I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 15 Page 5

  “So what did future Rekka become? A vampire?”

  “...”

  At my question, the three women looked at each other... and started counting on their fingers.

  “Part Omniscient Contractor, part vampire, part spirit, part demon sacrifice, part blood magus, and... Um, what other blood did he take in?”

  “Part dragon, part undine, part nine-tailed fox, part oni, part both devil and angel, part fifth-dimensional alien, and part seventh-dimensional observer... What else was there?”

  “Well, I don’t remember exactly which parts he had exchanged for cybernetic upgrades, but I also think he equipped himself with several ancient technologies...”

  “Yeah, okay. I get it. Thanks.”

  So future me had gone whole hog on the abandoning humanity thing. Wasn’t that a little much for just one person? How many part-somethings can one man be, anyway? And we’re talking about the same guy who went missing... Just who could kidnap someone like that? It would sure have to be more than a Demon King or ancient evil... And yet a mere terrorist attack had taken him out? Maybe that was a bad way of putting it, but I did have to wonder. Nevertheless, just spinning my wheels on it now wouldn’t get me anywhere. I had to concentrate on what was right in front of me.

  “All right, let’s go get her next,” I said, spreading the list out and pointing to a particular heroine’s name.

  ▽

  In the future, there was special technology to travel between worlds. Apparently it had been created by some scientists from Earth and outer space with the help of a particular sorcerer. She’d used her specialty summoning and teleportation magic to set up gates between already known worlds and make stable paths to and from them. Unfortunately, once the War of All broke out, those gates became pathways of attack rather than trade.

  But the sorcerer who’d made it all happen—Harissa Hope—was the next heroine I was thinking of recruiting.

  “Why Harissa, though?”

  “Hm?” At Satsuki’s question, I turned to face her. “There are two reasons. The first is because Harissa’s a dove. I suspect it’ll be easier to get her cooperation because of that.”

  “What’s the second reason?”

  “The second reason is her magic,” I answered. “I promised Lea that our goal is to gather allies, not to fight. Harissa’s magic will make doing that a lot easier.”

  In addition to her summoning and teleportation magic, Harissa had really nifty spells like invisibility and healing. Her invisibility magic in particular had saved us tons of times in the past. It was great for moving around in secret and making stealthy escapes. But her magic aside, Harissa was the first heroine I had ever saved...

  I figured the closer we got to my origins, the less difference there should be between me and my future self. In short, future Harissa and future Rekka should have met under very similar circumstances to the way Harissa and I did. The story should be more or less the same. Who knew what differences took place after that, but...

  Anyway, the biggest obstacle when it came to negotiating with the heroines of the future was the fact that I wasn’t actually the Rekka they knew. Effectively, I was a total stranger. One misstep could spell a whole mess of trouble. So in order to alleviate that risk, I figured starting with the heroines I would know best—and the heroines that knew me best—would be safest.

  Now, in order to set things in motion, we headed to the kingdom of Aburaamu, Harissa’s homeland. I mentioned earlier that pathways had been established between various worlds, but it wasn’t like just anyone could use them. Even on Earth, entering a foreign country required various customs and inspections. And if you tried to enter a warring nation, you’d be turned away at the door as a matter of course. In that regard, having the doctor with us was like an ace up our sleeve. She was a respected figure among the pacifists and had apparently been to Aburaamu on diplomatic missions before, so we had no trouble getting into the country.

  “This is the capital of Aburaamu?” I muttered as I looked down at the city from the spaceship window.

  The last time I visited Aburaamu... Well, I actually had no idea how long it had been since I didn’t know what time period it was, but Aburaamu sure had changed. From what I remembered, it was extremely medieval—stone castle and all. But the capital that stretched out before me now was more like something out of a sci-fi fantasy. There were still wood and stone houses on the outskirts of town, but the heart of the city had been reformed to accommodate towering clusters of futuristic skyscrapers. And yet, the castle in the very middle of it all was still medieval-looking... What in the world was going on here?

  “The city kind of looks like a hodgepodge mess.”

  “That’s what happens when different worlds collide... But it’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know?” said the doctor. “Aburaamu has been receiving technology via trade with Earth and other planets. That’s why the level of development here feels so uneven. The castle itself embodies that perfectly—for the sake of appearance and tradition, its exterior is the same as it ever was, but its interior has been remodeled and updated quite thoroughly.”

  “You don’t say...” I said, nodding.

  “War is also a type of cross-cultural exchange, so this kind of thing happens.”

  The doctor finished her explanation right around the time we landed our spaceship in the dock next to the castle. The dock had apparently been installed to help facilitate cross-cultural diplomacy.

  “All right, L. I’m counting on you.”

  “The situation being what it is, I won’t complain... But it feels like you’re giving me a ride on your shoulders, and I don’t like it. It’s humiliating.”

  “That’s complaining, you know.”

  L continued to grumble as she climbed up onto my shoulders. We then used her hologem to change our appearance and left the ship with the doctor and the others.

  “Welcome, members of the agency. Right this way,” the gentleman who’d come to greet us said.

  His outfit had the same sort of hodgepodge feeling the city did, but I guess that was just the fashion in Aburaamu these days? He led us into the castle, and the doctor wasn’t kidding—the interior had changed quite a bit. Wait... Oh my God, is that an elevator?! I remember visiting Osaka Castle on a field trip as a schoolkid and being totally shocked to see an elevator there. This was just as bad, if not worse. But, well... since I was carrying L on my shoulders, seeing the elevator was actually kind of a relief.

  Anyway, we made our way through the castle I’d visited twice before. While the interior of the building had largely been upgraded and remodeled just like the doctor said, it didn’t look like the king’s audience chamber had changed much. Was this one of those “balancing the old and new” type deals? I don’t really understand that kind of stuff, so I decided not to put too much brainpower into thinking about it.

  “Welcome, members of the agency,” said the bald old man standing next to the king as we entered the room.

  Why did he seem so familiar? Could he maybe be the grandson or something of the minister I’d once met here? Well, he didn’t seem to recognize me—he probably had no idea who I was—so I decided not to worry about it. In response to his greeting, the doctor offered a polite smile.

  “Do pardon us for visiting on such short notice. We’ve come today in hopes of asking an important favor.”

  “Oh?”

  Hearing the word “favor” made the minister smile, but there was a glint in his eye. Surely that smile didn’t mean anything good...

  “I thought the agency’s credo was to remain neutral and stay impartial with all political powers.”

  “You thought right. We would never seek to ally ourselves with any particular entity.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Quite so.”

  “Then what business do you have with our kingdom?”

  “As I said, the agency has an important favor to ask,” said the doctor, finally cutting to the chase. “We seek to
thwart the War of All by approaching Rekka Namidare in the past... That has been our goal for many years now, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

  “But of course.”

  “Our request concerns that goal.”

  “And what might this request be, specifically?”

  The doctor paused to take a breath before answering the minister’s question: “We seek the cooperation of Aburaamu’s royal sorcerer, Harissa Hope.”

  “...”

  “Naturally, it would only be a temporary measure. Embarrassing as it is to admit, the agency is experiencing a hiccup of sorts in its operations, and her assistance would be most appreciated in helping us overcome it.”

  “Hmm... Yes, that’s terrible news indeed,” the minister replied, stroking his beard.

  I couldn’t say exactly why... But for some reason, it felt like he wasn’t taking us seriously.

  As I was thinking that, the minister replied, “Lady Harissa is our royal sorcerer, you understand. Letting her go would be most difficult, so we cannot answer you readily.”

  “I understand the burden our request would place on you, but I do hope you’ll consider helping us.”

  “Even so...”

  “At the very least, if you would allow us to speak with Harissa herself...”

  The doctor tried to negotiate a meeting with Harissa in person, but the minister swiftly shook his head.

  “Lady Harissa is always busy, you see. Moreover, her life is under constant threat by outside powers. Unfortunately, we cannot allow her to meet with any foreign entities.”

  “What?! You think we’re going to assassinate her?!” I yelled.

  What the minister was suggesting was so absurd, I couldn’t help it. But my little outburst made the minister and the other officials in the room all turn their eyes on me... Oops. I was supposed to keep my head down while we were here.

  “Ahem,” the minister coughed, forcefully clearing his throat. “At any rate, I do hope you understand that Lady Harissa is a valuable asset we cannot simply let go of. If you insist on this matter further, then we would require you show evidence of your good faith.”

  “...”

  “Now, I’m sure you’re all tired from your journey here. We have rooms available in the guest house, so why don’t you stay here for the night? If there is anything more you wish to discuss, please come by again in the morning.”

  “So be it... We’ll gladly take you up on your generous offer.”

  And so our first meeting in Aburaamu came to an end without us even seeing Harissa.

  ▽

  After our not-so-productive meeting with the minister, we made our way to the guest house. It lay in the southern gardens of the castle grounds and, as its name implied, was a residence built to accommodate guests like us. The rooms were all lavishly extravagant, but that didn’t really improve my mood any right now.

  “Argh! Damn that old minister!”

  Of all the reasons he could have come up with, he had to go and imply we were trying to assassinate Harissa... While I could understand being cautious in times of war, I couldn’t help the rage that surged within me at the very idea.

  “There, there, Rekka. Calm down.”

  “Yeah, you’re right...”

  I put my face in my hands and sighed, trying to cool my head. The doctor and Satsuki both took a seat, and L flopped face-first on the bed.

  “Anyone want drinks?” Lea asked.

  She was standing over by a rather large refrigerator, looking over her shoulder at the rest of us. Wait, a fridge in a world like this? There really had been a lot of technological and cultural exchange in Aburaamu.

  “Something sweet, please...”

  “Got it.”

  Lea tossed me a bottle made of a thin, aluminum-like metal. I guess they didn’t have plastic here? I removed the cap and took a sip. It was... grape juice. Nice and chilled, too. Lea handed juice out to everyone else before taking a seat on the bed next to the collapsed L.

  “It seems we’re in quite a bind,” she muttered.

  “Evidence of our good faith, huh? They’re outright demanding a bribe...” the doctor said with a sigh.

  “But what do you think, Doctor? With the situation being what it is, perhaps we should humor them a little in order to get a meeting with Harissa...” Satsuki suggested.

  “Well, I’d love to play along if it were an option. But you remember the ruckus we caused before leaving the agency, don’t you?”

  “About that...”

  “Moreover, the extremists’ attack left HQ in such shambles that I’m sure the accountants are still scrambling to come up with the capital to pay for all the necessary repairs. If I asked them to send money for a bribe now, they’d kill me.”

  “They are rather fussy about funds...”

  This time, the doctor and Satsuki sighed in unison.

  “So what are we gonna do instead? At this rate, we’re just wasting our time here,” L said rather bluntly as she rolled over.

  “If all hope is lost, shall we try another heroine?”

  “I dunno. Giving up so easily is a little... I mean, we haven’t even seen Harissa yet,” I said, looking towards the castle from the guest house window. “Hey, Satsuki, Doctor, do you know where Harissa is right now?”

  I asked the two of them because Lea had been living in absolute seclusion for who knew how long now. I figured she probably wouldn’t have any idea.

  “Probably the sorcerers’ tower, I suppose?” Satsuki answered.

  “The sorcerers’ tower?”

  “That one there. See it?”

  Satsuki walked over to the window and pointed outside. I wandered over and looked out to see a large tower standing next to the castle.

  “Isn’t that...?”

  Back when I was searching for a way to return to Earth with Corona and the others, we’d had to come here to Aburaamu in order to gather material components for Harissa’s connection magic. We specifically needed Red Thread as a catalyst, and we’d had to sneak into the castle’s magical research facility to get some... And yeah, I’m pretty sure it was that tower right there.

  “All of Aburaamu’s magical research and refinement takes place in that tower. It’s illegal to take anything from the premises, be it people or items. It’s a measure to prevent any kind of leaks or espionage.”

  “And you think Harissa is there?”

  “Harissa is the kingdom’s preeminent sorcerer, after all.”

  “Come to think of it, my Harissa did invent a new teleportation spell all by herself...”

  She really did have a talent for magic. But that left us in a pinch. Her talent had her holed up in the tower, which made it harder for us to get to her now.

  “Is there any way we can sneak in?”

  At times like these, I would normally rely on Harissa’s invisibility magic, but...

  “Hmm, I could search the Akashic record for a spell that would get us inside, but...” Satsuki paused there for a moment, looking troubled. “If I use magic to kidnap Harissa here, it’d be an interworld incident. The agency only has its neutrality to stand on, so that would be extremely problematic.”

  “I see...”

  Thinking, I folded my arms and furrowed my brow. Satsuki was right. If we snuck into the tower and left with Harissa, it would look like we abducted her.

  “If we could just talk to Harissa... If she knew it was a request from you, Rekka, I’m sure she’d cooperate with us. But with that minister around, we won’t get to see her for free.”

  “That’s it!”

  Hearing Satsuki’s mumbling, a light bulb flashed on in my head.

  “Did you come up with something?” the doctor asked, curiously turning my way.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “If we can’t go see her, we’ll just have to get her to come see us instead.”

  ▽

  Ten minutes after we commenced our plan...

  Knock, knock, knock!

  Something suddenly started rapp
ing on the window, attracting all of our attention.

  “So that’s how she got here?”

  This was the second floor. She’d probably used some spell to fly over. Or up, as it were. Lea, the closest to the window, got up to open it. A gust of wind blew in, bringing something rather large with it...

  “Wah!”

  I was tackled by said something, which knocked me backward onto the bed. It had jumped on me. Or, rather, hugged me overenthusiastically. That seemed to be happening a lot today...

  Just as I was thinking that, it became apparent who the “something” that had tackled me really was. Indeed, when she dispelled her invisibility magic, I saw Harissa—future Harissa, that is. She was wearing the white robes of a royal sorcerer and looked like a mature version of the Harissa I knew. I had always thought of her as a little sister while we were living together, so seeing her grown-up like this was oddly flustering. I mean, her chest was... Yeah, let’s just say she’d definitely grown.

  “Sir Rekka...”

  “H-Heya...”

  Harissa wrapped her arms around me with tears in her eyes, refusing to let go. Our plan to lure her over had been a simple one: we used Satsuki’s magic to let her know that I was here. We figured she’d come running if she heard the name Rekka Namidare, so it was going to be hard explaining that I wasn’t really her Rekka Namidare. I felt bad. Really, we’d tricked her into coming...

  “Um, would you be willing to listen to what we have to say?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then could you maybe let go of me?”

  “...Give me a little longer first.”

  About half an hour later...

  There weren’t enough chairs to go around, so we all sat in a circle on the floor and explained what had happened to Harissa.

  “I see... You’ve been through so much, Sir Rekka of the past.” After hearing our story, Harissa nodded with a doleful expression as she clutched her well-loved staff tightly with both hands. “I understand the position you’re in, and I would happily lend you my power.”