Ever since Being W tried to get rid of me by going all out after Stella's birth, time and space had become fragile. The countless distortions and time bubbles meant that it was possible for weird things to happen.

People spending years inside a dungeon while seconds passed on the outside. Rumors of people who had died in the distant past coming back to life...

In short, it was a mess.

Not only that, but there was the fact that I even came face to face with an alternate version of myself before.

Because of that, I wanted to make sure that nothing crazy was happening with Laplace's seal. And I was hoping that the seal was just weakening due to the weird flux of mana going around the world right now with the time distortions.

But...

'It's never that simple, huh?'

Laplace's castle was ominous looking from the outside, but on the inside, it was fairly regal.

Black and gold decor. Paintings. Flower arrangements...

Objectively, it was elegant. Refined.

Subjectively...

"Rudy." Ruijerd paused to look at a painting, frowning. "...Is this you?"

...It was eerie.

I turned to look at the painting Ruijerd stared at and frowned as well.

It was expertly done. Whoever painted it was a master artist who could capture complete photorealism with paints.

As to the subject material though...

"...It seems like it."

A young man with a familiar face. Wearing glittering silver armor emblazoned with the Asura Kingdom Crest, he raised a sword in the air at a shadowy figure. His green eyes were narrowed in anger while his light brown hair was windswept.

Rika stepped forward to look at the painting as well and frowned. "How is something like this here?"

I turned away from the painting and said, "Lots of weird things have happened with time distortions. Nothing new or surprising about this."

Ruijerd glanced away from the painting as well. But as he did, he frowned. "That may be true. But..." He shifted his gaze and looked deeper into the castle. "...This is Laplace's palace. One that Perugius himself sealed with a God-ranked Barrier. Could something have truly disrupted that?"

I took the lead in our exploration again and started walking. "You're thinking a bit too highly of that guy. And of God-ranked spells."

A long corridor lined with paintings.

From what I could tell, the 'big bad' would be down the end of this hall in the throne room.

The question was what that 'big bad' would be. Or rather, 'who' that big bad would be.

Ruijerd and Rika followed after me, remaining quiet and simply observing the paintings we passed.

I did the same.

There were a few different portraits around. All familiar faces, but with different circumstances.

Or to be exact, versions of me in different settings.

There was a painting of 'me' standing in what looked like a modern city, wearing a red coat in front of a group of bloodstained soldiers. Stains from a pool of blood still fresh on the ground.

There was another 'me' standing in a starry expanse with a bit longer hair, looking every bit like a Chinese cultivation novel protagonist.

And then there was a 'me' wearing what looked like a suit of power armor.

But it wasn't just 'me' in the paintings.

A saw of few of Eri as well. One where she looked extremely harsh and vicious, wearing a blood-stained fur coat while standing a top a pile of corpses. Another where she was wearing proper armor emblazoned with the Boreas Family crest.

There were some pictures of Sylphy. One where her hair had been cut short and she was petite, wearing a black visor. Another where she had a lean build and carried an emerald rapier.

Then there were pictures of Master Roxy. Dad. Norn. Mom...

Familiar faces all around, but dissimilar settings.

Walking past those paintings, I frowned and tightened my grip on my sword.

And then we arrived.

A large pair of looming double doors, black and gold.

Without hesitation, I swung my hand and blew them open.

A loud *bang* echoed.

The doors swung open to reveal a grand throne room with a looming obsidian throne.

But...

"No one's here?"

Empty.

Save for the throne, the room was empty.

Ruijerd walked from behind me, spear raised and cautious. But after looking around the room, he tilted his head in confusion. "The room is empty. But..." He trailed off and then kept scanning the room.

I glanced back and said, "Rika? Can you see anything?"

Rika frowned and took off her glasses. When she did, her eyes shimmered before turning iridescent, shining with every color of the rainbow. And then her frown deepened and she said, "...Nothing's here."

"...Nothing?" I frowned and looked around the room again. "Then was this bait?"

Ruijerd set his spear down and leaned on it, rubbing his chin. "...It could be a trap. But if neither you nor Rika sense anything..."

"Then there isn't anything here."

It might sound arrogant, but I was fully aware of my capabilities. Even if there was a god of concealment in front of my eyes, they wouldn't be able to escape me.

Gauging time, space, mana levels, air pressure, temperature... When I focused, I could perceive countless streams of information to survey the surroundings. And what I didn't miss would be picked up by Rika's eyes, which had been strengthened to essentially be able to pick up the record of the world itself.

Not exactly, but close.

Which meant that my first intuition about this place was correct. There was nothing off here in terms of mana or anything else.

It was just an empty palace with strange paintings.

And here, we just had an empty throne and-

Hm?

A flicker of white amidst the black throne.

I frowned and focused my attention on it, using Clairvoyance to read what it said.

You know, instead of walking towards it in case it was an obvious trap.

The white turned out to be writing. It also turned out to be silver instead of white, faint traces of silver mana left on the throne to convey a secret message. And that message...

'You are the fourth.'

"..." I spun around and started walking away.

"R-Rudy?" Rika called out and jogged after me. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my family trip." I sighed and dissolved my sword before shaking my head. "There's nothing out of the ordinary here, and I am *not* in the mood to decipher cryptic messages from someone who had left this place a long time ago."

The castle was empty. Whether the occupant was Demon God Laplace or Magic God Laplace, they had been gone for a long time considering on how faint those traces of mana were.

Probably around the time the distortions first started popping up.

And from those paintings as well...

Yeah. The person here definitely wanted me to do something. Maybe get curious and dig deeper into what it all meant and why there were multiple versions of me and people I knew portrayed on the wall.

But jokes on him: I didn't care.

I was me and nobody else. All I wanted to do in this world was to live a nice and peaceful life with my lovely wives, kids, sisters, parents, and friends.

Rika walked beside me and frowned. "So... there is no danger of Magic God Laplace emerging?"

"Too late to worry about that. Whoever was being kept here is long gone now."

"Hold on." Rika pinched the bridge of her nose. "Say that again?"

I waved my hand and said, "This place is clear. You can send some people to explore it later without worrying. And tell Perugius that if he's hunting for Laplace, the guy's already gone."

Rika groaned. "...Do I have to deal with this mess?"

"No. But even if I take you with me to relax, you're going to stress about it, aren't you?"

"Only because you don't concern yourself enough. Hah..." Rika took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

Ruijerd walked over and patted Rika's shoulder. "If you need my help-"

"I do." Rika immediately nodded and said, "Get adventurers and comb this place for clues with Atofe and her people. Meanwhile, I'll go deal with Perugius."

I raised my hand and said, "And I can go, right?"

Rika glared at me and said, "Just go and have your trip, you bastard. But I expect you to take proper responsibility when you get back."

"...Alright." I nodded and said, "Make sure to get a bit stronger before I get back then if you don't want to lose in the inevitable catfight."

Rika snorted and then waved me off.

Seeing that, I smiled and locked onto the mana signature I left on the carriage at the Great Forest. With that as a focal point, I warped away, expecting to pop back into a cozy ride with Sylphy and the kids.

Instead...

"Rudy!" Sylphy giggled and waved at me while covering a beastman in ice. "Did you have a nice trip?"

I blinked and then looked around.

Ice in every direction. Beastmen subdued in ice blocks while shivering from the cold.

Eos and Roland giving me an awkward expression and refusing to meet my gaze... And Ena trembling from the frosty temperature.

"...Hah." I ran my hand through my hair and muttered, "If it's not combat, it's drama from misunderstandings..."

I shook my head and pulled out my notebook to add another rule to the Greyrat Guy's Guide for Dummies.

'Note to self: Do not leave overpowered woman on their lonesome when in the middle of a mission. No matter how much you emphasize negotiation, you will always return to a giant mess.'

-LIV-

Somewhere in the Asura Kingdom, a nondescript man wearing a travel cloak suddenly stopped in the middle of an open field. A soft 'beeping' noise echoed from a digital watch on his left wrist.

The man paused and then pressed a button on the side, stopping the beeping. After that, he shook his head and looked at the Asura Kingdom Capitol barely visible in the distance.

A strange mix of emotions crossed his eyes, but then he sighed and continued walking.