The Logic of a Miracle

“What is it, Prince? It is perfectly normal to dream about your one and only precious friend. There is no need to be embarrassed!”

I rushed over and clung to Azrael as he walked ahead. Azrael wore a complex expression for a fleeting moment before responding.

“You are right. You are a uniquely precious person to me, after all.”

It was a rather ambiguous answer. I smiled, trying my best not to overinterpret the words of an NPC who was programmed to be favorable toward the player.

“I have dreamed of you too, Prince.”

I caught his remark with a vague reply, hoping it sounded like typical banter between friends. I wanted to ensure that when I looked back on this memory, I’d remember it as ‘a heart-fluttering moment’ rather than ‘that time I totally misread the signals.’

Why was it, though? I was clearly excited and having fun, but a part of my mood felt damp, as if my feet were sinking into mud.

“I see. I am glad.”

Even as I looked at Azrael’s bright smile, I pulled him along while returning the grin. If I heard any more sweet words, I felt like I might lose my cool and accidentally confess my love, so I had to do something.

“Now, let us try talking to the villagers.”

“Yes, let us do that.”

I strode forward. The passersby subtly tried to avoid us, likely due to our all-black attire, but I blocked one man’s path with a smile as if I were greeting an old acquaintance.

“Ah— hello there!”

The man looked up at me with a face that said, Do I know you?

“He… hello…….”

“I am new here and I’ve gotten quite lost. Could you perhaps help me?”

I continued naturally, acting as if I couldn’t read the man’s hesitant expression.

“I heard there is a restaurant here with such delicious bread that I agreed to meet a friend there. But I’ve forgotten the name of the place. My friend said everyone living here knows it—do you happen to know which one it is?”

Azrael looked impressed by my brazen conversational skills. The man stared at me like I was a strange person, then shrugged and answered.

“There is more than one place with good bread. Do you have any other information about the shop? Like the location? If the garden in the courtyard is beautifully decorated, it would be the Restaurant.”

“Ah, dear. I should have asked about that.”

I kept the conversation going for a while before smoothly shifting the topic.

“By the way, it is very peaceful here.”

“It is like that everywhere these days. There are no wars, and it is a time of great peace.”

What on earth? This continent was currently being engulfed in the flames of war. I had expected an answer like ‘It is because this is a region that avoided the war.’ As I stood there dazed and unable to continue, Azrael cut into the conversation.

“Where we come from is a port city, so accidents and incidents break out several times a day.”

“Ah, I suppose port cities are like that. This is a plain and a granary region, so all the neighboring estates are peaceful as well.”

“Looking at the market here, there are many fresh fruits. Are those fruits imported from the neighboring estate?”

“Usually, yes. It only takes three hours by carriage, so they are practically freshly picked.”

“No wonder they looked so fresh.”

Azrael and I subtly exchanged glances.

“You must have been startled by me suddenly speaking to you, but thank you for the kind conversation! We should get going so our friend doesn’t wait too long.”

“It was nothing. I hope you reunite with your friend soon!”

“Something is definitely wrong with this place!”

I spoke as if screaming the moment I reunited with the group. Several people who had already arrived looked back at my noisy entrance.

“Calm down first. It seems the rest will return soon, so please organize what you have found out in the meantime.”

John said this quite calmly, though the paper he held in his hand clearly betrayed his confusion.

I nodded and sat down.

It didn’t take long to organize the information everyone had gathered, mainly because what everyone felt was nearly identical. Once one person spoke at length about their experience, the exchange of information ended with the others adding just a word or two.

This place was definitely strange.

I let out a groan. Every member of the group was looking at me. They were like baby birds looking at a mother bird. It couldn’t be helped, since I was the only one who used magic.

“I originally thought this was a village that had always been here. A village that was already here, but under a spell or curse where living beings were erased from morning until 4:00 PM.”

“But it is strange to think that way, is it not?”

“Right. This continent is currently in a chaotic era of war. It’s not just a matter of a day or two; it’s been going on for nearly a century. It makes no sense for these villagers to perceive this as a peaceful era.”

I took a breath.

“So, the next thing I thought of was this: Could a village from my world have come here?”

“That sounds plausible, but judging by your tone, that was also incorrect?”

“The architecture of this village is typical for this continent. I suspected it might be a name I hadn’t heard of, but even the region names were unfamiliar.”

“Then what kind of place is this?”

How should I answer? I rubbed my neck. It felt a bit embarrassing to spout my conjectures like this without definitive evidence after such a long time.

“This is not confirmed, and it is strictly my guess, but I think this is a village that existed on this continent in the past.”

“The past?”

“It is impossible to implement a fictional village to this extent. Maybe if it were an illusion, but these people are alive.”

Saying this while knowing I was inside a virtual reality game made by humans felt a bit awkward. I fell silent for a moment out of bashfulness before continuing.

“For a range this large, a normal illusion spell isn’t something an individual could cast. At this level, it’s not even something several people could do by combining their power. It is almost… a miracle.”

“Can you not do it either?”

Raphael, who had been quiet, interjected. I shook my head.

“I might be able to destroy it, but I cannot create it. How can a human call upon the souls of the dead?”

As I emphasized the impossibility, my eyes widened at the words I had unconsciously uttered.

“Is this related to the Demon King?”

“What a truly tiresome affair.”

Raphael twisted his lips as if he had a headache.

“Then……. does that mean the one who summoned the Demon King created this village?”

“Perhaps……? But I am not sure. Is it possible for a person to possess that much mana?”

The doubt I had was whether it was realistically possible for a person in this world to have that much magical power.

Is it just a correction for the scenario progression?

“If the summoner of the Demon King created this village, why did they make it so incomplete?”

“I do not know that either. Perhaps something went wrong? Maybe there wasn’t enough mana, or even with the Demon King’s power, they couldn’t perfectly bring it back to life.”

Azrael opened his mouth, closed it, then moved his lips again, only to shut them before a single word came out. After considering many things, he spoke cautiously.

“Is there any chance this was created by accident?”

I shook my head firmly.

“If this were just an accident, it would have been a giant mirage. Someone created this precisely wishing for this situation. Even if it was realized incompletely for some reason. Well, if they’ve managed to do this much, completing it perfectly might just be a matter of time. As long as there is enough mana.”

Having said that, I tilted my head. The thought briefly crossed my mind: why was the mana insufficient when they had planned so specifically to summon the Demon King? Did it cost more mana than expected?

“Could it have been that person’s hometown? While choosing the method of summoning the Demon King is a great sin, it is a pity.”

John muttered. Judas, standing behind him, dropped his gaze to the floor. Knowing Judas’s backstory, seeing him like that made me feel uneasy. Raphael, the one who should actually feel guilty, looked entirely unfazed.

“Is it difficult to eliminate this village?”

“Since it is incomplete right now, it shouldn’t be that difficult. I’ll need to figure out what kind of magic was used, so that will take some time. If it’s being maintained through some kind of medium, it might end quickly.”

“A medium?”

Do I have to explain that far? I felt like an invited professor giving a lecture on magic as I thought of a plausible example.

“It is like the Demon King summoning magic. A summoned Demon King is forced back to their original world if the person who summoned them dies.”

“Ah…….”

“Magic mostly works in that context. Basically, it disappears if the person who used the magic dies or if the medium used to supplement it is destroyed.”

“That is difficult.”

I nodded and brought up the main point.

“Then shall we summarize? I can probably break this magic. But there are two problems.”

I held up two fingers and shook them, drawing everyone’s attention.

“What are the problems?”

“First, I do not know how long it will take to analyze this magic.”

“And the second?”