Neither Aria nor the Empress knew what would happen afterward.
Even though Isagi had already laid his cards on the table before this, and they knew the boy came from the future, they naturally understood that he must know exactly what would happen to the city later on.
But they never asked.
Isagi remembered that Aria had only asked him how many years into the future he'd come from.
"A thousand years? That's so long ago... I don't even remember what happened a thousand years back..."
"Aria is a thousand years old!!"
"I suppose so. I don't know, I've forgotten."
A Great Spirit's memory wasn't all that reliable either, it seemed.
"Monsters must have been running wild everywhere back then, right?" "Mm... we were certainly busy, that much is true." "The city's only been standing for a century or two, hasn't it? Has it really been that long?" "I don't remember clearly." "How can Aria not remember anything!"
"Can't be helped, a Spirit's memory has its limits too — can she really be expected to remember everything? Does the Queen remember what she was doing as a little girl a decade or so ago?"
"Um..."
She probably didn't remember.
Never mind a decade ago — the Empress could barely remember things from just a few years back.
Aria wore an expression that said, "Just as I thought, what a fool," and smiled faintly.
That look bore more than a little resemblance to Ais.
Afterward, Aria only asked him what Orario would be like in the future.
Isagi found it hard to answer — after all, when it came to matters of the gods, the Great Spirit already knew of their existence, but as for the gods descending to the mortal realm themselves, bestowing Falna upon mortals, and thus giving rise to adventurers... that was another matter entirely.
So.
He only spoke of small, everyday things.
Like opening the Hostess of Fertility in the city, going on a picnic by the river with the girls before, or being dragged along by a curious Lefiya and the others to wander the casinos and theaters over on South Main Street—
The Orario of the future was prosperous and peaceful. Isagi said nothing at all about the Dungeon, nothing about the gods building Babel, and not the faintest word about the [Black Dragon].
But that alone was enough.
Because from that glimpse of the future, both Aria and the Empress now knew that the Orario of the future still existed — that it had grown into a vast city home to hundreds of thousands of people, living happily and peacefully.
Did anyone need to say anything more about how the Dungeon had turned out?
More importantly than that—
When Isagi finished speaking, he saw a kind of resolve settle into both their eyes.
Aria's and the Empress's convictions grew firmer still.
Of course they did.
Because it meant that their plan would succeed — that here, at the very end, paying with their own lives, they would "win a future" for the city, or rather, for this whole world...
Before coming here, Ais had already heard a great deal from Isagi about what was happening in this era.
About what her mother intended to do.
About the city's current situation.
About the decision Albert Waldstein and the others had made.
And... about everyone's resolve. The girl already understood it all completely, and she knew that if it had been her in their place, she would have made exactly the same choice.
And so, though she had come here together with the boy, the girl now simply stood in the courtyard, keeping her distance, peering in through the half-open window.
She saw her mother sitting at the desk, seemingly lost in thought.
She didn't go into the room with Isagi.
Instead, she pressed her lips together, and in the end turned and left the courtyard, deciding to wait for the boy outside.
Meanwhile—
Just as Ais turned to leave, Isagi pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Hearing the sound of the door, Aria turned her head and, through that same half-shut window, caught sight of the golden-haired girl's retreating back.
Aria blinked, startled for a moment.
Then.
Watching Isagi walk into the room, she seemed to understand something, and once again a smile of boundless tenderness spread across her face.
But the loving warmth in her eyes was something the boy had never seen from her before.
The Great Spirit said nothing more.
She had simply confirmed once again that the future she had envisioned had truly come to pass.
Just as Albert Waldstein and Celdia had promised her, they would protect little Ais no matter what.
She cast a grateful glance toward Isagi.
At the same time, she turned a somewhat exasperated look toward a certain Queen currently snoring away on the bed, utterly without a shred of feminine dignity.
Rainy days were always good for sleeping.
That was what the Empress herself always said — though as far as Aria was concerned, this woman thought any weather at all was perfect for sleeping.
Someone who loved sleep this much — if she ever found a man someday, wouldn't she just—
As a Great Spirit who had lived through countless years, Aria was clearly nothing like some of her more "innocent" kin.
On the contrary, she understood such things very, very well.
She let out an inexplicable little laugh.
Isagi found it a bit odd too, but he didn't ask what exactly Aria had just been thinking about.
His purpose in coming this time was simple — to confirm whether the Empress could become one of his companions in the future.
This wasn't just a matter of what he himself thought; it also depended on what she herself wanted.
As for the impact on the future—
Isagi judged it would be limited, since he would be using Divine Power directly to revive her from within the Dungeon, which wouldn't affect what came after.
It wasn't as though he was placing an "undying curse" on her right now or anything like that.
With that thought in mind—
He planned to wait until the woman on the bed woke up on her own before saying anything, since he still had plenty of time. But, in a sense, it was as if their minds were somehow in sync.
Not long after he entered the room—
The Empress groggily crawled up from the bed. "Isagi!"
She lunged straight at him and latched onto his body.
That was just how Amazons were.
Isagi was already used to it by now — in fact, seeing the somewhat "frightening" look in her eyes, he could only be grateful that Aria was in the room with them.
"I've got something to tell you. Let's talk while we eat."
"Okay!"
For this particular Queen, sleeping, eating, and fighting were the greatest joys in life.
Naturally, that instantly captured the whole of her attention.
And what's more—
The woman's eyes darted about, clearly already thinking of something delicious to eat.
As the Queen of the Amazons!
When it came to food, there was absolutely no room for carelessness!!
And so.
Looking at Isagi, who'd finally made a rare visit, the Empress decided to show off one of her specialties.
"Come on, let's head over to Melen!"
"What for?"
"To catch fish!!"
"..."
The summer rain kept falling in a steady drizzle.
Outside Melen — still just a fishing village at this point in time — Isagi and Ais stood beneath a tree, watching the Empress emerge from the sea in the distance, a massive fish some three or four meters long clutched in both arms.
They had no idea what kind of fish it even was — its appearance was downright ferocious, its huge mouth lined with rows of sharp, needle-thin teeth, hideous beyond words.
Could something like that actually be eaten?
Still—
Remembering that Tiona was also quite the skilled fisherwoman back in their own time, Isagi figured this must be some kind of Amazon tradition. Surely something handpicked by a Queen herself couldn't possibly be a problem, right?
____
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🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo