The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 165

[Would you like to proceed with dimensional gate activation?]

I looked at the status window and nodded.

‘…Yes.’

I took a step back.

In front of me, black mist wavered in an elliptical shape.

It was my first time seeing it, yet I instinctively understood.

‘Dimensional gate.’

If I cross this, I can go save.

“Juda!”

The Imperial Guard rushed toward me.

By now, no other living beings remained in the vicinity.

Only the Tower Master Epona, the Imperial Guard, and Yuel were left.

Everyone was wounded, some lightly, some gravely.

The only relief was that none of them had died.

“What we just saw…”

Dylan trailed off.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who had experienced the vision.

A chariot of fire rising to the sun.

Eliza ascending with it.

Eliza perishing alongside the evil god, turning to ashes and vanishing.

“…It must be real.”

“…I see.”

Dylan’s reaction was close to resignation.

It was a pitiful sight.

They had gathered here to protect Eliza, yet they accomplished nothing.

And as her escort knight, I was the most pathetic of all.

“But… what is that?”

Lindel pointed at the dimensional gate.

How should I explain this?

There was no time for a lengthy discussion.

Even at this very moment, the chances of saving Eliza were dwindling.

I felt like my blood was draining in real-time.

“…It’s probably a passageway to bring the Lady back.”

Their expressions showed disbelief.

Of course, they would doubt.

But I neither had the time nor the ability to explain in detail.

Richard broke the tense atmosphere by tapping my arm.

“Then that’s great, isn’t it? Why do you look so defeated?”

“……”

“Just go already.”

Dylan added his piece from the side.

“We’ll clean up and take care of things here, so don’t worry about it.”

“…But can you come back?”

Lindel suddenly raised a fundamental question.

‘…Oh, right. There’s a chance I might not return, isn’t there?’

Argon smacked the back of Lindel’s head with a loud thwack.

“You idiot! Why bring that up when the mood was good?”

“Ow! But it’s important!”

A familiar, somewhat ridiculous scene.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’ll make sure to return.”

Richard nodded.

“Good. You’d better. If you don’t, I swear I’ll—”

“I have to come back to attend Beninita’s wedding, don’t I?”

“…Just get lost already.”

My heart felt a little lighter.

The Imperial Guard all raised their hands, waving at me.

Dylan shook my hand briefly before turning to handle the aftermath.

There was one more farewell left.

Yuel ran up to me, rubbing its face against my body.

A lunar deer, the sacred beast of the Moon Church.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

If the sun symbolizes life, then the moon symbolizes death.

…Not that this means Yuel can actually help me.

“There, there. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”

I petted Yuel, scratched its fur, and hugged it tightly.

“This time, I won’t collapse when I return. I promise.”

After pressing my forehead against Yuel’s in a vow, it finally stepped back.

“I’ll be going now.”

I turned toward the dimensional gate.

The swirling darkness, like storm clouds, awaited me.

“…Hoo.”

I took a deep breath and stepped through.

***

Nothing.

Nothing was visible.

My eyes were open, yet all I saw was a vast whiteness.

There was no distinction between front and back, left and right.

An endless white space.

But I could hear sounds.

My own breathing, the clanking of my armor as I moved—things like that.

Gravity seemed to exist, as I could at least tell which way was up and down.

Though I couldn’t see the ground, my feet were certainly standing on something.

‘Where is this…? Is Eliza really here?’

I scanned my surroundings when suddenly, footsteps echoed.

Thud. Thud.

Steady, rhythmic.

Loud enough to reverberate through the entire space.

I turned my head in that direction.

“…?”

Someone was approaching.

A torso, arms, and legs.

It resembled a human figure.

But where the head should have been, something bizarre was attached.

A perfectly round, pitch-black object.

Like a sphere crafted from the night sky itself.

Scattered stars glimmered like sprinkled sugar.

Amidst this cosmic head, two particularly bright objects shone vividly.

It was the equivalent of eyes for a human.

The right eye was a bright golden color—like the sun.

The left eye was a soft ivory shade—like the moon.

That ‘something’ stopped at a certain distance.

“Nice to meet you.”

And then it spoke.

Its mouth was not visible, yet it spoke.

A neutral voice, difficult to determine its gender.

If one had to choose, it leaned slightly towards male.

…Not that it necessarily had a gender.

It was about the same height as me.

“…Who are you?”

The being stared at me and blinked rapidly.

It was looking at me, right?

It was hard to tell, as its eyes lacked any real focus.

“…Amazing. Do you really have no idea what I am?”

“What….”

“I am what you humans call a ‘god.’ Usually, people realize it immediately when they see me… I knew it already, but you really are quite intelligent.”

“…….”

No, this is kind of unfair.

I did consider the possibility that it was a god.

Just based on intuition.

But it could have been something else….

“You asked who I was just because it could have been something else?”

“…….”

“Why are you so surprised? Reading thoughts is easy for a god. Of course, peering into the mind of a sentient being with free will does take some effort on my part… but in this place, it’s not a problem.”

For some reason, I really don’t want to acknowledge it as a god.

It’s just too obnoxious for a god.

“…To think a sentient being would call me obnoxious. Should I find this amusing?”

I was thinking it out loud, and it actually heard me.

“Pfft…!”

The so-called god suddenly burst out laughing.

I have no idea where its mouth is, but I can tell that it’s laughing loudly.

“Yeah, you’re definitely you. Just as I remember. Mmm, remarkable.”

“Enough about me. So, where exactly is this place? I came here because I was told I could save Eliza. Is that actually possible?”

“Of course. As long as you’re willing to pay a small price. You were thinking that you’d pay any price, weren’t you?”

For a brief moment, I felt that it was smiling wickedly.

Even though it had no discernible facial expressions.

“…I was. What’s the price?”

“Before that, don’t you have any other questions?”

“I don’t have time to waste. Stop stalling—”

“If you humor me for a little while, I might just answer you willingly. Do you even realize how long I’ve been trapped here without anyone to talk to?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I ran into the worst kind of guy. And why exactly should I care that you’re bored?”

“‘Worst kind of guy’? That’s a bit harsh. There’s no need to be impatient. While you’re in this place, time related to you is completely frozen.”

“Haah….”

“You should feel honored. You’re the first second-stage sentient being I’ve ever asked to entertain me.”

“Wow, what an honor.”

I had no choice but to humor it for a bit.

“You’ve finally decided!”

Stop reading my mind so freely.

This time, I didn’t even respond.

The god snapped its fingers, and two chairs appeared.

Annoyed, I sat down roughly just to spite it.

“Alright, ask me anything. Whatever you like.”

It urged me on, as if excited.

‘Something to ask, something to ask….’

As I struggled to come up with something, a question naturally surfaced in my mind.

“This world… that is, the one where I exist as Judas—what exactly is it?”

“Hmm. What do you think?”

“You told me to ask questions, and now you’re turning it back on me?”

“Because your answer is my answer.”

“What….”

“What is that world to you? Just a virtual realm created within a game? An artificial simulation that you happened to get caught up in, experiencing it like a vivid dream? Or do you see it as a real world, equal to your previous life?”

“…….”

This suddenly got way too serious, catching me off guard.

The unexpected possession.

Meeting Eliza and everything I went through.

My deliberation wasn’t long.

“It’s not just a simulation. It’s a real world.”

“Then that’s exactly what it is. But, of course, that’s not really the answer you were looking for.”

As if knowing everything, it nodded.

“The world you came from and this one are the same. Both are real—existing within space-time.”

But in my previous world, I encountered this one as a game.

How is that even possible?

The god, once again reading my thoughts, answered without being asked.

“Have you heard of the ‘Infinite Hotel Paradox’?”

“No.”

“I like how confident you are. It’s one of the thought experiments from the world you came from.”

This sounds like it’s going to be a headache.

I really just want to go save Elia, but it seems like I’ll have to listen to this first.

At least time isn’t passing in the outside world.

“There’s a hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Every room is occupied. Then, a new guest arrives. What do you do?”

“Uh… send them to another hotel?”

“…That’s a unique answer, but it’s not the correct one. Instead, you move each guest over by one room. The guest in Room 1 moves to Room 2, the guest in Room 2 moves to Room 3, and so on. Since the number of rooms is infinite, every guest can be moved. And then?”

“…Room 1 becomes vacant.”

“You’re getting smarter by the second.”

“And this relates to the world how?”

“Maybe not getting smarter after all.”

What happens if you flick a god’s forehead?

Hmm. Better not try.

“This universe works the same way. The world you came from is just one of many within infinite space-time. And if someone within that world creates another world—even as a game—that world, too, becomes part of infinity.”

“…Is that even possible?”

“It might be difficult for your Stage 2 self-aware intelligence to comprehend, but yes. The proof is right in front of you—you.”

In other words,

Even if a world is merely a fabricated fiction, the moment it comes into existence, it truly exists somewhere in this universe.

He nodded, understanding my perspective.

“That’s correct.”