[Cherwood Borough—in the rented flat shared by Fors and Xio]
Xio leaned against the window, cautiously peeking outside. Every passerby made her nerves tighten—she suspected each and every one of them might've been sent by Mr. A.
Fors sat at the table, pen in hand, occasionally scribbling something onto a sheet of paper with a soft rustle. "Stop looking, Xio. No matter how much you stare, it's not going to change reality. Just behave and stay put."
"I'm not exactly into being watched 24/7, you know." Xio pouted and pulled the curtains shut. "At this rate, I won't even be able to go out and make money."
Fors turned her head and laughed. "You could try a different way of thinking. If Mr. A really is keeping an eye on us in secret and his goal is to find Edward, then before he achieves that goal, he's probably not going to let us die. So this is actually a good time for you to take on a few high-risk commissions. If something dangerous happens, the person watching us will definitely jump in to help. Win-win."
"You really are a genius."
Xio rolled her eyes.
"Heh. But I'm right, aren't I?"
Setting down her pen, Fors suggested, "Why don't we tell Edward about this first? Maybe things really are as Mr. A says."
"But what if he's lying? What if he and Edward are enemies?" Xio said seriously. "We might not even count as friends with Edward, but at least we've helped each other out. I'm not the type who'd put someone else in danger just to save myself…"
She paused, then added softly, "That's something my dad taught me when I was little."
—Which was exactly why she had always believed that her upright, principled father had been falsely accused of treason.
"It's just delivering a letter through his messenger. It's not that dangerous, is it?" Fors sighed. "We can't expect Mr. A to stay patient forever. Who knows how long he'll just watch us and not make a move?"
Xio was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."
She stood up and walked to the door. "I'm heading out for a bit to see if I can find a commission. Otherwise, we're going to run out of money sooner or later."
"Be careful out there!"
Fors waved after her, but couldn't help wondering, Why did she agree so quickly?
She tore off a sheet of paper and wrote out what had happened, then set up a ritual and summoned a black bird.
———
Edward had just returned to his hotel when a black bird tore through the air in front of him. "A letter for you."
"From who?"
"That particularly lazy woman."
…???
Edward quickly opened the envelope and checked the signature: Fors Wall.
Ah. Miss Salted Fish.
The black bird's judgment was…extremely accurate.
He moved his eyes to the beginning of the letter and quickly skimmed it. His expression changed slightly.
"Mr. A is looking for me? And he's using this kind of method? That's…unexpectedly 'courteous' of him."
Mr. A—
An Oracle of the Aurora Order, a notorious terrorist, a beautiful madman, a zealous cultist who would stop at nothing for the True Creator.
Normally, he would've kidnapped Fors and Xio without a second thought—either forcing them to find Edward or coercing Edward himself to appear. Since when did he become so… "gentle"?
Thinking of that, Edward couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat for the two women. They probably had no idea they had just brushed past the gates of death.
So…should I go meet him?
Last time, if it hadn't been for Mr. A, Edward would definitely be dead. By that logic, Mr. A should represent the 'rational' aspect of the True Creator and was presumably 'friendly' toward him.
But with a heretical god and its insane followers involved, Edward didn't think being overly cautious was a bad thing. He had the ability of a 'Bookworm', but Mr. A was a 'Shepherd'.
Still, if he didn't go…Fors had made a good point in the letter: Who knows how long Mr. A's patience will last? If something happened, it'd be his fault for dragging them into it.
With that, Edward flicked a coin into the air. "Is it dangerous for me to go meet Mr. A?"
The coin spun and landed with a metallic ding. Just as he reached out to grab it, a ripple of spirituality surged through him—
In the next moment, a patch of shadow rapidly gathered on the floor, and from that darkness, a tall figure rose. In the blink of an eye, a man whose looks would make most women envious appeared before him.
—Mr. A had arrived!
"Good to see you again, sir."
He put his hands together and bowed slightly with a warm smile.
The moment Edward saw the shadow, he realised what was happening and instinctively wanted to Apparate out—but just then, his eyes flicked to the coin still in his hand—the number was facing up.
It meant "No."
There was no danger in meeting Mr. A.
After a short moment of thought, he made up his mind.
"Hello, Mr. A." Edward gestured to the sofa across from him. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life last time."
Mr. A nodded slightly, his tone devout. "It was all the will of the Lord."
He raised his clasped hands, and a speck the size of a pinhead leapt from the letter and landed on the back of his hand, quickly merging into his skin. "To avoid alarming you, I used a small trick to trace the message. I hope you don't mind."
So that's how he found me…Edward had thought Mr. A might have been tracking his messenger.
Edward deliberately frowned. "Alarming? Why would I be alarmed? You're technically my lifesaver. Wanting to see me shouldn't be alarming, right?…Oh, unless you mean your identity with the Aurora Order?"
Mr. A calmly shook his head.
"The Lord sent down a revelation…"He" says you've been corrupted by an evil god, and might have formed a wrong impression of "Him"."
…???
The True Creator says I've been corrupted by an evil god?
Now that was something new.
"Sorry, I don't quite understand."
Mr. A said calmly, "It is you and the Saint of Secrets who have been corrupted by that evil god."
Oh. Got it now.
He was talking about the mad persona of the True Creator, wasn't he?
Edward suddenly understood. But a few seconds later, he froze again.
"Wait a second. I've never even communicated with the mad persona of the True Creator. How could I possibly have been corrupted?"
Before he could think it through, Mr. A—for the first time—unclasped his joined hands. "I came today only to deliver a message. The Lord has something "He" wishes to say to you."
As he spoke, a bloodshot, black eye opened in the centre of his right palm. The eye's pupil spun erratically in its socket, darting back and forth in an unnerving rhythm.
In an instant, the room was suffused with a suffocating atmosphere of violence, chaos, and corruption. Edward was overwhelmed by a wave of discomfort, his emotions stirred and magnified until a savage urge rose up inside him—a mad impulse to tear Mr. A limb from limb.
Thankfully, the feeling came fast and vanished just as quickly.
"&...%&…%"
A string of incomprehensible, dizzying whispers echoed in his ears. For several seconds, he couldn't make heads or tails of them. But then—he understood:
"FAKE! FAKE!"
"That wasn't really me talking to you before!"
"LIAR! HE'S A LIAR! %¥&% (cursed expletive)"
"HE'S DECEIVING YOU! HE'S THE ONE WHO WANTS TO KILL YOU!"
"It's HIM! %....%¥&% CYKABLYAT"
"Don't trust him!! I…I'm the one who can protect you."
"%.....%¥&% CYKABLYAT!"
The True Creator's whispers repeated, again and again—shouting, ranting, incoherent and disordered, yet all delivering the same chaotic message—
You're being lied to.
After a brief moment of confusion, Edward suddenly snapped out of it.
The one speaking to him now…was the mad persona of the True Creator!
Which meant—the one who had ordered Mr. A to save him before was also that mad persona.
On the other hand, the one who had instructed the Saint of Secrets to kill him—the one he'd had a 'friendly' conversation with, the one who had even gifted him the formula for the Secrets Suppliant—was actually the rational persona!
Then Edward's brain completely short-circuited.
The rational True Creator said the mad one wanted to kill him.
But now, the mad one was saying it was the rational one who actually wanted to kill him.
So…which one was telling the truth? And which one was lying?
This…this is straight-up Rashomon!
———
[Cherwood Borough—Fors and Xio's rented flat]
After sending the letter, Fors was lazily killing time while waiting for Edward's reply.
Suddenly, the door was flung open. Xio rushed out, panic written all over her face.
"Fors! Did you send the letter already?!"
"What letter?"
"The one you wrote to Edward!"
"Yeah, I sent it. Why?"
Xio's face went pale. "I…I was just under someone's control. When I agreed to let you send that letter and said I wanted to go out for a walk—it wasn't me talking. Not really."
"What?"
Fors shot up from her seat, glancing around nervously. "Was it Mr. A?!"
Xio mumbled, "If it was him…and now he's released the control, then that probably means—he's followed the trace of that letter you just sent…and gone to find Edward."
Fors stood frozen in place.
"So that letter I just sent…did I end up getting Edward into trouble instead?"
———
[Hillston Borough—Inside the Hotel]
As Mr. A brought his hands back together, the True Creator's whispering slowly faded.
Edward sat in silence, stunned and speechless.
Does your god have multiple personalities? One wants to kill me, one wants to protect me…and I can't even tell which is which!
But going by Mr. A's behaviour…the one who told him to save me probably doesn't want me dead, right?
Then why didn't that rational personality just act directly in the first place?
Can't figure it out.
…Wait.
Edward suddenly paused, realising something even more absurd.
He'd been seriously trying to figure out what a schizophrenic evil god was thinking.
Something's definitely wrong with me.
When it came to the Aurora Order, Mr. A, and the True Creator, the best policy was probably threefold: don't reject, don't take responsibility, and don't make any promises.
Just then, Mr. A spoke up. "I've delivered the Lord's message. I'll be leaving now."
Edward quickly called out, "Wait."
Mr. A turned back, his expression calm. "What is it?"
"And then?"
"What do you mean, 'and then'?"
"I mean…your Lord. After sending you to pass along that message, "He" didn't say anything else?"
"No."
Edward thought for a moment and said, "The Saint of Secrets is still trying to kill me. You're not going to do anything about that?"
Mr. A drew a backwards cross devoutly on his chest. "Whatever the Lord asks of me, I will do. If there are no instructions, then my duty is to shepherd more lambs for "Him" and spread "His" glory across the earth."
"But don't you think it's strange for the Lord to have me listen to "His" divine message…only for me to get assassinated by the Saint of Secrets as soon as I walk out the door?"
Mr. A frowned slightly.
"Are you sure…the Lord only wanted me to hear "His" voice once?"
"Have you considered what you'll do if I die, and "He" wants to find me again?"
"Have you thought about this—why does "He" want me alive, but the Saint of Secrets wants me dead?"
Mr. A froze.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.