I decided to stop thinking about mysteries I couldn't possibly unravel on my own and focused my attention on my conversation with the turtle once more.
Quite a few unexpected things had happened today, but most of my questions had been answered. I'd learned that the prophet didn't actually read the future, but received his knowledge from the world itself instead. Oh, I'd also uncovered the identity of said prophet—a turtle.
Unfortunately, I still hadn't been able to pierce the greatest mystery of all—why and how the events here were reflected in a game on Earth. I'd decided to leave that in the hands of Niito—me—and Ijuuin-san.
"I don't understand why the story I saw is so different from reality, but I believe you have what it takes to change the future," the turtle continued. "In the story I saw, the real saint, Eterna, ended up becoming the next witch before she was killed. I also saw another pattern where she sacrificed herself and died together with the previous witch..."
That was the plot of the original game. I wasn't sure why the turtle wanted me to change the future, though. Even though she was the saint, Eterna was a total stranger to him. Why would he want her to have a better ending? He seemed to share the same goal as me, but I had my reasons for wanting to change the future. What were his?
I didn't really want to admit it, but didn't the original ending work in the turtle's favor? As long as Eterna died at the hand of someone other than the next saint, the witch's powers wouldn't be passed to anyone else and the cycle would be broken. As far as the world was concerned, that was for the best, wasn't it?
As a die-hard Eterna stan, though, I couldn't think of a worse ending!
"You look puzzled. Are you wondering why I want to change this ending? I'll be honest with you—I don't feel that strongly about the current ending. I just think that knowing the end of a story in advance is boring. I'm sure I'll have a much better time watching over you. I don't know what you're capable of, after all."
Oh. I understood the turtle's motivations a little better now. He wanted me to change the ending for his own enjoyment.
The corners of the turtle's mouth curled up in a smirk—just like a person's would. "I have a request," he said. "Would you mind bringing me with you? I'm very interested in you, a fake more perfect than any real saint. This world has remained the same for a thousand years, but I have a feeling you'll bring about change. I'd like to stay by your side and enjoy your adventures with you."
"You sure have peculiar tastes, Profeta. I'm afraid I don't have any reason to take you with me, though," I refused politely.
Why should I hang with a turtle? Even though the one in question was the prophet, it still stank. And I don't really like turtles.
I also wasn't sure where I was supposed to put such a huge creature. Was I supposed to let him hang in my parlor area? Anyway, I didn't want him around. No, thank you.
"Don't say that. I'm pretty useful, you know? Unlike the saint, I can handpick my successor," the turtle said. "If I do, I'll have to give them the rest of my life span along with my abilities and die, though, so I don't really want to pick one..."
"I'm going home," I stated.
"W-Wait! Hear me out! In thirty seconds, a small earthquake will occur, and a squirrel will fall from that tree," the turtle said, gesturing at a tree with his large head.
There was indeed a squirrel on one of the tree's branches, happily munching on a nut. After exactly thirty seconds, the ground shook and the squirrel fell, just like Profeta had predicted. I didn't care much about the squirrel, but I still caught it before it hit the ground and returned it to its spot on the branch.
I just know a certain Ainu girl would've jumped at the chance to have citatap. But how did the turtle predict the earthquake? Did he just trigger the earthquake with earth magic? No... I would've felt it.
"Wait! I thought that the prophet couldn't predict the future. Weren't you given the ability to see what's happening in the world so you can act as its messenger?"
"That's right, I don't have the power to see the future. However, after living for a thousand years and seeing all kinds of things happen...I can just tell. I estimate what's most likely to happen next based on all the hints I observe," he explained. "For instance, I could tell you how this world would develop if that boy called Verner fell in love with Marie—or with Eterna, for that matter. Obviously, I'd only be making estimations based on what I know at the moment. I sometimes get things wrong, and small details occasionally diverge from what I predicted."
What the hell, turtle?! Are you telling me you can guess what the future will be like based on the present? That's impossible— No, wait, I think I read about something like that in a book a long time ago. If you assume that every event has a definite cause and a definite effect, then everything is already set in stone. The future is simply the direct consequence of the present. The theory's called causal determinism, I think.
I was pretty sure philosophers had long since rejected this school of thought, though. Well, Profeta himself had said that he sometimes made mistakes, so he probably just made fairly accurate estimations. It didn't necessarily mean that everything was set in stone.
"I won't promise you I can give you perfectly accurate predictions, but I still think I could be useful to you," the turtle said.
Yeaaaah, it still sounds pretty shady...
"What are your true intentions?" I asked.
"All right, I'll give it to you straight. I've been living alone here for years. My only company is weird monkeys I can't even understand! I'm at the end of my rope here. Just take me with you! It shouldn't be so hard with your magic."
Image here:
For someone who'd been acting like a big shot, he sure blurted out his true motive quickly enough, huh?
To be fair, I already had a feeling that was why he wanted to come with me. Profeta had no reason to help me out, but he'd been doing his best to show me how useful he could be just so I'd accept. That could only mean one thing: his current living situation sucked, and this was his only way out.
He did say he was dying to converse with someone.
At the end of the day, Profeta wasn't offering to help: he was begging me to take him away from this shitty place.
"All right," I finally said after a long pause. "I need to get King Aiz's approval first, though. Oh, and—"
"I know," Profeta cut me off. "You want me to keep your identity secret. I won't say a thing, don't worry."
I was going to tell him not to blow my cover, but he'd agreed to it before I could even ask. He is good at predicting the future.
I had a feeling I'd have a hard time getting along with him, but Profeta could definitely be useful if I handled him well.
"There are a few other things we need to—" I started.
"I'd appreciate it if you could create a pond next to the academy with your magic. Do make sure it's off-limits to students, though. I like medaka fish, crayfish, and I wouldn't say no to some veggies on the side. Don't try to feed me crickets or earthworms, though. I got tired of those ages ago. Oh, and if you're wondering whether I can fight or not, just know that I can bite off a monster's head if I have to. My defense is pretty good, and I can use water magic too. Still, I'm afraid my skills aren't very impressive compared to yours, so don't expect me to wipe out entire armies like you do."
"Thanks..."
Yeah, we're definitely not going to get along.
He'd answered all of my questions before I even got to form them. Conversing with him was pretty frustrating, so I decided to return the favor.
"You're about to ask me to guess what you're thinking, aren't you? You're thinking about something completely unrelated to our current discussion. Obviously, I can't tell what exactly. Did I get it right?" Profeta asked.
"Well done..." I answered after a pause.
Damn! I didn't even get to speak!
He'd gotten it right too. Just in case you were wondering, I was thinking about the villain from a game I used to play ages ago. He chanted for ages before each spell and was such a poser...
Anyway, I don't like this turtle.
Profeta pissed me off, but I'd learned something important thanks to him: as long as I put up barriers, not even the world itself had any way of knowing what I was doing. Profeta thought I was the perfect saint. However, I'd done and said far-from-perfect things inside barriers before. For instance, I remembered once introducing myself as a mighty mountain of turds. If Profeta had seen that, he would've noticed I was far from being a virtuous saint but he hadn't. That meant my barriers were powerful enough that the world itself couldn't bypass them.
I didn't really know what to do with that piece of information, but it was something. Who knew? Maybe it'd be useful someday.
Well, then, should I call the old man over?
If I was going to bring the prophet to the academy, I had to let him know first.
◇
I filled Aiz in and used magic to return to the academy with the two of them. I chose the same spell I'd used when flying to the royal capital a while back. Once I'd arrived, I explained the situation to Headmaster Fox.
"I couldn't be more surprised..." Headmaster Fox had said, looking at the turtle. "I never would have expected the prophet to look like...this. And I certainly didn't think they'd want to move here."
Anyone would've been surprised. His shell was five meters wide and he was much taller than a person—well over two meters tall. He pretty much looked like a monster.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him tuck his limbs into his shell and fly like a UFO.
Profeta laughed. "We've never had such an interesting saint. I'd like to watch over her up close," he explained.
"I see... So Lady Ellize is special even in your eyes, Prophet," King Aiz said.
"She sure is. I've never seen anyone quite like her. No, I suppose there was another saint in a similar...situation...but she certainly wasn't as good at carrying out her saintly duties."
King Aiz and the turtle were chatting, and I was already regretting my decision.
Could you not blow my cover on day one, you damn reptile?!
I'd be more than happy to reveal my identity when the time came, but I couldn't have that now!
All that was left was to create a pond next to the school. I needed to make it as fast as possible so I could throw him in there and stop him from running his mouth.
First, I used earth magic to create a large crater with a radius of around twenty-five meters. As for the depth...twenty to thirty meters should be good enough.
Aquatic turtles also needed a place where they could hide and an access to dry land, didn't they? I created a slope and added an underwater tunnel leading to a hiding place. Finally, I added pebbles and stones to the bottom of the pond and used a water spell to fill it up.
It was a bit of a crude pond, but the job was done.
"How do you like it?" I asked.
"Well... It will do. I'll remodel it a little to suit my tastes," the turtle said. "I knew how skilled you were, but seeing it in person is something else altogether. You made it look easy, but no saint in history has ever been able to use magic so effortlessly."
I kept my usual business smile on, but I was roaring with laughter inside. I'd finally had my revenge! I'd left him dumbfounded! I was gloating.
Ha ha ha! Can you tell how amazing I am? I can't help it, I'm a genius, after all. Making this little pond was child's play to me! I could make ten more!
Actually, that was kind of a lie. Digging the crater had been fairly easy, but creating that much water at once had tired me out a little. To put it in a way that was easier to understand for gamers, I had burned at least five thousand MP. If the witch tried to make a similar pond, she'd probably need to pull tons of mana from her surroundings, and even then she'd be at it for almost an hour.
This said, the turtle could probably tell I was tired.
Urgh. It's so frustrating. I feel like I lost again. I'm so pissed! Damn... Maybe I should train for real so I can blow him away with my greatness.
(2.2k word count)