Road to the Crown

Chapter 265: Disasterous future

31st July 1574

"As strange as it sounds, this single day Or rather, the way in which I experienced it, is the source of all the information, knowledge and inventions that I have brought to this world. So let me elaborate on it a bit."

Rather than going all-in and attempting to explain the existence of the system which I wasn't really sure about myself, I decided that simplifying the entire matter to just the visions of the future would work better. Just like previously I told him that I learned everything I know by observing the nature, even though it was a lie, it still served as a proper way to teach him about the intricacies of the science.

That's why, going about the things in the way that I decided, even if it was a lie, would still serve the purpose I had to achieve!

"While the time that I spent in the future accounts only to a single day, I wasn't myself when I experienced those strange times. I saw all the memories, all the thoughts, whims, wishes and plans of the person who was truly living in that time. In that one day, I assimilated all the knowledge that that random person had. And just like you would be able to construct a simple firearm if you were to be moved back to the times before it was invented as its currently common knowledge how it works, the stuff that I'm implementing in those lands Was common knowledge for that person whose life I experienced in that dream!"

Going about the topic in this way, was far easier than actually explaining that I came from the future myself. Outside of all the problems regarding my real personality and what happened to the initial owner of the current body of mine, it added additional layer of safety, as in the current situation, I could bet that Jan would think of me as some demon possessing a body of an innocent noble!

"I'm sorry, but I don't really understand. Do you want to tell me that you know about everything that will happen in the future?!"

Just as expected, even someone as smart as the governor wasn't capable of simply accepting everything that I said. After all, he saw me getting surprised about certain effects, he experienced with his own eyes how poorly I reacted to the entire Ostros betrayal were I to know about it in advance. Yet explaining the butterfly effect to him Even I wasn't certain that I could do so!

"Both yes, and no. Just as you might guess, I didn't know that Ostros would betray the country. I didn't know that Muscovites would attack. In the history of Commonwealth I know, nothing of this happened. Oh, and if you ask me how can I know about this stuff, then you need to understand one additional thing. In the future, everyone, no matter poor or rich, would be forced to go through an extensive and long period of general education. That's how I know a little about everything, while not being an expert in any of the topics."

As soon as I spoke those words, I realised that I stepped on the landmine. While differentiation between rich and poor was obvious even to someone from the current times, I inevitably lead Governor to ask the very question that I could already imagine coming out of his lips.

"Do you want to say, that you won't need to be a noble to receive education?!"

And here it came. As much as I wanted to come up with some kind of a lie that would be easier to swallow for the governor, I simply couldn't figure out any feasible way to do so! I already pointed out that there were still both rich and poor people, so I couldn't lie my way out by claiming that everyone could afford the education. Right now, I could only give him the truth, as painful as it would be to him.

"You see, in the future I saw, there was no nobles in the society. Rather than splitting the people between those of high and low birth, it was all dwindled down to whether someone was born rich or poor."

Saying those words, I could feel my own voice wavering as if I could already see the furious reaction governor rejecting such an unimaginable future. Because right now, the entire society of the commonwealth, as well as most of the other nations around the world, was based on this very distinction alone. 

Those who fought either in the past or in the current days for the country were granted lands and titles. Those who busied themselves with producing food or other wares could only live off the small profits they could earn from their work. The very concept of abolishing the nobility system had to be unimaginable for some living in the times where the feudal system was at its peak!

"Okay, let's say that I believe you so far. But you still didn't answer my previous question. If you saw the future, how could you be surprised by anything that is happening? And if the future that you saw is no longer applicable to our own times, why should we bother with anything else that happened in that dream of yours?"

At this point, the governor managed to take me by surprise. Even without understanding the butterfly effect, he was capable of putting the current situation into greater scale, putting all the knowledge that I had about history into doubt!

"You see, in the future, I saw, people were so knowledgable and smart, that they managed to create machines capable of simulating the reality. Obviously, it was flawed and based on incredibly complicated calculations, failing to provide the truth of the world, it was still enough to be used as an entertainment. And the person who I became for that one night, was really interested in the history to the point, where rather than learning about the events that transpired, he actually studied the reasons why those things happened in the first place."

Speaking so much, I could feel my energy slowly draining up. But as tired as I was, I couldn't just stop here! 

"In the future, the one principle that everyone took for granted, was logic. Something is always caused by something else. If an apple falls down from the tree, there has to be some reason for that. If a country attacks another one, then there is an underlying reason for that as well. This is the truth why I was so surprised about the currently ongoing events. As for the very question that I was avoiding so far"

At this point, I simply couldn't continue. I had to take a moment to rest, and let my body produce a bit more energy so that I could continue speaking a bit later!

"Come on, right when you reached the most important point Ah, forgive me" 

Just as the governor started his rant about my break, he finally looked directly into my exhausted face, realising in what kind of state I was in. Only after wasting nearly five minutes just to regain my breath, did I picked up where I left before.

"My actions do influence the future. I think that even if I were to live my life in peace, enjoying the fruits of the labour of my serfs, I would still in a smaller or greater way, change the future to something different than what I saw in that God-sent dream of mine. But knowing what is about to happen to the commonwealth, to the country that both I myself, the Tarnowian noble, and the person whose life I saw I just couldn't rest easy. I had to do something!"

At this moment, I felt all the regrets that were born in my soul back when I was attending the school, return. The regret that we, as the country and nation, wasted so many opportunities, that we, as the Polish nation, were given by the fate, but wasted so tragically!

"What happened? Even if your actions already altered the course of history, you said that you don't know how big scale it would affect the future. Tell me, what happened to make your expression so depressed!"

Due to how immersed I was in this moment in the tragic past of my country that I knew, I failed to control both my emotions and how they appeared on my face. But how could I keep myself calm when thinking about how the country would be literally split into pieces? How could I ignore the fact that once the greatest country in Europe would fall so low, that even in the modern future the entire polish nation would be silently considered to be the economical slaves of the rest of the world?

"Right now, we are at our peak. But almost every single event that would happen in the years to come, would bring commonwealth closer and closer to its collapse Only for the neighbouring powers that grew due to our negligence to split this great country apart, enslave our people and do their best to make them forget about every great deed that we achieved in the past. But even those one hundred, twenty-three years of slavery Even more than a century of missing from the world maps wasn't the worst that was about to hit us. You could say, that from this funny law we have here, liberum veto, was first taken as legal and ruling occurrence, commonwealth started collapsing. It will all start about eighty years from now, and the ages of disgrace, during which we will have to start regarding our glorious failures as the greatest achievements, would continue all the way to the times, where the person whose memories I saw, lived in."

Ending my lecture, I could see my vision wavering, indicating that such long speech seriously has eaten away at the freshly regained strength of my body. But there was still one more thing that I had to say, in order for this entire talk to bear any fruit.

"Before I won't be able to speak anything further, you need to know one more thing. When I was shot yesterday and was about to lose my consciousness, I could only pray to the God almighty in hopes that he would let me keep my life. It was also at that moment when I couldn't see anything around me, when the same feeling as when I woke up from that dream of mine, returned."

Unable to even tilt my head to the side, I could only wait for Governor's reaction to everything that I said so far. 

"Oh, God."

That was all he could say, overwhelmed by the tragic news about the potential future of our beloved country.