Chapter 16
"If you have time to talk, why don’t you shoot an arrow?"
"Ugh… I’ll do it without you rushing me!"
Either way, she was a master of Archery Comprehension (Lv 8). My Firearm Comprehension was only Lv 1, so just comparing the numbers, she was eight times stronger.
Of course, whether it was a gun or a bow, taking down a slime in one shot was the same.
The arrow Elisha fired exploded at the slime’s core.
The battle ended quickly. I had to carry Elisha and retreat a few times, but in the end, no one got hurt.
…Or maybe that wasn’t quite true.
"Ugh!"
Elisha, trying to stand, collapsed again with a thud. It seemed her ankle was in pain, something I’d noticed since she fell earlier.
I approached her and crouched down.
"Stay still, cadet."
"What are you doing…!"
I grabbed her flailing foot roughly, wrapped a splint and bandage tightly around it, and tied a firm knot.
"Ah, you don’t have to…"
"Shut up and stay still."
I felt a surge of irritation, but Elisha couldn’t afford to be hobbled by an ankle injury here. In the original story, Elisha was described as having agile movements and swift archery. If her combat ability dropped due to an injury, it would only benefit the apocalypse.
Eventually, Elisha stopped resisting and just stared down at her foot, her face flushed.
"Wait here. The dungeon’s still active, so there’s probably something left."
Elisha opened her mouth, hesitated, and gave up trying to say something, repeating the cycle.
I had no obligation to wait for her, so I left her there and returned to the boss room.
"Hmm."
After clearing away the slimes clinging to the barrier, I saw a knight who had long since turned to bones.
"…"
When I reached out, the barrier vanished. I retrieved a cross necklace still glowing around the knight’s neck and a notebook clutched tightly in its hands.
‘Is this it?’
Since the Time Chaos Dungeon was merely a reenactment of the past, items looted here couldn’t be taken back to reality.
I had to analyze the information on the spot.
First, the identity of this figure.
‘From the looks of it, I can’t determine their origin.’
The cloak, which might have borne a family or national emblem, was torn and unrecognizable, and there were no distinct markings on the shoulder or chest armor.
Reluctantly, I decided to examine the notebook, which seemed undeniably important.
[Cosmos Dimension Research Institute Log]
‘The Cosmos Empire…?!’
No way… I’d read the original story countless times, but not once had any relic of the Cosmos Empire appeared.
It was said to exist solely to flesh out the character of the protagonist, Gilbert Cosmos…
‘Wait.’
Recola’s legacy suddenly came to mind.
‘Now that I think about it, there were more than a few strange gaps.’
The Cosmos Empire was one thing, but the novel had an uncanny number of missing pieces. Sharp readers had pointed this out, and even I, the apparent author, had noticed. There were clearly elements crucial to the plot and ending that never surfaced.
It felt as if the story’s conclusion was forcibly steered toward an apocalyptic end.
‘If that’s the case, what if I forcibly bring the pieces Recola hid onto the stage?’
Like a game where choices lead to different endings, could I change the outcome?
I knew what I had to do. It was right in front of me!
‘If I dig into the secrets of the Cosmos Empire, I might see an ending different from the original!’
The publicly known ending of The Fallen Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire was a brutal one, with 99.9% of the population wiped out. Only a handful connected to the protagonist’s party survived in that shocking conclusion…
Maybe this was a branching point. A chance to avoid the worst ending and head toward a happy one.
‘Or perhaps a route even worse than the worst.’
An ending where even the protagonist’s party is annihilated.
‘If I only think negatively, I’ll get nowhere.’
Nothing was certain.
No. One thing was certain: this was a clue to new possibilities.
‘Information about the Cosmos Empire itself is so limited.’
The Cosmos Empire, a great empire that once ruled half the world. A beacon of brilliant civilization, culture, advanced education, and overpowered magic.
Yet, it was destroyed overnight by a ‘Grade 6’ Time Chaos Dungeon.
‘Grade 6 Time Chaos Dungeon…’
As I’d learned in class, aside from the Cosmos Empire, which fell to ruin, Time Chaos Dungeons were known to go only up to Grade 5.
For them, a Grade 6 was nothing short of a catastrophe.
Some doomsayers from the Humanity Preservation Agency claimed Grade 6 existed, but they were largely dismissed as lunatics.
‘This is everything the original story says about the Cosmos Empire.’
The story revolved around Gilbert, so most mentions of the Cosmos Empire were fragmented and largely useless.
In that sense, a log potentially hiding the empire’s secrets was invaluable.
‘Please, let there be something in here…’
I opened the Cosmos Dimension Research Institute Log that the knight had guarded until the end.
‘Damn it.’
Most of the contents had vanished, as if eaten by worms. I flipped through the pages frantically, cramming whatever I could salvage into my mind.
The gist was that the Cosmos Empire, at its peak, had begun researching time, space, and other dimensions.
Honestly, most of it was useless.
"…!"
But one piece of information made me doubt my eyes.
[Cosmos Empire Year 1,026.]
A story from 300 years ago.
[With multiple walls… applying immense distortion… even the imperial family approved… finding a planet with an environment similar to this one… an unprecedented experiment involving ten great mages… all dead… what’s happening…]
The final entry froze me in place.
[…where is that place… Earth…?]
Earth. My home. My origin.
‘Jackpot.’
This was huge. To think I’d find a direct hint to returning home like this! Digging into the Cosmos Empire’s secrets was indeed the right move!
…But my excitement was short-lived as a contradiction flashed through my mind.
‘Then what is this world?’
Wasn’t it supposed to be a novel? A virtual reality? If they observed Earth from here, did that mean this wasn’t a novel but an actual alternate dimension? Or was this just another scene in the novel where they observed Earth?
‘…I don’t know.’
Frustratingly, I couldn’t reach any conclusions. All I could do was stuff the information into my head for the future.
***
Leaning against the damp cave wall, Elisha gave up.
‘…It’s no use, is it.’
Sighing, she retrieved the emergency communication crystal linked to her family. Time Chaos Dungeons were ‘distorted subspaces of time and space,’ so ordinary magical communication was impossible.
She knew this, yet her unease drove her to try.
‘To think I’d owe Martin.’
How did things come to this? At first, it was just suspicion.
She found Martin, who returned after half a semester as a completely different person, suspicious.
Naturally. So she had him watched. Sure enough, when she heard he’d snuck into the underground waterway at dawn with a shotgun and a robe, she assumed he was up to some trashy scheme and followed him herself.
But then, he’d discovered a Time Chaos Dungeon growing unnoticed beneath the capital and set out to conquer it.
‘I’m not wrong! I mean, it’s Trash Martin! Of course!’
Martin von Targon Ulvhadin. What kind of person was he?
From the moment he entered the academy, he gathered a gang and bullied weaker cadets, noble or commoner alike.
Violence, intimidation, extortion… and in the end, his inferiority complex toward Gilbert exploded, and he genuinely tried to kill him.
Unable to stand his tyranny, she used her authority to deliver just punishment. She was at the center of it, so she knew best.
Her childhood loss of her older brother made her perhaps overly harsh toward Martin, whom she called ‘evil.’ But it wasn’t wrong. He’d ruined more than a few young lives.
As a member of one of the four great ducal families destined to lead the empire, she still believed her decision was flawless.
Martin’s Violence Circle was even tied to an illegal cartel, dabbling in alcohol, tobacco, and even drugs. It was unthinkable for a cadet.
Was he always like that?
Yes. From childhood, he was known among servants as arrogant and reckless. There was even an accusation that he’d tried to assault a young noblewoman his age. The circle he formed at the academy was an extension of the rotten noble kids he’d hung out with since childhood.
There was a rumor he’d been called a prodigy in his early years, but it wasn’t certain.
With such a poor reputation in noble society, she felt no guilt sending him to ruin. The Martin she’d faced was even uglier than the rumors.
‘No, don’t think about it.’
That was the past. She couldn’t judge the current Martin by his past self.
‘It’d be nice if he’s reformed… but it’s more likely he’s become a cunning mastermind.’
As a noble, he’d received a high-class education and likely had excessive pride.
Reformation seemed less plausible than scheming.
‘The problem is, I owe him now…’
She followed him, got caught, and was subdued.
She entered the Time Chaos Dungeon with him and drew the boss room’s monsters.
To top it off, she sprained her ankle, becoming a burden in battle.
And as the final touch, he gave her first aid.
‘Hah!’
She lowered her head in shame. To be helped multiple times by someone she’d buried.
‘Humiliating.’
Each time, her curiosity about Martin surged.
It was a vicious cycle.
‘What happened to him in half a semester?’
She knew some of it.
He’d resisted the academy’s punishment, barricading himself in his room, only to be shackled and confined by the Patriarch of Ulvhadin’s orders.
Then, suddenly, he ran away from the Ulvhadin family, paid a fine of about 150 gold coins, wrote various apologies, and completed 200 hours of community service on his own.
‘Why did he change so suddenly? What happened to make someone change this much?’
He was even running a maid coffee cart around the capital, a respectable merchant now.
Suspecting poison or drugs, she had a renowned mage analyze the contents, but it was just cocoa beans and honey. It was tasty and had a stimulating effect, so the magic tower, where overtime was routine, placed bulk orders. She’d only boosted his sales.
There was nothing wrong with the coffee business itself, but she wondered if he was using the income for arms trafficking or drug smuggling. Yet, there was no evidence.
His income was about average for a small business.
‘What is it? What’s going on? What’s with him?’