Chapter 40: Breaking the Deadlock

Even though that adventurer outfit kept coming back to haunt us, at least Nicola didn't end up wearing it in the end. But it still gave us quite a fright. 

"What are you going to do with those clothes? There's soup and water spilled all over them, not to mention all the oil stains. Can you still wear them like that?" Cyra looked over the men's clothes Nicola was wearing and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"It would be really uncomfortable to just leave them like this, especially since we still have to sleep tonight!" Nicola looked down at her clothes and sighed.

"Why don't we try the same trick as yesterday?" 

"...You want to do that whole thing again?" I was speechless when I heard her say that, but Cyra actually chimed in agreement.

"Good idea! That guy yesterday was too wimpy, didn't feel like much of a challenge! Why don't we try a real macho man today?"

"..." What could I say? Did these two think robbery was some kind of game? And they wanted to do it a second time? 

But to be fair, we did end up paying him in the end, so I guess it was more like forced bartering.

"Feliciana, you should just stay here. It's dark out already, it'll be safer if you remain in the room!" Nicola said to me, then left with Cyra to go "look for sheep" in the streets.

"Tsk, I'm used to it by now..." This wasn't the first time I'd been left alone in the room. All I could do was roll my eyes as I watched them shut the door. Then I climbed back into bed and pulled out a book to flip through boredly. 

But not long after, the two came back together. Only this time, not through the front door but in through the window.

"What...what happened to you two?"

I saw that the men's clothes Nicola had been wearing were sliced up in several places, basically unwearable now. And there were clear signs of Healing magic having recently been used on her body. 

As for Cyra, her situation was a little better, but her clothes also had several holes in them...

"Bad luck, we ran into a tough one this time!" Nicola climbed in through the window and immediately took off her tattered clothes, then pulled out another set from her ring to change into.

"Wait, don't tell me you went out just to rob another adventurer outfit?!" Seeing the outfit Nicola had changed into, I nearly flipped my lid! They had specifically gone out to steal because her old clothes were dirty, only to end up back in this adventurer gear again?

"It was because we were short one person. We were following the original plan, had our eyes on a prime target..." Cyra plopped down on the ground and explained helplessly. 

"But this time the mark refused to cooperate no matter what. With just the two of us, it was hard to restrain his movement while also keeping his mouth shut. In the end he started shouting for help, which attracted a female adventurer wearing adventurer's outfits - not only was she an adventurer, but a master swordswoman too!"

"She had to be at least 6th tier!" Nicola chimed in complainingly. 

"Cyra and I were no match for her skills with the sword. After just a few exchanges we ended up looking like this! With no other choice, we had to pin her down with our wings...We eventually managed to turn the tables, but our original target got away in the confusion."

"So we could only strip this adventurer of her gear and fly back. That's what happened. Otherwise we'd have had no clothes left to wear!" Cyra spread her hands helplessly.

"But how is this any different from the start?" 

My jaws dropped. I couldn't believe their little excursion had taken such a complicated turn, making all their previous efforts completely pointless. 

And these two had used their angel identities to go robbing! If Elara ever found out she'd probably be furious.

"If Feliciana had come with us, having another person would have changed things." Cyra still seemed unsatisfied, grumbling angrily. 

"And that female adventurer wasn't a magical beast, so Nicola was hesitant to use too much force even with the Condensation Sword. With no wings she was helpless against the woman."

"Forget it! No more experiments with clothes. This just proves that all the attempts so far have been meaningless! I said from the start this wouldn't be simple!" Nicola sighed and decided to declare defeat. 

"It may all seem like coincidence, but inevitable fate has yet to arrive. Until then, everything is probably predetermined already!"

"What should I do then..." I panicked at once. If even the minor prophecy about clothes couldn't be averted, didn't that mean I was still in serious danger?

"Don't worry, as long as you stay put in this room, the surrounding circumstances shouldn't match the prophecy! So Nicola and I discussed it, the main focus for now should still be on keeping you here..." Cyra said as she took out a rope from her storage ring, then came smiling towards me.

"Hey hey hey, don't come over here!" 

...

The next morning I opened my eyes, staring up at the ceiling, finally breathing a sigh of relief. At least I was still alive...though my body couldn't move an inch! 

Cyra and Nicola had worked together last night to tie me to the bed, binding me tightly. Then Cyra got tied to her bed by Nicola to prevent sleepwalking - such extremely ridiculous measures! 

I did strongly object at first, on grounds that if anything happened we might not be able to react in time with everyone tied up. But Nicola didn't see it that way. In her view, even if someone tried to abduct me, she alone would be enough to handle it with the bed hindering their movement.

Perhaps it was for that reason I managed to survive another dangerous night.

"How was last night's bondage play?" 

Not long after, Cyra woke up too, turning her head from the other bed to ask me.

"Piss off..." Still tied up, she had some nerve to say that! I refused to even look at her.

Glancing out the window, the sky was just getting light out. To allow swift reaction, Nicola had left her wings unhidden all night while sleeping. Thus the room was filled with ambient light element, causing Cyra and I to wake a little earlier than usual. 

"You all awake in there?" 

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. It was probably the driver Carl, who had been staying at the same inn with us, of course with us footing the bill for his room. 

"Just a minute!" 

Nicola jumped in surprise at the interruption, immediately getting to her feet. She hurriedly freed me and Cyra from the bonds, checking carefully that there were no visible signs left before going to open the door.

"What is it so early in the morning?"

"Well, didn't you say you'd be staying in Makalan City for three days? Today's the third day, so I wanted to confirm if we can set off tomorrow?" Carl stood outside, peeking past Nicola to glance at me and Cyra before posing his question slowly. 

"What's the rush? But about tomorrow..." Nicola also glanced back at me, pondering for a bit before answering. 

"Can't say for sure yet. Keep waiting, we'll notify you after getting through today! Don't worry, accommodation fees are still on us no matter what!"

"But it's already been delayed so long, the schedule..." Carl looked a little awkward, though he didn't keep talking. "Alright, we'll see when you all decide then."

"Maybe he's eager to get home. It does seem bad to keep dragging this on." After Nicola shut the door again, Cyra offered her opinion. 

"If anything really happens to Feliciana tonight, think you'll still be in the mood to go to the Holy Capital?" Nicola glared at her, then reassured me. 

"Don't worry, even if there's only that less than 20% chance, a turning point can appear as long as there's still hope!" 

"Actually I still have one final resort - contacting Elara around noon today and getting her to open a gateway near the city, then we can all return to Edenmere to hide out for the night. That would basically be pretty safe."

"A final resort? You sure something like that will work?" I couldn't help frowning slightly. Aside from this approach seeming rather complicated with lots of uncertainties, based on past experience, just managing to contact Elara successfully by noon today was questionable! 

But it turned out I guessed wrong again.

"Already contacted Elara! She's happy to help us out with this..." Nicola informed us suddenly at noon. 

"But preparing the teleportation array to shift the gateway will take a very long time, we'll have to wait till at least midnight to go." 

"Isn't returning to Edenmere after it gets dark a bit dangerous? Tonight's probably the riskiest timeframe." I said worriedly.

"Your final resort seems kinda unreliable. What if Feliciana drops dead by the time the gateway opens?!" Cyra shared my doubts, but she did propose one idea.

"I think we overlooked something - Quintina only foresaw Nicola's future situation, then heard about Feliciana's death secondhand from her. Looking at it another way, why must we defy her prophecy? Might as well just go with the flow, for example - act it out!"

"You mean..." Hearing her say this, my mind stirred as I suddenly recalled a certain famous anime plot from Earth. 

"Deceive the world?" 

Cyra's solution was simple. Nicola just had to act out the situation Quintina saw, my actual life or death didn't need to be witnessed firsthand by the fortune teller. As long as the prophesied story played out, it could basically count as "escaping calamity".