CHAPTER 521: SIDE STORY - BEYOND TIME (2)

0% “So you’re telling me... You secretly studied a formula you accidentally discovered while visiting the Magic Tower?”

“And then, for fun, you transcribed it onto a scroll—only for it to get mixed up with the others without you realizing it?”

“And just now, you accidentally activated that scroll?”

“Yep! That’s right!”

Arte, who was kneeling with her hands raised in surrender, nodded innocently at their words.

“This should be about ten years in the past! The output of a mass-produced scroll wouldn’t allow for more than that!”

“...Of all things, I never imagined someone would rewind time. And for what? To cheat in a tag?”

“Dad banned combat training, so we had no choice but to play tag—y-you crazy girl...”

“Incredible! I thought the time you accidentally flipped the entire academy’s internal space upside down was the peak of your stupidity, but you’ve broken your own record!”

“Thanks!”

“... Lady Priscilla’s words are not a compliment.”

As the other children muttered in exasperation, one girl finally stepped forward with a serious expression.

“C-Cloné?”

“...”

“I-It was an accident! I swear, this time I really didn’t mean to!”

Arte’s usually cheerful face immediately twisted into a desperate plea as Cloné, her arms crossed, stopped right in front of her.

“As the princess of the Sunrise Empire and future Empress, I can no longer turn a blind eye to your atrocities!”

“A-Ack! Ow! Ow!”

“Can’t you take after your diligent and calm twin brother, Nox?!”

But despite Arte’s efforts to talk her way out of it, Cloné’s retribution began.

“Ack! It hurts! Cloné, it hurts!”

“It’s supposed to hurt! Take this and this!”

“Uwaaaah...”

Though considered the greatest imperial princess in history—blessed with the best traits of the first Empress and Clana—Cloné was still helpless before the empire’s greatest troublemaker.

“Wait... Aren’t we missing people?”

“Huh? You’re right. Where’s Rozalin?”

“And Nox? Merald?”

Meanwhile, as Cloné continued administering justice, the rest of the children began counting heads.

“Rozalin is with Miss Roswyn for etiquette lessons today. Honestly, I doubt there’s anyone more refined than her at this point—she completely took over the imperial social circles just a year after debuting.”

“Nox probably dodged out of pure reflex. He inherited Mom’s intellect and Dad’s combat prowess, after all.”

“Same with Merald. He’s a monster with the combined strength of the Demon King and the Hero...”

“Hah?”

As they tried to deduce the whereabouts of the missing children, an agitated voice suddenly burst out.

“Are you saying that because I got caught up in this, it means I’m weaker than them?”

“Spinne, that’s not what we meant.”

“Rozalin, Nox, Merald—none of them could ever beat me! I’m the strongest Demon King’s daughter and the next Demon King! One day, I’ll rule this wo—“

“You know Dad’s gonna scold you again, right?”

“...A-Anyway, I’m the strongest!!”

“Ugh.”

As the daughter of the Second Demon King and Second Hero, Spinne once again threw a fit—only to be promptly ignored by the rest.

“How in the world did the ever-gentle Miss Ruby give birth to a brute like her?”

“Seriously. I still find it hard to believe she was the Demon King at all.”

“It’s kind of romantic, though. The love story of a Demon King and a Hero... If only the result wasn’t that violent girl over there.”

“Honestly, at least Arte’s younger sibling is normal. Spinne and her twin are just... both disasters waiting to happen.”

“SHUT UP!!! FIGHT ME, ALL OF YOU!!!”

As chaos erupted once more, a red-haired boy narrowed his sharp eyes even further.

“Enough with the childish arguments. We need to figure out how to fix this.”

“Shut it, nerdy lizard!”

Ignoring Spinne’s outburst, he turned to Arte and asked—

“Arte, do you have a way to get us back?”

Still nursing the lumps she had earned from Cloné, Arte responded with a bright, innocent voice.

“Hmm... I’ll start researching it now!”

“Did you seriously just say that...”

“Think about it, Ikela! Maybe this was actually a good thing.”

“...What?”

“I mean, I just accomplished something even the Magic Tower Master couldn’t! That’s praisewor—“

Arte’s rambling trailed off when she saw the fire in Ikela’s glare.

He was usually the calm, rational one—but there was one thing that would always push his buttons: anyone belittling his mother, whom he deeply respected.

“I-I don’t mean to say that your mother was any less skilled!”

“...”

“I-I mean, unlike her, I didn’t include any safety formulas—I just maximized the success rate! So, technically, my version is just a... a degraded imitation! Y-Yeah, that’s it!”

Even the empire’s greatest troublemaker had her weaknesses.

Her terrifying rival Cloné, a furious Ikela, and the chilling smile of her mother when she eventually found out what she did.

And since she was already being punished by Cloné, she really didn’t need to add more names to that list.

“A-Anyway! This is a great opportunity!”

“What nonsense are you spouting now...?”

Desperately trying to change the topic, Arte grinned.

“We can see our parents when they were younger—with our very own eyes!”

“There’s no way we’re doing that! Request denied!”

Cloné furrowed her brows in sheer exasperation, but the other children...

They hesitated.

“...Now that you mention it... I am curious.”

“Neither Mom nor Dad ever talk about their past.”

“Well, there are plenty of biographies in the library, but...”

“I think it sounds fun!”

“Y-You all! Have you lost your mind?! What if we get found out? Do you have any idea what could happen?!”

Over the years, these kids had unwillingly been dragged into so many of Arte’s disasters that they had unknowingly grown addicted to adventure.

“E-Everyone! What do you all think?”

Frantic, Cloné turned to the only remaining “sensible” members of the group—

“Give it up. Judging by their eyes, there’s no stopping them.”

“C-Cassia?!”

“If anything, considering our past experiences, sticking together is the most logical choice.”

Cassia with her silver-and-black dual-tone hair curling around her fingers, spoke calmly.

“...I agree.”

“W-WHAT?!”

“If possible, I’d like to see my mother’s true swordsmanship in person.”

“Idea!! What are you saying?!”

Idea, who had been quietly stroking the sword inherited from her mother, finally voiced his opinion.

“Grrrrr...”

“I want to come too! Being with everyone makes me happy!”

“L-Lala... Even you?”

With even Lala—who had just used her Magic Eyes to subdue Spinne—joining in, Cloné’s resistance finally crumbled.

“...But when do we eat?”

“...Sigh.”

As Priscilla clutched her holy book and cluelessly asked about food, Cloné let out a deep, heavy sigh and tightly shut her eyes.

“...Let’s at least make sure we disguise ourselves properly.”

As soon as those words left her mouth, the children’s faces lit up with mischief.

“Alright, everyone! Step forward, one by one!”

“I shall erase your existence with black magic—ahem, I mean, conceal it.”

“Cassia, you misspoke, didn’t you?”

“I want to visit the Academy!”

“...I-I’ll go to the Magic Tower.”

“I call dibs on the Ashen Forest!”

“All of you, wake up from your delusions!”

And thus, the chaotic journey of the “little stars” had begun.

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“THE ACADEMY HASN’T CHANGED MUCH, HAS IT?”

“Aside from how lax the security used to be...”

“Because of you, they had to make it way stricter, Arte...”

Though the children had initially set out with high spirits to find their parents’ younger selves, they were quickly forced to change course.

“It feels weird not seeing Miss Isolet as the Headmistress.”

“Yeah, and no Miss Kadia or Miss Aria either.”

“Professor Glare isn’t here either?”

“You idiots, at this point in time, they’re all younger than us!”

No matter how many tracking spells they attempted, they simply couldn’t locate their parents—except for Frey.

“Should we try the mansion next? Maybe we can figure out why Miss Aria is so terrified of us...”

“Idiot. Sneaking into the mansion is impossible. What would you even say if we got caught?”

“...Yeah, good point.”

With no other choice, the children abandoned their original goal and began exploring different parts of the past empire.

“Whoa! Look at that! The collapsed cathedral!”

“So the rumors were true—the cathedral really did fall...”

“Are you talking about that weird legend where Dad split the cathedral in half?”

“Pfft, no way. Why would the Hero go and destroy the Church?”

“...When do we eat?”

“Priscilla, you’re supposed to be the next Saintess. That’s your takeaway after seeing the ruins of the cathedral?”

From the remains of the once-glorious Church—

“So the rumors about secret biological experiments in the Magic Tower basement were false...”

“OF COURSE my mother wouldn’t do something like that!!!”

“But then what about the rumors of a sealed Demon God down here—?”

“Shh! Look! It’s young Professor Glare!!”

“H-Holy crap. She’s adorable...”

“Wait. Is she looking this way?”

“Come on, no way. Even Professor Glare wouldn’t be able to see through our disguises at that age—“

To an unexpected sighting of young Glare inside the Magic Tower—

“This is sacred imperial ground!! Unauthorized trespassing is unforgivable, even if I am the princess—ack!”

“Move! There’s something I wanna try!!”

“STOP ARTE!!”

“When the hell did she even steal solar mana?!”

And finally, to Arte checking off another item from her list of places to break into—the Imperial Palace.

“Mmph! Mmmph!!”

“Got her...”

“But this is weird. Sure, the palace didn’t have anti-Arte defenses yet, but should ancient magic really be this easy to break through?”

“Honestly, considering how many of us have access to light mana, we could probably nullify most of the Empire’s ancient spells if we really tried.”

“...That makes us sound really overpowered.”

“HEY! WHO GOES THERE?!”

“We—we’ve been spotted!!!”

Despite easily shutting down most of the Empire’s magical security using their absurdly strong bloodlines, the children were ultimately discovered—by none other than a regular palace guard.

“Haah... Haah...”

“Where... are we now?”

“...The Ashen Forest. I used a large-scale teleportation spell.”

“You—you teleported all of us?”

After a long chase inside the palace, the group was moments away from being captured by the Imperial Knights when Ikela used every ounce of his strength to teleport them away.

“...I feel weak...”

“Ikela, you look hungry. Let’s eat together!”

“Wait... so this is the past Ashen Forest?”

As Ikela slumped from exhaustion, Priscilla poked his cheek while Spinne surveyed the area, her eyes glinting dangerously.

“I heard this forest used to be filled with powerful monsters.”

“Spinne, wait—“

“This is the PERFECT place for a future Demon King like me!!!”

With a manic grin, she suddenly charged forward.

“SHOW YOURSELF, STRONGEST MONSTER IN THIS FOREST!!!”

“Give it up. This is after the Frozen Sun War. There aren’t any strong monsters left.”

“RAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Some of the kids tried to stop her, but Spinne was already a dot in the distance.

“Does she ever get tired of fighting?”

“Right? She fought the remnants of the Sun Church, a sealed beast in the Academy’s basement, the Warlock Cultists, and helped with the Western Desert Rebellion—“

“...You know, come to think of it, we end up in a lot of disasters—even when it’s not Arte’s fault.”

“It’s not a disaster! It’s an adventure!”

“Arte, shut up and find a way to send us back.”

As the kids exchanged complaints, Arte, who had been scribbling notes into her notebook, suddenly widened her eyes.

“...Huh?”

“What is it? Did you find a way back? I was just starting to get worried.”

“No, it’s not that...”

Cassia, who had been watching hopefully, tilted her head as Arte suddenly grinned excitedly.

“I found a signal.”

“A... signal?”

“I finally located our mothers!”

“...Wait. Have you been tracking our parents instead of finding a way home?!”

“Yup!”

The group collectively stared at Arte in utter disbelief.

- *Munch, munch...*“P-Priscilla!! Stop! Spit that out!!!”

Meanwhile, Priscilla, stomach growling, had picked a random flower and was chewing on it—prompting Cloné to frantically intervene.

- *RUMBLE! CRASH!*“DIIIIIEEEE!!!”

And in the distance, the sound of a hill collapsing accompanied by Spinne’s monstrous battle cry slowly filled the once-quiet forest.

“...This is a complete disaster.”

This truly was a catastrophic mess.

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“ARE YOU SURE THEY’RE REALLY HERE?”

“Yep, yep! I’m totally sure!”

A few minutes later, the children arrived at the location Arte had led them to, carefully hiding themselves.

“Spinne, what the hell happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?”

“...I fought a giant snake monster at the center of the forest. Of course, I won.”

“Shh, they’re coming!”

Peering through the tall grass, they spotted their mothers returning home from grocery shopping.

“Whoa...”

“This is surreal...”

“The Empress doing groceries? Mother is truly amazing!”

“O-Oh my god... The Demon King is carrying the basket?!”

“Shh! If we’re too loud, they’ll notice us!”

The children, eyes sparkling with fascination, quickly hushed as Cassia urged them to stay quiet and observe.

“...I never imagined my mother was once this young.”

Cassia murmured softly while watching Kania, dressed in the same formal suit she herself had inherited.

“Ikela, your mom looks exactly like you right now.”

“Yeah, yeah. And she looks fierce.”

“S-Shut up!”

As Ikela stared in awe at his mother with pure admiration, the others giggled and teased him, prompting him to hiss in irritation.

“Wait a second... Is that really Miss Ruby?”

“How is the gentle Miss Ruby grabbing Miss Irina by the collar and fighting her?”

“...And over who’s in charge of dinner tonight...”

“...So Spinne truly is Miss Ruby’s daughter, huh.”

“Why is Miss Clana trembling at the back like that?”

“Can’t you tell? Obviously, she’s furious over this disgraceful display! Watch closely—soon, we will witness the majestic authority of the greatest Empress in history!”

“Meanwhile, Miss Ferloche is still smiling like she doesn’t have a care in the world.”

The children continued their silent surveillance mission, utterly enthralled by the unfamiliar sight.

- *Ssshh...*Suddenly, one of the women stopped walking.

Reaching for the sword at her waist, Isolet turned her gaze toward the bushes.

“Who’s there?”

The sheer killing intent radiating from her as she locked onto their hiding spot sent chills down their spines.