During the days Yuan Shikai was away, the two Aoko Aozakis and two Alice Kuonjis had been living together harmoniously in a peculiar sort of relationship.
They all lived in the mansion within the forest, though each had her own territory.
Half the mansion was old, while the other half was a newly built addition.
They split the old and new halves between them, each ruling her own side without getting in the other's way.
For Aoko and Alice at this point in time, even meeting their future selves did not mean that their present selves would necessarily become those future selves.
Aoko especially, having awakened as the Fifth Magician, understood even more clearly the infinite possibilities of the future.
Still, since they had met, there was no harm in learning more about the possible future.
Different worldlines could begin the same way, yet encounter different people and events, producing entirely different butterfly effects.
Spoilers might be a little boring, but people always hoped they could avoid unpleasant things.
For example, the future Alice told the present Alice about the "Kumano Hot Springs Murder Case."
It was an incident caused when an unqualified Ploy Wish Star, one of the Ploys Alice had created, went berserk.
As long as Alice did not create the Wish Star, or carefully confirmed that it had been destroyed after making it, the incident could be avoided.
That incident had ultimately been resolved perfectly, but would it not have been better if it had never happened in the first place?
Aoko and Alice were not afraid of trouble. In fact, they even enjoyed the fun that came with it.
But if they themselves were the source of that trouble, and it caused problems for others, then it was better to avoid it where possible.
Besides the