Chapter 54. Rewriting Fate – Round 5
Vahn squeezed out the last of his power from above the village. His halo slowly began to get brighter and brighter as it dyed the world in its light.
'This is the last…!'
Once he dies, the Fighter Vahn would disappear from the face of the planet.
Almost as if he had never existed before.
This was the price he would pay for attempting to mess with fate. He would be forgotten by everyone once he died, but to Vahn, this was nothing. As long as she could become happy, he might as well have gone to heaven.
It was almost as if he was playing a roleplaying game. The boy who had saved and loaded his entire life multiple times slowly closed his eyes on top of the hill.
Waiting for the two people that would come here in the future.
*
The white sand glittered under the transparent cobalt sky. The beach was lined with parasols along with people tanning under the sun or resting underneath the shade. The waves splashed against the tetrapods lined up against the seaside road, turning into a spray of water in the process.
Summer really does call for the beach.
I took the saint to the beach as soon as the day reset. I didn't do it because I wanted to, but rather because the 'saint' of the past wanted me to. I had thought she would've swum a lot since the Haze Republic's castle was next to the sea, but… It seemed that she was unable to do that because of the onlookers. I guess that's the price you pay for becoming famous. She probably didn't have a lot of time for herself, since she always became surrounded by sick people.
To her, this was the first vacation she got on in five years. I took in the view of the horizon as I blew air into the tube in front of me. Well, I did until the saint jumped right in front in a white swimsuit.
"Tada~ How is it? Do you feel your heart throbbing yet?"
She posed as she said this. Maybe it was because she was quite underdeveloped, but she really didn't give off any sex appeal when she did this. How surprising. The only impression I got from her was that her hair was a bit different compared to before. I had thought that she only attracted attention in Korea because she was a foreigner, but she was quite popular here as well. We've had to shoo away men three times. Was she that pretty? I didn't really understand…
"Pretty good for a girl with a child's body. I suppose you won't be mistaken as a little girl anywhere."
"Roar!"
I quickly restrained the saint with the tube when she ran at me. She told me she didn't know how to swim, so I guess I'll just teach her. With actual experience. I dragged her using the rope on the tube into the water.
Splash, splish.
Slightly warm—. The seawater that was transparent enough to see through tickled our toes. The saint began floating on her tube when the water reached out waist. That happy face of hers really is begging to be teased…
Well, I'll restrain myself today. She did ask me to do this after all.
We played at the beach for an hour or so before making our way to the restaurant I made reservations in. L'Arpège, a three michelin star restaurant based in Paris. The saint asked me to take her to this place since she's never had food in a place like this. I suppose there was no need to even look at the menu.
"Everything."
I put a tip on top of the menu before the waiter managed to say anything. A gold coin that was worth hundreds of dollars. The waiter, who seemed to have thought that I was joking, wiped the smile off his face. His slightly relaxed posture straightened up immediately as well. He took the menu, bowed, and quietly made his way to the kitchen. These aren’t the type of people that need money at whatever the cost; they’d most likely discuss with one another about my order first. A little while later, the chef came to us to tell us that the amount of food we ordered was a little too much for two people. He gave in when I suggested that he could bring it out little by little at a time.
"Mr. Murderer? You're super nice today. And it's almost like you know about all my dreams… Hmm…"
How perceptive. The saint stopped shoving food in her mouth and set her utensils down on the table. Taking her gaze away from her food, she looked up at me. I guess it's only obvious she'd be curious, considering how everything that she ever wanted to do was being done. All this was planned by the saint herself. She gave me this list telling me to do all these for her if the day reset. I didn't have any reason to fulfill any of them, but I did owe something to her anyway…
After we finished eating, we moved on to the aquarium. The Churaumi Aquarium (沖縄美ら海水族館), based in Okinawa. The Kurushio Tank was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest tank in the world. Its overwhelming size allowed one to be able to see a giant cross section of the sea.
It was a view that would overwhelm anyone who saw it.
A whale shark leisurely swam in the aquarium. The light that shined over it almost gave it a certain element of holiness to it. The saint quietly gazed up at the majestic sight before her.
Right, that's that. Next is…
*
"Hah…"
Once we came back home at around 8PM, I put down the tired saint back onto the sofa. She flopped down out of exhaustion refusing to move.
"I told you it was too much."
The schedule was far too big to be completed in one day. We managed to complete it thanks to our high HP and stamina though… We went to the Alps and even managed to see the Sphinx.
I guess she can die happy now?
Right, this is good enough for today. Time to go back to the library. The saint managed to stop me before I began to make my way up the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"The fairy who grants wishes doesn't work past this time."
"No! There's still an hour left!"
She knew that she would lose her memories and that the day would reset. I suppose that was why she didn't want to waste even a single minute.
"Where do you want to go to then?"
The saint gave me a confident thumbs up. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked in the first place… A little while later, I ended up at the entrance to the Stair Village with the saint who had changed into autumn clothes.
"The festival isn't over yet! Let's go!"
It wasn't over, but it sure was getting close to it. The walk to the summit of the half mountain was filled with flowers and fruits. Pomegranates, mandarins, apples… All fruits that grow in the autumn. This was probably the remnant of the [Autumn Carriage]. During the traditional festival that is held in Stair Village, Ascension, five boys who haven't gone through their coming of age ceremony would carry a carriage up the mountain. The other boys would either help push the carriage or put weights on it. The watching girls would also throw in fruits and grains onto the carriage.
Their target was the top of the mountain.
The boys would climb up the stairs with all their strength. Their path would get steeper the more they climbed; the carriage would get heavier along with it. By that time, the onlookers would join in to push. They would put the carriage to the peak of the mountain and offer all that is inside it as an offering to the sky island that would pass by.
"Hold on, you two."
The two of us turned to look at the source of the voice.
"Don't rush yourselves now. Why don't you try getting your fortunes told?"
It came from a corner of the night market. There was an old woman there staring up at us with a crystal ball laid out in front of her on a blue table.
A fortune teller?
I tried to just ignore her. Contrary to my plans, the saint pulled at my arms despite me trying to leave.
"We can't just ignore the famed fortune teller of Stair Village. Do you even know how famous she is?"
I feel like I'm doing a bunch of things that I'd normally never do because of the saint. My, the losses really are big today. The old lady with the hooked nose laughed to herself as she asked for nearly 10,000 dollars. It's not like I couldn't give it to her, but…
"It's a total ripoff."
"Call it a donation."
I wonder if fortune telling would be considered a superstition in a world where god exists. Seeing how I can feel a bit of mana in the air, it doesn't feel like a scam either… The fortune teller stuffed the cash into her pocket and began to rub the crystal ball in a mystical manner.
"Right, who should I look into first? Should I use constellations or tarot cards? Choose what you want."
Constellations… Can't you just ask god for your fortunes?
"Cards! Tarot cards! Him first!"
When the saint said this, the fortune teller turned to stare at my face. Was she trying to do a cold reading?
"You've been on a long journey. You've lived a long, harsh life."
It could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. She probably noticed that I wasn't a villager and just said a thing about a traveller.
"Right, ok. Let's take a look at your fortunes. Don't be too disappointed by what you get. The fates will shuffle the cards and we will be the ones who fight for them."
Hmm… So this old woman was from a different world as well? She pulled out two cards from the deck and slowly flipped them on the table.
The Hanged Man and The Joker.
The meaning of these ominous cards were…
*
"What do you think? She was totally right, right?"
"Not really."
The saint was all excited after hearing that she'd live long without diseases and get a son and a daughter in the process. On the other hand, I was told that I would be betrayed by a friend and die one more time.
Was she really a fake…?
But, well, I did gain something in the process. I might've attained a weapon to defeat the Hero.
Problem is, I don't know how much it got repaired…
The saint took off her hairband and stomped forward. Every time she took a step, her hair waved left and right. It took us thirty minutes to walk this far and we didn't have much left till we got to the summit. The saint asked me questions as we walked.
"Second quiz! 53, 116, 92!"
"…I kill you."
"Boop boop! Wrong!"
She managed to think of something so annoying so fast… We had ten minutes left now. After that, she'd lose all her memories.
"Ah!"
The saint found something as she walked. She ran forward to check it out. When I walked up to follow her, I found a large dog that had just died. Its white fur had turned grey from all the dust, and its front legs had some sort of a decoration resembling a game pad. Was it someone's pet…? I looked down at the saint who was kneeling next to the dog and asked a question.
"What are you doing?"
"We should bury it. Don't you feel sorry for it?"
Sorry for it… It's just dead. We weren't even related to it. I might've felt something if I knew it, but…
The saint lifted the dog's body with difficulty and hugged it.
"Stop acting so weak."
I took the body for her. Now, what's a good place to bury it… I didn't feel the need to go too far, so I just decided to bury it on the hill we were standing on that overlooked the entire village.
One minute left.
I should read a book if the day repeats again. That way, I'd be able to accumulate knowledge infinitely.
"Ah, right."
I thought of the last thing the saint requested from me and took out a diamond ring from the vault. It was something that was originally in the Grand Thief's Vault. I didn't sell it this time. It should be around the price for the suit that she gave me at the beginning of the trip. The saint froze when she saw the ring.
Does she not like it?
This too was something that she asked for. Was it because I didn't put it on her ring finger? I stepped forward and grabbed her left hand. A blue flame caught my hand and lit up the area around us. The saint's face had taken on a maple red hue. Almost like the autumn leaves. Her shy appearance just made me want to tease her even more.
To think she'd be this embarrassed from this…
I checked the watch after putting the ring on her. 8:59:55PM. The day should repeat now.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
"…"
How strange. Why wasn't there… Was this the last one?
Piuuuw—-
A light streamed up into the night sky and exploded. A red flower bloomed above us. A light that followed shortly after bloomed into a purple flower. At the edge of the village, atop the hill, I watched the saint play with the ring on her hand with a happy face as I fell into deep contemplation.