Assimilate All Talents

Zaman chuckled at the question. "You said something similar when you met the princess for the first time. Like I told you before, don’t overthink it. Just be yourself. You did fine then, and you’ll be fine now."

Sol smiled sheepishly, knowing Zaman was right. "Ah, you’re right. I just can’t help overthinking things sometimes."

He was nervous not only about meeting her but also about convincing her to help him track his parents. Since he didn’t know how much the Saintess knew or how the meeting would truly go, he had already prepared for the worst. He was ready to fight his way out of the palace if he had to, meet up with Amber, and use one of the escape routes she’d prepared to flee the city.

But despite all these plans, Sol knew things could still go very wrong.

’If she foresaw everything, she might’ve already put countermeasures in place... I just have to hope it all works out.’

While Sol worried silently, Zaman, misunderstanding his anxiety, tried to change the subject. "You know, the princess often asks about you."

"She does?"

Zaman nodded. "Every time we meet, she manages to subtly ask what you’re up to. I suggest you visit her sometime. She certainly wouldn’t mind."

Although Zaman’s statement was true, there was a deeper reason he wanted Sol to spend time with the princess. Recently, he’d noticed signs of exhaustion in her, both mentally and physically.

Princess Valerie had finished her studies, and though this should have reduced her workload, it only increased her responsibilities. She was now tasked with receiving representatives and diplomats, overseeing the council, and dealing with the massive amounts of paperwork originally handled by her father, the king, whose mysterious illness showed no signs of improvement. Although she hadn’t officially been declared queen, Valerie had already begun to fill that role. At night, she continued to push the limits of her talent skill, trying to turn it into a law technique. Needless to say, her workload had only increased.

She still drank potions to stave off exhaustion, but her body had begun to develop a tolerance to them. With the potions not being as effective as before, she continued to work but hid her fatigue. Most didn’t notice this change but Zaman saw through her facade. He had urged her to slow down and rest, but she ignored his warnings as her job was important and there was a lot to catch up on. Zaman hoped Sol might be able to talk some sense into her.

Unaware of these issues, Sol slowly nodded. "Sure, I’ll visit her when I can."

’That is, if I don’t end up being chased out of the city.’

...

When they arrived at the Saintess’ chambers, Zaman bid Sol farewell. Sol took a deep breath, preparing for whatever might happen, and knocked on the door.

A voice from inside called out, "It’s open, come in."

Sol entered the large, well decorated room. Aside from the typical furniture, a peculiar table with runes etched into it caught his eye.

Looking around, he saw Saintess Wendy for the first time. She wore a white cloak that covered most of her body, revealing only her face and short blue hair.

Sol gave a short bow. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Saintess."

She stood up from the couch and nodded. "It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Sol. I’ve heard a lot about you. Do you know why I called you here?"

Sol shook his head. He’d been wondering about that himself.

"That’s fine. Before I explain, can you tell me what you know about fate?"

Sol found the question a bit strange but answered anyway. "Not much, really. You can see events in the future, and with that knowledge, we can plan and prepare to prevent or avert disasters. But I imagine it’s not something easy to do."

He spoke from experience. With [True Sight (Variant)], he had glimpsed the future before. However, despite knowing what would happen, he had failed to respond in time to save Lapis. Had he recognized the blood on his hands wasn’t his own or the orc Kirgar’s, he might’ve deduced that someone else would be gravely injured.

Wendy smiled approvingly. "It definitely isn’t easy. You’d be surprised how many people assume I know everything before it happens. In reality, I only catch brief glimpses of the future. But even those glimpses can provide a lot of information. The reason I called you here is because you’re like me, aren’t you?"

"Like you?" Sol didn’t understand.

"It took me a while to figure it out, but you can see the future too, can’t you? That’s the only way you could’ve changed the future between our kingdom and the Frostaxe Clan."

’So this is why she called me?’ Relief washed over Sol as he realized this wasn’t a worst case scenario. He was so relieved that denying her claim never even crossed his mind, and he nodded.

"Yeah, one of my skills has a very low chance of showing me a premonition, and it’s only happened once so far. It was during our chase with the A-rank orc in the Orna Mountains, and it led us to where the dragon Orna lived. But I don’t understand how you knew it was me who saw the future."

"Ah, that part was easy." she said with a touch of enthusiasm. "To change the future, someone has to know about it first. The future is mostly unchangeable because how can it change if no one knows what’s going to happen? For example, when I first foresaw the legendary fruit in the Orna Mountains, I saw it falling into the hands of orcs. But after I informed others of its location, my next vision showed your squad acquiring the fruit and returning unharmed. So when I suddenly saw another one of my previous visions change, and I hadn’t acted yet, I realized someone else must have seen the future and changed it. After piecing together the events, I figured it had to be you. You led your team into the mountain cave, you negotiated with Orna, and you prevented an all out war from breaking out, paving the way for peace."

Sol nodded along, her logic making sense, but there was one thing she’d misunderstood.

"You’re mostly right." Sol said. "But you’re wrong about the reason why peace happened between us and the orcs."