Compensatory Leave

The misunderstanding was quickly cleared up: Igola and the others were not trying to harm him. Even so, Yaxiu poured a little aphrodisiac into his Substitute, conducting an experiment while listening to their explanation. "Seven Days of Knowing Fate?" The boy butler nodded. "Your Blood Moon Country probably doesn't have such a custom. Seven days after an infant is born, we have them pick out a favored 'Destiny Follower' from a large assortment of objects. 'Destiny Follower' means that fate will follow this choice." "And based on the Destiny Follower chosen, you can tell the child's future development path?" Yaxiu said. "That sounds superstitious as hell. Not like a sorcerer at all..." "It really was just a well-wishing blessing for children hundreds of years ago, which settled over time into a persisting custom rather than any kind of sorcery ritual," Annan said. "After all, with the Gospel lists around, parents always hope their children will place on the rankings, so they wish for the child's talents to reveal themselves as soon as possible." "Then—" "It may not be a sorcery ritual, but that doesn't mean customs are meaningless," Annan said. "The future of society is a massive, chaotic system. Compared to 'deterministic' miracles, 'unstable' meanings actually exert a deeper influence. According to the Doran family's years of investigation, nebulous factors such as 'wishes,' 'meanings,' and 'acknowledgment' account for a great deal of weight in the Weaving Ceremony. "These 'wishes' that cannot take effect immediately are all heard by the Book of Gospel. Miracles do not occur in life every second, but every second possesses meaning. "Besides," the young miss shrugged, "everyone else has a Destiny Follower. There's no reason you shouldn't have one, right?" Right, just like writing bullshit on a resume such as *My strengths are being helpful, fostering team unity, and having strong interpersonal skills; my weakness is being too conscientious, which might affect my work.* While in all likelihood no one actually believed it, if you wrote it and others didn't, you might just get hired because of it. Yaxiu understood, yet he still didn't understand. "But isn't this custom meant for seven-day-old infants? Leaving Lisi aside, do I really look that tender?" "We truly were born only seven days ago," the necromancer said, examining a silver scalpel. "Or rather, it has been only seven days since we arrived in this world." "That counts too?!" Yaxiu was dumbfounded. Changing maps even reset the cooldown on your age? "The Book of Gospel has existed for over a thousand years, perhaps even longer," Annan said. "On the Book of Gospel's timescale, there is hardly any difference between you being twenty-five years and seven days old versus one year and seven days old." "Indeed," Igola said. "Besides, there are people in this world who are twenty-five yet still possess the mentality of a newborn. The Book of Gospel certainly won't discriminate against you, Yaxiu." Yaxiu punched the now-dazed Substitute, bursting it, and glanced at the assorted instruments of torture on the table. "So once we choose, is it possible for us to make it onto today's first Future Board?" "How could that be possible?" Annan shook her head. "No one knows what the first board will be ahead of time. Even I have to use the first board to deduce the ones that follow. Having you perform the Seven Days of Knowing Fate is merely gambling on luck. Who knows, maybe you'll just happen to hit it off with the Book of Gospel?" "You make it sound like we're going on a blind date with the Book of Gospel..." Yaxiu picked up a transparent glass needle. "But why are there so many... well, torture devices?" "Isn't it completely normal for an agency to have this many torture tools?" Annan shrugged. "If you don't want to pick a torture tool, then don't. Just choose whatever you like. By the way, don't be too mercenary about it. After all, nobody knows what the first board is. Only by choosing an object you genuinely like will your voice be loud enough for the Book of Gospel to hear. "Also, when you select your Destiny Follower item, you'd best bestow some good wishes upon it. Normally this step is done by parents—for instance, 'this child has chosen a dagger with which murder will never be discovered.' That reinforces the wish further, and it's a very meaningful step. "Furthermore, according to the intel collected by the Doran family, certain rewards during the Weaving Ceremony are custom-tailored based on your Destiny Follower. If you make a wish upon your Destiny Follower, you might even influence what the ranking rewards you with." Yaxiu suddenly realized something. "Wait, then why were you making me choose between handcuffs, a spiked club, and aphrodisiacs just now?" "Because we felt they suited you very well," all three said in unison. "That borders on a personal attack, doesn't it?" Yaxiu turned toward the necromancer. "Harvey, you're the sensible one after all, not fooling around with them..." Then he saw Harvey holding a leather whip. "Harvey, I didn't realize you were into that sort of thing—" "How could that be? Whips are meant for the living, and I have no interest in the living. I merely felt a whip suited you, because—" "Stop, I have no interest in hearing your stereotypical impressions of me." Yaxiu looked at the hired hands. "So, what Destiny Followers did you all choose?" Lisi held up a small mirror. "A little magic mirror that will always reflect its holder looking her most beautiful!" "Really?!" Yaxiu made a show of taking it to look into it. "Nothing's different. I still look like this. Isn't this just an ordinary mirror?" Igola said, "A hypothesis, not necessarily correct: could it be that what's ordinary isn't the mirror, but you?" "Stinky Dad, give it back!" Lisi yelled indignantly, kicking Yaxiu right in the knee. While he was doubled over, she snatched the mirror back. "I chose this." Igola waved the pen in his hand. "A pen that will firmly capture the reader's attention no matter what it writes." "Huh?" Yaxiu blinked. "Why do you look so surprised?" "I thought you'd want a 'pen where whatever it writes comes true' or a 'pen that makes people believe whatever it writes'..." Igola wagged his finger. "For a social engineering scholar like me, the most important thing is neither distorting reality nor gaining someone's trust. It is attention. As long as I can capture your attention, I can rule your fate." Yaxiu looked at Harvey. The necromancer produced a sewing kit resembling needles and thread—God only knew why such a thing existed in Gospel Country. Given Gospel's productive power, let alone mending clothes, shouldn't the average person here wear a fresh outfit every day and throw it out without even doing laundry? "What I chose is—" "Stop, I didn't ask you." Yaxiu crossed his arms in refusal. "I don't want to hear about special uses for sewing needles." "These aren't sewing needles—" "Then I want to hear it even less." Annan and Banjie naturally had no need to choose; they had already done so at birth. Yaxiu browsed the items on the table and shook his head. "Can I choose something else?" "Something else like what?" Yaxiu returned to his bedroom and came back out wearing his dark red trench coat and his mask. "I don't like any of the stuff on the table. I want to pick these two as my Destiny Followers." He pointed at the dark red trench coat. "This is a coat that can withstand all damage..." Annan reminded him, "Don't be so utilitarian. Do you think you're playing a video game? Would your parents make a wish like that?" Yaxiu recalled the way his parents' minds worked and said solemnly, "This is a terrifying trench coat that will make everyone too scared to bully me." Annan wanted to say more, but Igola patted her on the shoulder. The Swindler pointed to himself, Harvey, and Yaxiu. Annan immediately understood his meaning—right, they were all orphans from Blood Moon Country. How could they know what parental love was? When you feel like criticizing someone, just remember they might not have parents. With that thought, Annan's gaze toward Yaxiu filled with tolerance. Yaxiu pointed at the mask and said, "This is a... hmm... a mask that makes everyone like me?" "The function doesn't quite match, does it?" Harvey said. "While you certainly look better after covering your face, a mask has nothing to do with charm." Harvey's comments always baffled Yaxiu. A line like "you look better after covering your face," for instance, would definitely be a personal attack coming from Igola, Lisi, or even Annan. Only when it came from Harvey was it hard to tell whether it was a compliment or an insult. Still, he had a point. Yaxiu thought for a moment and said, "Then this is a mask that will fill me with an air of mystery." "Why does Dad get to have two Destiny Followers?!" Lisi protested, unconvinced. "I want two as well!" "If you choose two, the power of your wish might be diluted," Annan said. "Besides, the Book of Gospel might pick and choose, rewarding only one true Destiny Follower." Lisi thought about it. "Never mind, then. I still want the magic mirror." "We've all chosen. When will the first board come out?" Yaxiu asked. "It's almost breakfast time. Did the Book of Gospel take the day off?" "No," Annan shrugged, "but it won't be on time either. If it were truly punctual, it would have released the first Future Board at midnight last night." "Then why—" "Because today isn't over yet." The young butler, Banjie, raised his hand, gesturing for everyone to look at him. "How should I put this... If the Weaving Ceremony were a job, the Book of Gospel would be the kind of creator who submits right at the deadline down to the very last second." "Those are just our guesses," Annan said. "When it comes to weaving the future, the closer you get to the future by each second, the higher the precision of the weaving. Therefore, even though the Weaving Ceremony issues its first board on the tenth, a board woven at 00:00:00 is bound to be less accurate than one woven at 23:59:59. "Historically in the Weaving Ceremonies, the vast majority of lists were released at the final second of the day. Only twenty-five percent were published right at midnight, and another ten percent were released at random times during the day without any discernible pattern. "That's why I didn't make you wait until midnight last night, because across the past dozen Weaving Ceremonies, the first board was always released at the very last second." Annan flicked her earring. "However, tonight you must all stay up until midnight and see the first Future Board before returning to your rooms." Yaxiu asked, "Can't we just look at it tomorrow morning when we wake up? Do we really have to chase the update live?" "No." Annan shook her head. "Although unlikely, if your luck turns out too good—or rather, too bad—something might happen. That said, the likelihood of an incident on the first board isn't high; our true target is the second board ten days from now." Wait until midnight, huh... Yaxiu's scheduled start time for party exploration in the Void Realm was eleven o'clock. Taking the entire night off for midnight seemed like a waste, yet he couldn't simply skip taking leave. So after finishing breakfast, Yaxiu hurried back to his bedroom, summoned the Book of Gospel, and opened the game page to see if there was any way to delay the party's gathering time. [Void Realm Exploration] - [Party Composition]. Yaxiu scrutinized it closely and actually noticed a detail: every time he selected [Begin Operation], secondary options would pop up—[Depart Immediately] and [Reconsider]. Previously, Yaxiu had assumed [Reconsider] meant canceling. But when he pressed it this time, he discovered that [Reconsider] brought up [Adjust Operation Time] and [Change Member Composition]. Selecting [Adjust Operation Time], Yaxiu found he could change the departure time from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., but it required the operators' consent. [Watcher has proposed: Delay tonight's Void Realm Exploration by 90 minutes.] ... At the same time, Lisi had also returned to her room. Speaking into the newly acquired little magic mirror, she said, "Calling Watcher! Calling Watcher! Can we push back tonight's Void Realm Exploration by an hour? Watcher, help me let Sword Princess know." "No, wait!" Lisi shook her head, switching to Diya to negotiate. "Could we make it ninety minutes later? We have to check the Gospel list tonight, and that might take ten or fifteen minutes." ... After a brief silence, both Yaxiu and Diya received the response they desired: [Sword Princess agrees, Witch agrees] [Since you beg so subserviently, I shall mercifully grant approval] ... Meanwhile, in another country, Sonia, who had just gotten out of bed and was doing her skincare routine, looked at the letter on her desk with a rather conflicted expression. [Dear Sword Princess,] [The great Watcher has fulfilled his promise. Tomorrow, you will not need to train and shall receive a full day of recreation and rest.] [However, as the cost, your training tonight will be extended by 90 minutes, and the Void Realm Exploration time will likewise be pushed back by 90 minutes.] "...I usually only train for two hours in the first place..." The president of the Claw-Stretching Club truly wanted to be happy, but her intellect wouldn't allow it. "What is this, compensatory leave? How is this any different from not getting a day off at all?!"