will happen centuries from now?”
“No, I don’t.”
I took his wrinkled hand and made him point to me.
…Just as he had done before Possero.
“You’re a magician, aren’t you?”
At that moment, a subtle change occurred on his dry face.
“One who seeks the unknown and pursues understanding amidst the incomprehensible.”
It was almost imperceptible at first, but his eyes began to flicker, slowly filling with a new light.
“A human who explores new truths in the face of new adventures! A fool who throws themselves into difficult choices!”
Then, like thunder breaking a long silence,
Emotion flooded Zero’s face as if the dam holding back a lifetime’s worth of energy had burst.
Without breaking eye contact, I said,
“That was you… and the me that you created.”
His eyes came alive in an instant, and his lips trembled slightly before finally forming a soft curve into a smile.
It wasn’t just a smile of simple joy, but a powerful expression of life that had been suppressed for too long bursting forth all at once.
“…Yes, that’s who we were.”
A voice full of life reached my ears, completely different from before.
We looked at each other for a long time.
“Thank you.”
“…For what?”
“For proving through your life that I wasn’t wrong.”
“Huh?”
“For giving up on life when you desired it more than anyone else. For showing me what might save humanity in this harsh world.”
…What?
I tilted my head in confusion at his incomprehensible words.
Zero reached out and embraced my shoulders.
Feeling like a child, I dazedly allowed myself to be held.
A gentle voice, one I had never heard before, whispered in my ear.
“Go home, Auro.”
My eyes widened.
Could it be… right now…?
“The child who carries the name of dawn.”
…And then a bright light enveloped me.
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