In the name of the true god

"...That's how it happened. It's a pity that the twenty-two implicated wizards and resonance sorcerers escaped death; many were terrified, and in the end, only five were willing to follow me to rescue more of their kind and ultimately overthrow the Holy Church." Edmund showed a hint of regret. "And you? Have you found out who was following you?"

When it came to his situation, Jude sighed repeatedly: "Sigh, I've ruled out the suspicion of the first and second-level guards, and no one has been following me this week. The trail has completely gone cold."

"Could it be someone I'll send in the future to specifically inform you of the fat wizard's identity?" Edmund suggested. "I am considering this, and I was just about to confirm it with you."

"It shouldn't be, otherwise he wouldn't need to avoid me." Jude's eyes lit up, but after thinking it over, he shook his head. "Let's talk about other things first. I've collected a lot of old newspapers, but there aren't any major events in them that we can use to our advantage."

Edmund seemed to want to say something, but hesitated to speak due to his concerns: "Well..."

Jude forced a slight smile: "However, our experiment was still a success. I encountered a third-tier resonance mage named Vincent Monroe in the heresy ward of the Royal Capital's heavy prison. He is a loyal follower of yours."

"My loyal follower?" Edmund paused, taken aback.

He could quickly realize that this follower named Vincent Monroe must have become his companion someday in the future.

It was quite a strange feeling to hear it from Jude beforehand.

"That's not all. Even though we were complete strangers, he called me by name and secretly told me that he had been waiting for me in prison for twenty years." Jude asked and answered himself, "Do you know what that means? It means that I entrusted you here to arrange for Vincent Monroe to help me in the future, which is why he called me by name in prison."

"Did your future self interfere with the past, thus changing the present?"

"Yes," Jude nodded. "Even though that's what we were planning to do, it still feels terrifying when it actually happens..."

Edmund understood Jude's feelings.

Even after learning about this, he thought about it much further than Jude.

He paced back and forth thoughtfully, slowly revealing his opinion: "On the surface, this seems like the past interfering with the future, but we haven't even formulated a detailed plan yet, and Vincent Monroe is already waiting for you, so it also seems like the future is interfering with the past."

Jude also mentioned his thoughts: "I've also thought about what would happen if I deliberately went against what had already happened, such as intentionally giving up the commission. The most likely result is that I would unknowingly commission you again, so I would know in advance again, and then knowingly give up the adoption again, commission you again when I was unaware, and then know in advance again... How should I put it, if I don't comply, the timeline will fall into a wrong cycle over and over again."

"But as long as there is no intervention, the timeline should proceed normally, instead of non-intervention turning into intervention, and intervention turning into non-intervention, right?" Edmund asked.

"Yes, it's as if everything is predetermined. The so-called intervention, the so-called change of the past and the future, is actually just the original, predetermined timeline. If we suddenly choose to give up intervention, it will trigger the timeline's self-protection. Only by becoming compliant can we break free from the vicious cycle." Jude's head throbbed.

It's too complicated.

This is vastly different from what they imagined to be true.

For a moment, Jude was unsure whether, if he wanted to intervene in the past to influence the future, he should directly plan with Edmund in the mysterious space, or wait for the "results" of his intervention to appear in the "present" timeline, and then make targeted changes to the "past" based on those results.

Logically speaking, the former should be adopted.

After all, waiting for the 'result' to appear, then deducing exactly what specific content of the 'past' one has influenced, and then actually intervening—there is an undeniable flaw in this approach: where does one's decision to change the past actually come from?

This cannot be categorized with the chicken-or-egg theory.

"Let me entrust this to you first." Jude cleared his mind of the cluttered thoughts, deciding to go with the flow and avoid a timeline error that would cause the loop to stagnate. "You will encounter a resonance sorcerer named Vincent Monroe in the future. He will join your organization and be arrested and imprisoned on June 26th, 428 of the Divine Calendar. I need you to tell him in advance that he will meet a new prison guard named Jude Viera on October 14th, 448 of the Divine Calendar, and ask him to help Jude Viera master the application of the Law of Similarity."

"Vincent Monroe, June 26, 428, October 14, 448... I've got it." Edmund repeated it to himself several times, memorizing the specific dates.

"Ha, I really admire your execution. A simple request, and you've managed to carry it out precisely for a full twenty-nine years." Jude still remembered how deeply shocked he was when he heard Vincent Monroe say that he had waited for him for twenty years.

"I didn't expect it to actually happen either." Edmund frowned. "What do you think we should do next?"

Jude pinched the bridge of his nose: "Vincent Monroe is also seeking my help."

"What?"

"He asked me to try to rescue the entangled wizards and resonance sorcerers imprisoned in the Royal Capital Heavy Prison," Jude said. "To be honest, I had never thought about it before he made the request, because the Royal Capital Heavy Prison is extremely well-guarded, and no prisoner has ever successfully escaped."

Edmund suddenly realized.

No wonder Jude kept asking him about the details of the prison break.

He asked, "Since the heavy-duty prison in the capital of Florence is so well-guarded, you probably can't use my method. Is there anything else I can do to help you?"

Jude had intended to make a joke, hoping Edmund wouldn't attempt another prison break, but after a wry smile, he decided against it: "This isn't something that can be resolved quickly. Let me spend more time with Vincent Monroe and discuss it further."

"Alright." Edmon paused. "So, would you like to continue with the matter of having someone go to the docks beforehand to ascertain the fat wizard's identity and then relay the information to you?"

Jude thought for a moment.

If I give up now, it will just match the 'result' of not being able to find out the fat wizard's true identity for half a month.

What if we choose to execute it?

Wouldn't that conflict with the outcome that has already occurred?

Or is it a disguised indication that Edmund's promise will ultimately fail due to unforeseen circumstances?

Not necessarily.

There is still room for verification.

"Do it, but you must pay attention to the timing." Jude emphasized, "You need to have this person meet me directly at 27 Hearthstone Street, a suburb of the capital of Florence, at 9 p.m. on the 15th of October in the year 448 of the Divine Calendar."

October 15th, that is today.

But 9 PM on October 15th belongs to the future.

Since we haven't experienced the future yet, the outcome is not yet determined. Because the outcome is not predetermined, there is naturally no conflict between 'intervention' and 'outcome'.

If someone actually comes to my door after I get off work today, it means that Edmund has once again demonstrated amazing execution ability.

If no one contacts you, it means the task has failed.

Most importantly, regardless of whether it succeeds or not in the end, Edmund must try his best to carry it out. Otherwise, he will not be able to confirm whether the fact that no one met with him in the end means he has failed or whether Edmund chose to give up because he foresaw failure.

Edmund noted the time and then asked, "Should we also send someone to follow and monitor the people monitoring you?"

"Forget it." Jude disagreed. "The person monitoring me could easily kill the priest, so it's not so easy to be tracked back. Besides, we don't know how many things we'll have to get involved in in the future. If I delegate too much, you'll be under a lot of pressure."

Edmund wholeheartedly agreed.

We already finalized two commissions during our meeting today.

If we arrange to meet a few people every time we meet, I'm afraid I'll have to spend all my energy planning for the future.

Jude said, still not entirely convinced, "Edmund, repeat the contents of both requests again. I need to make sure you remember them."

Edmund repeated it slowly and deliberately:

"First, arrange for someone to go to the capital docks of the Kingdom of Florence in mid-September of the year 448 of the Divine Calendar to secretly investigate the true identity of the fat wizard who has just rented a basement room at the docks. Then, at 9 PM on October 15th of the year 448 of the Divine Calendar, go to number 27 Hearthstone Street in the suburbs of the capital and inform Jude Viera of the fat wizard's identity."

"Secondly, in the future, I will entrust Vincent Monroe with the task of voluntarily entering the capital's heavy prison and lying low until October 14th of the Christian calendar year 448, to help a new prison guard named Jude Viera master the application of the similarity law."

He deliberately went into hiding in the capital's heavy prison.

Jude noticed an important detail, which Edmund perfected himself.

So... was Vincent Monroe imprisoned in the capital's heavy prison because of him?

But it was because he met Vincent Monroe in prison that he asked Edmund to ask Vincent Monroe to help him in the future.

If he hadn't met Vincent Munro in prison, how could he have entrusted Edmund with the task, and how could Vincent Munro have voluntarily been imprisoned at Edmund's behest?

None of this would have happened if Vincent Monroe hadn't been imprisoned...

Does the past influence the future, or does the future influence the past?

Has the timeline actually changed?

Could it be that everything I've done is truly predetermined?