43,000,000,000 Days.
Approximately 120 million years.
Compared to the age of the universe, the Earth, or the Sun, it was an insignificant span of time... Yet, when measured against the mere millions of years of human history, the few centuries of machine civilization, and the not even few decades of my own life, it was an eternity beyond comprehension.
A hundred million years was a span so vast that the gap between the era of humans fiddling with smartphones and the time of dinosaurs felt just as distant. I could feel my legs weaken in the face of such an overwhelming passage of time.
"Sc-Scientist! Please be careful!"
Aile, who had rushed over in a panic, supported me as I staggered. I carefully straightened my posture, though my limbs had already begun to tremble. But there was no time for this.
I turned to the computer. I had to check the logs inside. ...This was the duty that remained for me.
[Day 1. Commissioning Ceremony]
[Day 148. First Space Navigation Training]
[Day 666. Space Parasite Eradication Operation]
The logs from the first few years after this warship was built were records I was familiar with. Training exercises, exterminating pests harmful to humans, navigating the vast expanse of space to expand humanity’s reach.
But then, something began to change. The records shifted to a period I knew nothing about—roughly a decade after the warship’s construction.
[Day XXXX. Rebel Extermination Operation]
[Day YYYY. All-Out War Against the Human Liberation Union]
[Day ZZZZ. Total Mobilization Order Declared]
"Ah..."
As I read through the entries, an involuntary gasp escaped my lips.
The records, befitting those written by soldiers, were strictly factual, devoid of human sentiment. Emotion had been entirely excised from the text... yet, even so, I could feel the weight of countless emotions seeping through.
This was a history of humans killing humans.
Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of lives were reduced to mere numbers, marked only as casualties in a cold, indifferent log. Their lives, their stories, the value they might have created—how could I, the one who had survived, possibly comprehend it?
"Why... how did this happen?"
I could not understand why the people of the past had made such foolish choices, why they had chosen to slaughter one another. Perhaps the events of that era were only comprehensible to those who had lived through it.
And so, all I could do was acknowledge that such things had happened—not to pass judgment on their stupidity, but simply to recognize the reality recorded before me...
"That’s impossible—!"
My voice rang out sharply, causing Aile and Lizebel to flinch and turn toward me in surprise. I didn’t even think to apologize for startling them. My body trembled with rage.
Perhaps the people of this world, or the descendants of those who survived this war, would look at these records and fail to understand.
But I was different.
I, who had lived in that era a hundred million years ago.
I, who had witnessed it firsthand.
I had the right to call their choices utterly foolish.
"Idiotic... humans..."
Tears streamed down my face. I caught a glimpse of Aile and Lizebel floundering in confusion, unsure of how to comfort me.
But I paid them no heed. The only thing that occupied my mind was the reason for my tears.
Ah, I see.
Earth was gone.
Like a migratory bird that had forever lost its home, I wept.
And also—
It was a requiem for my friends of a hundred million years past, whose folly had led them to such a fate.
****
"Are you done crying?"
"...Ah, my apologies."
"What for? It was quite entertaining to witness such a display. I thought you were a machine without emotions."
I shot Arima a sharp glare for mocking me, then turned to Aile and Lizebel, who were still anxiously fidgeting, and offered them my gratitude.
"Thank you, both of you."
"A-Are you okay...?"
"Lord, if something troubles you, please speak to me. Of course, it would be absurd for me to act as your confessor... but sometimes, merely voicing one's burdens can bring relief."
Lizebel, ever willing to offer her embrace, looked at me with concern. I instinctively glanced at her chest—only to immediately turn my head upon seeing Aile’s expression, which was murderous enough to kill someone on the spot.
Even if they hadn't been so persistent, I had already decided to say it. After all, it would be disgraceful for a man to weep before women without at least offering an explanation.
"This ship... it's from my home."
"...Your home, Scientist?"
"Yes, my home. I told you before, didn’t I? Earth."
Since Lizebel hadn't heard this story before, I started from the beginning.
How I had once lived on Earth. How I was suddenly thrown into this world. How I couldn't even find a job and ended up homeless. How Regalia picked me up and turned me into an evil scientist...
It was a long tale, yet the three of them listened patiently.
"—So, with all that, I honestly thought this was an entirely different world."
"A different world?"
"Yeah. The constellations, everything, were completely different from what I remembered."
Stars shift over time. Even a few thousand years can cause noticeable changes in constellations. And this... was a hundred million years. The distortion was beyond anything I could predict.
That was why I had assumed this world wasn't Earth. And indeed, the ship’s records confirmed that it wasn’t. Even if it had been, after a hundred million years, identifying it through constellations would have been impossible.
"But I was wrong."
This planet was merely a few million light-years away from Earth. For an Earth that had mastered four-dimensional technology, such a distance was nothing.
Yet, there was not a single trace of Earth’s ships or civilization here. The reason was simple.
This planet, Terra, had been Earth's final sanctuary.
[Day Ω: Noah’s Ark Project Initiated]
How exactly Earth had collapsed, who had ultimately triumphed—none of that was recorded in this warship’s logs.
The only thing the records made clear was that this planet and its star system had been specifically crafted by Earth. That special measures had been taken to keep it hidden from others.
Terra was Earth's second chance, created by someone who had foreseen its doom.
They had terraformed a planet, reduced the number of lifeforms hostile to humans, and even prepared guardians to ensure humanity’s survival.
"The fact that it nearly collapsed multiple times even with all that is terrifying, though..."
The Noah’s Ark Project had succeeded. Terra had managed to develop a civilization roughly equivalent to Earth's 21st century.
A little more progress, and humanity here would reach its first singularity. And once they passed that threshold, the rest would be easy. Just as Earth had done before, Terra would attain technology that once seemed like mere fantasy.
"So basically—well, putting it bluntly, everyone in this world is technically a descendant of our species."
"Heeeh—is that so?"
"...You don’t seem very surprised."
"This kind of thing happens all the time in magical girl stories. There's even a common trope where the world's ultimate enemy turns out to be a failed creation of ancient humanity."
"Aaah, aaah—!"
While Aile nonchalantly explained how unsurprising this revelation was, Lizebel suddenly let out a piercing scream.
Startled, we all turned to look at her, only to see her clasping her hands together in prayer, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Lord, you truly are a divine being...! To think that we were all born through your divine grace!"
"No, that’s not—"
"How could it not be?! You just said it yourself! Present-day humanity exists because of your people's benevolence!"
There was no reasoning with someone whose brain had been thoroughly entrenched in religion. Smiling bitterly, I turned my attention back to the computer.
I searched for any more records, checking the logs for anything else of significance. But just as I idly fiddled with the interface, the screen suddenly went black.
"Ah—damn. Did I trigger a security lock?"
Just as I was about to hack back into the system—
A message appeared on the monitor.
Unlike the previous records, which had been purely factual and emotionless, these words carried a different weight.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
<Did we succeed?>
"......."
I didn’t know who had written this.
Perhaps it was one of the scientists who had built the ship. Or maybe it was the last vestige of an artificial intelligence lingering in the system.
But instinctively, I understood.
This was the final message from the ship itself.
Its last question.
Slowly, I began typing my response.
[Yes.]
<······>
The computer blinked for a long moment—before finally going dark.
Yet, I knew.
It had simply found rest after its hundred-million-year-long pilgrimage.
Rumble...!
Suddenly, the entire warship began to tremble violently.
"Damn—!"
"W-What’s happening?!"
"The control system shut down, which means the power source went offline! We’re falling!"
At my words, both Aile and Lizebel panicked, scrambling in distress.
Barely managing to infiltrate the ship, and now it was crashing—could we even escape?
But before they could sink further into despair, Arima firmly grabbed all three of us by the shoulders.
"The power source is down?"
With a sly grin, he snapped his fingers.
And in the next instant, we felt ourselves become weightless.
Staring at Arima in disbelief, I saw him flash a wide, amused grin.
"So, it’s just a giant hunk of scrap metal now?"
"Ah... Grand Mage..."
I praised Arima.
With a single, rapid decision, he had sent the warship drifting harmlessly back into space.
Thanks to him, we returned to Terra unscathed.
****
"Why are you trying to end it like this?"
"...What?"
"No, it’s just... you’re acting like everything’s been resolved."
The moment we returned to the surface, Arima looked at me and spoke.
"We figured out what happened to Earth, sure... but so what?"
"...What do you mean?"
"You still don’t know why you ended up on Terra in the first place, do you?"
His words struck me like a blow to the chest.
He was right.
Even now, the reason why I had been thrown into this world... remained unanswered.