Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter Ep1

Epilogue I: As Long as One Smiles 

“Good grief, just what could this mean...?” 

With a furrowed brow, Suimei came to the entrance of the alley leading to his base. The reason for his consternation was the confusing news the knights who’d gone to do reconnaissance had brought back with them. 

Yesterday, Suimei and the others managed to defeat the mastermind Romeon without trouble and clear the suspicions against Liliana. Suimei was thinking about his plans from here on out after pulling an all-nighter as surprising information came fluttering to him. A moment ago, as a grim bell rang throughout the city, the husk of Romeon’s body was tied to a stake in the southern plaza. But that was all fine and well. The Empire had a need to declare to the public that the criminal behind the coma incidents had been caught. Even though their response was a bit hasty, it wasn’t unreasonable. 

The other thing the knights had reported concerned the leaflets that were passed around to explain to the citizens what had really happened regarding the incidents. It included that Liliana being considered a suspect was a mistake. Not only that, it was written that for the sake of capturing the true criminal, despite that she was being pursued herself, she took a role in his capture. This wasn’t unreasonable either. The higher-ups of the Empire needed to fabricate an appropriate story to explain why they hadn’t been able to apprehend the person who was considered the prime suspect for so long. 

However, the fact that official notice came out before even a day had passed, and that it went as far as to clear Liliana’s name and defend her to the general public, made Suimei cock his head. 

Right now, the imperial capital was in a far calmer state than when Suimei had first arrived. No matter where he went, people only had praise for Liliana now. It was as if all the animosity for her had vanished in the night. On top of that, there was even talk of the nobles who’d been in a coma regaining consciousness, leaving Suimei completely stumped. Lefille, who was standing behind Suimei, lifted the brim of her hat and squinted her eyes. 

“What an odd story. This is of course the result of something you did, right, Suimei-kun?” 

“I can’t do that kinda thing. Posting about Romeon on a notice board is easy, but to actually be able to change the minds of the people on something, frankly speaking, is pretty absurd, you know?” 

To manipulate the sentiments of an entire city in the span of a scant few hours was ridiculous. The way Suimei could think of to do it would be to place magicka on the notice board to overwrite the sentiments of anyone who saw it. In a sense, it would use the words to infect the populace. The question then was if that was something higher-ups of the Empire could or would do. 

It wasn’t impossible, but they had no real reason to go out of their way to do it. And whether they had the means to do so was another matter entirely. There was also the matter of how they would be able to hide the fact that magicka had been applied to the notice board. So all things considered, for all of this to have happened so quickly and flawlessly was insane. And while things had cooled down, Suimei was planning on leaving. 

“Suimei-kun, it seems nothing will come out of thinking about it more.” 

“I’m not completely convinced, but I guess we have to give up on figuring it out...” 

As he returned to the base with Lefille in tow, Reiji, Felmenia and the others were on their way out. Reiji called out to Suimei when he saw him. 

“Is it like we thought, Suimei?” 

“Yeah.” 

As Suimei confirmed briefly that what the knights had told them was indeed the truth, Reiji’s expression became quite stern. With a wrinkle between his brows, he let out a dubious groan. 

“...What does it all mean?” 

“Who knows? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t get it, so I ended up just giving up on finding the answer.” 

“Is that... really alright?” 

“It obviously isn’t. It isn’t, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” 

“Could it be that man’s doing?” 

“Rogue-san, huh?” 

It was certainly possible that Rogue was moving in the shadows, but it was difficult to imagine him managing so much on his own. Besides, he was most likely no longer in the imperial capital. 

“Well, it’s fine, isn’t it? With this, the people of the city don’t have to live in fear anymore, so things have improved, at least.” 

“Suimei, that’s kind of irresponsible...” 

Reiji slumped his shoulders in disbelief. Suimei was racking his brain over just what was going on, but without a conclusion, it left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. They’d managed to settle Liliana’s case in time, but there were still portions of it he didn’t understand. There was also the matter of how Romeon had come to know about savage names. There was nothing left in Romeon’s memories that explained it. 

Suimei felt like things were in motion somewhere he couldn’t see. And he couldn’t tell if the forces behind them were bad or good. 

“Also, everyone, sorry for this being so sudden, but in two or three days, I’m going to need you all to leave.” 

Receiving this sudden notice of eviction, Mizuki cried out in a surprised tone. 

“W-Wait a sec, Suimei-kun! That’s too sudden! Besides, since Liliana-chan’s problem has been solved now, there’s no need for you and the others to leave the imperial capital, right?” 

“That’s true. But we’ll be going to the Saadias Alliance soon, so you’ll need to find somewhere else to stay while you’re in the imperial capital.” 

“The Alliance? Not the self-governed state? Why?” 

As Mizuki tilted her head to the side, Reiji answered her as a thought came to mind. 

“Is it to find a way to go back to our world?” 

“That’s right. There was something like that written in the book Menia brought to me earlier.” 

Hearing this, Titania directed a reproachful look at Suimei. 

“Suimei, you say you’re looking for a way back, but does that mean that once you find it, you intend to just leave Liliana behind on her own?” 

Titania’s words for him were more barbed than ever before. But it was understandable. On one hand, Suimei was saying that he would look after Liliana, while on the other, he was saying he wanted to go back to his world. Hearing them one after the other, they sounded like contradictory statements. But Suimei had thought about this himself. 

“Of course not. Once I find a way back, I’ll take Liliana with me and properly look after her. It’s only reasonable that I do something until she is able to stand on her own, after all.” 

“Y-Yes, that’s... obvious. If Suimei left me and went on his own... it would be a problem!” 

“I said it’ll be fine.” 

“Really and truly? For sure?” 

In a fluster, Liliana was on the verge of shouting as she worriedly questioned Suimei. Mizuki standing next to her smiled with a broad grin like she’d just found a new weapon. 

“She’s really attached to you, huh?” 

“You really have to say that each and every time...” 

It was their usual exchange. Mizuki prodded at him, and Suimei replied like she was off the mark. But then Felmenia stepped in. 

“S-Suimei-dono.” 

As she called out to him, she looked at him with expectant, pleading eyes. Perhaps she wanted to be acknowledged as one of his students too. She looked uncertain and anxious as she waited for an answer, which could only mean... 

“Does Menia also want to come?” 

“Y-Yes! Of course! If it reaches the point where I can come and go, then without fail!” 

She gave an energetic, delighted reply to Suimei’s question as if something extraordinarily good had happened. Suimei then looked over his shoulder and asked Lefille the same thing. 

“What about Lefi?” 

Lefille, however, slightly puffed out her cheeks like she was pouting. 

“How cold. You already know I’d go anywhere with you.” 

“I see.” 

Lefille had not a single living relative in this world. She had no place to go back to and no place to call home, so Suimei thought it might be nice to bring her back to his world with him. 

As all the talking wound down, Suimei headed towards the house on his own. That is, until Felmenia came bounding after him like a puppy. He stopped and looked back at her as he reached the front door. 

“Suimei-dono, there is something I would like to ask you.” 

“What is it?” 

“It is about what you taught me about yesterday, mystical entropy.” 

“Ah, that? Yeah, it’s pretty complicated. If you have any questions, just keep them coming.” 

Suimei grabbed the doorknob and went inside. Felmenia came in behind him. She seemed to be stumped on something, as she had her head tilted to the side. 

“Even if one increases entropy, the ratio of ‘the components that establish mystical laws’ and ‘the components that establish physical laws’ will eventually return to normal, right?” 

“Yeah, just like I explained yesterday. Do you have questions about it?” 

“But Suimei-dono, if that is the case, then would it not be possible to continuously use magicka to the point where all physical laws in the world are disordered?” 

Hearing those words, Suimei stood there stock still with his back turned to her. With his hand on the door to close it, his whole body stiffened. Or rather, it was more like time had completely stopped for him. He was frozen in place. 

“...” 

“Suimei-dono?” 

Felmenia wasn’t sure what was going on. Suimei almost always replied right away, so his current behavior was certainly odd. She had to wonder if the answer was something he didn’t actually know. 

“What will you do with that knowledge?” 

“Was... Was it not something I should have asked?” 

“No, that’s not it... It’s something about our world, so I didn’t think it had much to do with you.” 

“...Does it not have something to do with this world as well?” 

“I can’t say it definitively. Though honestly, as long as humans are around, there’s an eight or nine out of ten chance...” 

“...?” 

Felmenia was unable to firmly grasp what Suimei was talking about. As she wrinkled her brow, Suimei began to answer her initial question. 

“Just like you said, even when the components that establish mystical and physical laws mix, the large amount of physical components in the surrounding space will bring the physical laws back into equilibrium. However, the mixing of components is an irreversible phenomenon; it isn’t like the components which mixed together returned to their original state.” 

“So in that case, if one continues to use magicka, would the world eventually enter a state where all laws become disordered?” 

“That’s right. Even though it returns to its previous state, the place that humans occupy is a closed world. The time where scientific laws, natural order, natural phenomena, and the common sense held by humans all end up a threat will inevitably come. Until then, humans would have to find a means of running away from it, or perhaps if they manage to solve the mysteries of the cosmos...” 

“Mysteries of the cosmos...?” 

Suimei didn’t answer her there, but continued explaining in concepts that Felmenia could understand. 

“The world is made of physical laws known as the ‘theory of universal eternity.’ If those laws are disordered, no matter how many experiments are run, they would be unable to get any results using those laws as a foundation. In other words, at that point, humanity would no longer be able to develop science any further. And when scientific development comes to a stop, the profits from similar academic pursuits would dry up. Development would stop there, too. In the end, even the development of magicka would, since it too is based on the knowledge of the world.” 

As Suimei continued without prompting, Felmenia got chills like she could tell this was something she shouldn’t have touched on. Her expression was filled with tension and fear. Yet Suimei still continued. 

“When the development of knowledge is lost, humanity will be unable to attain new knowledge and nothing new will be born. That kind of world is as good as dead. As long as the concept of time exists in the world, humans will always be in a position where they are unable to escape the progress of time. If they lose the ability to oppose the flow of time by creating new things, then it’s only a matter of course before they slowly die. A world without development is but a shell of a world. A waste. In other words, this final moment would be when mystical entropy overflows.” 

Suddenly, an icy feeling crawled down Felmenia’s back. Suimei was alluding to things that should be unrelated to this world, but even so, she felt like she was in danger. 

“Then... is magicka something that should not exist?” 

“No, that’s not the case. Whether or not magicka exists, both the mystical and physical must be kept in balance.” 

“Is that possible?” 

“No.” 

Suimei cut down all hope she had with but a single word. Felmenia looked up at him with anxiety in her eyes. 

“I believe I mentioned it when that phenomenon of the end of the world appeared in Astel. The end is predetermined. If magicka continues to develop, then the development of the world will come to an end. If science continues to develop, eventually the world’s resources will dry up and the world will succumb to heat death. Of course, if humanity spreads too much, you can think of them as overflowing the container we call the world. And the pent up resentment I talked to you about before would gather and accelerate the deterioration of the entire world. The use of resources and the development of knowledge, even in a world where the population is controlled, will end a world. But so will stagnation and a lack of development. The short of it is that all born into the world are destined to perish.” 

There was no hope. Understanding the gravity of that, Felmenia was rendered speechless. Even if what Suimei was talking about was something that would happen in the distant future, it did not change the fact that everyone in the world would one day meet their end in vain as they slowly went mad and wasted away. 

“As long as humans are an intelligent life form, I believe it’s very likely that this world, just like mine, is one ruled by the theory of universal eternity. If you think about it like that...” 

“Then our world too will meet its end one day?” 

As Suimei turned around, Felmenia was standing there looking up at him with eyes that asked him for answers. She wanted to know what she should do. Just like a teacher looking at a troubled student, he smiled gently at her. 

“Well, there’s no reason to be so pessimistic about it. Certainly, the end of the world is predetermined, making it all pretty worthless in the long run. But even so...” 

As he said that, Suimei beckoned over Liliana, who was surrounded by Reiji and the others. Seeing that, Liliana slipped out of the circle and walked up to the door. 

“Suimei... What’s wrong?” 

“It’s nothing, really. There’s the case of looking for a means to return to my world, but after all, I think we should look for Rogue too. Having to stay separated from him like this... You hate it, right?” 

“Oh... Yes!” 

With Suimei gently stroking her head, she had gotten bashful. Seeing that from a distance, Reiji and the others warmly watched over the two of them. 

“Ah...” 

Having figured out what Suimei was trying to say, Felmenia raised her voice. Seeing this, Suimei put on a smile with a tranquil heart. 

“Even if the world is worthless, if even a little bit of it can stay in a state where everyone can smile, isn’t that a good thing?”