ALL NOVEL Chapter 117: Tamashiro Naofumi and the Original Past [V]
Narrator POV
The Great Forest of Giah.
The largest forest in the world, located west of the Artesia Empire.
It lies at the center of the continent creating a boundary that divides the world into two halves.
A mystical forest that covers over an eighth of the continent.
A thick and lush forest full of mysterious monsters places and mysteries.
It is the place where the goddess of Life, planted the "World Tree".
The "World Tree".
The World Tree is a tree that was said to be the origin of life in this world, where it stood is truly a sacred place.
It is said that the tree had been standing there right at the beginning of time.
A tree that signifies "life" itself.
As such, it is also called the Tree of Life.
The forest from where this tree stood was named in respect of the goddess, Gaiah.
The forest surrounding the World Tree was named after the name of the goddess of life, thus the name "The Great Forest of Giah".
Throughout history, the Tree of Life was protected by a race of stunningly beautiful beings called elves.
The Elves are a race of mystical beings that greatly resemble humans.
Having a lifespan that lasts for up to 500 years, elves live most of their lives having the appearance of beautiful "young adults".
They only start aging once they are nearing the end of their life span.
In appearance, Elves mostly resemble humans, the only difference is that elves have long pointy ears and abnormally beautiful physical features that are considered to be the pinnacle of beauty by human standards.
The Elves commonly lived near the "World Tree" to protect and preserve the sacred grounds around it.
This task was given to them by the Goddess of Life herself to the Elves and their ancient ancestors.
This task was passed down from generation to generation and this continues up to the present day.
As the reward of this race for guarding the tree, the goddess of life blessed their race with a long life and peerless beauty.
Elves who lived near the surroundings of the World Tree eventually formed a large settlement surrounding the World Tree.
People of this world see the entire forest of Giah to be under the rule of the elves.
As such, despite not being an actual country, the forest of Giah is treated as the domain of the country of the elves.
Thus, the people of this world eventually agreed to bestow the entire forest of Giah as part of the elf's territory.
Elves did not want to change the name of the forest for the name of the country, as such the country was named under the great Forest of Giah, and then the country was recognized as simply "Giah".
Giah, the country of the elf race.
Around the world tree, A town grew,
It became a city
The city grew and became a giant metropolis.
For many generations, the elves continued to settle around the Tree of Life.
The small settlements around the tree grew and merged creating the largest city in the world.
Even up today, the city continues to grow as Elf's population continues to rise.
The largest metropolis in the world, a city that is 10 times larger than the capital city of Artesia.
The city of Akasha.
The city of Akasha is the frontier dividing the world between two halves.
The western half of the world is mostly controlled under the influence of the Demon Lord's army.
The eastern half of the world is where many races were living in harmony and peace.
The great forest of Giah provides a line of defense preventing the Demon Lord's army from invading the peaceful lands of the people living on the east side of the world.
Beyond the great forest of Giah lies the great unknown, the domain of the demon lord.
An area of unknown dangers enveloping the western half of the world.
People call this land the overlord's frontier, the domain of the Demon Lord.
The city of Akasha acts as the final stronghold that prevents the Demon Lords' army from marching past towards the land of peace.
It is the final frontier of the brave ones who want to explore the dangerous lands of the unknown.
As the result of being the final frontier for those who wish to go beyond the forest of Giah.
This city became the place where the most powerful individuals in the world gathered to prepare for their grand quest to explore the Demon Lord's territory.
The most elite soldiers and adventurers from all parts of the world congregate to conquer the lands governed by the demon lord.
.
.
.
Akasha City.
A male listens to the conversation of the adventurers talking in the adventurer's guild.
"And so, Ecclesia's army was wiped out. After Svencity appeared on the battlefield the war became a one-sided massacre." <Adventurer 1>
-whistle-
The adventurer let out a whistle to express how impressed he was.
"Just how strong is guild master Svencity to even do that." <Adventurer 2>
"Right... it's amazing."<Adventurer 3>
"Ah, I heard that the saint went missing during that time." <Adventurer 2>
"Yes, apparently she was protected under the Azurearozi's estate in the city." <Adventurer 1>
"Azurearozi... you mean that noble house right? The house where the "Blue Rose Duchess" belonged to." <Adventurer 3>
"Yes. That Azurearozi. Thanks to her, the saint was safe." <Adventurer 1>
It was a conversation about a particular news from the South.
It was about the big battle that happened in Riles a month ago.
"The Ecclesia army was wiped out? The saint did not die?" <Naofumi>
The male whispered under his hood.
He could not believe what he heard.
He listened to other adventurers with great interest and they all told the story.
This news had been in circulation for a while and those who spread this news almost tell the same tale with great consistency.
Upon hearing the news several times now, the man concluded that what they said was true.
As he continued to listen, the more confused he got.
In his mind, he thought.
[What is happening... If I remember correctly, the city of Vestir should have become a place of death and destruction by now.] <Naofumi>
He continued to listen...
"The saint of Riles almost died at the hands of the Assassin's order, fortunately, she managed to escape and was protected by the Blue Rose Duchess." <Adventurer 2>
[What?! The saint is safe? That can't be the case, I remember the saint got assassinated and caused the collapse of the "Church of Life".] <Naofumi>
"But... What is happening here?" <Naofumi>
He whispered into the air.
He asked this question to himself out of his confusion.
Unfortunately, there was no one there to answer his question.
He was confused because it was not the news he was expecting to hear.
It was not as if he wanted to hear that Vestir had fallen in the hands of Ecclesia.
It was not as if he wanted to hear about the death of the saint.
No.
It was not that...
The reason why he thought of things this way was not for that at all.
The problem was his recollection of what happened in Riles differed from the one he was hearing in the news.
The things he remembered differed from the events told in that news.
His memories did not match with the result expressed in the news he heard from the adventurers' gossip.
In his memories.
He saw how people died and how Vestir was destroyed by the Army of Ecclesia and Rebel nobles who invaded the place.
In his memories, the Ecclesia army and Rebel nobles should be attempting to invade more cities in Riles.
In his memories, the people worshiping the goddess of life should be mourning for the death of the saint of Riles.
And yet, what he heard was different than that of what he remembered.
It was different than that of what he saw in the past.
After all...
Originally, the saint should have died.
Originally, the city of Vestir should have suffered more destruction and death after the Ecclesia attacked the city.
The city should have been destroyed beyond repair by the army of Ecclesia Inquisitors and purist Nobles to invade Riles.
And yet.
Those did not happen.
No wonder he was confused...
So.
What is the reason why Naofumi thought otherwise?
Why did he have memories that differed from the ones that happened in reality?
Was that memory a lie?
No.
It was just that, what he recalled that happened did not happen in this reality.
It was a memory from a different timeline.
A timeline where the saint died and the city of Vestir fell.
After all this all happened in the past...
In the Original past.
He closed his eyes to remember that past.
Tamashiro Naofumi.
One of the 28 otherworlders that was summoned by the Artesia Empire to fight against the Demon Lord.
He already saw the result of this grand quest turned out.
In three years in the future, the Demon Lord will return and spread destruction on the entire continent.
The Demon Lord will successfully destroy everything in its path.
The Empire of Artesia will fall.
The strongest Adventurer will die.
The Hero who was tasked to defeat the demon lord will fail to defeat the Demon Lord.
The Original Past.
A tale of a past that did not happen.
A tale of the past that only the Oracles of the Goddess of TimeSpace remember and experience.
An alternate reality of what things would have become.
A past that was rejected by the Oracles of the Goddess of TimeSpace by rewinding time.
In the present...
Some rumors spread even before the war started.
A rumor that allowed people to become cautious of what was about to come.
Thanks to that, the people in Vestir had at least expected what was to come and were able to react to the situation well.
In this present timeline, Calm Eastertale was able to escape from the assassin who wanted to kill her and was able to survive till the end of the invasion.
In the Original Past, Svencity was not able to come to Riles and stop the war with his overwhelming display of power.
In this present timeline, Thanks to Svencity arriving in Vestir, the casualty in this conflict was reduced to minimal.
The things that happened in the present were the best possible outcome.
In the original past, the things that happened in Vestir ended differently than what happened in this present timeline.
In the original past...
There were no rumors to begin with.
Thus the people of Riles did not expect the plot devised by the Ecclesia Empire to invade Riles.
Because of that, Vestir was caught off guard when Ecclesia attacked the city, thus resulting in a devastating outcome.
In the past, Calm Eastertale died before the war even started happened.
Because of this, the people of the city lost their morale and the hope was nowhere to be seen.
In the past, Svencity only came after some time and ended the war.
Even though Svencity came to Riles, it was too late.
The damage was done and most of the people living in Vestir and the people living near the capital city of Riles have perished.
Mountains of corpses of both Ecclesia and the people of Riles fell in this devastating war between Ecclesia and Riles.
It took some time for things to be concluded in Vestir.
The news about the defeat of the Ecclesia empire has become a talk amongst the people of the continent.
Adventurers and even the common people heard about this news.
It became the only talk in the continent.
The news spread fast and reached faraway lands.
Still, Riles has taken so much devastation that its former glory cannot be restored.
It was a hopeless war.
In that Original Past, Tamashiro Naofumi has been traveling with Ota Rio to meet Kazue in Riles.
When they came to Riles, Vestir had already fallen under the hands of the Ecclesia Army and Artesia Rebel Nobles.
When they arrived, it was already too late for Vestir.
The place was destroyed and Riles was in total chaos.
There were fights everywhere as the Ecclesia army and Rebel Nobles were still trying to invade the other parts of Riles.
It was a bloody war.
A pointless war.
A meaningless war that ended in the destruction of many cities in Riles.
Upon arriving in Riles, they witness a mountain of bodies that had paid the toll in this pointless war.
Many innocent lives were lost.
By that time, the saint of Riles, Calm Eastertale had long been killed by the Assassins Order, she did not survive.
In that timeline, Calm Eastertale never had the "Angel Wings" to escape and meet Kazue.
Razor was able to kill Calm Eastertale.
Aaron was not able to protect Calm as Razor managed to sneak an attack to end Calm's life.
With a dagger piercing her head, she died in an instant.
That is how the saint, Calm Eastertale died.
When Naofumi and Rio arrived near Vestir, everyone had already fled.
At one small city, Naofumi and Rio met up with Kazue who had fled Vestir.
It seemed that Kazue was in Vestir when the war started.
She ran together with many people away from that place to survive.
Then Naofumi and Rio met with Kazue by chance.
Kazue told the story to Naofumi and Rio of what happened in Vestir.
The trigger of that war was the death of the Saint.
Her death was the signal for the Ecclesia and Rebel to start their invasion.
As people were mourning for the death of the saint, Ecclesia and the rebel nobles took that opportunity to start the invasion.
Riles was vulnerable as their capital city had fallen and the news of the saint's death devastated the morale of the people.
Taking this opportunity, Ecclesia and the Rebel Nobles attacked.
Vestir, the capital of Riles was attacked from the inside and out.
Nobles stabbed the back of other nobles.
The citizen was killed or captured without sparing anyone.
Ecclesia's army marched toward the city and invaded Vestir.
In that timeline, there were no rumors about the war and Vestir was caught unprepared by the sudden invasion of thousands of invaders.
Their only choice was to run or die.
The country of Riles was caught unprepared for Ecclesia's invasion.
Unlike in this timeline, the "rumors" about a war between Riles and Ecclesia were not widespread.
This is how the Ecclesia army caught the city unprepared for their attack.
The army gathered by the nobles and Ecclesia was far less than the one who attacked the city in this timeline.
They still manage to destroy the city to the point that it will never recover back to its former glory.
The city once called the "city of love", "Capital city of Riles" was destroyed by monsters and invaders from the Ecclesia Empire.
Thousands of people died.
Thousand of people lost their freedom.
Soldiers, adventurers, and even innocent civilians and visitors died during the invasion.
There are more differences that Naofumi was not aware of.
Many events that happened in the original past did not happen in this timeline and at the same time, many events that did not happen back then happened in this current time.
For example...
Those former classmates who helped Kazue to protect Calm during that invasion.
The otaku boys.
Suguta Yoshiaga, Tsuchiya Daisetsu, and Nobira Naonobu.
Like in the past, Inaba Motoichi betrayed them to escape all by himself.
At that time, they were all working as slaves as they never escaped from their kidnappers.
This time, they were never saved by Alicia in the forest when they tried to escape from the people who captured them.
Still, they found themselves in Vestir.
Unlike in the present timeline where they came with Alicia and Kazue.
In the original past, they were slaves and were sold there in Vestir as a product in the Black Market for those twisted nobles.
During the invasion, they miraculously managed to escape as soon as the war started.
They tried their best to survive and suffered incurable traumas from all the things that happened to them.
Yoshitte Yuma and her mate Coco.
They arrived in Vestir and fought in that war.
Yuma and Coco participated in the war to help Coco's father fight the war between the forces of Vestir and the invaders of the city.
In the end, they were forced to escape as they both watched how Coco's father died trying to repel the forces of Ecclesia and Nobles with his small army.
General Kokkur and guild master Irkarus perished on the battlefield.
Cyraenan Kokkur's right-hand person entrusted the safety of the remaining forces as they fled and left Kokkur and Irkarus to die.
Coco watched as she knew that her father would not survive as they fled.
They left Coco's dad to die in that battle.
This event scarred Coco's heart for the entirety of her life.
By the time reinforcement came to help Riles.
It was already too late for many.
Vestir was destined to fall.
Aoki Nikko and his Sword
They were originally looking for the saint.
They are in search of the "Oracle" who is the saint of Riles to ask about Matsuo Masahi's circumstances of reincarnating as a sword.
As soon as they discovered that the saint was killed by the Assassin Order, they had no reason to stay in Vestir.
Their trip to Riles was wasted as they did not have any clues as to where to find the goddess that reincarnated Masahi into a sword.
Due to this, they will never come close to the goddess they are looking for.
Uesaka Shino
Shino never worked for the Count of Kaleen.
In the "Original Past" Viscount Kaleen never came to the city as no "Rumor" of a "War" ever reached his ears.
She never came to Riles, instead, she headed west toward the Great Giah Forest and was caught in a very different situation.
And in that place is where Shino obtained her new ability, "Shadows of the Past hunt".
The noble's summit.
Most of the nobles from Artesia who attended the summit were mostly members of the "rebels" who helped Ecclesia to invade the city.
No rumors of a war brewing between the Riles and Ecclesia were circulated in the country.
Thus, less influential individuals came to the summit.
Guildmaster Svencity never attended the noble's summit as Irkarus asked for his help.
As a result, the people were less cautious and there were significantly fewer soldiers and adventurers inside the city.
Although the Assassins Order did not participate in this invasion as the saint was already dead, but still...
The monsters that were released in the city were already too much for the adventurers and guards to handle.
Adding to that the invading army.
Thus, the capital city of Riles, Vestir was ruined.
A month later.
In response to the death of the saint and the destruction that was brought to Riles.
People wanted the destruction of the Ecclesia Empire.
All of the countries in the continent decided to put an end to the terror that the Ecclesia Empire brought to the land.
And so...
An all-out war was pushed to end the Ecclesia Empire once and for all.
In the name of justice, all of the countries in the continent banded together to send an army to put an end to the tyrant Ecclesia Empire.
The world had enough of Ecclesia.
In that version of the past.
The guildmaster of Artesia Empire Capital, Svencity came to Riles much much later much later than that of the present timeline.
Thus the result was completely different from what happened in the present.
The strongest adventurer Svencity, came to Riles to lead an army to declare war with the Empire of Ecclesia.
They crossed the sea in the south and declared war on Ecclesia.
1 year is all it took for Svencity and the army he led to completely defeat Ecclesia.
Svencity defeated and killed the ruler of Ecclesia, Luminos.
The Empire of Ecclesia fell.
This expedition made Svencity the first adventurer to ever reach the legendary "SS-rank".
Ota Rio.
Rio was traveling with Naofumi in the original past.
She did not become as strong as she was in this current timeline.
Since she was traveling with Naofumi, there was no need for her to push herself and challenge herself to be stronger.
Rio was not recruited as a member of the Assassins Order.
Because of this, she did not discover the plans of the Assassin's Order to kill Calm Eastertale.
Mizusawa Kazue.
In the Original Past, she never met Calm Eastertale.
Mizusawa Kazue arrived in Vestir a few days later as she was not traveling with Alicia and the Otaku boys in the Original past.
She came 10 days later than she did in the present timeline.
When she arrived in Vestir, the war had already reached its climax.
The city was destroyed.
It was too late for her to save Calm as she died 9 days earlier.
Since she did not protect the saint, she never received the gift that the goddess gave her, "Kurow".
Kazue ran away from Vestir to save herself.
She has no time to spare to save others as she can barely save herself.
She was forced to kill people as she was running away.
It was obvious that this experience scarred Kazue with a serious trauma.
It was to be expected.
Kazue had witnessed people die and all she could do was to run.
Kazue was unable to help, so much so, that Kazue had no one to help her.
It was a fight-or-die situation for her.
When Naofumi and Rio met up with Kazue, it was visible that she was shaken up by what just happened in Riles.
At that time, Kazue was trying her best to forget the things that happened during the war.
Even so, there are times when Kazue would randomly faze out and stare at a blank space.
All Rio and Naofumi could do was to watch her in silence.
At that time, Kazue was just glad to see faces that she could trust.
When Naofumi and Rio met her, she was already on the brink of breaking down.
A form of help came to her in the form of Naofumi and Rio.
Thanks to them she slowly recovered from her trauma.
Since Kazue was clearly shaken by this experience, Rio and Naofumi decided to invite Kazue to form a party to support her.
It was then that Rio and Naofumi formed a party with Kazue and her familiars
It was the start of their unforgettable journey.
Naofumi opened his eyes.
Many things have changed.
In this reality, the result of the war that occurred in the country of Riles ended with very different results than that of the Original Past.
Rio and Naofumi never traveled together unlike in the Original Past.
In this reality, the trio of Kazue, Naofumi, and Rio did not come together.
They are exploring this world separately.
Naofumi is now done reminiscing about the past.
Ever since he regained the memory of that past, he had been working hard to become stronger.
He has been challenging dungeons, honing his skills, and leveling up.
He has faced a lot of dangerous situations as he pushed himself to the limit and even now, he is still trying to do so.
The reason why he is in Akasha City is to further increase his fighting abilities.
In the Original Past, he simply followed Kazue and Rio's back.
He was always the weakest of the three.
Kazue and Rio.
In comparison, Kazue and Rio are significantly stronger than their original counterparts.
In the Original past, Kazue never met Alicia when she was traveling to Riles.
During that time, Kazue was training with Alicia and became a lot stronger than her Original counterpart.
Similarly, since Rio was not traveling with Naofumi, she put all of her time into becoming stronger to impress Kazue in their next meeting.
The Naofumi right now is also the same.
Compared to what he was in the Original past, during this time he was nowhere near as strong as he is.
The weak and unreliable Naofumi was no more.
Right now, if Naofumi were to fight with Kazue and Rio he would most definitely win.
The current Naofumi might even defeat Kazue and Rio even if they decided to team up.
Despite that, Naofumi still feels that he needs to become more stronger.
Strong enough that he can protect his precious friends in the future.
This time...
He will be the one who will protect Kazue and Rio.
He will no longer be a burden to both of them.
He is working hard to become a person that Kazue and Rio can depend on.
He promised himself that he would not allow the same fate to happen again.
To do that he needed to prepare.
To save Kazue.
It was the entire purpose of his return to the past.
As the "Second Oracle of the Goddes of Spacetime".
He will change the past.
As soon as he was done recollecting the past.
It was as if fate was making fun of him.
It was as if fate was reminding him of the purpose of why he came back to the past.
A group of people entered and caused a small commotion for the adventurers inside.
The door opened.
Naofumi saw familiar faces emerging from the entrance of the guild pub.
"OH!!! It's the hero!" <Adventurer 3>
Yelled by one of the adventurers eating inside the guild pub.
The adventurers inside looked at the entrance and instantly made bright faces upon seeing the hero and his party.
The adventurers inside roared as they saw the hero party come inside the guild building.
They cheered and sang praises to the Hero.
They stood and gathered around the Hero and his party members.
Adventurers started to introduce themselves to their party.
Amongst those happy and excited adventurers, Naofumi remained still.
Instead, he did not feel happy nor was he excited to see these familiar faces.
What he felt was rage.
This scene reminded Naofumi of how people treated the hero when he returned with the news of the defeat of the demon lord.
People were cheering for him and his party just like this.
Hano Ryuusei and his party members...
Just hearing about them makes his blood boil.
He wanted in that instant to stand up and run toward Hano and punch him in the face.
His stomach churned as he conceded that he had no choice but to accept that he would be working with this person from here on.
The reason was simple, he needed to make sure that the hero would have to do his job properly this time around.
[I'll never forgive you...] <Naofumi>
He cursed as he glared at Hano Ryuusei...
[This time...] <Naofumi>
He closed his eyes to calm his mind.
Flashes of memories played in his mind.
Images of himself expressing a big smile together with the two girls on his side.
[This time...] <Naofumi>
Flashes of memories continued to flow in his mind.
He clenched his teeth and swallowed a deep sadness as he remembered how tragic everything ended in the Original Past.
A picture of a bloodied girl flashed in his mind.
[This time...] <Naofumi>
As if to swallow his sadness he deliberately changed the expression on his face to that of a happy guy that his former classmates remembered him to have.
He walked toward the group of adventurers swarming around the hero and his party.
He raised his hand and erased all of his emotion before calling out to Hano Ryuusei and his party members.
A fake smile.
[This time...] <Naofumi>
"Oh! Ryuusei! Chiho-san! Everyone! Long time no see!" <Naofumi>
He greeted them with a bright smile and engaged in a happy and casual talk with the hero's party.
"Ah! Naofumi-san! What a coincidence to see you here!" <Ryuusei>
[This time... things will end differently.] <Naofumi>
He swears as he buried her deep anger toward the hero.
Wearing a fake smile.
He laughed and showed the hero with a welcoming smile.
The Original Past.
The future from which, the "demon lord" was defeated by an unnamed A-ranked adventurer.
Her name is Mizusawa Kazue.
In exchange for her own life, she managed to defeat the "Demon Lord" all by herself.
In that timeline, peace without the fear of the "Demon Lord" was achieved.
This is all thanks to the sacrifice of that girl.
A future from where Mizusawa Kazue died...
Tamashiro Naofumi, Wished for Kazue to be alive.
He wished that she should have never sacrificed her life to save everyone.
Defeating the "Demon Lord" was not something she should have done.
It was the job of the "Hero" to defeat the demon lord.
Naofumi blamed the "Hero" for not doing his job well.
Thus he held a grudge against one of his former classmates, the "Hero" Hano Ryuusei.
The chance to change everything came to him in the form of a small girl.
Naofumi gained a blessing from the Goddess of Spacetime, Luna Nightfall.
Tamashiro Naofumi was able to rewind time.
He returned to the past to the time when they had barely started their lives in this unfamiliar world.
It was 1 month after they were summoned and about 3 years before Kazue died.
[This time... I will not let Kazue die.] <Naofumi>
Now...
As Naofumi has an idea that something "big" is about to happen in the city of Akasha, he only needs to wait.
He knew that a big "game" was about to start here.