Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 102: Arc 3, - 12: Paradox?

"Ready to test it!?" Asobi hid her menu behind her arms.

"Yes," Jotou sighed.

"Three, two, one, go," Fumeko hid hers as well.

"Fumeko will have a lobstrane sizzle, she has no idea what it is. Hotaru wants a lotus platter salad with extra chicken which is what I’ll get too and for Asobi, bread and chocolate butter cookies," Jotou relayed to the waitress.

Fumeko leered to the menu again... The waitress wrote it all down before moving on to another table.

"Jotou can read my mind! This is such a cool trick!"

"It’s not a trick Sobi..." Jotou said for the third time today.

"Fine," Fumeko glanced to Jotou, "I believe you, one hundred percent."

The redhead could barely look to her, "Are you sure on that one hundred?" the voice tried to whisper. However she had to relay it across the table. As if Jotou’s heart was not stung enough as it was.

"I’m the detective here," Fumeko glared back, "You’re the one who’s always making googly eyes with her, but you can’t tell she’s not lying right now?

It took us a while to believe that Jotou isn’t even a girl. She told us she’s from another world and guess what? It wasn’t an amnesia case, it’s pretty much proven now.

Her coming from a different world you can believe, but not that she may have actually come back in time? Kor said it, her brain is prote- That’s it," the detective cracked.

"My brain is protected by some magic? My brain is protected by some magic... That could mean, everyone has no memory of what happened... except me," Jotou’s eyes widened.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but thought you should know, plan’s changed," the driver’s tail swayed, a hat atop his head. Hotaru frowned, eyes opening wider till she gazed back to Jotou.

"All vehicles going in and out of Hartamat have to stay put for now. A battalion of Trailon soldiers apparently set up camp close by."

"This wasn’t part of the plan?" Jotou glanced to Hotaru, nearly sneering in her direction.

"This was the worst-case scenario... How long’s the wait?" Hotaru looked up to the coachman.

"Can’t say for sure, but the word around is at least two days before travel’s permitted again."

"There’s a way to speed it up, isn’t there?" Jotou gave him a look.

"I mean, sure... It’s risky and it’ll cost you a little extra. These warnings aren’t something uncommon after all."

"Ooo! Is this where we bribe you and go anyway!?"

His tail spiked straight, "Hey! Quiet down elf, or else we’re all gonna spend way longer in Hartamat."

"We’ll... we’ll discuss it. We’re most likely staying though, we have no issue to tip you a little extra," Hotaru exhaled.

"Not like I’m going anywhere else Miss. The gesture’s kindly appreciated," he tipped his hat and walked away.

"Hey, wait a minute. We never got a name Mr driver," Jotou stopped his steps.

The part-human turned, "Aviv Birsket," an eyebrow cocked.

"Just curious," Jotou replied before he departed.

"Can we get back to Jotou time travelling? Everything she’s saying IS happening," Fumeko hushed back to the group.

"Maybe it’s part of her affinity! Yeah! Yeah! Offensive, self-support and time travel!" Asobi counted four fingers—before she stared at her hand and bent one back down.

"I don’t think that’s the case in the slightest..." Hotaru pouted to the side, "I believe you Jotou."

"Thanks..." Jotou’s eyes shifted away. ’Great, now I feel like an asshole...’

Fumeko held a hand to her chin, "That would mean you went to the future, and came back?"

Jotou’s face sunk into both her hands, "That would mean you have no free will. Unless each choice sends you down an alternate timeline, because the ’future’ cannot be changed...

Even if that’s true, that’d still mean there’s no free will cause it means everything in the future’s already happened and there’re just infinite possibilities that all happen. And I refuse to believe that I don’t have free will," the paranoiac angered at the thought.

"Heh?" a question mark popped up on Asobi’s head.

"That’s... a bit complicated..." Hotaru’s eyes darted up, then left, then right, trying to follow.

Fumeko had her head rested in her palms, staring at Jotou, "She means our choices matter and it’s impossible that Jotou went into the future because she thinks that the future isn’t set in stone."

"Sorry, I brought philosophy into this; it was gonna be my major I guess," Jotou tried to recall, "It was either that or physics... and I hate math—especially when the alphabet decide to jump in."

"Don’t apologize for being so clever. We can leave these two in the dust," Fumeko smiled in admiration.

"I wouldn’t call being good at philosophy ’clever’, more so one more step to having hundreds of existential crises," Jotou palmed her face—her head ached.

"Could you explain it, one more time please?" Hotaru put one finger up.

"Do you need visuals!?" Asobi poked her wand out.

Jotou shook her head, "Forget what I said. Basically, time travel is a paradox, it can’t exist. It either means no one has a choice in anything they do, or I didn’t ’travel’ to the future. The only way it isn’t a paradox..."

"...Is that everything in time got sent back and no future exists anymore. Her body got sent back too, but as Kor said, her brain has some sort of enchantment on it. So, her memories are intact," Fumeko continued the blonde’s theory.

"And the things I say and do can change what happens..."

Jotou looked to Fumeko again... ’Blast!’ The blonde’s heartrate jumped... She could almost hear the gunshot. Jotou gulped, breathing in and out as she stared at a perfectly fine Fumeko, maybe a little sweaty from the heat. ’I can’t let that happen...’

"So... Wait, there’s no such thing as a future? Then what’s, tomorrow!?" Asobi’s eyes jolted open.

"I, didn’t mean to give her an existential crisis..." Jotou snapped out of it.

Hotaru faced the elf, "Asobi listen." The elf perked up. "It’s like if someone took a milk carton from the shelf, unsealed it to drink some milk and then put it back on the shelf.

But when you take it out of the shelf again, the milk carton is brand new and resealed somehow, except, the milk in it’s already been drunk; the milk in this scenario, is Jotou’s memories."

"Oh..." Asobi’s mouth gaped. "That’s disappointing, a brand new carton of milk and it has less milk?" she saddened.

"The problem is," Fumeko grimaced, "Who in the world resealed the milk and how?"

Jotou blinked, a few times... "I don’t actually know. It has to be something magic related."

"First of all Jotou, answer me why you were hysterical and crying when you woke up..." Hotaru observed the blonde’s expression.

"Oh, right... I’ll try and tell everything," Jotou recalled, one by one all the memories. If she could remember so much in detail, there was no chance all of what happened was a dream...

_

"Wait, so you’re saying we were gonna win and get TWENTY ARMITE!?" Fumeko gripped the table corners, drooling as if she had not already cleared her plate.

"And I put on a spectacular show on the battlefield!? Meko, you killed so many enemies!?"

"I know! Then again, I knew I always had it in me to be awesome!"

The redhead’s ears bent, "I’m not sure if that’s a good thing..."

Fumeko glanced over, "I guess it’s not the best thing ever, but I did it! Or at least I will do it?"

"Guys," Jotou broke their conversation, "Please listen... Just when we were about to win..." Jotou placed a hand on her heart, her throat choked up, "Meko dies."

"What was that?" Hotaru’s ears bristled; the other two leaned in closer... Did they not hear her...? Or did she even say those words out loud?

"Fumeko... saves my life,"

The brunette beamed, smug as ever.

"Then... then, she gets shot in the head from the side and dies," the words spurted out of Jotou’s mouth in one go—her breaths got heavier.

Fumeko’s brows furrowed; her head retracted. That could not be possible, right? She barely believed the news that had entered her ears...

Asobi and Hotaru looked back to the brunette. Wand gripped in both hands, "No," Asobi shook her head in a smile, "That can never happen, it can’t," not realizing the tiny rainbow fluid welling up in her eye.

"Asobi, I know you like to ignore all the bad things and brush them aside... But I’m not lying," the brown pupils stared back, sunken in sudden sorrow.

Hotaru slowly reached for Jotou’s hand that had pressed into the table. Jotou removed her hand completely as Hotaru’s ears twitched and... the redhead recoiled her hand slowly.

"Silly Jotou, I don’t do that!" the only one of them who could still speak. "Do I...?" the elf was caught again in deliberation.

Fumeko sat back speechless, staring at her empty plate. Asobi’s plate still had a bit of chocolate cookies uneaten. She ignored it... That can’t be true, that can’t be true. Then what about everything else Jotou predicted...?

Hotaru did not dare look at the blonde, "What, do you want to do?" she still managed to verbalize.

’I’m not sure... We can try again. Fight again and win. I know what can happen now.—that’s something. And if I change something too much, then too many other things will change.’

The thought circled Jotou’s head... "You two are probably overheating," Jotou glanced at Fumeko and Asobi, "Let’s get you some new clothes first."