Mage Manual
Chapter 541 - 439: The Future Me Cheated

Chapter 541: Chapter 439: The Future Me Cheated

"How pitiful..."

After Diya acted out the conversation, she couldn’t help but feel indignant for the "foolish woman": "Why would such a devoted woman meet a man who doesn’t love her and only wants to use her?"

"It truly is tragic." Sonia, although sympathetic, was more angered by the injustice and lack of fight: "If she could fight alongside you, a Witch, it means she isn’t weak. Why must she bind herself to someone else? Can’t she live without relying on anyone? Can’t she have hope without liking anything? Must she degrade herself to the dust like this!?"

"Sword Maiden." Ash motioned for Sonia to calm her emotions: "Not everyone is as strong as you, you’re too powerful."

"I am not strong, I am just a fragile girl dominated by you." Sonia continued to rub her black-stockinged feet against his calf: "Besides, what sort of strength does a Two-winged Mage amount to—"

"What I speak of isn’t strength in terms of power." Ash said: "Not just as a Sword Maiden, you too, Witch, both of you are ’strong’ in the sense of the meaning of life— you get to enjoy every dish fate has prepared for you."

"Maybe you don’t think there’s anything to be proud of in that, but life is like a buffet, and not everyone is able to keep eating continuously."

"I know two people, one of whom found the food so unpleasant that he started adding sugar and spice to everything, completely giving up tasting the food’s flavor, and numbing his taste buds with stimulation, just waiting for the day he gets killed by the spice; the other has never eaten shit, but when he realized the restaurant’s environment was a toilet, he also stopped enjoying food, instead researching how to add shit to other people’s food, as that was the only way to take pleasure in life."

"And there are many who give up on themselves, living aimlessly, and even end their lives early— because they’ve had several dishes in a row at the buffet that tasted like shit, and so they no longer want to eat. If you tell them to continue living earnestly, their response would be ’what, you want me to keep eating shit?’"

"The ’she’ in this conversation is probably in that situation. ’She’ might not want to continue this buffet anymore, perhaps because it’s unpleasant, or maybe because the environment is bad... Just when ’she’ was about to leave, suddenly someone pulled ’her’ back, ’she’ found out that as long as she is with this person, any food tastes delicious, any environment seems comfortable."

"’She’ truly isn’t as brave as you, but this situation that makes you uneasy, might already be the best ’she’ can achieve."

"Of course." Ash paused: "The one using ’her’ is indeed an irredeemable scum of the earth."

"That’s right!"

"I second that!"

Although they had different views on the "foolish woman," they unanimously agreed on one point about the "Master": that kind of scum who exploited a girl’s devotion deserved to be minced and fed to the fat Laras!

Diya even had it planned out—if she ever met the "foolish woman" from the conversation in real life, she would certainly find a way to help the "foolish woman" break free from the bitter sea of suffering, emancipating her from the scum’s domination.

Though the Witch sisters were not great at persuading others, if it involved Mind Control, she could ask Aunt Bokin for help; if it was merely a simple case of deep infatuation, that would be Ash’s time to step in—Diya didn’t know how Ash would solve it, but she believed that Ash would certainly be as outraged as her and come up with a way to save the "foolish woman."

"Since it’s not ’the world,’ is ’her’ Master a Divine Lord?" Sonia speculated: "Or is it that our mission has nothing to do with the Witch? The target of our revenge isn’t the ’foolish woman’s’ Master?"

"The clues are too scarce, we can only speculate." Ash said: "But even if it were a Divine Lord it wouldn’t be surprising, perhaps the Divine Lord sent an avatar to deceive and swindle, or perhaps the Divine Lord fell for some reason and could only slowly recover his strength, along the way using his charm to turn various people into his loyal subordinates..."

While talking, Ash noticed the Sword Maiden and Witch looking at him with a meaningful gaze, he coughed: "Let’s not talk about whether or not I am a Divine Lord, but the question is, are you loyal?"

Diya looked at Sonia, and Sonia stuck out her pink tongue playfully: "I’m not unreasonable, I recognize that the noble have their reasons, so whatever you give me, I will return in kind. If you want my wholehearted loyalty, then you have to give me everything first."

"See," Ash shrugged his shoulders: "My personal charm is so lacking, how would I have such loyal subordinates, and in reality, I am just... well, let’s get back to the topic."

Ash was about to mention something about reality, but Hanna’s information limitation Contract immediately silenced him, he couldn’t even complain about being a worker.

Diya nodded and asked, "So what should I choose for these four options?"

"It can’t possibly be ’①Violently Kidnap the Witch’." Sonia analyzed: "It’s clear that ’she’ had a good relationship with the Witch and only came to capture the Witch because the ’Master’ promised not to harm the Witch. Therefore, ’she’ couldn’t have used violent methods."

"’②Persuade the Witch’ is also unlikely." Ash said: "It’s also clear from the tone that the Witch hated them deeply and wouldn’t be persuaded by a few soft words. ’③Lay a trap to capture the Witch’ is also incorrect, if there were a trap, the Witch would have been captured by now."

"So it has to be ’④Visit the Witch’." Sonia asserted confidently: "’She’ did not want to capture the Witch, she only used this reason to see the Witch and apologize. If she could complete the mission, that would be best, but even if not, ’she’ would have fulfilled her purpose."

Their analysis was in complete agreement with that of the sisters, so Diya put on her headphones and entered her answer, and the Void Realm immediately graded her test:

"You answered incorrectly, Fate Q&A is over. You may begin your question."

"What?! How could it be wrong?" Everyone was shocked.

"Let me think this through," Sonia frowned, drawing back her foot from teasing Ash, her toes curling unconsciously as she rubbed them: "② is absolutely impossible, persuade, persuade, at least one should entice with benefits, right? But ’she’ merely emphasized not harming the Witch and mending relations, how does that count as persuasion?"

"Could it be ①? It’s possible, ’she’ mentioned that the original plan was for ’her’ and the ’Master’ to capture the Witch together, so the violent method must have been part of the plan."

"I think it should be option three," Ash suddenly said.

"A trap?" Diya was taken aback. "But if it’s a trap—"

"Do you still remember the last part of the conversation?" Ash said. "She wanted to braid the witch’s hair."

"If she’s close to me, that would be a normal thing to do," Diya said. "I’m not good at managing my hair, I always let others help me braid it."

"But when she braids your hair, you’re completely defenseless," Sonia murmured. "Your nape is right under her hands. The nape’s cervical spine is crucial to the nervous system. If she has a means to restrain you, then you’ve completely stepped into the trap."

"But, but..." Diya frantically searched for excuses. "Isn’t that too coincidental? I was originally in a hostile state with her. If she had the ability to touch the back of my neck, trap or not, she would have caught me!"

Ash said, "She must not have been capable of catching you, which is why she had to ingratiate herself with you in order to let down your guard and even expose your neck voluntarily."

"But I won’t let down my guard!" Diya said. "From the conversation, I knew that I got closer to her only because she saved me once during a pursuit. But how could she have planned for the pursuit too—"

"Is it really impossible?" Sonia interjected coldly. "Being pursued yet escaping unscathed, even finding a safe place to hide—don’t you think your luck is a little too good?"

Diya was struck speechless, unable to rebut.

However, she still didn’t want to believe in this possibility—Sword Maiden and Observer were only relying on her recounting, but Diya had heard her voice, her tone, and knew extremely well the genuine affection she held for herself and the sincere fondness future witches had for her.

If all of this were just deceitful scheming, it would be too heartbreaking.

"Perhaps she really didn’t know," Ash suddenly said. "Although she has yet to appear, don’t forget about the presence of the Master. In the original plan, the Master should have appeared by now to capture the witch, yet there was no sign of her despite them being pursued and grievously injured."

Sonia snorted coldly. "Because the pursuit was too powerful, that coward who only uses women, the Master, wouldn’t dare to show up."

"But what if it’s all the Master’s planning?" Ash continued. "The witch is no pushover; killing her and capturing her are two different concepts. To ensure a hundred percent chance of capturing her, the Master brought the pursuers and, from the shadows, made adjustments to the intensity of the pursuit, striving to create a pressurized environment that would rapidly elevate their feelings for each other."

"Braiding the hair is very likely a scene the Master orchestrated. Once they were safe, the ’foolish woman’ would definitely braid the witch’s hair. Perhaps it’s a hairband imbued with a miracle, or perhaps it’s mind control; in any case, the ’foolish woman’ will unwittingly capture the witch."

"That’s the only explanation for why the witch would let down her guard. Even if she herself were careless, her sisters would surely be very cautious. Only if the ’foolish woman’ was completely unaware would the witch’s sisters be likely to fall for it."

Diya and Sonia nodded convincingly; this would explain many coincidences and the witch’s trust. And the sentiment that ’everything was that scumbag Master’s fault’ also fit very well with their emotional needs.

However...

"Observer, how did you suddenly come up with this kind of tactic?" Sonia asked curiously. "It sounds like a trick a Spirit Mage would play."

"Maybe you saw a similar plot in a fairy tale?" Diya guessed.

"Is it that hard to think of? Isn’t it a very common scheme and trick?" Ash looked puzzled. "Maybe I just have a more vivid imagination. Besides, in both parts of the dialogue, the witch seemed very confident, not afraid of being caught at all. So I thought if we reverse it, the Master wanting to catch the witch wouldn’t be able to use conventional methods. The ’foolish woman’ who has a good relationship with the witch is obviously the perfect trap."

It did sound logical when he put it like that, but for the Observer to replicate the thought process of a villain felt odd... But Sonia quickly dismissed the thought and looked at Ash with sparkling eyes: "So, what was your question?"

Speaking of it, Ash’s expression grew strange. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let me tell you the question first."

"Question: Among these three people, who is the Observer’s closest confidant?"

"Option 1: The first person; Option 2: The second person; Option 3: The third person; Option 4: None"

Sonia’s eyes brightened, and Diya also showed a curious look.

"The conversation!" they demanded.

Ash said, "The answer is option three, the third person."

"It’s the conversation that’s important! Future information is much more valuable than the rewards from Fate Q&A!" Sonia urged. "Come on, come on, don’t be shy like a little trumpet."

"I’m not shy," Ash said helplessly, spreading his hands. "But the problem is—"

"There’s no conversation content, only the answer. Future me cheated."