He came from the future.
That's what the old man said.
Honestly, I don't understand what he means.
Certainly, it's not like the old man doesn't resemble me.
"You're... you're saying you're the future me?
"Yes. I am you from about 50 years later."
The old man clearly said that.
Even if he suddenly tells me that, I don't know whether I should believe him.
But this guy knows my name.
On top of that, I came to this world after reincarnating with my memories.
So I get the feeling it wouldn't be strange for there to be timeslips.
"Sorry, but I don't have the leisure to explain to you the principles of past teleportation magic."
"When you say you don't have the leisure to explain..."
"Sorry for the Hollywood movie-like words, but I really don't have time. Listen to me."
The words Hollywood movie flow smoothly.
In other words, this old man definitely has a connection to my previous world.
...Is he really me?
Those glaring eyes.
There's something gloomy in the depths of those pupils.
To speak frankly, they're the eyes of someone who kills people like it's a mundane thing.
Cold eyes which think nothing of a single person's life.
So I'll become like this in the future?
That's absurd.
It's completely unbelievable, but the old man's expression is serious.
For the time being, tentatively, I'll listen to the old man's story as if he's me from 50 years later.
"There is nothing in the basement."
The old man said that deliberately.
"I went to the basement, and thought there was nothing. And the next day, I heard the words [If there was nothing, then that's good] from Hitogami, and felt reassured."
The old man grimaced unpleasantly.
"But that was a mistake. I can explain it now."
He touched his finger to his forehead as if remembering something.
His left hand's index finger.
Hm?
He has a hand?
"Listen, most likely, there's a mouse in the basement. A sick mouse. Its peculiar feature ought to be teeth like violet magic stones. I don't know where that mouse came from or when it entered there. Most likely, one from the demon continent or the sky fortress slipped into some luggage. That doesn't matter."
The old man opened his palm, then tightened it into a fist.
"The mouse was frightened by you, and ran away. To the kitchen. And then it scavenges through leftovers of yesterday's meal, has died the next day, and gets disposed of by Aisha."
"..."
"Those leftovers are given to a stray cat the next day, and disappear."
His left hand isn't an artificial one.
Is he really me?
Or maybe in the next 50 years, it gets healed using impressive healing magic.
"But before that happens, a hungry Roxy goes down the stairs, and picks a little at those leftovers. As a result, she's infected with that mouse's disease."
"Roxy gets sick?"
When I heard the word Roxy, my concentration focused on the old man's story.
"Magic stone disease."
Magic stone disease.
I get the feeling I've heard about it from somewhere.
Oh, if I remember right, it's an illness that can only be healed with god ranked detoxification magic.
An incurable disease that gradually turns the body to magic stone.
"I didn't realize it at first. After all, magic stone disease is extremely rare. That virus dwells inside the body, and is only capable of infecting the other life within it."
"The other life?"
"That's right, a fetus. Only pregnant women can contract that illness. I did research later on and was shocked."
"Eh? No, but, Roxy is still--"
"She should be pregnant. But enough of that, you did the deed so isn't that natural?"
Roxy is pregnant.
Somehow I'm really happy, but with this explanation I'm not happy at all.
"Mice are carriers for magic stone disease, because a portion of them have resistance to it. You can identify a carrier at a glance, because their teeth have become violet crystal. And the illness spreads to what the mouse bites on. It only infects orally, and the virus doesn't persist for very long. It disappears after around a day at most, and the infection rate is low, and those infected are only fetuses inside pregnant women."
"..."
"The virus grows inside the fetus, proceeds to remold the fetus, and then turns the mother's body into magic stone."
...He's saying that Roxy will be infected by an illness like that?
"If you were to thoughtlessly go to the basement right now and let the mouse out, the next day you'll hear Aisha idly grumble [I found a weird dead mouse this morning], two weeks later you'll be told [A cat infected with magic stone disease was discovered], and right after that Roxy will come down with a fever. And it will be 30 years later before you connect everything together."
"...What happens to Roxy?"
"She dies."
At his merciless remark, I lost my words.
"Roxy gets a fever and becomes bedridden... You'll understand that it's magic stone disease once you see her feet start to turn to magic stone, but..."
"It didn't get healed? I tried to heal it, didn't I?"
The old man made a sad face and cast his eyes downward.
"I tried to save her no matter what by going to the holy country of Milis, and succeeded in obtaining the chant for god ranked detoxification magic, but... A lot happened on the way, and it took time. By the time I returned it was too late, half of Roxy's body was crystallized, and she had died."
But he quickly raised his face and sent me the fierce light in his eyes.
"Don't be misled by the words of Hitogami. If it's you who has knowledge of the previous world, you should understand that much. That guy is the source of every kind of evil. The last boss."
"But, why did he do that to Roxy?" [1]