32.
I was in the middle of deliberating how to mediate between the two.
“Tania, want to see something amazing?”
“……What is it?”
“Just keep your eyes on him, okay?”
Elision pointed toward Raspi, who was rapidly approaching us.
Then, out of nowhere, he splayed his palm wide before clenching it into a fist in a split second.
*Crack.*
With a sharp, dry snap, the pouch containing Raspi’s egg was crushed flat. It was as if he had shattered the shell using telekinesis alone.
I whipped my head toward Elision, my expression dazed. I knew Raspi was no match for him, but I hadn’t expected the fight to end so insignificantly before it even truly began.
*No, Your Grace, that’s unfair. How is anyone supposed to win against someone who can shatter an egg from a distance?*
“How’s my magic? Now it’s just the two of us.”
He asked with a shy lilt, as if anticipating a reaction.
“Uh… you certainly shattered Raspi’s egg quite thoroughly.”
And his mental state, too, it seemed.
Raspi turned the pouch that had held his egg inside out, his face slack with disbelief. But the egg within was already pulverized beyond recognition.
I silently shifted my gaze back to Elision.
“Sion, are you going to shatter my egg, too?”
“……Don’t you not have an egg?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I do. I’m here instead of heading to the Safe Zone because it hasn’t broken yet.”
“……I’m the only piece of trash here.”
He muttered something incomprehensible, burying his face in his hands. His eyes were squeezed shut.
[Overwriting current timeline onto Timeline 1.]
I saved the point in time while Elision was caught off guard. The only reason I had been conversing with him so compliantly was to wait for this exact opening. If my persuasion failed, my backup plan was to enter an endless cycle of physical combat.
Being extremely close to him. While he wasn’t on his guard. There was no better timing than right now, while his eyes were closed.
But…….
After wiping his face, he opened a sub-space and pulled out an egg.
“……?”
*Why is an egg coming out of there? That’s truly a foul.*
I felt beyond baffled; I felt completely drained. From the very start, this was a contest I couldn’t win, no matter how many times I rewound the clock.
He held the egg and shook it back and forth in front of my eyes.
“Tania, do you want this?”
Just as I was debating whether to answer or strike—thinking I might reach him if I moved fast enough—he grinned, as if he hadn’t asked for an answer at all, and let the egg drop.
An illusion flickered, making the falling movement seem like he had cast a slow-motion spell.
*Thud—*
The egg hit the ground and shattered with absurd ease.
And the thing he said after that was…….
“Ah, my mistake.”
*A mistake? A mistak-e-e-e?*
It was clearly intentional. The people in the Safe Zone stirred, startled by Elision’s sudden outburst.
“Tania, let’s go down now.”
The man who had caused the mess simply took my hand as if nothing had happened and slowly descended from the rock. Still dazed, I followed his lead, but I couldn’t understand the logic and demanded an explanation.
“Sion, why did you do that?”
“Because I like you. I told you yesterday, too. I’d rather be on good terms than be competitors.”
“For such a trivial reason……!”
Elision tilted his head.
“Then, why are the twins helping you?”
“That’s because I saved their lives.”
“My reason is similar.”
“What? When did you ever save me……!”
“There’s a saying about the butterfly effect. Even if you didn’t do something directly, you could have sufficiently influenced me.”
……What could I have possibly done to influence him? If there was anything in this timeline that might have impacted Elision, it was the raid on the underground auction house, or perhaps telling the merchant guild leader where the magic stones were buried. If it were something from before I was seven, it had been so long I couldn’t even remember.
As I rummaged through my memories, racking my brain, he kissed the tips of my hair.
“That’s why I wanted to help you.”
“…….”
“I was on your side from the moment I first saw you, Tania.”
A girl with rosemary-colored hair was reflected in his blue eyes. His pupils were fixed solely on me. As a strange atmosphere wafted between us, the Safe Zone stirred once more.
I forced myself to ignore the onlookers and asked him directly.
“What kind of influence did I have on you?”
“I told you. Thanks to you, I saved my life.”
“That’s not what I’m asking……!”
“Anything beyond that is a secret.”
Elision placed his index finger to his red lips, his eyes crinkling into a gentle crescent.
“I’m an eliminated participant, so I’ll head to the Safe Zone now. Actually, the Battle Royale hasn’t ended yet.”
“What?”
I had assumed Raspi had eliminated everyone while we were talking.
“There’s one fool who came running to the center late, unaware the water was rising, and they’re currently hiding. I’ll leave that person to you.”
*Don’t you need to pull your weight, too?*
Elision added this quietly before turning around without a shred of hesitation and walking toward the Safe Zone. By showing everyone that I was the one to eliminate the final participant, he was providing me with a counterargument against the claim that I only won with the help of others.
I blinked as I watched his retreating figure. It felt as if I had been put under a spell.
“……Is this why they tell you to watch out for little foxes?”
But I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I immediately saved the point in time.
[Overwriting current timeline onto Timeline 1.]
The one person left must be hiding nearby, waiting for a chance. They wouldn’t have dared move while Elision and Raspi were still in the game. But the moment Elision crushed his own egg so pointlessly, they must have sensed an opening.
Since I was surrounded by rumors and had never actually shown any ability, they likely underestimated me.
Am I able to tame magic beasts like Raspi? No. Am I quick-handed like Rosemary? No. Am I skilled in magic like Elision? No.
However, I was provided with an infinite supply of chances, distributed fairly to everyone just once. I didn’t know if my opponent was an Abilitator or an ordinary person, but if it remained within the realm of common sense, I was confident I could win.
“I know you’re hiding, so come out. You know perfectly well that my Ability is Precognition, don’t you?”
At that, a girl slipped out from behind a tree at about nine o’clock from where I stood. She looked to be near fifteen, the maximum age for staying at the Talent Training Center.
In other words, she was in a position where she would have to leave soon. Perhaps drunk on the fantasy that she would be adopted by the Duke, she cackled.
“I don’t know how you bamboozled Elision, but you should have checked if any other survivors remained. I’m certainly grateful, though!”
The girl stomped her foot, the ground trembling as she rushed toward me. Every time she stepped forward, her legs sank into the dirt. Judging by her brute strength, she was a Strength-type Abilitator.
She moved with enough force to close the distance in a few leaps.
[Overwriting current timeline onto Timeline 1.]
The girl collided with me without slowing down. In an instant, I felt my body lift into the air before falling backward. With her arms wrapped around my waist, she shifted her position so that she would end up on the bottom. It was an instinctive move.
*Thud—!*
She hit the ground, keeping me pinned in her embrace. The weight was so immense that I couldn’t budge an inch. I stayed as still as possible, fearing that if I resisted, she might apply more force and crush me to death.
The girl reached for my right pocket, which was visibly bulging.
*Crack.*
I felt a sticky, unpleasant sensation from the pocket. The egg had shattered.
“Kyahaha! I won!”
The girl loosened her grip, jumped up, and stood tall. She was so overwhelmed with a sense of euphoria that she cheered toward the sky.
I stared at her blankly before, still sitting on the dirt, I drove my fist into her bulging pocket.
*Crack.*