"But the situation here is a bit different. In that anime, they clearly knew when and where the event would happen, which made the subsequent deceptions possible."
Although not as familiar with the animes as Cyra, Nicola still knew which one she was referring to. But she shook her head.
"We have no idea when or where the prophecy takes place. How can we replicate their plan? And I don't think I'm a very good actress..."
"Ah, you're right,"Cyra was at a loss for words. She had only thought of the idea initially without considering the details.
"It might work!"I thought of a different approach.
"We don't need to know the exact time if we just want to fulfill the prophecy! As long the nighttime setting is there..."
"You're right! Quintina only said it happens at night but didn't specify the exact time. As long as it's after dark, we can match the prophecy!"
Cyra immediately understood my idea.
"As for acting, it's just a few lines and expressions, Nicola can practice this afternoon. We already have the costumes from last night so that's not an issue!"
"But what about location? Do you know where the prophecy takes place? The reason we've been hiding in our room is because we don't know!"Nicola still felt it wouldn't work.
"How about the riverbank where your clothes got burned? What do you think?"I asked tentatively.
...
"There's still an obvious loophole!"
We returned to the riverbank where Nicola's clothes were burned. After surveying the area, she frowned and said,
"What is it? Is there something off?"Cyra was puzzled. From the surroundings, it looked very similar to the prophecy's description. And it was Nicola herself who first noticed!
"Not off per say, but all our information is from Quintina's words. Only she has seen the actual scene so it could be inaccurate..."Nicola explained after some thought.
"For example, she told us the prophecy has lots of wild grass. Quintina wouldn't know or differentiate the exact species, she would just describe it generally as 'lots of grass'. So while this riverbank also has plenty of grass, they may not be the same type as the prophecy."
"In other words, the landscape looks similar enough but there's still a chance this is not the actual place! Some subtle differences can't be conveyed through words."
Seeing Cyra's confusion, I briefly reiterated Nicola's point again. I had worried about this too but still didn't object earlier since it's a probability issue.
"Even if not 100% accurate, 'deceiving the world' should still help a lot more than just staying in our room doing nothing!"Cyra shared my viewpoint that it was still worth trying. Under our insistence, Nicola relented and started practicing her acting skills.
The afternoon went by quickly. At dusk, they shooed me back to the inn to avoid accidents. But soon after, the two returned as well, apparently quite successful in their endeavor.
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"It was pretty convincing, though Nicola was screaming too loudly I'm still buzzing..."That was Cyra's review. She kept digging her ears.
"You're the one who told me to act devastated and in excruciating pain! What else could I do? The prophecy explicitly said I cried out!"Nicola argued, seemingly proud of her 'acting through shouting' performance. But to fool a little girl like Quintina it should be enough...
Tonight was the most critical juncture. If our efforts didn't backfire, we would be safe! Perhaps due to completing all possible actions, we were less anxious than previous nights. We even played cards to kill time.
"Feliciana, if you survive this, remember to treat me a meal! This 'deceiving the world' idea was mine after all!"Cyra peeked at her cards and said.
"Only you could think of such shady solutions. We don't even know if it'll work yet."I rolled my eyes. Did she want to jinx me? No way!
"Treating is fine anytime. But staying alive through tonight is key. We better not sleep."Nicola was more cautious but I doubted her suggestion was realistic.
"Have our guests turned in for the night?"
Just then, a knock came from our door. It sounded like one of the inn staff.
"Huh? Why so late?"Cyra muttered and got up to answer the door as she was closest.
"We just received notice from the City Guards. According to the prophet, another fire may occur tonight. The scale wouldn't be huge nor damage as disastrous as previous nights, but you can evacuate now if..."
"What? Another fire?"
We were shocked to hear the news. What's going on with this Makalan City and all these fires? Don't tell me some other monster is causing trouble again!
"Don't tell me this inn is harboring monsters too..."The last encounter still frightened me.
"No way! It's not that easy for monsters to hide in human cities!"Nicola didn't think so.
"Could this fire be related to Feliciana?"Cyra closed the door and suddenly asked while turning around.
"The prophecy did say there were shadows of flames in the background. I made some when Nicola was acting just now as well!"
"Don't tell me it didn't work? If so then..."I was dumbfounded. I actually had high hopes for the plan. Talk about getting instant karma...
"There's no point fretting over effectiveness now. It's not like you can flee the city or something?"Nicola interjected my questioning and reminded,
"Clearly staying in our room is safest. Just don't leave no matter what!"
She had a point. As angels, we could ignore damage from a huge blaze raging beneath us. But with troubled thoughts, we lost interest in playing cards. Although Nicola suggested we stay up tonight, she was the first to yawn drowsily.
Soon after, we fell asleep. I and Cyra avoided being tied to the bed per her vehement request.
...
I don't know how much time passed but a sudden loud avian cry jolted me awake abruptly. Opening my eyes, I saw a terrifying sight - a black clad masked assassin beside my bed stabbing down at me with a dagger!
"Nicola, Cyra!"
In that split second, all vestiges of sleep vanished. I desperately rolled off the bed, barely dodging the lethal blow.
"Who are you?!"
Apparently the earlier bird call had also woken Nicola. Without spreading her wings, she directly kicked the assassin onto the bed. I saw the dagger lodged deeply into the bed frame, only the hilt poking out.
"still want to escape?"
Seeing the situation turning against him, the assassin tried jumping out the window. But it was too late. I spread my wings and forcibly dragged him back in, slamming him to the floor.
"Cyra, shut the windows!"Nicola commanded. She summoned her Condensation Sword and held it against his neck while I stepped forth to rip off his mask.
However, seeing the assassin's true appearance stunned Nicola and I speechless. We did not expect it to be him...
"Carl?"
Cyra peeked over after securing the windows and was equally shocked like us.
"Why would it be you? Why do such a thing?"
So this was my foretold "clamity"? If not for that strange bird call earlier, I would probably have been stabbed dead!
But the location is clearly wrong! This is the interior of our inn room instead of the rubble-strewn wilderness described in the prophecy!
Could it be that "deceiving the world"actually worked? Have we broken the prophecy?
"Hmph! Seems like you've all forgotten!"
Carl remained stubborn and turned his head away, unwilling to elaborate further.
"Forgotten? Did we have some feud with him before?"
Nicola and I exchanged baffled looks. We were completely clueless about what he meant.
"Impossible!"I shook my head. If we really had some issue, we wouldn't have hired him as our carriage driver.