Chapter 73: An Arm's Reach

I settled everything that has to be done. It is mainly coordinating with Hermes Familia to handle the aftermath of the next big thing I planned to occur.

Once Asfi-san gathers sufficient evidence of Ishtar Familia colliding with them—through their logs—it would be the time they get apprehended.

Unlike Evilus, they require delicate handling. I couldn't simply go "Die!" to all of them. I might have that capability with [Mana Furnace], but it would be too dumb. I prefer using subtler means when politics are involved.

In the upcoming fight, a huge sector of Orario would collapse.

The red light district is one of the few ways adventurers could vent their excessive desires. In a way, it contributes to the adventurers' growth. Despite its downsides, that fact has to be admitted.

It also meant infringing their interests and halting their growth.

On the eighth iteration, it was Freya Familia who destroyed them. The adventurers couldn't possibly scorn the top-ranking familia of Orario. Their rivalry helped convince the adventurers that it was beyond their control.

As such, they went with their daily lives without an ounce of dissatisfaction. The remnants of Ishtar Familia continued working, too.

What I seek is to have a 'smoother' transition than that. Evilus would help make that true.

Ironically, they continued helping me even after their death.

"I'm here."

I snapped out of my thoughts. I arrived in the store I frequented since a few weeks ago.

Beside their insane tailoring skills, Vaguely caught onto something else—something awfully obvious.

"Welcome, Sirius."

"Greetings, Lachelis-san."

A cold-faced woman wearing her signature long-sleeved dress stood near the entrance. Her long black hair is glossy as always. It didn't change since I first discovered their store.

"Wo~! You're finally here, Sirius!"

Another voice came from the direction of the counter. It is the same as Lachelis-san's voice, but it contained a hint of liveliness.

I went to that direction. Lachelis-san followed me.

Today might be quite different…

Soon, I reached the counter. The one who shouted has the exact same appearance as Lachelis-san.

"You're here for the order, right?"

The girl—Clotho-san—took out a black box. It contained the latest overcoat and pants I ordered. It had several new functions than the previous one I wore in the Knossos raid. Its cloth was something blessed by several spirits with a special ritual.

It costed sixty million valis, a far cry from the cheapest [Durandal] weapon. It came from the empire. The piece of cloth had such exorbitant prices without being processed—it even qualified to be a 'royal treasure'.

Then again, my earnings covered it easily. I raked too much valis when I sold everything to Loki Familia. I didn't place any interests on the potions and other miscellaneous. The profit was made purely through my magic swords.

The fact I took more 'specialized' orders helped as well. All in all, I made more than two hundred million valis in this period.

As to why I trusted them for this cloth…

It's due to their specialty.

"It's well-made."

I saw the neatly folded coat and saw its 'miracles'. It exceeds the attire I could make in my world. Another part of me overtook my previous self.

"I'm glad you liked it. We made it for days!" She responded. "It was one of the best materials we worked out hands on. We're grateful you gave us this chance."

"There's no need for formalities. I trust in your abilities."

"I see."

Clotho-san smiled briefly.

"Right, that reminds me! Our sister wants to see you!"

"Atropos-san?"

Atropos-san is their oldest sister. They said she couldn't work in their clothing store and had to remain in her bed due to an illness. They have living quarters connected to this store.

"Alright…"

I chose to accept their invitation.

******

From the moment I laid my eyes on 'Moirae', I was dumbfounded. I thought it was merely a coincidence at that time, but their skills in weaving and tailoring dispelled my doubts.

There are higher chances they are the Moirae I know of.

The three sisters of fate from Greek Mythology. They were entrusted by Zeus to weave each human's destiny. They are responsible for creating the thing known as fate.

For a long time, magicians have known the fickle thing called fate. It is for that reason they knew about our impending doom.

Lord Nettesheim might know more about this. He paid me a visit after resurrecting Kazamitsu-san, after all.

Their living quarters are different from what I expected them to be. It is more spacious than a regular Japanese home. Someone takes care of it every day—evident as to how it is clean and organized.

The white background made me feel more at ease. Though, I haven't forgotten I am in a girl's house right now.

I masked my tension. I didn't let it show on my body gestures. It is a reasonable thing to do in front of someone you've never met.

While I had enough trust to give them the faerie's cloth, I haven't met their oldest sister personally.

"You're not nervous? As expected of you…"

"Why would I be nervous?"

"Well…"

Clotho-san couldn't reply.

One of the things I learned as a Magician is manners. It wouldn't do a Scholar good if they are obnoxious and frail. They need to become strong internally and could process things in an elegant manner, all the while honing themselves internally and externally.

It is one of the major reasons why I looked up as a Magician.

Manners maketh man, I daresay.

"Would Lachelis-san be alright?"

"Yes… She did this several times already… I think." She replied. "Well… There are several customers who got scared by her inflexibility. How do I say this… she's like a 'robot'."

My hand twitched upon hearing that term.

"Robot? Are those the huge metal humanoids often piloted by someone?"

"You know about those..?"

Finally, I found a helpful clue. Hephaestus-sama usually roamed around places where technology was not prevalent. Lady Artemis was the same. They didn't leave beyond Mount Olympus' coverage.

Hephaestus-sama didn't have a reason to do so while Lady Artemis became a limiter to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. It was their—chastite goddesses—duty to keep them in check.

That term proved Tenkai has fairly advanced technology. Should I say, "As expected of the gods?"

Magicians not being able to use technology is a major downside. My existence proved there is a lot of potential for magic and technology together.

"Anyways, she should be doing something—"

"Hm?"

In the kitchen, I noticed a girl identical to them. Her difference was the white blindfold she wore on her eyes—something reminiscent to Satoru-san's blindfold. She is paler than her sisters.

The girl is currently wearing an apron and a pair of mittens. The smell of freshly-baked apple pie wafted inside the room.

"Are?"

The girl turned and looked at us in a surprise.

"Clotho… is this person perhaps Sirius?"

"Yes."

"Both of you came at a right time." She said as she gestured at the metal tray she is carrying. "It was baked just now so… do you mind having some, Sirius?"

Refusing seems impolite due to how Atropos-san is prepared.

Thus…

"It would be a pleasure."

*****

Moirae.

In the Greek Mythology Nobu is familiar with, they represented the three sisters of fate. They held authority to the intangible strings of fate. Such an authority was handed over to these three sisters by Zeus, the head of Olympus.

It is the reason why he felt this store is peculiar. Add to that their insane weaving skills, Nobu thought they might really be that Moirae.

"Thank you for trusting us."

"There's no need for formalities. Clotho-san and Lachelis-san already mentioned it before."

Currently, only he and their oldest sister, Atropos, sat across the living room's sofa.

Nobu sliced a part of the pie with his fork and tasted it. Immediately, he was rebounded back home.

It reminded him of his father who cooked this kind of stuff several times.

"It's delicious." He remarked.

"Thank you."

"That's already the second time."

"It seems so…"

Looking at the slightly jittery supposed-to-be controller of fate, Nobu inadvertently recalled Cassandra.

'Is this an occupational disease?'

If Bocchi somehow gained the chance to see the future, she might join their group.

"I am wondering why you wanted to meet me."

"Well… It's… I wanted to meet Orario's brightest star!"

"Does it have something to do with your current state?"

"..!"

A simple observation was all it took to see Atropos' state. She looks fine on the outside, but she could very well die within the next few weeks. Her physical body is riddled with cracks while her astral body is far worse. As for her ethereal body, it requires [Sirius] for him to see.

"How did you… Wait, never mind. Is this something to expect from Orario's dazzling rookie who broke many records?"

"Just some diagnostics I am used to." He replied. "Why didn't you take a High Potion? It should've been able to help."

"That… I can't. They don't have an effect on me."

"No effect? Could it be—"

It was then did Nobu realize where the sense of deja vu came from.

'Just like Kazamitsu-san!'

Kazamitsu bore the world's most potent curse for many years. Any healing effect didn't have an effect on him. Even Nettesheim couldn't save him.

"Uhm! I didn't ask you to come here to ask for your help or something. I would die soon. What I wanted to ask you… Could you lead this era's heroes?"

"...Excuse me?"

Atropos proceeded to explain with a bullet-like speed.

"Time is running out. We only have four to five years before the biggest disaster strikes. If that time comes, we wouldn't be able to win at this rate..!"

"...Pardon?"

Her words suddenly barraged Nobu. He couldn't react properly or understand due to how convoluted her explanations were.

"I-I'm sorry… I shouldn't have started at that…"

It didn't take long before she understood her poor delivery.

"It's alright. However, what were you talking about? Could you explain that biggest disaster?"

"Yes…" She replied. "It is the time Gekai falls into chaos. I saw it would happen in the future."

"Are you a prophet?"

"...Yes."

Thinking of the 'prophets' in Gekai, Nobu fell to his thoughts.

'Two prophets in Gekai… This world must be special…'

He formed a preliminary explanation behind her severely injured state. The theory of 'future vision' is in his world, yet there is no one who could do it in the modern era. All of them died a thousand years ago.

However, it is precisely them who notified the world of the Twilight Syndrome's danger—that everything would come to an end naturally.

'Age of gods… It must have something to do with this.'

Nobu's world doesn't have any gods existing physically. They had long been cut off from the physical world. Gods could barely descend if a connection was formed from it.

If it was not the gods, it could be their time period.

It might be the same as the thousand years ago who birthed Lord Nettesheim, the founder and Society Lord of the Magician's Society.

Nobu pondered for a while. There isn't much harm in assuming these things, hence he freely did so.

"You're not doubting me?"

"I'm still doubting you. I am simply considering everything."

"I see…"

Atropos heaved a sigh of relief. She passed through the second tallest hurdle—to make Nobu believe her words. As for the tallest one, it involved studying his personality and the likes. It is done to see if he could be the hero the world is waiting for.

After a while, Nobu stopped contemplating.

"I'm afraid I have to reject that responsibility."

"Ah…"

"But, isn't there The Braver? He could effectively lead."

"No… It can't be him…"

Finn is currently the captain of Orario's Loki Familia. That alone warrants his leadership. Their rise is inseparable from Finn's ability to lead.

Although, Atropos saw it. Indeed, she used her magic to see his 'fate', but it didn't lie with Finn.

Last night, Atropos decided to use that magic one more time, but this time, it was Nobu. there, she saw unexpected things.

He didn't have a fate.

Whatever things he did, there is no preset future for him. Like a ripple effect, those he interacted with had their fates changed.

As the price of seeing it, Atropos was sent to near-death. It was merely a moment yet she saw the fates of dozens—save for gods—change. The price rose dozens of times due to it.

It is why she only has a few weeks left instead of a few years.

"If that's your answer… I won't force you, Sirius."

Seeing her disappointment, Nobu added:

"I might not be leading, but I will provide help whatever the disaster may be.

"Really? That's good..!"

The two talked more about her visions.

"Why did you trust me?"

"Sirius is trustworthy. Who would entrust something as expensive as that cloth to us? At least, it showed you didn't particularly care about money… or you trusted our abilities."

"What if I am merely pretending?"

"We have an eye for people. Lachelis saw you are that trustworthy."

In the three sisters, Lachelis is responsible for gauging people. She could vaguely see their true disposition. That holds true for mortals at the very least.

"I see…"

Just as they were talking, Nobu heard a metaphysical sound out of nowhere.

Crack-!

His sixth sense blared as he looked at the direction of its source. He stood up from his seat and looked at the window. When he couldn't see it properly, he took out [Kukyo] from his storage.

"What is it?"

"I'll have to check something. I'll be leaving first."

"Alright. Take care..."

Nobu threw the dagger and activated its functions. Now, he found himself outside their courtyard.

"That must be..!"

Excitement filled his eyes as he cast his flight magic.

"Quaestrum ad astra." (Reach out to the stars.)

The light around him was distorted. His body was lifted by the electromagnetic field around him.

Nobu didn't forget to take out [Composite] and wore it in his middle finger. He became invisible to most people in Orario.

After that, he summoned his black armor and used [Sirius].

With that, he managed to reach a high altitude—high enough for him to see the source of the sound.

Nobu saw the deep black crack five kilometers above him.

Feeling the heat building up on his body, he paid attention to it. 

"The way home… It's here..?"