"That's strange. I thought you’d definitely feel relieved."
"Huh, I am relieved."
"……."
"Of course I’m relieved!"
This was right……
My thoughts tilted for just a moment, then I quickly shook my head.
I was the one who let my emotions get the better of me and hurt him for no reason—who else could I blame?
"More than that, why did you call me here?"
"Become my disciple."
His voice was as casual as if he were simply inviting me for lunch. So I didn’t understand what he said for a brief moment.
"……What did you just say?"
"I said you should work here for the time being. Is that so hard to understand?"
This guy, seriously!
Did he think I was an idiot?
"Of course I understood what you said! Why? Are you short on hands?"
At my words, Peril frowned.
"You’re all skin and bones—like you’d be of any help."
"……."
"I’m taking you to Orphen. We’ll leave from the Tower with the goods next week, so disguise yourself as my disciple and come with me."
He should’ve just said that first.
"If that’s what you want, I’ll do it. But is there a specific reason I need to go to Orphen?"
"Yeah."
Peril rubbed his face and continued.
"You said it yourself. That you have somewhere to return to."
"……I did."
The memory of crying my eyes out in front of him came back and made me feel awkward. While I was staring into empty space, Peril approached me.
"Since that day, I haven’t been able to sleep a wink."
He brought his face close to mine.
Looking at him again, the area under his eyes seemed a bit dark……
"……Isn’t that just because of the deliveries wearing you out?"
"Huh, what do I even have to do?"
"I’m sorry……."
Peril straightened his back from its previously slouched position.
"Anyway, I’ve been thinking quite deeply. A long time ago, I heard nonsense from some eccentric."
"What did they say?"
Peril glanced around, then brought paper and a pen from the desk. He drew a spiral.
"This is……."
"He described this as the time we live in."
I carefully pointed to the narrow beginning of the spiral.
"Then is this the past?"
"Yeah. As time passes, the spiral broadens."
Peril added several triangles on the spiral’s line.
"There aren’t only us living on this timeline. Countless worlds we don’t know about exist."
Peril, who expressed worlds with triangles, paused for a moment.
"Worlds can’t interfere with each other."
"……Well, unless time suddenly reverses or speeds up, the triangles wouldn’t overlap."
Because time flows the same for everyone.
"You understood well."
He tapped the paper lightly with his finger.
"But that eccentric came up with one hypothesis."
Then he drew a circle.
"If you look at the spiral from above, it becomes a circle, and at that moment, you can see the overlapping worlds."
"But that’s just how it looks, right? They don’t actually overlap."
"Right. I argued the same thing."
Peril spoke in a calm voice.
"But it’s undeniable that this moment is when the worlds come closest."
"……."
"That eccentric claimed that children like you are born at that point."
As I sucked in a shallow breath, Peril looked at me curiously.
"It’s just… it’s so different from the reason I had in mind……."
"There’s nothing in the world that can be explained with a single reason."
Peril pointed his chin toward a tree standing outside.
"Even if you think a tree broke because of wind and rain, there are many reasons. Maybe its roots were weaker than other trees, or it grew in a spot that took the brunt of the wind."
"……."
"A coincidence stacked on another coincidence."
Coincidence……
Listening to Peril, I realized there was still so much I didn’t know.
The world inside the book I thought was pure fiction actually existed. And the mystery of the key that came with me when I possessed Bianca’s body hadn’t been solved yet.
If not for that key, I wouldn’t have been able to revive the World Tree.
"Seems like something came to mind."
"……Yes."
"Even if you go back, think of it as a valuable experience. You met me, after all."
I couldn’t help but laugh at Peril’s light tone.
"That’s true."
For some reason, it felt like my mind had been refreshed.
"It was so long ago, that eccentric is probably dead. But if it was him, he would’ve left some kind of clue. Go to Orphen and find it—then you’ll get your answer."
"Th-thank you."
Peril paused at my words.
"I mean it sincerely."
"……Goodness, all of a sudden like this."
Eileens and Brandon told me to stay quiet. If I just did that, I would get what I wanted.
But that didn’t sit well with my temperament.
Besides, starting a war—something Grandpa absolutely didn’t want—no matter how I thought about it, didn’t seem like the right thing to do.
Even if Grandpa’s illness completely healed, once war broke out, we might not even be able to confirm whether he was alive or dead.
There had to be another way.
If, like Peril said, a magical situation had occurred to me through coincidence upon coincidence, then I just had to create another coincidence and make a miracle happen, right?
"Just a few days ago, I was a miserable child."
"……."
"But now that I look at it, maybe I didn’t need to think of it that way."
Peril looked surprised at my words. But only for a moment—then he burst out laughing.
"That’s a relief."
* * *
For the next few days, I stayed at the Tower and helped the mages with their work.
I didn’t have any talent for magic and got some disapproving looks, but since I took on all the dirty work, I managed to shift the atmosphere—if not into one of welcome, then at least into something warmer.
……Except for one person.
"I told you to leave that in the storage room, didn’t I?"
Yeah, except for Simon.
"But Lady Lily told me to leave it here."
I’d held back, but finally couldn’t resist speaking up.
"Ah, well, still……."
What was funny was, when I did argue back, he didn’t really say anything more.
Looking at that, maybe he wasn’t inherently bad…….
‘Does he think I stole his spot?’
Sometimes that thought made me feel a bit sympathetic.
"When you leave it here, it gets in the way of passage!"
But whenever he picked a fight over nothing, that sympathy just melted away.
"I left it against the wall! It’s not like people walk hugging the wall!"
"Y-you never know, that’s why I said it!"
"Oh my, Simon. Don’t tell me you’re bullying your junior just because she’s new?"
Just then, Lily, who happened to be passing by, couldn’t stand it and spoke up.
"I told her to leave it there."
"……."
"Stop picking on Lady Bianca. If she hadn’t helped, all the storage cleanup would’ve fallen on you."
Simon clammed up.
"Don’t tell me you’re acting like this because Lady Bianca is going to Orphen instead of you?"
That must’ve been the right guess—Simon’s face turned red.
"Peril personally brought her here. If you don’t want to be on his bad side, you’d better stop."
Y-you didn’t have to say that part……!
This feeling—it made me feel like I was just some parachute hire, and it made me uncomfortable. Even though that wasn’t exactly the case.
"……Alright."
I wanted to tell Simon the truth, but he was definitely not in the mood to hear me out.
See? The moment Lily left, he was already glaring daggers at me.
"I’ll never forget this."
"Wh-what did I even do……!"
While I was left dumbfounded, I suddenly heard Idette’s voice from somewhere.
"Lady Bianca!"
Before I knew it, Idette had come running and hugged me. Then, unable to contain her excitement, she grabbed my hand.
"I heard from Peril! Are you going to become a wizard with me?"
Why did the word ‘for the time being’ disappear!
Peril must’ve left that part out on purpose.
"The truth is……."
"As if that’ll happen."
Just as I was about to explain, Simon, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly cut in.
"She can’t do anything and is stuck doing storage duty."
"She can learn little by little! No one was good at the start!"
Idette made no attempt to hide her annoyance. But Simon pretended not to hear and threw out a warning.
"Don’t get cocky just because Peril brought you here. You’re bound to get burned if you do."
"Sorry, but I’ve never gotten cocky. I’ve been doing everything you asked, so what’s the problem?"
That was when Idette huffed and shouted.
"Lady Bianca, stop saying ‘sorry, but’ right now!"