A mix of fact and fiction②
◇
Tershe led us further into the building.
Eventually, we arrived at a room with a magic circle drawn on the floor.
"This is a teleportation magic circle, isn’t it?"
Since I also work on magic development, I’ve seen countless magic circles before.
Even so, the one before me was so intricate that I couldn’t grasp its structure at a glance.
It was almost like the inscriptions on the artifacts Grandpa used to craft...
"Indeed. Now, I shall activate the teleportation magic, so please step onto the circle."
As we moved to stand on the magic circle, it began to glow.
The next moment, my vision briefly distorted.
"We have arrived."
"Huh? Already...?"
The room’s shape remained unchanged, so even after Tershe said that, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
Seeing my reaction, Tershe gave a wry smile.
"It does feel a little anticlimactic, doesn’t it? But I assure you, we are now in the Duchy of Hittia’s capital, Celeste, at the main branch of the Downing Trading Company. Now then, I shall escort you to the company president, so if you would kindly proceed a bit further."
As we stepped out of the room where the teleportation magic circle was drawn, it was clear that we had arrived somewhere different from the place we had just passed through.
Following behind Tershe once more, I noticed that, unusually, Fuuka was the one to break the silence along the way.
"Tershe, are you going to be present for the discussion with Chris as well?"
"Yes. Since I would like to accompany you to his land, I was hoping to be present for the conversation, if possible."
"Orn, is that okay?"
After hearing Tershe’s response, Fuuka gave a small nod before turning to me to seek my approval.
I don’t really think my permission is necessary, though…
"Yeah. If neither you nor Haruto-san have an issue with it, I don’t either."
"Thank you very much, Lord Orn."
"No need to be so formal... Actually, Tershe, you can speak to me more casually. It feels a little awkward having someone older than me be so polite..."
Considering how sharp-tongued she could be with Haruto-san, it seemed likely that her behavior toward me and Fuuka was more restrained, while her attitude toward Haruto-san was closer to her natural self.
However, Tershe shook her head at my suggestion.
"I intend to accommodate your wishes as much as possible, Lord Orn, but I must apologize—I cannot comply with that particular request."
"I see..."
There was a certain resoluteness in her voice, making me hesitant to push the matter further.
It’s not like it’s a big problem—just a little uncomfortable for me. If that’s what she prefers, I’ll let her be.
Still, the more I hear her voice, the stronger this inexplicable sense of nostalgia becomes…
Could it be that I’ve met Tershe somewhere before?
Just as I was about to fall into another endless loop of unanswered questions, Tershe came to a stop in front of a door and turned to face us.
"The head of the trading company is waiting inside."
"Thanks for guiding us, Tershe."
With a word of gratitude, Fuuka placed her hand on the door and, without hesitation, pushed it open.
As I watched her step inside, Haruto-san’s voice came from behind me.
"Come on, let’s go in too."
Urged by him, I took a step forward and entered the room.
◇
The room was an office, and seated inside was a man in his late twenties with a gentle demeanor, wearing a monocle.
The lens of his monocle, like the glasses worn by Haruto-san and Tershe, contained a significant amount of magical energy.
Upon seeing us, the man’s expression softened into a smile.
“It’s been a while, Fuuka, Haruto-san… and Orn.”
Fuuka and Haruto-san each responded to his greeting.
As for me, I was still processing his words, so my response came a beat later than theirs.
“…The way you said that… So I really have met you before, haven’t I, Christopher Downing, head of the trading company?”
The monocled man—Christopher—widened his eyes slightly at my words.
But almost immediately, his expression returned to its usual gentle state.
“I suppose I should have expected that. Fuuka and Haruto-san didn’t tell you in advance, did they?”
Christopher murmured in admiration before shifting his gaze to Haruto-san.
“No, I didn’t say anything specific. But… I have a feeling that Orn knows more than we think.”
Christopher nodded in understanding.
Then, he fell silent, appearing lost in thought.
At last, I was about to confront my true memories.
We had created the pretense of traveling to the Duchy of Hittia, concealing it under the guise of a secret royal mission.
On top of that, we had used an extraordinary method—long-distance teleportation.
This is just my conjecture, but maybe the reason for using teleportation wasn’t just because it was faster…
Maybe it was to ensure that no one would see me arriving in the Duchy of Hittia.
Just as Fuuka had mentioned before, this encounter was far more significant than I had realized.
Once I learned the truth about my past, would I still be the same person?
I had a creeping sense that the very foundation of my identity was about to be shaken.
The thought scared me.
But I had to correct the inconsistencies in my memory, one by one.
This was something I had wished for.
No matter how afraid I was, I couldn’t run away now.
Resolving myself, I finally spoke.
“…Just to confirm—Christopher is the person you and Haruto-san wanted me to meet, the one who knows about my past?”
Fuuka nodded.
“…Yes. Our goal was to bring you to Chris.”
“I see… In that case, Christopher—please, tell me about my past.”
“Of course. But before that, I’d like to properly introduce myself.”
“…Introduce yourself? I already know you’re the head of this trading company.”
“Yes, that is indeed one of my titles. But think about it—wouldn’t it feel a bit lacking if some random company head you’ve never met before were the one to tell you about your past? For a story like this, the one telling it needs to be someone worthy of doing so.”
“Well… I get what you’re saying, but…”
To me, this was essentially a first meeting with him.
If asked whether I could wholeheartedly trust his words, I couldn’t confidently say yes.
"That’s exactly why I need to introduce myself. Well, it’s nothing dramatic, so I’ll get straight to the point. —I was the top disciple of your father, Lens Evans, the magic tool craftsman. That means I met you several times when you were a child."
"…Evans?"
A flurry of question marks filled my mind.
It was true—my father’s name, as I remembered it, was Lens.
But my surname was Doula.
And the name Evans…
"Doula is your mother’s surname. Master Lens—your father—took her name when he married into her family. And Lens was the son of Kavader Evans, the legendary magic tool craftsman. Which means… you are Kavader Evans’ grandson."
—
My thoughts came to a halt.
(Grandpa… was actually my grandfather?)
He had called me his grandson many times before.
But I had assumed it was just a figure of speech.
Because that’s just how things were, right?
I had believed I was alone in this world, without any family left.
And yet, all this time… he had been right there, watching over me.
—
"So? Do you think I’m now qualified to tell you about your past?"
Christopher locked eyes with me, unwavering.
"…You never needed any qualification in the first place. But now, more than ever, I’m ready to ask you properly. —Tell me about my past."
"Thank you."
—
"Let’s get straight to it. I suspect that Philly Carpenter used Cognitive Alteration on me, modifying my memories. Is that correct?"
At my question, Christopher gave a firm nod.
"Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. After that day, when you supposedly encountered Philly Carpenter, your behavior changed drastically."
"When exactly… did I meet her?"
When I asked about the timing of our encounter, Christopher’s expression darkened.
It was as if he were staring into a painful memory.
"I’ll never forget it—October 20th, Year 619 of the Four Saints Calendar."
I immediately compared that date to my own recollections.
It didn’t take long to connect the dots.
Because that date marked one of the most pivotal moments in my life.
"…That was the time when I became an Explorer, wasn’t it?"
"That’s right. Back then, our information network has not reached Tutril yet, so it wasn’t until much later that I found out you had become an Explorer there."
"That can’t be…"
Christopher’s words sent a tremor through me, like the very ground beneath my feet was crumbling away.
I had sworn to become an Explorer so that I could protect what was important to me, no matter how unfair the world was.
Was even that conviction… something fabricated by Philly Carpenter?
“How do you remember your life before becoming an Explorer, Orn?”
Watching my reaction, Christopher looked at me with concern as he posed his question.
“I remember being born and raised in an obscure, nameless village—one so small it wasn’t even on the map.
That village was raided by bandits.
After losing my family, Oliver and I traveled to Tutril and became Explorers.”
“A ‘nameless village,’ huh? Then tell me—where exactly was it? You have an exceptional memory, don’t you? Once you see or hear something, you rarely forget it. If that’s the case, you should be able to recall the precise location of your birthplace, shouldn’t you?”
“…That’s…”
I desperately tried to search my memories.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall the name of the village or its location.
Not just that—the village’s appearance, the faces of the people who lived there…
Everything was hazy, blurred, impossible to bring into focus.
Yet, after becoming an Explorer, I could remember every place I had been, every person I had met, with crystal clarity.
—And somehow, I had never once questioned this discrepancy.
—
A crushing tightness squeezed my chest.
My limbs trembled.
My breath grew shallow.
A dull, heavy pain spread through my head.
—
“We’ve only heard bits and pieces about that day ourselves,” Christopher continued.
“But, Orn—you’ve been mixing fiction with reality in your recollections of that event.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The place where you were born and raised—we called it Dawn’s Refuge. It’s true that it was attacked. It’s also true that, aside from you and Oliver, every single person in the refuge—including your parents—was wiped out.”
“Guh…!”
The more I listened, the worse the pain in my head became.
Before, whenever this happened, I would instinctively stop thinking any further.
But this time, I wouldn’t stop.
This time, I couldn’t look away.
No matter how painful it was—
I had already decided to face my past.
--"I will never accept this injustice! Remember that! I will definitely crush you one day! Definitely!!"
Even as I was hit by a severe headache, I remembered yelling that out to someone... in a fit of rage.
This emotion, my vow, was not fake.
I intuitively understood that they were real.
There was no doubt about what Christopher said when he said, "I remember a mixture of fact and fiction."
However, should I think that even Philly could not have altered the memories that contained the stronger emotions for me?
"--Excuse me for interrupting."
As I fought against the splitting headache and confronted my memories, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in my mind.
At the same time, though I couldn’t see the owner of the voice, I felt an overwhelming presence—along with an unsettling, alien magic.
"This voice… Titania?"
“Correct. It’s been a while, Orn Dura.”
The last time I had spoken with Titania was around July of last year.
Nearly a full year had passed since then.
But for Titania, who existed on a different temporal scale, it must have felt like only a few days ago.
I noted that thought in the back of my mind, but a far more pressing question demanded my attention—
“…Why are you here?”
"I have some business with the Downing Trading Company. But—this isn’t the time for small talk. Everyone here can hear my voice, can’t they?"
At Titania’s question, everyone in the room—aside from me—nodded.
That included Fuuka, Haruto-san, Christopher, and Tershe.
Humans couldn’t normally perceive magic.
And since fairies were beings of pure magic, they were usually invisible to human senses.
To see a fairy, one needed either the Authority of Spirit Dominion—or Fairy Eyes.
Yet everyone in this room could perceive Titania.
(Wait… the glasses…?)
The strange magical energy I had sensed from their lenses suddenly made sense.
They must have been crafted from Fairy Eyes.
That explained the others, but—Fuuka and I weren’t wearing glasses.
How could we see Titania…?
That question barely had time to form before Titania’s next words drove it from my mind entirely.
"Tutril is under attack by the “Cyclamen Order.” …The city has already been devastated. Casualties are rising by the second."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
For a moment, I questioned if I had misheard.
My mind went completely blank.
Tutril… my home.
Even if I had ended up there after my memories had been rewritten—
It was still the place where I had spent half my life.
The place where my closest friends, comrades, and so many familiar faces lived.
And now—
It was being attacked by the Cyclamen Order?
(I have to get back—now! But how…? Hittia Principality is too far away… No. There’s a way!)
Just as the thought struck me, Fuuka stepped forward.
“Chris, we’re leaving for Tutril. Give me the transfer magic key.”
“…Understood.”
At Fuuka’s words, Christopher responded without hesitation.
Fuuka then pulled out what appeared to be the same kind of card she had shown the clerk when she entered the Downing Trading Company.
She pressed her own card against Christopher’s.
“You can teleport directly to Tutril?”
At my question, Fuuka gave a firm nod.
I had assumed we would have to use teleportation magic to get closer to Tutril, just like we had traveled instantly from the Kingdom of Tsaharib to here.
But I hadn’t expected that we could teleport directly to Tutril from this location.
Could this be the real reason why the Downing Trading Company absorbed the FlockHaruto-san Trading Company after it was dissolved last year…?
“If that’s the case, then we need to return to Tutril immediately! Christopher, we’ll have to continue this conversation another time.”
“Of course. You should leave as soon as possible.”
Just as I turned to leave the room, Tershe spoke up.
“Lord Orn, please allow me to accompany you.”
“I can vouch for Tershe’s strength,” Haruto-san added. “You can consider her at least as strong as me—if not stronger.”
We didn’t have time to argue, and having more allies would only be an advantage.
“Understood. Tershe, we’d appreciate your help!”
“Thank you.”
With our team decided, we exchanged quick farewells with Christopher and rushed toward the room housing the teleportation magic circle.
◇ ◇ ◇
As Orn and the others left, silence fell over the room.
Christopher sat there, his hands clasped before his face, his expression dark with sorrow.
“…What’s the situation?”
His voice was as heavy as his expression, sinking into the silence.
"For better or worse, it’s going smoothly…"
“…I see. Hah… In the end, we haven’t changed at all, have we? Just like the world sees us—a criminal organization through and through. After all, we accounted for this level of bloodshed from the start.”
"It’s not you who’s doing the killing. It’s those cultist scum."
“Even so, we allowed this to happen. To those who have already perished, and to those who will die… what we’ve done is unforgivable. To them, we are no different from the ones who struck them down.”
"……"
“But still, I believe—this defeat has meaning. Even if, in the end, it earns us Orn’s wrath… we’ll accept that without complaint.”
——.