Angel gave Laplace's proposal some serious thought.
On the surface, it would indeed satisfy all three sides, while allowing Angel and the others to extricate themselves from the vortex without trouble. It could be called an excellent proposal.
But nothing could be judged by appearances alone. Plans on paper were built upon knowledge and logic, but a real plan also had to account for people's hearts and unforeseen variables.
The plan Laplace proposed had one very obvious variable.
"What if Parrot asks us for help?" Angel asked.
They had told Parrot that help from the Rice God All Things House was about to arrive. According to the plan, Parrot should flee for his life on his own, and then each side would display their own abilities to see who emerged victorious from the chase.
But what if Parrot did not flee as planned, and instead immediately asked them for help, hoping that they would honor the contract and take him out of the Mirror Realm? How should they respond then?
If they agreed to Parrot's request, would they not still be stepping into this vortex?
If they refused Parrot, or found an excuse to stall for time, would that not bring them back to exploiting loopholes in the contract? If they were going to exploit loopholes anyway, why not do so from the start? There was no need to make things so complicated, only to circle back to the same road in the end.
Laplace said noncommittally, "If you do not want to exploit loopholes in the contract, then simply follow the contract and take him out of the Mirror Realm."
"But if we take Parrot out of the Mirror Realm, then Rice God..."
Angel stopped halfway through. After thinking it over carefully, he suddenly realized that taking Parrot out