“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday… Happy birthday… Happy birthday to yoooouuuu…!”

The air crackled with a warmth that had little to do with the string lights crisscrossing the Roguerider residence’s living room. Laughter erupted every few seconds, punctuating the soft hum of chatter and clattering silverware amidst his father’s stories and the hushed conspiratorial giggles of his friends. In the center of it all, a mop of silver hair bobbed above a table laden with homemade delicacies, presided over by a softly smiling boy with eyes the color of a deep blue ocean. Fifteen birthday candles, flickering like fireflies trapped in wax, cast dancing shadows on the boy’s handsome face.

This was Meteos Roguerider, and today, he was fifteen years old.

Even though he was basking in the eddies of joy emanated by family and friends around him, Meteos stared at the flames with a reflection of things he always kept closed from anyone else. He wasn’t just Meteos Roguerider, a fifteen-year-old brimming with the usual teenage anxieties. He was also Meteos Roguerider, the Grand Mage from a future where people live in glitters but none seemed to be happy—a future that had yet to see a true world-ending apocalypse but a future guaranteed to be destroyed by the Civilization Annihilation Game regardless. This day, exactly ten years ago, he had made a decision that had brought him this far on the journey through the decade.

A hand squeezed his own, the warmth pulling him back from the precipice of his thoughts. It was his mother, her smile tinged with a knowing weariness. “What are you thinking, dear?” she asked gently.

Once faltered into a contemplative look, Meteos managed to return her question with a smile and shook his head. “Many things… and a feeling that this is only the beginning of those things.”

Meteora’s giggle in response turned into a melodic chime, trailing off playfully. “Just many things? Aren’t that just the usual you? Well, make sure one of them is a wish, or those poor candles might feel cheated,” she winked playfully.

“Heh… Yeah, don’t worry about that, I’ve made up my mind.”

Taking a deep breath, Meteos gathered the scattered thread of his resolve. He looked at the flames and wished. Not for candy palaces or fantastical trinkets, but for something far more elusive and precious.

“May our happiness… and victories… multiply…”

With a single, swift burst of air, he extinguished all fifteen of the candles, their tiny flames morphing into wisps of smoke that spun upwards carrying his whispered wish on their invisible wings.

“Amen.”

August 14, 1615 Central Calendar, 01:55

Leiden, Enysfal Province, Holy Milishial Empire

While he was waiting for the clock to strike two o’clock, Meteos tried to make himself comfortable as he perched on a sturdy crate at the back of the basement. With a sigh, he crossed his legs, one ankle hooking over the opposite knee and forming a figure-four lock. Only two hours had passed on the day right after he turned fifteen and Meteos wasn’t feeling sleepy at all. But a slight feeling of dizziness and lethargy, like a slow serpent, began to coil around him despite the anticipation of what would unfold next. Several minutes ticked by, each second stretching like taffy in the stagnant air, the boredom that exacerbated the boy’s slight discomfort had almost reached critical mass, threatening to morph into full-blown fidgeting. Just as his sandal-covered sole was about to embark on an impromptu tap dance routine against the floor, the basement door creaked open.

Casting long shadows under the magic lighting from the ceiling, three figures streamed into the basement without emitting noise and locked the door from inside. Entering first, his family’s maid Rachel could be seen already out of her uniform in favor of a white long-sleeved turtleneck and a flowy skirt, apparently not even trying to sugarcoat the elegance she had acquired during her years of service in her previous household. Behind her, Robin gave Meteos a bright smile as soon as they made eye contact, and bringing up the rear was Arthur with his poker face.

As the boy stood up to greet them with a smile and a nod, the three adults looked at Meteos. Despite the expressions sported by each of them, all of their eyes shared the same kind of knowing gaze. While gesturing for them to take their seats on the crates arranged as makeshift chairs, Meteos asked a question in a hushed tone. “Is everyone else awake?”

Rachel gracefully shook her head. “Don’t worry, Young Master. The house is quiet as a mouse, this is just between us.”

The strained smile that kept plastered on the boy’s face broadened slightly with a genuine air on it, fondly recalling yesterday’s birthday party that seemed to sap everyone’s energy due to how boisterous it turned to become despite its overall modesty.

“Ah… thanks for sneaking down here, everyone,” Meteos nodded, eyeing Rachel with a shadow of intent. “But to think that one of the Order’s highest-ranking leaders ended up taking a disguise as a maid in my very own house that we can meet and talk easily like this… what is this incredible luck? Is this some kind of a birthday gift in advance…?”

The blue-haired maid responded to his teasing remark with a smile. “There is no accident when it comes to the Order, Young Master. As we agreed, I can share some insight about my presence if you wish.”

“Haha, are you going to keep addressing me by honorifics, Magister Enepsigos?”

“Why, of course, I’m working as your maid, am I not?” Rachel’s tone turned playful as she teased Meteos back. Now this is closer to the Magister’s true personality, the reincarnator thought.

“Professionals have standards… huh?” Meteos chuckled softly and settled on his crate himself.

Someone once stated that “knowledge is power” or “intel is a life-or-death matter,” and those were sayings that Meteos could get behind. Despite his past life’s memories granting him awareness of the Order of the Ancients’ existence, being a former agent himself, not knowing what exactly this timeline’s version would do in response to his shenanigans caused him much discomfort. Of course, through ‘knowing,’ Meteos also would want to be able to adapt his actions more effectively and protect himself better. Ultimately an organization, even the likes of the Order, is a collection of sentient beings whose hearts are as fickle as a flickering candle flame swaying by the gentlest breeze.

As he continued with his technology speedrun routine, today they might’ve gone out of their way to support the reincarnator, but tomorrow? What are the chances they will never see him as a security risk? Or a threat? Or worse, a Devil bioweapon?

Hell no. Those edgy motherfuckers will NOT have their way and end up ruining everything with their shortsightedness under his watch.

It’s a good thing that Meteos possessed something he could exploit as leverage. The Illusion Magic: Temple of Heaven belonging to the forgotten ancestors of the Ravernal Empire that he can use is literally an outside context problem for the natives of Ars Goetia—absolutely no one in this world saw it coming, and the knowledge of this spell that came with the inherited memories of the Malakhs became one of Meteos’ greatest advantages that he capitalized without hesitation immediately after the right conditions can be achieved one way or another. However, this alien magic spell’s absurd potency was also proportional to its recoil which can result in harmful or even fatal consequences for a feeble human being.

Nevertheless, there’s this thing that Nadia’s people referred to as smekalka.

Even with his shortcomings, Meteos eventually managed to cope with this absurd situation and improvise an acceptable method to succeed in ‘convincing’ the three nearest agents of the Order to agree to share their information with him and guarantee the safety for him and his friends. This basically allowed Meteos to latch into the Order of the Ancients’ vast established network in order to use them as a basis to create his own through this manipulation. Being subjected to the illusion magic of the highest caliber, Robin, Arthur, and even Rachel agreed without resistance to Meteos’ ‘request.’

This was the reason why despite this civilian boy casually dropping a bombshell line mentioning the most secretive entity in the entire Holy Empire, names he couldn’t possibly have known, there was not a slightest sense of alarm whatsoever in the three’s expressions and mannerisms, thanks to the ‘talks’ Meteos had with each of them earlier. After all… it was they themselves who decided that accommodating this kid’s whims and protecting him would result in greater benefits for the Ancient Ministry to which he was also a member, the Order of the Ancients, and the Holy Milishial Empire as a whole.

With a voice barely concealing the excitement bubbling beneath, Meteos cleared his throat. “So, for our first meeting, where do I even begin?” he started. “There are things that I wanted to know about… uhh…” His sentence then trailed off, hand instinctively reaching up to massage his head.

Observing Meteos’ subtle grimace, the three’s keen eyes caught the slight tremor in his hand as it brushed against his temples.

“You okay?” Robin called out with a concerned look on her face.

“Hm?”

“Young Master, it seems that you look unwell.”

“…Is it that obvious?” a flash of vulnerability crossed his youthful face as he sighed. Despite everything he did to mitigate the incompatibility between the Tempe of Heaven and his physique, Meteos’ head still felt like a tangled ball of yarn, even hours after actually casting the spell. Granted, this human did cast the spell in rapid succession, which is quite a risky move itself.

“Having a serious talk while you are feeling ill won’t do us any good. A touch of my healing magic should help ease the discomfort, may I?” the maid offered.

“…If you don’t mind.”

With the boy’s approval, Rachel crossed the space between them to sit on the same crate as Meteos to his side, close enough for their shoulders and thighs to brush. Since she didn’t carry a Manadriver with her right now, the maid hummed a low chant before her hand reached out and rested on the top of Meteos’ crown. As her fingertips brushed his hair, a faint pale blue light pulsed from her palm, providing Meteos with a wave of warmth that ebbed away the slight headache into a state of serene clarity.

“Are you feeling better now, Young Master?” she asked after a few seconds passed.

Meteos let out a relieved sigh. “Yeah… Much appreciated, Miss Giles.”

Well, if Magister Enepsigos insisted on acting like a caring maid despite everything, then two can play the game. However, to someone without context, the scene looked like a fair maiden who was comforting a distraught younger brother by gently stroking his hair. When Robin snickered at the sight as she realized this, Meteos shot her a deadpan look silently urging her not to become too loud. Now that Meteos was feeling comfortable, they decided that they should start the discussion, with Rachel taking the lead as the one with the highest rank among the three.

“I doubt that we can cover enough topics to satisfy your curiosity in one night, but we will do our best to accommodate. In the future, do ask if you have something that you want to know and we’ll try to answer as much as we can. That said… Professor Calvello, or Flamberge here, said that she already provided some notes for you to read several days ago, but I reckon it still leaves many details to be desired?”

“Naturally,” Robin laughed. “At least the kid already learned the basics and important names he should know of.”

“I see. Then, Young Master, for starters, what your inquiry will be?”

At Rachel’s question, Meteos looked like he was pondering about it for a moment.

“To make things more interesting… how’s this for starters,” he began, leaning forward with a sly grin directed in Robin and Arthur’s direction. “Can you tell me about the Order’s activities overseas? Surely ‘the Eyes’ as the branch in charge of information gathering is also sending spies beyond the Holy Empire’s borders, right?”

“Mm. Color me surprised with that choice of question, Young Master,” Rachel admitted, ruffling the boy’s hair slightly to show her reaction.

“…To be honest, I’m also getting fascinated with other countries. If I wanted to know more about them later, what better people to ask for high-quality information than you guys?”

When Meteos answered with a shrug, Rachel proceeded to continue speaking.

“Hehe… Very well. In this country, there are multiple organizations that engage in intelligence activities. While they seem to be operating separately, they all in reality are overseen by the Eyes of the Order which coordinate their operations and then reports directly to His Majesty the Emperor. These activities do include but are not limited to foreign intelligence as you guessed. The Holy Empire has placed agents and assets throughout the known world in not only countries inside the civilized areas but also some of the outside civilization countries as well.”

From there, the three of them proceeded to explain in detail the Holy Empire’s intelligence activities abroad before the discussion brought them to talk more about the Eyes of the Order’s inner workings. Having decided to do so among themselves, the notion of leaking these matters to a young teenager like Meteos did not give these agents a feeling of repulsion in the slightest. At the same time, a sense of curiosity about what Meteos would do in regard to the information they provided began to bloom within their hearts. After all, it can be something big.

‘Hah. Despicable me.’

Meteos’ chest puffed with the ghost of a sigh at the sight unfolding around him. The casualness, the normalcy, it was admittedly unnerving and exhilarating in equal measure. In the end, he’d done it and the ramifications of the alien magic at his disposal would be huge, but that’s all there to it. There’s no need for angsting as if he wasn’t a scheming snake already. A man at war with himself places a deficit upon his focus—becoming impatient, emotional, and easily surprised. Meanwhile a man at one with himself has a clearer mind, sharper instincts, ready to progress. No need for more unnecessary internal conflicts at inappropriate times…

At some point, Meteos asked with a deliberately dubious tone. “Earlier you said that there are areas that are not covered by the Order’s presence. What’s the deal with them?”

A shadow flickered across Arthur’s usually stoic face when he spoke up to answer. “Within the known world, there are three areas that we haven’t covered yet: the northern Philades, Grameus, and the Southern World where the Annonrial Empire is located. The former two are mainly because of priority allocation. Both are also known for their harsh climates, but we do attempt to gather information from those areas. As for the last, though… it’s completely out of our reach because of reasons we can’t explain. Expeditions sent there by not only the Holy Empire but also other countries never returned, all vanished without a trace. After the Order’s leadership deemed that they seemed to waste their men’s lives for nothing, His Majesty himself ordered the southern operations be postponed for the time being.”

“‘For the time being’ as in until we figure out what the heck is going on,” Robin added. “But nobody knows for sure…”

“With all those rumors circulating, I’m sure there’s someone out there who would’ve suspected that there’s more to the Annonrial Empire’s homeland than meets the eye—or even believed that they must definitely be hiding something,” Meteos idly commented. Had it been anyone else, all that would be very eye-opening information.

His gaze surveyed the faces of his audience. If the worst-case scenario of the Civilization Annihilation Game starting in the 1639 Central Calendar was to happen, twenty-four years of preparation by himself did seem to be too short for a grace period. But now that he had managed to worm his way into the Order’s inner circle and secure an advantage for himself, should he take the plunge here and now?

Letting out an exhale, the reincarnator inwardly smiled. The answer was already decided.

“Alright, I get the gist of it. That’s a lot to think about, isn’t it?” Meteos nodded in satisfaction.

“Take it easy, Young Master.”

“Hehe… then, how about this as a token of gratitude? Teacher, may I borrow the Miracle Metatron again for a moment?”

“What for?” Robin tilted her head curiously.

“Like I said, a ‘token of gratitude.’ An interesting thing for an interesting thing kind of stuff…”

“Oh?”

“Technically that will put his usage of the device under the three of us’ supervision,” Rachel pointed out to her. “That should be considered alright. Go ahead, Flamberge.”

“My, my, kid, aren’t you a lucky one?”

Hearing the Magister’s verdict, Robin chuckled as she reached for the device from inside her jacket and offered the blue-and-gold-colored Desire Driver MR to the boy.

‘More like I forced luck to come to me instead,’ Meteos inwardly mused, gripping the coldness of the metal in his hand before turning to address Rachel. “I’m sorry, Miss Giles, but I need you to lend me your mana once again.”

Looking back at him with an intrigued look upon hearing the request, the Magister raised a delicate eyebrow. Her hand which was still patting Meteos’ hair ruffled it again in response as she nodded before letting it go when the boy moved to stand up.

“An interesting thing, you say? …Well, how can I help?”

“I’m going to invoke a magical effect similar to the Astral Projection Magic spell, but since I’m still a kid, I will need someone with large enough reserves to maintain the projection.”

“Mm-hmm. You know, I happen to have the largest mana reserves among us, so you can leave it to me.”

“Yes. That’s very nice.”

Rachel placed her hand below Meteos’ hand that was holding the device, watching him going through the Manadriver operating procedures that seemed to be an upcoming staple that would supplant the verbal chanting of a spell. When she thought about it, it was fascinating how they had come this far in achieving what was once thought to be a mere dream. Using that specific wording sounded a bit strange, but with the Manadriver rapidly blurring the boundaries of magic spells, there’s no helping about it. Perhaps in the future society will come up with a term for it, as it always does with anything.

“Please keep quiet, okay? Don’t want to wake up everyone else for being too noisy,” Meteos reminded, focusing to channel his desire into the Desire Driver MR and paint the reality with it.

As soon as Rachel felt her mana started draining, soft glows of bluish magical particles started appearing one after another in the space between the four of them, swirling around one anchor point midair and coalescing into a shimmering sphere. It grew larger and larger, until finally, a rotating sphere dotted with a mosaic of vibrant hues materialized between them. Emerald green shapes sprawled across a vast cerulean blue background, punctuated by wisps of swirling whites that drifted above them. Dark-colored spikes carved their way through in some places like a deformed ring that wrapped around the entire sphere, roughly dividing it into northern and southern halves, while glittering snowy white color crowned their highest peaks and the axis of this sphere’s rotation.

Robin smiled widely in delight and Arthur let his façade break a little as their widening eyes were glued to the mesmerizing spectacle floating in the air.

“Whoaaa… this is…” Robin squealed quietly. “A world…? You’re using the device to show us a projection of a world?”

Arthur’s gaze was immediately drawn to recognizable shapes in the northern part. “Take a closer look. There seems to be landmasses that look very similar to the Civilization Areas.”

“Hm? You’re right, that’s definitely the Central Continent right there! Well, so do the entire known world, but… are you imagining the region beyond to be like this? Is this what this thing supposed to mean?”

“Intriguing display of skill, Young Master, your imagination is… quite something else,” Rachel commented. Even if everything shown here turned out to be a completely erroneous depiction, this magical projection looked very detailed in what it tried to depict.

“The size of those two continents will be larger than any landmasses we’ve ever seen,” Arthur said as he scrutinized the projection further. “Moreover, this… mountain range that divides the world in two… this is utterly ridiculous.”

“Hey, at least he got the climate in the interior reasonable,” Robin defended her apprentice. “But why are the ones in the south more barren than the north? Any specific reason?”

“I’m not going to argue with you if you think this planet looks retarded, but it’s not like I got any choice in that matter,” Meteos deadpanned. “Blame plate tectonics, ancient monsters, magical phenomena, or even the Ancient Sorcerous Empire. Do all the mental gymnastics you want to make sense of it, if you will. This world is already full of absurdities as it is.”

He agreed with Arthur, but hell if he won’t try to save it from the Civilization Annihilation Game since in the end, he’s one of the idiots who live in it. One world that was unconditionally loved by Astarte despite how ‘hideous’ it was.

“Watch your attitude, Young Roguerider… There’s something I don’t like with the way you speak.”

Meteos’ sardonic smile in response was a knowing one. “But this is what our world, Ars Goetia, looks like in the full picture. If there’s someone in the future who will be going to outer space, this is what they will see. Don’t believe me? Ramp up your research and make a spacecraft, then. I’ll gladly help you with it.”

Robin’s smile turned strained. “Haha… Nice try, kid. But I think you’re getting full of yourself… Please don’t.”

“I thought you would say that. How’s the repair of the Ancor Vantian and Malebrandes in Area 48 going, by the way? You still haven’t gotten the anti-gravity engines right, no?”

“!!!”

His casual interrogation felt like a bomb detonating in the quiet basement, pinning everyone’s attention to the chilling implication beneath his words. The shock on the faces of his audience was palpable. Quickly stopping the flow of mana that resulted in the projection being cut short, Rachel quickly snapped her attention to Robin, who turned pale.

‘…I never told him that!’ the brunette internally panicked as she rapidly shook her head in denial. While it is true that they were informing Meteos about things he wanted to know if he asked, the boy never once asked about those things. Yet.

Already on his feet, Arthur’s hand was a split second from drawing his Manadriver and striking the two of them down.

“Please, this is not Teacher’s fault,” Meteos said with a surprisingly calm voice and an unwavering gaze, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “I was hoping to be able to do this for a very long time… can we all please stand down and talk like calm and reasonable people?”

He turned to Rachel. “Magister Enepsigos, please don’t be rash.”

Rachel’s narrowed blue eyes held a storm of emotions as stared at the boy, the shock slowly morphing into reluctance. Finally, she let out a long sigh.

“Byleth,” she commanded. “Stand down… and let him explain himself.”

The man’s glare flickered between Rachel, Meteos, and Robin, but eventually under the weight of the Magister’s authority, he relaxed his stance, albeit with a wary air as he hovered close to the boy.

“I’m sorry.”

“………”

“Ahem, alright, then…” assuming a thinking pose, Rachel cleared her throat. “Well, I wasn’t expecting to hear those names here of all places. You sound like you know what you’re talking about, but do you know what you’re talking about, Young Master?”

Despite her lighthearted tone, it was clear to Meteos that she was on edge. If anything, her sickly-sweet demeanor made it even more menacing for some people, almost like a taunt. In response, the boy met her gaze unflinchingly.

“In this known world of this era, the Ancor Vantian and the Malebrandes are two of sixteen ring-shaped gigantic ancient relics that you call the Object A, or the Pal Chimera-class heavy command cruiser. Despite their huge size, the Pal Chimeras are able to fly using six engines that utilize anti-gravity magic as a propulsion method. Some also have an additional three engines that serve as backup power sources. They are also equipped with weapons, so you came to the conclusion that these must be some sort of flying warships,” Meteos spoke with a sense of morbid fascination as he noticed the increasingly horrified and confused expressions of his audience. “As for Area 48, that’s the site where the two aforementioned flying warships are excavated. It’s located amidst the wastelands of the Vaneta Province, and if you give me a map, I can point out its exact location. Even better, through that projection magic, I can show you the details. Floor by floor.”

Before anyone could utter a response, Meteos pressed on. “You must’ve been wondering why I said there are sixteen, aren’t you? Well, that’s because there are indeed only seven in the Holy Empire, but one was unexpectedly found in a country that belongs to neither the Civilization Areas nor even the Outside Civilization Area, and the remaining eight… belong to none other than the Annonrial Empire.”

The frustrated laugh escaping Rachel’s lips after taking in all that was as brittle as fine glass, shattering against the tense atmosphere of the basement. “Quick, name the seven warships that this country possesses, then!”

“From the order of its excavation: Xibalba in Mitnal Forest Site of the Excan Province, Eesfet Oon-m’Aa Poo in Meketaten Site of the Vallarge Province, Hyperborea in Forgotten Site of the Rusalka Province, Ancor Vantian and Malebrandes in Area 48 of the Vaneta Province, Luganoger in Rinza Site of the Valiante Province, and Endra in Elengubu Site of the Zaragel Province.”

“Oh my… oh my, oh my…”

“I-I swear I never told the kid about all that…” Robin swallowed. “How is this possible…?”

“Well? You all haven’t started assuming that I somehow possess a sort of advanced knowledge yet?”

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Arthur glowered and shook his head in disapproval.

Meteos scratched his cheek. “Huh. I’m sorry about that, but I honestly appreciate your patience in dealing with my antics so far…”

Under the three’s gaze, Meteos proceeded to pace back and forth with a face full of seriousness.

“What started this all is the other ‘gift’ of my fifth birthday,” he spoke again. “Without warning, I began seeing incredibly vivid visions of this world, decades in the future.”

“What…?”

“That’s right. In that future world, I saw people living in opulent cities and surrounded by comforts beyond imagination, ones that were far more advanced than we have now. Yet, because of the events that happened when history was in the process of reaching that era, none of them seem to be really happy. There was a hollowness in the eyes of that world’s people no matter where I tried to look. I don’t understand what the heck is actually happening, but I instantly detested the world I saw. However, thanks to those future visions, I was able to learn one thing or two to show to you all.”

Modifying his backstory made it no less absurd, but he decided that it would be less complicated than outright saying he’s mentally time-traveled from the future. Moreover, it would be rather hard to reconcile with his own agenda that he’s concocting.

“Then all the times when you seem to solve problems in the most ‘perfect’ way…?” Robin muttered.

“As much as I think your story is hard to believe… the fact that you just mentioned all that like it’s nothing…” Arthur grumbled. “If it’s anyone other than us…”

“…You will be subjected to unreasonable treatments would be a severe understatement,” Rachel finished.

“I’m going to be ‘neutralized,’ am I?”

“That’s enough. Please perish that thought, Young Master. That’s not going to happen as long as you can keep your little secret to yourself and we help each other, you can do that, right?”

Meteos nodded.

“Then there’s no problem. See? It’s as simple as that.”

Rachel smiled and gestured as if she was talking about the weather, having recovered her composure. Despite the extremely unexpected circumstances that gave them a severe headache, they will still honor their promise to help and protect this boy in the end. In her opinion, there’s no need to antagonize a walking treasure trove of knowledge who is willing to share like Meteos. While it is true that this will throw everything out of the window, all that matters now is how they can harness it for their benefit. In other words, they were looking forward to the future more than anything else.

“…Thank you very much for your kindness, I promise that I won’t disappoint,” Meteos bowed deeply.

“Alright, then. So far you explained that your knowledge is obtained through supernatural means like that. Suppose that what you’re saying is true, what happened in the time period between the present and the future world you’ve witnessed, then? Did the Ancient Sorcerous Empire really return to this world?”

Seeing that at least Rachel had shown a stance of humoring his story, Meteos’ smile turned from being slightly confident to outright jubilant.

“That’s rather unclear. I suppose that not everything leading to that future is set in stone, even regarding the Ancient Sorcerous Empire’s return… But what distressed me is that the fates of some of us in that timeline as I looked more into those visions are shown rather clearly.”

“Mm-hmm. Please continue, Young Master, looks like you need to really get that out of your system.”

“…First of all, Walman and myself in the visions went to Runepolis to enroll at the Runepolis Magic Academy much later and after finished graduating from university, we both landed at the Ancient Ministry. As adults, we even went so far as to join the Secret Department and then the Order of Ancients, finally managed to become captains of Pal Chimeras ourselves…”

“Yet you two are the youngest members of the Ancient Ministry as we know it. In other words, you acted to change your fates that early, eh?”

“More like the moment I drew my first breath on that fifth birthday that fate already changed,” Meteos nodded at Robin’s teasing.

“What happened after that?”

“The vision’s version of me didn’t have as warm a relationship with my coworkers as I do now. I saw my other self slowly becoming an insufferable fool who alienated everyone, and eventually Walman saw me as a rival, but not in a friendly sense of the word.”

“………”

They frowned, bracing themselves to hear the unpleasant part of the story.

“And then, Young Master?” Rachel prompted.

“One day, the Malebrandes which Walman captained suffered faulty systems before crashing and bringing him down with the ship,” Meteos’ tone turned bitter. “Worse, I saw my other self hardly spared a thought to the childhood friend he grew up with as he died. Truly, I am ashamed!”

“…I don’t want that kind of fate to happen, I truly am, but do you think we can change even a person’s death?”

“It can. In fact, a person’s death is already averted and that person is still living with us right now.”

As soon as Rachel asked that question, Meteos jolted and looked at them with a fierce gaze.

“Teacher, you know what I mean by that.”

Robin’s breath hitched in her throat.

“My other self never once met you. Furthermore, as an agent, my other self’s codename is Flamberge. In this world, the one with that codename is you, Teacher. Do you think you already understand from that alone?”

“Yeah…” the bespectacled woman exhaled in resignation, her shoulders sagging.

‘Why is she too accepting? What happened!?’

Sitting next to her, there was a man who eyed her with intense emotions that he himself rarely showed to anyone. But before this man could act upon those emotions, Rachel who noticed this intervened and turned to Meteos again with a look that suggested that she wanted the boy to get this over with first.

“So, even deaths can be prevented, that brings me relief,” the blue-haired woman spoke up.

“Yes… My foolish self harbored a hope that I could avert that undesirable future and instead use your brilliance to bring about a warmer and more affluent world…”

“Ah… well… neither do I want the future I will live in to be bleak…” Rachel playfully shrugged. “You have lived for a decade feeling that burden with you, huh? Then you don’t have to anymore. As I said before, from now on, let’s help each other. That will be my verdict.”

“Magister Enepsigos… thank you so much…”

“No, Young Master, thank you for telling us this. It seems that the future with you will be very interesting, I’m looking forward to seeing it. Don’t you feel the same? Hm? Flamberge and Byleth?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“There’s a lot to process, but it is as you say, Magister.”

“Welcome to my world, then…”

Such confidence, now that’s more like it. Rachel felt herself smirking at the remark.

“…Speaking of which, there’s still one hour left before four o’clock where I had to start my duties,” she then reminded the others. After all, she’s still a maid in the household. “Let’s conclude our interesting discussion here and continue at a later time?”

“Very well… once again, thank you.”

“Not fair, I want to hear more, too,” Robin pouted. “I can’t even sleep now that Meteos tells us about this and that.”

“Robin… we need to talk.”

“Hm?”

With a long sigh, Meteos watched the backs of Robin and Arthur as he and Rachel saw them off. There’s one more matter that needed to be resolved before the sun rises.