January 19, 1615 Central Calendar, 14:21
MOASEC Apartment Complex, San Redentore District
The silence of his abode greeted Meteos as he finally arrived at his apartment room. It has been like this every weekday. His roommate Walman is still on his shift in the Alpha Edge Project, replacing him until one and a half hours later in order to fulfill their obligations to the Ancient Ministry.
With an exaggerated sigh, Meteos opened the door wide and lifted a wooden crate sitting by his feet to carry into the apartment. Proceeding to walk further inside, he arrived at the door of his apartment’s so-called ‘Planning Room,’ an office-like room dedicated to all his plans and as one would expect, is filled to the brim with books, documents, and blueprints. Meteos placed his crate there with a dull thud that reverberated across the room.
“Phew… finally,” Meteos groaned, stretching his limbs. The sensation of his popping joints made him involuntarily let out a grunt of pleasure.
He was on a tight schedule today. The work on the Alpha Edge Project only intensifies day by day, but immediately after finishing his shift, Meteos departed for the Imperial Mail Service in Xenosgram District by himself to retrieve a package sent from his hometown of Leiden. And this package came in the form of a heavy wooden crate that would not look out of place among a shipment of firearms. These activities are not part of his obligations in the Ministry, but still, he had his reasons to do these side quests, a very personal one.
One crowbar and the quick application of a simple lever mechanism later, Meteos pried the sealed crate open, revealing the contents of the package after long being stored under layers of rodent and termite-repellant magic papers. Its distinct scent tickled the boy’s nose as he peered into it with a growing sense of anticipation.
The box was divided into two parts. One half is filled with envelopes containing some of the drawings Meteos had made in the past nine years and the other is a smaller cardboard box containing the notes related to his designs. He counted fifteen envelopes, meaning there are fifteen blueprints in this box alone. Picking the leftmost one and opening it with a paper knife, Meteos then spread it wide on the drawing table.
“Oh, how nostalgic,” he remarked upon seeing what was drawn on the paper.
This one is one of his first drawings, made shortly after he regained his memories post-reincarnation. It started as a simple drawing to test how far he remembered his knowledge, but after some tweaks here and there, it turned into a proper design drawing by the Holy Milishial Empire’s standards. His parents, being civilians unfamiliar with military matters, simply chalked it as their son having too much imagination and gave him words of encouragement and praise. It then snowballed from there.
After finishing reviewing the design and making additional notes to simplify its design and remove unnecessary parts, Meteos folded it back to the envelope and pulled a pencil to mark it, ‘Design GP-11,’ before proceeding to the next drawing.
“Hmm, a lightweight machine pistol operated using a delayed blowback closed bolt mechanism, firing Imperial Pistol Ammunition and capable of selective fire ranging from single, semi-auto, and full-automatic,” he recited the details of the drawing like it’s second nature for him. Nine years already passed since he created this drawing but he did not forget even one part of it, as if this creation was just born mere moments ago.
A machine pistol is a weapon that somehow existed in both the otherworlders’ home planets despite their vastly different histories. Perhaps both Japan and the Gra Valkas Empire found a place for automatic firearm firing handgun cartridges on the battlefield, called kikan kenjū and maskinpistol, respectively. As for this world, the only firearm similar to them at this era is the Holy Empire’s M1600 Self-Loading Carbine (SLC). Meanwhile, Mu will not introduce machine pistols, or mitraillette, as they called them, until the early 1640s.
The M1600 SLC is a semi-automatic weapon with an unusual design in the form of a magazine that is located on the top, manufactured in limited numbers by the Imperial Arsenal, and remained an obscure weapon since its introduction a decade ago. Intended for close-quarters combat during raiding narrow corridors of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire’s dungeons, it fired the Imperial Pistol Ammunition. However, despite it worked just fine against frail and dumb goblins armed with swords, the common type of mooks the Army often find inside the dungeons, the units who were fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on who you ask) enough to find deeper ones will often find themselves outgunned by armored and intelligent humanoid monsters who wielded the Ravernal equivalent of a GPMG like it was assault rifle and sometimes, one or more Lesser Nosgorath units.
Therefore, the preferred tactic for clearing a dungeon is to lure the monsters out into an open space and finish them off with superior firepower. However, while it works with shallow dungeons like the ones appearing in news channels, this passive strategy will not work with the more advanced ones, ruins that sometimes contain a higher quantity of intact Ancient Sorcerous Empire relics. There’s also the problem of the monsters’ black blood that contaminated the soil.
Meanwhile, Meteos’ design of a machine pistol, which he gave the name ‘GP-12,’ features a more conventional design as well as being better in general in terms of performance. It can even fire bullets at full auto. Whether the military or police will be interested in this design or not is up to them, but anything goes for an inventor like him. Besides, he still has plenty of ammunition to feed the Holy Empire’s starvation of advancement.
Living in the Holy Empire where nearly everything is already provided is such a blessing compared to if one wished to start the same thing that he did in this country in another, even if it’s another superpower Mu. Even more so with the pillar of the Holy Empire’s advancement is now directly supporting him. If the Ancient Ministry really wanted to, they can ask to move a mountain, and the rest of the Holy Empire will have no choice but to ask ‘how far.’ Meteos is working on his designs with that in mind, inventing things and makes use of the Ancient Ministry’s support to his hearts’ content.
The next design he pulled made him let out an amused chuckle. If an automatic machine pistol might be considered unattractive by the military, then this one definitely is. He remembered this as a drawing he designed around his sixth birthday in this new timeline; an automatic rifle intended to be a successor to the M1591, the standard issue rifle for the military. It has the same operation system as the now-named Design GP-12. Firing the standard Imperial Rifle Ammunition, 7,62 mm, it was shorter than the M1591, but its estimated weight is heavier by almost 500 grams and it’s even heavier than the Japanese Hachikyuu-shiki-shoujuu. Even though Meteos can and is in fact, already designed a similar weapon firing smaller rounds, he doubted the military to be willing to accept its reduced power, especially when considering the Army’s primary enemy in this era is not humans, but monsters. If anything, they might request something more powerful.
He did the same thing as the previous designs and labeled it ‘Design GP-13,’ with an additional note on how to find out ways to further improve the design, including weight reduction measures without making the design frailer. And with the existence of magic, there are many avenues that can be explored.
‘Three out of fifteen.’
…………
19:58
The silverette was joined by Walman in reviewing his designs after the latter came home from his shift, only further proving that the brunette is quick on the uptake even though the design’s complexity spiked considerably beyond the GP-17. It’s a shame that Robin is not here, though. That woman would have been thrilled seeing these kinds of stuff firsthand.
When he finished with the last one in the package, GP-115, Meteos briefly glanced at the wall clock and then at Walman, who was scrutinizing the drawings and notes that he had already reviewed.
Two minutes before eight o’clock.
It is a pleasant and quiet evening, the kind of situation that Meteos liked very much.
He himself was never one for idle chatting, preferring to spend time burying his nose among books and documents in silence, even more so when they are related to the Light-Winged Devils’ ancient relics. Even in this second life, where those alien technology no longer fascinates him as much as before, Meteos continues to be a rather quiet person as he focused on creating more and more technological wonders of his own. But because he wanted to try to become at least a more decent person and a good friend this time, he walked up to Walman at the drawing desk to remind him of the time.
“Hey, Walman,” Meteos called out as he tapped his friend on the shoulder.
“Yeah?” the brunette answered absentmindedly, not looking up from the blueprint.
“How’s it going? Are there any problems you don’t understand?”
“No worries, I got this.”
“It’s almost eight. There are two hours left until bedtime. Want to take a break?”
At those words, Walman glanced up and looked at the clock. Humming to himself, he finally spoke, putting aside a note about a machine gun design labeled GP-14.
“Sure,” he smiled. “What about you? Waiting for your evening call as usual, or are you the one calling tonight?”
Meteos bristled at Walman’s barely concealed snicker, but he quickly composed himself and replied neutrally with a raised eyebrow. “What of it?”
“Oh, no, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not going to make fun of you. I mean, you seem a lot more relaxed since you’ve been grimoiring each other and that’s actually nice, er… yeah.”
Meteos gave Walman a stare before shrugging and silently headed out of the room with Walman in tow, heading to the bedroom to pick up his grimoire and finding Walman already in the middle of turning on the magic monitor in the living room like he usually does. Without much fanfare, he joined Walman in sitting on the couch to watch the evening show. However, from the gleam of those oceanic blue eyes, glancing at the black screen of his magic phone from time to time, it is clear that his anticipation was directed somewhere.
The brunette boy lightly snorted at his friend.
It’s already been four months since Meteos started a new routine with his grimoire, where he will use the two hours before bedtime as a break from all kinds of chores and work before actually sleeping on time. Even though this means less time to work, he compensated for it by making full use of his time when awake. Not that it seems to matter much for the young prodigy. If anything, his drive to finish his work increased two—no, threefold.
He also seemed to have better sleep, as Walman can no longer recall when the last time his friend thrashed around in bed and mumbled something incomprehensible in his delirium. It was obvious that he is having nightmares, but he didn’t know what kind or why they happened so often. After all, it’s not like he was having a bad day recently. Although he was concerned, as long as Meteos don’t want to talk about it to anyone, it was not Walman’s place to ask him about it.
That’s why his friendship with Nadia Smirnova is probably the best for both of them. It was painfully obvious that the blonde girl has a crush on Meteos. ‘Gold and Silver’ pairing, as Robin calls it. She’s such a demure, nice, and pretty girl, but she’s not exactly Walman’s type.
What makes him really curious, though, is what Meteos actually feels about that eastern girl, seeing that his friend, who rarely interacts with kids of the opposite gender, seems to be very comfortable in Nadia’s presence. And after seeing him pampering Nadia with all sorts of things at every chance they meet, Walman really wanted to ask Meteos about it. Does he reciprocate her feelings after the few times they met and saw each other?
‘Should I ask him directly…? Hmm, ah, screw it,’ he thought, really wanting to scratch that itch of his.
“So…” he started, “Are you going to call her first?”
“No. Tomorrow is Tuesday, which means she will have alchemy in the morning. It’s her favorite subject, she must have been studying hard right now. I shall not disturb her. I’ll let her do it when she finished studying.”
‘Eeh… you even know about that…’
Walman is convinced. Never had he seen Meteos seem to care about what a girl likes and dislikes.
“I see… What do you think of her, by the way?”
“…!”
Although he was briefly taken aback by the question, Meteos firmly replied. “Nadia is a kind and intelligent girl who came all the way from Zaftra for the sake of her grandmother, isn’t that admirable?”
“Huh, that’s it? Then… do you like her?”
“For someone like her, the real question is if there is something that people dislike about her, Walman.”
Walman held back a laugh, “Well… you once said that people can be cruel with their tongues.”
Yes, it was something that Meteos once said to Walman before, having seen firsthand in his previous life how the Gra Valkans behaved with their delusions against the natives of this world, even though they were clearly losing the war they started themselves. No matter how mankind beat those little devils to submission, not once did their venomous tongues shut up and continued to lash at them. It’s annoying and just plain pathetic on the Gra Valkans’ part, but it became downright infuriating when the natives still getting killed.
Are they really humans as they claim to be, or is Meteos stand corrected in thinking that they are monsters?
Anyway, the thought of anyone disliking Nadia is simply preposterous.
Walman continued, “But that’s not what I’m asking.”
Meteos narrowed his eyes, “Just get to the point already, Walman.”
“Okay, okay. Do you like Nadia, as in like-like?”
At Walman’s words, Meteos was actually stunned as he figured out the meaning behind that question: “Do you like her so much that you want to spend your days with her by your side?”
“…What makes you think I liked Nadia that way?” he muttered.
“Well… every time we hang out together, I see that whenever she needs something, you are always quick to give. Heck, even when Nadia doesn’t really need it, you took the initiative and offers to buy her things. Her grimoire, for example. It’s useful, but still expensive, what did you give it to her for?”
“Is it wrong that I just want to help someone with good intentions? It’s not like anything I give her are useless, frivolous things,” he reasoned.
“Uh, huh. If that’s the case, then you should do the same with the others, like…” Walman brought up his fingers and began counting, “Sofia, Hilda, Shadya, Aguilera, Annet—wait, no.”
He almost mentioned the daughter of the Duke of Runepolis, the last person who could possibly be given such treatment by Meteos. Coughing awkwardly, Walman continued.
“And don’t forget the boys as well. But you didn’t do that. So can you blame me for thinking that you are indeed like her?”
“…Am I…?” the silverette asked to himself. A confused frown began to slowly appear on his face as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair. Maybe Walman is just joking with his assumptions, but Meteos indeed felt a throb, a strange sense of fondness just by thinking about that one girl.
He was silent for a while before abruptly standing up from the couch and walking off, muttering a brief, “I’m going to the bedroom,” leaving his friend alone in the living room, the sound of the magical monitor becoming a distant background noise as Walman’s bewildered stare followed Meteos’ briskly retreating back.
“…I’m not screwing things up, am I?” he murmured.
…………
Just as he disappeared from his friend’s line of sight, Meteos quickly closed the door and threw himself on their double bed, sprawling on it while letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Now that Walman had brought up that topic, he can’t stop thinking about it.
Their first meeting was barely remarkable, with Meteos thought of her as just an ordinary girl like any other who happened to be saved by Robin from an unfortunate crime scene. It was later that he found out more about Nadia. Her likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams, as well as passion and talent. He wanted to reward her for her efforts, and so he did, and it felt just right doing it. But why he wanted to do it in the first place?
They rarely meet each other after he graduated. But every time they did, his admiration for her personality slowly turned into something indescribable that is growing inside his heart. He also began to notice more of her as a person… the way her eyes lit up every time they locked gazes at each other, her captivating voice, and everything else about her fascinated him. The mere thought of seeing her, or at least listening to her voice again every night conjured a different feeling of fondness and anticipation than the one he feels when he masterfully danced his fingers on the papers as he poured his imagination into creation.
A more pragmatic part of his mind reasoned that this newfound feeling, although he can’t explain it at present, is useful for him. Never before he had felt breezing through his work, no matter how difficult it is, to be so overwhelmingly easy, until the time comes for their evening calls. Is that why Meteos felt compelled to shower her with kindness? Because he wanted to reward the object of his feelings for being useful in furthering his goals? Or is it something… genuine?
Meteos never had a life partner in his previous life, having lived alone until the day he died. Perhaps he subconsciously longed for one, and perhaps he found it in Nadia. But he was still unsure.
“It was slow, but steadily growing, and never fades. Like standing on a hill in the morning, standing still in place as the sun creep in from beyond the horizon, waiting for the warmth of its golden rays to wash over your entire being… it feels exactly like that… but sunrays… why it had to be sun?” Meteos chuckled mirthlessly, finding it to be ironic for now that whenever he thinks about the sun, the first thing that came to his mind is that ‘another star.’
“Gods, she’s just one girl I had the chance of meeting. When it started to turn out like this… This matter is something that my pathetic brain doesn’t compute!” he huffed, flailing his limbs into the air and letting them hit the soft bed with a muffled thud.
“I hate this feeling of uncertainty; I need to find out more about this—hm?”
It was at that moment that his gaze stopped at the calendar on the wall. Showing the first two months of the Central Calendar Year 1615, he noticed that on the 8th of February, it was marked blue and circled among black numbers of the normal weekdays and red-colored weekends.
“Lá Bandia an Uisce… Hmm…” (Water Goddess Day)
Meteos hummed in contemplation, and then the grimoire rang.
20:55
Runepolis Magic Academy Girls Dormitory
“…And one more thing, I want to ask you something, Nadia.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Do you have any plans for Sunday on February eighth?”
“Hmm… that’s quite specific. But no, nothing in particular.”
Nadia got up from her bed to pick up a calendar sitting on her desk, tilting her head upon finding out that the specific date is marked blue with a circle, the sign of it being a religious holiday.
“I see, that’s nice!” Meteos’ voice sounded pleased. “Do you know that February eighth coincides with the Water Goddess Day? If you have nothing to do at your dorm, why don’t you visit the Temple of Saoirse at the end of the road? People over there are going to hold a community event after the worship, I’ll be there from the morning, too.”
“I never visited such events since I came to the capital. I-is it alright if I go there?”
“Hm? What do you mean by that? Even if you don’t participate in the ceremony, the event is open to everyone. Heck, that’s the reason it opened in the first place. Come to think of it, it makes me wonder why your classmates never asked you to come.”
“Maybe they forgot…”
A loud, disbelieving sigh was heard from the other end of the grimoire before Meteos continued. “That’s—Never mind. Anyway, I’ll be delighted if you can come and visit. I’ll… show you around if you wanted to. What do you think?”
Despite them being the same age, Meteos’ achievement has propelled him and Walman into being employed by the most prestigious institution in the Holy Empire. However, that also means that he is now an extremely busy person, of course he will have no time to waste. Grimoiring each other is one thing, but hanging out and chatting face to face? The prodigy’s time is too precious for that.
Now Nadia regretted that her shyness prevented her from spending more time with him while she can, despite knowing how her crush’s ambition is probably burning as bright as the August Star of Heaven in the sky.
This is why this invitation directly from him caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. In no time at all, a rosy tinge adorned Nadia’s cheek as she fumbled with her words.
“I’d love to—I mean, o-of course! That will be great…!”
“……I’ll be looking forward to it…… Oh, right. Since you’re having an exam tomorrow, I think we should end this call now. I wish you the best of luck, and good night.”
“Thank you, Meteos, and good night to you as well…”
After the call ended, Nadia brought her grimoire close to her chest and hugged it tightly. Her smile never left her face even as she leaned back into her bed and closed her eyes. It was a good day, as always. She hoped that tomorrow and the days after that will be better than today.
“Psst, Meteos, are you sleeping?”
Walman’s not-really-quiet whispering can be heard by Meteos, who was facing away from the brunette on the bed.
“I’m trying to. What is it?” he answered without looking at him.
“I was wondering something, and I wanted to ask you.”
“Why don’t you ask earlier?”
“Sorry! I forgot! I just remembered now!”
Meteos snorted, “What is it that you wanted to ask.”
“It’s about those GPs…”
“GP? The blueprints?”
“Yeah, those drawings from the crate.”
“Okay, what about it?”
“What does ‘GP’ mean?”
Meteos sweatdropped, did his friend seriously do this, just as he was trying to sleep? However, he humored Walman and turned to face him.
“Enysfalian. Gléas Plota. In Milishian that would mean ‘Plot Device.’ You know, techniques in a story used to move the plot forward?”
“I know what a plot device is,” Walman retorted. “But that’s curious naming. Any reason behind it?”
This time, Meteos gave Walman a playful smirk before shifting so that his back faced him again.
“Who knows? It might be random, or I named it as such because I indeed wanted to move the plot of a story forward…”
“Huh? I don’t get it…”
“Sweet dreams, Walman.”
“Ah… g-good night.”
Currently Publicly Available Information
KAGASEO
Kagaseo, designated α Corona Majestatis (Alpha Corona Majestatis), and abbreviated Alpha CoMa or α CoMa, is a star in the constellation Corona Majestatis (lit. “Crown of Majesty”). With a visual apparent magnitude of -1,7 it outshines all other stars as the brightest star in the night sky. In addition, the star’s position which is very adjacent to the north celestial pole makes it also called the North Star. In addition to its brightness, its position as the pole star makes it essential for navigation.
The star’s prominent appearance and position has caused Kagaseo to hold a significant influence in many cultures. The most famous of them is the Milishian mythology, in which it was called the “August Star of Heaven” (not to be confused with a mythological event with the same name, that meteor is depicted in mythology as a fragment of this star sent by the gods to banish the Light-Winged Devils from this planet).
Until this day, it is unknown where the name “Kagaseo” came from or what it means, being already appeared in writings as far as the reign of the Third Milishial Emperor to indicate the brightest star in the sky which was used as a fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation. Although there are speculations, the fact that it does not match any of the recorded languages in the known world or even the Ancient Sorcerous Empire’s language greatly confused the researchers.
It is just a lone soul, but maybe it only takes one lone soul out of the millions.
If Meteos never started his little summer project in March 1613, he will continue his studies in Leiden until he graduated from junior high school. Meanwhile, Robin, who never met him on that day, will eventually succumb to immense stress and insanity that she committed suicide. As a member of the Ancient Ministry’s ancient weapons operator, her death was kept secret and her name was expunged from their records.
Her mother Candee, Robin’s only living relative who never stopped searching for her missing daughter, never found out about this. She spent the next seventy years after Meteos died in 1722 still waiting for her beloved daughter. Finally, after coming to realization that her daughter will never come back, she, too, killed herself. The world knew her as an eternally beautiful and youthful human woman, but secretly she led a life filled with despair and sorrow and died alone.
On 3rd September of 1613, Nadia Smirnova, a young aspiring alchemist from the eastern coast will encounter an unfortunate incident in the streets of Runepolis. Although she managed to run away from her robbers, without Robin being there to help her, those three thugs caught up with her and dragged her back into the dark alley. Nadia desperately struggled, but it ended after a bullet lodged itself inside the poor girl’s head. Not stopping there, the gun-wielding thug was so enraged with Nadia’s struggle that he emptied his entire magazine on her. And that’s as far as I would humor the notion of describing it.
Unaware of all this, Meteos’ life went on, only to end up in a bleak timeline that was his previous life.
No matter whether large or small, entities that disturb time and space will cause a ripple effect that will greatly change the future timeline. Meteos Roguerider is just one person, an insignificant speck in the cosmos, born into a planet unfortunately so ravaged by the unwanted visitors in the distant past that it stunted its growth like a poor child suffering from malnutrition. However, just by being reborn in the past, he becomes the center of a ripple that swept through the universe, changing futures and derailing the course of fate whether he’s doing it knowingly or not.
As for the future that will happen next, it is obvious that it will no longer be set in stone.
