Azekiel turned to the old man as if looking at him in amusement that he wanted to offer an advice even now.
"Fine. Go ahead. What advice?" he asked.
"There are things that even gods can't change, let alone humans. As for you... You are none of the two. So if possible, forget everything again. You've already created enough trouble by making this mess. Just forget the past, an-"
"Forget the past and become a hermit like you?" Azekiel asked, seemingly amused.
"If that's what you think I am, then yes. I want you to become a hermit as well. When you didn't know, it was better as things were quite normal. But now that you... Even I can't see what will happen in the future." The old man looked at the beautiful pond before further continuing. "You see that pond?"
"Let me guess. You're about to give another one of your childish analogies?"
The man simply smiled in response. "Sometimes childish analogies make more sense. At times, even children can outsmart others."
"You'll never change." Azekiel sighed as if he was getting tired. "Fine, Say what you want to say. I see that pond. What about it?'
"What do you think is inside that water?" the old man asked.
"Inside that pond? There is nothing. There are no fishes in that pond either, just water."
The old man clapped his hand. As soon as he clapped, a fish jumped out of the pond, diving inside again.
The old man smiled in amusement.
"Shall I say you were wrong?" he asked.
"I'm afraid that's not enough to fool me." Azekiel shook his head. "Old man, don't forget that I know all your tricks."
"Oh? Are you saying there isn't a fish inside?' the old man inquired, seemingly hurt that he was being accused of lying.
"Nope. What I'm saying is that there was no fish inside the pond. It's only after my answer that you linked the pond to another pond." Azekiel explained. "Old man, I'm surprised you're pulling spatial tricks before me. Did you forget who I am?"
"You see? That's what I was trying to tell you. You can see the pond... You can predict the things that will happen in the pond based on that information, but even the smallest of changes can change your entire calculation. That's what I want to tell you. You might think that your path is clear, but when things come out of nowhere, you won't know what hit you... Like last time..."
"I knew you were going to give a childish logic. Fine. If you can again prove that there is a fish inside the water, I'll agree that I was wrong."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. Do it."
The old man looked at Azekiel in suspicion, but he still listened. It wasn't hard for him to bring out a fish from inside the pond. All he needed to do was link this pond to another place of his choice, which could make things easier for him to pull.
The old man clapped his hand. However, this time nothing happened. No fish came out of the pond, which made the man frown.
The man clapped again, but this time there was nothing that he could pull. No fishes were coming out, even if he did everything like last time.
"What did you do?" he finally asked Azekiel, realizing that something wasn't right. This could only mean that Azekiel was doing something.
"Why do you blame me? I'm innocent." Azekiel shrugged. "Maybe the fishes drowned inside the water?"
"Was that supposed to be a joke?" The old man rolled his eyes.
Azekiel simply smiled. "Look behind you."
The old man looked behind. Raphael and Lia also looked behind, growing shocked. They were more shocked than the old man to see hundreds of fish lying on the grass behind them.
"So that's why..." The old man muttered.
"You see, old man? That's the way to deal with the problems. Remove them before they can become an obstruction. Your example wasn't wrong, but the person you selected for this example was. Now my statement has become true again, right? There are no fishes in the pond."
Azekiel seemed to enjoy pulling the leg of the old man. It looked less like they were enemies and more like they were friends but not quite. Despite the age difference, there was a quite close equation between them that couldn't come simply from Alion's memories. This made Raphael even more sure that Azekiel had lied to him.
But why? What was he trying to hide by lying to them? And if he lied to them, why was he making it so obvious at this point? It was as if he didn't think that Raphael could put the pieces together, but Raphael was sure that it wasn't the case.
There was no way a person like Azekiel wasn't going to know what he was doing. It was as if he was intentionally doing it.
"Did you tell your two friends about it?" The old man asked.
"About what?" Azekiel asked ignorantly, as if he had no idea what the old man was talking about.
The old man sighed. "So you didn't. Yet you let them hear our conversation? Just what are you trying to do?"
Azekiel didn't answer right away. He simply picked up a piece of stone and tossed it inside the water. He pointed at that water.
"Since you're so interested in analogies, why don't you tell me what I'm trying to do? You have a hint..."
The old man looked at the pond. According to Azekiel, that was the clue.
The old man noticed ripples being created in the pond, thanks to the stone being tossed inside.
"You are trying to create ripples?" The old man asked. "Ripples in the flow of time?"
Azekiel didn't answer. He just stared at the water. "This place is certainly very peaceful. If possible, I would've loved to stay here for a few days."
He stood up. "Unfortunately, I don't have time."
