I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 862 – Side Story 135: Nightmare (1)

When a water droplet falls on a calm water surface, ripples form. The neat and clear world reflected on the water surface becomes disordered by the trembling waves and soon grows hazy.

Waking from the dream of the mirror world was like that.

"......"

Flora's appearance upon waking from the dream seemed somehow drowsy. Her hazy eyes, not yet properly focused, were retracing the parallel world she had experienced rather than reality.

It was a happy dream. However, she soon had to face reality.

"Ahem. It was an interesting experience."

Flora coughed deliberately in a mature manner, acting as if nothing had happened. If one looked closely, her cheeks and earlobes were flushed red, but Rudger didn't bother pointing it out.

Dreams are happy. But true happiness ultimately lies in this reality.

Even if reality is cold, that's not entirely true. Rather, it's the only place where one can grasp the real thing, not a dream.

"I'd like to check a bit more."

Flora swept her side hair with her white, fair hand.

"But anything more would be greedy. This much is enough. There are other people's positions to consider too. I'll be going now. I have many things to handle for the family."

The Flora of the parallel world didn't receive proper recognition. But she ultimately proved her qualifications.

Then what about the current Flora?

"Let me ask one thing." 

"Yes. What is it? If you're going to ask, you can ask several things instead of just one." 

"Aquila. Does she exist here?"

At Rudger's question, Flora's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled broadly.

"Ahaha. Come to think of it, I suppose I haven't said anything about that."

Before he could even confirm the meaning of that smile, Flora spoke first.

"Three years ago." 

"......" 

"I already proved it back then."

Rudger chuckled and nodded.

"Well, well. I asked out of concern, but reality is far better than the dream." 

"Did you forget who I am? I'm Flora Lumos. Duke Lumos. The genius mage of Theon. There's no way someone like me would be lacking. Ah, though there is something that interests me a bit. I'd like to try being vice-chancellor of Theon at least once."

That was the end of the answer. Flora left quickly with an eye-smile, saying she had busy matters to attend to. However, her fragrance still lingered in the air, stimulating his nose.

It hadn't been long, yet strangely it felt nostalgic.

Time flowed slowly. Some might feel it passed like an arrow, but Rudger did not.

While spending fulfilling and valuable days as always, the mirror world project schedule was set again.

And naturally, on that day, he met the person who would be with him at the site.

"Well then, I'm counting on you."

Now as before, it was Selina, smiling brightly like a flower blooming in the warm spring.

She was still working as a teacher at Theon, but today seemed to be one of her rare free days.

"Yes. I'm counting on you too."

In truth, using the mirror world with Selina like this was somewhat overdue. If there was such a thing as depth or measure of connection, Selina also belonged to a considerably high tier.

It was probably because there were practically many busy issues that the opportunity came late.

"Miss Selina. Have you heard anything in advance?" 

"Pardon? Ah, yes. I only heard the basics. That there might be some dizziness or drowsy feeling. And that I should think of it like having a dream." 

"There shouldn't be any major problems. At least that's been the case so far. Don't be nervous, just relax." 

"Ne, nervous. Ahaha. Right, I suppose?"

Though he told her to relax, Selina was still tense, her body stiffened.

Was using the mirror world that worrying?

The operation preparations were just completed. Rudger extended his hand to Selina.

"Let's go."

Selina stared intently at Rudger's hand, then swallowed her saliva. With movements reminiscent of a rusty automaton, she grasped Rudger's hand. Strangely, her grip was very tight.

He thought holding hands would ease her tension, but was that not the case? Rudger was momentarily puzzled, but since it was time, he stepped onto the mirror world together with Selina.

As always, he would have a dream this time too.

Just think of it as exploring another world. With that thought, he activated the device.

As always, the world changed with light.

When Rudger first opened his eyes, what he saw was a sky filled with dark clouds.

'What?'

As he got up and looked around, he saw a forest with only blackened bare branches, as if swept by flames.

The surrounding air was heavily stagnant and filled only with a stuffy energy. The faint smell of death and pain he felt in the midst of it all made his brow furrow involuntarily.

'Where is this?'

Having traveled extensively across the continent, he remembered almost every place.

But this location was completely new to him. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, but as far as he knew, there was no forest filled only with death like this.

'Something's wrong.'

Rudger instinctively sensed that something was amiss.

First, Selina was nowhere to be seen. Usually, when crossing over together, their bond worked strongly, so they were usually together most of the time.

At least that had been the case until now.

'But this time is different. I can't get a grasp on where Miss Selina is.'

The very fact that they were separated like this showed this wasn't a normal situation.

And there were a few more strange things.

'I'm currently aware that I'm in a parallel world.'

Normally, in the case of parallel worlds, one unconsciously and naturally assimilates dream-like with oneself there. Realizing this is a parallel world takes time, and the variance differs with each trial, but usually one realized it around the end.

But this time, he was aware this was a parallel world immediately upon entering.

'Why am I here?'

Rudger examined his attire. It was exactly the same as what he wore when using the mirror world. It was as if he had dropped into this world in the exact state he was in when using the mirror world.

Rudger fell into thought. All sorts of hypotheses were tangled up complexly in his head.

Like untangling knotted thread, he spent time slowly gathering the scattered fragments of information and piecing them together.

It wasn't just rational deduction. What filled in the lacking parts was a kind of instinct, led by supernatural intuition acquired from crossing countless battlefields.

The conclusion he reached that way.

'This place is at least somewhere I know.'

What made it feel unfamiliar was this harsh environment. Rudger lightly stomped the ground. Mana waves spread out in concentric circles through the soles of his feet.

Through the spreading magic power, he roughly put the surrounding structures in his head.

Rudger's gaze suddenly turned toward one place.

His body was swallowed by shadows and appeared at a distant location.

"This is."

Rudger stared at the structure before his eyes in disbelief.

It was a giant tree that should have once soared high into the sky.

The origin of elves, the World Tree. That which was also the elemental lord of plants was burned by fire, turned into black ash, and hardened stiffly.

The lush leaves were nowhere to be found, the branches were all broken, and all that remained were thick and massive large branches.

Even those were all carbonized and looked precarious.

'I don't feel any life force.'

He felt nothing from the World Tree, the most powerful source of life. The World Tree was dead. That was merely a shell that retained only the form of what was once the World Tree.

'Who on earth?'

Someone had clearly swept through this place with overwhelming firepower. That's why it didn't make sense. The World Tree had been fine even amidst high-powered bombs poured out by airships.

Though one might think wood would burn easily, the tremendous power the World Tree possessed was enough to even prevent forest fires.

This result was completely unbelievable.

'What in the world is this world?'

Could it be that the Great Race War had really recurred? If so, why? He could only think that something related to Selina had happened in this world.

'First, I need to find Miss Selina.'

He didn't know where she was. She was probably dropped somewhere on the continent. He didn't know how long it would take to find her, but Selina wouldn't just stay still either.

'The fact that I'm aware of reality like this means there's a high possibility she's the same. Miss Selina is a wise person, so she at least knows well where we should meet.'

Theon. Rudger immediately set coordinates and moved to where Theon was.

Rudger, emerging from the shadows, stood in Theon's courtyard.

"......"

It was the same here. As if war had swept through, Theon was damaged enough to evoke ruins.

The scenery of Theon's courtyard, which once boasted old history and beauty, was horrific enough to evoke nightmares.

He didn't feel any signs of people. There were no living people.

'Where are the survivors? Did they leave for somewhere else?'

He wondered if he should search for them, but the deliberation wasn't long. Meeting Selina was the priority.

It was just as he was about to find a suitable place to wait.

-Who are you?

At a certain telepathy echoing in his head, Rudger's eyes widened.

Simultaneously, a stinging headache rushed in. Countless voices he had forgotten came flooding in like waves.

-What are you, to possess the same power as me?

The moment he heard that voice, Rudger realized. This was a moment when, by some fate, he had no choice but to instinctively know.

Why has this world become like this? Why did the World Tree burn? Probably other places too, would be similar to this place if similar at all.

A parallel world where some catastrophic something had swept across the entire continent.

In it, what exactly had he been doing? No, what had the being that was himself been doing?

That result, Rudger came to know even without wanting to, like a prophet who had seen the future.

He raised his head.

He felt something within the pitch-black clouds.

Craaack.

The sky split and spat out light from within the dark clouds. Within the light pouring down like a pillar, one being was slowly descending.

White robes and long white hair reaching down to the waist. And blood-red eyes staring at him endlessly coldly.

Rudger looked up at him.

Though his attire, hair color, and eye color were all different. But everything else was a man who resembled himself exactly, as if facing a mirror.

"Rudger Chelici."

The Rudger of this parallel world.

"Yes. I once used that name too."

The man called that muttered it was a nostalgic name, then immediately denied it.

"I am Heathcliff."

Casting off all his false identities. Finally his one and only true root that remained.

"Heathcliff van Bretus."

The one who appeared before Rudger introduced himself thus and declared this.

"The one who destroyed this cage, who also broke the neck of the main god, and finally ascended to become the new main god."

That bearing was truly something that could be called a god.

"I am the god who will create a new world."