135 – You can’t have it all! but… #5

135 – You can’t have it all! but… #5

“light. butterfly. time. flight… .”

Lunch hour.

Brigitte muttered.

He held a cup in his hand, and inside the cup turned upside down on the table was a butterfly, like a hostage.

“I think there were at least two more words. road… ? guide… ?”

Brigitte had been talking to herself in this way ever since.

To the point where he didn’t even notice I was stealing the only cherry tomato from his plate.

Truly super-concentrated.

It was clear that Brigitte in this state would not notice if someone pulled her nose.

Shuk-.

“what are you doing. Why is my nose?”

No, pulling your nose is noticing.

I said, deliberately removing my hand from Brigitte’s nose.

“No, because I didn’t eat and did something.”

“rice? Rice is pretty good. Right now, I’m vaguely interpreting the formula that went into constructing this butterfly. At least five words were used. At least 5 circles or more.”

“yes?”

I was honestly a stranger to magic.

When doctors show patients curly letters and explain with difficult words, patients seem to just do that—you think?

Whenever I heard an explanation of magic, I always felt like a patient.

What matters is whether this is good or bad for your health in the end.

“So what is the conclusion?”

I asked.

Then Brigitte took a large piece of meat in one bite and chewed it.

“In conclusion, this butterfly is magic. The sophistication of the techniques used to construct the magic is superior to anyone I have ever seen.”

Brigitte was an excellent wizard.

And all the outstanding wizards had the mindset of “I am the best” because they were all proud.

Arrogance.

Self-righteousness.

That kind of thing is also very important to mages.

However, if Brigitte praised it like this, it was possible to know that the skill of the magician who created this magic butterfly was quite great.

“So, what is the purpose of the magician? Did you release the butterflies to terrorize Freesia?”

Brigitte said that these butterflies had the effect of distorting what could be called a ‘time axis’.

To explain it in an easy-to-understand way, I can derive ‘results’.

“This butterfly has the effect of drawing the future and results from things. I think this is probably a completed level of time-space magic. That’s all I can know now.”

spacetime magic.

It was the kind I knew.

The reason Naru, Cecily, and Hina were able to come to the present from the future six years later was because of that space-time magic.

The magical Demiurge Efar sent the children to the past?

That meant that only Demiurge Efar could handle time and space.

“What you said, Brigitte, is that this butterfly is a creature created by a magician on par with Ephrael——isn’t it? enemy? friend? Where did such a person come from?”

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder.

It seems that Brigitte was the same.

“I do not know. However, things will probably change drastically in many ways. For what purpose did you scatter the butterflies? What are you aiming for?”

Brigitte said that all magic has a ‘purpose’.

If light magic was cast, of course the purpose was to light up the darkness. If someone shot a ball of flame, it was said that there was a purpose——in order to burn something.

So this swarm of butterflies must also have a purpose.

“… And why is it a butterfly? If I were to compose a magic formula, there would be a more monotonous and effective form. Like petals or spores.”

* * *

“Ow, shack… ! There are a lot of butterflies… !”

Naru looked at the trees planted in the playground.

Butterflies were resting on the trees, and their sparkling wings were very nice to see.

Cecily also nodded.

“Butterflies are graceful and beautiful animals. Going from a caterpillar to a pupa and finally spreading its beautiful wings symbolizes patience, a noble virtue.”

“Ah, run away!”

Naru shouted.

Butterflies are very sensitive, so when people approach, they spread their wings and run away.

To catch such a butterfly, Cecily moved quietly.

—Cecily Biggie, cat steps!

Cecily approached cautiously and swayed the net.

With each swing, three or four butterflies were caught on Cecily’s net, and all the children exclaimed, “Awesome!” or “Cecily, you’re a perfect butterfly hunter!”

「The Butterfly Hunter」.

Cecily thought it was a cool enough nickname for a noble lady.

Hina carefully put the butterfly she caught in a transparent bag.

“Everyone, come in here… .”

Palak, palak-.

The number of butterflies in the bag has surpassed 10 and 20.

If you keep holding on, you will pass a hundred.

“Maybe you need a slightly bigger envelope… .”

Catching butterflies continued with that feeling.

The envelope with fluttering butterflies was very dazzling, as if it were a light bulb in itself.

Then Tywin approached Hina.

“Hina, that envelope. can you give it to me?”

“… … .”

Hina looked at the butterfly in the envelope.

About 100.

It was possible to hand out one or two, but it was unreasonable to ask for an entire envelope.

“… No.”

Hina, of course, refused.

I thought that Tywin would also be rejected, so I decided to put the words I had prepared into my lips.

“Maybe I can help your parents.”

“… parents… . mom and dad… .”

“Naru or Cecily might not, but Hina, you know that this butterfly is not ordinary, right? He’s someone who can use this level of magic, so he’ll definitely be useful.”

It was.

Hina vaguely sensed that, unlike Cecily and Naru, who simply liked butterflies, these butterflies were truly amazing.

‘Time to choose… .’

Hina’s time to choose came.

What should I do?

Of course, Hina’s choice was short-lived, as always.

Shuk-.

Hina, who liked her mother and father, handed Tywin an envelope full of butterflies.

Grabbing it, Tywin didn’t look back and headed to the science preparation room, scattering various powders and chemicals on the floor to draw a magic circle.

It would be better to describe it as a formation for communion with the goddess Efar, rather than an ordinary magic circle.

However, work has been slow.

“I don’t have any mana powder.”

High purity mana powder.

There wasn’t even one bag of it.

Soon after, Elizabeth, who was observing this situation, spoke.

“I know how to make mana powder. I often saw my dad mixing it. Mix sugar and salt in a one-to-one ratio, grind the magic crystals here, and heat them up… .”

Elizabeth was the daughter of the pharmacist Ilgast.

Since there was something I had seen since I was young, I was good at making simple medicines.

Completed mana powder before I knew it.

Tywin received the powder and drew a pentagonal star on the floor of the science lab.

The preparations to talk with Efar are over.

Hwareuk-.

Finally, after lighting the candles around the magic circle, Tywin spoke.

“Now is important. I need to recite a special incantation to talk to the goddess, so everyone be quiet. after… .”

Tywin made everyone quiet.

Tywin opened his lips as much fell into stillness.

“The end of the gloomy evening. Shining star of dawn I, Tywin Cladeco, want to hear your voice. I beg you, Efar, to give strength to your servant.”

Efar was the god of magic.

Most of the wizards were believers in the goddess Epar, as it was said that she bestows magical knowledge, wisdom, and the power to perform miracles to those who follow her.

Tywin, who had a strange birth, had a knack for talking to Efar more closely than anyone else, and this time, too, that knack had a great effect.

Fire-.

The round candles around the magic circle turned purple.

significant change.

While Naru, Cecily, and Hina were admiring the sight, only Tywin spoke in a calm voice.

“Please allow me to pursue the master of this magic.”

Efar was the ruler of all magic.

So, it was clear that he could help chase down the people who created these butterflies.

However, the miracle did not happen.

quiet desolation.

As it flowed into the science prep room, Tywin said softly.

“… My lord Efar, I will give you one year of my remaining time.”

God always wanted a reward.

To be precise, they liked to choose.

When you gain something, you lose something equal to it.

That is the law of the Demiurges.

Tywin decided to dedicate one year of his life.

The more precious things are sacrificed, the more the Demiurges show great power.

Because the gods were fair.

Pot, pot-pot-.

Soon, the candles that had been burning in a circle seemed to go out one by one, and then the knot that was tightly tying the opening of the envelope unraveled.

And then don’t the butterflies fly to one place?

Looking at that, Naru said.

“Let’s all go after them!”

It was the right idea.

Cecily and Hina followed Naru and Nabi, and Tywin tried to follow them. But Tywin was out of breath unexpectedly, and it was difficult to even walk.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha… .”

“Tywin, you… . it’s okay?”

Elizabeth was startled and supported Tywin.

Soon, Naru, Cecily, and Hina, who were running ahead, seemed to stop and returned to Tywin.

Tywin’s hands were shaking.

Not only that, but Tywin’s gray hair, called the gray princess, had already turned white.

Her hair was white like that of old women.

Tywin’s skin was so pale that you couldn’t even recognize him.

You can see the blue veins through it.

Her fingers were as bony as dry branches, and her face, which many adults expected, “You will become the most beautiful woman in Phrygia in 10 years,” was also haggard.

“Because I’m fine… . come on… . Go… Chasing butterflies… . tell me… . ask for help… .”

Tywin raised his hand and pointed to the entrance the butterflies had left.

If I missed the butterflies like this, the wish I had spent the rest of my time could have become meaningless.

“Let’s go, Cecily… . Naru… .”

Hina started walking again.

Naru and Cecily also followed suit.

However, Naru kept looking back.

“Tywin, are you okay… ?”

Tywin was a friend.

Naru was especially worried about Tywin because he had many memories with him.

In contrast, Hina, who had little memories of Tywin, was cold-hearted.

“In the future where we were… . There was no one called Tywin… . In the first place, Tywin wasn’t given much time… .”

As Hina knew, Tywin was a cloned human.

However, no matter how El Cladeco was, it was impossible to perfectly clone a person.

Side Effect.

short life span.

… life to die anyway.

‘Maybe that’s why El Cladeco didn’t show affection to Tywin… . Maybe he didn’t give him affection because he knew life was short. It’s a meeting where parting is decided… .’

A meeting where parting is determined as the result.

It was for this reason that Hina tried to hide herself as much as possible from her mother, Salome, and her father, Judas.

Because the result of parting was fixed, I tried not to attach affection as much as possible.

‘You need to calm down. I am the calm Hinabaryu. My role is always to calmly and dispassionately assess the situation.’

Hina was cold.

Whatever the situation, Hina had to stay calm.

Because among the sisters, no one could be as calm and calm as Hina.

“Naru… , you have to go The time to choose will come… . you already knew… . What we have to lose… . And what to keep… . you have to choose… .”

Hina said calmly.

Then Cecily was slightly surprised.

“Didn’t we talk about this before? I think I remember!”

It seemed like we had talked about this before.

It was a long memory that felt like a long time ago.

Then Hina said:

“Naru, you can’t have everything! We have to choose!”

– said.

The conversation then and now was the same.

What did Naru say then?

Cecily diligently reviewed her memories.

Memories rushing in like a torrent from a broken dam.

Naru said while cleaning it up.

“You can’t have everything! but… , You returned to the past after a long time. We’re back from the future to change the past! So, Hina, take care of that!”

pat-.

Naru turned around and ran back to where Tywin was.

Hina and Cecily were left behind.

Hina’s red eyes looked at Cecily.

“Cecily, what are you going to do… . Tywin chose… . Chasing butterflies now is helping Tywin choose… .”

Hina and Naru’s opinions were often at odds.

Almost every moment was like that.

The two are fiercely opposed.

Between them, it was always Cecily’s job to decide the winner.

Cecily was troubled.

“I… .”

Cecily looked at Naru’s back.

And I looked at the butterflies moving far away.