Once I realised what was truly ant by 'relinquish power', I acquiesced.
I was not supposed to order these people a.
It was never going to work out from the very beginning.
So, I would let them go.
I won't distance myself from them since that would be impractical and frankly impossible, but we will live separate lives.
Wh they are available I will use them, but other than that, they might as well not exist.
I will do my own thing and they can do theirs.
I won't one-sidedly press them to play a role in my plans any longer.
Because, it's beco clear to that continuing to go down such a path would only bring disaster.
The only ones who remained by my side were the ones I intded to have from the start.
Sana and Sona.
The only two I had gone out of my way to save and take care of because I needed them.
The only two who relied on just as I relied on them.
The only two who had a rightful place by my side.
Unlike the volatile others, conttious and unreliable, the twins have always be straightforward, honest, and loyal.
Haha.
It's ridiculous, honestly.
I never realised it until now, but appartly I was making things far more complicated than they needed to be.
That's right.
Since the start, there was never a need for to have anyone else.
I've never relied on soone like that before, but I must admit, it's a nice feeling, albeit strange.
A feeling as if I'm invincible.
I see it now.
This is the way it always should have be, and the way it always will be from now on.
That sce showed to by Liam's asuremt will never co to fruition.
There's no way I would let it happ.
After all.
From the very beginning and all the way until the very d.
Sana and Sona.
So long as I have those two, I can't lose.
❖─────❖─────❖
In the following days, there were a few changes I decided to make.
"Close the contracts...? Like, all of them??"
Emir stared at in disbelief, his mouth gaping.
"...Is this related to what happed the other day? But, what about everyone else?"
"Do I need to explain? You saw what happed; clearly, we can't work together anymore. So, terminate the contracts. I already know that you're capable of doing it without consequce to either party; do it."
"..."
"I'm not going to ask you twice."
"Ahh... Okay... Honestly, I didn't think it was going to last for long, anyway, and I always felt uncomfortable about so of them..."
Nodding my head before taking my leave, the interaction ded there.
Now, all Absolute Contracts tied to my na would be terminated, and I would no longer be held back by any such unnecessary obligations or restrictions.
This was the main thing I wanted to sure was done, and now that it was sorted, I could focus on what lies ahead.
I thought about forcing Emir to keep the fact of the contracts' termination a secret, but I knew he would never list to a command of mine if the result was a pottial sabotage to those he cared for, ev if it were a risk to his life.
He would imdiately realise that I would only give such an instruction if I had intded to trick everyone, and in that case, he would just tell them despite my warning.
Ironically, the fact that I didn't indicate that I wanted him to keep it a secret ant there was less reason for him to talk about it to anyone since there would be less reason to care.
Thus, for now, there would not be much change.
Ultimately, to keep everything under the radar until the ti cos wh all can fulfil its intded role, things will remain mostly as they have be.
There is the matter of the Absolute Contract with Minami, but things have progressed much too far for her to do anything about it anyway; if she were to try and punish for abolishing the contract we made all that ti ago, the repercussions on her d would be much higher than what it would be worth.
For that reason, I don't think she would confront about it ev if she found out the contract was terminated.
We can still work together without such a thing, anyway, at least for now.
However, one thing I will not bd on is the matter of the I.M.E. drug I have be working hard to perfect.
From now on, I will take it with everywhere I go.
Having it on at all tis is far safer than leaving it within the unattded laboratory at ho, where anyone could ter and anything could happ at any ti without my knowledge.
It also ans that, in the very worst case of an ergcy, I can just take the drug th and there if the need for it arises.
Naturally, it carries a certain level of risk, but if the alternative is losing, th no price is too high.
Finally, Atsuko Fushigimi.
Ever since we abducted her, she's be constrained within the 'anti-Space room' developed by myself and Sophie as a prisoner.
She remains there ev now, and to be honest, I have no inttion of letting her free.
So long as she continues to exist within my custody, Saburou can't afford to take any risky moves because he knows well what I wouldn't hesitate to do if he steps out of line.
In any case.
Like this, a few relatively ordinary days passed, until the weekd.
❖─────❖─────❖
Sunday.
Ding-dong~!
That woman stood in front of yet again.
"..."
"Good morning!"
This ti, before she had the chance to invade the house, I pushed her outside and crossed the tryway, closing the door behind .
Click.
Only wh the two of us didn't run the risk of attracting unwanted atttion did I op my mouth.
"What do you want?"
"I wanted to invite you to co out with ."
What?
An absurd reason ca out of her mouth.
"Why?"
"What do you an, 'why'? I want to spd ti with you because I'm your fan, right?"
"Are you telling to believe you have no ulterior motives?"
"Of course! I don't want to do anything sketchy that's going to put you in danger, alright? I'm not you, you know. Really, I want to spd so ti with you. Also, you know that I'll do my best to protect you from harm, so in case anything does happ, you'll be fine."
"..."
"You were about to go out by yourself anyway, wer't you? So, it's not a bad deal for you either if I co along."
None of her words were a lie, nor was she particularly incorrect.
Looking down, it was indeed obvious that I was intding to head out by the shoes and winter coat I wore, as well as the bag slung over my shoulder.
It makes wonder if she chose this timing to invite because she already knew I was planning to head out.
That damn future knowledge...
Anyway, it was true that she had no inttions to do anything that would put in harm's way. On the contrary, she intded to protect in the evt that anything dangerous happed.
If I looked at it a differt way, I wonder...
"Did you choose today as the day to accompany because you knew sothing would happ?"
Unable to contain my burning desire to uncover the truth of the person in front of , I asked her.
"...A-ahaha. Well, maybe sothing will happ? It shouldn't be anything dangerous, so don't worry about it."
So she said. Truth confird it not to be a lie, but that wasn't ough to satisfy .
"If it wasn't going to be dangerous, th why are you here?"
She said she was going to protect , so the re fact she is going to be prest indicates that sothing dangerous ough to elicit her protection is going to happ.
"Hm? Ahh..."
She hesitated for a momt, seemingly caught by my question.
"Well, you never know how the future will unfold, right?"
"..."
She showed a small, seemingly sad smile.
Now, I was the one caught by what she said.
That's right.
Ev soone like her, who ca from the future and had witnessed it develop with her own eyes.
Ev to soone like that, the future was unpredictable.
She was absolutely correct.
It's not particularly surprising.
It just ans the nature of ti itself is chaotic, I suppose.
If you think about it, it should be obvious.
What hasn't yet happed, hasn't happed, after all.
And, if sothing hasn't happed, does it an anything could happ?
Ev if soone travels to the past from the future, what was once the past all of a sudd turns into sothing that never existed.
If soone like that th acts in a way contrary to how the 'future past' originally occurred, th there's no way that things could remain the sa.
Travelling to the past, th acting such that the future changes.
If that happs, and the future does change, th how can the person have gone into the past to change the future in the first place?
All of a sudd, the future becos one where that person has no need to change the past, or one where they physically cannot, and thus they never travel back in ti to change it.
A scario where the act of changing the past itself makes it so that change is impossible.
The Grandfather Paradox.
But, was it really a paradox?
If it was truly sothing impossible, th not just Araceli Arévalo standing next to , but Azaki Kiryuuin also shouldn't exist as they are.
"Huh? Where're you going?"
"Away."
Without warning, I started to walk towards the city ctre. Araceli called out to as she hurried after.
"What about ?"
"..."
Pausing for a second, I cast a sideways glance at her.
"...Leave or follow. I can't do anything about it anyway."
"Oh. I'll co with you, th."
Yet again, she prested a bright smile.
Turning my gaze away from this igmatic anomaly of a person, I spat a final word.
"Just make sure you do your job if sothing happs."
Regressors and the related ti paradoxes that never triggered for so reason.
"Yes, don't worry. As a fan, I would never let you down."
"..."
Sighing internally, I didn't know what to think about the whole situation anymore as we siltly walked along the peaceful street.
Nevertheless, the more I had the ti to think about it, the more I wondered.
Was it really sothing so simple as ti regression?
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