“——Huh?”

Those are the words that leave my mouth as the sun above shines brightly on my form. I don’t even wince from the shock of what just happened.

The sounds of birds fill my ears, a peaceful symphony of sounds from all over.

I was in the dark. There was pain. Burning, searing pain all over. Then…

“What the hell are you staring at? Hurry up!”

My head slowly trails towards the sound. The carriage stands against the blue sky, framing it. The three girls sit in the front, looking at me with a curious expression, save for Navi, who is glaring at me.

With no choice, I stagger into the carriage, almost falling over.

Did… Did I see the future? Was that some kind of bad future? A bad end?

The carriage rumbles, shaking me back into the moment. I grab the nearest seat and collapse into it, my face locked in shock.

Sweat runs down my face, trailing down the contours.

I feel sick I feel sick

“You seem unwell. Are you alright, Kaito?”

Kors’s voice is gentle, but I can’t even lift my head at first. My smile is plastered on, but my hands are trembling. Even now, I can feel the phantom weight of the cave pressing in on me. The torchlight dying. The screams. The stench of rot.

I feel sick I feel sick

“Mr. Kaito?”

I run my hand down my back. I can still feel it—the ghost of hot metal skewering me, like burning rods plunged into my ribs.

I never want to experience that again.

I feel sick I feel sick

Still… if that was the future, maybe that means I have an ability. The ability to see ahead.

I look up at Kors, grinning through the shaking. “Ah, sorry, I’m fine. If anything, I’m feeling great!”

I feel sick I feel sick

I stand, wobbling a little. “My dear friend Kors, I think I’ve awakened my ability!”

“An ability? Please tell.”

I dramatically fold my arms and cross my leg. “Yes, a powerful ability unmatched by any other. Dare I say, a godly ability!”

Kors leans forward, skeletal hands twitching in anticipation.

“Yes. You see, Kors, I have the ability… to see the future!”

Silence. Only the creaking of the carriage.

Then a snicker. It’s from the front, presumably belonging to none other than Arivia. Look, I get it’s hard to believe, but I’m in the same boat as you.

“Oi, Kaito, if you can tell the future,” Navi begins.

“Mm?”

“Dodge this.”

I blink. A splash of water hits me before I can react. I’m soaked, dripping onto the carriage floor with an equally soaked expression.

“What a convenient joke!! And how’d she get a water bucket?!”

The snickering turns into roaring laughter.

‘He looks like a wet kitten!”

Sick

Twisting the water from my sleeve, I sigh.

“I apologize on their behalf,” Kors says. “They sometimes let jokes get too far.”

“It’s fine. You can’t tell a cat to bark, can you?” I mutter.

Of course they don’t believe me. Not even in a world where people cast fire from their palms and fight giant skeleton lizards. It’s only natural, after all.

Look at me, talking about ‘natural’ in a fantasy world.

If I want to get them to believe me about my precognition powers, I need something that I can tell.

Oh right.

“Fine then!” I shout, ready to prove them wrong. “In Varos, there’s a goblin cave, where…”

Suddenly, I stop. My breath catches.

I freeze.

For a second, I’m not in the carriage.

I’m back there, choking on darkness.

I smell that rot again. The floor is cold beneath me. I can feel hands brushing against me from a wall of bodies.

My mouth opens. Nothing comes out.

“Goblin cave?” Arivia calls out.

I can’t speak. My throat is locked. A spiky, invisible lump jams itself in.

If I say it aloud, it becomes real again.

“If what he says is true, we have another issue,” Asakawa says flatly.

“Well, that’s double the money then!” Arivia bounces in her seat.

“Hm. While a mass of monsters might be troubling, surely one of us can handle it. They aare just goblins,” Asakawa adds.

“Do you guys really believe him?” Navi interrupts. Her tone is laced with annoyance. “He’s just trying to garner a reaction out of you.”

I shoot her a glare, placing my hands on the small front window.

You bitch! There’s really something dangerous in that cave!

“The area around Varos is regulated by security. Gorthro wouldn’t let his cash cows get culled by monsters.”

“Hah?! No, I’m telling the truth! Trust me!”

Navi turns back, eyes laced with exhaustion.

I grit my teeth. “Really! What do I gain from lying to you? Nothing, that’s what!”

She closes the window.

Right on my fingers.

...Seriously? What’s with the reaction? Why’s she so adamant on proving me wrong? Or is she just sick of my antics and really doesn’t want to deal with it?

Still, this is bad. Really bad. Boy who cried wolf aside, those kids are in danger.

“Kors, you believe me, right?”

He nods.

Kors is the best, man.

“However… forgive me, Mr. Kaito, but while I do believe in you… Is there any way to…”

“Prove it?” I finish for him.

“I apologize.”

“Nope, nope, it’s fine. Completely understandable.” I place my hand on my chin, thinking. “Okay, when we get there, it’ll be sunset, and we’ll park in the middle of the town square.”

Kors nods. “Very well. I wholeheartedly believe that it will happen.”

“Yeah, I can tell."

My mind travels to this world, and its latent abilities that some people possess. "But wait, does such an ability exist? To see the future, I mean.”

“Hm, not that I can think of. However, there do exist Severants that possess a Function which allows the wielder to gaze into the future when the blade is looked at.”

How did he say ‘hm’ with no lips?!

I blink. Once. Twice.

Wait, I’ve got no clue what he just said.

“Severants?”

“—? Are you not familiar with Severants?”

I scratch my chin.

“No, not particularly.”

No, ‘particularly’ couldn’t even be used in this situation, given that I was totally in the dark about this terminology.

“Interesting. The best way to explain it is that Severants are specialized weapons that allow the user to host their latent abilities within the weapon itself, with the risk of equivalent exchange being transferred to the weapon's integrity. The amount of power that is released is limited to a numerical ‘release’.”

“Ah, so off-brand Zanpakuto...”

“?”

“Nothing, go on.”

Ah, now I feel bad for interrupting him; the excitement in his voice was quite palpable.

“Yes, as I was saying. There are up to 3 releases latent in every Severant, but particularly powerful ones sometimes are limited to only two, or, in the case of mythical weapons of absolute power, one.”

“Hm, specialized weapons. Is there any kind of requirement for getting one, or can anyone go along and get—”

“Oi, quit the yapping, we’re here!”

“HUH?!”

I’m now standing in a stable.

Not the town square.

The sun is gone. The sky is dark. The world is wrong.

How…? I saw the future. I saw it.

It should be daytime!

But here I am. Standing in front of a night sky. There are now flickering tavern lights in place of the sun. There are a couple of drunkards on the street, singing to themselves tales of heroism and fortune that they themselves could never achieve. The sounds of nightlife reverberate across the street, laughter accompanying it.

The future can’t change. Can it?

I turn. Navi is already standing over Kalcifer, arms crossed. That smug, unbearable grin is back.

“Guess you can’t tell the future,” she hums, walking past and flicking her hand in mock encouragement. “It’s okay to be normal. You don’t need a special ability.”

Did.. Did she purposely take a different path to Varos to prove a point that I was delusional?

“Hk—!”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Slave! I’m sure you’ve got something there!” Arivia chirps, punching the air.

I groan, not even bothering to make eye contact with her form. If I do, I’m sure I’ll end up screaming in absolute anguish.

“Just… just go,”

They walk off, entering the tavern one by one.

Asakawa says nothing.

“It is fine,” Kors says. “I am sure you still can tell the future.”

Your face is screaming, ‘Like hell I believe you, but I still pity you.’

You don’t even have a face, too!!

I sigh, turning toward the tavern. Navi’s still there, standing right outside. I can’t tell the expression on her face due to the darkness, but I’m sure it’s the type that would make anyone angry.

“Ah, Mr. Fortune Teller,” she says. “We’re heading inside for information.”

“On Gorthro?”

“How’d you know?”

“Meh. Who doesn’t?”

She blinks in surprise. Ah, now you look all shocked. Normally, I’d be the one to rub it in her face, but I’m so sick of being made a laughing stock, I don't even pay it any attention.

“W-well, don’t try to head anywhere.” She says, flustered.

“I know, I know. Because Kal is trained to eat me. Blah blah.” I wave her off.

She hesitates, then walks inside.

Now it’s just me, the stone floor, the sounds of weird horse-like animals, and Kalcifer, letting out quiet rumbling noises as I run my hand down his spine. I carefully make sure not to hit any spiky parts. If I’m being honest, is he the only one feeling any kind of pleasure? Because to me, it feels like I’m touching rocks.

“Well, whatever,” I mutter, running my hand down the cement. There are small traces of dust left on the floor.

The stable stretches across what I assume to be twelve square feet. Well, to call it a stable would be quite generous. In reality, it’s more or less like a station for F1 cars. Lined up in each row, there’s space for one to ‘park’ their mounts and tie them up. In the center, there’s a lone station, presumably for the caretaker.

I’m sitting on a small stone floor that’s only slightly elevated, and Kalcifer’s body is facing my general direction.

The sounds of the night echo faintly, and the black moon shines in the sky.

There are what I assume to be stars, decorating the sky with their entropy.

I must have some kind of ability, right? Or was that some kind of hallucination from the heat? It had to be one or the other.

Wait…

My mind travels to that skull emblem on the log I touched.

When I touched that, did my mind gaze into the future?

I look at my palm.

There’s no point in heading back, but was that just a one-time thing? Or do I possess this ability naturally? Am I cursed to gaze into the future?

No, wait, that’s too confusing to even think about.

“Dammit, so many questions!” I groan.

I lean back onto the stone ground, lying on my crossed arms. There’s nothing to do, and besides, I don’t have a piece of meat to bribe this creature with, so heading away is out of the question.

Wait.

I need to do something about that goblin cave! How could I forget!?

“—Kh, shit!”

Quickly getting up, I’m met with the sounds of someone running toward me.

The form of the same girl from the vision shows up in front of me, her long brown hair trailing down to her shoulders.

“Excuse me, Mr—!”

I stand up straight, my eyes focused on her form, not letting up for a single second.

“How long have your friends been in that cave for?!”

A shocked expression crosses her face, surprised that the strange man lying next to a Kobold knew exactly what kind of predicament she was in. The shock smoothly transitions into confusion, mixed with a teaspoon of relief.

“Eh? For ten minutes…”

Thank god. I thought maybe, given the time we arrived, they would’ve suffered a worse fate from waiting longer, but it seems time moved forward a bit.

What is going on? Nothing is transpiring as I saw it previously. Do I really have the ability to tell the future, or was that just a one-off thing?

I glance at the forest line in the distance.

I clench my fist.

I can’t head in there alone. Not if I want a repeat of the earlier events. I need help. Maybe things will play out differently this time, but that doesn’t excuse the absence of someone powerful next to me. I’m not taking any chances.

I grab the girl's hand.

“Follow me.”

Breaking into a sprint, but careful enough to allow the girl to keep her footing,I rush into the tavern. The door swings open with a loud creak, revealing the warm, amber-lit interior of the building. The air smells of ale, smoked meats, and faint incense.

There’s an upper area led up to by sturdy wooden stairs, partially veiled in shadows. The roof is quite tall, held aloft by heavy beams, accentuating the vertical space and making the room feel grander than it should. To my right is what I assume to be the bartender, a grizzled man polishing a glass with a cloth that might’ve been white once.

The rest of the room is filled with round tables, most occupied, laughter and clinking mugs echoing between them.

It’s loud and pleasant, with people of all shapes and sizes inside.

I see some with horns, long ears, and—

No! I need to focus. Bolting my way around the crowd, I catch sight of a white-haired girl standing next to a large man, a beer mug in her hand. She’s laughing like a whale, her eyes closed.

“Navi!” I yell. The tavern’s noise almost drowns me out. Still, I can feel the gaze of people on my back, presumably because I brought a kid inside a place meant for drinking, but I don’t care.

Navi’s head swivels toward me.