第２６６堀：夢（挑む）か夢（諦める） (Part2)
"Who would choose a one-way ticket back to their homeland? Not when I have my precious wife and companions here."
"B-but, if that’s the case, we can never go back."
"Well, that’s the standard reaction, isn't it?"
Indeed, what Yuki-san had said was entirely mundane. It was something anyone could conceive of, yet something everyone deemed impossible.
"We just need to make it possible to travel back and forth between this world and my home."
"Eh?"
Airi’s eyes widened further at my words, her surprise plain as she parted her lips.
"B-but, such a thing is impossible..."
"As things stand now, yes. But in the future, it might be possible."
"E-eh?"
That’s right—it’s only impossible *right now*. And Airi’s shock was only natural. Since it was taken for granted that it couldn't be done, my words were nothing more than a bizarre fairy tale.
But we humans have always made those fairy tales a reality. No, Yuki-san once said that all living things are, in their own way, manifestations of fairy tales.
No, that’s not quite it. I, Airi, and indeed the entire world must know this: we live to pursue our dreams. Those dreams are as diverse as the creatures that hold them—people, animals, insects, plants, microorganisms—everyone is striving toward their own version of a fairy tale.
Microorganisms strive to build bodies that can withstand new environments; plants seek better ways to propagate; insects aim for bodies better suited to their surroundings; animals strive to move faster, further, and more efficiently; and humans aim for realms deemed unreachable for their kind. These are just a few examples, but every individual is dreaming their own dream of evolution.
"Hey, Airi. Do you know what an airplane is?"
"Ah, yes. It’s a tool that allows people to fly through the sky without using magic, right? I heard that such vehicles exist in Taiki-sama’s world."
I reminded Airi, who was still bewildered, of the airplane I had told her about before. It was the crystallization of a dream held by a certain pair of brothers—a dream that countless people had laughed at, calling the idea of human flight a mere fantasy. It was a legend that turned the impossible into the possible, refusing to let a dream end as just a story.
"Yeah, that’s right. But you know, even in my world, people didn't think it was possible for humans to fly freely at first."
"Eh?"
"We had things like gliders that could glide down from the sky, and hot air balloons, but people said it was scientifically impossible for a machine to truly fly."
"Is that so?"
"I mean, birds and other creatures fly through the sky, so if we just imitated them, we should be able to fly, right?"
"W-well, that’s true, but is such a thing really possible?"
"Well, airplanes are commonplace in my world now, so we have the structures and systems built to match the mechanics of flight."
"Ah, that’s right."
"That’s why I think this: if there’s something that can summon us here one-sidedly, there must surely be a way to return. If that’s the case, it shouldn't be strange for us to be able to travel back and forth, right?"
"…Now that you mention it, that sounds like a normal conclusion. Why did I assume it was a one-way trip?"
Airi tilted her head adorably, lost in thought. I had felt the same way—or rather, I had understood the reality of it even more deeply, which is why I had lashed out at Yuki-san. There was no way that the technology required to pull someone here was on the same level as the technology required to return them to the exact same spot without a hair’s breadth of error.
Furthermore, we didn't even know if this world was on the same planet. In an expanding universe, how could one possibly aim for a planet that is constantly changing its coordinates as it orbits and rotates? I hadn't the slightest clue.
That was why I had said to Yuki-san:
*'Please don't say such unrealistic things. That’s impossible!!'*
Perhaps my nostalgia had peaked after meeting Yuki-san, and upon being presented with the idea of traveling between worlds, I had fixated on the impossibility of it. I had taken my frustration out on Yuki-san for so easily spouting such sweet, empty words.
And then, after being sent flying by a flick to the forehead, he told me this.