The latter half of my question was directed at Yuuhi. That was something I’d been able to do for Chirika and Nyanyan’s stories. And if Yuuhi was a Namidare too, then she also had the power to change fate... She was a crossroad keeper, as the doctor called it. Since she’d forced the fate of this future world onto the path that led to the War of All, then the reverse should also be possible. The war had spread across all known worlds, all of space... It had wrought destruction on a scale that could no longer be undone. Just like how the doctor had sought me out, there was no other way to handle this than to go straight to the source... And the source, in this case, was Yuuhi herself. If we could gain her cooperation, we could change the awful past to save this future world that had fallen to a twisted fate... Or so I hoped.
As for the crucial part, Yuuhi’s reply...
“Impossible.”
“Whaaat?!”
Her unexpected response left me in a fluster, but there was more to what she had to say.
“It’s impossible for you to solve the story I’m involved in.”
“Ah, that’s what you meant.”
Whew! We were saved. I thought she’d meant it was impossible to stop the War of All.
“We won’t know if it’s impossible or not until you explain things, so get talking.”
“...You’re rather forceful.”
“I’ve been leveling up that ability over the last half a year or so. Anyways,” I said, glaring at Yuuhi a little. “Just so we’re clear, I’m annoyed at you right now. My manners may be suffering a little for it.”
“Hmph... Well, I’m no saint either.”
“Obviously.”
It wasn’t like I had forgiven Yuuhi for starting the War of All just because it had to do with a story she was caught up in. She’d still hurt the future heroines. This world was still in shambles. None of that changed. I couldn’t forgive Yuuhi for it, but it wasn’t like punching her here was going to solve anything. Without her cooperation, we might not be able to nip the War of All in the bud. There was too much involved to proceed safely without her. That was the only thought holding my rage back right now.
“Just talk already,” I ordered Yuuhi for the third time.
She remained as displeased as ever, but finally said, “If you insist that much, I’ll tell you.”
She then proceeded to explain in a tone that clearly conveyed her lack of expectation...
“I’m currently wrapped up in a goddess’s story.”
“A goddess?” I was taken aback for a moment. “A goddess... You mean, like, a deity?”
“Duh.”
What? A deity? That was... on a level far more intimidating than I’d imagined. The future heroines and the past heroines who had just finished listening to R were all looking at each other in shock too. But... if this was a story that involved a mirror world, then maybe the heroine had to be something like a goddess for it all to make sense.
“Ahem... W-Well, all right, so your heroine is a goddess,” I said with a cough, pulling myself together. “What does her story entail?”
“A game that wagers worlds for worlds.”
“A game?!” Another unexpected response made me cock my head further to the side. “A game... Wait, if it’s a game, then does that mean the goddess is playing against someone else?”
Single-player games did exist, but the wager Yuuhi mentioned implied there was another party involved.
“That makes sense... She’s in a bind against whoever her opponent is, which is how she ended up a heroine. So, who’s the opponent?”
“Another goddess.”
“Another one?!”
“There isn’t just one deity, you know.”
“Okay, so there are multiple gods... Or at least two of them, you say?”
“Two at the very least, as far as I know. One is the goddess of my world, and the other is the goddess of yours.”
“Wha...?”
“Earlier, Hibiki over there told you I came from a mirror world.” Seeing my confused expression, Yuuhi began explaining. “The world I was born in, like Hibiki said, is a completely separate world from the one you and your heroines live in.”
“You mean... When you say ‘world,’ you mean something different from, like, the other worlds that Harissa and Corona live in?”
“That’s right. Imagine a large box.”
“A box?”
“Now imagine the world you live in, the world Harissa Hope lives in, and the world Zaia Gardendos Corona lives in all shut away inside the same box, just partitioned apart from each other within that box.”
“...”
So the places we’d been calling “worlds” were all actually within the same universe. That meant Yuuhi was from a different universe... somewhere outside the world-box we lived in.
“What I’ve just described is the correct unit of a world. Now, for each world-box that exists, there also exists a deity that created said box.”
“You mean... The goddess of my world and the goddess of your world, like you said earlier?”
“Exactly,” Yuuhi confirmed with a nod.
“I see.”
Okay, that much made sense. This whole world thing and...
“Hm?”
That was when something hit me.
“Wait, does that mean the goddess of your world is in trouble because...”
“Because of the goddess of your world, yes.”
“...Seriously?”
When she put it that way, I suddenly felt a little guilty.
“Wait a minute! That’s not Sir Rekka’s fault! This is all the goddesses’ fault!” Harissa suddenly interjected angrily.
It seemed, thanks to R’s explanation, the heroines from my timeline were all caught up to speed now.
“I don’t recall stating it was Rekka’s fault,” retorted Yuuhi.
“Then are you implying it’s this world’s fault instead?” future Harissa asked this time.
Wow, it was kinda hard to tell them apart... For convenience, I think I’ll just refer to my heroines by their names and the heroines from the future as “future (insert name here).”
Future Harissa continued her questioning, “I don’t know what this game between goddesses has to do with it, but why did you think it was okay to start the War of All in our world?”
“Well... Let me explain the game to you next,” Yuuhi said with a furrowed brow.