My Future Self Cheated

"How pitiful..." After acting out the dialogue, Diya could not help but feel indignant on behalf of the "foolish woman." "Why would such a devoted woman have to run into a man who doesn't love her at all and only wants to use her?" "It truly is pathetic." While Sonia felt sympathy as well, she was more infuriated by the woman's helplessness and exasperated by her lack of spine. "Since she could fight side by side with you, Witch, that means she isn't weak. Why must she bind herself to someone like that? Can't she survive without relying on someone? Is life hopeless unless she loves someone? Does she really have to humble herself into the dirt like that?!" "Sword Princess." Yaxiu signaled for Sonia to mind her emotions. "Not everyone is as resilient as you. You're too strong." "I'm not strong at all. I'm just a frail, delicate girl dominated by you." Sonia was still rubbing the calf of his leg with her black-stockinged foot. "Besides, how can a Two-Winged Sorcerer count as strong—" "When I say strong, I don't mean combat power," Yaxiu said. "Not just Sword Princess, but you too, Witch. Both of you are 'strong' in the existential sense of life—you can relish every dish fate sets before you. "Perhaps you don't think that's anything to be proud of, but life is like a buffet; not everyone can keep eating. "I know two people. One of them tasted something truly disgusting, and from then on, he dumped sugar and chili onto all his food, completely giving up on tasting the flavors. He numbed his palate with intense stimulation, just waiting for the day he'd choke on sweetness or burn to death from spice. The other person never ate shit, but he discovered the restaurant's dining area was a toilet, so he stopped enjoying the food altogether and instead studied how to slip shit into everyone else's dishes, because only that brought him any joy in life. "And there are plenty of people who abandon themselves to despair, drifting through life in a daze, or even ending their lives early—all because they were served several dishes in a row that tasted like shit at the buffet, so they simply don't want to eat anymore. If you tell them to keep living earnestly, their reaction is, 'What, you want me to keep eating shit?' "The 'she' in that conversation might be in that exact situation. 'She' might have already wanted to walk away from this buffet, whether because the food was awful or the environment was wretched... Just as 'she' was about to leave, someone suddenly pulled 'her' back. And 'she' found that as long as 'she' was with this person, any food tasted delicious, and any environment felt comfortable. "'She' certainly isn't as brave as you two, but this outcome that makes your blood boil might already be the best outcome 'she' could ever achieve. "Of course," Yaxiu paused, "the person using 'her' is indeed irredeemable human scum." "Exactly!" "Seconded!" Although they held different views regarding the "foolish woman," all three were in unanimous agreement about the "master": a scumbag who exploited a young girl's devotion ought to be minced into pieces and fed to Lalafells! Diya had even made up her mind that if she ever encountered the "foolish woman" from the dialogue in the future, she would think of every possible way to rescue her from her misery and break the scumbag's hold over her. Although the Witch sisters were not particularly good at talking people around, if it was mind control, she could ask Aunt Bogin for help. If it was purely blind devotion, that was when Yaxiu would step up—Diya had no idea how Yaxiu would handle it, but she trusted that he would be just as righteously indignant as her and would find a way to save this "foolish woman." "Since it isn't the 'world,' could 'her' master be a god?" Sonia guessed. "Or are my question and the Witch's completely unrelated? Could the target of our revenge not be the 'foolish woman's' master after all?" "There are too few clues, so we can only guess," Yaxiu said. "Still, even if it is a god, that wouldn't be surprising. Perhaps a god sent an avatar down to the mortal realm to swindle and deceive, or perhaps a god fell due to some circumstance, could only slowly recover his power, and used his personal charm along the way to turn various people into his loyal subordinates..." As he spoke, Yaxiu noticed Sword Princess and the Witch staring at him with peculiar looks. He cleared his throat. "Putting aside whether I'm a god or not, the real question is—are you two loyal?" Diya looked toward Sonia, who stuck out her pink little tongue playfully. "I'm not unreasonable. I acknowledge that you get what you pay for, so however much you give me, that's how much I'll return to you. If you want me to be wholeheartedly loyal to you, you have to hand everything over to me first." "See?" Yaxiu shrugged. "My personal charm is barren to that extent. Where would I get such loyal subordinates? Besides, in reality, I'm just a... Well, let's get back to the questions." Just as Yaxiu was about to mention a detail from reality, Annan's information restriction contract instantly shut his mouth. He could not even complain about being a wage slave. Diya nodded and asked, "Then which of these four options should I pick?" "First, it can't be '① Forcibly kidnap the Witch,'" Sonia analyzed. "Clearly, 'she' and the Witch used to be very close, and the 'master' promised not to harm the Witch, which was why 'she' agreed to come capture the Witch in the first place. Therefore, 'she' wouldn't resort to violent means." "'② Persuade the Witch' is also impossible," Yaxiu said. "From the tone, it's clear the Witch harbors a deep-seated hatred for them; a few soft words wouldn't convince her in the slightest. '③ Spring a trap to entrap the Witch' doesn't seem right either. If there were a trap, the Witch should have been caught long ago." "So it has to be '④ Visit the Witch,'" Sonia said with absolute certainty. "'She' doesn't actually want to capture the Witch; she only used that as an excuse to see the Witch once more and apologize. If she can complete the mission, wonderful, but even if she can't, 'she' has already achieved her goal." Their analysis aligned completely with the sisters' analysis. Diya put her headphones on and entered the answer. The Void Realm promptly graded her test: "You answered incorrectly. Destiny Q&A has concluded. You may begin asking your question." "What?!" Everyone was stunned—how could that be wrong? "Let me sort through the situation." Sonia furrowed her brows, pulling back the foot that had been teasing Yaxiu. Her toes curled inward, unconsciously rubbing together. "② is utterly impossible. If you're persuading someone, you at least have to entice them with benefits, right? But 'she' only emphasized that the Witch wouldn't be harmed and tried to appeal to their past bond. How does that count as a lobbyist? "Could it be ①? It's possible. 'She' did say the original plan was for 'her' and the 'master' to capture the Witch together, so violent means should have been part of the plan." "I think it should be ③," Yaxiu suddenly spoke up. "A trap?" Diya was taken aback. "But if it were a trap—" "Do you remember the very end of the dialogue?" Yaxiu asked. "'She' wanted to braid the Witch's hair." "If 'she' is very close to me, that's completely normal behavior," Diya said. "I'm terrible at managing hair, so I always have someone else braid it for me." "Yet when 'she' braids your hair, your guard is completely down," Sonia murmured. "The back of your neck is directly under 'her' hands. The cervical spine at the back of the neck is tied to the central nervous system. If 'she' has a means of restraining you, you've completely walked into the trap." "B-but..." Anxious, Diya kept grasping for counterarguments. "Isn't that too much of a coincidence? 'She' and I were enemies to begin with. If 'she' had the ability to touch the back of my neck, then with or without a trap, she could have captured me anyway!" Yaxiu said, "'She' probably didn't have the power to capture you, which is why she had to appeal to your past relationship so that you would lower your guard and even expose the back of your neck voluntarily." "But I wouldn't let my guard down!" Diya argued. "The dialogue makes it clear that I grew close to her because she saved me once while we were being hunted down. How could she possibly have calculated that pursuit into her plan—" "Is it really impossible?" Sonia asked abruptly. "To be hunted down yet miraculously escape unharmed, and even find a safe place to hide... Don't you think the luck is a bit too convenient?" Diya froze, unable to utter a single rebuttal. Even so, her heart still refused to believe such a possibility. Sword Princess and the Watcher had only heard her reenactment, but Diya had listened to 'her' voice and tone with her own ears. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that 'her' care had not been faked in the slightest, and she knew even more clearly that the future Witch had genuinely liked and relied on 'her.' If all of that was nothing but a sham calculation, it was simply too tragic. "Perhaps 'she' truly didn't know," Yaxiu said suddenly. "Although he never showed up, don't forget the 'master's' existence. In the original plan, the 'master' was supposed to appear and capture the Witch long ago, yet even when the two of them were pursued to the point of severe injury, there was still no sign of him." Sonia scoffed coldly. "Because the hunting party was too powerful, a coward of a 'master' who only knows how to exploit women didn't dare show his face, most likely." "What if everything was orchestrated by the 'master'?" Yaxiu said. "The Witch isn't weak; killing her and capturing her are two entirely different concepts. To guarantee capturing her without fail, the 'master' lured the pursuers over and adjusted the pressure of the pursuit from the shadows, striving to create a high-stress environment where their feelings would rapidly heat up. "Braiding hair was very likely a scene the 'master' had pre-scripted. Once they were safe, the 'foolish woman' would inevitably help braid the Witch's hair. Perhaps it was a hair ribbon carrying a miracle, or perhaps mind control. In any case, the 'foolish woman' would capture the Witch without even realizing it. "Only that explains why the Witch let her guard down. Even if she dropped her defenses, her sisters would certainly have remained vigilant. Only if the 'foolish woman' was completely in the dark could the Witch sisters possibly have fallen for it." Both Diya and Sonia nodded in conviction. This made sense of many coincidences as well as the Witch's trust. Furthermore, the perspective that "it's all that scumbag master's fault" suited their emotional needs perfectly. Still... "Watcher, how did you come up with such a scheme so quickly?" Sonia asked curiously. "That sounds like the trick of a mind sorcerer." "Did you see a plot like this in a fairytale?" Diya guessed. "Is it really that hard to come up with? Isn't it just an ordinary conspiracy?" Yaxiu looked bewildered. "Maybe my imagination is just rather active. Besides, in both dialogues, the Witch seemed completely emboldened, as if she weren't afraid of being captured at all. Thinking about it in reverse, if the 'master' wanted to catch the Witch, he couldn't rely on conventional means, and the 'foolish woman' who had a good relationship with the Witch was obviously the best trap." Though it sounded reasonable enough, having the Watcher reconstruct the mindset of a major villain still felt a bit strange... Sonia quickly pushed the thought aside, however, looking at Yaxiu with shining eyes. "Then what's your question?" At the mention of this, Yaxiu's expression turned very strange. Hesitating for a moment, he said, "I'll tell you the question first." "Question: Among these three people, who is the Watcher's most intimate partner? "① The first person; ② The second person; ③ The third person; ④ None of the above." Sonia's eyes lit up dazzlingly, and Diya's face filled with curiosity as well. "Where's the dialogue!" Yaxiu said, "The answer is ③, the third person." "The point is the dialogue! Information about the future is far more important than the Destiny Q&A rewards!" Sonia urged. "Hurry, hurry, hurry—don't be shy like a little trumpet." "I'm not being shy." Yaxiu spread his hands helplessly. "The problem is— "There was no dialogue, only the answer. My future self cheated."