The Capital is celebrating the end of this year's Grand Magic Games. It's like a festival there, but there are also people who work hard to reconstruct the destroyed buildings.
Well, it was the Kingdom's fault for using the city as an event venue. They should be prepared to get buildings destroyed when they planned the event.
Still, people are enjoying the festival and most of them are talking about the exciting moments throughout the tournament.
However, the people who should be celebrating the most, the champions of this tournament can't really enjoy this celebration.
After all, the day after the tournament ends, Alex is called by the Kingdom. His Guild Mates seem concerned, but he calms them down because he knows why he is called.
As expected, after he arrives in the castle, they ask him to release the seal on Future Rogue's mouth. Yesterday, Alex didn't just seal Future Rogue's body, but also mouth, and eyes, making him unable to open his eyes and mouth.
An old Minister tells Alex that they need to interrogate him, but they can't do it with the seals closing his mouth because then he can't speak.
"Are you sure you just want me to open the seal on his mouth? Don't you want me to just release him? How will you break my other seals to free him later?" Alex asks with a smirk, surprising the Minister and the Knight Commander a little.
"Why would we ask you to release all his seals when we just want to interrogate him? It should be enough if he can just talk, right?" The Minister who turns out to be the Minister of Defense named Darton stays calm when answering Alex's question.
"Well, because you think he is your ally, right? Because he comes from the future, tells you that Dragons will attack the Kingdom and you need to use Eclipse Gate to kill the Dragons, right, Princess?" Alex kicks Future Rogue that sits on a chair lightly while smirking.
Darton and the Knight Commander, Arcadios are surprised by what he says. Arcadios even tries to withdraw his sword before a woman's voice from the dark prison corridor tells him to stop.
"It seems that you've realized my presence here. I'm sorry for watching you from the dark, Hero of Ishgar." A teen girl with green hair comes out of the dark corridor together with a few knights. She is Fiore's Princess, Hisui.
"So, what do you want to know from me? I'm sure you are hiding to confirm something from what I'll say or do. If you try to capture and interrogate me though, just know that even your status as the Princess won't save you or anyone here." Alex's smile looks intimidating now, but Hisui can keep her composure.
"I understand that much after seeing your power throughout the tournament." Hisui looks at Future Rogue who is fully at Alex's mercy now.
Hisui then looks into Alex's eyes with a serious expression. "About what you said before, are you saying that you also know about the future?"
"To an extent, yeah, because another person from the future also told me."
What Alex says surprise everyone there. They never thought that there would be another time-traveler who comes to the past.
"Who is that person?" Hisui immediately wants to know about the other time-traveler.
"I can't reveal it to you now, but I have more trust in that person than this Motherfucker who killed his best friend to take his power."
Hisui immediately understands what Alex means because even if Future Rogue didn't tell her, she knows that Future Rogue has Sting's Magic and that means he took Sting's White Dragon Lacrima.
But she thought that he took it after Sting's death, not killing Sting to take it. Even so, what Alex says is also possible and if it's true, then it will lower his credibility.
Though she can't trust Alex immediately either because he might also have another agenda after knowing the future. This makes Hisui start doubting everything she already knows and planned.
"We can talk and I can explain everything because I also don't want Dragons to destroy my home and kill my friends. But before we talk, I need to give you a warning. Don't try to disturb my friends or even use them as hostages to gain information from me. If you do that, then instead of Dragons, it will be me who destroys this Kingdom. Between you harming my friends and I destroying this whole castle, you are free to see which one is faster." Alex's smile drops, immediately sending shivers down everyone's spine.
"I promise we won't do anything to your friends, so please tell us what you know." Hisui says with a firm tone to show her seriousness.
"Alright, I'll mark your words. Now, where should we start? He told you that Dragons will attack Fiore, right? But did he tell you why? First of all, almost all Dragons have died, killed by Acnologia. I'm sure you already know this because this knowledge is passed down, especially among royalties who should know much more than normal people, right?"
Hisui nods at Alex's question to confirm it.
"Then, where do you think those Dragons that will attack Fiore come from?"
"That's..."
"You know the Eclipse Gate's function, right? To time-travel."
"Do you mean-?!" Hisui seems surprised by what Alex says.
"Dragons have died. The only one known to still be alive is Acnologia who was used to being a human. I know there are some Dragons who hide from him somewhere in the world. But I'm sure they won't come out because then Acnologia will hunt and kill them. The Eclipse Gate can connect 2 different times and you initially planned to return to the past to kill Acnologia before he turned into a Dragon, right?"
Again, Hisui is surprised that Alex knows so much, making her convinced that someone from the future really contacts him.
"Wait! Are you telling me that the Dragons that will attack Fiore come through the Gate that we will open to go to the past?" Arcadios asks with a trembling voice.
"That is very possible, isn't it? 10 thousand Dragons. Do you think that many gigantic creatures like Dragons can hide for so many years on Earthland? And why should they hide? If there are still that many of them, then they won't fear Acnologia. They would just rule over the world like they did in the past."
Hisui finally realizes that she doesn't really know where those Dragons that Future Rogue mentioned come from.
"Dragons are almost extinct and you were planning to travel to the past using the Gate. Don't you think that the possibility of those Dragons coming from the past through the Gate after you open it is higher than them appear out of nowhere?" Alex asks seriously.
"No way! The Eclipse Gate is only used to send people to the past and the future." Hisui rebukes what Alex says.
"Yeah, because it connects 2 different times." Alex tilts his head in confusion because it seems like their understanding of the Eclipse Gate's time travel function is different even though they seem to be saying the same thing.
"Master Alex, what the Princess means is the Gate works one way. If we open it to travel to the past, then it can't be used another way." Darton knows that Alex and Hisui have different understandings of the Eclipse Gate.
"Huh?! Are you serious? ..... Sigh, the Eclipse Gate functions as a portal to connect 2 different times, that's why it's called GATE. When you open it to travel to the past, then those from the past can also travel here through the Gate. If you don't believe it, then why don't you ask the person who came here from the past 7 years ago, you know who I mean, right?"
Hisui nods while looking down in shock. If what Alex says is true, then she will bring 10 thousand Dragons to her Kingdom instead of saving it.
She knows about Anna Heartfilia who came from the past 7 years ago along with the Dragon Slayers who got scattered instead.
However, she doesn't know Anna's whereabouts now and she never thinks of asking Anna about the Gate's function because it's already known. Or at least she thought they already knew about it.
Well, Alex also doesn't completely understand the Gate's function because as Hisui said, it can also just be used for one way travels because that's what the Future Rogue and Future Lucy used.
To use that function, they don't need to use Zodiac Keys. But there are limitations like the number of people that can be sent and also how many years they can travel.
It's possible to travel 10 years into the future or past without Zodiac Keys, but to travel 400 years to the past to kill Acnologia when he was still a human is impossible without the keys.
But when using those keys, they will fully open the Eclipse Gate and it will connect both times. That's why the Dragons can also come from the past through the Gate.
"Trying to find Anna quickly now will be difficult because we don't know where she is. So instead, why don't we ask this asshole from the future about what really happened in his timeline and what's his true motive?"
"What if he lies?" Hisui starts to distrust Future Rogue.
"He won't be able to. I have a spell that can force him to say the truth. If you can't believe my Magic, then you can ask your professional interrogators to do it. But my method is faster and more efficient. It's your call." Alex gives Hisui an option.
Hisui ponders for a while before answering. "Let's use your Magic."
She decides to believe him. Between someone who almost lost his life to protect Ishgar from Acnologia and someone from the future who has killed his best friend, Hisui knows that the former is more trustworthy.
Future Rogue is thrashing around because he still can hear. Only his eyes and mouth are closed, not his ears. That's why he knows that this won't end well for him.
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Ch. 252. Revived Acnologia