“Are you saying you assumed there was some other method at play?”
“It felt like... you already knew how to fight,” Mia replied.
Her observational skills were sharper than I’d given her credit for.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t all that surprising. Mia might not possess extraordinary physical abilities or be particularly active, preferring instead to stay holed up in her room. But from a young age, she’d been subjected to near-brainwashing education by her mother. Even up until the moment we first met, her sole life goal had been to kill me.
“But isn’t it strange? The idea of foresight or precognition existing in reality? Shooting accurately at enemies even when your line of sight is blocked, giving me expensive Maramaros rounds as if you knew they’d be needed, and achieving those kinds of results even against multiple skilled opponents...”
Mia began recounting each instance of my actions near her in vivid detail.
“And... I’ve never been on a battlefield myself, but if the training I received from Jennifer is weaker than actual warfare, then... is it even possible to go into a place like that alone and come out alive? Surely it’s the kind of situation where even multiple lives wouldn’t be enough to survive?”
“...”
“To know everything about the underground labyrinth, including what would be waiting at its core... To adjust strategies on the spot as if you had already planned for it. To take out trained knights single-handedly. That kind of thing isn’t achievable with just physical ability. Anyone present in those moments would have realized something was unusual.”
Mia’s voice, which had sounded nervous earlier, grew calmer as she spoke.
It seemed that articulating her thoughts out loud was helping her relax.
“And so I came to a conclusion. Do you remember that time Sylvia entered my room and retrieved the gun?”
“I remember.”
“Until recently, I thought that was the only moment I could’ve killed you. The gun was loaded in my hands, you were close enough for me to hit you, and the caliber was large enough to do the job. But thinking back... if there was a future where I shot you, Sylvia, then you wouldn’t have given me the gun in the first place.”
“...”
I couldn’t deny that.
Even with my ability to turn back time, I had never actually died. Not even when I’d let loose on the battlefield without thinking. So I had no idea whether time would rewind if I were killed.
Mia’s reasoning was half correct and half wrong. If she hadn’t been able to kill me with one shot, I would’ve rewound time and avoided giving her the gun altogether.
But if she had killed me in one blow... even I couldn’t say what would happen after that.
“And since then, there’s been nothing to speak of. No matter how I think about it, I can’t see a way to defeat you, Sylvia. Even though I use magic.”
“So... does that mean you want to see what happens to me in the future?”
“Hmm, maybe,” Mia replied vaguely.
“When I completely gave up on killing you, I started to see so many things I hadn’t noticed before.”
Mia paused, as if organizing her thoughts, and then began speaking slowly, one sentence at a time.
“When all I thought about was killing you, I couldn’t figure out what I liked or what I’d do after achieving that goal.”
Well, she had even gone so far as to secretly spy on me.
I’d once made some ridiculous excuse to her about “learning emotions” just to deflect suspicion.
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She had definitely remembered that during the recent commotion involving Sophia.
...Would she still remember it now?
“But when I let go of that obsession... It’s strange. I gave up what I thought was the most important thing in my life, but instead, other things filled the void.”
“And these other things...?”
“Where the task of killing you used to be, there are now things I want to do.”
Mia lowered her gaze. Her expression was bittersweet.
“I’m not very physically capable. That’s an innate trait I can’t do anything about. So I chose magic as my ‘weapon.’ I thought it would be easier to cover up evidence after succeeding and more versatile to use. But I never really considered whether I liked it.”
Mia’s gaze, which had been cast downward, suddenly sparkled as it returned to me.
“But... isn’t it strange? The ability I thought of only as a means to kill you, Sylvia, is something you helped me use for entirely different purposes. To protect allies on the battlefield. To protect myself.”
Hmm.
The truth was, I hadn’t done that for Mia’s sake. It had been for my own benefit.
But even I wasn’t dense enough to mention that now. It would ruin the mood.
I decided to keep quiet and let her continue.
“If I can call the Maramaros rounds you gave me a gift, then they’re the first present I’ve ever received from someone besides my parents. While attaching them to my staff and figuring out how to use them, I realized something.”
Mia paused for a moment before finishing her thought.
“I realized I enjoyed thinking about those things.”
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“You know how I mentioned trying to figure out how to defeat you, Sylvia? That came from wondering what I could do with magic. How I could use it, adapt it, and what new spells I could create by applying Maramaros in different ways. At first, I only chose magic because it fit my talents. But now, I enjoy thinking about how it works.”
“...”
“And then there’s the food I’ve tried while traveling with you. It’s delicious. I’ve been discovering things I like, one by one. So I want to come with you this time, too.”
“I can’t say for sure what will be at the end of this journey.”
“But when we reach it, we’ll find out, won’t we?”
Mia’s words felt... quintessentially like something a mage would say.
“And I’m curious. Whether Sylvia’s abilities are magical or something else entirely. You’re not planning to tell me now, but to figure it out, I have to follow you to the very end.”
Her voice, unlike when I first saw her today, was no longer tinged with nervousness.
“There might be someone stronger than me waiting further ahead.”
“Well, that does sound a bit scary.”
My teasing remark made Mia falter slightly, her tone flustered, but it didn’t change her resolve.
“But this time, I won’t be preparing and acting alone.”
“...That’s true.”
If I had to plan everything myself and act alone, I wouldn’t have decided so readily to head there either.
I would’ve spent much more time deliberating, buying time, and strategizing.
“With how strongly you’ve made your case, I can’t think of a reason to stop you.”
“...Were you planning to stop me from coming?”
I’d meant to persuade her to join me, actually.
But since she’d already made up her mind before I said anything, there was nothing left for me to do. I’d given her all the warnings I could.
Instead of answering, I stood up.
“In that case, I’ll let you know as soon as we finalize the schedule.”
“All right.”
Mia rose to her feet as well.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Now, then...
Who should I meet next?
The sun hadn’t set yet, but there might not be enough time to visit everyone in one day.
The Lutetia Palace was vast, and some of the people I needed to see might be in the annex.
Could I get to everyone today?
I couldn’t rewind time to save my progress in conversations, so that option was off the table.
For the first time, I felt a deep respect for Leo, who went out of his way to talk to every single NPC in the game.
Then again, in the game, time didn’t pass when you talked to a few characters.