Mann and Mei had walked quite a distance, but Mei still couldn’t understand why he had deliberately made the negotiation fail.
“Young Master Mann, if I may speak bluntly. That was undoubtedly a failed negotiation. You even made yourself seem suspicious… Why did you do that?”
“There is more than one way to achieve a goal. Sometimes being suspected is more effective than gaining trust.”
“Moreover, our time is limited—this was already the optimal solution.”
“But… why did you reject their condition to find another mercenary group?”
“Simple—because I can’t trust anyone except them.”
Mei stared blankly at the familiar young man before her, yet she felt a vague sense of unfamiliarity.
“I feel as if you’ve suddenly become a different person…”
Mann turned back to look at the frowning maid and smiled gently.
“Mei, haven’t you been suppressing your true nature all along? It’s such a pity to keep such a pretty face always so stern.”
Hearing this, Mei’s delicate face flushed slightly.
“Wh-what are you talking about!”
“Your face is red, you know.”
Mei touched her own cheek, feeling it a bit hot. Then she immediately realized she had been tricked and pouted, turning her head away.
“Bad young master, I’m ignoring you.”
“Mei, I…”
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a hurried voice.
“Wow, there’s the Timing Hero!”
Mann was a bit annoyed and looked at the newcomer helplessly. It was the old butler Carlson, out of breath from looking for him.
In his memory, this old butler had treated the original host fairly well. Not exceptionally well, but at least he regarded Mann as the young master.
Behind him, Mei had already reverted to her expressionless perfect maid demeanor.
Mann found it amusing.
Instant switch to battle mode.
“Has Viscount Campbell’s man arrived?”
Carlson was still panting heavily. As soon as he heard Mann mention this, afraid he might cause another mess, he carefully urged:
“Yes, Young Master Mann, they’re waiting for you! Let’s hurry back!”
“Aren’t there some brothers? Why do I have to go?”
“Oh my, my esteemed young master, you mustn’t say such things!”
Carlson felt like dying. If he couldn’t bring Mann back, losing his job would be the least of his worries.
“Joking, just joking.”
Hearing this, Carlson finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“But I have one more thing I need your help with.”
Mann’s expression turned serious.
“Please, tell me! I’ll help if I can!”
“I need to secretly send a letter to my father. No one can know about it.”
Before long, the three returned to the familiar mansion.
On one side of the gate was an extremely luxurious carriage. Without a doubt, it had come from Viscount Campbell’s territory to escort Mann.
The familiar carriage, the familiar coachman, and the familiar unease.
“In the end, I couldn’t avoid it… but oh well, preparations are mostly done. Now I can only leave it to fate.”
Thinking this, Mann let out a long sigh and walked toward the carriage waiting for him.
The journey was extremely quiet, with no one else except Mei accompanying him and Carlson seeing him off.
It was truly a credit to the previous Mann that he could swallow this indignation.
But according to the original story’s progression, a few months later, the Matthews territory would fall into the hands of his convenient wife, and the duke’s mansion would be bloodily purged—which served them right.
“I’ve done my best. Whether you can escape this calamity is up to you.”
Mann took one last look at the familiar mansion, but he couldn’t be bothered to voice his complaints.
“Forget it. Look after yourselves.”
“Mei, let’s go.”
With that, Mann boarded the carriage with Mei without looking back.
Carlson watched the carriage depart with mixed feelings.
Facing Mann today, he gradually felt he couldn’t see through him—as if he had become a different person.
“Ah, I’m really old. Thinking about all these unnecessary things. After sending this letter, I’ll retire and live out my days as Young Master Mann said.”
—
Inside the carriage, Mann sat upright with his eyes tightly closed, trying to connect with something indescribable inside his body.
“Tell me the ability you granted me! Can you hear me? God!”
“Noisy pest!”
A voice like a great bell rang out, and a huge clock suddenly appeared beneath Mann’s feet. Then, countless different clocks covered the entire space.
The figure that looked exactly like him gradually became clear. Beneath him was a throne made of countless piled-up clocks.
He leaned sideways on his seat, looking down at Mann with complete disdain.
“What are you pretending for? Don’t forget you’re inside my body now! If I die, you won’t be any better off!”
“…Heh heh…”
The other Mann sat on the throne, as if holding back laughter.
“What are you laughing at!”
He looked down at Mann beneath the throne with contempt and answered in a very disdainful and lazy tone.
“You don’t really think that if you die, something will happen to me? At most, I’ll just choose another divine envoy.”
“Hmph! Is that really the case? Can you just casually choose a divine envoy? I think you’re also on the passive side, aren’t you?”
“Oh?”
The god no longer leaned on the throne but instead leaned forward, looking directly at Mann for the first time. Clearly, he was intrigued by Mann’s words.
“You chose a divine envoy, and before he dies, you can’t extricate yourself either, right?”
“Continue.”
“Since you can’t actively extricate yourself, nor can you actively interfere with my life and death, it means the passive one is you!”
“In other words, your actions are constrained by some kind of power—am I wrong?”
“It seems I really have to praise you. Not bad, you guessed half right. Very clever. So what?”
“So the one who should sit on the throne is me! The one who should follow commands is you!”
“You little brat, I’m starting to take some interest in you now. Hahahaha!”
The god laughed heartily on the throne, and even Mann was a bit surprised.
“You want the throne, right? If you want it, come take it yourself.”
“I knew you would say that.”
Without any hesitation, Mann sprinted toward the throne.
But after running for a long time, the distance not only didn’t shorten but grew longer.
The occasional sounds of mockery in his ears only made him more irritated.
Soon, Mann felt darkness before his eyes, and then found that his consciousness had returned to his body.
“Bastard! You’d better not give me a chance to pull you down!”
He cursed the god in his heart, his expression somewhat dejected.
Not only had he failed to figure out his own ability this time, but he had also wasted a lot of time.
“Hmph!”
The more he thought, the angrier he got!
“Boy.”
The god’s voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
“Your ability is innate, not granted by me. If you want to know your own ability, why not ask yourself?”
?
“What ability is innate? Ask myself? What does that mean? Say something!”
“Hey!”
Mann was full of confusion, but no matter how much he asked, the god remained silent.
Mann could only curse that guy in his heart to vent.
He did his best. The other party was unselectable.
But he said ask himself…
Not one to give up, Mann actually asked silently in his heart.
“What is my ability?”
How could that possibly work!
Just as Mann was thinking of cursing the god again, a light blue panel slowly appeared before him.
It actually worked!
“Alright, since it’s here, let me take a look…”
[Name: Mann Matthews]
[Level: None]
[Faction: God (Envoy)]
[Affiliated God: God of Time Helgort]
[Ability: Pseudo Time Manipulation LV1 (Rewind and Jump. Simulates time manipulation through mana. Only applicable to self and objects touched by self. Uses mana, and the latter requires double the mana. Current available limit: 3 times.)]
[Divine Revelation LV1 (Can foresee one’s own death, but foreseen events will not repeat. Cooldown: 24 hours)]
[When proficiency reaches a certain level, it can be upgraded. Every 10 levels opens a trial. After passing, awakening is possible.]
“Heh… heh heh heh…”
Mann leaned back in the carriage seat, a look of utter hopelessness on his face.
“Young Master Mann?”
Mei, seeing him like this, stepped forward with concern and asked.
“Don’t talk… let me be alone…”
And at that moment, the carriage gradually came to a halt.
The smell of blood drifted into the carriage.
Helplessly, he could only let out a long sigh.
What must come, in the end, cannot be avoided.
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