Chapter 230

A Repeating World

“…… An apostle? You’re not Lily Lilium, the former cardinal?”

His Majesty Sein asked with a skeptical look on his face .

“Nice to meet you, Sein Bauer . Welcome, and thank you for coming all the way from Bauer Kingdom . ”

“…… Seems like you really aren’t her, huh . Former cardinal Lily wouldn’t say something so silly . ”

“I am honored that you would compliment me . ”

The apostle gave a big bow as if they were an actor .

“Claire, explain what’s happening . Who’s this apostle? What do you know about them?”

Dor-sama, bewildered, demanded for an explanation .

Claire-sama glanced over at me, so I gave her a nod and prompted her to continue .

For the sake of improving our future, I thought it was best if everybody else was caught up to speed as well .

“They’re called the apostle . They claim to be associated with the Spirit God, and they are responsible for coordinating how this world works from the other side . I don’t know how much of this is the truth, though . ”

“All of it is one hundred percent true, Claire François . ”

The apostle corrected Claire-sama’s harsh explanation just for fun .

“I’m assuming everybody here wants to know more about the Demon Queen . I can answer those questions for you . ”

“Ohh? If that’s the case, then I’d love for you to tell us . Not that I’d necessarily believe you right away, though . ”

William-sama said with his usual tone .

“You can doubt me all you want . However, everything I say is the truth . What I’m concerned about is how much you’ll be able to understand what I’m going to tell you . ”

“…… . Are you questioning our intelligence levels?”

Dor-sama seemed a little displeased with the apostle .

“Rather than intelligence, this is more of a cultural―― no, it’s a difference in civilizations . However, Rei Taylor will definitely be able to understand it, so there shouldn’t be an issue . ”

When the apostle said that, everybody’s eyes were pointed towards me .

Well, even if you say that…

“Apostle, why do the Demon Queen and her associates give me Claire-sama special treatment? If possible, I’d like it if you explained it to us clearly without any of your strange riddles . ”

I was sick of them constantly feeding us only part of the story .

“I apologize for that . Well then, let me explain . But where should I start……”

“In that case, let me ask you a different question . Is the being that claims to be the Demon Queen really Rei?”

Claire-sama asked while the apostle was still not sure where to start .

“That’s a good question, Claire François . However, that cannot be answered that easily either . The Demon Queen is indeed Rei Taylor, but Rei Taylor is not the Demon Queen . ”

“…… Are you just making fun of us? Please answer it seriously . ”

Claire-sama wasn’t able to mask her frustration .

“It was not my intention to make fun of you . I apologize . My specifications do not allow for me to overlook logical inconsistencies . ”

“Your specifications?”

Claire-sama repeated the word that she seemed to be unfamiliar with .

“It basically means something like a design or base settings, Claire-sama . ”

“I’m not familiar with those words . You sure know a lot, Rei . ”

“Yes, but either way, none of those words are things that can be used to describe people―― they’re used to describe artificial things . ”

“…… What did you say? In that case, does that mean the apostle is――”

“Your intuition is correct, Rei Taylor . That’s right . I am not a living thing . I was artificially created . ”

“!?”

Everybody in the conference room seemed confused .

“You’re not a living being……? What a silly thing to say . No matter how I look at it, you look just like a human being . ”

“That is the biggest compliment I could ever receive, Claire François . However, none of what I said was a lie . I am unmistakably an artificial creation, made through an advanced level technology called science . Rei Taylor, you should be able to guess my true form by now, right?”

The apostle smiled as they directed their gaze towards me .

A non-living entity that resembles a human being, created through science――

“An AI―― Are you artificial intelligence?”

“You’re correct, Rei Taylor . ”

The apostle applauded me .

Was the apostle an AI?

I was able to guess it correctly, but there were still so many things I was confused about .

“A-I? What is an AI?”

“Well, it’s an artificial creation of some sort that closely resembles how a human mind works . They’re 100% artificial, but the ones that are extremely advanced are said to be nearly indistinguishable from a real human being . ”

However, back when I was still alive, those types of AI didn’t exist yet, so all of my knowledge came from all of the fiction that I’d read .

“Rei, why do you know so much about that?”

“I’ve mentioned this before, but this is common knowledge from the world that I used to live in . That world didn’t have anything like magic, but instead, we were developing our civilization through science . ”

“That’s basically what the apostle was saying earlier, huh . ”

William-sama seemed to be interested .

“Yes . An existence that was made to artificially reproduce the functions of the human mind through science―― that is what an AI is . ”

I attempted to explain it in layman’s terms as best as I could, but I wasn’t sure if it got through to everyone or not .

“Somehow, I understand what you’re saying . In that case, for an AI like you to be here, does that mean there’s something going on between this world and the world that Rei was previously a part of?”

“Ah . ”

It seemed like that was a blind spot .

It was strange if you asked me .

If the apostle, which was artificially created through science, was here, that meant there was some sort of link between the two worlds I was a part of .

“That’s right, Claire François . Rei Taylorー…… Or more specifically, Oohashi Rei’s world and this world are basically the same . ”

“!?”

That was the biggest shock I’d heard today .

This world…… wasn’t a different world?

“Apostle, are you saying that I wasn’t reincarnated into a different world?”

“That is both correct and incorrect . You still are reincarnating through different worlds, but it’s an event that occurs repeatedly on the same planet . ”

I wasn’t entirely sure of what the apostle was saying, but the gist of it was, I had not reincarnated into another world .

The whole premise that I had believed up until now seemed to have crumbled entirely .

“In that case, why am I here? Why did I, an OL in my past life, suddenly appear into this world?”

“I need to explain everything step by step . But first, please calm down, Rei Taylor . Your heart rate is showing abnormal values . ”

Was the apostle seriously saying that at a time like this?

When I tried to approach the apostle,

“Rei, calm down . You have a scary look on your face that I’ve never seen before . ”

Claire-sama’s voice returned me to my senses .

When I looked back towards her, Claire-sama looked concerned .

What was I doing to make Claire-sama wear such an expression on her face?

“…… I’m sorry . It seems like I got too worked up . ”

“It’s no surprise that you are . This has to do with where you come from, after all . ”

Claire-sama hugged me as she spoke .

Her soft touch and sweet scent soothed the ripples in my heart .

“That’s right . I’ve explained a bit already, but let’s have everyone experience it for themselves instead, shall we? That’ll definitely make things quicker . ”

“… . . What are you planning to do, Apostle?”

Claire-sama shot a sharp gaze over at the apostle while she was still holding me .

“I’ve decided that from this point onward, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to understand everything through my words alone . I would like you all to relive the origin and background of it all for yourselves . ”

“Relive it? How do you plan to do that?”

“Like this . ”

The apostle ran their finger through the air and drew a complex pattern in the air with light .

“Rei Taylor, you might know what I’m referring to . From hereon, everybody will be reliving this through something called ‘virtual reality’ . ”

After they said that, I suddenly lost consciousness .