Chapter 10.2 - Manipulating Fate (2)

ArthasApril 08, 2023

After I parted ways with Aster and Sybil, I headed to the academy.

During this time, I noticed them exchanging phone numbers and realized I didn't have my own phone.

In Etius, just as there are things that imitate TVs, like the WiserView, there are things that imitate smartphones, called ‘SagePhones,’ however, everyone just calls it a phone. If you have a phone, you can call, text, and messenger freely.

But Frondier, that is me, did not have a SagePhone. Neither did my brother, Atize, nor my father, Enfer.

Enfer was an old man with an even older mindset, so he was uninterested in such things, and Atzier reasoned that since his father didn't use one, he shouldn't either.

But from my point of view, I need a SagePhone to help Aster.

I could make and receive emergency calls, and I could easily locate him that way.

"Hmm."

As I deliberated on this matter, I came to a halt outside a classroom. It seemed as though the attention and commotion around me had suddenly multiplied, but I disregarded them.

The door opened with a ding, and a few of the students inside turned to face it.

It was definitely just a few at first, but then they started freaking out, shaking their friends next to them, pointing this way, and making loud "look at that" noises to get everyone around them to look as well.

So eventually everyone was looking towards the door.

......Let's get this over with and move on.

I walked up to a woman, who of course was also looking at me. She had the most ridiculous look on her face.

"I found you, Senior Quinie."

"......Are you out of your mind?"

Quinie, the ‘Little Devil.’

She always wore a laid-back smile, and I found it amusing to see her flustered.

"We met at the Miller family mansion the other day, and I don't think we said hello properly back then."

"That's unnecessary. If you want to make a connection with me, send the equivalent money to my family's account. Don't make me the center of attention."

Quinie huffed and puffed, flapping her fan.

I leaned in closer to her face, causing a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" and hushed gasps to ripple through the surrounding crowd. Quinie stiffened, too.

I whispered in her ear, "I want to sell information to Quinie de Viet."

At my words, Quinie's flailing hands stopped and she looked at me with sunken eyes.

She was no longer a student; she was already the head of the House of Viet.

"I don't like bullshit."

"Neither do I."

"This isn't ...... the place to talk about it, is it?"

I nodded once and turned to walk away, and even without looking back to make sure, I could hear Quinie's footsteps trailing behind me.

Though the chatter around me was much louder.

* * *

"So, what is it?"

I moved into an empty classroom.

Quinie had diligently cast a ‘Wind Whisper’ to muffle our voices, preventing them from leaking out. It was a welcome thing for me too.

I closed my eyes for a moment and pondered.

It was good to get to know Quinie as quickly as possible. For my sake, for Aster's.

It had its advantages, but more importantly, she was someone I could trust.

In Etius, it was important to have someone you could trust to have your back.

But there was not much I could offer her right now.

Except one thing. I do have information that would surely appeal to Quinie.

I thought for a moment about how best to say this, and then opened my mouth.

"There is a demon from 'Outside' coming."

"......!"

Quinie's expression hardened at the mention of a demon from the Outside.

As I've said before, the human realm was insignificant in Etius' world. The current human race could barely keep up with the demons within its borders.

By ‘Outside,’ I mean literally outside the realm of humanity. The demons that lurked there were not the same as those inside.

She turned a suspicious eye toward me.

"If you say things like that carelessly, it won't end well."

"But if we ignore it, it really won't end well."

Quinnie glared at me, as if she could read my mind and I took the glare for what it was.

"The 3rd graders get sent out on missions soon, right? For a temporary professional experience.”

".......... How do you know about that?"

"That's where you'll face the demons from 'Outside'."

"......How many?"

Quinier demanded details of the information before confirming the truth, and that was the right thing to do.

I held up my index finger.

"One."

"You mean ......one? You mean there's only one demon?"

"Yes. It's an unusually weak individual from the Outside world. An outcast, someone was unable to withstand the life of its group in the outside world and was forced to leave. You will be facing that one."

Quinie blinked at my words, with a look that didn't know how to react.

I smiled gently.

"That doesn't sound too dangerous, does it?"

"Well, to be honest, it doesn’t....... I've never met a demon from the Outside, but just one, and it's an outcast. Isn't being afraid of it a sign of ignoring the Professional?"

“That thought of yours is not wrong. With just one professional, you can easily subdue an inferior creature like that.”

"Then why-"

“Because the dispatch mission that Senior Quinie is about to undertake did not originally consider that creature.”

Quinie's eyes widened at what I said. Quinie, as expected, was quick to grasp the situation.

Nonetheless, because speaking directly had an effect, I continued.

"Many will die. The creature from 'Outside' is similar to the ones inside, but it is much stronger and, most importantly, more cunning. It will remain hidden and prey on people from afar, out of sight of the pros, until the pros discover it."

"......Uh-oh."

Quinie, who had been listening, lifted one corner of her mouth.

"There will be a lot of third-year students and normal people at the trial site, so what are my chances of being killed by it? And, besides, the professionals will find it before then; all I have to do is avoid it while someone else dies. Plus, you've already given me all of the information, so why should I give you anything?"

She couldn't care less about other people's deaths as long as she was safe. A cold-hearted person who only cared about money and power to raise her family's status.

That was Quinie, the 'Little Devil'.

......because she was so good at acting like that, she was the head of the Viet family.

"I know his weaknesses. That's the information I'm selling."

"......!"

Quinie's eyes flickered.

If she really meant to flee, to weave her way through the crowd, this information meant nothing.

What's the point of knowing the demon’s weaknesses if she was just going to keep running?

But Quinie wavered.

The idea of her sacrificing others was a lie.

I lowered my eyes. It pained me to see her bluff anymore.

"You don't like people dying."

"What are you, a ......!"

"I have my own means of getting information. That's how I got this information."

Memories of countless iterations of the Etius game in the real world. To me, there was no more accurate medium.

At my words, Quinie bit her lower lip. I think I could hear her head spinning tight.

Quinie looked me in the eye and said.

"So, what do you want, money?"

Cool and Fast.

She must have judged that having a business relationship with me was far more profitable than to risk the chance of me lying.

"No, no. We've been given an opportunity to enter the low-level dungeon this time. Would you like to accompany us?"

"...... Is that it?"

Quinie asked doubtfully.

I smiled.

Quinie hated deals that were too good for her, because she suspected there was a flaw hidden in them.

"And I need a few things," I said. To make a fair deal with her.

In fact, from my perspective, this was the main point.

Now that I've succeeded in weaving Gram, however incompletely, I had a lot of things I needed.

"Things?"

"Yes. First of all, I need something that can increase my mana capacity. It can be elixirs, or artifacts , anything is fine."

"You suddenly want something big. Is there anything else?"

"Another is a trinket that can hold water. I'd like it to be worn on the body, easy to take out or put in water, and invisible on the inside."

"That's a weird spell. It would be better to carry a water bottle."

"I would prefer it if it was very easy to take out and store."

Quinie tilted her head even more and looked at me as if I were a strange person. But I had nothing more to say, either.

The trinket that could hold water was actually meant to hold Obsidian.

To say it more precisely would have given Quinie away, so I rephrased it as water.

"Okay. I'll take two of those, and I promise to deliver them in the name of the Viet family."

"Thank you."

"So, what's the weakness?"

"The weakness is, ah."

I paused, remembering something.

Quinie's brow narrowed.

"What, you're not going to make something up now?"

"No, no. Come to think of it, there's one more thing I need."

"What is that?"

"It would be nice if I could get a SagePhone."

Quinie opened her mouth in disbelief.

"You don't have a phone?"