✦ ✦ ✦
“There aren’t?” Junko said in shock.
“Nope. The ‘trio’ is down to a ‘duo,’ since Arnoul is gone. Korone and the laborer Liradans are gone too. Humans are doing all the work needed to keep civilization running. And...”
Akuto cut Lily off before she could finish.
“Keena.”
“Yup. Keena. Everybody else is here, but she isn’t.”
“These are the only two changes?” Junko asked Lily.
“The Empress is Kazuko. And there’s no record of the black mages being oppressed. That’s about the size of it, honestly.”
“Which means?”
“It’s peaceful. So peaceful that I’m getting bored. No black mage rebellion. No attempt by Zero to rule over humanity. No records of the Republic. Or of other countries opposing the Empire.”
Lily crossed her arms and put her elbows on the desk.
“That’s the reason I’m not surprised to see you. You’re not the Demon King.”
“Really?” Akuto asked.
Lily nodded.
“Are you happy? You may not believe it, but the Demon King is dead. He never revived, either. There’s no rumors about him. It’s kind of a letdown, honestly.”
Akuto’s face said that he didn’t know quite how to process this.
“I-It’s not a bad thing. Yeah, that’s right. It’s a good thing...” Junko whispered, clearly stunned. But she didn’t seem like she really meant it, and she kept staring at Akuto to try and discern how he really felt about the matter.
“A different timeline? Or maybe this is just the world someone wanted...” Akuto suggested. “We have our own memories of the past. Does that mean that other people don’t?”
He frowned.
“Talking about time makes things complicated, but...” Yoshie started to talk, but Lily cut her off.
“And nobody wants complicated, so shut up. The only people who have their memories are those people who got involved with you and know the truth.”
“That’s right. She told me not to talk to you about time, but there is one thing I have to at least brief you on. Time traveling technology was something from the future that only Boichiro Yamato had. You remember that, right?” Yoshie asked.
“I do. But the device I used was...”
“A different type of technology. That’s why... and maybe this is obvious, but... Brave isn’t here. He got the time traveling device from Boichiro, probably.”
Lily pulled up the demographics on the screen again.
“Hiroshi Miwa’s name is here. Which means he’s ‘here,’ but we just haven’t seen him yet.”
“Keena was never here to begin with... but Hiroshi was, huh?” Akuto mused aloud.
“So then, where did he go?”