The first thing I needed to take care of was Tara. She was under the misconception that Benett had died. Watching her clutching his severed arm and staring blankly made my heart ache.
I needed to clear up the misunderstanding and confirm that Benett and Niore were still alive.
I would directly connect the past and future. Since the outer god was established as a being that distorts space-time, there was no concern about breaking the setting. I planned to use windows as a medium to let them see and cooperate with each other continuously.
That little troublemaking Evil God seemed to have vaguely caught on to my plan.
The Evil God interfered by overlaying all sorts of illusions on the windows. Scenes of Benett and Niore cursing Tara from hell, scenes of them kissing and getting married, and so on.
>Setting input: Because she loves humans so much, she has prepared various human forms as her avatars and often holds her own fashion show in front of mirrors. When dressed in her middle-school syndrome fashion, she plays the character of a girl who calls herself "The Guide of the Abyss and Darkness"...
Though I quickly suppressed it, the Evil God's wedge had already been driven in.
"...This is just an illusion. This kind of trick..."
Tara bit her lip hard and broke the window. Her expression showed she was genuinely hurt.
This not only inflicted mental damage on Tara but also seemed intended to interfere with my plan. By making all images reflected in windows appear to be the Evil God's tricks designed to cause despair, she would be unable to believe even the fact that they had survived.
It was quite a clever trick. But there were ways to counter it. Here... I should use a bit of humor to change the mood. First, let's calm her down.
I slightly raised the ambient temperature to make her feel warmth and adjusted the surrounding landscape a bit. In a spot not yet in her field of vision, I placed a single flower blooming between cracks in the asphalt.
It would make a nice contrast with the chaotic world and the gloomy landscape strewn with corpses. And I'd place a vanity mirror as if abandoned. It would be a familiar object for a woman. Her gaze would be drawn to it.
Thinking some decorative items that could remind her of better times would be good, I took teacup resources from Abraham's mansion and tossed them to the Tower Master.
"Break these roughly and put them in a garbage bag. Make them visible enough so that even a glance would make someone think, 'Oh, these look exactly like Abraham's teacups.'"
"Oh, okay...!"
She quickly made them and placed them.
Wasn't the recycling area where the journey first began and where she first met Abraham? Right, then I'll place a streetlight next to it. Good, not bad.
Now for the other side... time to guide Benett and Niore. With greater numbers, they were mentally more stable, and Benett, with his experience as a Dark Mage, still maintained his sanity. I'd raise the mood on their side so that the gloomy Tara could benefit from the trickle-down effect.
One hundred years in the future...
From Benett and Niore's perspective, they'd feel like they'd just been dropped in the middle of a wasteland. I needed to let them know that this was set 100 years in the future. Actually, that was quite simple. Just place similar buildings and make them look worn down.
And I'd leave various traces and hints for Niore to catch.
Though it seemed like a wasteland, there were signs that people had been there. In the circumstances, even after the Evil God's descent had wreaked havoc, people were still living—! Like that, more peacefully than expected.
I removed all traces of threatening monsters in the surroundings, erasing footprints of mutants. I relocated all dangerous enemies to that snow-capped mountain over there. So they could relax and release their tension.
Maybe I should mix in traces of livestock farming. Adding some slightly odd objects might also help change the mood. Let's go with underwear.
I scattered underwear in Benett's path.
"...I don't understand your train of thought."
"Tower Master, you don't have time for chitchat. Carve this, this, and this too. I'm not sure if we'll use it, but this as well."
"Argh...!"
I gave the meddling Tower Master endless tasks. Seeing the handmade underwear made of wool, Benett deduced: 1) They must be raising sheep. 2) They must be able to collect wool and make clothes.
And here, for the decisive touch to raise the mood...
"Oh."
"...What is it?"
"Let's make statues honoring Benett, Tara, and Niore."
"...??"
"Carve them."
The Tower Master carved the statues while sweating profusely.
===============================================================
Niore deduced from the surrounding terrain, geography, and the remaining buildings that this place was about 100 years in the future. The once soft and fine soil had become loose and crumbly, and half of civilization's traces had been worn away... but it wasn't as bad as expected.
She had anticipated a hellscape where everything was swallowed by the void and monsters tortured people to death—but it wasn't like that.
Had the Evil God retreated in the future?
There were traces of people. The fact that humanity had survived even in the place where that terrifying being had descended, maintaining the species' existence, evoked a strange feeling.
Niore had her abdomen wrapped in cloth. Originally, it was a severe injury that couldn't be treated with just that, but had the power remaining in the Goddess's crystal provided a final healing effect?
Though the wound hadn't disappeared, simple first aid allowed her to move around.
In this future 100 years later, perhaps the Evil God's power couldn't reach them, as the whispering was no longer heard. That alone made Niore feel much better. She looked around carefully and said:
"Has humanity... not perished?"
"They seem to have survived. Some buildings still appear to be in use... Hmm?"
Benett picked up a woolen fabric rolling on the broken asphalt floor. When he unfolded the crumpled parts to see its shape, it appeared to be women's underwear, made within the last decade.
Moreover, the faint smell of detergent triggered Benett's sensitive senses. Presumably, it hadn't been long since it was washed.
"There must be people living somewhere not far from here..."
"Don't let your guard down. It could be monsters that leave traces similar to humans."
Though they had received first aid, Benett had lost an arm, and Niore had a hole in her abdomen. Caution was necessary even if they had been in perfect condition. With injuries, they needed to be even more careful.
After carefully looking around, Niore wrote on Benett's broad back with her finger.
"Still, I don't see... any traces of violence."
"..."
They proceeded cautiously.
The weather was nice, and the blue sky with sunshine made them feel refreshed. Despite the serious situation of being separated from Tara after being hit by the Cult Leader's final spell, the sky was mockingly blue.
It was a silly thought, but they wondered what it would have been like if Tara had been caught up with them.
Then, they finally encountered a mirror. A shop window that had somehow maintained its form. The reflected image flickered violently, and before they knew it, it was reflecting a completely different image.
"..."
Was a monster going to jump out of the glass? Benett and Niore tensely stared at the window. Beyond it, they saw the past—a pitch-black city with stars looking down mockingly, and crawling monsters.
"...We can see the past. Is it an illusion?"
"I can see it too. The possibility of it being an illusion is high... What's that?"
"Tara?"
In the distance through the glass, they saw Tara, covered in blood, slaying cultists. She was wielding thorny vines they had never seen before, but judging by her distinctive outfit and the cursed sword in her hand, it was definitely Tara.
Her expression was contorted with terrible pain and regret. Benett unconsciously frowned. Such an expression didn't suit her.
"Wait, Benett. Over there."
Benett, who had been focusing on the image reflected in the glass, turned his head when Niore urgently patted his shoulder.
"What... is that?"
A truly strange phenomenon was occurring there. Static noise appeared on the adjacent building, and a large crack that had been there until just a moment ago disappeared. Flowers bloomed, and broken glass was restored.
The decisive clue to this unknown phenomenon came the next moment.
When Tara beyond the glass threw her cursed sword, pinning a cultist to the building's exterior wall, a wound appeared on the same building's wall in their world, as if a sword had been thrust into it.
"...Is the future being altered in real-time by events occurring in the past?"
"Are changes like disappearing cracks happening because Tara is killing cultists? If so, we need to tell Tara this fact."
"If she can see us from the other side, we might be able to communicate. The medium for this phenomenon seems to be glass, so let's find glass near her."
Benett and Niore ran. It was just a strange intuition, but if they could use this phenomenon well, perhaps... there might be something they could do.
After wandering through the city, they finally faced Tara through an old vanity.
===============================================================
As Tara turned a corner after eliminating another cultist, a single out-of-place flower caught her eye. An unknown white flower swayed in the breeze.
"..."
As she turned her gaze to search for her next prey, she noticed a half-collapsed garbage bag leaning against a wall. A broken teacup gleamed from inside. That looked like the one Abraham used for cocoa. Could it be the same brand?
Finally, her gaze fell on an abandoned vanity. Looking into the mirror, Tara frowned deeply. It was too late to turn away. She had encountered it again.
Again.
Once more, a damn illusion.
Benett and Niore were looking at her from beyond the vanity. Tara clenched her fist. What words of resentment would they utter this time? How would they try to tear at her heart?
She could just break the glass before their voices reached her.
Yet whenever she tried to make up her mind to do so, Tara found herself hesitating. She wanted to take in their faces and voices just once more. Even if the illusion only spewed hurtful words, she wanted to see them.
But this time was a little different.
"Tara, can you hear us? We're alive. From the circumstances... it seems we were caught in the Cult Leader's final spell and sent 100 years into the future."
"...Ha."
Benett spoke calmly from beyond the mirror. The sight of his severed arm painfully pierced Tara's heart.
It seemed the Evil God's illusions were becoming more ingenious in tearing at her heart. Was it planning to give her hope that they were alive, only to cruelly dash it?
"I'm not falling for it. Damn... god. I know you're illusions."
"..."
"Go away. Just go away. Please. Even if you're just illusions in the mirror, I don't want to destroy your images...!"
Benett looked momentarily confused, then exchanged written messages with Niore beside him. Niore pondered deeply. All those actions and changes had details that hadn't been there before.
Tara had to steel her heart. She had to deny and erase the hope that they might be real, that they might truly be alive.
If she believed, then surely... just like the family in the dream shown by the Mad Magician... these illusions would also smile and vanish like a mirage.
"It seems... you've seen illusions before. Are you in a situation where you can't determine whether we're real or not?"
"..."
"Then, there's no particular way for us to prove it from here. All I can say is please believe us... Hmm?"
Niore was about to scribble on Benett's back but stopped, noticing Tara watching. She picked up a flat board from nearby and inscribed it with mana. Tara could read this too.
"What if we say something an illusion would never say?"
"What kind of thing?"
"The Evil God showed illusions to break Tara's spirit. The content would have been language that ruthlessly stabbed at the dark parts of her heart... So, completely the opposite. How about compliments?"
"...?"
The conversation was taking a strange turn. Had the Evil God's illusions ever said such things?
"Hmm... Tara, you're good with your fists. Of course, there are some deficient areas, but considering you're not a vanguard, it's quite impressive—why are you hitting me, Niore?"
"I told you to give compliments."
"Then show me an example."
"Well... Tara has... a pretty figure! I mean, the side of her breast visible through the holes in her clothes is, um, beautifully droplet-shaped. Mine are just unnecessarily large, so I'm envious of Tara's well-shaped breasts..."
"...Wouldn't that be sexual harassment if I said it?"
"..."
Is this real?
And isn't that more like subtle... self-praise than a compliment?
Tara began to feel confused. If this was an Evil God's illusion, it was so ingenious that she might have to give in on principle.
"Well, um... The side slits in your outfit are definitely excessive. I noticed before that you don't seem to enjoy others' gazes, so wouldn't it be better to dress more modestly?"
"I said give compliments."
"...So, um. Tara, you... um. Your buttocks are... large."
"I said give compliments, not sexual harassment."
"What exactly do you want me to do...?!"
"Just honestly mention what you remember."
This seems real.
Benett, like a young man who had wasted his youth as a Dark Mage, struggled for a while before finally squeezing out words. If it was something he remembered, when Tara had kicked...
"...There's a mole on the inside of your thigh. I thought it suited you well. And—"
"S-stop! I get it, I get it!"
Tara waved her hands frantically to stop him. For once, her face turned bright red from embarrassment rather than anger.
Tara fanned herself vigorously to cool her burning face, then relaxed her shoulders. It didn't seem like the Evil God could play such detailed pranks.
It felt like the rope choking her had disappeared. Tara placed her hand on her chest, let out a deep sigh of relief, and smiled faintly.
"...You guys are really alive."
"Were you worried?"
"Yes, a lot."
"I'm sorry for making you worry. Can you forgive me?"
Tara burst into laughter at his awkward apology. He had only been injured while fighting hard, so why was he asking for forgiveness?
Whether from laughing too much or for some other reason, a tear formed at the corner of her eye. Tara wiped it away with her finger and stuck out her tongue.
"I won't forgive you. Idiot."
"..."
Knock knock.
"Ahem. Tara, sorry to interrupt. We have a lot to discuss and do..."
And thus, they completed their reunion.