2/4
...
We left the training hall.
Because Lina had been training until recently, she was a bit sweaty. When she realized she was hugging me like that, she turned embarrassed and went running to take a bath.
She did not forget to bring Raven with her though. Apparently, Lina was much warier of Raven than Ysnay.
Perhaps because both of them wanted the little sister's position?
Laughing wryly to the two cute girls, I shook my head and heaved an amused sigh.
Then, I looked at the smiling Ysnay beside me.
"Lucky pervert," Ysnay said. "What happened to Yes Lolita, No Touch."
I did not know whether to laugh or to cry. "Where in the hell did you learn that?"
"Well, I have visited a lot of worlds."
I laughed and shook my head. I guess I have an idea about the kind of worlds you visited.
"I wanted to know more about you, so I visited some worlds where you reincarnated before."
"… Do you realize it makes you seem like a pervert stalker, right?"
Ysnay shrugged completely unfazed by my words. "Well, no immortal is normal. You and I are probably two of the most decent ones out there."
Maybe I am, but you?
"Say that after you stop using fate to peek into others' lives without their permission."
Ysnay smiled and did not answer. Of course, it is not as though I was expecting to change her values just with a few words.
Ysnay, just like me, has lived for too long. For us, change is not impossible, but very improbable.
Plus, even if we manage to change our values, there is a ninety percent probability that the change will be for the worse.
Shaking my head, I decided to stop thinking about that. Instead, there was something I needed to talk with Ysnay about.
"How long are you going to continue following me?" I asked.
Ysnay put on an amused expression. "Why? Am I stopping something?"
I rolled my eyes. "You know what you are doing. I'm sorry, but I'm not planning to show you an R-18 live with my women and me as protagonists."
"You know that I can see it anyway if I want, right? I can even peek into the past to see what you have done before."
"You and I know it's not the same. I'm sorry, Ysnay, but I don't need a third wheel in my life."
Ysnay chuckled and nodded. "Very well, I'll leave then."
With these words, Ysnay disappeared.
As soon as Ysnay left, my expression turned ice-cold. I guess it's time to make my move.
As an Immortal focused on fate, it's almost impossible to fool Ysnay. I'm pretty sure she has an idea of my intentions.
But even so, it's something I must do.
With a thought, one of my favorite skills was activated.
[Akashic Sight]!
My senses extended through the entire capital, getting a grasp of even each drop of sand.
Of my abilities, [Akashic Sight] is one of the few fate-based ones. It's a skill I learned by studying Ysnay's skills.
Of course, it's far from being comparable to Ysnay's fate, but at the very least, it will allow me to get a grasp of the fate nearby. With this, it will be harder for Ysnay to hide her changes of fate from my sight.
However, I'm not very good at fate. Thus, if I expand [Akashic Sight] too much, I'll end leaving holes in my surveillance that Ysnay can exploit.
Therefore, what I'm planning is something different.
Following my will, [Akashic Sight] changed. Instead of extending to the entire capital, it focused on several people.
My women and my loved ones.
This way, I can keep constant surveillance on them and keep an eye for Ysnay's machinations.
Unfortunately, this alone is not enough to stop Ysnay.
Ysnay and I have been enemies and friends for a long time. Although I don't want to admit it, I fear that nobody in the entire universe knows me better than her, and nobody knows her better than me.
I'm not naïve enough to think just this trick can stop Ysnay. As someone whose forte is plots and machinations, if she truly wants to hide something from me, I will find it hard to notice it.
Thus, this is just my first layer of defenses.
Ysnay did not notice it (I think), but in the short time we were together, I stealthily put a mark on her soul to keep an eye on her movements. That is my second layer of defenses.
That is the reason I did not mind Ysnay separating from me. Because her each movement is in my sight.
Perhaps Ysnay is better than me when it comes to fate, but I'm far better when it comes to souls. In my hundreds of thousands of years wandering through the universe, I have met very few beings with skills in soul laws comparable to mine.
But even this is not enough. There is a non-zero probability of Ysnay noticing my little trick. She is someone that has fought against me for a long time, so I'm sure she has an idea of what I'm able of.
I have a few countermeasures in that case, but even so, I can't underestimate her.
It is where my third line of defense comes.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the soul fragments I had left in my loved ones' souls and burned them.
Then, using the soul energy created by burning the soul fragments, I created a fate-interference barrier linking them to me. With this, if Ysnay tries to mess directly their fate, it will be the same as messing with mine.
The problem with fate is that stronger people have stronger fates, and in consequence, their fates are much harder to change.
You can easily stop a normal person from visiting a relative. Just create a little bit of rain or cause an accident and it's done.
But how do you stop someone that can bend space or teleport? The difficulty climbs greatly.
Fate works like that.
For Ysnay, though, even gods are unprotected before her interference of fate. At her level of power, there is no difference between gods and normal humans. Gods are just slightly bigger ants.
But I'm an Immortal, and one of the strongest ones. It's impossible for Ysnay to interfere directly with my fate.
What she can do, though, is to use the fates around me carefully, creating small indiscernible changes until finally leading me to the point where she wants.
Just like the butterfly effect. Small changes at the right moment can create incredible results.
And I don't know of anyone more capable than Ysnay when it comes to this kind of fate manipulation.
During half an hour, I set up as many defenses as I could.
When I was done, I sighed.
It's everything I can do for now.
As for the rest, I just need to be careful and pay attention.
This way, if Ysnay one day tries to do something against my interests, I'll be ready to stop her.