My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Clatter-!

Pausing dead in her tracks, Araceli seemed so stunned that she dropped her smartphone, her eyes widening like never before as she could only stare breathlessly in my direction.

"...Well?"

Crossing one leg over the other, I looked at her and asked what I thought should have been a simple question.

"A month, at least. It's been this long, yet you have nothing to say?"

Araceli's appearance remained more or less the same as the last time I saw her, including her rather girly sense of fashion.

This likely means, as I thought, that no more than the time I spent in the Otherworld has passed on Earth. So, I could make the assumption without hesitation.

"Say. Are you feeling alright? You don't seem too pleased to see me. Or are you just ill?"

"Uh..."

No matter what, Araceli seemed utterly unable to get a single word out of her mouth.

Was my appearance here really that shocking?

"Oh. Is it that your plans were abruptly ruined by my return? Did you not expect to see me again in one, five, maybe ten years? Or was it your intention to trap me in that dry world for the rest of time?"

"N-no! Really, that's not it at all!"

"Hm."

Well, the truth is that it doesn't matter. After all, regardless of intention, they had no choice but to keep me there forever.

It was the combined efforts of three people―Azaki Kiryuuin, Saburou, and Yuu Shimura―who trapped me in the Otherworld.

Undeniably, creating a dream world and manifesting it as a physical, separate dimensional entity was not something doable by a single man.

It is only reasonable to suggest the idea that because the portal required three people to open initially, it will thus require three people to open it every consecutive time.

There is, of course, an equally reasonable chance that the portal between Earth and the Otherworld could be opened without all three of the aforementioned individuals, however, even if that is the case, it would still require the work of the former two; Kiryuuin and Saburou.

To connect the two worlds that were dimensionally separated, Kiryuuin was needed.

To open a spatial gate that allowed travel between these two worlds, Saburou was needed.

Yuu Shimura would likely be useless even after becoming the Hero of the Otherworld as there is no real need to manifest the dream world again after it already exists.

Still, even with just those two as the gatekeepers, it's clear that I would never make it back to Earth by their discretion.

Kiryuuin would want me trapped in the Otherworld in order to "maintain peace" on Earth as part of the duty of the Wardens, but it's also not hard to imagine that he would be naive and gold-hearted enough to be willing to bring me back after I had been 'corrected', like a prisoner.

Saburou, on the other hand, wouldn't be willing to let me back no matter what unless he got to kill me with his own hands; which itself isn't something Kiryuuin would allow. He isn't the type to care if I were stranded in the Otherworld for the rest of my life, especially after the numerous incidents with Tarou and Atsuko.

So, if there were ever a deadlock situation where Kiryuuin wanted me to return to Earth, but Saburou refused, then the two would never work together to open the portal, thus leaving me trapped for eternity.

In any case, I bet they never foresaw a future where I escaped the prison of the Otherworld of my own will, huh.

"You know, I almost wish I could feel bad for you guys."

"You worked so hard, came up with a flawless plan, and manipulated everyone who was on my side."

"And yet, look at where we are now."

"I'm back, and I promise you, you have no idea just how much I've changed."

"Your flimsy scheme failed, and now you're stuck on what to do."

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"You have no individual power to do anything―we both know that―and now it's all up to me to decide what to do with you, all the while you wallow in your regret, lamenting the past you who made the choice to needlessly challenge me."

"How idiotic. It's quite sad, really; I can't imagine you feel very good about yourself."

Thinking about it, Araceli probably knew that those two don't see eye-to-eye on how I should be treated or "dealt with".

I still don't know anything about her truly, but I know enough to understand that it isn't necessary to care what she thinks any more when she doesn't pose a threat to me and no longer holds any weight in my decision-making.

Although, in that sense, I don't think there remains a single person who could claim that privilege.

"C... Cipher..."

"So you can speak? Then? Speak."

"...T-there is something important they've been meaning to tell you. Ever since then..."

Just like her image portrayed her to be at this moment, Araceli Arévalo's anxiety, caution and tentative speech made her nothing more than an unrespectable, frightened girl.

It was almost enough to make me lower my guard for a moment, but thankfully, I quickly remembered who it was I was talking to.

"Sana, Sona, Sophie, Emir, Selina; since that day, each of them came to me and expressed--"

So, even when she brought up their names directly to my face.

"―Araceli."

Interrupting her all of a sudden, she blinked at me with a hint of fluster on her face.

"Yes...?"

Perhaps it was only then that she realised her mistake, as her eyes seemed to grow wide upon examining my face.

"Say another word."

My voice sounded particularly cold even to me. If asked to explain why, I wouldn't be able to give you an exact answer; all I knew is that what she said triggered something inside me.

The names of those people.

After what they did to me, it wasn't something you should say to my face if you had any sense of self-preservation.

"...Cipher..."

I reflexively frowned at the abrupt sight of Araceli's face donning an expression of sympathy as she softly muttered my name.

This girl.

Acting as if she truly cared.

She appeared to know a lot of things at a glance and she presented a front that seemed to want to take my side.

But what did she know, really?

About me.

About anything.

Her actions have only caused me trouble in a multitude of ways.

Wanting to help but only bringing about further difficulty as a result of needless meddling.

Someone who has only ever been a hindrance, whether intentional or otherwise.

That alone is something to feel ashamed of, but it isn't even the worst of it.

At the end of it all, she has the gall to act like this?

The impudent, completely self-ignorant audacity to dare to feel bad for me?

Just who the hell does she think she is?

"..."

It was a genuine question, and I found myself desiring a genuine answer.

However, we now live in a time where answers are scarce, and genuineness even more so.

With Truth gone, it is simply how it is.

Of course, even in the past, I wouldn't have been able to answer such a question.

In fact, I had tried many times and subsequently failed.

Whether I was not allowed to know or whether fate determined it not to be the right time.

Regardless, Truth was obstructed.

Until the moment that I used Michael Guff's Measurement of Memories to relive the old days before the San Cinelia Playground incident.

Naturally, there was not enough time after that to figure anything out as I was immediately cast away and discarded into the Otherworld with even my only reliable ally, Truth, stripped away from me.

But now, I am back.

I have returned, and with Reality on my side.

So, as I had done with the World Tree just before, shouldn't it be possible?

To view the 'true essence'―the 'reality'―of the individual standing before me.

There is no reason why it would not be possible; only the reasons why I make it possible.

Thus, I focused on my eyes and affirmed my reality once again.

I can see the truth of whoever I lay my eyes on.

Immediately after stating that, my vision shifted similarly to earlier; all colours vanished, leaving only a black-and-white wireframe world.

Seeing it once again, the first thing to come to mind was the type of blank blueprints one might see in a 3D modelling software. As I had to 3D print various plastic parts in the past, I was more or less familiar with such models, but it was far more than just a little bewildering to see it applied to the entire world around me.

Still, rather than anything else, there was only one thing I focused on.

In this monochromatic, 3d wireframe world, there was but one thing that stood out.

The girl in front of me, whose appearance did not match the Araceli Arévalo I knew in the slightest.

A woman with straight black hair and black eyes, nothing at all like the princess-like, golden waves and glowing amethysts that could normally be seen donning her head. And that wasn't to mention her entirely different facial structure, too.

Just what... Who is that?

I was stunned speechless for a moment by the pure absurdity of what I was seeing, my mind staring at the woman's face, who appeared a few years older than the normal Araceli, and working hard to figure out why Reality was showing me this.

The woman was not a wireframe, unlike everything else around me. She had a real appearance. Someone almost indistinguishable from any other person you might see walking down the street.

No matter how I tried to recall a matching appearance to the woman in front of me, I couldn't find one in my memory.

At that moment, I noticed a book hanging around her neck with a chain.

Araceli wasn't carrying a book just a second ago, so was it directly related to the woman?

...Wait.

Suddenly, something occurred to me.

A young woman with black hair and a book.

Someone who matched that simple description, but who must also be hiding a deep secret.

No matter how bizarre, it felt familiar; I knew I had seen such a person somewhere.

―And then it hit me.

Liam Chiba-Wallace.

When I visited Ella's little brother in the hospital, I had him use his forcefully evolved Measurement on me.

At that time, it showed me three visions―visions I concluded to be of the past, present, and future.

Of course, that was a while ago now, but I still remember the vision of the present to this day.

Because, although it wasn't as shocking as the scene of the future, it was certainly puzzling enough to leave a lasting impact on me.

That vision was of a young woman in her room, reading a book on her bed and getting frustrated at its contents.

As far as I recall, she had the same black features as the woman in front of me, and although I don't remember the appearance of the book in the vision, I don't think it's too far-fetched to assume that it might be the same one.

After all, those visions were supposed to be something impactful, or at least have some kind of deeper, hidden meaning in any capacity.

Therefore, the fact the vision of the present was so focused on that book must be a key point.

"..."

My eyes were drawn to the object, and as I stared at it, I suddenly began to feel a sense of unease, like foreboding.

My logic said that it was something important I should get to the bottom of, but my instincts screamed in warning.

I don't know what it was warning, but...

Whether it was something dangerous or not, I had always been someone whose undying curiosity won out in the end.

Since the book hung by her neck with the front on the inside, I couldn't see the cover of the book from where I was standing, including the title, so I approached her and reached my hand out to her neck.

Naturally, since the world around me hadn't actually changed―just how I saw it―Araceli freaked out and tried to jump back when I moved so abruptly, but I just grabbed her and pulled her back in.

"Stop moving."

"!!"

At my words, empowered with Reality, her resistance immediately crumpled and her body stiffened still.

Araceli stared at me in a mix of confusion and fear as I looked at something invisible below her face.

I knew it must have seemed like I was acting nonsensical, but this wasn't the time to care.

The chain seemed to be fastened too tightly around the woman's neck to take off, and I didn't particularly care to remove it anyway, so instead I simply turned the book around.

Silently, my eyes laid upon the front cover of the book.

"..."

The book's title was the very first thing to catch my attention; plastered on the front in a sort of faded white hue and in a font that seemed as if the words themselves were cracked and falling apart.

[The Hero Wants to Save the World-Ending Villain!?]

It was a strange-sounding title, and not at all particularly attention-grabbing if you were to ask for my personal opinion. In fact, it sounded rather bland―maybe too long?

Regardless, this must be the book that the woman was reading in the vision.

At that time, I remember she was crying and grumbling about something that occurred in the story.

But... What relation did any of that have to Araceli?

Glancing briefly between the woman's tense face right in front of me and the book hanging just below her neck, I felt my curiosity begin to blaze.

All this time, I was curious.

Just what are you hiding, Araceli?