The story will now abandon the year 543 until it is reached naturally through the progression of time.
Continue reading, and you will eventually see what happens next.

I bet Addie's gonna kick Jutse's ass.
But also, more to the point... We've got our own ass to kick.

The Author... Right... I kinda wonder how he fights.
Does he use weapons and machines like Cae? Is he really strong, like me?

No way. He's scrawny. You saw him.
That guy probably works out like once a month maximum.
It's more likely he's got similar powers to Jutse.

Rimas... We kinda just lost to Jutse.

Rimas thought for a moment.

The Author's probably not going to use his full power against us.
If what Jutse said is true, the Author needs us. Without us, he doesn't even have any power.
So I bet he's not going to try to kill us, even if we try to kill him.

What are you getting at?

We should focus on pure offense. He's not gonna try to hurt us.
Oop!

Rimas ate the egg hanging off of her fork hastily, as it was about to fall off.

He nearly erased me from existence yesterday.

Yeah, but yesterday you were barely anything. Look at you now!

Uh...
Thanks, I guess?

Is it just me or are we getting better-looking at an alarming rate?
That was some good beauty rest!

I refuse to comment on that.

Psh, coward.
I don't even need a mirror. I know I look good today.

We need a plan, though.

Alright, so come up with one.

I was gonna follow your lead.

What lead? You're the one who always charges in head-first.

Marcel and Rimas sat in silence, staring at each other.
It rapidly became apparent exactly what was missing.

... *sigh*
I wish Cae was here.
An entire week to plan out a fight against an opponent who just wants to make a spectacle?
And we have the ability to just... make whatever we can imagine?
He'd kill for an opportunity like this. That dude loves his booms.

We're going to be going back into the year 541...
I wonder if we'll run into him.
Wonder if he'll know we're from the future.

Cae? He's sharp. He'd know immediately we were from the future.
I wonder what kinda stuff he'll be up to when we arrive in the past?

Eh... Probably just manning the counter at the coffee house.

I wouldn't be surprised if he knew the second he saw the Masked Marauder that it was me from the future.
His brain is like a computer. I have no idea how he comes up with the plans he does.

Man... If he heard you praising him like that, he'd never shut up about it.

What do you think Bryph would do if they were here?

Hm... I don't know!
Their entire thing is espionage and gathering information.
That's kinda why they were such an unstoppable duo in a fight.
Bryph finds out everything worth knowing, and then Cae turns that into a battle plan.
But there's nothing to gather! The Author vanished, and everything here was made by us.
The furniture the author made yesterday also vanished, so we don't even have that as a clue anymore.

I bet they wouldn't have waited for weapons.
The second they figured out who the Author was, they'd have immediately gone for the kill.

They were always so mysterious about everything before we left on the journey.
I'm way less sure what they'd have been up to five years ago.

Hm... Maybe looking at a picture of a target or something. Weren't they an assassin-for-hire?

Why would they be looking at a picture of a target? Bryph isn't an archer.

Marcel sat there with his mouth open trying to process what Rimas just said.

Rimas that's such a stupid joke.
I'm actually in awe of how dumb that was.

Rimas snaps her fingers.

Thank you thank you. I'll be here all week.
I've got a pretty good idea what I was doing back then.

Oh? What's that?

Being the best-looking bookstore owner in the entire god-damned city.

Marcel sighed, dragging a hand over his face.

Alright, narcissist.

I speak only the truth.

Marcel leaned over the table, deep in thought.
After a few minutes, he sat straight up again.

So... a thought.
If it's a spectacle the Author wants... And he's holding back... Is there any reason we shouldn't just give him what he wants?

I can't think of a reason why not. You got a plan?

We open with me going at him full force, swinging wildly.
Then when he goes for the counter-attack, you use the broom to carry me out of harm's way.
Then... You fly over him and I'll let go of the broom and come at him from above. Then, I'll make some space between him and me.
In the meantime, you charge up a mean fireball. Not your biggest or meanest, but a delayed fireball.
Then, you throw it at me.

You'd die instantly.

No no, see, delayed.
I swing my bat really hard and just launch it at him.

That's so stupid and impractical.
It's a bomb. Why would I not just throw the bomb directly at the author and mitigate the obvious risk to you?

Rimas cleared her throat and spoke in a high, nasally voice.

You hitting it towards him offers zero advantage but introduces so much risk and uncertainty.
That's what Cae would say, I think.

That was pretty good.

Thank you!

The point is that it's flashy.
The flashier we are, the smoother this'll go for us, and the quicker we can get the hell out of here.

So the plan... Is to just do stuff that looks cool?

Yeah. We have zero tactical advantage.
This is the Author, from what Jutse told us, I do not trust this guy not to use the fact that he knows everything we know before we've thought of it.
But we still have our own will, separate from the Author. We can make decisions for ourselves. The Author can't dictate decisions for us.

Strictly speaking, he can do exactly that.

He wouldn't actually, though, right?

Rimas stared at Marcel for a few moments, and exhaled sharply.

Couldn't say.
I guess...
We have no choice but to...

Rimas gagged, the sheer disgust she felt as these words formed in her throat temporarily overpowering her.

But to trust a mind-reading murderous psychopath with our lives.

We're so screwed.


... Whoa. Deja vu.