"That fairy... is Morgan."
Riezel's words were completely flat, leaving Aesc at a loss for words, unsure of what to say.
"Are you... her disciple?"
For some reason, Aesc asked this question.
Having a human disciple was not something unfamiliar to her, after all.
However, Riezel shook his head.
"Even though I did receive part of the power that should have belonged to her, I'm not her disciple." Riezel spoke as if he were talking about someone else, his tone utterly indifferent. "The relationship between me and her, in her own words, is that of husband and wife."
"'My dear husband' is something she always says again and again in front of me."
"Even though I have no idea why she does that."
Riezel's words made Aesc fall silent once again, and then, for some reason, she changed the topic.
"So, what do you plan to do next? Are you going to try to find a way back?"
Riezel did not belong to this era, so no matter what, he would surely try every means to return to the year 2017 of the Queen's Calendar, right?
If he was planning to do that, Aesc felt that she could help him.
She also hoped that Riezel would go back to two thousand years later, instead of staying in this era.
Even though she wanted to know what happened in the future, why Morgan took the throne four hundred years after the Autumn War ended, what happened to Britain after Uther's reign, and whether her wishes were fulfilled, just from Riezel's attitude, Aesc always had a feeling that things in the future would be very disappointing.
She was afraid.
Afraid that the future would shatter her hopes.
Afraid that Britain would become something she never imagined.
At the same time, she was also afraid of Riezel.
Because she truly could not imagine what kind of impact this man, who called himself Morgan's husband, would bring to her in this era.
Moreover, that constant urge to get close to him, to approach him, even to embrace him, honestly terrified her.
After all, she knew very well what kind of tragedy awaited those who got too close to her.
She did not want to see that kind of thing happen again.
For this reason, Aesc hoped Riezel could go back to the future.
However, she would be disappointed.
"Nah, there's no rush." Riezel said calmly, his face nonchalant. "Since I've come here, I won't go back until I've solved some mysteries."
In truth, even if he wanted to return, he would not be able to do it.
Water Mirror was a grand magecraft that could only send people to the past, not the future.
In other words, that magecraft was a one-way ticket that could send someone to the past, but there was no way to send someone back to the future. Even if it could, Riezel would still be unable to use Water Mirror since Morgan only gave him the power of the Tower, not the Mirror.
Because of that, for Riezel to return to the future, under normal circumstances, it truly would not be an easy thing.
Fortunately, he had already found a solution to this problem.
'With the Dimensional Magic Cube, this matter is not difficult to resolve.'
Riezel silently thought in his heart.
He had already read through the instructions for the Dimensional Magic Cube, so he knew that dimensional travel allowed the user to select the arrival location when opening a dimensional channel to a designated world.
For example, in the case of the world of Danmachi, since Riezel had already visited that world once, if he wanted to go there again, he would need to consume ten times the amount of dimensional energy to open a dimensional travel to that specific world.
After opening a dimensional travel to a designated world, Riezel could choose to arrive at the initial landing location from his first dimensional travel, or he could select the location where his previous dimensional travel in that world had ended.
In other words, if Riezel visited the world of Danmachi again, he could choose to arrive in the busy street of Orario, where he first landed during his initial dimensional travel, or he could appear on the 37th Floor of the Dungeon, where his last dimensional travel ended.
By doing this, when Riezel wanted to return to this world next time, he could also choose to arrive at the place where he first arrived during this dimensional travel.
If Riezel made this choice, then during his next dimensional travel, he could return to the underground prison in the village of Tintagel.
If Riezel chose to return to the time period of his initial arrival, the time he had already experienced in this era would still be counted.
In other words, however long Riezel spent in this era, just as much time would pass in the future era.
If he spent one month in this era, then one month would pass in the future era.
If he spent one year here, then a year would pass in the future era as well.
Therefore, when returning to the future using this method during his next dimensional travel, Riezel would not return to the world at a time calculated based on the time ratio between worlds, but to the moment in the future that corresponded to the time he had spent in this era, starting from the instant he was sent to this era by Water Mirror.
According to this calculation, by the time Riezel returned to this world during his next dimensional travel, more than a month would have already passed in the future.
As for why it was more than a month, it was naturally because Riezel only had a little over a month left to stay in this world.
Because the time ratio between the main world and this world was 1:90, Riezel could stay here for 90 days—a total of three months. He had already been in this world for over a month, so the remaining time was also just over a month.
After another month, Riezel would return to the Akasha Continent, so if he used the Dimensional Magic Cube to go back to the place and era of his initial arrival in this world, more than a month would have already passed in the future.
A month or so would certainly not be enough for the main events of Faerie Britain to conclude.
In the original work, from the time Chaldea first arrived in the Britain Lostbelt until Proper Human History collapsed, nearly two months had passed, so even if more than a month passed in the future, when Riezel returned next time, the events in the Britain Lostbelt would still not be finished.
After all, only a few days had passed since Chaldea arrived in the Britain Lostbelt, so there was still a long time until the final two-month deadline.
It was after considering all these things that Riezel, to solve the mystery in his heart, chose to go to Norwich, plunging into Morgan's Water Mirror and traveling with the Calamity of Norwich to this era in the year 400 of the Fairy Calendar.
Truthfully, if he did not know how to return to the future, Riezel would not have casually come to this era. Otherwise, like Mash in the original work, who was also sent to this past era, he might have ended up sleeping in Morgan's Coffin for over two thousand years before finally being able to return to the future.
"Is that so...?"
Unaware of all these things, Aesc saw that Riezel was not in a hurry to return and nodded, seemingly deep in thought.
"What about you?" Riezel asked back. "Do you have anything you want to do next?"
"Me..." Aesc had not expected him to ask her this question, so after thinking for a moment, she finally replied, "Right now, what I want most is to attend Uther's coronation in a few months and witness the true unification of Britain. After the ceremony, I'll take the 'Bone Clocks' from the major clans and return to Paradise."
"You plan to return to Paradise?"
Riezel asked again without any surprise.
"Yes." Aesc nodded. "Well, this place isn't really where I belong, so it wouldn't be right for me to stay here."
After saying this, she suddenly changed the subject.
"But there are still many mysteries on this island that haven't been solved yet, and I can't help but wonder about them."
Hearing this, Riezel raised an eyebrow.
"Such as?"
He looked at Aesc with a faint smile.
"For example, everything that happened here a very, very long time ago..."
Aesc murmured softly, her eyes lowered.
"I more or less understand why Paradise sent a fairy like me to Britain, but I still don't know why Britain ended up like this."
"My mission as the Fairy of Paradise is to save Britain and the fairies, but can that really be called salvation?"
"And why does Britain have things like the 'Calamity'?"
"Why is there that 'Pit' on this land?"
"What will happen to the 'Tree' planted on this land?"
"All these are things I want to understand."
Riezel naturally understood what Aesc meant.
"So, before you attend your disciple's coronation and return to Paradise, you want to solve all those mysteries?"
Riezel asked in a casual tone.
"Yes."
Aesc glanced at Riezel, as if trying to see through him.
"You, who come from the future, probably know a lot of things I don't, but if you told me everything, who knows what kind of effect it would have on the future?"
"Britain is fragile—any tiny thing could become a big problem here."
"I really want to ask you some things, but for Britain, I have to hold back."
As these words fell, Aesc stood up.
"By the way, my companions are nearby, ready to support me at any time." Aesc smiled at Riezel. "Well? Want me to introduce you to them?"
Since Riezel was not planning to return to the future, she would have to keep an eye on him to prevent him from doing anything that could affect the future.
Even though she wanted Riezel to leave, she had no choice now.
"Your companions?" Riezel also got up, not noticing her mood. "Very well, let me meet them then."
"Alright, please follow me."
Aesc nodded, turned around, and walked into the depths of the forest.
Riezel looked back once more at the ruined, unknown shore, gazing at the crystallized crater.
Before long, Riezel turned around and followed after Aesc, leaving this place behind.
With that, the two of them walked into the forest one after another—their shadows blended together underfoot, perhaps foreshadowing the fate that would tie them together from then on.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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