26: New Plan

David’s view

Discussions of the next destination with Edward began simply:

“The tower is next, right?”

“Yup. I wonder how you’ll remodel that one.”

“I’m actually thinking of not. It’s a pretty good dungeon. Lots of puzzles, a neat new mechanic with the wind blast traps that need to be exploited to solve those puzzles, and a unique flying boss at the top that forces people to employ tactics not needed against other bosses.”

“So, we just go there, clear it, and move on?”

“I’m not even sure I want to bother clearing it. The reward is just ingredients for crafting a magic item I don’t even need.”

“The wind shield is vital to climbing the Red Dragon Mountain and getting the blessing of Grand.”

“Grand’s dead, remember?”

“... oh, right. Some nobleman acquired his head. I remember that causing some panic in the church.”

“Yeah. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, but I really wish I had thought some now. I feel terrible knowing that dragon died because of me.”

“You… of course, I should’ve known that was the dragon you kept mentioning when talking about your regrets. Who else could’ve killed them?”

“It was just a contract to kill a dragon. It made no mention of how important they were. I should’ve paid more attention.”

“You thought it was just a dream.”

“I still should’ve paid more attention. Even if it’s a dream, there are still things I should avoid doing. I should’ve made sure it wasn’t a person. That it wasn’t an important being for the world.”

“You can’t change the past. We can only move forward and try to make the future better.”

“... Is it really impossible to change the past?”

“How could it not be?”

…

Jessica’s view

I like to think of myself as an expert in magic. I also have the impression that I’ve gotten a bit of a reputation for doing the impossible with magic. So, perhaps I can change the past? How would I even go about doing that?

Let’s see, first I need some divination. I should know the past, before I try to change it. Making changes blindly would be very likely to go entirely wrong. Hmmm…

“Wha, what are you doing, Jessica?! This… this is world scale!”

Wait, world scale? That seems a bit excessive. Can’t this be done at a smaller scale? Well, I should probably explain a little, so Osia doesn’t just complain the whole time.

“You dummy. If the concern is just one person’s life, then you need a resurrection spell, not a time spell!”

“That’s not a known magic either.”

“Yeah, but we’ve gotten everything figured out, except the part where we need to locate the person’s soul after death. We know how to transfer someone into a new body when they aren’t dead yet.”

“I suppose that might be easier… if I can get a good viewing of the original scene through divination, it should be possible to use a tracking spell to follow their movement...”

“Then you just need to create a path for the soul, once you’ve got a body for it.”

I suppose it makes more sense to revive the dead, than it does to alter history.

…

David’s view

“New plan, we’re heading to Red Dragon Mountain.”

“Um, what’s the plan?”

“Reviving the dead.”

“... Y’know, I’m pretty sure miracles are supposed to be God’s domain, David.”

“It’s not a miracle. Just magic.”

“Only you, would call that ‘just magic.’”

“... I want to say you’re wrong.”

“But you can’t, because you don’t know anyone who’d agree with you.”

“... Are you sure you haven’t learned mind reading?”

“Yes.”

***Author Note***

Yay! Characters are doing something on their own, instead of just reacting to events for once! It always makes them feel more real to me, when they start pursuing their own aims, instead of just relying upon the pre-made plot.