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- One Thousand Years Later -
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"I give up." Said the decrepit, frail and weak Olya, "It's been so long since then, and to be honest I can't even properly remember your faces anymore... I've been searching and searching without even stopping once, I've missed out on so many of my descendants' milestones which led to me getting kicked out of the house. I now live in a fuckin cave like a hermit, and since I look like this, people don't even wanna take me to Shaid's Lair because they think I won't be strong enough to handle it!"
Everything the old man said was right. His descendants have accepted that he is immortal ever since he outlived Alp, but Alp was also the only person in their family tree actually willing to help out in his father's millennium-long research. In other words, the moment Alp died was the moment the entire family tree tried their best to distance themselves from Olya. He was treated with less and less respect as time went on, and after a certain amount of generations, his descendants didn't even know they were, at least legally, related to him. Still, Olya was undeterred. He kept looking for useful people willing to lend him their help in regards to finding a way to bring back Shaid and Schnell, but as you can see, even that bore little to no fruit.
"Schnell, Shaid...!" Olya let out a pathetic whimper, a single tear falling from his Eye before he saw something in the far off distance, "Huh?"
A spectacular yet extremely short-lived beam of light had appeared in the fields of Cardina, not too far off from where the old hermit's cave was. Admiring the beauty of nature as he stroked his beard, Olya smirked as he grabbed his cane and decidedly waddled on over to the scene. That beam most resembled lighting, and to the untrained Eye, that's probably all anyone could even hope to describe it as, but Olya knew better. His years of experience on this World meant he sat through many a thunder storms, and he knew without a doubt...
"That beam was way too straight to be lightning!" He proclaimed, "I can't let this chance slip by. It might be something to do with the Gods, and if it is, then it's the only chance I got!"
Of course, this may sound kind of weak coming from the guy who was just moping about giving up a few seconds ago, but in truth Olya had never intended on giving up from the beginning. Seeing as he was immortal, in his Eyes it was only a matter of time before he brings them back. Still, every setback had to have made him feel at least a little bit defeated, so he would often mope about just like this, each time shouting "I give up!" before getting a second wind and continuing his search. This was also one of those times.
"I think it was around here somewhere..." He looked around the field before seeing a small patch of flowers, with a young black haired boy lying in it, "Oh!"
"えっ..." The teenager opened his Eyes, looked around to see where he was, before immediately grabbing some kind of device out of his pockets to check what time it is, "やばい。もう3時間経ちました..."
"Boy?" Olya tilted his head.
"くそー、先生は何をしているの。" The boy then turned to him, "おや。老人、私はどこにいるの?"
"Not good..." Olya shook his head as he gently stroked the poor boy's head, "That beam must've hit him so hard he forgot how to speak..."
"Eh?" The boy stood there, shocked, "H-Hold on, why are you speaking English, old man!?"
"Oh good, you're alright." Olya immediately lost all sympathy for the boy after being called an old man, "You were speaking nonsense for a while now."
"It's not nonsense, it's Japanese!" He revealed, "Tch, stupid foreigners..."
"Hey now, if anyone's the foreigner, kid, then it's gonna be you." Olya cocked his head back, "Where the hell do they speak that language? Also, don't lie to me, I've been around the World more times than you would expect."
"Then something's obviously wrong with you, old man. I'm from the beautiful country of Japan, so I speak Japanese." The teen angstily replied, "I was on a school field trip to see the pyramids, and next thing I knew I'm over here bickering with you."
"Don't go making up locations now, squirt." Olya guffawed, "First of all, if you're on a "field trip to see the pyramids", then I'm sorry to say, but you completely missed the continent. Right now we're in Cardina, and over here we speak Cardinic."
"Cardina?" The boy furrowed his brows, "Old man, no... Wizard! Aha, I see what this is!"
"Eh?" Olya tilted his head, "Wizard?"
"Yeah, years of reading light novels have prepared me for this!" He shouted, "I've been summoned to another World, and you're gonna give me some sick new powers to defeat the demon lord, no?"
"Hey, how about you lay back down and rest that weary head of yours some more..." Olya merely suggested.
"I'm right, aren't I!? Cause no matter how you slice it, my World doesn't have a continent named Cardina!" The kid said something surprising as if it were nothing, "Right, but before that - Introductions! My name is Issei Kaido, yoroshiku! Old man, what's your na-?"
"Kid." Olya interrupted him.
"A-Ah, gomen!" Issei stuck his tongue out cheekily, "I'm just kind of excited is all! But wow, to think I'm in a completely different World! I wonder what kind of magic system you guys have here? Are there any adventurer's guilds where I can rack up some gold? How many cute beast girls do you reckon I can nab while I'm here-!?"
"Kid!" Olya shouted, "Excuse me but, you mentioned something I just can't let slip by."
"Oh, you mean the fact I'm from another World, huh?" Issei felt kind of smug about it, "Yeah, pretty sick, right? Honestly, I do have to wonder who I've been summoned here by, but it seems whoever it was wasn't you, so I guess I'll figure it out on the way."
"No, but rather something way more important..." Olya raised an eyebrow at him, "Did you say... light novels?"
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"And that's the premise of Re:Zero, in a nutshell!" Issei finished explaining Arc 1 to him.
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"Damn! I've never read that one!" The old man finally felt like he did in his youth, "To think you guys have such an interesting lineup of stories in that World... I'm totally missing out! Tch, kids these days don't appreciate good literature, they can barely read at your age!"
"Makes sense." Issei nodded, "Judging by the atmosphere of this little town you took me to, I can surmise we're in the middle ages period, so I'll bet the kids mostly just wanna be royal knights when they grow up or something like that."
"Yeah, actually. Though I have no idea what you mean by middle ages." Olya finally started to realize this kid was legitimately not of this World, "So anyway, what brings you here?"
"Fuck if I know." Issei shrugged, "Like I said before, I was randomly sent here without even knowing while we were on a field trip. I originally thought I was summoned here to destroy a great evil, but this place seems pretty peaceful so far."
"In other words, you're disappointed that you don't get to fight giant beasts and gain fame for your strength." Olya chuckled, "Cheh, glad to see teenage boys are the same even if they're from another World."
"Yeah, but I guess I'm ready to go back now if I have nothing to do." Issei shrugged, "I mean, if this place has no magic powers or demons to slay, then isn't it just like being sent to the past for me? My phone's gonna run out of battery soon too, and when it does, I'm gonna die of boredom."
"So you wanna go back to your own World already?" Olya kind of felt bad about losing this one interesting kid in his life he could properly talk about his interests with, "Shame, but I can totally understand. Well then, I'll leave you to it-"
"O-Oi." Issei grabbed him by the wrist as Olya was just about to get up, "Thing is, I don't really know how to get back home, heh-heh..."
"You don't?" Olya seemed surprised.
"Yeah, ha-ha... So if you could at least point me somewhere helpful...?" Issei asked.
"Oh, you mean like the Gryses? They're pretty close by." Olya understood, "Yeah, I guess you can't really do jack shit at your age without a name registered nor an affiliation to the ITA, so if you're looking to get started, your best bet is to ask them for some aid. They're a royal family famous for their goodwill, so I'm sure they'll help you out."
"No, not that. Though I am thankful for you telling me about them." Issei shook his head, "I mean like how do I go back home? Is there any way for me to do so that you know of?"
"Why would you assume I would know that?" Olya looked kind of annoyed.
"Well, you're an old hermit and the closest thing to a wizard." Issei reasoned, "Besides, you said it yourself, right? How you've traveled this World a bunch of times and have a ton of experience and wisdom in all sorts of things."
"Oh, well in that case, there is one idea that comes to mind..." Olya recalled, "Touch me."
"Huh!?" Issei recoiled, "What the-!? Old man!?"
"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist. Just a handshake will do." Olya extended his wrinkly hand over the table, leading Issei to sheepishly agree to it, "See there? That Green light that just popped out?"
"Whoa! So you are a wizard!" Issei's Eyes glimmered with stars in them, "Old man, are you really magic!?"
"Listen here, kid." Olya ignored him as he went on to explain, "There are 6 more places scattered around the World you need to touch, and when you do, you'll see a Green light just like this one. Touch all of them, and you'll get sent back home."
Olya had met plenty of people whom he had trusted enough to tell them about the legend, but each time he would tell them that it'd actually grant them a wish, they would go crazy with greed, and eventually all of them had to be assassinated by Olya before they could get their grubby mitts on it. Olya knew that they surely wouldn't use that one wish for good, so he made sure to be vague and just tell Issei that he'll be directly sent home instead.
"And those places are...?" Issei eagerly waited for Olya's response, only to see the old man doze off right in the middle of their conversation, "Oi! Wake up!"
"Ack, huh? Oh, sorry about that." Olya continued, "In any case, those places are... Ah, I forgot. Heh, this old brain's kinda going senile, y'know?"
"You damned annoying...!" Issei went to berate him, only for his anger to be shut down by the calm and collected old man.
"World Wonders." Olya said flat out, "They all have individual names that I just can't seem to recall, but in general they're referred to as the 6 World Wonders. Find them all, touch them all, and you'll get to go back home."
"Oh, thank you..." Issei sat back down awkwardly after causing a bit of a scene with his previous outburst, "So then, old man, how do you know this? You said before that you traveled the World, so did you visit these World Wonders yourself?"
"I did..." Olya recalled nostalgically, "With a friend. No, I guess Shaid, Doc and the girls were there with us, so you could say I had a ton of help."
"Oh, my condolences..." Issei realized from the tone what the outcome of that was.
"Yeah, but I'm still here." Olya smiled, "So good luck, kid. Change this stupid ass World of mine for me, okay?"
"Can I?" Issei seemed kind of hesitant, "It won't cause some type of catastrophe if I do, like the butterfly effect or whatever?"
"Eh, even if it does, I wouldn't mind." Olya smirked, "The Gods don't like unexpected changes, you see, so I'd like you to be the most annoying little prick you can to them."
"Gods..." Issei looked deep in thought before catching the underhanded insult, "Oi! Don't call me an annoying little prick, you old fart!"
"Bahahaha! I like that gusto, kid!" Olya shakily got up from his chair as he left Issei with some parting words, "Hey, I wonder if I'll still be alive after you check off all the World Wonders! Change the World, kid. It's my final message, goodbye."
"Of course you will!" Issei shouted shamelessly at him, despite being in a café, "I'll get it done in a week! No, a month! E-Either way, it'll be over in a jiff, and when I do get it done, I'm gonna rub it in your face!"