1843.
It was also the year the game had started. Now it was 1837. A full six years earlier than that time.
"Numbers can be forged."
Cider said soothingly. But he too knew there was no reason for that. If this was a tactic to pressure her by knowing Esperanza came from the future and using that fact, he could think of ten better methods than this while sitting in place.
Then was the one who sent this now the future Cyrus who was supposedly Esperanza's colleague? Should they prepare to face a new enemy? Was this unknown figure friend or foe?
"Wait. If this is a real Hunter License."
Esperanza, whose shoulders were trembling, inserted her fingernail in the center.
"This is supposed to open. There's nothing much inside though."
Since Hunter Licenses also served as Hunters' identification cards, the inside was densely filled with small text about 'rights guaranteed and duties required of the holder of this certificate.' So most people didn't even open them, and if left unopened for seven or eight years, the paper would often stick together.
But Cyrus's Hunter License only showed traces of being artificially sealed once, and opened smoothly without any stuck parts.
All the various small texts were nowhere to be seen. There, written in conspicuously thick and large letters, it said:
It was a notification.
"This person knows about your laboratory."
Esperanza looked at Cider with an anxious face. In a situation where Daria and Cyrus were targeting Cider's research, knowing about the laboratory's existence was itself a threat.
"Since he found it now, he would naturally know about it 13 years later. If he's someone who came from the future like you."
"...That's right."
Esperanza, who had put down the business card, let out a big sigh. It was surprising and bewildering. Because it was completely unexpected. There were still doubts. Whether he really came from the future. If so, whether it was related to Esperanza coming to this era, what exactly the 'Golden Claw' was and what connection the game and this world had... There were many things to ask.
But there was no need to be afraid. Whether it was the current Cyrus or the future Cyrus, if it was something he was doing alone, Esperanza could handle it by herself.
'I won't let him take a hostage, will I?'
Glancing at Cider, she silently embraced his waist. Cider looked down at the round crown of her head with surprised eyes.
"Just don't get hurt. I won't let it slide. If you think you'll get caught, go inside the laboratory and lower the shutters."
"Ah. Leaving my lady behind?"
"What do you mean lady? You don't care about such things anyway."
Large hands stroked her head. A low laugh flowed from between his lips.
"That's right, my spoiled but amazing magician."
Esperanza suddenly lifted her head.
"Me?"
"I had already guessed that you were an amazing spoiled child."
What are you saying? Her widely opened eyes seemed to ask that. She prided herself that since falling into this world, Esperanza had always maintained an independent, adult-like attitude.
Pretending not to see her protesting gaze, Cider playfully touched the tip of her nose and asked.
"My lady, who among us is the one who goes around hugging people abruptly?"
Ah. She really had nothing to say about that question. Whether by frequency or spontaneity...
"It's me."
"Then who's the spoiled child?"
"Ah, what? You caught me. Then I'll hold on a bit longer."
All the serious worries from just moments ago were completely washed away. Laughter burst out. Until her parents were alive, she had definitely been quite an amazing spoiled child. Living for 20 years as the youngest and most adorable creature in the household, it naturally became that way.
That didn't mean she would grab and hug just anyone though. She didn't want to either. Thinking about it that way, when she suddenly hugged Cider at Mabelwood, Esperanza might have unconsciously liked Cider quite a lot.
And now he was more precious to her.
Esperanza tightened her arms around Cider and looked up at him intently. When their eyes met, she traced with her fingertips the eye corners that reflexively curved. He was breathtakingly beautiful. But now, more than that formal beauty, she felt a tenderness that seemed like her touching fingertips would melt.
I absolutely must not let him get hurt. Whether it's Daria, Cyrus, or the Duke. I won't let anyone lay a finger on him. He will live on after Esperanza returns, and perhaps live the remaining long life even more happily than when he was with Esperanza.
She thought that the time travel spanning 13 years might have been solely to change that one thing.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
People from long ago would have called this winter. Though the autumn leaves hadn't fully fallen yet and it wasn't weather for snow. Perhaps they would have called even that still-blue sky sunset.
Making pointless thoughts on purpose, they closed the laboratory door. From far away came the sound of the forest rustling.
"There's no need to be nervous."
Cider said, switching the control board to his other hand.
"We've taken maximum precautions."
"I suppose so. We should have."
If he really was Cyrus, Esperanza's fellow Hunter, this time Esperanza truly hoped he wasn't an enemy.
"...Aren't you a bit too excited though?"
"I never thought there'd be a real occasion to use this."
Last night, they had headed to the laboratory through the cold rain. Hanging up their wet robes, they dug through Cider's old blueprints and produced remote-controlled weapons. They were weapons that Cider had only made blueprints for when he was even younger than now. Due to lack of time and materials, they only made exactly three units, but it was more than enough as defense against an individual.
"Even Her Majesty the Queen probably doesn't receive such magnificent protection. I'm honored."
"It's best not to use them. It would be bad if a situation came where we had to use them."
"I know."
But he seemed to want to use them.
While they were bickering, the sound of the forest rustling slowly drew closer. The other party seemed to be walking. Crossing this wide forest from the opposite side.
"In the first place, this is your private property, so why is he making appointments here on his own..."
Esperanza, who had been grumbling, closed her lips in a straight line. Along with the wind, rain-soaked leaves rustled. Footsteps came completely close. Esperanza raised her gun. From the gun fully loaded with magic power, gear sounds and heartbeat sounds intertwined and spun frantically.
The hand pushing through the last tree branch was rough. A tall man appeared through the bushes. Unlike the past Cyrus who had looked somewhat young, he was exactly as Esperanza knew him.
It's really him. She wasn't happy.
"Esperanza-nim, it's been a while."
A toneless voice said. And just as he was about to take one more step toward the two people standing with their backs to the laboratory, the gun barrel aimed at his nape.
"Stop! Stay there."
"...Esperanza-nim. Don't you trust me?"
"Do you know what I saw at Nine Holder?"
The man firmly closed his lips.
"I know. But I am the Cyrus that 'Esperanza-nim knows.'"
"...Why did you come?"
It was a question thrown without context, and the most important question that pierced through everything. Cyrus firmly closed his mouth.
Why did Cyrus come? To Avondale, before Esperanza, to the world '13 years ago.'
"I..."
Drawing in a heavy breath, Cyrus slowly confessed as if making a confession. A comprehensive answer befitting a comprehensive question.
"Because I was the one who sent Esperanza-nim to this place."
For a moment the forest became so quiet that even the sound of each small bird could be heard.
It wasn't that Cyrus had trust in this situation. But he showed when he lied. Moreover, in a situation where he came to make contact with them, there was no reason to tell a lie that would impose a moral burden on himself.
So it probably wasn't a lie.
Esperanza's hand holding the gun trembled violently. The sound of her teeth chattering was rough.
Esperanza hadn't been unhappy in this place. Even if she had remained in her original world, she couldn't be confident she would have gained as much as she had gained here. But even so, that didn't mean she wouldn't be angry at the one who forcibly sent her here.
Cider knew that fact better. This anger wasn't trying to deny their relationship. His hand gripped Esperanza's shoulder soothingly. But when the body temperature she could rely on touched her, her eyes became wet and her vision blurred hazily.
"...And then you tell me to trust you? How are you going to prove you're not my enemy? After already doing this against my will, if I don't listen to you, where are you planning to send me next?"
The moment Cyrus's foot tried to approach one step, Esperanza fired her gun as if screaming. Though she deliberately missed, if it had been just a little closer, it would have grazed his cheek.
"Stay there and talk!"
He stood upright in place like an obedient automaton. The hostility contained in two pairs of eyes seemed to pierce through him. He hadn't expected this. He was prepared to be resented, but this... His gaze couldn't fall away from the large hand gripping Esperanza's shoulder.
In the world 13 years later, that place had been his. Esperanza's side, a trustworthy colleague. It was just a game, but in that world it had been so.
"I have no weapons. Esperanza-nim, I didn't come to harm you. And sending you to this place was not my will."
There was no answer. He exhaled deeply. Esperanza looked at him with wary eyes as if that breath might become flames. She must not let her guard down. Even if he was a former colleague, it was only a thread-like connection from occasionally meeting in the game.
Piercing through the conflicting thoughts, Cyrus spoke.
"Originally, your 'quest' was mine. The person who was to move to this time period, the person who tried to find the 'Golden Claw'—that was me."
If those words were true. While thinking she should be suspicious, she couldn't help but calculate that possibility. The explanation section that was uniquely empty compared to other quests, or the question marks in the progress rate section—such things would make sense.
For a very brief moment, her gaze went toward the edge of her vision, to the quest window that she had long since stopped being conscious of as if it didn't exist. But without opening the folded window, she looked at Cyrus again.
"So?"
"Esperanza-nim, your coming to this place was due to my mistake. I apologize."
Cyrus bowed his waist. Esperanza said nothing. This world that had seemed real looked like an old sandcastle with just those words.
Esperanza, who had lowered her gun powerlessly, leaned her head on Cider's shoulder. Making eye contact, she looked for the blue light in Cider's gray eyes. Her vision that had seemed faded returned to normal again. Slowly catching her rough breath. Esperanza, who had barely straightened up, declared coldly.
"I can't trust you."