Sometimes, especially during negotiations involving interests, people could easily be blinded by the generous conditions offered by the other side.
They would instinctively forget that they too had to pay a price.
Once someone thought the situation favored them and started believing they were about to win, win, win—If they lowered their guard during the rest of the negotiation, all that waited for them at the end was losing everything.
Shiro had always liked a certain line that appeared before starting a game.
'I have carefully read and agree to the User Registration Agreement, Personal Information Protection Policy, and XXX Terms.'
In reality—Most people entering a game did not even manually open those terms.
The game itself had already arranged the process for them.
They would not read a single word.
They simply scrolled straight to the bottom and checked the box that might very well sell away their privacy.
Never realizing their information had already been resold countless times without their knowledge.
Pandora might look incredibly sincere right now—But in Shiro's eyes, she was no different from one of those shady companies dangling bait on a hook and waiting for you to voluntarily hand over your privacy.
Just as Pandora herself had said—Fate did not consider the feelings of those it manipulated.
And so—
"Go on."
Shiro looked at her directly.
"If you're offering conditions this generous, what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Oh?"
Pandora tilted her head.
"Haven't you already guessed my ultimate goal?"
"Don't give me that."
"You've only revealed your ultimate objective."
Shiro immediately pointed out the trick she was trying to use.
"You've never once told me what I'd actually have to do in order to help you achieve it."
Ever since appearing, Pandora had first proposed cooperation.
Then she had revealed her ultimate goal.
That naturally encouraged an ordinary person to assume that "cooperation" simply meant helping her achieve that goal.
But there was one important detail—Throughout the entire negotiation, Pandora had never explained what role Shiro would actually play.
Nor what actions he would be required to take.
If he signed some strange contract without clarifying that first—This bizarre woman would absolutely exploit him to death.
Shiro did not believe for a second that Pandora would feel guilty simply because she had used someone.
And even now—After Shiro had exposed her little trick—Pandora's smile remained unchanged.
Her deep-blue eyes, as vast as the ocean, quietly met his gaze.
"I would like to tell you now."
"Unfortunately, the necessary conditions have not yet been met."
After staring at one another for a long while, Pandora finally looked away.
Her expression remained gentle and loving.
"I respect your wish not to have something important taken from you."
"So I ask that you also respect my decision not to reveal this yet."
"However—"
"In exchange, I can make a promise with you."
"A promise?"
"Yes."
"Promises are very important."
A sheet of paper suddenly appeared in Pandora's hand.
"So let us make one."
"I will not ask you to do anything that would make you sad."
"In exchange, the next time we meet, I will require your assistance."
Shiro accepted the paper and gave it a rough glance.
It resembled a contract.
Contracts in this world did not actually require dedicated paper.
Perhaps Pandora had deliberately created it in a form Shiro could understand to make him feel more comfortable.
However—Shiro did not spend much time examining it.
He casually stored it inside his Gift Card.
"You're not going to read it carefully?"
"No need."
Shiro shrugged.
"Even if you hid some trick inside, I probably wouldn't notice it."
"But I happen to know someone who's an expert in this sort of thing."
"I'll let her read it first, then decide."
Pandora caught the implication hidden in his words.
"You're leaving?"
"Even if I stay here, that thing will just keep finding me."
Shiro answered matter-of-factly.
"Rather than deal with that every day, it'll be much easier to come back once I can either hide myself from it or simply kill it outright."
He glanced at Pandora's smiling face.
"Besides, until I confirm you're actually on my side, I can't exactly relax while staying near you."
"If you suddenly team up with that thing, wouldn't I be in serious danger?"
"So this is your choice."
Even after Shiro openly expressed his distrust, Pandora showed no displeasure whatsoever.
Instead, she merely nodded in understanding.
Just as Shiro began wondering whether her face was physically incapable of showing any other expression—
Pandora raised her pale arm and pointed toward the Gospel in Shiro's left hand.
"You may keep that book."
"When you return next time, please use it to contact me."
"I look forward to seeing what color your heart will have become by then."
Her smile deepened slightly.
"Though please don't stay away for too long."
"I'll become lonely."
The moment those words fell—Pandora abruptly vanished from Shiro's sight.
It was as though she had never existed there at all.
"So that's the ability of the Witch of Vainglory..."
Shiro murmured where he stood.
As expected of someone who controlled a portion of the authority over fate.
Even her method of leaving consisted of completely rewriting the fate that she had ever come here.
In other words—From the world's perspective, Pandora had never appeared at this location.
Even if someone killed her here—The contradiction created by the statement "Pandora never came to this place" would produce a chain of causal paradoxes.
And that would cause her to revive.
No wonder the Witch Cult had survived for so long despite being targeted by so many powerful forces.
Pandora's ability was practically dimensional superiority against the people of this world.
In an era before Reinhard was born—Pandora calling herself the strongest in the world would not necessarily have been wrong.
Compared to that—The Sloth Factor, despite also being a Witch Factor, was rather...
Shiro looked down at his chest with visible disgust.
Its ability was not particularly useful.
And it even carried the risk of creating a second personality.
If Pandora had not left so quickly, Shiro would have asked how she intended to remove the Sloth Factor from him.
Leaving something like this inside his body just felt unpleasant.
Considering how confidently Pandora had approached him—She absolutely had some method of extracting it intact.
'Should I try figuring out how this Gospel works first?'
Just as Shiro considered using it to call Pandora back and ask how to remove the Sloth Factor—A fiery-red figure appeared once again on the distant horizon.
"You've got to be kidding me?!"
"Pandora literally just left and you already tracked me down by smell?!"
A golden door immediately appeared before Shiro.
Watching the face in the distance become increasingly clear—
Shiro did not hesitate for even a second.
He stepped straight through.
By the time the planetary will, controlling Reinhard's body, reached the golden doorway—Shiro was already gone.
"Tch."
"He escaped?"
After confirming that Shiro had left this world, "Reinhard" muttered to himself.
Then—Just as it prepared to return control of the body—Thump—!
Something struck the top of Reinhard's head.
A small green creature bounced off and landed beside his feet.
It was a turtle.
A memory immediately surfaced inside the mind of the existence controlling Reinhard.
Something Shiro had once said while talking with Reinhard about stupid ways to die.
'A famous person was traveling one day when a turtle shell suddenly fell from the sky and killed him.'
'The theory is that an eagle mistook his bald head for a rock and tried to smash the turtle shell open against it.'
'I've wanted to recreate that scene someday if I get the chance.'
"..."
Looking down at the turtle Shiro had deliberately left behind through the power of fate just to mock him—"Reinhard" fell silent for several seconds.
Then—
"NEXT TIME, I'M ABSOLUTELY KILLING YOU!!!"
…