Chapter 291 - Heavyweights (3)

Ironically, that was how relationships worked. Usually, whoever wanted something more ended up with less bargaining power.

Just like right now.

"Another glass."

"Ah, here you are."

"Ahhhhh."

I downed another refill of lemon-lime soda.

The old man looked like he wanted me to stop and get back to our conversation...

Not a chance.

"Can you make cola, too?"

"Hoho, you must miss home terribly."

"Ahhhhh!"

Yeah, that was the stuff.

The refreshing fizz I hadn't tasted in so long sent a shiver through my whole body.

Still, I decided that was enough abusing my power to demand drinks.

'He knows what lemon-lime soda and cola are, so he really must have visited our world. But how did these people get there? They couldn't have opened the Gate of Abyss...'

All sorts of questions swirled through my head.

'If I can figure out how they did it, could I go home without climbing the floors?'

Of course, it was just a passing thought. I wasn't that desperate. Honestly, my biggest concern lately had been whether I even needed to go back.

I'd already adapted perfectly well to this place. It was certainly an inconvenient world in some ways, but it was perfectly livable.

Yeah, even without soda.

"Hoho, seeing you so delighted cheers me up as well. Now, would you like another glass?"

"No, I've had enough."

"Have you?"

Auriel Gabis tilted his head, then asked me the same question as before.

But...

"Wasn't it my turn?"

He cleared his throat at my rebuke.

"Ahem. Ah, my apologies. I was getting ahead of myself. As you say, it's your turn. Ask me anything."

Yeah, right. As if he hadn't given me nothing but vague answers.

I spoke firmly.

"No more questions."

"Hm?"

What did he mean, hm?

Shameless bastard.

"What's the point of continuing? I can't even tell whether you're telling the truth."

When I called him out for secretly running a lie detector on me, the old man protested as though he'd been wronged.

"But I haven't told a single lie!"

Sure, I could believe that.

He hadn't told me anything important in the first place. If anything, that behavior made me trust that he hadn't lied.

But...

"That doesn't change the fact that it's unfair."

The old man could simply change the subject whenever something uncomfortable came up. I couldn't even keep quiet.

"... What would you have me do?"

Hmm, let's see.

I stalled, pretending to think, then spoke at just the right moment.

"How about you get one question for every ten of mine?"

"What...?"

The old man sounded incredulous.

Tsk. Had I gone too far after all?

I hurriedly offered the excuse I'd prepared.

"I'm taking an enormous risk just by talking to you."

"A risk?"

"Who knows how this could change the future?"

That hinted at both the danger I was taking on and the enormous value of information from twenty years in the future.

But...

"What? Hahahaha!"

Auriel Gabis burst into hearty laughter, as though he'd heard something genuinely funny.

He laughed so heartily that it actually offended me.

I hadn't been telling a joke.

"Ah, forgive me for laughing so suddenly."

I kept glaring at him regardless of his laughter, until he coughed and composed himself.

Then...

"It simply wasn't something I'd expected to hear. Of course, it's only natural for you to see it that way, given your position..."

Auriel Gabis continued.

"You cannot change anything with the Stone Fragment of Records."

That was why he'd laughed at what I'd said.

* * *

My brain stopped working for a moment.

But even after regaining my composure and thinking it over, I still couldn't make sense of it.

So I asked him outright.

"What do you mean, I can't change anything?"

"Ah, does that count as a 'question'?"

Uh...

"..."

I felt not just speechless, but completely winded.

Just as I was desperately craving another sip of lemon-lime soda...

"Hoho, I'm joking."

Auriel Gabis chuckled in amusement and answered me.

"It would be difficult to explain the concepts of time and causality to you right now, so just remember this."

"..."

"Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The order doesn't matter. The universe has only one history."

I didn't really get all that stuff about the history of the universe.

Still, while I didn't understand the principles behind it, I understood what he was saying.

So what this old man meant was...

"No matter what I do here, the future won't change?"

"Correct. A period of time, once observed, cannot change."

"In plain English."

"Whatever you think here, whatever you do. Whatever conversation we have here and now. It has all already happened in the past."

Understanding and accepting were two different things.

I understood the theory he was talking about...

But what about Dwalki?

What about the letters I'd left at the sanctuary?

Was he saying nothing would change, no matter what I did?

'No way.'

I decided to listen carefully to what he said, but not take it on blind faith. Even this old man couldn't know everything.

He hadn't known I'd cleared the original game, had he?

"You don't seem convinced."

"..."

"Well, you'll understand once you've finished everything you need to do here and gone back. You'll understand what it means to be called by the age."

Then Auriel Gabis changed the subject back to our original discussion.

"Now, about making this fair... Ten is utterly unreasonable. How about three to one?"

Look at him, taking advantage while my head was spinning.

I decided to leave the universe's history and all that for later and focus on negotiating, too.

"Three is too few. Five to one, maybe."

"... Have you no conscience? Information from twenty years in the future may be important, but what I know is certainly worth no less."

Auriel Gabis frowned, his pride apparently wounded.

Well, I could understand how he felt.

Ask a hundred Players from Earth, and all hundred would be interested in what Auriel Gabis knew and consider his information more valuable.

But...

"If you really think that, why not just call it off?"

The value of water depended on the circumstances.

To a thirsty man, a handful of water was worth more than a hundred pounds of gold.

"Five questions for one. Take it or leave it."

I delivered my final offer as though I'd been waiting for this.

That was when it happened.

"Those damned bastards..."

The old man's expression turned cold.

I tensed up, wondering whether I'd just crossed the line, but...

"Ah, my apologies. That wasn't directed at you. Those people you saw earlier have simply broken the rules again."

Fortunately, I wasn't the reason for his grim expression.

If anything, he continued as though worried I'd misunderstood.

"I'm afraid I must go for today. Shall we continue this conversation next month? I'll give that question of fairness some thought in the meantime."

It was abrupt, but I didn't let any disappointment show. The moment I did, the terms we'd nearly agreed on would turn against me.

"Fine."

I nodded as though I was in no particular hurry, and he waved his hand through the air.

Then...

"... I'm back."

When I came to my senses, I was lying in bed at the inn.

* * *

[00 : 00].

Midnight on the fifteenth. After checking only the time, I lay back down and tried to sleep.

Of course, sleep didn't come easily.

Countless thoughts, worries, and anxieties flashed through my head in a disordered jumble.

Nevertheless, morning came.

"... Nothing's changed."

As soon as morning came, I got dressed and headed to the library.

Doing this wouldn't change the future?

Whatever I did had already happened, so it was pointless?

So what?

That wasn't a reason to sit around doing nothing.

That old man Auriel Gabis could have gotten something wrong.

If I did nothing, my chances were zero.

'She's not here today.'

I visited the library with that resolve, but Raven was nowhere in sight.

Where had that little brat gone?

Had she gotten herself into trouble zapping random people again while I was gone?

'... She never showed up.'

I waited until the time Raven normally went home, but she didn't appear.

The next day was no different.

'... Tsk. She's making me worry.'

Regretting that I hadn't found out where she lived, I kept visiting the library. After another fruitless day, Raven finally appeared the following day.

"Why haven't you been coming?"

"I had things to do. What about you?"

"No reason."

Raven was obviously being evasive. She sat down and began reading a book.

But what was this about?

"Why do you keep turning your head away?"

"I'm not."

Yes, you were. You were doing it right now.

And her hair was oddly disheveled.

"Come here."

"No."

"Then I'll come to you."

I strode over and brushed Raven's bangs aside.

Then I barely managed to remind myself to be patient.

'So that's what you've been trying to hide.'

There was a huge bruise around Raven's eye.

"Who did it?"

"... It's none of your business."

Ha. How was I supposed to get her to talk?

As I sighed, wondering what to do, Raven cautiously watched my reaction and murmured as though trying to soothe me.

"... Don't worry about it. I just got home late, and Mom found out I'd been going to the library."

Her words left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Even setting aside the fact that this little girl had been beaten by her mother...

'She got home late...?'

She'd always been meticulous about leaving on time.

So how had she ended up getting home late?

"Were you late because you were waiting for me?"

"..."

Raven fell silent at my question, and that silence was the clearest answer of all.

Well, she did eventually say that wasn't it...

But it was too late, kid.

"Enough about me. Tell me about the Labyrinth. You didn't finish last time."

"... Where did I leave off?"

"Doppelgänger Forest. You said doppelgängers are good at playing dead. But that one's not very interesting, so tell me something else."

For now, I did as Raven wanted, pretending nothing was wrong as I told her about the Labyrinth. We carried on like that until it was time for her to go home.

"I'll get going, then."

"All right."

"Will you... come tomorrow, too?"

"Unless something comes up."

After hearing my answer, Raven trotted out of the library.

I went outside as well.

Then...

'Let's follow her.'

I began trailing Raven.

I'd rather not interfere in someone else's family affairs if I could help it...

'But she didn't do anything to deserve being hit.'

Yeah, this was crossing the line.