First Light (1)
"Why do you think I am telling you this?"
"To clean up the mess?"
"Yes. More specifically, because you are already trying to."
So if I had simply planned to turn a blind eye, she wouldn't have bothered seeking me out in the first place? I wasn't sure whether I ought to feel grateful or thoroughly annoyed. Still, one thing was unmistakably clear.
"First off, pull that hood back over your face. It's distracting."
"That reaction is rather hurtful."
Even if our conversation had cleared up a few doubts, the Oracle remained deeply uncomfortable to be around. Bearing an uncanny, utterly needless resemblance to Alice did nothing but rattle my nerves. But no, surely she couldn't be.
"What on earth is wrong with my face? Not to flatter myself, but I happen to be quite beautiful."
The Oracle grumbled under her breath even as she pulled the fabric back over her head. Since the discomfort was entirely on my end, I did feel a slight pang of guilt. Then again, I hadn't forgotten how she had branded me an impostor and hurled deadly tarot cards at my throat the very second we first met.
"It's because I'm prettier," Yuna chimed in with obvious pride.
"..."
Alice stared at Yuna as though she were pitiful, but soon held her tongue as if she had nothing to say in return, meekly adjusting her hood so her face remained hidden. Even she couldn't bring herself to dispute it.
"Mm, much easier on the eyes now."
"You are remarkably rude."
"It's not like we're best friends, are we?" Nor did I have the slightest desire to become one.
"Now, how about answering another question? Why did you come find me?"
"As I said before, because you possess the will to resolve this situation—"
"No, that's not it. There has to be a specific reason you sought me out. Isn't that right, Oracle? A seer of the future like you must have had a reason for needing me."
"..."
Even in the game, the Oracle hadn't shown herself until the very late stages. She only ever acted when events neared their ultimate conclusion—which was to say, around the time the final boss of a given scenario was decided. Her appearing before me at this juncture made sense. What didn't make sense was why it had to be right now.
"Is there some kind of restriction on you? Why don't you step in and stop him yourself?"
There were two glaring issues with the Oracle's track record: first, that she never stepped forward until things had deteriorated to this extent; second, that she took no direct action to avert the crisis herself. In the game, she was nothing more than an enigmatic helper draped in mystery, but reality was a different story.
"It's not as if you lack combat strength."
The Oracle had sought me out because I intended to stop Cult Hereticus. The target of her aid had simply shifted from Lobelia to me, but the overarching framework remained the same. And yet, one massive detail had completely changed.
"Wouldn't taking action yourself be far easier than trying to convince me?"
The Oracle was stronger than me. That simple truth made me certain: it wasn't that only Lobelia could do it back then—it was that the Oracle couldn't.
"You need to explain that reason first. From what you've said, you seem to know what kind of person I am. I have no intention of making a move with someone who might stab me in the back."
"..."
Setting aside her resemblance to Alice, the Oracle was suspicious through and through. There was a gloomy, insidious aura about her that rubbed me the wrong way.
"Aren't your thoughts heavily biased by personal feelings right now?"
"Not at all."
"Hmm... Well, fine. I suppose there is no harm in telling you."
The Oracle gave a slight shrug before drawing another tarot card from her robes and holding it out before me. The card depicted The World.
"How do you believe I see the future?"
"Who knows. The only plausible hypothesis that comes to mind is an innate ability."
That hypothesis was precisely why I could keep the Oracle separate from Alice in my mind. Even if Alice's magic remained unanalyzed, it was unquestionably a branch of Illusion Magic. It had nothing to do with future sight as a supernatural ability.
"Incorrect. To be precise, I do not 'see' the future at all."
"Then...?" I asked cautiously.
There was always a chance the Oracle found herself in a situation similar to mine. The future I knew stemmed from the game's scenario and characters. What about the Oracle, then? Could she be a reincarnator as well?
"I am connected to the world. This realm has predetermined causes and conclusions, and I am the sole observer capable of perceiving them."
The way the Oracle viewed the world was remarkably similar to mine. Yet while I merely grasped the possibilities based on memories of the past, my knowledge was nowhere near as precise as hers. From her nuance, it sounded as though she could still actively inspect the future even now.
"I can see the causes of events, the currents that flow from them, and the resulting outcomes. That was an inevitability not even a Prophet could escape."
"Using the past tense implies something changed?"
"Yes. A select few individuals, including the Prophet, possess the ability to deviate from the established current and alter the world."
The Oracle twirled the card between her slender fingers, flipping it upside down. The World, reversed. I had heard that tarot cards carried different meanings depending on whether they were upright or reversed, though I didn't know the exact details. Still, flipping a card called The World upside down hardly boded well.
"Yet despite that, the current of the world always flows along familiar paths. Why do you think that is?"
"...Because people don't change."
"Correct. That holds even truer for those harboring unshakeable convictions."
What were the odds that a devout clergyman who prayed to God every single day would suddenly stop one morning? If an action was rooted in deep-seated faith or philosophy, the probability of deviation plummeted exponentially. All the more so when the final boss candidates in this game were fanatics willing to throw their very lives away to reshape the world.
"And yet, I can no longer read the Prophet's future. More accurately, I cannot derive an outcome from the current."
"For example?"
"Immediately following a peaceful afternoon tea, I saw a vision of him ripping out Helena's heart, laughing like a madman. Yet that outcome dissolved instantly, leaving behind nothing more than a pleasant tea time shared between siblings."
A bone-chilling example. It was likely one of the futures she had observed firsthand. What did what she'd seen actually mean, then?
"The future is changing in real time?"
"Yes. The Prophet—a being powerful enough to twist even predetermined fate—is deliberately acting on whim at the threshold of success, widening the spectrum of possibilities. For someone like me, who observes fragmented futures, discovering a definitive outcome has become impossible."
Because he knew someone out there could see the future, he continually altered it. This was a countermeasure crafted against the Oracle.
"Yet is this entire strategy aimed merely at countering me?"
When I considered the example she had given, it was far too extreme. It didn't fit Cult's character. Beyond merely being impulsive, ripping out Helena's heart in the middle of a pleasant afternoon tea was fraught with massive, reckless risk. Which meant the Oracle wasn't the only one Cult was targeting.
"He's targeting both you and me."
"Good. That simplifies things."
This was also a check against me—someone who operated by reading personalities and behavioral patterns rather than literal precognition.
"We must join forces."
"Does that mean you'll be taking the field to stop Cult too?"
"Yes, why? Isn't that only natural?"
Earlier, I had asked why the Oracle didn't act first. I hadn't meant she was sending me out alone; I had been asking what prevented her from moving. Yet look at how she was speaking now. She acted as if no restrictions bound her whatsoever. Was I missing something?
"...May I ask one more thing?"
"You certainly have a lot of questions. Very well."
Say what you would about the Oracle, she acted for the sake of the world. Her role as Lobelia's supporter, feeding her vital intelligence, was proof enough of that. And yet, she never offered direct intervention in any scenario. If there was no binding restriction holding her back, what was the reason?
A sudden thought struck me.
"Are there cases where you can't see the current and outcome at all?"
"..."
The game ended with Lobelia ascending as Empress. The intermediate process involved crushing rival imperials and accumulating merits by defeating terrorists, but the single most crucial element was never depicted. Namely, the monster of the imperial house.
"What does Abraham's future look like?"
The Emperor, Abraham. In the game, his circumstances remained unknown. Then again, there had been no need to dwell on them. The Emperor was aging, and he had pitted his heirs against one another specifically to decide succession. It hadn't seemed strange to assume he stepped aside quietly once Lobelia proved she possessed both legitimacy and power. But what if that wasn't how it went?
"Last time, you prophesied that Her Highness would lose her head, didn't you?"
"Is there an issue with that?"
"In the future I know, that never happened."
Lobelia was fated to be beheaded by Abraham. Yet the only person aware of that impending fate was the Oracle. Which meant...
"That is not a matter for you to meddle in. Or do you intend to repeat the same mistakes as this one over and over again?"
"..."
It meant the only one who could alter that destiny was the Oracle herself. It wasn't that the Oracle hadn't offered direct help in the game.
"Do not interfere with me. Doing so is what is best for this world."
Out of sight, where no one could see, she had burned herself out in the most fiercely magnificent flame.
Before putting any plan into motion, I shared every shred of information I had gathered with Lobelia. With every pair of hands desperately needed, what was the point of holding back? If Cult had already begun to move, we had to throw every resource we possessed onto the board. Originally, I had intended to mention the Oracle as well, but she had adamantly objected, which forced me to go through the trouble of wrapping the story in a few diplomatic layers.
"You always drag absurd crises in your wake. You are no different from a walking plague."
"I am the victim here."
"And you always play the victim like that. Yet when the dust settles, you walk away with the lion's share of the spoils like a seasoned swindler."
"..."
"Haha, I jest. Halfway, at least."
Lobelia let out a brief laugh before rising to her feet.
"Then we shall move in our own fashion. That will prove far more advantageous for introducing variables. Wouldn't you agree?"
Just like that, she took the initiative and declared she would serve as our vanguard piece. A true protagonist through and through. How remarkably reassuring. There was probably no need to worry about her, so I made my way directly to the next person.
The head of the Andvaranaut merchant syndicate. Cattleya might have lacked personal martial power, but she possessed a natural genius for managing people.
"Could you dispatch some agents to keep close watch around the Ereticus Marquis Estate? Even simple sightings would be a huge help right now."
"What are you giving me in return?"
"I'll teach you the trick I used to screw over the Second Prince last time."
"Deal. We have an agreement."
It was a shame to burn that card here, but putting down a surefire winning hand secured her full, enthusiastic cooperation. Well, I still held the recipe for the antidote, so things would be fine.
Emily, whom I had asked to construct an Artificial Heart as insurance against failure, unfortunately shook her head.
"I'm sorry. It's still unfinished. I tried to hurry as much as I could, but... By the way, Johann Oppa, what happened earlier?"
"Nothing much. I just ran into someone unpleasant."
"Ah, I see."
I grimaced, gesturing toward the Oracle standing beside me. Emily nodded with an impassive expression.
"Could you give me whatever parts are completed so far? Things have gotten urgent. Ah, actually, wait. Emily, could you do me a favor?"
"Yes."
"It's about... Huh? Thanks."
I ended up saddling Emily with a critical task out of the blue, but there was no helping it. If Cult had begun to move, a tempest would break out in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, Emily nodded along without asking any prying questions.
"So this is your plan. Planning for after failure..."
"Frankly speaking, how the hell am I supposed to talk Cult out of it? What about you, Oracle? Do you have a way to stop that bastard?"
"I did, but you ruined it. Because you interfered with the knight, I lost track of his whereabouts."
"Ah, so that's what the Dietrich business was about."
"Which is why I am left with no choice but to rely on your plan, isn't it?"
"I see."
It seemed the lynchpin of the Oracle's plan had been Dietrich all along. As expected, she and I did not mesh. Everything we did clashed on every level.
"He'll show up on his own."
"Based on what evidence?"
"Because unlike someone who stares shortsightedly at the future, I look at the person."
"...Was that jab directed at me?"
There was no need to guide Dietrich. He would find his own way. All we had to do was prepare a grand fireworks salute so he wouldn't lose his heading.