I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 749 - Side Story 22: Finding Oneself (4)

Rudger's head turned toward where the voice came from.

It was a voice in his memory. Quite a long time had passed, but his encounter with her had been quite memorable.

Ella Plante, Sedina's mother and the former head of the Plante family whose body had died but whose soul lived on in the World Tree.

What spoke on her behalf was a single flower that had bloomed atop the cradle at some point.

"M-Mom! What are you suddenly saying!"

The flower bud was reminiscent of a trumpet, and the petals moved like lips as they produced a voice.

[Oh my, did I say something I shouldn't have? You were singing about how much you wanted to see him until just now, so what are you being shy about?]

"N-no, when did I ever do that!"

Sedina became slightly tearful as she protested to Ella.

Rudger silently listened to their conversation before asking Ella.

"Does this mean you can now communicate with the outside world in this way?"

To communicate with Ella, one had to access the World Tree network with Sedina's help.

This was because her consciousness existed only in the World Tree.

For her to directly produce a voice in the external world like this was something Rudger had never imagined.

[It just happened to turn out that way. It's all thanks to our daughter working so hard.]

"Well...I couldn't keep Father connected to the World Tree forever."

According to Sedina, to allow the two to meet, she had to connect her father to the World Tree.

Because Sedina was born with Plante blood, connecting one person to the World Tree network wasn't difficult, but the problem was that it was very inefficient.

"No matter how strong Father's mental strength is, he's still human in the end. Continuous exposure to the World Tree network wouldn't be good. In fact, he did seem mentally exhausted."

But she couldn't tell her father to stop meeting her mother either.

To tell him to stop when he could finally meet his deceased wife—it would be like telling someone stranded in a desert not to drink water.

So after much deliberation, Sedina decided to change her approach.

She arranged for Ella Plante, whose consciousness resided in the World Tree, to be able to come out of the World Tree instead.

"It wasn't an easy process in many ways. After all, Mother's consciousness can only be maintained with the World Tree."

Looking at the results alone, it was resolved well.

One could tell just by looking at Ella Plante speaking to Rudger now.

Soon, with a creaking sound, the stems composing the cradle intertwined and rose up, transforming into the shape of a woman.

That appearance was exactly like Ella Plante whom he had met in the World Tree network.

It was a vessel modeled after her, so it couldn't help but resemble her.

"Wood zombie."

Rudger recalled the time he fought First Order Ventmin.

She had used part of the World Tree's authority through Sedina, and wood zombies were one of the prime examples of that.

Artificial life forms created using the genetic information of elves stored in the massive life network called the World Tree.

Wood zombies reproduced various family heads and heroes that existed in elven history.

'If anything, they're actually stronger than when they were alive.'

What composed the wood zombies' bodies was ultimately part of the World Tree.

Though called wood, the bark was harder than steel, and the durability of that tough flesh was beyond imagination.

Heroes resurrected with far more powerful and sturdy bodies?

They even had no fear of death and never tired.

Thinking about it now, he wondered how he had even fought such things.

'If I hadn't received full support of artifacts from the Roschen family, I would have lost.'

The battle at that time truly resembled a war.

Well, there was also the fight with Isla Machina afterward, and considering even Dreamland and the Holy War, it wasn't without parts that faded in his memory.

Returning the story to the starting point, the body Ella Plante currently obtained was like those wood zombies.

"Mm-hmm. As expected, this is more comfortable to move around in."

Not only was the body composed, but it even had clothing.

Considering what clothes are made from, what the raw material of fabric is, there was nothing particularly strange about it...

Ella Plante resembled the appearance in his memory.

If the wood zombies he had seen before were like expressionless wooden statues carved from wood, Ella Plante looked exactly like a person.

Of course, if you looked closely, there was a sense of incongruity.

But it was so subtle that only someone like Rudger could distinguish it.

The body created using the World Tree was incomparable to ordinary wooden dolls.

Even the parts that could be called joints could stretch flexibly, so there were no awkward parts.

If she put her mind to it, she could probably even implement similar organs inside.

'Truly a living zombie.'

Ella Plante was dead, yet alive.

It was contradictory, but this was an undeniable fact.

Ella looked at Rudger and greeted him.

"This is the first time we're meeting directly in reality, right? Nice to meet you."

"I never imagined I'd see you like this. I was sufficiently surprised just by being able to converse."

"Right? It's all thanks to our daughter's hard work. Of course, there was help from other elves too. Especially Bellaruna, was it? That child's help was decisive."

The fact that Bellaruna helped was unexpected, yet when he heard it, he naturally understood.

Wasn't she an unprecedented genius who secretly accessed the World Tree network on her own despite not being of Plante blood, even hacking the data?

What was even more frightening was that she succeeded in this without going through many trials and errors.

Such talent had never existed once in elven history.

Now that official access to the World Tree was possible, he couldn't imagine how much more proficient Bellaruna had become in that area.

'She succeeded in building a pharmaceutical company, and thinking about it now, she's the most successful among the Owens members.'

While Rudger was thinking such thoughts, he pointed out a weakness in the form Ella was showing.

"Even so, your range of activity must be limited. The only place you can move in this state would be around this cradle, centered on the World Tree."

"You figured that out at a glance? That's correct. Of course, we're gradually expanding the range now, but it's still not easy."

But compared to when she couldn't do anything, even now it was sufficient.

Sedina spoke from the side in an awkward voice.

"So Father comes to visit regularly and stays at the cradle."

"Oh my. Sedina, what are you saying?"

Ella covered her cheeks with both hands as if embarrassed.

Of course, her cheeks didn't redden. There would be no function for body temperature reactions due to increased metabolism to show externally.

That too would be a limitation of the World Tree's wooden body.

"Does that seem so fascinating to you, Teacher?"

Sedina asked, sensing Rudger's curious gaze.

"It's something I haven't seen until now. I can't help but be curious. You can see it as a natural reaction for a mage to have."

"But this is different from magic."

"Exploring the unknown that hasn't been revealed is a mage's destiny. That subject touches not only magic, but all phenomena and miracles in the world."

Ella Plante reacted to Rudger's answer.

"Wow. You really do talk like a teacher."

"Because I actually was a teacher.”

“And I was an assistant who helped with work right beside him."

Sedina and Ella, facing each other and conversing, resembled each other very much like mother and daughter.

They had been different in the past, but as Sedina grew, she became like Ella.

Looking at them like this, they seemed like very similar sisters.

Of course, it wasn't difficult to distinguish which one was Sedina and which was Ella.

There was still a difference in their hair color.

"While you go around proudly calling yourself an assistant, can't you say anything else?"

"That and this are different!"

"You were closer than anyone else but couldn't seize the opportunity, so I'm frustrated, dear."

"I'll handle my own business! Mom, don't interfere!"

"Oh my, look how you're talking to your mother. Hello there, son-in-law, did you see? Our daughter seems to have already entered her rebellious phase."

Watching Ella complain to Rudger, Sedina burst out.

"That's why I'm telling you not to say strange things!"

Thinking that if she teased her more, Sedina might cry, Ella decided to stop the teasing here.

"Okay, okay. I got it, I got it."

Rudger watched this and ended up bursting into laughter.

Sedina and Ella stared at Rudger as he lowered his head with his shoulders shaking.

"Teacher? Are you alright?"

"Ah, I'm fine. The situation was flowing amusingly for a moment, so I laughed inadvertently."

Rudger, who finally calmed down, answered in a much more relaxed voice.

"It's good to see you looking brighter than before Sedina."

"What? Oh, no, that's..."

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I know well how precious it is to spend time happily with family like this."

Sedina could feel that Rudger wasn't just saying this as a formality.

"Teacher, three years ago on that day... what were you trying to do?"

Sedina still didn't know why Rudger had disappeared beyond the dimensional gate because Rudger, who could tell her, hadn't returned.

It was a fact she hadn't remembered, being so happy to meet him again in this situation.

"Right. I should tell you too."

Rudger explained what his purpose was.

Tearing down the cage of the world to defeat Lumensis.

Going to a completely different world from this one and meeting the mother he had longed for so much—everything.

Having heard the entire story, Sedina trembled her lips as if she couldn't believe it.

Even Ella Plante, who had been smiling playfully throughout, had a serious face for this moment.

"To think such a thing happened."

Sedina could empathize more deeply than anyone with Rudger's story.

She too had the experience of losing precious family and falling into despair.

It was a time when she thought she was the most unhappy person in the world.

She believed that everything in the world wanted her to despair, so she was swept up in it and hated and detested everything.

It wasn't that she lacked awareness that she was doing bad things.

But she thought it couldn't be helped. She thought that whoever it was, if placed in the same situation as her, would have made the same choice.

No, she might have firmly believed that would be so.

'But Teacher wasn't like that. Even though it must have been harder for you than for me, you never once showed it.'

When she later learned Rudger's truth Sedina was startled by the weight of the fate he bore.

Born cursed from birth, he had overcome countless crises of death.

Unable to belong anywhere, he had to live continuously changing his identity and name.

It was completely different from Sedina, who at least had Roschen as a place to stay.

Nevertheless, Rudger didn't hate this world.

Even in difficult times, he didn't hesitate to extend a hand to someone else.

He said it was just actions calculated for necessity but Sedina could feel the warm heart underlying those actions.

Sedina was saved by such a Rudger.

She idolized him, thinking that Teacher was a perfect person, someone who lived standing firm alone without being worn down by the world's storms.

But after hearing Rudger's real story, Sedina had no choice but to painfully realize she was wrong.

'Teacher was also an ordinary person like me.'

Rudger's true purpose wasn't a great cause to save the world, nor a noble mission to reclaim humanity's freedom from an evil god.

He simply wanted to meet his family.

That was the person called Rudger.

He was not a superhuman who would never break but an ordinary person you could commonly see anywhere.

"Then, are you alright now?"

"Yes. Because I finally achieved it. I had many conversations I wanted to have after meeting."

"But it's not enough, is it?"

Sedina knows that even if you meet family you've been separated from for a long time, the emptiness isn't easily filled.

Wounds heal but scars remain. The larger the wound, the more vivid the scar.

Even with the three years until now, she still wasn't completely free from the past.

How much more so for Rudger.

He hadn't met his family for over 20 years, and even the reunion he barely achieved was nothing more than a short time.

It was woefully insufficient time for the deeply engraved wounds in his heart to heal.

"Yes. It's not enough now. But won't the future be different?"

At Rudger's words spoken with a gentle smile, Sedina felt like she had been hit with a hammer.

"What's past is ultimately past. And because of such a past, I was able to move forward even more."

Rudger looked at Sedina and asked.

"Wasn't it the same for you?"