For Isagi, Ais, and Riveria, the fact that they had traveled to a world a thousand years in the past — and spent an entire day there — was something that not only left the other Familia members speechless, but left even the goddesses themselves in a state of complete disbelief.
[Time] was, after all, a force that only the gods could truly wield. But to actually travel through time — that was something else entirely.
Even Astrea and the others couldn't wrap their heads around it at first. As far as their understanding went, there wasn't a single deity in existence who could accomplish something like that. Even Chronos, one of the most ancient gods of all, was said to represent [The Flow of Time and Eternal Existence] — not [The Traveler of Time].
To be perfectly honest — the whole thing was so outlandish that more than a few people privately wondered whether Isagi had simply dragged Ais and the others off somewhere for some kind of secret rendezvous and made up a completely ridiculous cover story.
But even so — if that were the case, there'd be absolutely no reason to invent a story this absurd.
In response to all of this, Isagi suddenly had an idea and went to find Astrea, Demeter, Artemis, and Aphrodite, asking each of them the same question: back in the ancient age, had any of them happened to look down from the heavens and catch sight of him and Ais?
The logic, in theory, was sound. If it really had been time travel, then the gods who had been watching over the mortal world from on high at that time would surely have noticed the three of them.
But the goddesses could barely remember.
"When exactly was 'that time' supposed to be?"
"I don't think I was paying attention to the lower world back then. It's not like we were watching every single moment, you know."
"I forgot!"
When a certain golden-haired goddess of beauty puffed out her chest and declared that with complete and utter dignity, Isagi finally gave up.
"Back then, the only ones who'd bother watching the lower world were the nosy types who loved stirring up trouble!"
Aphrodite wasn't wrong. Many of the kinder-hearted gods simply couldn't bear to watch the grief and tragedy unfolding in the world below.
With one exception.
"Ouranos!"
As the very first great god to descend to the lower world — the architect of Orario itself, and in many ways the founding father of the [Age of Adventurers] as it existed today — Ouranos had watched over the mortal world from beginning to end, without fail. It was no exaggeration to call him the deity who cared most for humankind.
And sure enough, before long, Isagi received a definitive answer through Fels — the messenger of the great god Ouranos.
"The god says he did indeed see you all at that time——"
That single sentence shattered the theory of a parallel world completely.
He had truly traveled into the actual past. And it seemed — he could actually alter the timeline.
After confirming this with Fels multiple times, Isagi found himself growing genuinely unsettled by his own ability.
As everyone knew — time travel as a concept wasn't exactly unheard of. But most stories about traveling back to fix mistakes and regrets always ended in consequences beyond anyone's imagination.
Like the flutter of a butterfly's wings. Even the tiniest, most insignificant breath of a breeze could spiral into something unimaginable.
Even so, Isagi quickly passed this discovery along to Ryuu-senpai.
She didn't need him to spell it out. She understood immediately what it meant — if they could return to the era of the [Great Conflict], or even go back to before the Astrea Familia was wiped out, they could prevent everything. Every single tragedy.
The only question was: how?
For now, Isagi had no idea. When it came to actually controlling [Divine Power], he still hadn't found any real technique for it. Almost every time he'd used it, it had happened instinctively — without conscious thought.
Whether it was the time he had brought down the [Nightmare], or this most recent [Time Travel] — it had always been the same.
Still, he could piece together a rough idea of the pattern. The first factor was what he happened to be thinking about at the time — and the second was—
Isagi believed that this particular time travel, the one that had sent him a thousand years into the ancient past, was connected to the Magic Stone he had obtained in the Dungeon — the one called the [Inherited Heart of Life]. Something lingering within it, something tied to the Dawn-Dark Moon, Airon Delmos, had probably guided him to that world.
If that was the case — then the next time he accumulated enough Divine Power, he might not only be able to return to that ancient-era Dungeon, but if he could find an item connected to the Astrea Familia of the past, could he perhaps reach their era as well?
Worth trying, at any rate.
Ryuu-senpai said nothing when she heard all of this. Goddess Astrea was the same — she simply found the whole thing incomprehensible. Even as a deity, she had never once imagined that something like this was possible.
It was staggering. Was this truly the power of a god?
Ah...
[Isagi is becoming a god.]
This was no longer speculation. It was something real — something that was genuinely, undeniably, happening.
Both Astrea and Demeter felt a strange, dizzying sense of wonder. Even if they had once imagined it might be possible — when it was actually unfolding before their eyes, when the reality of it was right there in front of them — it was still enough to leave them speechless.
The possibilities of the children of the lower world never ceased to be astonishing.
And so, going forward, one of the most important things for Isagi — alongside continuing to adventure in the Dungeon — was to replenish his Divine Power as diligently as possible.
— ◇ —
The summer that year felt somehow longer than it had any right to be.
Orario sat tucked into the southeastern corner of the continent, and its weather was, to be generous, not exactly pleasant — people said it was because of the presence of the Great Pit, the Dungeon. That was probably why, throughout all of recorded history, no nation had ever tried to build a city near this place except the one that already stood here.
The golden sun blazed down hard enough to leave you breathless.
Every time the heat rolled in like this, Isagi found himself missing air conditioning and electric fans with a longing that was almost physical. Unfortunately, despite having raised the subject more than once with Fels and Asfi — and even with the people who ran the city's Magic Stone factories — none of them had managed to produce anything remotely close.
Well. It wasn't like Isagi actually knew how air conditioning worked, either. He was just a guy who played video games. He hadn't come to another world to drive technological advancement.
Still, the opportunity wasn't wasted.
The burger shop had launched a new item for the season: mint lemonade, served with mountains of ice. It was making money hand over fist.
The ice, specifically, was being produced by Lefiya using magic — zero cost whatsoever. As for whether drinking magically conjured ice would cause any health problems, Isagi figured it was probably fine.
When things got really busy, Isagi would even ask Ais or Riveria to go fetch Lady Alicia and bring her over, since Lefiya had originally learned her ice magic from her. Having the two of them working together in the back kitchen "hand-crafting" ice in bulk — the efficiency gains were significant.
"You're literally the only person in the world who would make a first-tier adventurer do this," Riveria said, exasperated, in the middle of the lively, noisy burger shop.
As she said it, she took a long, gulping drink from the mint lemonade in her hand.
Sharp. Sweet. Cool. The kind of cold that shot straight up to your head.
"So? Is it good or isn't it?"
"...Ngh!"
Absolutely impossible to argue with.
The princess let out a sigh, then blinked and looked over at him.
"How's the magic coming along? Have you learned anything new?"
"No."
"I still have two Grimoires. Take them — go have a look."
Isagi fell silent. Mostly out of embarrassment, because Grimoires were incredibly precious items to begin with. He wasn't the type to just take things for free.
The last time he'd had Riveria make him a magic staff — well, a staff-that-was-also-a-sword — the 'Moonveil,' it was because he had forged [Complete Hunter's Arsenal] for Ais, so that had been a fair exchange of gifts.
But now? He couldn't think of anything equivalent he'd offered in return. And there was something about the way the princess was looking at him that felt... oddly pointed.
A Grimoire was a mysterious item capable of teaching adventurers new magic. Even the most ordinary one fetched tens of millions of Valis on the black market — and supply was almost never enough to meet demand. That was because the things were consumables.
The way they worked: you read through one, and there was a chance you'd awaken a new spell. What that chance actually was — no one had any idea. Not even the person reading it.
Which was why even highly capable adventurers almost never bought them. The whole thing was just too dependent on luck.
Isagi himself had never thought much about the issue — even though, now that he thought about it, he only had two spells to his name.
Right. His magic was [Fragmented Narrative] and [Total Mastery] (Reading Combat Arts). That was it. Nothing else.
The whole thing had started because of something Lefiya had muttered to herself a while back.
[What if Isagi could learn a third spell?]
Adventurers had three magic slots available, after all.
The reason the Elf girl had even thought of it was because of Haruhime. That was a story in itself — but to put it simply: it had all begun when Haruhime's "older sister," Aisha, returned to the city and brought her a Grimoire as a gift.
Haruhime had just completed her first commission outside the city for the Familia. While on the job, the Amazon had spotted a Grimoire for sale at a black market out there and bought it on impulse — the Ishtar Familia had always been flush with money, and after the Familia dissolved, its assets had been split among the members.
Legendary amounts of wealth, by all accounts.
Aisha, as one of the key leaders who had practically run the Ishtar Familia behind the scenes, was now very comfortably wealthy. Buying a Grimoire for Haruhime was nothing to her. And the reasoning was simple: if Haruhime's [Uchide's Mallet] was already that powerful, adding a second spell on top of it would only make her even stronger, right? Help keep the girl safer in the Dungeon.
But it didn't work. The Grimoire left Haruhime with no new spells at all.
What it did do, however, was plant a seed in the minds of the other girls — drawing their attention to Isagi. And then, one day — though no one could quite remember who had started it — Fels showed up and delivered several Grimoires to him.
Officially, it was payment for completing past Guild commissions — clearing the Artificial Labyrinth, assisting the Xenos, leaving the city to deal with the [Dragon Visit], and so on, all lumped together.
As a Sage, Isagi learned then that Fels was one of the rare few who could actually create Grimoires herself. For her, it was nothing at all. What an absolute powerhouse — the woman was genuinely terrifying in her capabilities.
Looking at those several Grimoires that had been casually handed over to him — items worth well over a hundred million Valis in total — Isagi couldn't help but think exactly that.
But the result, as it turned out, was still disappointing.
After reading them all, he'd felt a kind of dizzy, drowsy fog settle over him. But when he woke up the next morning and went to have Goddess update his status panel — no new spells had appeared.
Astrea had told him not to worry about it. Maybe after his next level-up. No need to rush.
"I see——"
Even so, Riveria had already made up her mind to have Ais bring over the two Grimoires she kept in her personal collection, so she could pass them along to Isagi.
After all — she was in a hurry on behalf of her "daughter."
That silly girl — when is she ever going to manage to make her move? Look at everyone else!
Come to think of it, Goddess Aphrodite had apparently been quite helpful on matters like this — maybe she should go ask her for advice?
She was thinking about completely unreliable things.
But then — the deeper reason she wanted him to grow stronger. So that he could dive not just into that boy's dreams, but back into that ancient-era Dungeon once more——
Nearly two or three months had slipped by since the [Time Travel].
The city had been quiet throughout. Everyone going about their ordinary business without incident.
Isagi and the others continued their usual rhythm — heading into the Dungeon every few days, staying for about two weeks at a time, grinding their stats, waiting for the next level-up somewhere in the future.
During this period, Haruhime was still over at the Freya Familia receiving combat training — though she came back to the Loki Familia side every now and then, too.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was this: according to Isagi's own explanation, Divine Power was fed by him and the girls venturing into the [Dark Hall] together. And only by accumulating that power could they all [Time Travel] again, the same way they had before.
Which raised an interesting thought. Last time, they had traveled for a full day — and a full day had passed here as well. So now that several months had gone by on this end — when they went back, would several months have passed there too?
Never mind Riveria. Even Isagi found himself thinking about Airon and Mam. He wondered if they'd ever get the chance to meet them again.
[In all likelihood, their fate was to die inside the Dungeon.]
And beyond that — if he really did go back to that era's Dungeon, the honest truth was that there wasn't much they could do. They had already confirmed it: that time period was when Albert and his companions were facing the Black Dragon. Going back at his current level was basically asking to get killed.
Isagi wasn't stupid. The [Black Dragon] that had wiped out the entire Zeus and Hera Familias — at the height of its birth, at the very peak of its power — even just showing up to watch from a distance would probably be suicidally dangerous.
It wasn't the kind of situation you went charging into shouting that it was worth dying for.
In the real world, when someone was crossing through a tribulation, the correct response was to stay as far away as humanly possible.
Isagi was also thinking through the problem from another angle. If he was going to travel back, then returning to save the original Astrea Familia seemed like a far more realistic and worthwhile goal. He just had no idea yet how to actually reach that specific point in time.
The afternoon sun hung heavy and oppressive in the sky.
The boy and the girl sat at a table by the window, both quietly drinking their mint lemonades, listening to the soft, clear clinking of the ice cubes rattling around inside their cups.
And then, without warning — a sudden interruption broke the still, drowsy quiet of that summer afternoon.
"Isagi-niisan!"
Haruhime had returned from the Freya Familia at some point without anyone noticing, and now came rushing over in a hurry.
The fox girl used to always address people with "My Lord" — something that Isagi had never quite been able to get comfortable with, given how feudal it sounded. In the end, through some inexplicable process, it had transformed into this slightly odd way of calling his name.
"Emergency! Emergency!!"
It certainly sounded urgent — but looking at Haruhime's small, bright, absolutely beaming face, glowing with barely-contained excitement, it was impossible to feel any real sense of crisis.
And indeed, that was the truth of it.
Because the girl had brought back a new commission from the Guild — a request addressed to the Astrea Familia specifically.
The mission: travel to the [Academic District], escort the latest shipment of Adamantite — the hardest metal known to exist — and bring it safely back to the city.
____
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