"Who exactly… are you?"
The ying priest, Nathalie Hawthrone, asked me with a rather threatening manner, eyes leering straight at my face.
"Just a civilian passing by, believe it or not."
And against his curiosity, I let out a sly smile and answered him with such a cheesy line. Clearly the guy isn't brought up by my explanation, since his eyes instantly become more intense.
"… Are you joking right now?"
"Nope, wasn't joking in the slightest. Why should I joke with those who can fold me in less than a sec?"
I shrugged with a rather calm look, which startled him for a bit. If you think about it carefully, what I say is the true 100 percent, no lie whatsoever.
I really am a normal human, born on Earth with no specialty, raised by a normal loving family with a slightly below average achievement all in all. I'm here by some BS shenanigan in the chat group, so the fact I just passed by this world isn't an exaggeration at all.
Simply put, despite the cheesiness in that line, the whole sentence is nothing short of the truth.
"Jouno-san! May I ask something?!"
With an excited manner, Twain called out to me as me and everyone else took a glance at him.
"Please ask, Mr.Twan."
"How do you know about my companions?"
… Hm? This guy… is he this straightforward?
I stare at his smiling face with a rather confused yet curious look, namely because I didn't really expect him to ask such direct questions with me.
"You could say that I was guided by something else ~"
With a joking attitude to counter his cheerful face, I answered him with a vague answer, as everyone raised their eyebrows in discomfort.
Yep, they're clearly angry with my attitude for real now… No more jokes then.
"What do you mean by that?"
"What would you say if I claim to know the future?"
Everyone else gaze on me then becomes a confused one, seeming unable to indulge what nonsense I was talking about.
"What if, simply put, I knew what would happen in the future… as I already read them beforehand?"
"Read…?"
The old man glinted his eyebrow in annoyance with my tempting words, as everyone was still puzzled with what I just announced.
"That's ridiculous. How could a kid like you possibly know the future? Unless… you have an ability?"
"Rest assure, sir Hawthorne, I possessed no gift such as you guys."
Hawthorne immediately tried to excuse me in a possession of such power, one that I obviously didn't have, as I immediately rejected his theory and assure everyone else.
Although, that doesn't seem to work anyway, as everyone then expressed their concern along with doubt on me… which judging with how I casually act and speak like a mad man, was kinda honestly simple to finalize such theory…
"You… could it be…?"
"That could be true…"
"Then… the food…"
Each of them, one by one, started to believe in the theory as the atmosphere started to become intense by every second…
Well, in all honesty, I was curious about which kind of ability they have on me, that if I didn't firsthand.
"Hawthorne-san, you're quite hasty with that ~"
A cheerful suddenly cut through the intense atmosphere, as everyone looked back at the one who just spoke up. Twain, with a smug face like usual, looked back at me and then scout at everyone else.
"As the one who fought him recently, I can guarantee you guys that the guy didn't have any special quirk on himself."
He announced based on his own experience with everyone, one filled with nothing short of truth, and everyone then began to rethink their thoughts on me… probably.
"… Really?"
"With a hundred percent confidence!"
After another confirmation from the bright guy, Hawthorne let out a sigh and looked away, as Twain pulled his thumb up on me with a bright smile… one that was practically seen by everyone.
Luckily, probably, everyone ignored his gesture with me and calmed down, which I then decided to explain more with the whole truth.
"To be exact, the reason I knew the future of this world is because the world timeline, one that has no appearance of me, is featured in a story…"
I braced myself for their reaction knowing that their life, their whole experiences, is just a fictional work of someone else… Not accounting Aya, since she's still a kid and didn't get the whole thing, as I already hid part of it from her, and Ranpo, who already figured it all out without my assurance.
Also, for the record, the reason why I spilled the whole thing is because of Fitzgerald's request, as he would only accept my deal if I told them the whole thing.
That crappy boss… Ugh!!
Not like that is the full truth, as multiverse-theory is still a preferable possibility, I still can't bear myself to believe that may not affect them in any way, especially considering their struggle until now.
"… Oh, that's why."
"Well, that's certainly interesting."
"Indeed."
… What the?
"Eh?"
To my shock, everyone just shrugged it off, and even the atmosphere seemingly has become softened.
"You guys… didn't freak out?"
"When you deal with dangerous ability users and unknown threats, the fact that you knew vaguely about our world in a fiction work is more or less unimportant in a sense."
The girl in a noble luxury dress answered my question with a calming voice, drinking a teacup from god knows where.
"Indeed, that would explain why you knew so much more than a civilian. To be honest, although I didn't believe you fully, that fact of yours is more relieving than you being a stray ability user."
The old man with the beard casually speaking, which was honestly heart-wrenching.
"To be honest, we're more concerned if you are a spy or something like that than the fact our world is featured in a fiction work."
The young priest calmly stated, without a care in his voice, now reading his Bible.
… Okay, it was better than I thought…
It Looks like those years on the battlefield have dulled their emotions and sharpened their mindset so much, to the point that the knowledge of their life being fake never crossed their mind one bit.
"And remind me if I'm wrong, you said that you knew our world without your interference right?"
"Yeah…"
"So, as you said, the fact you're here has already shifted this world timeline, meaning half of your knowledge is useless by now."
The farmer man stated such an obvious face to me with a sly smile, as I started to frown.
Like he said, in the span of 2 days, I have already changed so many things that were supposed to happen. Akutagawa injury, the cargo fight, Ranpo involvement, the Guild first strike… everything of that changed, as if the world itself is changing just to involve me in the story…
"But still, you should've information about our ability right?"
The farmer questioned me with a genuine curious face, as I slowly nodded my head.
"Indeed."
"So, in your opinion, how will you rate our power individually?"
"… Lovecraft would take the lead in terms of power and recovery, as everyone else is more or less just right below him equally."
As I compliment, the long-haired man takes a glance at me with devoid eyes and then looks back at the window down on the glittering street. And for the farmer, he just whistled with an exaggerated astounding look, acting all surprised with my words.
"I see, so you did know about our ability… Which means the boss wouldn't let you go, it would seem."
"Yeah, figure that part out long ago."
"Then why are you acting so casually? Ya won't see freedom again ya know that?"
The farmer guy tilted his head all curiously, as I just let out a sorrowful sigh disappointed with how they reacted to the shocking truth…
… If the next thing wouldn't even bother them, then I give up.
As on cue with my thought, a loud explosion can be heard outside of this room, alerting everyone else beside me, who's still expressed all disappointment.
"You…"
"Tch…"
Both Lucy and Twain immediately realize my expression and become all serious, as everyone else then follows suit the duo and realizes my attitude.
And right at that moment, the big door behind me blew open,, and everyone else immediately looked back at me with a rather shocking looking face. Personally, I don't need to be a prophet to guess who just made such a noisy entrance.
"Took ya long enough, Kyouka, kittyboy…"
I greeted the duo without even turning around, as a familiar voice slowly creeped into my ear from behind.
"Eh…?!"
Yep, called it…