“Hey Master, hold on a second—”

“The game begins—now! I have to start looking for something, someone to be the trigger, and begin setting up scenarios in which there will be the most impact in the, the—hold on!

"I just realized that I skipped over the preliminary protocols! I should’ve first taken care of the [Pre-Divergence Entropy Value Calculation] and researched more about [Class Edinera Planets]. Now that I think about it, I’m not even ready for this yet! Why did I even initiate the [Delta Program]?

"Steve, you talked me into this, this is your fault! Ah well, if you aren’t willing to look stupid then nothing great would ever happen in your life… I suppose I’d just have to figure this one out on the fly—”

“What are you even talking about!?”

Confused and a little annoyed by Master’s rapid incomprehensible rambling, I end up raising my voice at him. Which is long overdue for it, all things considered.

“What’s happening? What are you doing? Why am I asking about this when I’m only here to watch a goddamn tournament that—by the way—you didn’t let me see from start to finish!? I only got to watch one fight!”

“I’m a pacifist, so watching a fighting tournament isn’t really my thing…”

“Yeah right whatever, but what was that announcement?!”

Master turns around at that question, and in the world of magic and sorcery that has completely stopped moving forward, he calmly tells me one simple answer that holds more significance than I can possibly fathom.

“That announcement signaled a point of no return for this world and me, Steve... It means that for the first time—the fate of [Kyrias] will be decided by [The Sixth Master of the Conceptors Grand Archive].”

I pause in contemplation, make several expressions on my face that all say ‘what the hell does that mean?’ and eventually decide to give up and just ask him for the answer.

“...W-why? Actually, scratch that, how? None of these people can even see us.”

“You’re right they can’t. Quite a dilemma isn’t it...?”

Master pulls his hand over his blindfold, his voice turns into one that sounds strangely self-deprecating.

“Ever since the [Reboot], the overexposure to the knowledge of the outer beyond prevents us from reinstating ourselves as a part of the universe’s [Material Plane]. Making us unable to change anything or be seen by anyone... Casting us to the [Outsider Plane] where aside from us and the Eternal Sea, nothing else exists, not even time.”

As he continues to say, a mysterious smile appears to replace his usual cheerful ones.

“But having literally no time to think meant that arriving at the solution to that problem became an inevitability. Eventually, a loophole was found, we came up with a plan, and executed it. A plan that didn’t go without a slight hiccup—well, compared to the scale of things anyway it was a slight hiccup—but it was ultimately successful and after [The Second Eternity] was concepted, our loophole was ready to be used. The technicality of it is a bit too complicated to go into right now, but basically…”

The ominous tone in Master’s voice makes me gulp unconsciously, kind of starting to feel like I don’t want to know what he’s going to say next… but once again, I reap what I sow.

“If we can’t directly change anything ourselves. Then why don’t we just politely ask someone else to do it for us?”

Master announces with a bright smile that returns to his face.

And after a short silence.

“...that's it?”

No world-shattering revelations? No ridiculous twists? No out-of-place contemporary references? Just ‘oh, I found a loophole that allows me to indirectly directly do things non-directly’? Wait… what does that mean exactly?

“It means that while we’re still unable to physically affect the [Material Plane], that loophole can allow us to metaphysically affect it through the [Astral Plane] from the [Outsiders Plane] utilizing the properties of the [Temporal Plane].”

“Metaphysical, like spiritually?”

—That’s the only conclusion I can draw that doesn’t contradict my pre-existing knowledge of how this ‘supposedly’ [Fictional] reality operates.

“From a certain point of view, yes. Though what's actually happening is a [Linked Consciousness Mainframe] responding to inputs from an established [Datasphere Network], and the end result is… I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself.”

Master takes a step forward, then stops and turns back to me again.

“Oh, I think I should address this first, Steve, that tension you’ve felt before. The feeling of staring right at something but can’t actually see it…”

“...Yeah, what is that?”

“It’s this—”

Master swipes his book in front of my face, suddenly making the world of Kyrias move forward once again. And along with it...

———HUUUUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

———YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

———WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The full, unfiltered soundscapes of the cheers and cries from all over the grand Colosseum pierce my eardrums!

The tension that I’ve subconsciously felt before is abruptly and violently released, uncountable backlogs of data that have been expunged and redacted flood my senses, making me hold my head in the pain that follows it.

“Congratulations, Steve, you have successfully gained 2nd level access authority. Now everything should become clearer.”

When I look around with my peripheral vision, I can catch details in the environment that I didn’t notice before.

The intricate engravings on the nearby stone pillars and columns. The arcane markings in a shade of blue on the ground surrounding the arena’s floor also.

I no longer feel like I’m being blinded by something I can’t see. Especially when I look at people who are seated above the arena. Their clothes, their hairstyle, their eyes’ color.

I can clearly make out the small scratches on that old man’s face. The tiny discoloration on that woman’s ring finger. Or that boy who takes jittery glances at the girl sitting beside him every 0.8s.

—The entire world's now so full of observable information that it’s downright overwhelming. And all of it is available to me at a glance.

“...Did I just become Sherlock Holmes?”

“No, you’re still you, just better at noticing things. Which isn’t all that impressive.”

Eventually landing my gaze on the figure of Master. I see that the white-haired man is currently turning his head left and right as if searching for something.

“What are you looking for?”

“Opportunities.”

He simply answers, and as if on cue, a faint voice echoes out from the nearby entrance to a corridor that leads back inside the Colosseum.

“—Don’t come close to me!”

I look back at Master who has a confident smile on his face.

“Like that...”

He says and begins to walk to the corridor's entrance which will presumably lead to the source of the voice.

Looking at the back of the white-clad figure, I can’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.

—The fate of Kyrias that will be decided by him... what does that actually mean?

I shake my head again one more time, ignoring the lingering buzzing in my ears, ignoring the questions that will soon be answered in due time, and follow behind Master into the unlit corridor before me.

Because it’s not like I have anything better to do.

—————……….

When we follow the path that leads us to the outer ring of the Colosseum, we end up being greeted by a small gathering of people.

At the center, two figures are stuck in some sort of argument. One is a hooded little girl, and the other is an Orc guard who, despite sounding very mild and polite—still appears genuinely frightening with his huge tusks.

“Little miss, are you perhaps lost? Do you need any help getting back to your family and relatives?”

“I-if you come any closer, then you can’t say I haven’t warned you!”

The Orc guard looks extremely perplexed by the young girl’s apparent fear of him, showing that he’s a lot gentler than he seems on the surface. The girl, however, still refuses to let her guard down even a little.

“Viviana von Elysia the second. The twelve-year-old, one and only daughter of the late empress. A bonafide princess who snuck out of her castle to cheer for her half-brother in the tournament. Don't you think she's adorable?”

—And as always, Master’s explanation comes before I could even ask for it.

“Steve, don’t you think we should help the adorable princess out a bit?”

"—Help her out?"

As if to answer me, the entire world stops once again.

With the usual smile on his face, Master strides forward with confidence, as if ready to commit an act of miracle that would defy and overrule any pre-existing expectations that reality itself has placed upon his existence...

—only to stop short after a couple of steps and turn back.

“Why didn’t you do... whatever it was that you were gonna do?”

“I just realized that I have never actually talked to anyone before!”

Master throws up his arms in an exaggerated manner. I narrow my eyes and look at him skeptically.

“You’ve been talking to me this entire time...”

“Steve… You’re Steve.”

“What?”

—I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I feel incredibly insulted.

“What are you? Some kind of shut-in [NEET] with social anxiety disorders?”

“Can’t deny the last part but by the very definition, Steve, I consider myself to be [Self-employed]...”

Master tightly hugs his book in front of him and turns around again.

“Which means I have a [Job] to do. Which means I have to [Focus].

“So… —Focus.”

At that moment, the air around him seems to change, the earlier air of playfulness and vulnerability completely disappears, replaced by the atmosphere of a machine that has been specifically programmed to accomplish a singular goal.

—So precise and deliberate are his movements that for a second I almost think that he has become a different person completely.

Master carefully closes in behind the Orc guard, unseen by everyone but me, he coils up to him like a serpent, and when his lips are only a few millimeters away from the Orc guard’s ear, he whispers.

“Tomyor, there’s a gorgeous Orc lady who is totally your type standing by that corner over there. She’s wearing loose purple robes and…”

With a voice that exudes an intent too powerful to be ignored, yet at the same time so subtle that it’s imperceptible.

Each of the words chosen seems to have the ability to lead, pull, and nudge the attention of the Orc guard to the nearby corner where another Orc lady is leaning against a pillar.

And Master, with an otherworldly air about him, finishes his small manipulation by saying.

“There’s nothing under that.”

…Okay, now that I think about it, maybe he isn’t that different?

The sudden rush of movements alerts me to the continuation of the flow of time, and without delay, Master’s mysterious action shows to have an actual effect on Tomyor.

“Huh—!!”  

The Orc guard snaps to the figure of the Orc lady, completely distracted trying to discern her… identity, yep, identity. And while that is happening, Master appears next to the hooded little girl and whispers into her ears.

“Run.”

I don’t know for certain whether or not she actually hears him, but the hooded little girl still notices the opportunity and bolts away like lightning, jumping over the small balcony and quickly disappearing into the crowd outside the Colosseum.

It takes a few seconds before Tomyor notices her running away and even when he does. He still takes a second to look back at the Orc lady before reluctantly chasing after the hooded little girl.

“W-why are you running away?! I’m an Orc but I’m not a scary Orc I promise!”

After the two have left, those who have gathered to watch the scene eventually disperse as well, leaving me in a state of half confusion and half astonishment.

How did Master just whisper to someone in the stopped world and somehow influence them in the moving world?

“Master, what did you just do?”

“Ha...”

—Ha?

[Kyrias ——0.001%—— Divergence]

“Hahahahahahahaha… It actually worked, I mean, of course, it worked but… Hahahahahahaha.”

At the announcement from the Grand Archive, Master holds his forehead with his hand, chuckling softly to himself as if he’s also surprised by the strange effect of his own action.

“Whoever [I] used to be must be out of their minds…”

He’s back to his usual self it seems. Well, that was not freaky at all.

Master turns to face me with a slightly apologetic smile while opening up his book.

“Sorry, Steve, but I’ll explain everything later! Right now we should follow up on our little princess!”

“Sure, I guess I’ll just have to resign myself to being constantly on edge the entire time——Aaaahhh!”

A scream escapes from me when the ground I’m standing on suddenly peels away to reveal the bird's-eye view of the previous Yellow Stone market’s street below me. Actually, let me reiterate that, the Yellow Stone market’s street that I’m falling toward!

“Hold on a sec, I can fly!”

Of course! How could I forget? I quickly regain my composure and halt my rapid descent, all the while looking around for Master so that I can complain to him.

“You really need to stop skipping pages or at least warn me first! I already find most of this hard enough to follow—!”

“Steve, quickly come down here!”

I follow Master’s voice to see him waving at me from the street. His pace of action really is difficult for me to keep up with. I’m 30, you know? I can't pretend to be young anymore, so can’t you at least give me a break?

Master ignores my internal plight and leads me to follow the hooded girl who's navigating through the crowd with surprising agility.

But for some reason, he also keeps taking shortstops on the way to whisper things to people on the streets like...

“Karwen, you should stop selling Bicorn meat to that restaurant and take the chance to criticize their hygiene. It’s downright disgraceful how sloppy your old place has become so you have to teach them the right way to run things!”

—He whispers into the ear of a muscular stall owner.

[Kyrias ——0.01%—— Divergence]

“Maverick, that pair of sunglasses and underwear could really be useful when fighting an Obelisk, don’t you think?”

—He whispers into the ear of a shopping adventurer.

[Kyrias ——0.1%—— Divergence]

But despite the sidetracking, we somehow manage to keep up with the hooded girl and follow her into one of the nearby alleys separated from the market street, where once again the Grand Archive makes yet another announcement.

[Kyrias ——1%—— Divergence]

[Temporary Catalyst Role: Available.]

Hearing that, Master smirks and loudly gives commands to the Grand Archive.

“Temporary Catalyst: ESPD: 12155. Subject: Viviana von Elysia the Second. 6th. Codename: Little VV. “

[Authority Confirmed. Permission Granted to the Sixth Master of the Grand Archive. Temporary Catalyst Set To: Viviana von Elysia the Second. Codename: Little VV.]

—Temporary Catalyst?

Before I can ask any questions, we eventually find the figure of the hooded girl crouching behind a small wooden barrel.

Master puts one finger over his lips to tell me to be quiet and stay back.

Then he walks beside the little girl and crouches down. But rather than whispering into her ears as he did before to the others, he directly shoves his face in front of her and starts talking.

“The scary green guy isn’t after you anymore, so it’s safe to stop hiding now.”

I half expect his words to influence her like they did all the others, but...

“Aaahh~! W-who are you?”

A girly shriek unexpectedly resounds.

—Hold on, can she actually see him? No... something's wrong.

Just as I'm thinking about that, Master pulls back from the hooded little girl’s line of sight. 

"Eh? Why did I… just scream?”

—And suddenly, the hooded little girl looks around in confusion. While Master, who's still sitting right next to her, pinches his chin and says something in a voice loud enough that I can hear.

“Hmm, absolutely standard reaction to Temporary Projection, that’s a bit disappointing. ”

The hooded little girl, however, doesn’t appear to have heard this and is still looking around cluelessly as if she has completely forgotten Master even exists.

But when he appears in front of her again. This time after standing up and re-entering her field of vision by doing a little twirl in front of her.

“Aaahh~! W-who are you? How did you disappear like that?!”

“I am the Master of… Wishes, [Mana]. A wish-granting fairy who has come from the dying stars to listen to your desire, little Viviana. Daughter of Ense, the strongest Godemperor.”

…Um, Master? You're just making that one up on the spot, aren't you? There’s no way she’s gullible enough to—  

“So you really exist? The fairy of the dying star?”

—She actually buys it!?

At the obviously excited little girl, Master doesn’t let the opportunity go to waste and continues to try to sell his story, signaling me to appear together with him.

“Yes I do exist, and so does my friend, Ste—phanie, [Stephanie]. A 30-year-old, remarkably ordinary unemployed fairy who doesn’t have a lot going on inside his head.”

“He doesn’t look much like a fairy...”

Because I’m not a fairy! Wait, is she implying that Master looks like a fairy with his white hair and blindfold? I know I've said something like you shouldn't judge the book by its cover but what kind of standard are you using to judge this one?!

“He’s... a bit of a black sheep among us and doesn’t really have a lot of friends. I chose to keep him around mainly because I pity him.”

“I see...”

No! Please don’t look at me with those eyes full of pity, I don’t want it! And by the way, it was he who asked me to be his friend, not the other way around!

Ahem~!

Master lightly coughs to prevent me from saying anything, then continues his conversation with the hooded little girl.

“This wish that we will grant you, is about how you would want this world to [change]."

“How do I want this world to change?”

“Yes. Would you tell us your wish?”

The little girl goes into a couple of seconds of silence, eventually replying.

“But before that, I’ve snuck out of the castle, and if I don’t go back soon…”

“Then shall we first guide you to a path that definitely won’t get you caught?”

“You can do that?”

The hooded little girl, Viviana, asks without any attempt to disguise the anticipation in her voice.

“Of course I can, because this wish-granting fairy—”

Master beams a charmingly bright smile at her.

“Also happens to know [everything] as well.