Chapter 63: CH. 63 | Eyes on the Past

Theo channeled his mana into the ring he wore once again. The Eternity Ring lit up with a golden glow, Theo closed his eyes, bracing himself to travel back through time.

Using the Eternity Ring would come with real consequences, especially with his Temporal Status only set to climb higher.

But Theo was willing to take that risk to get justice for Lily’s grandmother, and for Lily herself.

He pictured the location clearly, then focused his mind on pulling himself back a few hours before the incident. At first, Theo thought it wouldn’t work, but it did.

His eyes fixed forward as time began to unwind, the moment when Lily and Riley had found their grandmother collapsed on the floor came into view.

Not far enough!

Theo rewound the timeline even further, and a throbbing headache began to build. His eyes kept watching the scene play out in reverse, like a video being rewound.

He saw the moment when Lily’s grandmother had screamed for help, both hands clutching the knife buried in her stomach. But heartbreakingly, no one had come to save her.

This is awful. She was calling for help, and not a single person came.

Theo kept rewinding further, his hand instinctively reached forward, as if gripping something round. He turned it counterclockwise.

It turned out that beyond just focusing his mind, physically moving his hand like that actually worked, even more effectively, speeding up the rewind and saving him time using the ring’s power.

He saw the door open and someone walking in reverse. The knife pulled itself back out of Lily’s grandmother’s body and returned to the woman’s hand.

"W-What are you doing? Why did you bring a knife, Mona?" Lily’s grandmother asked, standing upright, her face pale.

Theo stopped turning his hand and stepped forward to get a clearer look. A woman walked in wearing a simple dress and a headscarf, carrying a knife from her own home.

"You... you’ve been ruining my business again!"

"I’m sick of you!" the heavyset middle aged woman snapped, the one Lily’s grandmother had called Mona.

The young man watched the scene play out carefully. Lily’s grandmother tried to grab Mona’s arm, but Mona’s greater strength sent her crashing to the floor.

She’s going to stab her.

Theo instinctively tried to grab Mona’s arm, but his hand passed straight through her.

He was startled at first, but quickly understood he was only an observer now, not someone who’d actually traveled back in time with the power to change anything.

Mona drove the knife into the old woman’s body. Lily’s grandmother screamed loudly, tears streaming down her face, repeatedly asking why Mona was doing this to her.

But Mona didn’t answer. She just stood there, silent, her face panicked, before rushing out of the house in a hurry. Theo had seen enough.

All right... that’s enough.

He ended the projection from the Eternity Ring’s power and pulled his consciousness back to the present timeline.

His eyes snapped open wide, his body jolted, his breathing ragged, his eyes wide with shock.

Avara was still there and immediately worked to calm Theo down. She even handed him a glass of water to help settle him.

"I know who hurt her..."

COUGH!

Theo instinctively covered his mouth and found himself vomiting blood, though not as much as before. Avara was clearly alarmed and rushed to get more water, telling him to drink plenty.

He tried to steady himself. He couldn’t afford to panic or let fear take over, worried it would only make his condition worse.

His eyes fixed ahead as his Temporal Status panel appeared, responding to his use of the ring’s power.

[Warning! Temporal Status percentage has increased]

[Temporal Status: 17%] [↑5%]

Another 5% jump, same as before. Could it be that traveling into the past always adds a fixed 5%, no matter how long I use it?

Theo drank more water. Eventually, his heart settled and his mind cleared. He got up from where he sat, wiping the blood off his palm with a handkerchief.

"Come with me, Ava," Theo said, "We need to catch someone."

Avara nodded in agreement, waved her hand, and shifted back into her crow form. She landed on Theo’s shoulder as he started walking out of the house.

From what he’d observed in the past, the culprit was Mona, a middle aged, heavyset woman who’d said something about her own business.

A fishy smell clung to her, suggesting she sold fish at the market. That was the only lead Theo had to go on.

Once he got there, Theo found the fish market bustling with people. But he couldn’t spot Mona anywhere.

"Excuse me, do you know where Mona’s stall is?"

"Fat Mona? She’s over there," a man said, "See that woman with the ponytail? That’s her daughter."

Theo turned to look where the man pointed, nodded, and walked over. Compared to the other stalls, Mona’s had plenty of stock left, but the whole area reeked of something rotten.

No wonder her stall’s struggling. She’s still selling spoiled fish and squid.

"Hey there, looking to buy something?" the woman asked, older than Theo, probably in her twenties.

Looks like she has no idea what her mother did.

"Where’s your mother?" Theo asked.

"My mom’s not feeling well. She’s at home right now. I’m running the stall today," the woman answered.

"Could I meet with her?"

The woman went quiet for a moment, eyeing Theo with a suspicious look. Theo caught onto her wariness and pulled out five copper coins, handing them over freely.

"Take this, and then take me to your mother."

She had no reason to refuse. She pocketed the money and agreed to lead Theo to her house. They walked quite a distance from the fish market, with the woman leading the way.

"What matters do you have with my mother?" she asked.

"Just a business matter. I’d like to work with her."

"That’s great! I’ll help you talk to her," the woman said.

Before long, they arrived at a small house, not much nicer than Lily’s grandmother’s.

The woman walked inside and called out to her mother, telling her someone wanted to discuss business.

Theo and Avara waited outside, and soon a woman named Mona came out to greet Theo, smiling broadly.

She looked exactly as Theo had seen her, but her demeanor was completely different.

When she’d hurt Lily’s grandmother, she’d been cold and vicious. Now, talking to Theo, she was warm and friendly.

"I’m Mona. Let’s talk inside," Mona said, "I’m sorry if—"

CHOKE!

Theo didn’t respond to a single word she said. Instead, he grabbed the heavyset woman by the throat, staring her down with a sharp gaze, "Cut the nonsense. I’m not interested in your rotten fish!"

"W-Who are you?! HELP!"

Mona’s daughter saw her mother being choked by Theo. She tried to pull him off, but Avara immediately clawed and pecked at her face.

In an instant, Avara shifted back into her human form.

"You’d better stay quiet if you don’t want to get involved!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Mona screamed furiously.

"I’ve got business with you," Theo said, leaning his face close to hers, "How about we talk about Lily’s grandmother’s recovery?"