Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume7

Novel Illustrations

These are the illustrations used in volume 7:

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  Cover

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  Page 015

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  Page 049

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  Page 067

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  Page 075

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  Page 097

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  Page 103

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  Page 141

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  Page 161

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  Page 229

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  Page 261

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  Page 295

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  Page 296

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  Page 297

Prologue

The first to know of the sealed city’s (Ostia) revival was neither men, mice nor cockroaches, but the crows with dark colored wings.

At dusk, as the sun was setting over the western lake, the first one cawed in a corner of the garbage dump. The one next to it agreed, and the cawing quickly became the will of the flock to fly up, a handful of black clouds floating in the red sky.

The setting sun shone down on the clouds from below, casting a shadow that stretched out into space. The bird somehow managed to carry its body that had fed too much into the air current, and looked down at the town below. Lights began to flash in the town below them, along with smoke that contained moisture.

Kaw, this is a good place. The bird seemingly cried out to the eastern night.

Kaw, they all agreed.

Until recently, this area had been nothing but a glistening lake and a cluster of abandoned ruins with long shadows. Recently however, it had become an attractive dump, crawling with people who are worth teasing. It was a pity, but even with humans gathering, there might not be sufficient food scraps produced. This place hardly produced fresh garbage, and seemed to only have a few interesting people. In this respect, the people here were very good. They were noisy, energetic, and carefree, and furthermore, produced heaps of garbage. If impossible, they wished to remain with these humans tomorrow, the day after, and beyond.

With that thought in mind, the crows were approaching the eastern hill.

Gaw!!

It was a a warning signal. Their wings and beaks were immediately ruffled and they screamed at each other like an echo. The chief raised its voice as though it was attacked by a beast on the ground. It straightened its back, took the lead, and looked down. The threat was at the top of the hill.

It looked similar to the garbage dump that the crows loved. At the top of the hill, in a large area where a school used to be, all kinds of waste materials were piled up to imitate some building. It was a building filled with trash, and there was nothing normal within, all made up of a complicated combination of broken things.

That garbage dump was on the rampage.

"Gachigachigachigachigachi."

This deformed looking court resembled a nightmare that had been cut out and pasted onto its body, , and yet seemingly had life as it shook in rage. The tiles attached to the parapets screamed, and the outer walls wriggled like bellows. Each duct clacked and snapped its fangs.

The crows circled the hilltop, cawing warily. They cast their gaze deep into the building, trying to gather as much information as they could before sunset.

The creature was like an old wreck, its chest gaping open, exposing the heart of the central hall for all to see.

There, the raven found a jewel.

The jewel was in the shape of a girl, standing in the middle of the dump, staring straight at those who were defiling her. She wore no gravekeeper's clothes, no shovel, not even a dream. She was just looking ahead, possessing only her life.

Right when the crows exchanged looks with her, the jewel took a deep breath and said.

"Waaaahhhh!"

She suddenly shouted.

It was like the helpless howl of a young wolf on a moonlit night, or the trembling cry of a crow on its maiden flight.

Kaw, the chief responded once to the young beast. The murder of crows were similarly affected and started. They were thoroughly motivated, as though they would scream forever if I could.

But the chief quickly regained its composure and led the herd into the mountains in an arc. It silenced the crows that were having a good time, without question. Night was almost upon them.

The chief looked behind it one last time. There, two young beasts were running out as if they were dancing.

Hopefully, the crows could be with them tomorrow, and the day after.

 

̟

+

 

Destruction and chaos. Blows and sword fights. Flames and light lights.

The trial was a mess.

The air was filled with dust, and the deformed furniture rattled as they got up to attack the people. Bendo and the other old politicians, with their empty fists, showed surprising strength and defeated the monsters, while Dee, with her head in her hands, hid under her desk.

Amidst it all, Ai and Alice were the only two people left standing at their spot in the room.

Looking up at the sky, Alice let out a big sigh and said,

"Now Ostia and Coven are at war…"

At this very moment, the two sides were in a hostile state.

The battle had already begun.

"…I guess lots of people will die…"

Alice said with narrowed eyes.

"…Do you regret it?

Ai glanced up at him.

"A little."

Alice answered, not hiding his feeleings. His smile was honest and childlike, exactly the same as when she first met him.

"But I'll live. That's what I decided."

Nn—Ai lowered her head and answered so. Just moments ago, she begged for him to live, and at this moment, she was a little embarrassed to remember..

"You say that, but what about you? Do you have any regrets?"

This time, Ai was asked.

"I do, A little."

"……"

"I betrayed my dreams…and I affirmed it. Even now, I feel like my body is being torn apart. But I learned that…I can’t betray myself."

Ai gently lowered her eyes and placed her hand on her chest, where it pounded greedily.

"So, for now, I'll just go on with it."

It did not mean she had cleared her doubts, nor that she resolved herself.

It was simply that she I still had a reason.

"I see…"

It seemed Alice too was lost. However, he still made a decision and reached his hands out to Ai.

There was an iron chain holding the accused captive.

"Take these off, please. "

"Yes…doneIshita."

Using the lever principle and her overwhelming arm strength, Ai removed the chain.

Alice rotated his shoulders a couple of times or so to loosen the stiffness.

"Come on, Ai, let's do this, together."

He smiled.

"Yes."

Ai replied.

"Let's go, Mr. Alice."

Then Ai suddenly shouted.

"Wooaahhh!"

A beat later, Alice laughed.

"Woooooooooohhhhhh!"

And so they returned to the world.

The reality in front of them was rowdy like a festival.

Chapter 1 - The Wind's Solitudə

Part I

 

The court, which had been solemn despite its odd shape, revealed its true self with every passing second.. The walls and floor cracked open to reveal a cut-out human form, and the dragons on the candlestick flapped the earth with flame in their mouths. Chairs rose up, no longer allowing humans to sit on them, and tables ran for their supper. The nightmarish, deformed army seemed to be a rebellion of oppressed furniture.

Ai and Alice ran through the gap like a whirlwind.

"Miss Dee!"

The adults were fighting the monsters in the middle of the hall, piling up the broken furniture that had stopped forming as they formed a circle. Ai and Alice backed each other up as they slipped past Madame and ran up the steps of the hall.

"Miss Dee!"

Dee was shriveled in the middle of the adults as though she was participating in a disaster drill.

"Ai!"

With a shudder, Dee popped out from under the desk and hugged Ai tightly.

"Thank goodness! Thank goodness! And Alice too! Thank goodness both of you are alright!"

"M-Miss Dee, it hurts."

"Oops, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I'm so glad…"

"Leave the talk for later!"

Julie, wrestling with a long bench , shouted.

"…I have some questions right now…but I’ll be patient for now…"

His eyes shone darkly for some reason as he stared coldly at Alice.

"Hahahahaha! Come, you monsters! I'll make you into some fine sized firewood!"

Around them, Bendo and the other old politicians were grabbing weapons from wherever they could find "Hah!" "Take this!" they yelled away, showing that experience still counts.

The battle was a stalemate.

"…How dare you do this…?"

But only for now.

"How dare you ruin…everything…you ruined… my precious trial court…"

Madame Express Legion's Hive.

The monster-killing monster was livid.

In the center of the hall, a girl in a maid's uniform was trembling with rage. Her young face was tinged with dark colors, and her hair fluttered in the air like a white snake. Her lips were lifted in the shape of a smile, which eventually tore the edges of her lips into a huge one.

"Come on, iron bugs! Suppress them now!"

As soon as the order was given, more of these deformed shapes appeared from the ceiling. These things called the iron bugs were unlike the other furniture, and were soldiers specialized for combat.

A thousand-bladed mantis crawled about, and beetles with cannon as their horn pointed their dark muzzle at us. The court's ban on weapons was broken at this moment.

But the same could be said for the opponent.

"You've got some good stuff here."

Alice spread his arms wide and grabbed two iron bugs, the purpose of his gesture unknown to both his allies and his enemies.

"? Fire!"

Madame commanded, ignoring the fates of the two iron bugs. The rest of the bugs fired their heavy weapons all over their bodies without any concern for their allies. Hundreds of rounds, small and large, and ten kilograms of killing intent threatened Alice.

"I'll be borrowing these."

At the center of it all, Alice merely laughed it off as though he was caught in a drizzle, knocked over the two iron bugs next to him, and ripped off the right and left arms.

The torn right arm was an automatic shotgun.

The torn left arm was a seven-millimeter chain gun.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! The sounds that echoed did not resemble gunshots, but instead sounded like water splashed onto oil as the bullets were released into the air.

The space was filled with ripples. Each ripple created by the collision of the bullets was overwhelmed by a new ripple before it could spread. The killing intent of the iron bugs was like a raging torrential downpour, disrupting the narrow space into shreds.

But just as no storm could ever reach the bottom of a lake,

Not a single bullet touched a human life.

Klang!

"Buzzer Beater."

Alice said, dumping the empty gun into a pile of bullets.

"I'm not gonna let those guns do their job."

"G-grrrrrrrr…"

"Ai, do it now!"

Ai did not need to be told.

In an instant, Ai was behind Madame, and twisted the latter’s arms.

"Please surrender!"

"What? When did you?"

"Please surrender and have these monsters back down!"

Ai exerted more strength in her arm locks.

"Ow, ow, ow! It hurts, Master Ai, it hurts! How cruel!"

Madame pleaded with the expression of a young child, and Ai was practically defenseless against that..

"Th-then please stop them soon! If not—"

"What will you do then!? Will you break my arms? Are you saying that you will do such a cruel thing, Master Ai? You are not human!"

It was then that Ai realized she was going to break someone else’s arms, and she was taken aback. She had a further look at Madame’s delicate arms, and was rattled further. It was as easy to break her arms as it would be to break a baby’s, but it was very difficult for Ai to break a baby’s arms.

"It hurts! It hurts! My arms are breaking! Maybe they are! Please, Master Ai! Please be a little gentle …"

Right when Ai became tentative and accidentally eased up,

"Enough with the lousy act."

Dee ran out of the safe zone (under the table).

"Ai, don't be fooled by the stupid words."

Dee stood in front of Madame and looked down at the latter arrogantly.

"Ku…"

Madame frowned in disgust, and Dee simply ignored her and continued with a proposal.

"Now, Madame, let's negotiate."

"Negotiate?"

Madame, and everyone else, was surprised by these words.

"…Did I mishear you, Master Dee? I thought negotiations have already broken down…"

"Tch tch tch, you don't understand, Madame. Look, negotiations don't end just because they break down. How about we negotiate on the basis of the breakdown?"

"What do you mean…?"

"Let’s sort things out."

She raised her index finger.

"Madame, your goal was to ‘seal the black surface and Alice’, and this was confirmed through prior negotiations with Alice. However, Alice had a change of heart and there was strong opposition from the public, so the deal was reversed."

"Yeah, …."

Madame groaned, gritting her teeth. This showed Madame too was a victim. She was merely acting according to the deal she had made with Alice.

"But this is not a good situation for either of us. We don't want to go to war, and neither do you, Madame. So, Madame, you have to stop."

"What…does that mean?"

"In more ways than one."

Dee smiled.

"Hey Madame, what can I do to get you to stop? If you say that breaking your arms won’t get you to stop, and that you won’t stop until your heart gets ripped out, we’ll be more than glad to oblige."

Dee’s smile had a tinge of mercy.

Yes, if you need to be forced to stop, we’ll be glad to use that force."

"…You are really a terrifying person …?"

It was then that for the first time, Madame seemed to realize how horrifying the person before her was.

"Are you saying you shall kill me?"

"Yes."

"……But that will be impossible."

Madame hesitated for a moment.

"You know what I mean, Dee Engsy. We are no longer at a point where we can be stopped by ‘so what’."

She sneered.

"…So what about the limbs? And what about the heart?What's wrong with your limbs? What's wrong with your heart?

Crack.

There was a very unpleasant sound in Ai's arms.

"Heh?"

That was not all.

Crack crack crack crack crack crack crack.

"Awawawawa.."

"What about the body? What about the mind ahhhhhh?

"Madame, wait, don't run away!"

Madame's body disintegrated in Ai's arms. Her arms broke, her intestines spilled out to reveal the contents of a doll’s stomach, and finally, even the head fell.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

With a pop, Madame's head bounced down the stairs like a ball falling from a child's hand.

"Ufufufufufufufufufufufufu!"

She ended up in the middle of the hall, atop the pile of iron bugs that Alice had smashed.

Like a broken doll being abandoned, Madame too landed atop the pile.

And then the head started to laugh.

"Gachigachigachigachigachigachi!"

"What!?"

Madame laughed. She gnawed at the broken furniture and opened her mouth to laugh out loud. The broken junk was further disintegrated, and then devoured. Nobody knew whether it was some ability or a divine curse, but once the junk passed through her throat, it instantly became her flesh and blood. The lid of the piggy bank became her esophagus, and the broken candlestick became her spine. Internal organs, muscles, torso, limbs, Madame's body was rebuilt in no time.

"Fushhhhhhhhhhh!"

It was a giant made of junk.

"—If you wish to stop me by ripping my heart out, by all means."

It was more than five times taller than Ai. This giant that was formed through the heap of junk probably weighed at least 50 times that of Ai.

"Commmeeeee, ddddooo yoooouurrr bbeeeessst ttoooo riiipppp myyyy hhheeaaarrrtttt oooouuuuttttt! That is, if I still have one!!!!!"

The junk giant laughed as it shook its entire body. There were fangs all over its body, and mouths.

"Take this!"

Madame simply shook her fist, which she had made by blending together the judge's seat, the defense attorney's seat, and the defendant's seat.

Even in her sleep, Ai could dodge this blow from Madame, who was at this point huge and slow.

But it was a different matter for the people around her.

No! A moment later, Alice’s eyes were screaming.

Ai spread her hands in front of the fist. She did not think she could withstand the attack.

However, she might be able to deflect it.

She had no idea what would happen to her after that.

Still, Ai stood before the destruction.

 

Part II

 

Fist, light, and flame.

The tri colored lights raged through the hall. The destruction was overwhelmed by more destruction.

"You can’t do this, Madame. You can't just go around killing everyone out of a sudden."

The man said, holding up a white-hot fist.

"Yes. The Fist over there is correct."

The boy who floated in the air amidst the light shrugged.

"……"

Last of all, the noblewoman in a dress of flames glared silently.

"Gaga…gagagagachi…gagagagachigagchi."

Three mere blows. Three personal attacks caused Madame to be completely battered.

Destructive Fist: Maccia Electus.

Dust. Dust Believer.

Third Angel. Noellfaen.

These people who were no less gifted than others, invited to be the jury here, saved, saved Ai and the others in the nick of time.

"You guys!"

Piiuuu. Dee, the first to run off, immediately ran back and started hammering at Maccia’s chest.

"You guys are late! You should have saved us earlier!"

"Don't get us wrong."

Maccia replied, blocking a spinning punch with a right hand.

"We're not on your side at all—it’s just that we’re stepping in as this is overdoing it."

"Gaga…gagaga…why…"

A voice echoed from the burned flesh.

'Why? Ladies and gentlemen? Why…are you doing this to this …?"

Madame had already begun to regenerate. Just as it was impossible to fold sand, and impossible to cut water, no matter how strong their abilities were, it was not easy to destroy Madame’s body that was made of scrap metal, even for the three of them.

"I'm saying that you broke the law, Madame."

"Broke the law…?"

Madame's mailbox face showed a puzzled look.

"That's right. You people make up your own laws and pervert them. You don’t obey the laws you made, and that's too much."

Maccia continued.

"I broke the…law…"

"You dare say you didn’t? How do you explain this situation then? You passed the verdict on Alice, but you never went through the proper judiciary process when the entire town was opposed. Are you intending to destroy a whole town without going through the due process? "

"I…I…broke the law."

One had to wonder if Madame heard those words as she began to mumble only those words with her crushed lips.

Ai had a bad feeling about this.

"Of course. Shouldn’t you stop right now? Since the townspeople are going to obstruct the punishment that is Alice's sealing, they too should be judged on their interference before you process."

"I broke the law…"

"…?"

Ai exchanged glances with Dee, who too showed a similarly perturbed look in her face. What Maccia said was mostly what Dee had been trying to say earlier. This persuasion of reason however was beginning to rot, emitting an extraordinary stench.

"And the people backing you don't want you to do this..."

"How can I possibly…break the law……?"

"—Hmm?"

Finally, Maccia seemed to notice the disturbing signs.

"I am…the keeper of the law…the foundation of justice…and I…I…"

"Hey, Madame?"

The broken scrap metal face formed an expression of anger. The excessive rage caused the giant's body to appear too small, and as the lips pursed, it caused the body to rip apart, the trembling caused the body to disintegrate further.

"How can I…how can I…how can I…how cangagagagagaga—"

"Hey!"

And the giant abruptly collapsed.

Ash to ash, trash to trash, and the ramshackle body crumbled back into junk.

One of the twisted plates rolled away, rolling all the way to Ai before stopping.

The sound died away, and silence fell upon the area.

"…What is this?"

Ai murmured in the painful silence. No one was truly happy about this collapse, and even those of terrible intuition knew firsthand that the current silence was going to be broken badly.

"Kan ka kan!"

 

The silence was broken by the sound of a hammer.

"Judgment …."

Gan gan gan!

The sound of the gavel came out of nowhere.

"To the town of Ostia and the three members of the jury…."

A voice from an unknown source declared.

"You are in contempt of court …for obstructing justice… breach of trust…and everything else…"

Gan gan gan gan gan gan!

The sound of the gavel no longer produced any dignity as it hammered at everyone's eardrums like an annoying cicada rain.

Gan gan gan gan gan gan gan gan!

And,

"Capital punishment shall be meted out."

Gachi.

Madame became a huge smile.

Gachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachi!

"Are you serious…"

Alice paled.

"… No way. At this time…?"

Alice, Dee, and the jury all turned pale. Ai had no idea what was going on.

 

"Madame has ‘fallen’…"

 

The words formed hordes of uneasiness and despair that spread through the evening darkness.

"I can't believe Coven is going to be 'selfish'…negotiations won’t work…the town will be destroyed…"

Dee fell to her knees weakly.

The lights on the walls went out one by one, and the area was engulfed in darkness. Madame’s gnawing sounds intensified in turn, surrounding the crowd from everywhere.

"Circle up!"

Julie shouted, telling off the disheartened people. Everyone straightened their backs and obeyed without complaint.

Gachigachigachigachigachigachi!!

The walls, ceilings, and earth trembled, and the odd but elegant trial hall collapsed, engulfed in a wave of laughter.

The circle was barely afloat in the sea of destruction, like a small boat bobbing on the waves.

"Ai, find Madame! Where is she?"

"I'm on it!"

Ai used her keen hearing to search for the source of the sound. She listened carefully to the sounds coming from all directions, searching for the source of the real voice. However,

"Ai! Hurry up! Where’s Madame? What the hell is this thing!?"

"Gachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachi!!!!"

"Speak up already! Which one's the real one?"

"They're all real!"

Ai shouted.

"We're inside Miss Madame!"

And Madame smirked.

In the midst of her laughter, the humans turned pale.

 

+

 

Scar wished she had not listened to Julie to begin with.

 

The battle had begun once again in front of the main gate.

"Hold the line! Don't let a single one of them get into the town! Fire, fire, fire! "

The citizen soldiers led by the bearded guard captain shouted and shot at the iron bugs that kept assaulting the main gate. The armament ranged from recoilless guns to flintlock rifles of varying standards and ages, as if the exhibits of an entire historical museum was in full display. Some of them brought out full plate iron armors, and for some reason, some of them were even wearing them.

"Erm, I do not have to participate?"

Scar was left behind at the ruin of a café about fifty meters downhill from the main gate, sitting down on the only surviving chair.

"Of course!"

The young soldier, and therefore the one assigned to this location, answered.

"Miss Scar, your work is already done! Please sit there!"

Her job was to basically use her outstanding senses to observe the situation inside the court, and determine the best time for the trial to be overturned. It was a very important job, and only Scar could do it. Please stay outside with Celica—that was what Julie said, but in hindsight, that explanation was basically to keep her away from danger.

"You two, please stay put! I'll protect you!"

Yah! Ta! The boy swung his spear wildly, and was dressed in full plate armor for some reason. It seemed that in this boy's mind, Scar was a ‘weak woman who should be protected’.

In fact, it was the other way around.

"…Haa."

"You've been sighing a lot since a while ago."

"…I guess. I never used to sigh."

"Are you worried about something?"

"…There is plenty for me to worry about."

Scar whined away at the same angle as she sighed.

"'First of all, I am worried about you, who is before me. I am also worried about the battlefield out there, Julie who is in there, and obviously, the situation of the town too. I have yet to take in the dry laundry, and what about dinner tonight?"

"E-erm, Miss Scar?"

"And—I am also concerned…about the voice."

"The voice?"

The boy asked, but Scar was too pensive to respond.

Yes, ‘that voice’.

The voice that made Scar decide to fight.

 

(Aaahhhh!)

 

Ai's scream.

It was a voice that sent chills down the spine just by the mere thought. It was the first time Scar had ever heard Ai's voice like that. It was a scream that embodied despair and sorrow.

How much misfortune had befallen her? How much despair had tormented her heart?

What was Ai doing at this moment?

Scar was troubled.

(Is she crying? Or is she unable to cry? Is there nobody with her? Why am I not with her)

Scar regretted deeply, thinking that she should not have listened to Julie at all.

"Daw!"

A hand kept tapping her cheek.

"…Celica?"

"Uuu~"

One had to wonder when she woke up. The Great Goddess of Hunger and Fullness. The unrivaled baby Celica Hecmatika reached out and patted Scar's cheek.

"…Are you hungry?"

"Uu!"

No! The baby made such a noise. Scar ignored the baby's insistence, "Yes yes" and checked the diaper and skin.

But it seemed neither was the right answer, for Celica's squeamishness did not abate.

She's a child who rarely squirms, and yet…Scar tried all means, but Celica kept pouting, and Scar was at her wit's end,

"I guess she’s saying ‘don’t worry’ or something?."

The boy echoed Celica's sentiments.

The boy gently stroked the baby's head, his full plate armor clanking. Instantly, Celica seemed content and stroked Scar in the same way.

This time, the feelings were conveyed to Scar.

"…Yes, I am sure of it."

As if to express her gratitude, Scar hugged Celica gently.

"I am certain, certain that Ai will be fine. I am sure everyone will be safe."

It was then that Scar decided to wait, believing that,

"Gyyyaaaaa!"

A tremendous scream erupted from the entrance to the courthouse.

"What happened!?"

It was a scene where one had to doubt the eyes. The courthouse, which had been a perfectly decent, if oddly shaped building, was slithering like a snake.

"Back off, both of you!"

The snake writhe about, closing the entrance as if it were trying to hold back vomit. One could see tremendous light and destruction rampaging there.

The court exploded as though it took a bite of gunpowder.

"Gyyyaaaaa!"

There were people spilling out of the battered and open entrance. The court vomited like a frog that had swallowed a bee. This time, humans were ejected.

The entrance then rose up high like a sickle head, and threw the two of them into the air as if to fling out its broken teeth.

"Ai!"

Scar immediately began to run.

 

+

 

"Kyyyyyyaaaaaaaa!"

"Woaaahhhhhhhh!"

Thinking that she had managed to escape, Ai jumped out and found herself in the sky. From about 15 meters in the air, she looked at the ground to see the familiar main gate, the unfamiliar iron bugs, people wielding guns and the security captain frantically shouting "Stop shooting!" Dee and Julie were further downhill, looking at her worriedly. Ai just felt everyone was so small, like miniatures.

Before her was the town of Ostia that was dyed red.

She could see the ripples of the glistening lake. She saw a flock of crows returning to their nests, their shadows casted over a hundred meters on the ground. At a camp downtown, there was someone looking at her in shock.

I'm home.

That was what Ai felt like saying to that person for some reason.

The fall was about to end.

She braced herself for the full impact of eight meters, while her body was trapped by gravity.

"Ai!"

For some reason, Scar was there at the landing point of the fall.

"M-Miss Scar? Why?"

As a Gravekeeper herself, Scar would have known that Ai was in no danger at this height. And yet, Scar held Celica in her left hand and stretched her right hand fully up into the sky.

"Alright! Ai~! Alice~! Come here! A little to the right, Maccia!"

"Don't order me around!"

And then, there were others who joined in.

"E-Everyone, move back! Please move back!"

"Come now, girl! Come to papa!"

"Please listen to me!"

"It's all right!"

The large man who had a communication issue spread his arms wide.

"I’ll definitely catch you!"

You can't say no to me! Julie laughed out loud.

"…!"

Ai had nothing more to say, nor did she have the time to as she landed into the crowd. The impact that she was supposed to feel reached many hands, leaving her completely unscathed.

"———~!"

As she sank into the soft hands, Ai felt something escape her mind and something enter her heart.

"Ai!"

Scar hugged Ai together with Celica.

"Ai, are you fine? Are you hurt? Are you in pain? Do you feel unbearable?"

Scar was surprisingly worried.

"I'm fine, Miss Scar."

Ai hugged Scar and Celica back with as much strength as Scar did.

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

Scar blinked.

"…Well, that is weird. You certainly look fine. "

Daw! "I told you so!" Celica seemingly boasted.

"I'll tell you about what happened later. But for now...Mr. Alice!"

"Okay—so, old man. How about you drop me off?"

"How about you get off me, you bastard!!"

For some reason, Alice landed on Julie, and then he unwillingly hopped off, looking at everyone.

"Everyone, get out of here right now."

He pointed behind.

"Get as far away from the town as you can."

Over there, Madame was devouring herself.

The courthouse was completely disfigured and no longer a building at all. A fungus-like fluid made of junk was swallowing the walls and pillars from the inside, and the iron worms that had been guarding the building squealed away as they were swallowed one after another.

Madame was about to be reborn as something else. The pie of flesh that filled the fence of the school looked like an overgrown egg or a cocoon—or a rotting pus, or a tumor.

At the moment, Madame was still too busy remaking herself to approach them. Needless for Alice to say, it was obvious to everyone.

There's no way they could fight this thing.

"No way."

But there was a spirit that put such fear to rest.

"I'm staying."

Dee walked in, carrying an old assault rifle. Everyone was shocked. It was no longer a matter of whether it suited her at all. The sight of a girl and a gun combination just felt so painful.

But Dee herself did not seem to have any feelings about it; she just propped her gun and sai,

"If we run away here, we'll be running away forever. I don't want that."

"Are you stupid!? You'll die!"

The ‘Dandy Mayor’ Bendo Gram, the leader of Ostia Town, shouted to the point where his face was flushed right..

"It’s just dying."

Dee, who had loaded the first round of ammunition through unaccustomed hands, lifted the gun with some difficulty.

"People will die someday. I don't care if I die today."

"Don't be stupid!"

"Those who don’t want to die can run. I'll protect you."

She gave a taunting smile.

"—By the way, does this gun fire when I pull the trigger? I don't get this."

"…The safety is still on, Dee Ensy."

The bearded security captain immediately stepped forward and inspected Dee's gun.

"…We'll stay. With you."

The captain's men followed one after the other. They accepted Dee's words as though they were disciples who were struck by an oracle.

But Dee remained aloof the entire time, "I see" and merely nodded curtly.

"Wait! Wait a minute! Is that the only way?"

"There’s no other way. There’s no way for Ostia to recover again if we don’t do this."

The simple declaration of their future sent chills down everyone's spine. However, they had no better option aside from what Dee had told them.

 

"Then I'll do it."

 

Alice said.

"I'll stop Madame."

"… How?"

Dee asked, giving the look of someone who had just chewed a thousand bitter bugs.

"With my ability, of course…it’s hard to explain, but anyway, everyone, please believe me and run to the town."

"! You’re doing that again…wait, hold up, let go of me, Bendo!"

Wah wah! Bendo held down a yapping Dee.

"Brat, I’ll listen to whatever you say…if you say there’s a way, I’ll believe there is. But I want you to answer one question."

The man who had known Alice since his birth grabbed the latter’s shoulders firmly.

"—You're coming back alive, aren't you?"

"……"

"You're not going to give up your own life to get everyone else to escape, are you?"

"…Yeah."

Alice responded.

"I'm not planning to do that. Also, I want these guys to stay."

Saying that, Alice patted Ai’s head. Ai was a little surprised, for she thought she was going to be told to run away.

Alice looked a little angry and said, "What is it? Ai laughed and said, "It's nothing."

Julie and Scar nodded in agreement, while Dee hurriedly added, "I'm staying too!"

"Is that so…"

Bendo laughed and seemed to accept this.

"We’ve decided! Alice and a few others will stall Madame here! The rest of you, retreat to the town as fast as you can! Help with the evacuation!"

"But, Mayor!"

"Captain! I’m the mayor, and I have the authority to make decisions here! You will obey me!"

"~! No choice now! Hurry up!"

"Righto!"

The group then moved quickly. People rushed out like spiders and jumped into the nearby parked cars. Weapons, armor, people, and everything else was stuffed in at random, and the engines were revved.

"Gachigachigachigachi."

While the people evacuated, the surface of Madame began to bubble. The pie made of junk was bursting as though it was fermentation, and children no one wanted to see were being born from the bubbles. There were rhinoceros made of empty candy boxes, dogs made of boats and cars, wedding dresses made out of newspapers. Madame's creations were akin to toys made by children, and most of them rolled away, being completely useless.

But some of them did work.

"Gachigachigachigachi!"

Infantrymen made of pistols, mantises made of saws, wasps made of choppers. They ranged from being as small as bugs to large as ancient dragons, none of which were the same, and they spilled out of the bubbles, running out.

"Move move move!"

The cars that had finished stuffing the bare minimum items raced down the hill, one after another, away from the main gate.

"What are you doing? Move out right now!"

Among them, there was one car that was having trouble starting its engine.

"Wait! Don't rush me! Okay, here we go!"

Five winged creatures charged forth and descended upon the plaza at bullet-like speed. Ai parried off one, Alice deflected another, and the remaining three were taken care of by Deformed.

That was when the sixth wasp attacked the car.

"Whoa!"

Alice had a great reaction. He fended off one of them before him, and with an assault rifle he somehow procured, he shot out the eyes and wings of the iron bug that attacked the car.

However...

"What?"

The driver and Alice showed shocked faces. The iron worm was no longer a soft existence that could ‘be destroyed if needed’.

"Gachigachigachigachi!"

The shattered eyeballs functioned even after being shattered, and the broken wings regenerated as they were broken.

All the iron bugs had become part of Madame herself.

Just as one could not cut water, or break sand.

Nobody could break something that was already broken.

"Woaaaaaahhh!!"

The regenerating iron bug climbed onto the car. Alice fired more shots, and the iron bug was destroyed again.

"Gachigachigachigachi!"

But there was no way to kill something that was dead.

"I-It’s hopeless——~!!"

The only ones that could do so—

 

"Do not say it is hopeless."

 

There was a flash.

A silver blade flashed in the corner of the battlefield, and dirt clods were flung. The clods slowly unraveled and flew ten meters away, bursting when it hit the back of the iron bug.

That mere touch alone,

Caused the immortal monster to return to the earth.

"Please get a grip. Are humans not greedier for life than that?"

The silver blade was a dull shovel, and there was a shining baby on its owner's chest.

It was a Gravekeeper with a scar on her right eyebrow.

"Celica, it is dangerous. Do stay put."

Daw! Celica gave a very energetic reply, and curled up in the safest place in the world.

Scar tied the hugging cloth tightly onto herself, and took the shovel in her other hand as well.

"Ai!"

She swung her left hand, and Ai instinctively reached out to grab the object before her.

It was Ai's shovel.

"It does appear our technique works here!"

Scar kept moving while she spoke. She kept swinging her shovel so quickly that the eyes could not catch up, eradicating the iron bugs one by one.

"Ai!"

Ai heard the voice urging her, but allowed herself three seconds of hesitation.

The shovel had been by Ai's side since her mother's death. The shovel that always supported Ai's pretensions, was a symbol of dreams and hopes, and had helped her so many times.

But it never saved her.

"Nn…"

Ai brought her forehead to the cold blade, and broke away from it.

The shovel, as usual, made no reply.

Swoosh. The silver blade thrust into the earth, and Ai grabbed the shovel like a drowning person clinging onto a floating log, her head lowered as she watched for the irong bugs to swarm over. The wingless ones were already crawling towards her. A sludge elephant raised its leg, and a jeweled scarecrow raised its emerald hand.

A silver light flashed.

Splash. The sound of splashing water echoed everywhere. This movement alone immobilized the iron bugs, and they could no longer move. It was a simple burial of tossing the soil, a method that the Ai of old would never have chosen.

"Now then!"

Ai declared, raising her a shovel.

"Leave this place to us, everyone, please run!"

"! Got it!"

The last of the cars disappeared down the hill.

For a brief moment, Ai's consciousness faded as she threw herself into the battle.

And when she came to, she found himself standing in the wreckage.

"My bad my bad, you saved us here. I didn’t think the iron bugs could be immortal."

After scavenging the weapons that were left behind, Alice came over like a platoon of one.

"Mr. Alice, are you sure your ‘plan’ will work?"

Ai's face winced with anxiety, Alice said that they could stop the iron bugs before knowing of the enemy's immortality. It might not work anymore.

"No problem." But Alice just nodded,

"That aside, did the townspeople evacuate? What about Dee?"

"Mr. Maccia took her away."

"Took her away?"

"Yes, Miss Dee was shouting, ‘I'm staying here—————~!’ but Mr. Maccia didn’t care and carried her off like a sack of wheat."

"Nice going Maccia...so it's the three of us left?"

"No way!"

The voice echoed.

"You think! I’ll leave! My daughter and everyone! Behind in a dangerous place! And run?"

"Ah!"

From afar, a familiar blue car arrived.

"Oohh, old man, over here, over here...wait, too close! Old man! Brake! Brake!"

The car came to a stop right before it was about to run over Alice.

"… Ahh, yeah. Of course. I can't leave my daughter near this dangerous thing…it should be removed ASAP…"

"Old man! Old man! Why are you looking at me!? The dangerous thing is over there, alright!? Ai! Say something already!?"

"It’s the car!"

Ai said, and patted the blue car that arrived before her.

It was that blue car that assisted Ai in her journey. The color of the car was much hazier and deeper than what she remembered.

"Enough fooling, the three of you. The third and fourth waves are coming at once."

At that moment, the three of them, who had been cooing, choking, and being choked, came to their senses. iron bugs had somehow stopped simply charging and had begun to surround them. Also, everything beyond the fourth wave began to dodge the clods that Scar released.

The iron bugs had evolved.

"Everybody get in! Old man, move out!"

"Alrighty!"

Julie stomped on the pedal.

The blue car consumed the gasoline energetically, and accelerated out of the siege amazingly.

"Whoooa!"

The three legged bugs that were faster were already before them. Alice shot through the wings of these iron bugs, while Ai leaned out the window and let her shovel graze the ground, tossing clods of dirt flying.

"Yeah, we’re out! Take it!"

The swollen tires kicked up all the junk and sped down the slope of Ostia.

Pak.

And five five meters before arrival.

"Huh?"

The blue car made a sound resembling a defeatning fart, and stopped accelerating.

"Eh? Wh-What's going on?"

"Probably a lack of maintenance. It's been sitting there for half a year, after all."

Julie said, giving an 'understandable' reaction. The voice was uncomfortable to the others.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what do we do now?"

"Get out there and push! Anyway, just doin the slope! —No, forget it! Everyone, don’t move!"

"What now?"

"Don’t move! Everyone brace for impact!"

Ai twisted around and stared at the rear glass.

Waves of iron bugs were swarming from behind.

"Keep your mouth shut!"

Ai did as told.

Two seconds later, the car was in the blender.

Ai thought that she was going to turn into strawberry gelato when she died.

She did not know what that meant though.

 

Part II

 

Just as droplets come together to form water, water comes together to form rivers, and rivers come together to form oceans.

The junk gathered and became waves.

"Ai, wake up!"

"Uuuuunnnn…no, I'm Strawberry…"

"Wake up, Strawberry!"

"…Hoeh?"

She woke up to find herself in a nostalgic blue car.

But something was wrong. Was this blue car ever this high? It was so high that it was above the roofs of the houses…

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what’s going on?"

Ai's eyes widened, and she leaped on the window.

The blue car was riding the waves of iron bugs like a leaf floating in the rapids.

"Shhh! Be quiet! They haven’t noticed us yet!"

"Ehhh~?"

It was hard to believe, but that appeared to be the case. The third generation of iron bugs have learned from Ai's attacks and started a horde strategy, but it appeared they had forgotten the reason why they were learning, "Say, what are we doing?" and they rolled down the hill.

"Mr. Julie, come on! Start the engine!"

"I'm on it!"

Brrr. The sound of a whirring cell motor echoed around them, but that piqued the interest of the iron bugs.

The iron bugs surrounding the blue car were showing interest, and appeared to be chatting, "Isn’t this thing a little different?" "Let’s see?" The praying mantises formed by circuit breakers banged on the hood, and the spiders’ eyes made of traffic lights turned from blue to red.

"Mr Julie… hurry up, they're going to notice soon…"

"I know …."

One more turn of the cell, and the iron bugs would probably notice. Julie took a deep breath, one, two, three…

Vroom vroom vroom!

The iron bugs realized, "This is different!"

"Please! Come on!"

The waves broke and the iron bugs swung their weapons. But the attacks, which were uncoordinated with each other, became jumbled and tangled like a hundred pairs of legs kicking over each other.

The blue car slid down the wave of iron bugs and was just about to hit the ground,

Vrrrroooommm!

"Alright! It worked!"

The car, oblivious how it malfunctioned previously, surfed past the pelting iron bugs. From the tailslide, it rose up the wave and did a cutback drop turn.

Boom. The suspension screamed, and the blue car returned to the earth.

"Mr. Julie, you're amazing!"

"Whahahahahaha! How about that!?"

Julie was laughing hysterically, taking credit for this incident that was 50% luck and 40% chance. Only Scar, who was in the passenger seat, was cringing at the realization that he had merely stomped on the gas pedal. Celica was sleeping soundly.

"Right, time to take action."

Alice opened the back door.

"Everyone, listen up."

The strong gales caused the hems of his jumper to flutter.

"I need to concentrate for one minute now."

"…That's fine though."

Ai was still worried about Bendo's words.

Was Alice going to sacrifice himself after all?

"It's fine."

Alice patted Ai on the head.

"I'm not going to die anymore."

"…Got it. You have one minute."

She raised the shovel and stepped outside.

"Leave it to me."

 

+

 

"Yahoo~!"

Ai was shouting with joy, even though the situation was dire. She wanted to imitate what Julie did earlier.

"Heyyy———!"

Julie was fuming in anger, and yelled out loud. Ai pretended not to hear and stepped on her shovel to accelerate.

Ai pretended not to hear and stepped on the shovel to increase the speed, calling it iron bugs riding.

"Yahoo~!"

Ai was riding on her shovel like a surfboard, and the iron bugs as the wave tubes. She had the whole beach staring at her .

"It’s dangerous! Hey! Ai! Stop it!

"No, wait, old man, that’s surprisingly sensible. She’s able to lure the attention of the iron bugs, and also maneuver her way through. She’s not just playing around—"

"That's right! I'm not playing! Yahoooiii!!"

"…Well, she's playing alright."

Ai strafed back from the roller coaster, and scraped the ground. She slid through an avalanche of tubes for 30 meters, gathered energy from a bottom turn, and did an over the moon sault .

Ai is a ground-scraping slashback from a roller coaster. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it, but I've seen it.

"Now then."

After calming the waves down to some extent, Ai looked at the ceiling of the blue car as she hovered about.

"———————!"

There, Alice was showing tremendous concentration, staring into the air and seemingly forgetting the existence of the iron bugs.

(It's about time.)

Ai had a vague idea of what Alice was going to do.

Madame was a ‘Dead who could recognize and manipulate any artificial hands and eyes as part of herself’. These iron bugs before them were Madame's artificial hands and legs, so to speak. No matter how much she enlarged herself, this relationship of ‘main body and artificial’ remained the same..

In other words, Madame's own corpse exists separately.

So where was the body? Were they all gathered somewhere? Or in pieces, mixed up with all the junk?

Probably the latter, Ai predicted.

(Noooooowwwww thhhhhheennnn, pull out the heart, iiifffff yyyyooouuu ccccaaannn! That is if, IIIIIIIII hhhhaaaaavvvvveeeee aaaannnnnnyyyyy lllllleeeeeeffffftttt!)

That was what Madame shouted, but there was something strange about the phrase ‘if I have any left’. Given this line, it might be possible that Madame herself might not know where her heart was.

Further supporting Ai’s theory was the internal structure of the courthouse when Ai snuck inside. The fact that the building was constructed to resemble a human body was probably the result of the diffusion of different parts of the body.

Alice was most probably going to use his Buzzer Beater ability to shoot through and disperse the main body. Ai glanced at the blue car, which should have been setting up the heavy weaponry he had collected by now.

But Ai's prediction was proven wrong.

(Eh?)

Alice stood amidst the gales, holding a single Molotov cocktail.

 

+

 

"Pistol Devourer (Buzzer Beater)".

It was ‘ability to hit anything he wanted to throw at’

That was how Alice Color always described his ability.

However, this was a simplified explanation, and Alice perceived his own ability in a slightly different way.

(The true power of Buzzer Beater is that it ‘raises the probability of hitting a target’.)

The wind was blowing on the hood, but Alice ignored it and remained concentrated. He was firmly aware of his ability, and concentrated his entire will upon it..

(1% first. 0.1% first. I know I can do that.)

Alice was aware of his ability to ‘manipulate probabilities’

For example, this was the situation as to how the name of his ability came about, the ability to shoot anything down with pistols. Alice could not see the bullet, but his ability could work as usual. The phenomenon indicated that the target the Buzzer Beater was aiming at was a ‘concept’, and its essence was manipulation of probability’.

This is due to the origin of his ability.

Alice became aware of his ability because he wanted to shoot and score from a distance of 25 meters. He knew how impossible it was. 25 meters was a distance where visual aiming was meaningless, and Alice himself was naturally bad at aiming. It was one of the reasons why he could not become a starting member no matter how hard he tried.

But at that moment, Alice was not ‘aiming’. He was just betting on the possibility that if he threw the ball, it might go in.

Therefore, the Buzzer Beater was not about ‘aiming’, but about rigging the possibilities.

Putting the 1% chance at the forefront, the 0.1% before then, and to pull off the 0.01% chance.

The probability here, however, depended on Alice's perception: He could puff off the 0.1% chance, but sometimes miss the 99% chance..

For example, suppose Alice shot a baby at a distance of one meter. His bullet was certain to miss at that distance however.

Why would this happen? It was because the probability that Buzzer Beater raised was not objective, but dependent on Alice's perception.

Alice Color, as a person, could easily imagine the immense possibility of hitting a 0.01% possibility, but could not imagine himself killing a baby.

That's because you're kind, Ai would say.

But at this moment—

(That's not good enough!)

Alice smiled fiercely and stared at the waves of insects.

The Buzzer Beater would abide by Alice's nature and abstain from violence.

But still, there were times when he had to shoot. There were times when he had to defy his own nature and enact violence? What should he do then in such situations?

Alice knew the answer. He had learned from his past.

"Whhhhoooooooooaaa!"

He yelled like a beast, like a demon, and set the Molotov cocktail on fire.

If he still yearned for destruction.

All he had to do was to change who he was.

He solidified his thoughts. He imagined himself killing the enemy, himself being unkind, being a bloodthirsty person, wanting to tear apart the limbs of a baby, killing his friends, killing the world. He pictured himself so strongly!

Clank! The bottle shattered in Alice's hand. The oil chilled his right hand and then began to heat it hellishly.

"Mr. Alice!"

Ai's voice was no longer audible.

"Mr. Alice!"

Feeling no heat or pain, Alice grabbed the flame.

"Let it burn."

 

"Ending Whistle (Buzzer Beater)."

 

The magic flame was thus unleashed.

 

+

 

The flame flew slowly.

The flame fell from Alice’s hand, like a human soul that was more feeble than a candle. The soul sank weakly like a lantern dropped into the sea.

The waves easily swallowed the light.

"Mr. Alice!"

Kicking off the top of the wave, Ai hopped onto the hood instantly.

"What’s with you!?"

It was strangely bright on top of the car, like an optical illusion, and flames were burning in Alice's right hand. Ai resisted the urge to cry as she tugged at the sleeve of her jumper.

"What are you doing?"

"Stop yapping…my head hurts…"

"Wh-what do you mean by stop yapping!? What are you planning to—"

"Just watch…"

Alice pointed. Ai had no intention to obey, but the vigor in his burning right hand manipulated her gaze.

The fire sparks caught on one of the iron bugs and were barely burned.

The iron bugs noticed the flames and raised their mantis-shaped right hand in annoyance, smacking at it.

However, instead of being doused, the flame had attached itself to the arm and had grown in size.

The iron bugs panicked a little and flail their arms about, trying to extinguish the flames by pressing their surroundings.

However, due to some coincidence, the flames were on the verge of extinguishing, only to come back to life and slowly burn wilder.

The iron bugs started to get impatient and slapped the flames, but each time the flames got bigger and bigger, and eventually, each of them turned into a fireball.

At that stage, the immune system of the iron bugs finally kicked in. The fireballs were immediately recognized as lesions and were torn to shreds. The flames were finally extinguished, leaving only some fire sparks that scattered around.

But there were about a hundred of them.

—And then the flames rained down on the iron bugs.

The same thing began to happen.

"This is—"

The wave burned.

The fire sparks were burning the iron bugs with such force that one could hear cracks. A pungent stench engulfed the darkness of the night. The sun, sinking into the lake in the west, begins to burn the mountains in the east.

"Gyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

The iron bugs tried their best to put out the flames. A bear made of fire extinguishers blasted its contents and a plane of grasshoppers flew up to escape the flames.

However, the flames were cursed by luck to escape extinguishing, flying through the air and burning iron bugs.

"Th-this is..."

Ai stared at the scene before her, terrified.

The immortal iron bugs continued to burn as though they were tormented hell. The uncommon flames clung to the iron bugs by some chance, refusing to extend its tongue to the town. She knew this was caused by Alice, and understood that the fire was their ally.

But what was this horror, this nauseating horror? Which hell did this forest fire escape from?

"Mr Alice…"

Ai squeezed the sleeve.

"What…?"

She looked into his eyes and saw the flames of hell reflected in them, as if it were the place where she had started.

For a moment, she thought it was someone she did not know.

"…Sorry, but ask me questions later…"

But Alice immediately gave his usual smile.

"I can’t take this anymore—"

"Eh? Eh? Ehhh~?"

He lost consciousness and fell on Ai's body.

"W-wait! Ehh!? Wha-what should I do now!?"

While Ai was screaming, the blue car ran away and iron bugs were left behind in the flames.

Thus, the night ended with Ostia's victory.

The biggest horror was that Celica never woke up until the very end.

 

Part IV

 

Ai had no idea at all, but it was said that there was lots of ruckus amongst the 30,000 citizens for the past few days. It was not about fighting Madame, but about the survival of the community.

The current citizens of Ostia—with the exception of a few locals—were mostly a group that had been ‘saved by Alice’. Thousands of people saw no value in remaining in this town, and amongst those who wanted to stay, some were naturally unwilling to antagonize Madame and insisted on accepting Alice's proposal to sacrifice himself.

It was impossible to bring them all together.

Therefore, Bendo and other members of the city council decided to divide Ostia in two.

Those who would not and could not fight had evacuated to the towns beyond the lake, and only those who wanted to fight remained on the hillside, building a number of camps.

This camp was one of them.

 

Next to a drum that was cackling and burning away, Ai was tending to Alice.

The area was lined with tents of similar specs, littered with burning red drums. They were at the parking lot of the Skagen, a long-established hotel that was always mentioned in the Ostia guidebook.

Ai glanced away and looked up at the building behind her. The century-old building stood tall, unscathed by the wind damage of the past decade or so, and was now supporting the citizens as a frontline base. The shouting that could be heard from time to time came from the meeting that was being held inside. There was an important meeting going on there to decide the fate of the town, and the two of them had to go there after the wounds were treated.

And the treatment was done.

"—Yes, it’s done. Please make your little adjustments yourself."

Ai folded the end of the bandage and patted Alice on the shoulder.

"Thank you."

Alice briefly thanked her, and then quickly practiced a quickdraw to check if the bandage would hinder him.

Seeing her, "Haa…" Ai sighed and packed the first aid items.

"How does it feel?"

"Not bad. But my grip is a little loose."

"I’m not asking about that…"

"?" Alice had a puzzled look. It seemed he really had no idea as to what she was asking about.

Haaa…Sighing again, Ai closed the first aid kit.

"…I’m asking you about your burns."

"Ahh, this?"

Alice nonchalantly waved his right hand in the air.

"It's no big deal—"

"You’re lying."

Ai interrupted before Alice could finish, and Alice gave the look of one who had bitten his tongue,

"W-What do you mean, I’m lying?"

"Exactly what I’m saying. The person who burned his hand and did that is saying this now? If that’s ‘no big deal’, then everything in this world is ‘no big deal’."

"Ugh."

"…Please don’t hide this from me."

Ai cupped her knees and looked at the hills in the distance. She was so disappointed. Alice's attitude gave her the urge to cry.

"…What were those flames?"

Far away, the unquenchable fire did not extinguish, and kept burning the iron bugs.

"Is your ability able to do that?—Please don't lie to me. Tell me."

"Ugh, it’s not like I want to lie about it."

"I guess so. You just won’t tell the truth, right?"

"……"

"Mr. Alice."

"All right, all right, I'll talk…so don't give me that look."

He put his hands up in surrender.

"It’s just using my ability in another way…"

Alice spoke of the other nature of his Buzzer Beater, to manipulate probabilities. In other words, that was hold he managed to control the flames.

"…I see. So that's what it is."

She was convinced at the very least.

"But. Isn't it…dangerous?"

"Actually, it is. It’s always sort of a semi-automatic ability, so when I do something with a wide range like this, I can't predict the outcome. I don't even know when that fire will be extinguished. This ‘metamorphosis’ is really that dangerous, since it’s an ability even the person can’t control. It's like a natural disaster, anything can happen..."

"Ah, no, that’s what what I’m talking about.."

"Ah, no, that's not what I asked."

Ai interrupted Alice.

"Huh? Then what else is it?"

Again, Alice misunderstood Ai's words. Ai did not refer to his ability when she asked if it was ‘dangerous’.

"That’s not it…I’m asking if your body’s okay?"

That was what she wanted to ask.

She understood the theory. However, she could not have but imagine there would be so risk in creating such terrifying flames, such a terrifying hell. That was why Ai wanted to ask, hoping that Alice would tell her that it was fine.

"Ahh, that’s what you’re talking about? "

Alice shook his head, as though implying that it was nothing.

As soon as she saw it, Ai knew what he was going to say next.

 

"I'm fine."

 

Alice said.

"The burns on my right hand are just normal. Don't worry."

It was exactly what Ai wanted to hear,

"And you took care of that too, so it's all good."

But Ai was no longer listening to Alice's words. She just turned her head and buried her head between her kneecaps.

"Don’t worry, I’m not hurt anywhere else…wait, what’s with you? You got a stomach ache? Did you pick up something to eat?"

Alice tried to change the topic by making a poor joke. Ai slowly brought her face into his sight, and left him completely speechless.

The first tear fell from her chin.

"…Mr Alice, you liar…"

"Ho-how is that a lie!?"

Alice was still oblivious as to what he did.

"It’s obviously a lie when you say there’s no danger…"

"……!?"

Alice’s face changed for the first time.

"…Mr Alice, you have no idea why I was so angry and sad just now…"

"Wh-What?"

"I wasn't angry because you did something dangerous, or sad because you got hurt."

"……"

"I was just sad that you tried to hide this from me…"

"N-no! That's not true…."

At this point, Alice finally seemed to realize what he had done.

"No…you're right."

Once he admitted his mistake, he quickly made up his mind. He straightened up and bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry."

"You said there’s no danger, but you’re lying to me after all…"

"No, well, maybe a little…"

"You're always like that."

Ai did not mince her words towards the back of the head before her. She was so unwilling to forgive him.

"I think it's a very noble, very kind thing to decide alone, take action alone, and not let those around you know that there’s danger…but, Mr Alice, how do you think I'm going to feel when everyone around you, or I, finds out about it?"

"……"

"Don’t you know? It's times like this that I get sad.…"

Another tear spilled with the words.

"I’m not happy at all…when you’re in more danger by putting me in less danger…"

"I'm sorry."

Alice still did not raise his head.

"It’s my bad."

His face reeked of bitterness.

"I didn't do it on purpose! It was only after you told me that I realized. Even I’m a little scared of it—"

"That’s worse."

"Of course!"

Uncharacteristically, Alice was in total surrender, and sounded very devastated.

Ai blew her nose and forgave her for the time being.

"Please tell me the truth."

"… Okay."

Shocked at himself for some reason, Alice did not try to deceive Ai.

"The Deformed have downsides too…Dead becomes 'selfish', Gravekeepers do 'malfunction', and Living becomes 'crazy'. …"

In a flash, Alice picked up the trash beneath his feet and threw it into the drum. The trash did not miss its mark and entered the drum, burning brightly.

"—It’s said that the Deformed will experience a ‘metamorphosis’."

"Metamorphosis…?"

"Yeah, we Deformed get our abilities based on our wishes…but those abilities often don't grant wishes properly."

Once more, twice more, Alice continued to throw garbage. All the garbage went into the drum.

"Humans end up led along by their ability. It’s like a lie that becomes true if you chant it a hundred times, twisting the ability to make your original wish come true…when that happens, the otherworldly ability changes more and more, and the person becomes something other than a human being…"

"Then please don't do that anymore."

"…Yes."

"If you do it again, I'm going to be very, very sad, you know?"

"…Yes."

"If you do it again, be honest about it. If you try to hide it from me, I'll cry again, okay?"

"…Yes."

"When you do, make sure you console me. You can buy me tea or sweets later, like today."

"…No, I can’t promise something I can’t do. And I need you to treat me later, you know…"

"Do you understand?"

"…Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Yes. Alice replied without any rebuttal.

"No, but well, I’m really bummed about this one too. I didn’t know I was hiding this from you…"

Then Alice stared into the distance, seemingly at a loss, and let out a sigh,

"I'm sorry, Ai."

"What are you apologizing for out of a sudden?"

"I’ll say this first. I'm sure I'll make you sad and cry again…"

"Wait, please don't do that."

"Of course, I’ll try to avoid it as much as possible…but if push comes to shove, I’ll definitely belittle my life again."

Alice looked at his bandaged right hand.

"For fifteen years, I've been wishing for my own annihilation…I’ve been dreaming that the fake me would disappear."

Ai gasped.

"The old me probably wasn’t like this…but I can’t remember how I used to be…"

It was a void that only he, who had been brought back from the depths of the underworld after disappearing fifteen years ago, knew. It was a despair that only he, who had died, no longer existed and yearned for his own ‘continued death’, knew.

This was Alice's metamorphosis, so to speak.

"Why did I end up like this…"

Of course, it was for the sake of his dream. It was the dream that Alice had to take on with such determination.

However, the dream that he concocted had come true and disappeared, and all that remained was the framework.

That framework could no longer find value in itself, no matter how it try.

"Well, I’ll be glad to remind you of that."

But here was a person who found value in that framework.

Here was a person who grabbed the wreckage that had served its purpose and brought it home.

Pak,

Alice's cheeks were pinched by two small, hot hands, and the burning eyes looked into his own.

"You may try to take risks discreetly, but it’s uselss. I’ll definitely find out, for sure."

"…Ai."

"It’s useless to try and hurt yourself so that no one else gets hurt. I will always hurt you."

"……"

"You will always remember. The value of life, and your past."

Then Ai embraced Alice's icy head in her arms and patted it.

"R-Really…"

"Yes, you will."

"Let’s just hope so…"

The usual Alice would have hated this, but he let Ai hug him without resisting at all.

Her embrace was like a mother, and yet it was like a child, it was like the warmth of a beast that knew nothing but harshness but occasionally drew its fur closer.

So, naturally, it did not last long.

"Ai~, Alice~? Where are you~? "

""!""

The two of them split as quickly as light and shadow.

"Ah, there you are."

Scar walked out of the hotel, and Celica was bouncing on the swaddle

"So you were outside? I have been looking for you for a while…is something the matter??"

"I-it-it-it-it’s nothing at ball! "

"Hmm?"

Scar tilted her head, but Ai could not continue to explain herself as she had bitten her tongue, and was in pain.

Please continue, Alice! She appealed to the latter with her eyes, but in such situations, Alice was so useless. He usually would get carried away and say unnecessary things. At this moment, he had his face turned behind, hiding his embarrassment.

"Well, that is fine."

But fortunately or unfortunately, Scar was the person present, and there was no need for an excuse to begin with.

"More importantly, Julie told me ‘to call for those two’."

"…Is there something on going on during the meeting?"

"No, he said, 'I'm getting a very bad vibe from them’."

"What’s that about…?

Those words caused Ai to sweat. The instincts of this old man had been uselessly precise recently.

"Well, that being said, I think you should be invited to the meeting…"

"I understand."

Since Scar decided so, it was most likely correct. Ai quickly got up and picked up the shovel.

"Shall we go, Mr. Alice?"

"Yes."

They started walking. There was a hotel in front of them, rocked by the conference. There was a new battlefield where allies, not enemies, were fighting each other.

 

+

 

The heat was steamy.

The three of them made their way through the waves of people saying, ‘Excuse me’ and ‘Please let us through’ to the center of the hall. There was a huge table where all the major parties of the town were gathered.

"—I'll let you two talk from here on out."

So you’re here, Julie hinted with his eyes, and invited them to join him at the table.

"Hmm, well, I don’t see anything wrong with that."

Bendo, who was sitting in the middle of the table, quickly acknowledged the arrival, and resumed the meeting.

"Then…I'll ask Alice…was it you who caused the phenomenon of those flames?"

The eyes of the whole hall stared at them.

"Yeah. That's right."

Alice said, standing at the edge of this huge table that was made of a fossilized giant tree.

"Can you do that another two, three times or so?"

"Ah, that’s impossible."

Alice was about to say something, but he was interrupted,

"That attack did damage Miss Madame, but it did no real damage to her actual body. The iron bugs are going to keep coming unless we find a way to deal with Miss Madame's body."

"Hmm, but those bugs can be destroyed, can't it?"

"It's impossible. Even if they turns to ash, Madame should be able to make new bugs, and it’s just buying time…and that attack isn’t good for Mr. Alice either."

"Is that so? I get it."

Well then, Bendo declared, interrupting those who were still trying to ask further.

"…So, young Ai, let me ask you. What about your Gravekeeper technique. Is it possible to bury what you call the actual body?"

Ai did a quick calculation.

"It’s possible, if it takes one by one, over ten years…but that’s only if Miss Madame does not resist and there won’t be any new ones."

"That's if you're the only one, right? If other Gravekeepers come along..."

"I’m guessing that no other Gravekeepers will come here because I'm here. Even if they did, it would only be one, because no matter how powerful Miss Madame is as a Dead, she is only one in number."

Hmm…Bendo finished asking everything he wanted to ask and turned his gaze away to his surroundings.

"So, unfortunately, it's impossible to physically get rid of the bandits…"

Bendo waved off the gloom that filled the hall.

"In the end, we'll have to negotiate."

"Negotiate—is it?"

"Hmm? Fortunately, we've beaten the enemy once. We should be able to compromise on reasonable terms—please issue the info to everyone."

Bendo's secretary began to pass printouts to everyone. It contained detailed information and analysis of Coven.

—"Coven is actually an organization composed of one person, Madame Express Legion's Hive (real name unknown). It began more than ten years ago, when a ‘Witch’ modified Madame, who had already become ‘selfish’."

—"Madame, whose sanity was restored to some extent by the Witch, called herself "Coven" and begins to work to destroy large-scale miracles. The method was the witch trials, in which she would apply the laws she created, based on the laws of Silenos, designed to favor the accusers. The win rate was over 99%, with the only confirmed loss being in the case of Alice Color, who was aided by Dee Ensy. There was also another trick to this extraordinary win rate, for they would deem any opponent they could not win against as a ‘super irregular’, and not proceed with the trial. Given these instances Coven is not a fair-minded organization, but a profit-making organization that pursues its own goals. With the knowledge of this fact, it’s not difficult to—"

This is …."

It was an overly detailed document and report about Coven. There were even some ridiculous ‘specifications’ among the documents. Who on earth would have found such a thing?…Ai looked at the girl who was still silent at the end of the table.

"As you can see in this document, Coven is neither an uncommunicative monster nor a law-abiding phenomenon, and is fully capable of negotiation."

Ohhh, a relaxed atmosphere spread through the hall. It would be a tough case, and there would be fighting, but for now, the end was in sight.

However,

 

"It’s impossible to negotiate."

 

Dee Ensy spoke up for the first time.

"…What do you mean, Lady?"

Crossing her arms and legs in a triangle at one end of the table, forming a triangle with Ai and Bendo, Dee said without opening her eyelids,

"All the material there is useless now, because Madame has fallen and become 'selfish'."

"…What, Lady, do you mean by 'fallen' and 'selfish'? Can you elaborate on it?"

Bendo voiced his irritation, and the others agreed. Many of the people of Ostia had been shut inside this world for at least a decade, and were unfamiliar with the common sense of the outside world. Some of them have never seen a moving Dead before.

This naturally led to the fact that they did not know about the one dubbed ‘Ghost’, and the people present look at her as nothing more than a cocky little girl.

But Dee did not care about those stares.

"—In Living terms, I'd say it’s similar to going crazy…"

She opened her eyes for the first time, and stared at the Living in the crowd.

"You see, all Dead people live with the risk of becoming selfish. The mind rots, their sanity melt away, and they become a monster who can only think about one thing…have you forgotten? The years leading up to the Gravekeepers’ birth, the decade leading up to Ortus' invention of post-mortem treatment, how it was hellish out there? Have you all been living in peace in the Sealed City and forgotten all about it?"

The sound of gasps could be heard everywhere.

"…Dead people like Madame, who can ‘dilute’ themselves, are especially dangerous. It's an ability that comes with ego collapse. I've always been told that it’s a matter of time until she ‘malfunctions’ again. No matter how much the Witch rebuilds her, there’s no way for her to prevent this phenomenon. It so happened to occur at this moment, of all times."

Therefore, negotiation is impossible. Dee concluded.

No one spoke up. They were clearly confused, as though they had taken a sucker punch.

Only Bendo was insistent,

"…I-In that case, why don't we negotiate not with Madame herself, but with the people backing her? Shouldn’t we ask the Witch you speak of …."

"That statement is proof of your ignorance."

"What?"

"Look behind you."

The old politician looked back and saw that the disconnect between common sense was plainly marked, as if it were color-coded. The people who stayed in Ostia for a longer period looked puzzled and bewildered, while the newcomers looked pale, giving Bendo the ‘are you crazy?’ look

"Well, I guess their reactions should explain everything. Get involved with Her? Enough with the joke."

"Looks that way…"

Even Bendo had to concede this point, but he did not want to give up.

"What about Ortus and Fellmigora? She’s been using those two countries to back her, hasn't she?"

"I've already made that move."

Dee replied simply and looked behind her.

For the past few days, three Deformed had been standing there, never leaving. At this moment, there was only one shadow left, the warrior Maccia Electus, standing with his arms crossed.

There was no sign of the Red Lady (Dust)or the floating boy (Noellfaen).

"I've already sent them back home."

Oh, everyone else marveled, and Dee lifted up her nose.

"Hmph, so, everyone, you should know how great my influence is now, right? They are my loyal companions."

"Stop lying!"

Maccia, who had been abstaining from the conversation, suddenly spoke up.

"You were just jumping up and down and getting angry when they took off on their own, weren't you?"

"Now, now, what are you talking about?"

Dee looked away in a completely different direction, with sweat trickling down.

"…You really got some good company, Dee…"

Bendo looked at Dee with a rare look of concern,

"By the way, Maccia, are you willing to side with us?"

"No."

It was an instant answer. Bendo furrowed his brows and looked even more worried.

"…Are they really your companions, Dee…?"

"Y-You’re mistaken! They’re all just embarrassed! We're really very close! When the time comes, they’ll really help out! They’re amazing! They’ll help out everyone!"

"I see," They all smiled gently and nodded their heads.

They smiled gently and nodded. Stop it! Don't be nice!

"By the way, there's no point in trying to negotiate with Ortus or Fellmigora. They don’t have a way to negotiate with the ‘selfish’. The little girl who only has her mouth to rely on is powerless here.."

"You should be a little nicer to me!"

Dee half-screamed and hammered at the big man, while Maccia pushed her forehead away in annoyance, ensuring that she did not hit him.

"…But it seems I’ve a part in driving Madame into madness. I'll at least escort you to the other side of town."

"Oh!"

"But I'm not going to 'battle' with you. If you're going to fight, you're warriors. I have no reason to help."

"Of course not. It is enough that you protect the citizens."

Bendo gave an authoritative smile and raised his fist in the air to stir the crowd.

"Everyone! We have no need to fear for the future! From now on, we can fight to the fullest! Don't be afraid of death! We will win in the end!"

Yes! Half the room agreed, but the other half seemed to disagree.

"…But let's face it, we don't stand a chance."

The bearded security captain standing beside Dee said.

"Oi oi, why is our town hero so humble? I heard about the battle at the main gate. Didn’t you have an overwhelming victory?"

"That's because those iron bugs weren't serious. They only tried to kill us at the very end."

"Hmmm…what would happen if your troops fought those serious iron bugs?"

"There wouldn’t be a 'battle' to speak. It’d just be a one-sided slaughter."

The people in the city who did not participate in the fight were rattled, but those who were there were silent.

It was understandable though, Ai thought. The captain said so not because he was a coward or anything, but that it was just a fact. The Living were no match for Madame, or the iron bugs.

Only the Gravekeepers (Ai), Deformed (Alice), and one other kind of human could do that.

"We’ll all die before we even finish off one of them."

The captain was none of them.

"So the real fight will be starting."

However, it was easy to be the last kind of human.

"…Wait, Captain, are you—"

Bendo was about to say something when the captain interrupted him.

 

"We are the fifty-four members of the Third Security Group. Let us give our lives for the future of the town."

 

He bowed his head reverently.

The only ones who could fight the iron bugs were Gravekeeper, Deformed—and the Dead.

"Therefore, let us become the Immortal Army and defeat the Immortal Monster."

If Madame was ‘indestructible’, their side simply need to become ‘indestructible’ and fight.

That was what the captain was imply,

The meeting was rattled. Bendo shouted,

"No, no, no! Don’t do this, Captain! No can do!"

"Why not? You just told us not to be afraid of death. Why do you object?"

"I…I don’t mean that! It's a horrible thing to assume you can do this after death!"

"You're old-fashioned too…."

Just as the two men bickered, so did the crowd.

"If we don't do this, we'll all die anyway."

"I'm talking about dignity! Logically, it’s basically saying we’re in the wrong for saving Alice!!"

"That's a leap of logic!"

It was chaos.

Because Bendo, who was in charge of organizing the meeting, went out of control, the meeting devolved into an argument between individuals. Ranting and raving, printouts flying around, the situation quickly developed into a tussling match.

"Ahh goodness! Everyone, let's talk it out!"

Ai tried to calm the emotional crowd, but no one would listen to her, Bendo was losing his temper, and Dee, the one person she could rely on, was stoking the flames instead of calming it down.

Just when Ai was about to give up on the idea that they might have to beat each other up for as long as they wanted.

 

"Kuha!"

 

A laugh resounded.

"Kukuku, hahaha, ahh—hahahahahaha!"

There was a voice that sounded it was already going crazy.

The confusion subsided immediately.

This tussle was a clash of beliefs, not something that could be calmed by something like that.

However, the emptiness in that laughing voice stopped everything.

"Are you all idiots!?"

As if it were an outsider, the voice ridiculed the entire meeting.

Ai looked for the owner of the voice. There was a man sitting in the corner of the hall by the wall.

"Ahhh, my stomach hurts. Ahh—that’s funny, kukuku. "

"…Who are you?"

Bendo asked bewilderedly.

The man sitting in the corner of the wall was wearing old jeans and a saggy shirt, fumbling with a bottle of alcohol and laughing hysterically. He was surprisingly young, maybe in his mid-twenties. Huh? Ai tilted her head. She had a feeling she had met him somewhere. However, she had no recollection of a man who looked that unhealthy.

"Ahhhh? What the hell. Know who you’re greeting, old man."

The man vomited with a bright red face.

"Ah."

She remembered.

She remember the smell of alcohol on her back, and the nursery I stepped into while wearing her shoes.

 

"For I’m the presiding judge of the Coven where even a kid dare not cry upon hearing my name!"

 

The man's name was Shaun Sullivan.

He was part of Coven.

 

+

 

"…Yes, I'm really sorry. I really am. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed when everyone was taking it so seriously. That would make you angry. I'm sorry…"

Shaun was beaten up in five seconds, and rolled around in a mat within thirty seconds.

"I’m reflecting on my acitons I'm not going to run away or anything…so Ai, I beg you…Please give me back my drink…"

Ai was dumbfounded.

"I thought you were going to tell me to untie the rope, but now you're giving me alcohol?

Ai, who had no intention of giving him alcohol even if he untied the rope, held the bottle high.

""Ahh, little Ai, you’re a meanie! Argh fine! I’ll drink the beer that’s spilled on the floor! Lick lick lick lick!"

"H-hey! Stop it! You're disgusting!"

Just then, Bendo, who had finally finished pacifying the people, came over while brushing his messy hair.

"… Let's cut the tomfoolery, both of you."

Ai hoped that she was not included in this..

"Ahh, well, well, Mr. Mayor… hehe, I'm sorry for th… hehe."

"Let’s get straight to the point. Why are you here?"

In response to the high-handed question, Shaun gave a smile that tilted 90 degrees.

"Well, nothing much, you see, the old hag has become 'selfish'. I knew it was going to be bad, so I ran away with you guys."

"……So you were with us?"

"I didn't notice at all."

It was true that there were a lot of people back then, and Shaun was wearing a normal outfit instead of the flashy one he wore at the trial. With a little luck, nobody would have recognized him.

""But why are you running away too? Aren't you one of Madame's people?"

"What are you talking about? Why would she have any people when she became ‘selfish’ and all. Ah, yes, I remember you aren’t familiar with this world? I see, that's why you’re like that just now, kukukukuku…"

"What's so funny?"

Bendo scoffed.

"No, I'm sorry. I won’t laugh anymore…kishishishishishi."

"…Don't worry, just say what you want."

I see? Shaun curled the edges of his lips as if to taunt.

 

"Because you're so naïve, it's almost funny!

 

Gyahahaha. He laughed.

"No, think about it…hihihi, look at what era you’re in, you’re squabble away because of a mere matter of life and death! What is this! Isn’t this reason to be funny!?"

From a lower position than anyone else, Shaun was laughing at everyone.

"What era of common sense are you using now? In this day and age, if you're going to fight a ‘war’, you have to die first! Isn’t Life just a small price to pay for participation! And that old guy with the beard...bfff, he's talking like he's a hero! That's right! You're the one who said, "I'm going to give my precious, precious life to the country! How much do you think your ‘life’ is worth!?"

Shaun laughed. He laughed at the security captain's determination and everyone's indignation.

"Nowadays, even the gentle armies of Fellmigora die before attacking!! Ahh, it hurts! "

The faces of the citizens, which had initially turned red with rage, gradually turned pale.

"Why, it's amazing. It's been a long time since I've heard such a funny joke. I just have to laugh after hearing this, but I’ll burp if I laugh, and everyone will know I’ve been drinking right!? I thought of holding back until everyone started laughing! And yet...and yet...and yet..."

Bendo and the rest of the people of Ostia finally began to understand, how they had been hiding in a safe place, and how the outside world has changed.

"But why!! You actually heard him make such a ridiculous joke!! What are you, cavemen? Kukuku, kakaka, ahahahahaha!!!"

Kishishishishi, ahahahahaha, kukakakakaka.

"…How is this possible."

The old politician's fists trembled.

"The world has changed that much already…"

"No, well, I’m not going to blame the commoners. It’s fine that they aren’t prepared for it.But what, of all people, the head of the city and the soldiers shouldn’t be so naïve, right?—Say, right!?"

Suddenly, Shaun, which had been crawling on the floor like a snake, lifted his face, glared at everyone, and said,

In the corner of the room, there was a girl with her arms crossed, her eyes closed and her back against the wall.

"Say…that’s what you think too, right, ‘Ghost’?"

Shaun cackled like a witch offering a poisoned apple.

Dee opened her eyelids, looking troubled.

"Well, you're right, but,"

She simply bit into the poisoned apple.

That nonchalant answer too caused people to be rattled.

"Shaun, given our context of common sense today, what you say is much more correct than the."

All the older citizens immediately exchanged chatter.

Dee looked at them sadly and kindly. It was the expression of a transcendent being looking at a stupid but lovely beast.

"…But could you be a little more considerate? I wanted to tell everyone in a more gentle manner."

"Your 'gentleness' is to dare them to play hero, isn't it?"

"What!? What’s he saying, lady?"

"Kukuku, be careful, Mr. Mayor. This gotten was a Witch, and can revive as a Ghost. If you're not careful, she can control you along with your hearts."

Shaun smirked. It was the smile of a trickster mocking a sucker.

"So basically, she intended to get those who are saying ‘I don’t want to continue fighting while dead!’ to say ‘we’re willing to be dead soldiers!’"

"How is that possible!?"

"She’s capable of that. I just saw the Ghost’s skills for the first time, and it’s really amazing. Taught me a lesson. I dare say, Mayor, you’ll be willing to continue living while as a Dead, and willingly so. You almost did so, I might say. Everyone is already neck deep into the trap of the Ghost. "

"That’s nonsense!"

"Is that so? The captain's already down."

The drunken eyes caught sight of the guard Captain.

"Well, Dee Ensy was so beautiful when she was the first to say 'I'm staying' on the hill. She held a a weapon that didn't suit her at all, and she certainly looked painfully ready to die. It's no wonder the captain was moved by her. But alas, there’s more to it than that. The ghost was waiting for you to say so, licking her lips. After that, it's pretty simple. Let them reenact the self-sacrificing heroics that were popular a decade ago. Little by little… rewrite your common sense. With a single ‘whisper’… you see…you used to think of the afterlife as something that should be taboo, and now you’re discussing about it…"

"De-Dee!"

Bendo let out a scream-like voice.

"Is what he said true!?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much."

"Wha!t?"

Bendo shouted angrily.

"You’re noisy" But Dee merely made such a look.

"Well, whatever, it’s a good opportunity to tell you what I think. First of all, I don't see your situation as a crisis or anything like that."

"This is ridiculous! What do you call this if not a crisis? Ostia, the town we worked so hard to rebuild, has been destroyed! A monster from who knows where is occupying the area directly above it! Even Reconstruction will be delayed for a long time, and we might have Dead this Winter!"

"Isn’t it just dying?"

Bendo cracked open his mouth like a fish lacking oxygen.

"Can’t everyone just die right now. If we all die now, reconstruction will be easy."

"That makes no sense!"

"Why?—wait, I shouldn’t be mean and all here…I mean, yeah, I get it. I know what you're thinking. In the past, this would have been unacceptable…That's why I wanted to break it to you a little more gently…"

It was then that Ai realized that Dee had been taking action for her goal a since a long time ago. She was the first one to ready herself for death on that hill, declaring that they would defeat Madame, and then what she said, everything was for,

"My goal is to take the black surface."

Dee simply said what everyone in the room had been paying attention to.

The black surface, the miraculous remnant of the sealed city, now swallowed by Madame. A portal to another world, said to have been created by Isola, the only girl out of 30,000 citizens who never returned.

That was why Dee whispered. She broke the common sense of those who reviled death, and the afterlife.

No. She did not destroy it. They were the ones who broke it. She merely spoke and had them decide, so that they would personally destroy it..

"L-lady. You are …."

Bendo, or rather everyone in the room, looked at Dee.

They finally realized that the girl before them was not just a little girl, but a witch with the name of the ‘West’.

"—Hmph, that’s crude."

Shaun said, describing Dee Ensy bluntly.

"Aha, you’re right. I admit, I’m crude.

Without seeming particularly offended, the Ghost admitted.

"But let me correct you on one thing, Shaun."

"Huh? What is it?"

"They’re not 'playing hero'."

Dee looked at Shaun squarely.

"No matter how crude I am, no matter how old-fashioned their ideas are, the story here isn’t about ‘playing hero’."

Her words were too strong to be a ‘whisper’, her eyes too lively to be a ‘Ghost’.

"I recognize their actions. I, Dee Ensy, have seen all the tragedies and comedies of this world, and I vouch for them. It’s a cliché of a common tragedy, but, "

Dee was speaking in the words she believed in.

"Their stories are real…and I, for one, have to admit so…"

Suddenly, Dee shed tears.

The meeting was filled with unprecedented shock. Men of great literary and military prowess were upset by a mere drop of water, and they could not help but wonder why. Why was she crying? What did she see?

"You’re willing to cry for us, Dee?"

The captain smiled, looking troubled..

"Haha…I didn't think you'd be the first one to cry for us. I thought you would rather laugh like the man there…"

"Of course I’ll cry. That’s..."

The tears continued to spill like fresh water from a spring.

"Because something tragic did happen after all…"

The captain tickled his head in embarrassment and bowed to Dee with his men beside him.

His expression was,

Completely cold.

"No way—"

How did she not notice? Ai turned and looked at Scar, who silently shook her head.

Everyone else started to notice. The Captain’s face was too cold..

"… I see, that's how it is?"

It was Shaun who crossed the line after all..

"That’s one way to put the cart before the horse. You're already dead, aren't you?"

Ai jumped off the chair and ceiling, instantly stood in front of the captain and took his hand without question.

There was no pulse.

The Captain felt as cold as the outside air blowing in from the window. The other people stood far away from the Captain and the others, as though shunning death, and some even screamed.

"Why …?"

Ai did not let go of the hand and mumbled in a daze.

"I thought, I saved everyone …"

"Please don't worry about it, Miss Ai...I was already dead when you escaped…"

The captain looked at Ai, somewhat in a daze.

" I'm embarrassed to say, but there’s another two who didn’t die in combat. In a fire explosion and a car accident…"

"No way…"

"… Miss Ai, this is War, and there are 30,000 citizens, that's the kind of number…people will die whether you help them or not."

The words that were meant to comfort Ai were more like a blow to her heart.

Without noticing the wound, the captain suddenly whispered as if he were leaving a will he had forgotten to say.

"…Miss Ai. When this battle is over, I have a favor to ask of you."

Ai knew his face, but not his name. This Captain whom she only knew of in this manner bowed to a child like her in a ridiculously polite manner.

"When this battle is over, please bury us."

Ai had no answer.

"That will be my honor."

The world never stopped revolving for a moment, just as a millstone grinded at people’s lives.

 

At that moment, the iron bugs in flames shrieked as they barged in.

Chapter 2 - The Cross Horizon

Part I

As dawn began to break, the town of Ostia was covered in fog. The excessive white color obstructed the view as well as the darkness of the night, and the area did not seem ‘bright’ at all.

So it was only when Ai heard a cawing voice that she realized it was dawn.

Reacting to the sound, Ai woke up in a state of oblivion.

There was wind.

A morning breeze blew in from the lake, stirring the thick fog like milk in the bottom of a cup of tea, causing it to fade.

Ai was on top of the only surviving sign at the third street intersection. There, she hugged one of her legs and let the fog dilute.

The surrounding area was littered with piles of junk, and on closer look, one could see a handful of dirt in the center.

It was all the iron bugs remains Ai had buried.

The fog returned and buried the junk, and Ai buried her face in her arms.

More than thirty people.

That was the number of Dead Ai knew at this point.

Last evening, Ai and the others had stifled most of the iron bugs, but that was ‘most’, not ‘all’. At the same moment the iron bugs that flew into the meeting room, there were apparently a few iron bugs that rampaged down the hill before burning up.

After burying the intruding iron bugs, Ai heard the news from the Captain and immediately ran out of the hotel to continue burying the burning iron bugs in the dark night. This was to reduce the number of Dead as much as possible.

But that's all over now.

—Batatatatatatatata.

Ai slouched up to look at the sound of gunfire in the distance.

Three blocks down the street, flaming iron bugs were fighting citizen soldiers.

"Push! Go around them! That's right, I'll hold them off! Break them up!"

They outnumbered the bugs three to one, and had an advantage in numbers, but it was not enough to fight. In fact, even now, the flaming right arm of the iron bugs pierced one person’s heart.

But,

"Alright! Don't worry about me!"

The man held the iron bugs in his arms and blocked their movement. The remaining two men opened fire, using their assault rifles like electric saws to quickly tear the iron bug apart and burn it to the ground. The three of them cheered for a moment, then quickly tightened their expressions and buried themselves in the fog again.

Ai watched as they were buried in the mist and buried her face again.

Once the Dead exceeded thirty, the citizens who were under attack began to fight back. They, who had forgotten to stop due to death, turned into warriors who ‘died in battle’ and valiantly took down the iron bugs.

The iron bugs spilling down from the mountain were completely stopped by the dead soldiers. There was no reason for Ai to go out to the front lines, as there was a chance she might die. That was why she sat on the signpost.

Another gust of wind.

—She thought to herself, remembering that there was such a game. The iron bugs would kill the humans, and the humans resisted. The killed humans would return to the frontlines in numbers, but the winning condition for the humans was to not die, so they could not overwhelm the enemy.

She could not remember such a game. Perhaps there was none, and rather than it being a game, it was a well-made ironic story.

Right when Ai was having such useless thoughts,

"Ai."

She was found.

“Haa, haa, haa…I-I finally found you, you brat…"

Alice was beneath the signboard, standing and huffing.

"Let’s go."

Ai closed her eyes, and shriveled up like an armadillo.

At the bottom of the sign, Alice stood gasping for air.

Let's go."

Ai closed her eyes and curled up like an armadillo.

"Hey! Do you know how worried everyone was about you!? Get down here right now!"

Alice was furious, stomping on the ground. But Ai did not reply, for she was an armadillo.

"Ahh, is that, so? I’ve been looking for you all night and you're acting like that now?"

In the same way that Ai was a little more stubborn than usual, Alice was also a little more vexed than usual.

"Haaa!"

A roundhouse kick.

"!"

The sign that had been tilted at an angle could not withstand it. Wawawa, and Ai flailed about, barely landing her feet on the ground.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing!?"

"Woooaaahhh amazing. Looks like a beetle~"

Satisfied with the blow, Alice seemed to be in a good mood again.

"What are you getting all pouty for?"

"I’m not pouting! I’m in distress!"

"Distress!? You’re in distress? I've been thinking for a while now, but where did you learn such difficult words? Some manga?"

"———!"

Ai knew all of Alice's tricks. Alice’s words were meant to taunt her, to get her angry, and to buck her up, even if it meant having to force a smile. Ai also knew very well how to deal with it. All she had to say was, "Thank you, Mr. Alice. I don’t need the concern, but I appreciate it."

But at that moment, Ai fell for it, hook, link, sinker.

"S-Someone is struggling with the idea of life and death, what are you talking about now? Please go back alone if you want to!"

"Idea of life and death? How do you write that In detail?"

"———~! Mr. Alice, you idiot idiot idiot!"

"Yeah, yeah, it helps if you speak in simple terms like that."

"You’re so stupid that you failed all your subjects in your first year!"

"…Oi, don’t be so specific. And also, who told you that!?"

"I’m not talking to stupid people!"

"Shut up, you idiot. You’re noisy! The only calling others stupid is the stupid one!"

Then the two of them continued their crude insults.

Of course, anyone who called someone else a fool would immediately become one. But Mr. Alice here did not understand it and did not deny the idea as to whether he was a fool, so he was truly a fool. There were various extents to being a fool though; some were closer to having common sense, and some were fools amongst fools. I’m a good idiot, you’re a bad idiot, people in the past would say that there was no distinction of ranks between fools. In that case, he was probably the biggest idiot of all and just wanted to drag everyone down to his level. Would that not make him a fool?

At this moment, suddenly,

They stopped insulting each other as though they just had a warm-up exercise.

They hurried off..

"What are you going to do about the Captain's request?"

Alice said, his shoulders heaving like a fuming mountain gorilla.

"I'm going to say no!"

Ai replied, snorting loudly.

"Why!?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to refuse!"

"Fine, I get it!"

I’ll beat you up! Both of them continued their conversation with such a tone. Alice started limbering his body, swinging jabs at the air before him. You! You don't want us all to die!"

"You don’t want everyone to die, right!?"

He then swung his fists at the Dead who were rumbling in the distance.

"I hate it!"

Ai too swung the shovel around and snapped the signs around them.

"Why not!? It's war, you know! People will die! Don't you approve of Ortus?"

"I don't know!"

She really did not. Why did she not want that to happen? Ai was already convinced that death was the norm.

"Fine, I get it! I’m the same!"

Alice ripped out the problem that had been lodged inside Ai, labeled it as ‘unsolved’, and threw it behind them. Ai too swung the shovel wildly before her as though the problem itself was right in front of her.

"You know, Mr. Alice!"

"What?"

"I'm so angry! I'm really pissed off and I want to beat something up!"

"Yeah! Say it!"

Ai swung the shovel with blinding speed. She feinted eight times before striking the front.

However, she could not hit that thing.

"But I just don’t know what that thing is! "

And before that, Ai had no idea why he wanted to punch that thing. She did not know where the heat came from.

She had no more dreams.

She had no reason.

So why was her heart still burning?

"Waaaaaahhhhhh~!"

Ai shouted. The Dead, Living, and even iron bugs, "What was that about?" all looked at her twice in succession.

"Woaaahhh—————!"

Alice too shouted and pointed his pistol at the sun.

He fired.

However, the magic bullet that was certain to hit something could not find its target and vanished immediately. Ai and Alice stared at where the bullet disappeared to, as though they were spitting into the sky.

"Yes!"

The two of them affirmed something and started walking again as if nothing had happened.

"What are you yelling for!? Don’t you feel embarrassed or something?"

"What about you, Mr. Alice, don't you think shooting guns is a bit excessive? Please behave yourself."

The two of them walked through the fog, chiding each other.

"… By the way, where are we going?"

Ai asked once she had calmed down. They were on the road to the hills.

"After you ran off yesterday, the town council proposed a plan. If this succeeds, Madame can be defeated without any more Dead appearing—That's what they said."

"Is that true!?"

"I haven't heard the details either, but Dee said to call you anyway."

Her, Alice pointed with his chin when he mentioned her. A simple base had been built on the side of a hill, beyond the fog, and Dee was waving at them.

"Ah! You're both late! Hurry up!"

Beside her were Bendo, the guard Captain, and Shaun, who was chained in handcuffs.

"Shaun is the one who suggested this operation."

Alice whispered, his eyes darting around as he made sure not to let his guard down.

 

"He wants to bury Madame."

 

+

 

"I'll explain the situation then."

One had to wonder where Dee obtained a teaching whip, but she swung it around as she looked around at everyone.

"According to the report of the investigation team, Madame's main body has been hunkered down on a hilltop, producing only iron bugs and not moving on its own."

Ai, Alice, and the other soldiers on the frontlines were gathered in a field tent set up beside the hill.

"As for the iron bugs that they produce, ninety-nine percent of them were quickly burned by Alice's flames, and the remaining super-sized iron bugs were completely subdued by the thirty-odd ‘Dead Soldiers’."

Dee clapped her hands, but no one followed suit. Bendo in particular looked on grimly as he asked,

"Then there is no reason to fight anymore, is there?"

"Hmm?"

"Since we got her contained, that should be fine, right? There’s no need to poke the bear."

"My my, what happened to yesterday's enthusiasm, Bendo? Scared out of your wits?"

"Shut up…."

Sparks flew between the two of them. Apparently, the two of them had been arguing since last night until now.

"I'm saying that we can't tolerate any more Dead."

"That again? Old minded Bendo."

Dee cut him off and smiled at the soldiers standing beside him. They, the young soldiers, showed wry smiles as if they were caught between a rock and a hard place.

"The Dead should die, huh? I can understand why you feel that way, but can't you hold back a little? Mayor, you’ll cause morale to drop if you do that. Do you know, Bendo? You’re basically telling brave men and women who gave their lives, 'Thank you, but you must die’. "

"…You all don't know what you're talking about."

The Dandy Mayor, who always wore a tight suit and prided himself on his ageless body, suddenly had wrinkles on his cheeks as if remembering his age.

"You think we're hard-headed old men and you think you're open-minded young people…that's true to some extent…but our hard-headedness is a scaffolding, so to speak. It's the kind of solidity that people need as they live and age…it’s not that being open-minded is always good…"

"But won’t it be for nothing if you get destroyed because of your hardiness?"

 

"…So, I ask you, Lady. How long are you going to live like that?

 

Bendo said, not to Dee, but to the Dead who stood behind her. They were rooted, probably taken by surprise.

"You noticed, didn’t you? You noticed that you’ve become immortal, right?...you realized that you have decided when your demise will be…"

"Once this battle ends, we’ll ask the Gravekeepers …"

"That’s hard to tell, I think…there is an old saying that you hate, ‘if there is a bad apple, then every single one is a bad apple’…I don’t think people who sell the most important concept of ‘death’ would not end up fallen…like me. Until yesterday, I never thought I would continue continue living after our comrades died yesterday…but you already used the ‘for the sake of preserving the lives of many’ as an excuse to validate your existences…"

A look of almost hatred caught sight of Dee.

"…All because of the whispers of that little girl over there."

"I have to give my heartfelt congratulations to you, Bendo."

Dee Ensy took him head on.

"Then you'll live. You'll survive tomorrow, and the next day, and forever."

"Hmph, that’s a horrible thought..I'll never accept that—my position remains that the Dead are only going to exist until this battle is over."

"So, does that mean that we agree to finish this fast?"

Dee beamed.

"If you’re going to continue this battle of attrition against Madame while she’s in a lull, that’ll cause the fallen state you speak of to worse. I’m glad we agree to be aggressive"

"! I don’t mean that."

The conversation that was supposed to be derailed had somehow been rerouted back on track.

"Don't try to take your way out of this! You're just trying to get that 'black surface' back after all!"

"That's right!"

"Ahhh! I have enough of this brat! She’s only honest in such moments!"

"Of course I’ll be honest here. It's the key to saving the world."

"I don't understand…"

It seemed everyone aside from Bendo felt the same. They could not imagine why Dee’s perspective was so lofty.

They don't understand the high perspective of Dee. But for now, let's talk about Madame.

"Well, that’s fine, I’ll get you to understand slowly…but let’s talk about Madame."

Smiling, Dee looked at Ai, who was pouting, Alice, who looked sleepy, and Shaun, who was asleep.

"I'm counting on you three☆."

Ai would have preferred an explanation rather than a wink here.

 

Part II

 

Last night, Shaun appeared shown up at the meeting for the dumb reason that he could not hold back his laughter. That was not the only reason however. His actual motive was to ‘help bury Madame’.

Ai was curious about that.

"Why would you want to bury Miss Madame?"

Three hours after Dee's briefing, the three of them were gathered in an abandoned building close to the area of iron bugs. It was already late afternoon.

Ai asked Shaun, who was sitting next to her, as they waited for the moment to spring into action. His appearance was as grubby as the previous day, but he looked a little refreshed, perhaps because he was sober.

"I guess even I have an enlightened side to me. I can’t take it seeing that law-loving old hag end up ‘selfish’ and causing trouble for everyone, so I thought I should send her off permanently.

"I see…"

"Do you understand?"

"Yeah…I feel that you have the same smell as Mr. Alice."

"Oi."

"Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? What's that about? What do you mean?"

"What you said isn’t a lie, but it's not true either."

"Oopsie, young Alice is so adorable yet despicable. But you know what, little Ai? It doesn't matter if what I’m saying is true or not, right? That retired Ghost next to you feels this is fine too."

"That's true, but…"

Since Dee gave the go ahead, it did seem Shaun was not lying. Or perhaps he was lying, and Dee felt his lie was beneficial.

"Since you two are going to be pawns, just play along—oh, it’s starting. Right on time."

Suddenly, Shaun's eyes peered out from the rubble, his gaze grim.

At the two o’clocks and ten o’clocks directions, the smoking iron bugs reacted immediately and swarmed over by flanking.

"Good good, keep them close. Look over there, both of you. Those are the old hag’s hands."

"Her hands?"

"That's right, she's still based on human anatomy even though she's that big. That's why, Ai, we can only scratch two itchy spots of hers."

He said and stood up proudly.

"She’s not going to notice right now, so let’s climb up her ‘back’."

The sober Shaun hopped up with startlingly quick pace, and Ai looked over at Alice.

"Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"What are you two doing? Hurry up!"

Shaun, who was already standing at the border, called out towards them. Alice shrugged and started running.

However, Ai only stood up and did not try to move.

"Hurry up, little Ai!"

"Mr. Shaun. You seem to have misunderstood something. I’ll say this first."

"W-What? Hurry up."

"We're not pawns."

"Just for that reason!?—Fine, I get that!"

"So, as your equal, I'm going to ask you for two conditions."

"Fi-fine. I'll tell you where all the treasure we've confiscated so far is, and I'll tell you anything you want to know about the bad guys..."

"First of all, please stop drinking."

"Huh? I'm not doing that no—"

"Secondly, please stop calling Miss Madame 'old hag'."

Shaun fell silent.

"I don't know what your relationship is with Miss Madame, and I won't force you to say. Just please stop calling people names in front of me."

"……Yes."

Shaun replied quite obediently.

"Got it, I'll stop drinking…and I won't call her old hag…"

Shaun sounded as though he was defeated and finished off, and revealed the desperation he had been hiding.

"So, please…put the old hag—my stepmother to rest…"

Ai nodded her head and gently rubbed the shovel back.

It was her turn to be tested.

 

+

 

"…It will burn up soon. It’ll be weird otherwise…"

The border between the town and iron bugs divided the area tightly. Alice stood there, waiting for the flames to pass by as he said so. According to his prediction, the flames should have died down by now and Madame should have begun to recover. But the flames had not lost their initial momentum and were still burning the iron bugs, expanding and contracting like an amoeba.

The townspeople seemed to think this was a fortuitous event, but Alice had a different opinion.

"Let's go…"

As if they had been waiting for the train to pass the crossing, the three of them stepped past the flames and into the realm of iron bugs.

“…….”

They were speechless.

The town had been reduced to ashes. The streets that had once existed, albeit in ruins, were gone, and the places they remembered only remained in their memories.

Alice was devastated. Surely the shock he felt was many times more than Ai. It was out of necessity, but he had burned down his birthplace.

"This is awesome…young Alice, you're not half bad."

Ai glared at Shaun to shut him up, and silently reached her hand to pat Alice’s back. The latter recovered and took a step forward, "I’m fine." as if to say so.

"Let's go up a little further."

Alice said, already sweating.

"Are you okay? If we get surrounded by the flames…"

"No need to worry. That fire’s not going to burn anything but the iron bugs. That's how I threw it."

"…I remember that’s the case."

"But I should say this first, that’s if the flames aren’t altered…"

"What~ever~, let’s hurry now. I’m dying from heatstroke."

The trio walked in silence. The heat was overbearing, and the soles of their shoes were already warm. The only thing moving were the flames flickering in the distance. The streets had all burned away, leaving behind the stone, and it appeared to be a completely unfamiliar town.

"Huh?"

That was why they did not do it right away.

It did not 'appear’ to be an unfamiliar town.

"…Don’t you feel something’s amiss?"

Alice noticed too.

The streets around here were not devastated by the flames, and had not suffered a decade of wind erosion., their appearances remaining the same. The stores eaves and the grocery store boxes were covered with ashes, but they still retain their shape.

No, that was not it.

They were not covered with ashes.

They were made of ashes.

"What is this …?"

Everyone noticed the anomaly.

 

This was not Ostia.

 

"What’s going on…?"

The ashes, the remnants of iron bugs, were moving like amoebas, moving so slowly that it was noticeable, awkwardly mimicking the buildings and cobblestones, badly.

On a closer look, they found themselves in the middle of a beautiful downtown area with a historical vibe.

"… Where are we?"

Alice called out confusion. The cobblestones in Ostia were not laid out in straight lines like this, and the roofs and bay windows were elegantly decorated in a different style.

 

"Almheim…"

 

Shaun said.

"Where is that?"

The sober young man murmured with a look of impaired judgment.

"It's the city of my stepmother, our city…"

 

+

 

The silhouette of the city of ashes intensified as they climbed the hill.

There’s a place I want to go to first, the other two obliged, and they moved through the city of ash. Shaun took the shortest route to his destination without once getting lost. The ash density increased with each step, and eventually even the people began to reappear.

They arrived at what appeared to be an eccentric hut.

"…What do you want to do here?"

It was no pleasant place by any stretch of the imagination. The men of ash were all armed with weapons, and the women were leaning against the walls of the alley dressed like poisonous flowers. The bulges lying in the darkness were clearly corpses.

They were all made of ashes and the past, and they were powerless to do anything about it, but Ai still felt forlorn

"Come with me…."

Without answering directly, Shaun entered one of the huts. He plowed through the disguised hut out front and kicked in the tightly sealed door. The gray man who seemed to be guarding the place did not interfere at all. They felt as though they were invisible.

On the other side of the door, there were several children squashed in like objects.

"…Stepmother's "

Shaun collapsed to his knees in front of one of them, a girl who had a blind right eye and a missing left leg.

There was no explanation.

Time merely flowed.

"What’s going on…?"

Ai asked. Shaun paused for a moment, then blurted out.

"…Do you understand that this is a recreation of the past?"

Ai nodded.

"This is the first place my stepmother recorded…as per the investigation."

"Investigated…so you don't know about this place yourself?"

"Of course not. It was at least seventy years before I was born…"

"Then what are you…?"

"Shh."

Shaun held up his index finger.

"I'm sure…that’s going to be shown soon."

At that moment, a chubby man entered the room from behind the trio.

 

"Who bought these useless things?"

 

The ashes finally began to reproduce even the sound.

"The right eye and leg are crushed. I can't help it."

The man appraised the girl with the eyes of a professional inspecting a product and paid no attention to the rest.

The girl, whose mortality had been decided, was, however, not not in despair, for she did not know what hope was.

"Hey, dump this one."

Ai wanted to kick aside the man before her, but she could not save the girl before her, for this incident happened a long time ago.

But then, a miracle happened.

"Police! Don't resist!"

Men with guns rushed into the small tattered house. They pinned the man to the ground and rescued the trapped children one by one.

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

"Time to go…"

Shaun urged Ai, who could not keep up with the change of situation, and followed the children who were led out. The time and space in the city changed accordingly, and the scene shifted to that of a hospital.

The girl sneezed a little as she was doused with many inoculations, disinfectants and lice repellents.

 

"I feel like a princess."

 

The girl said, and the staff gave a wry smile.

"Do you?"

"Yes, are you prince charming?"

"I'm not suited to be prince charming."

"…Then who saved me?"

The girl asked.

The staff member hesitated.

"I don't know. I'm not pious enough to say that god saved you, but to say that it’s the mayor who wanted to rezone the city so that money goes to his family business is…"

"…You cannot answer?"

"Ah, no, let’s see …"

The staff pondered, and finally answered,

 

It was the law that helped you."

 

"The…law."

"Yes, the Special Child Protection Law. And you see, the law gave you this too."

With that, the officer gave her a prosthetic eye and leg.

The girl put on the prosthesis with trepidation.

"Law…."

Ever since that day, the word was her god.

 

+

 

The memory of the city was rather flimsy, the time and places were not exactly recreated with accuracy.

The three of them continued to walk alongside the girl's life. The girl went from the orphanage to school. She apparently got good grades and later became a qualified lawyer specializing in child welfare.

She got married late in life. Her partner was that staff member. Perhaps because of the scars from her childhood, she was not blessed with children, but the days that followed passed peacefully.

The girl had reached an age where she could be called old. At that moment, she had retired as a lawyer and settled into the position of director of the orphanage where she had been taken in.

"She looks…happy…"

There were children playing in the courtyard of the stone building, and an old woman rocked in a rocking chair, watching with sleepy eyes. The orphanage, made of ashes, looked like a scene from a black and white photograph.

"……Mr. Shaun?"

Ai glanced at Shaun, who had not responded halfway through the recreation of the story.

"…What do we do, Mr Alice…Mr Alice?"

She looked at the similarly hapless Alice, and saw him looking around, acting strange and alert.

"What's wrong?"

Finally, he noticed that Ai was calling him.

"Ah, no, it's nothing…"

"You're lying."

"Wh-What’s that about?"

"I told you, didn’t I? I’m not going to let such things slide. When you say ‘there’s nothing’, that means there’s something. Now, tell me everything."

"Ugh, you’ve become quite the troublesome one…I’ll correct what I said about the nothing part, but I still don't know what's going on either. I just have this really bad feeling…"

Alice was looking around with the eyes of a herbivore who had scented upon a beast.

"What’s with this strange feeling…?"

At that moment, it began to snow.

It was ashy snow that was about to turn into root snow.

"…What do we do now? Miss Madame is like this and Mr Shaun is like that."

"Winter's here before we know it."

"Hachoo! Uu, it certainly does feel colder."

The area was quickly covered with snow, and the city was personally decorated by the people.

It was formed from ash.

The city was abuzz. The streets were decorated with ribbons, and wreaths celebrating the birth of the saints were hammered on the windows and doors.

"…Eh…"

It was then, for the first time in a long time, that Shaun reacted.

"…No way …."

He looked at the snowflakes and murmured in a daze.

"Mr Shaun?"

He did not have a drop of alcohol till this point, but his body was shaking.

"Is this …that day?"

"Mr. Shaun! Please calm down! What's wrong?"

The unhealthily thin body trembled, and he stood up and grabbed his face.

"No way…stop it…STOP!"

Amidst the streets brimming with happiness, Shaun was the only one who seemed to be scorned as he was stained with despair. He grabbed his face with both hands and stared at the ashes of his past, unable to even look away.

And then,

The city was engulfed in flames.

With a swoosh, the flames that had been burning elsewhere came to burn the city. Ash buildings were burning down. The people of ash were being struck down in a flurry.

The old girl threw herself down to protect her children from the flames.

"STOP———!!"

Shaun shouted.

 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The city was on fire. The people were on fire. The orphanage was on fire.

The children were on fire.

Everything that the girl had built was on fire.

"Aaah, aaah, aaah!"

The girl was crying out as she held the corpses of the orphans.

"Why! What have we done? What law did we break!?"

The girl did not doubt the law even as her body burned.

What she should have doubted was the reality.

"Why…does nobody follow the law? Why does this world not obey the beautiful law? The law has always protected the world and people, but why does the world and people not protect the law… Why … why …?"

The girl kept asking until the very end, turning to charcoal.

 

"Mom! Mom! Stop! Stop it!"

"Please calm down! It's in the past! We can't save her now!"

Shaun knew this very well, but the moment he saw those flames before him, he lost his mind.

"Mr. Alice! Please help me!"

"This is bad…"

Alice, however, was frozen in shock.

Strangely, the flames destroying the city did not approach them. The Buzzer Beater was indeed still at work.

But the change had definitely begun.

"Stepmother…"

Soon after, the flames burned out and Shaun collapsed on the spot.

Ai stood there with no words to say. The only thing she could do was pat him on the back.

"I couldn't…save her ."

"It's not your fault. That was a long time ago, and the flames belonged to Mr. Alice…"

"No! That's not true!"

But to Shaun, it sounded completely different.

"Everything! It's all my fault! I was the one who burned it all down!"

"What do you mean...?"

Ai was about to ask.

But at that moment, the city began to revive again.

The buildings, streets, and people began to regenerate in much the same way as before.

But in the same manner…

"I think I know why the flames aren't burning out…"

Alice stifled a shuddering voice.

"This place was built to be burned. The flames aren’t an enemy to the ashes anymore, they're just part of the predetermined scenes."

Alice's power was transforming Madame's iron bugs, and Madame's iron bugs were transforming Alice's flames.

"My flames were consumed by her…."

At this moment, the city of ashes was still shaking in the slumber of the past.

But no one knew what would happen when she woke up.

 

"Ugggh!"

"Ah, Mr Shaun!"

In a split second, Shaun ran out of the orphanage and towards the top of the hill.

The ashes around Shaun warped strangely, forming a screen around him, trapping him in the middle of it.

It was another scene.

 

Room 203, it said.

 

"Stop—!"

Shaun noticed the scene immediately and basically leaped over to attack. The scene was centered around him however, and he was basically chasing a dangling carrot before him. The further the horse moved, the further the carrot.

The boy was left alone in the apartment, staring at his parents outside.

Ai had the urge to look away. This was definitely Shaun's memory.

The ashes that recreated the past had changed further, dragged along by Shaun's memory. A closer look would show a mountain scenery beneath Ai's feet, and the little streets of Ostia started reappearing around Alice on a smaller scale.

"We promise we’ll be back in a month."

 

With that, the boy's parents left, closing the door behind them.

"Stop! Please don’t!"

The boy waited. He marked the date on his calendar and waited. It was also the birthday of an old saint, and there was a big mark on the calendar to congratulate him.

He marked each date on the calendar with an X and waited. There was nothing much left in the house to eat, and he spent days drinking water. His hunger was satiated by sleeping. He spent most of the month in bed.

And so a month passed.

The city beyond the window was covered in white snow and in a festive mood, as if the whole world was celebrating him.

The boy stared at it with his dying, dry eyes.

The boy waited. He waited for that one day, just as he had waited for a month.

And the day simply ended without a hitch.

At midnight, staring out the window at the never-ending festivities, the boy was finally convinced.

He was abandoned.

The glass in front of him reflected the events of a different world. The world was full of light, and it was a place separated from the boy.

… I wish they'd all burn.

No words could be spoken. No tears came out. He did have the energy to do that anymore. The boy was only looking forward to the end of the world.

 

On that day, Almheim disappeared.

 

And the past and the present began to blend together.

 

"Mom!"

Shaun shouted as he climbed the hill.

"Mom! You’re there, right!? Come out!"

His voice sounded like the cries of a young child.

"P-please calm down, Mr. Shaun! We’re stopping this mission! Wait!"

The wall of illusion finally disappeared, and Ai pulled Shaun along, but the unyielding ground of ash caused their feet to slip, and the light bodies fell forward.

Shaun and Dee's plan was for a small, elite force to enter the heart of Madame, for Shaun to summon the main body of Madame, and Ai to bury it.

"How are you going to call her?" Ai asked, but Shaun was unwilling to say anything more, "What, I’m her son. She’ll definitely show up.".

But maybe.

Perhaps he was serious about it.

At the very least, that was what he really thought.

"Mom!"

Atop of the hill, there was not even a shred of school left, and Madame's huge body was gone. The only thing that remained was the burned out image of an unfamiliar city and the black surface that continued to float as if nothing had happened.

"Mom!"

Shaun shouted to the point his voice was hoarse.

"Mr. Shaun!"

"Don't do this, Ai…."

Alice tapped Ai on the shoulder to stop him. He had no intention to stop Shaun in the first place.

"Let him…"

"But..."

"Please."

He appeared to be somewhat empathizing with Shaun’s mental state.

"Mom…please…come back…just like that time…look for me... "

Finally, Shaun ran out of steam and clutched the ashes, which were still hot from the waist down.

Neither Ai nor Alice could say anything. They had no idea of the fate and past between him and Madame. They kept quiet at least so as not to interfere.

"Mom…"

The same tears that fell fourteen years ago fell on the ashes.

 

"…Is there…someone?"

 

The voice echoed.

 

+

 

The girl who had turned into charcoal woke up the next morning.

She widened her eyes, trying to stand up, but collapsed as she did so. She was burned all over, and everything was useless aside from her right glass eye and prosthetic left leg. The girl had no choice but to supplant herself with items that had fallen next to her, using them as limbs. Her condition instantly improved.

The girl began to walk. She wandered in search of something. She felt that she had forgotten many things, she knew that she was looking for something.

However, she did not know what she was looking for.

Still, the girl kept walking.

 

"Is there nobody…?"

The boy mumbled in tears. He never thought this would have happened. He never thought that he would end up ostracized by everyone.

"Is there nobody…?"

She mumbled. Her heart was filled with frustration, and she could not find a child no matter where she looked.

 

"Is there…anyone…?"

And then they met.

It was a morning, everything was shining, engulfed in light, whether it was the fresh white snow or the black of the purple charcoal.

In the midst of it all, the old woman made of junk met the lonely boy.

"Oh, I found you…"

The old woman showed a smile that was formed out of piggy banks, and reached out the hand that was made of railway moulds.

"It is all right now. Mother is here…"

The boy was not afraid of this monstrous old woman.

It was what he had always wanted.

He grabbed the old woman's hand and stood up.

"Let us go…Shaun."

 

From that day on, the boy became Shaun Sullivan.

 

It was not until much later that he learned that the name was for an imaginary child, named by an old woman who was unable to conceive.

 

+

 

"Stepmother…"

A miracle had occurred.

A monster that had gone insane was brought back to its senses by the call of a child.

Such a miracle,

"Is there… anyone …?"

At first, Madame appeared in the form of a child. But as time passed, she gradually became an old woman that was a collection of junk.

The old woman became a demon over three meters tall, with blades and weapons all over her.

"Mom…"

As he had done fourteen years ago, Shaun approached her without fear.

"Mom…it's me…"

But,

"…Who are you?"

Even if the monster had not changed, Shaun had.

"Y-You’re asking!? It’s me! Shaun!"

"No…you are not Shaun…"

The gears on her face twisted in displeasure.

"Shaun is a small child."

At that moment, the young man's large back froze.

"You are an adult now, no…?"

The old woman did not bother with the young man and swayed.

"Shaun…yes, he is gone…no, he is around, right? Hu-huh …."

Madame continued to sway in a daze.

"This is bad, Ai…."

Alice said, maintaining a posture to draw his gun at any moment.

"I'd say half of Madame's body is gathered here right now."

The mission was about to succeed.

"Half? You can tell?"

"I don't know. But according to Madame's ‘specifications’, the previous Madame that was about ten years old is basically 10% of the actual Madame. So that fifty year old lady over there is probably a higher percentage than that."

"……"

"Can you bury it?"

Ai faltered. That might be sufficient to end this issue. For safety consideration, she should destroy the core of the central command.

But

Despite that.

"… Sorry Mr. Alice, I don't want to bury that Miss Madame."

Madame was swaying about, searching for Shaun, not knowing he was before her.

"—It's weird, isn't it? I shouldn’t have any dreams anymore, and I know I should bury Miss Madame for the sake of this town."

Before she knew it, warm water was flowing into a place she thought was empty and parched.

"I see."

Alice did not press her any further.

"I understand. But what should we do then?"

"Let's snatch Mr Shaun and run."

"…Shaun?"

Did she react to the words?

Madame reacted to the words by looming at extraordinary speed.

"Hii!"

"Shaun…oh my, do you two know Shaun?"

"N-Not at all…"

"Oh my, then you…"

Madame pointed at Ai with her chopper finger.

"Are you not Shaun?"

"Eh? Ehhhh!?"

"You look tiny…and soft…yes, very Shaun-like."

"I-I am not that small…I'm 13 years old."

"Oh dear, then you are probably not Shaun…where is Shaun then?"

Where? Where? Madame swayed her head about, murmuring to herself.

…This could be a serious problem. Ai looked up at Alice while cold sweat trickled down her, and found that he had the same look.

"…Let’s get out of here ASAP. Ai, lend me that shovel."

"? What are you doing?"

"Don't worry—I'm not going to do anything dangerous, so don't worry. Grab Shaun and come back. I'll take care of the rest."

"Understood…."

They whispered to each other and began to act.

"Where is…Shaun. Shaun, Shaun, Shaun……"

Madame shook her head as though she was trying to stay awake. Ai tiptoed past her at a brisk pace, and Alice was furiously digging in the ground.

"Shaun, Shaun, Shaun…"

Madame shook her head wildly, looked around, towards the hilltop to the east, the wilderness to the south, the cloudy sky to the north, the lake in the south.

And finally, she looked down at the town below.

"…Where is my baby?"

Madame merely murmured.

 

Part III

 

Ultimately, she was sidelined again.

Scar sighed as she held Celica in her arms.

Scar and Celica were locked inside a tent close to the lakeside, far away from the hills lakeside, giving off an unhappy vibe. The other squad members were terrified of Scar and served her tea and sweets to coax them, but they turned away without even looking at them.

"Don't use the radio, the iron bugs may have intercepted us. Just watch them with your eyes—no, no, good work, both of you."

Please do something about your wife! The young soldier jostled Juliie, wanting him to coddle Scar. ‘I’m busy and I have to show up now?’ such was the demeanor Julie showed as he came over, but it was unable to please Scar at all, and she felt it was unfair, for she was bored to tears.

Scar puffed her cheeks, mimicking the way Ai used to do it, and it certainly fit the mood she was in.

Julie immediately started to fidget and tickle Celica's face to get Scar’s attention.

"Alrighty~. Miss Dee is about to take a break~"

Just then, Dee lifted the tent flap and entered. She looked very tired, probably because she had been up all night.

And once she looked over at them, her face was filled with delight.

"Oro? Everyone’s here? Nice timing. I’ll have some sweets~."

Dee grinned away, and was revitalized for some reason as she seemingly discarded her fatigue, showing a demonic smile as she snatched Celica from Scar's hands.

"Don't mind me~!"

With the icebreaker snatched away, Julie had no choice but to attack from up front.

"…Am I inconveniencing you in any way?"

Scar looked up at the big man.

"Everything."

"Hmm? What do you—?

"I am saying this whole situation is quite an inconvenience."

Scar tried to express her anger as accurately as possible, through her body, with Ai as reference. She raised her eyebrows and lowered her voice as much as possible to convey this ‘I am angry’ sentiment.

"I cannot do the laundry, I cannot cook, I cannot bring Celica out to see the grandmothers and the mothers, and I have no idea what Ai and Alice are doing now. You said you would be there for me, but you have been gone for a long time."

"No, that's…sorry—But it's for Celica."

Hmph. Scar puffed her cheeks, looking even more frustrated. She did not think this was a fair take. Celica appeared to have the same sentiment as she flailed in the arms of the leering Dee, ‘enough fooling’, Mother and child were thus united in sentiment.

And then.

Scar picked up Celica from Dee's hands and thrust her out to Julie.

"I am, fine."

She dubbed over for Celica.

"I want, to, go out."

Julie was initially slack jawe, but he then lowered his head, his shoulders shivering, as though moved by the heartfelt voice of his daughter..

"Pfft… ahem…why are you only saying a few words?"

"…It is, difficult, to talk."

"I see. Well, come to think of it, it’s your first time talking. That's great, my daughter!"

Celica was always happy to receive praise, and so she snorted proudly. Julie continued to lavish praise on Celica "You're a genius!" "A prodigy!" Celica looked gleeful, daww, and she cooed away as though she was proud to be the one talking.

It was Scar who was troubled. The two of them were chatting happily, leaving her out of the conversation. "Daw daw," "I see," "Aw aw" "I didn't notice that".

"E-erm, Julie?"

"Yes, Scar, I'm having a secret conversation with Celica."

"Wh-what is that!? That is not fair!"

Dee was lying on the desk, shaking. She probably choked on a candy bar. A warm fuzzy feeling spread through the tent as one of the soldiers tried to use the radio without permission to call the others.

That was when it happened—

"? What's wrong, Celica?"

Celica, who was in Julie’s arms, suddenly froze, and her smile instantly faded.

"What is it? Need a diaper?"

Luckily, Julie tried to shift the conversation, but he soon changed his attitude.

Celica reeled in her limbs , as if her life was about to be compromised.

 

Waaah—!

A baby's cry echoed through the tent.

It was not a normal cry. It was not a cry for food or diapers, but a desperate cry for life.

There was silence.

Immediately, Scar moved. She consoled Celica with deft movements that were as natural as breathing, and looked beyond the tent.

"…Dee, please have all people south of block three flee east immediately. Put out a warning to those on Continental Road and downtown."

"Roger that."

Dee obeyed without asking.

"Julie, please get the blue car ready."

Julie too nodded without asking why.

 

"The enemy is most probably after us."

 

+

 

"SHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!"

The ashworm that had been clinging to the top of the hill mowed down the hill like caramel sauce on pudding.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!"

It sloshed along, eating up everything in its path like a tsunami or magma.

"Miss Madame!"

At the tip of the spear, a group of shadows were running at the same speed.

"Miss Madame, please listen!! Please stop!"

A 500 HP off-road motorbike specialized for rough terrain strode through the abandoned town at falling speed. The bike was an amazing three-seater, with Alice in the driver's seat, Shaun in the tandem seat, and Ai standing on the cowl behind them, relying only on her sense of balance.

"Miss Madame!"

Ai called out frantically, her hair blowing in the wind. Madame completely ignored her. Her main body just rolled along, eating up the ruins like a snowball.

Meanwhile, the wreckage of an overturned bus appeared before the bike.

"! Ai, we’re jumping!"

Alice raised his hips, lifted the front wheel, and

Buzzer Beater.

The bike used the slight incline to leap through the air, through a window frame with less than five centimeters to spare, and landed forward.

It was too much of a force to be called a throw. One could see veins showing on his forehead, as though he was enduring the tremendous migraine.

"Mr. Alice, don't be reckless!"

"I don’t have a choice!—Here we go again!"

"Ah! Come on!"

The next moment, the bike barged into a worn down house. This building that appeared no different from any other abandoned building had a secret role that only Alice knows about.

The bike flew into the children's room from the living room and kicked over a pile of dolls. Somehow, a large number of grenades tumbled out of the dolls that tumbled over .

They exploded.

"GIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!"

The grenades miraculously exploded at the perfect distance.

Alice had stocked his supplies all over the place for the reconstruction of the town, and remembered where they all were. This bike and the prior grenades were some of them. He then kicked a log that he had stacked for building materials and hit it directly, spraying it with gasoline that he had hidden in the liquor store.

He then sprayed bullets over them and ignited the gasoline.

"Hey! I told you to stop!"

"I'm sorry! I'll buy you sweets later!"

"That's not the point!"

Ai had never seen such uses of the ability before. Alice had a grim look on her face as though he was "enduring torture.

All right! She’s off course!"

Everything was done to draw the ashworm away from the town.

They had no idea what caused it, but the three of them were trying their best to redirect Madame who had gotten serious, and worked hard till this point.

Their hard work was not for naught, for Madame, who was on her way to the lake, tilted her body to the side and went towards the hills.

"Thank Goodness…we're safe for now."

"Is that so? Glad to hear that. … Now, Mr. Alice, I'd like to have a talk with you…"

"I-I'll listen when we get back! We’ll talk, so spare me now!"

Right when the atmosphere on the bike seemingly relaxed.

"…Say, isn’t it weird?"

Shaun, who had been sitting in his seat and watching on, , said in an emotionless voice,

"…She’s changing course again. It’s like she’s led to a place without people."

Ai immediately stopped her lecture and stared at where Madame was headed.

"SHHHAAUUNNN!! MY!! BBBBAAABBBBYYYYY!!!"

The angle Madame took was increasingly acute, towards the hill where nobody was at.

Ahead of her was a blue car conjuring a sandstorm.

"I see yoooooooouuuuuuu!!"

 

+

 

"South! Hurry!"

Scar jumped into the blue car with Celica in her arms, and Julie answered as he stepped on the gas. Bendo barely missed the car, and his grumbles were far behind them.

Celica was still crying.

"It is fine."

Scar smiled, suppressing her own anxiety.

"You have your mother, father, brother and sister with you."

She looked out of the window. There was an avalanche of ash on the hillside and a group of children fighting desperately at the head of it.

"What are our kids doing—!?"

Julie screamed half-crazedly and slammed the steering wheel.

"Watch out! Run, you idiots! Why are you headed towards us?"

"Uncle! Uncle! I'm sure they're screaming the same thing, right?"

Dee popped her head forward and retorted. Julie was so startled that one had to worry if his blood vessels would burst.

"Dee!? Why are you in this car too!?"

Dee pouted.

"Because I don't want to be left out."

"Of course."

"Now is not the time for that!! Arrrgh! Goodness! Our family’s like that!"

Geh! Julie shouted like an animal. Celica was momentarily startled and stopped crying.

Madame was looming closer every second.

"…I do not think we can escape."

Scar calculated calmly, Ai and the others had bought lots of time, but the opponent was too strong.

"We shall be caught in fifty seconds…"

"Is that so…"

Still, Julie did not give up. He kept spinning the steering wheel, minimized his braking, and tried to extend the time from 50 to 51.

A Gravekeeper would have thought it was a foolish thing to do, and even be troubled, wondering the significance of this act.

But Scar could only smile at Julie's clumsy effort.

"Your parents are kind of nice these days, isn't it?"

Dee smiled and poked Celica.

"See, you're a girl, aren't you? Don't cry for nothing."

Scar held the baby, tying her tightly with a cloth and gripping the silver blade with her other hand.

She intended to fight until the end.

She was still half and half, either as a living creature or a phenomenon, but she did not mind and intended to fight for herself and for family, swinging her blade until her last moment.

But then, with a poof.

"Hmm?"

"Waah!"

Scar's calculations and Julie's efforts were overturned. A dull sound echoed in the car.

+

 

"What in the world!?"

Both of them were desperately trying to change Madame's path, but were flabbergasted by the blue car's behavior.

"It must have stalled…"

Shaun blurted out calmly.

The blue car was once again immobile, probably due to daily overuse.

"No! Mr. Julie, you idiot! It’s your fault for not maintaining the car properly! "

"That stupid junk! I'll scrap it when we get back!"

"Now’s not the time to be talking about this, both of you…young Alice, go around. "

"I don't need you to tell me!"

The bike accelerated further to a speed that could cause necks to snap arriving before the blue car. Three people along with four others hopped off. Alice, Julie, Scar, Dee...

"Old man! Use this to get us all out of here! Ai and I will figure out a way to stop it!"

"Are you kidding me, you idiot!? I’ll stay, you guys run!"

"Ai, please take Celica and run. I shall take her on."

"I'll try to talk to her, you guys—"

It was impossible to keep the conversation coherent. Everyone was thinking for the others’ sake, and could not move. "I’ll take care of this, everyone, please run away," Ai swallowed back the words she was going to say

"Ah! Hey, Ai!"

Holding the shovel like a sword, Ai stood at the front to face off against Madame.

"! She’s here!"

It was impossible to decide who would run away and who would stay behind with this group.

"SHHHHAAAAAUUUUUNNNN!!!"

A wave of ashes loomed at once, devouring the group.

 

+

 

 

Ai felt like she was in a dream, falling, climbing up the stairs, and then realizing there was no final step.

But the shock she had expected did not come.

There was a lot of wailing and crying.

"…It stopped?"

Tired of waiting for the shock that never came, Ai gently opened her closed eyelids.

The sudden change in air pressure had created a fog in the area. In the pure white darkness, Celica's cries were the only sounds that echoed.

The fog was lifted.

"……Ah…Ah…"

Madame stopped dead in front of Scar, who was holding Celica.

"…Ahhh…ahhh…"

No one was able to move. Even Scar was looking a little terrified, and froze as if he had been struck by lightning.

Ai gripped the hilt of the shovel firmly.

"Aaahh…aaahh…."

Amidst the tense atmosphere, time remained still and did not move at all..

Madame merely staggered before a crying Celica.

"……?"

Ai was mystified and relaxed her stance slightly.

"Ahh…do not cry…aahhh…"

"Waaaaahhhh!!"

"Ahh, ahh."

The monster's face was flushed with bewilderment.

"Do not cry…ahh, do not cry…"

At that moment, Ai suddenly realized.

Could it be that Madame was simply—

"…Everyone, please don't do anything."

Scar too appeared to have noticed something, and whispered with a determined expression.

"Leave this to me…"

Her eyes had the glint of someone who was ready to move time. Ai had no idea as to what Scar was going to do, but she was willing to defer.

Reality however would not let her.

With a thud.

"Eh?"

A spear was stabbed into Madame's face.

Ai slowly turned around. There, despair had taken shape and swept over her.

"Ohhhh!"

There was a rumbling that shook the earth, and a beastly cry.

Just as the ashes of death seemingly rolled down from the top of the hill, a crowd of citizens were attacking from the bottom of it. The Dead vanguard led by Guard Captain were followed by the main force of the Living."

There were three thousand of them.

"Hey Alice~! We’re here to help~!"

The guard Captain shouted.

"Miss Scar, We’re here to save you!"

The boy soldier, dressed in full plate, held up a new spear.

"…No…"

Ai felt her soles chill.

The blood was drained from her. The squeal beneath her feet reached out to her hands, to the point where her shovel almost fell off.

People ran up, hand in hand, legs together. The weapons were in short supply. Only a hundred or so people were armed with guns. Some of them were even bare-handed. It was as if they were going to die.

But they still attacked.

Why? Why?

Ai stared at the reality before her in confusion. Why did they launch a suicidal attack? Why were they risking their lives?

It was obvious.

It was to save them.

Bendo, leaning his upper body out from his Cadillac, laughed sarcastically when he spotted Dee, and shouted,

"Everyone! Attack!"

"NOOOOOO!!!"

Ai screamed, but the citizens did not stop as they attacked the wave of ash. Grenades exploded, machine guns spewed bullets, machetes sliced through bookshelves, and rusty choppers hacked at cutting boards.

The ashworms were initially slow to react as they let themselves be attacked. Eventually, however, they waved their arms in annoyance. Their movements were weak and appropriate, far from the desire to ‘attack’.

But even such a move would easily rob their lives.

"Ah! Ahhhhh!"

The scene from afar resembled a puppet show..

The first one died.

The young soldier died.

Bendo died.

Ai covered her face like she was going crazy.

"Run! Everyone, please run———!"

And that was where it all began.

The man who had been stabbed through the heart grinned and snapped the spear that had stabbed through him. The woman whose left arm was severed was attacked with that severed left arm. The old soldiers whose heads were decapitated grabbed his head with his left hand and sprayed the machine gun with his right hand.

The battle against the iron bugs that had spilled down the hill was fought by thirty Dead.

Then, how many Dead would be able to fight against these ash bugs that spread out like the earth? Fifty? A hundred? Or one thousand? Ten thousand?

"Run! I beg of you! Run!"

Alice let out a blood spitting scream, his eyes stained with blood and tears. For the first time in his life, he knew what he had been doing. He had risked his life for the sake of others. It was only when he became that other person that he understood the pain of that position.

"…Everyone, please run before Madame's body reacts."

Only one person, Dee, was disgustingly calm. Shaking off her tears, Ai shouted,

"Miss Dee! You!"

"Stop taking it out on me, I told you from the beginning that I wanted this."

Only Dee, this ‘Witch’, kept staring at reality so calmly.

"Ga…chi…ga…chi…gachi…?"

Madame's body, which had been looking curiously at the metal spear stabbed at her face, finally began to move. She looked around in bewilderment "??", not understanding why she was at such a place.

"!?"

Her gaze froze when she saw the top of the hill. The ashworms that were spreading out beneath her feet buzzed in fear, causing goosebumps on the ground as if they were frightened.

"What…?""

The tide of the battle quickly favored the Living…or rather, the Dead. The iron bugs which had little motivation to attack stopped chasing mosquitoes and began to escape sluggishly.

Seeing this, Ai realized that there was something missing. There was something here. Something that had been with the ash bugs since yesterday, something that was now a pair, a flame that would burn the ash back to ash!

"Bachibachibachi!"

"Look!"

Someone shouted happily.

"It's Alice's flames!"

A second wave was dredging its way down the hillside that was purified completely by the ash.

"They’re here to burn iron bugs!"

But Alice paled and shouted.

"Run! That thing is no longer under my control! I don't know what's going to happen!"

The fiery tsunami reached the end of the line, slowly burning down the hill like flowing lava.

 

"Gachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachigachi!!"

"Bachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachibachi!!"

 

The flames swarmed the ashes, causing noises akin to water poured into boiling oil.

It was no longer Alice's Buzzer Beater or Madame's bugs.

The flames devoured away. The ashes devoured away.

It was akin to a snake biting its own tail.

 

Chapter 3 - The Ashes and the Flames

Part I

 

She had no idea as to where she ran from, or how she did.

She just kept running and running until it was night, and found herself at a motel in the hills.

On a shabby deck with only moonlight, Ai was leaning against the sash, staring blankly at the town. Next to her was a hotel pamphlet she had just picked up. It contained the scenery she was looking at, a beautiful scenery with a sparkling lake surface. ‘This motel offers the best view of Ostia.’ The photo was dried out due to rain and evaporation, but the beauty of the photo remained.

But in reality, the scenery had already changed a lot.

The scenery in the photo is gone.

Before Ai's eyes, half of the town was burning.

"……"

Stretching out her right hand, Ai pointed to the area where Alice's house used to be. She started moving her finger from the school, went down the hill, a few winding narrow old streets,

There was nothing but fire at the tip of my index finger.

The café she would visit on her way home, her favorite cobblestone pavement.

Everything was gone.

"…………"

Ai gently closed her eyelids and buried her face in her hands that were on the railing.

"It's fine."

Alice, who was staring into the darkness just like her, said so,

"We’ll revive the town again."

Her voice sounded soothing. Feeling a little embarrassed that she had worried him, Ai forced herself to reply cheerfully,

"Did you contact the others?"

Alice shook his head silently.

"…I see."

They managed to arrive here with the same members, but on the way here, they got lost with the town citizens and Shaun, and could not find them.

They tried to get Scar to seek out the Dead, but she said the entire town was enveloped in Madame's presence, making it impossible to search for just the citizens. They should be able to find safely if they could reach the other end of the town, but with flames in their way, it was impossible to reroute over.

Dee and Julie agreed that it was reckless to act in this darkness and fire.

Ai wanted to join the citizens as soon as possible, but she could not argue against such stiff opposition.

"According to what Dee said, there’s no way we can take further action today. Let’s sleep soon so that we can get moving tomorrow."

"…At a time like this?"

"Especially in times like this, you know. Taking a break is part of having a good fight."

Alice said, pulling a piece of chocolate out of his pocket and tossing it into Ai’s mouth.

It was milk chocolate.

"Hmm…mmm…is that so?."

Ai felt a little apologetic, but she could not refuse at this point, and licked the chocolate in her mouth.

"But I don't feel like I can rest much…"

"You're so uptight. Why don't you learn from Dee a little more?"

"Miss Dee?"

"Yeah, her. She’s going to go all out resting."

"Haaa…speaking of which, where did everyone go?"

"The old man’s fixing the cables."

"Huh?"

"Scar got captured."

"…What do you mean…?"

Immediately after she said that.

"Ah! Ai’s here~!"

Behind her, a runner's high-strung Dee was pointing at Ai.

"Found you~. Let’s go now~"

"Huh? Huh, no. Where to?"

Ai asked as she was nudged along.

"Some~where~good~"

Ai had a bad feeling.

"E-erm. If it’s a good place, Mr. Alice can join us …."

"What are you saying now, you little girl? How can you let Alice come alone too!? You perv!"

Dee tapped her face a few times, and gave a monkey face towards Alice who involuntarily caught a stray.

"Come on, let's go. I'm not going to hurt you."

"W-Wait, Mr. Alice, help me!"

Behind her, Alice waved politely in the background.

 

Part II

 

There were three main selling points of the motel described in the pamphlet. One was the scenic location, second was the delicious meals made from local ingredients. Unfortunately, those two were no longer available.

But the last one was still alive.

"Oh…"

Steam, steam, steam and more steam.

On the side of the motel was an open-air bath using natural hot spring water.

"Yahoo~!"

Surprisingly, Dee was the first one to yell and jump in. While nobody else was around, she splashed the water everywhere hard.

"Well~This hot spring is great~! Awesome!"

"…That's good to hear."

Ai showed a serious look the entire time, one that basically screamed ‘I was dragged over here, and if I get scrubbed all over, I’m getting out’.

"Here here, Ai, jump in too. It’s your job to act like your character, right? Here! Come on!"

"…That's enough, Miss Dee!"

Dee sidestepped the water droplets that Dee sprayed her, looking really angry.

"What kind of situation do you think you're in? It’s no time to play!"

But Dee was having none of it.

"Ahhh, ahhh. It’s hopeless. Your head is completely stuck. There’s no way to solve anything that can be solved now."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"—Watch me!"

"Ah!"

Dee pulled Ai's towel with all her might. Ai was defenseless the moment this happened, unable to resist, and fell into the pool, causing a large pillar of water.

"Wait! Miss Dee! Wargh!"

"Ahaha. Watch me now"

"Y-you did it!"

Ladylike time was over. Ai was really incensed off at Dee's antics in this situation and tried to take her to task,

"Hey!"

It was then that Scar lashed out at them.

"Stop it, both of you, Celica will try to imitate! "

Let me do that too! Celica raged away in Scar’s arms, and Scar was livid.

"Quite right, you should set an example as big sisters! Come over here and wash yourselves first!"

"Y yes…"

"Why me too…"

The mood did not allow any room for complaints. The two of them obediently crawled out of the pool to wash their bodies. While they wanted to stay far away from the terrifying Scar, the bath buckets were either cracked or moldy. There was only one that could be used, and they started washing each other’s backs as though they were train carriages latched together.

"What, Ai? Is that how you wash your hair?"

"Eh? But I always wash it like this…"

"So you 'always' wash it wrong? Come here for a moment."

"Ahaha~Ai got scolded."

"You too Dee. You still have foam on your hair. You have yet to wash it off. Come here."

"Eh? N-no need, I’m not a kid..."

She was caught again.

Ai was dazed by the feeling of the back of her head being squeezed. It felt really good to her, and her tension seemed to melt away.

Her body was all cold by the time Scar released her. Shivering, Ai hurried back to the bathtub.

Splash, the hot water escaped from the pool, and . Her body, which was covered with small scratches and bruises, released a soothing pain, and her stiff muscles were relaxed, to the point where even her heart felt relieved.

"Hmm…"

Ai was shivering in the warm water up to her nose, sending her soul into space. She wondered if she should be taking a bath at a time like this, but her body could not resist the delight that came with the warm water.

"Hmm~ hmm~ hmmm~♪"

However, she felt that Dee, who was right before her, should put up more resistance against pleasure than that.

"…Miss Dee is so relaxed in this troublesome moment."

Ai herself was enjoying this, but she was still reproaching Dee.

"Things aren’t going to get much better even if I act serious♪ I should relax like this and think with my softened mind what we should do next~♪ The thing we should do right now is to focus on relaxing♪"

Dee was as sluggish as her words were, and placed a folded towel on her head, his body fluttering like seaweed, and sang so poorly, it was off tune.

"It feels like Bendo is being suspicious♪. I wonder if someone whispered to him without me seeing♪. Ah anyway, let’s call Ai and Scar to the wilderness♪. Should I have the Gravekeepers back down and have them fight♪? Or shall I use Celica as a hostage♪?"

The humming was ridiculously off key.

"You always do such a thing, it’s only a matter of time until you get backstabbed."

"I'll take it in stride then."

Dee continued to float on the hot water, showing no concern.

Thunk. The tub that Scar had placed there made an unexpectedly loud noise.

Celica was laughing and giggling in her special hot tub.

Dee was floating with her eyelids closed, as though she was back to being the Ghost again.

"This is for the black surface, too."

The retired ghost with her eyes closed.

"…I don’t understand. Why are you so obsessed with that black surface, Miss Dee?."

Ai said, letting drops of water fall from her bangs. She thought she knew Dee’s extremism very well, but even she felt this was too much.

"We don't know if there really is another world, right?"

"Yes, there is another world. Because Isola created it."

Floating between the water and the air, Dee nodded vigorously.

"You think that’s not the case because you don’t know her, Ai."

"Is she that amazing?"

How can she not be amazing? Fifteen years old Isola Edwards was a girl who sought the mystery of the world, but refused to destroy it. She was born with a deadly disease, and was constantly told that she had ‘three more years to live’.

She was the girl who created the black surface, kicking open a world that could exist even after death.

However, Ai only knew about such superficial information.

"She’s amazing. She really resembles you."

"…I'm really bothered by the fact that you’re looking as if this can explain everything…"

"You know, she's amazingly positive. She knew she might not live until the next day, but she would call us ‘big sis Dee’, ‘big brother Alice’…that’s what she kept calling us even when we were almost the same age…"

Suddenly, an image appeared in Ai’s mind. Alice and Dee stood next to Isola's life, just as Ai had watched Madame's life. As Isola grew with every passing moment, there were two ghosts who could never follow the passage of time.

"After I became the Ghost, I was so scared of resetting that I never dared to approach the sealed city. She’s still a good friend of mine, or so I thought…I think you two would have been best friends."

"… Yes."

Surely this would be the case. Ai found herself liking Isola a lot more than she thought she would.

"…I wish I could be friends with Miss Isola too…"

She mumbled softly, as if sighing.

"……"

The Ghost did not let this slip by her. She floated on the water, flipped over, and sank into the pool, smiling while looking a little sad.

"Miss Dee?"

Ai tilted her head due to the change of mood. The moment Dee spoke, it seemed like she was saying something she wanted to say for a long time, but was unable to.

"…But well, it’s great."

"Eh? What’s great…?"

"That you survived, Ai. I thought there’s no hope. I thought people like you wouldn't give up on their dreams even if they died, but would try to die once they gave up on their dreams."

Dee laughs like snow melting in the pool.

"That's what I thought, too."

"Heh? Really?"

Nodding her head, Ai raised her hands and looked through them in the moonlight. It was strange that the blood was still flowing beneath the skin.

'So, ever since yesterday, I felt it was strange. I couldn’t understand why I’m still alive, why I’m still moving…I don’t have a dream anymore…"

"Dream? Why are you talking about dreams?"

Dee straightened her knees in surprise, and Ai continued, worried that she was speaking out of turn.

"But aren’t dreams the basis for people?"

"Basis?"

"Aren’t actions and decisions taken when you have a dream ‘for things to be like this’? Don’t we work hard because we have dreams, that we move forward? Ultimately, don’t we eat bread for the sake of our dreams?"

"That’s extreme!"

Dee stood up and shouted through the window.

"Scary! This girl’s scary! Is this what she thinks every time she eats?"

"That’s what I’m thinking though."

Ai did not take Dee's joking words as one.

"I’ve been thinking, I can eat bread because of my dream, I can breathe because of my dream, and that’s why I want to live. "

"…I see."

"And now that dream is gone, I'm alive, happy that I’m taking a bath, angry, and laughing."

Ai wanted to end the battle, to revive the town. She hated the idea of dying, and she wanted to stay alive.

These feelings were real.

But Ai did not know why she felt that way.

There was no reason anymore.

"Why am I still able to live on…?"

Ai raised her hands out of the pool and stared at them. The blood was burning red under the warm skin.

Dee leaned closely to Ai, watching over her gently,

"What?"

Who knows? She said,

"You've been living for 13 years without knowing that? You're really an airhead."

"Heh?"

Good grief, Dee shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly.

"Miss Dee, do you know the reason?"

"Of course. I mean, everyone knows except you."

"R-really?"

Finally, Dee started teasing Ai, shrugging her shoulders and poking Ai's nose.

'Please tell me, Miss Dee!"

"Yep, sure."

Dee did not tease her any more.

"In your own words, Ai, it's because you still have other dreams."

"Heh?"

"Those dreams are what's keeping you alive."

Ai kept blinking away.

"…Eh? But I don't have dreams anymore—"

"You just haven’t noticed it."

… Is that so?"

"It is."

Dee pulled her right arm out of the bathtub and reached for the world of stars.

"You see, that dream is the first dream that all of us have. It’s one we have since we’re a baby…no, something that we always had long ago, an ancient wish."

Dee’s words sounded like a bedtime story, one that parents would narrate to their children.

"It's the first fragment to create a dream, the reason why living things live."

It was the reason why a child would become an adult.

Saying that, Dee showed a tender smile.

A feeling arose within Ai when she saw that smile. No, she had that a long time ago, one that caused her heart to beat.

Instead of telling her the name of the dream, Dee asked Ai one question.

"Ai."

Yes, Ai answered.

 

"What do you want to be now?"

 

The question slowly melted into the bloodstream.

"…I…."

Putting her hand on her chest, Ai asked herself deep inside.

"…I…"

What do I want to be?

"I…"

What did Ai Astin want to be?

Both Dee and Scar waited patiently for the answer.

 

"I want to be me."

 

It was the first time she had ever said those words.

But the moment she said that wish, it became the most valuable matter to her.

 

It was the dream of the dragon that flew in the sky for the first time, the dream of the fish that stepped on shore for the first time.

It was the dream of matter within the primordial cove.

It was the reason for human life.

 

"I want to become, Ai Astin…"

 

She found herself shedding tears.

How much had she neglected ‘myself’ till this point? How much had she mistreated this precious dream she had from the beginning.

It was an important dream that her parents had moored together in their lives.

"…Ku…kuuuuuu!"

Ai cried. She could not raise her voice and cry like a child. She merely regretted her actions and cried through her teeth.

It was the tears of an adult who knew her shame, who knew herself.

"I…I…"

So dazzled by her newly acquired dream that was so beautiful, she discarded her old dream.

"Ku, uuu~"

She trampled her own ego when she dreamed of saving the world.

And yet, the dream that she had discarded was still there, rooting for Ai.

"It's okay."

Her friend picked her up and carried her along.

"I was fine too. I’m sure you’ll be fine as well, Ai."

Dee gently hugged Ai's shoulders, as though she was returning the dream she had safeguarded for Ai.

Henceforth, Ai could no longer be an adult.

The cries of the children were absorbed into the star-filled sky.

 

+

 

"Alice used to tell me that it's better to have dreams that don't come true."

When Ai had calmed down, Dee said,

"But recently, I think that's wrong."

"Sniff…how so?"

Ai asked, thinking that half the water in the pool was probably her tears.

"You know what? A dream you work hard to fulfill! Isn’t a dream at all!"

"Huh?"

"It's just a goal!"

"Y-yeah, that's true."

It was worthless.

"Right? When you say you want to become a dressmaker or a beautiful bride, you're really saying you want to ‘open a clothes shop’. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Yes…I understand…"

"But before people knew it, they lost their ‘self’. They might not be able to open their clothes shop, a grocery store, or a tailor, but that’s not a bad thing. People do forget though…and that’s a little unfortunate."

Ai knew very well the fate of a dream devoid of a ‘self’.

"A dream without a ‘self’ might come true, but it’ll only be empty…"

"Yes…"

"And when they don't come true, people get sharper and sharper. Some even start assuming it’s their own fault."

"You’re hitting my sore spots…"

"That’s the point! Remember this well!"

Dee barked, and then nibbled on Ai's ear.

"Saving the world here is the same thing. No matter how difficult that is, it’s just another goal."

"Yes, that’s right…"

It was not because Ai would be Ai if she saved the world.

It was because Ai was Ai that she wanted to save the world.

She would be a weirdo if she really could not say such words.

"…I must have really worried a lot of people."

She really missed the people she had met so far. She wondered what Ulla and Tanya would think if they were to see her at this point. What would they think? Surely they would not reproach Ai.

Ai used to think that she was worth less than a piece of trash after her dreams had failed.

But they would not think so at all..

She really felt completely indebted to Julie.

"…But thank goodness."

Dee let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad you're back, Ai—I saw so many people who couldn't come back when I was the Ghost. I almost went over there myself. You’re the most extreme of them all, Ai, and I even thought you probably could end up saving the world. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d actually come back, and I thought it might be better for you not to come back."

Really, Dee smiled a lot on this day, as though she was attending her own birthday party or a festival.

"But Ai, you’re back."

Dee smiled, but her heart was increasingly heavy

"So, please, Ai, save Alice…"

Eh? Ai sat up. Dee found herself sinking into the pool, cupping her knees, her smile gradually losing vigor as though she was in an ice bath.

"Alice definitely hasn’t come back yet…he lost his goal, but he can’t find himself, and he’s just wandering between dreams and reality…it’s no wonder, since he’s been working hard, for his ‘dream has forsaken him’.

Alice's dream too was supposed to come from Alice himself. He wanted ‘to free his friends even if it met his destruction’, and the origin of it was ultimately a dream only Alice Color could have.

But he harbored this dream for far too long.

He wished too much for his own disappearance.

"If Alice disappeared like that, his dream would have been dreamed so beautifully…like Hampnie Hambart."

Dee's white pearly smile quivered as she seemingly chanted.

"But fortunately or unfortunately, Alice survived…so Ai, please bring Alice back so that things won’t become unfortunate."

"Yes."

Ai nodded firmly.

"Of course."

"That’s good…"

Dee exhaled as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and floated back to the surface as if the water was finally warm again.

"I guess I’m done with everything left to do…"

"Please don’t talk as if you’re done briefing. Mr Alice is very stubborn, and I‘ll need your help, Miss Dee. It’s just starting."

"No, I’m done with one of my tasks."

Her face was a mixture of sadness and satisfaction.

"Because it’s you, Ai—no, you’re the only one who can do it. My role is over."

"…Why?"

"Because, you and Alice are connected by a thread of fate, right, Ai?"

There it was.

"…Again with that?"

Ai dipped her disgusted face into the hot water up to the top of her nose. Ahem ahem ahem.

"If we’re talking about a thread of fate, aren’t you more connected, Miss Dee?"

"There’s none for me. I cut it myself."

She lifted her right hand out of the water and waved it in the air.

"Miss Dee, do you hate Mr. Alice now?"

"No…I don't think so, not really."

"I guess. You like him to the point where you’d destroy the world after all."

"D-Don’t say that out loud! It's embarrassing…but if I have to say it, don’t you like him enough to ‘revive him’?"

"…Erm, I'm not sure about that. I don’t think it’s love though."

Probably, Ai tilted her little head.

"And, what kind of feeling is love?"

"Heh?"

"I am interested in that too."

 

At that moment,

Scar, who had been listening to their conversation quietly, interrupted the moment she had an opportunity to.

Celica, by the way, was already out of the hot water and was snoozing in a basket on the side.

"Dee, what is the feeling of love exactly?"

"Well, it’s hard for me to explain…"

"For example, what kind of feelings do you have for Alice?"

"Eh? Me? My feelings for Alice…"

Dee stared into the void as if she was remembering something, and her expression suddenly appeared tender.

"…Well, yeah, you feel gentle in the heart, and even warm here."

She put her hands together, onto her chest.

"And then you’ll really want to see him…you want to be with him…s—no!."

"I see. "

"That certainly is meaningful."

"Kya——————!"

Suddenly, Dee stood up with a red face and slapped the surface of the water.

"What are you asking me now!? Why am I answering!?"

"Dee, what is the feeling like when you say you really miss him. How about the frequency and intensity?"

"Uh, well, it's not measured by distance or anything. If I'm far away, I’ll think that he’s nearby. If I’m near him, I want to touch him. It’s a feeling that the closer I am, the more intense it is…"

"I see."

"—————————!"

Dee banged her head against a rock.

"Dee, when you say your chest gets warm, do you mean your heart?"

"No, I don’t think so, Miss Scar. I think you mean the soul or something."

"Pl-please stop! What are you doing to my precious love? Don't analyze it! Don't be interested and all! Don't come——!"

Dee tried to resist and retreat from the two Gravekeepers looming in, but Ai aside, there was no stopping Scar the moment she got serious.

"Specifically, what is that heart of love you speak of?"

"…I can only describe it as a throbbing heart…"

"When do you feel a throbbing heart? When will you meet someone?"

"…I feel that even if we don’t meet, like when I'm alone and I think of him…"

"What do you think about him?"

Ai realized it was bad, but it was too late, for Dee had fallen limp by the edge of the pool, becoming a doll that could only answer. She was completely naked, looking into the sky with a vacant look, and the situation seemed perilous.

"Pull yourself together, Miss Dee, the wound isn’t so bad."

"…Ai, seriously…please take care of…Alice…and the black surface..."

"Pull yourself together, Miss Dee, you're turning into salted kelp."

Scar kept asking until the very end, "Hmm" and finally answered with satisfaction as she nodded hard, saying,

"Well, that was not very helpful for reference."

"You’re saying that after all this!?"

Dee, revived by the energy of anger, slaps the hot water. The now awake Celica was really happy.

"And what do you mean, ‘reference’? What are you referencing~…"

"Miss Dee, calm down."

Ai stroked Dee's limp head.

Scar was moving leisurely at her own pace.

"That is, of course, a reference to my mind."

"Eh? W-What do you mean?"

With a swoon, Dee instantly came back to life and slipped into Scar's arms, as if she had gained more efficient energy than anger.

"Are you referring to uncle? Am I right? There’s no one else but him, right?"

"Yes."

"Ohh! And then? Well? What do you think, Scar? Do you feel this way too?"

"In conclusion, no."

"…I see."

It seemed Dee had nothing more to say, and she murmured to herself with a bitter expression.

"…Mr Julie is really pitiful."

Ai felt deep sympathy for Julie, who was probably doing his best to maintain the car.

"It is strange, no? I assumed I like Julie, but given what you said, Dee, it does not seem to be the case.

"Eh!?"

Dee was so surprised that she slipped and sank on her bottom.

"Do-do you like uncle after all, Scar?"

"No, I said this might not be the case."

"Miss Scar, please save Miss Dee before answering. She can't hear you."

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! What’s going on?"

She heard.

"What else could it be?"

It seemed Scar’s head was flushed, for she tilted her head, showing a reddish look.

"Hearing your conversation had me wondering. A Gravekeeper is a being without a ‘self’. And so I wondered, what caused me to become who I am now?"

With a human expression, Scar smiled.

"And then I thought of you. It appears that I have a tendency to overthink what makes me. I was wondering if this is what you call love."

"Hmmm~."

Dee crossed her arms, greatly troubled.

"Maybe it's love."

"What is the difference between crush and love?"

"…… Sorry, I don't understand it either. They're similar, but maybe a little different."

"Is that so? I shall observe this feeling for a while then."

Scar gave a somewhat happy smile.

"…Why do I feel like I've lost?"

"Miss Dee, it's not about winning or losing, is it?"

"Yes yes, you’re a good girl, little Ai—no, wait, what about you, Ai?"

"What about me?"

"Alice."

Ai let out a huge sigh. She did not want to remain in the bath any further.

"You hate him?"

"…I don't hate him."

"Then do you like him?"

"I don't!"

"But you do think about him a little, right?"

Pew, Ai heard something snap in her heart.

"It’s true that I’d be lying if I say I won’t think about him. I was the one who revived Mr Alice after all."

A battle trumpet was being blown in Ai's mind. Reason and intellect came together to wave the assault flag.

Unbeknownst to her, Dee was smirking,

"See, I knew it."

"Maybe I do like Mr. Alice."

"Y-you see? "

Ai really felt Dee was an idiot. Since she knew this topic would hurt her, she should not have touched upon it.

"I say maybe, but I think it’s rather unlikely—then again, even if I do like him, so what? "

"E-erm—"

Dee seemed to have finally realized.

Ai was angry.

"It doesn't matter who I like, is it?"

"Erm, Ai?"

"It doesn't matter what I do with my feelings."

Ai’s budding sense of self started to be earnestly angry.

"Why does everyone make it sound like an exaggeration? Miss Dee, Mr. Julie, the people in town, they all try to make fun of us and look at us ‘that way’."

They never realized that every time they did so, something between them would break.

"Please don’t name whatever feelings I have. What you’re being is a busybody, Miss Dee…shall I tell you here and now why you’re one?"

"Sorry…."

Dee was quick to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Ai…."

Good grief, Ai sighed and regained her composure.

"I said too much too. I’m sorry…but you should have confessed earlier, Miss Dee."

"No, well, when you say that, it just felt like…it’s impossible for me…I believe Alice will have it tougher than you, Ai, because he’s still in the phase where he just lost his dream."

Ai remembered Alice's burnt right arm, and the manner in which he cried tears of blood.

"He's just a kid, you know. He's not even in love yet, or doesn’t even know how to live. That’s why he’s so reckless."

"—Then why don't you hold him together, Miss Dee?"

"Yeah, but…Ai..."

Please don't use me as an excuse.

"Hm-hmph. Since you say so, don't cry when Alice falls in love with me then."

"Fine by me."

At that moment, something that had been smoldering in Dee's mind for a long time seemed to disappear.

Surely the feeling that arose within Ai had entrenched itself within Dee as well. Ai was glad that she had been able to return the favor to her dear friend.

"Alright! I'll do my best!"

With that, Dee stood up.

"Oh, you're finally going to confess?"

"No, I'm not going to do that now, because there's a high probability of failure. I’ll start by wearing down his defenses first."

"…That’s really typical of you, Miss Dee. It’s fine."

"Okay! Then I'm going!"

Huh? Before Ai could show any surprise, Dee had jumped out of the bathtub and lumbered towards the changing room.

"Erm, what are you intending to do, Miss Dee?"

"I’ll go conquer Alice!"

"Calm down. Please stop first."

It was a dire situation.

Dee's face was flushed, and it was obvious she did not think this through. Apparently, she had taken too long a bath with the two Gravekeepers.

"You can’t, Miss Dee. You’ll only regret it tomorrow. You should stop if you don't want to feel awkward, you should stop. Or rather, I'll make you stop!"

"Ai~let~go~ Don't worry, I've seen what to do in such situations so often when I was the Ghost."

"What do you mean ‘so often’? What’ve you been doing with your invincible body? You’re a peeping tom!"

Ai tried to stop Dee by clinging to the latter’s flabby stomach, but the floor was too slippery for her to hold on.

"Fufufu, coming from you, Ai? Well, of course, in terms of sex appeal, there’s no way you can compare to me. Fufu. Obviously I’ll be the one to snatch Alice~"

" Please don't say that! I don't think I’ll be able to extend any more kindness by stopping you though!"

On a side note, Scar was in the hot water, being a complete bystander, looking on with a face of morose enjoyment.

"Let-go~!"

"Please come to your senses!"

Finally, Dee reached the changing room and opened the door.

"Ah."

She felt it was not Alice’s fault.

Naturally, he was not here to peek, and he did knock.

Furthermore, Dee was trying to tempt him with sex appeal. No one could blame him if he saw her naked body.

But such reasons had nothing to do with the euphemism of a girl's heart.

"Kya——————————!"

That day, the last remaining bath tub in the motel shattered.

 

Part III

 

"Why can’t you just say you got something…"

Steam rose from Dee as she stomped off, her footsteps loud and clear.

"My bad…."

Alice continued, stroking his cheek that had a clear palm imprint.

"Alice, I’ll talk to you later…you weren’t trying to peep, were you?"

Julie, who was on the verge of one step ahead of the demon, chases after him.

"Celica, please do not fool around. It is easy to catch a cold after a hot bath.

Scar was exceptionally concerned about Celica catching a cold from the cooled water, and put thick clothes on the latter.

Ai herself was wearing thick clothes, steaming as she passed through the night mist.

"So, what do you want?"

"Nothing much, I was outside fixing the car, and this guy came in."

The gang left the motel. The stretch of dense forest was darker than the starry sky. The cobblestones at the roundabout were peeled off, and the trees in the garden had grown wild and were sprouting in all directions. A blue car, dirtier than ever, blended into the landscape as if mimicking a ruin.

Next to it was a young man who resembled a bullied dog.

"Mr. Shaun!"

Ai skipped over the bumps and ran to the car.

"You're all right?"

"…You say I’m alright when I look like this?"

Shaun was covered in scars, especially on his arms. The shirt sleeves were torn off and used as bandages, and for some reason, he was wearing his shoes wrongly.

"This is worse than being dead."

The exhausted young man sneered, showing a look that was a mix between self-mockery and sarcasm.

"That's not true."

"Ah?"

Shaun lifted his face in surprise.

"It’s too early for you to die, you know."

At this moment, Ai could say those words proudly.

"So, what do you want?"

"Ah, yeah, actually, I was with some guys from the town just moments ago…"

Shaun pointed to the bottom of the hill.

"They’re going to launch another attack tonight."

There were artificial lights there, different from flames.

"They're going to attack my stepmother's main body."

"Eh? But it’s impossible to defeat her even if that’s the case…."

"Yeah, that's why they're looking for you Gravekeepers too."

Ai glanced at the two shovels propped up against the car.

Only the Gravekeepers would stop the Dead.

She was about to have to make another decision.

"I volunteered to do the job. I got a different goal though, so please, I beg of you, hide and make sure they don’t find you! They want you Gravekeepers to bury my stepmother—"

"Wait."

Scar immediately stopped him.

"Those hiding in there, do come out. If you do not, I shall deem you hostile and personally bury you."

She picked up one of the shovels and pointed the blade at a nearby bush.

Ai noticed it once she said so. She could not hear breathing or heartbeat, but there were people hiding there.

"Why, excuse me, young Scar. Ah, we forgot you have the ability to detect the Dead’s whereabouts. Sorry to startle you. It's me."

And with that, the men trickled out.

Bendo Gram and the citizens.

"You've been…spying on me?

"Of course. You were cooperative with us, but you’re an enemy until yesterday. It’s a courtesy to supervise you…and sure enough, you seem hostile to us. How foolish. Why would they accept such a request from you."

"Ugh!"

"Seize him!"

The hands reached out from the darkness and pinned Shaun to the ground.

"Mr Bendo…"

"Ohh, young Ai. Glad you're okay. It's good to see you."

Bendo, the mayor who had taken such good care of Ai since the days of the Sealed City, always wore a crisp, unwrinkled suit,

"We've been looking for you."

He was already dead.

 

+

 

"Come with us. Good news. We've captured Madame's body."

The blue car drove down the mountain, flanked by militia jeeps in front and behind.

"It was a lot of damage, but I guess that's the end of this matter."

Bendo said, appearing to be in a good mood.

"I was initially fearful of how serious it could be! Well, good work!"

Alice poked his head out of the passenger seat.

"More importantly, Bendo, get your postmortem done…otherwise you’ll end up 'selfish'. The sooner you do this, the better…or I can do it for you."

"I don’t need you to take care of my mess, Alice. Don't worry. I'll be gone as soon as this is over."

"That’s!"

Ai blurted out without thinking. Bendo smiled gently and narrowed his dilated pupils.

"Thanks for trying to get me to stay, little Ai…but to be honest, I'm taking it very hard."

He looked at Dee spitefully.

"I've been fooled by that little girl, and now I’m in such a foolish state. But that doesn't mean I can't be twisted like that."

At where the Dead looked, Dee continued to nonchalantly chew on a piece of gum.

"… This is the best I can do, according to my common sense. There’s no way I can accept any post-mortems. I'd be closer to being ‘selfish’ if that happens."

"But that’s…"

"So, this is the last time…I want to leave this world with the memory of protecting this town."

Bendo hesitated to pat the head of Ai, who was about to start crying. His proud soul had deemed himself evil, and was unwilling to touch the radiant life.

And seeing that, Ai leaned her head forward, basically headbutting as she rested her head on his palm.

"Thank you…"

The Dead's hand gently touched her, just a little, and then quickly withdrew.

"So, which one of you is going to bury Madame?"

There was no doubt on his face as he asked this question.

He never expected that Ai would be so hesitant, given how honorable he was.

 

The hill of flames was already before them.

 

+

 

The hill appeared to be the embodiment of hell.

"We’ll have to walk on foot from here."

Bendo said, getting out of the car.

"Eh, but what are we going to do with all these flames?"

Ai got out of the car and looked up at the hill. There was some gap between the burning flames, but it was not that easy to move through.

"Hm, about this…see?"

"W-what are you doing?"

Bendo suddenly put his hand into the flame.

"No need to panic."

Then, for some strange reason, the flame moved away as much as it was pushed, and Bendo's hand was not burned.

"…What’s going on?"

"It's probably the metamorphosis Alice spoke of."

Ai touched the flame with trepidation, but the flames shunned her as well.

"This flame is not going to set anything ablaze indiscriminately. It's just..."

Bendo pulled a knife from his pocket and threw it at the flames.

The previously unresponsive flames immediately intercepted the knife and melted the iron core at a tremendous high temperature.

"Basically, these flames follow a certain concept—it only reacts to ‘violence’ and counterattacks accordingly."

"That's …."

Alice's ability to shoot down bullets.

Madame’s ability to uphold the law.

Both powers caused a metamorphosis, but they ended up reverting back to their original wish.

"…If I had known sooner, we would have saved a lot of meaningless sacrifices…but thanks to these, It made finding Madame relatively easy."

Just then, there was a commotion in the jeep behind them.

"Please! I beg of you!"

A man who had his hands cuffed together pleased loudly,

"Please take me with you! At least let me see her final moments!"

"Shaun?"

Bendo narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, Mr. Mayor! Please!"

Ai tried to keep her voice as firm as possible, so as not to show her bias towards him

"…I too ask for this."

"Hmm, well, sure…hey! Bring that guy along too! Over here! "

With a tired sigh, Bendo looked at the top of the hill.

"Let's go, I want to finish this before dawn."

 

+

 

While the flames did not burn the body, the sight of it seemed to chip away at Ai’s spirit instead.

The Purgatory-like hills seemed completely devoid of reality, for the half-heartedly regenerated town of ash looked eerie instead, as though it had blended with the flames. Ai felt this might be the Afterlife people referred to. The flames did not hinder the steps of those scaling it, and flickered like ghost flames, leading them to the hill.

And once they reached the peak.

It was a place of fairy tales.

"Ooohhh … ooohhh …"

As the ghost flames swayed at the peak, a huge old woman made of iron and ash was being held captive by pale, burning flames and a light spear that felt tangible.

The flames of purgatory surrounded them, and an unknowing black surface floated above it all, transcending everything.

What’s with this reality? Ai's mind went momentarily blank.

And then,

Unexpected people were waiting for her there.

"You're here. I've waited long enough."

A boy floating in a halo said.

"……"

A noblewoman in a flame dress opened her eyes.

Dee's expression finally changed the moment she saw them.

The two Deformed appeared as jurors in the trial and disappeared before they knew it.

Fellmigora periphery nobleman, Noellfaen.

Dust Believer, ambassador-at-large to Ortus.

"Noellfaen and Dust Believer? What’s going on, Bendo!? Why are they here!?"

"Watch your mouth, young girl."

The boy spoke elegantly, acting as though he never recognized Dee.

"We have signed a contract with your chief. We are allied."

"I never heard of this!"

"Of course not, why should a young girl like you know of a conversation between countries?"

"—~!"

This was what Dee had meant when she said that Bendo seemed suspicious. Bendo had personally done a deal with them.

"Bendo, what have you promised these people?"

"Protection of the citizens and supplies. They've agreed to defeat Madame and take over the black surface."

Of course, the Living powerhouse of Fellmigora and the Dead powerhouse of Ortus had no interest in such a battle of territory. They arrived to bury this ‘possible link to the new world’, one that would undermine their power base.

And yet, it was only two days.

The speed was beyond Dee's expectations.

"Bendo!"

Dee, who was the only one who appreciated black surface from the same point of view as the others, called out the name as though she had the urge to beat him up. It was the only reason why she, who had said that the idea of life and death were worthless, kept fighting.

But the supreme authority here would not budge.

"I won't apologize, Dee. There’s no comparison between a creepy hole and a citizen's life. I think it’s the right thing to do…"

Dee's point of view was too high for them to sympathize with her. Even the guard Captain, who was most devoted to her, looked aside.

If she had a few more days, she could have broken that common sense… Dee gritted her teeth and began to search for a way to reverse the situation.

But time was not stopping.

"And who, o Mayor, can bury the Dead? Please hurry. The tongues of flames have been trying to burn us for quite some time now."

"We’ll get down to it right away."

Bendo turned his gaze towards Shaun.

"Have you said your goodbyes?"

Shaun shook his head at the sight of Madame, probably betting everything on this last bit of hope.

She showed no signs of recovery.

"Go on."

A forefinger reached out from behind Ai.

"Go on, young Ai. Finish the rest."

Bendo pointed at Madame with a look of mercy.

"Go on."

The Living pointed.

"Go on."

The Dead pointed.

Go on, go on, they urged the little Gravekeeper.

Ai was about to remember something incredibly frightening.

"Wait, Bendo! That is indeed Miss Madame's body, but burying it won't make this situation any better! It might even make it worse..."

"We know, but if it's a possibility, we’re willing to give it a try."

"But,"

Ai was going to say that when Madame had confronted Celica, she had felt something about the change in the flames. She wanted to say that she did not want to bury people anymore.

" I don't think it's likely to get any worse. It seems that this body and the flame have become completely separate entities. The body seems annoyed with our attacks, but the flames reacted to her attacks. Don't worry, you can bury her."

"But,"

Ai wanted to refute.

"Go on."

And yet,

"Go on." "Go on."

And,

The forefingers wavered in the flames.

They were stroking at Ai's distant memory.

There were only two Deads that Ai had buried so far.

One of them was Kizuna Astin, Ai's father.

The other was—Hana Astin, Ai's mother.

Ai had no recollection of what happened.

She just followed the instructions of the villagers, as though feverish..

Go on, go on, they said, pointing to the darkness of the grave, and their hands,

They seemed hot to her, just like that time.

"Go on."

Right when Ai was about to reach her limit,

 

"Leave this to one."

 

Another Gravekeeper stood up, carrying a silver blade.

"I shall take care of it."

Scar stepped forward, holding Celica in her left hand and the shovel in his right, to protect Ai.

"Ai!"

"Get a grip! Hey, Bendo, what did you do to her?"

And before she realized, she was surrounded by her companions. Someone propped up her back, and smacked her cheek.

"No, I didn't do anything…are you okay, Lady?"

Bendo said with a completely normal expression.

The villagers probably had that look on their faces, too.

"Wait! Miss Scar! Miss Scar—"

Ai hastily stood up and grabbed Scar by the sleeve to stop her.

"No need to worry, Ai."

But Scar gave an encompassing smile and gently removed Ai's hand.

"I know how you feel. Did I not tell you to leave this to me?"

The expression on her face was as noble and upright as when she was the Gravekeeper.

Madame noticed them.

"SHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!"

The situation Madame was in would have caused anyone to forget her prior silence. Her flaming skeleton was swaying, and she tried to run off. At that moment, Celica started to cry again.

"Please let her go, everyone."

Scar looked upwards and spoke to the two Deformed who were acting like bystanders.

"—What?"

"Who knows?"

"……Well, certainly."

The two Deformed who lived in the world of the supernatural seemed to have sensed something from Scar, and unbound Madame obediently.

"SHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!"

Madame’s massive body immediately began to climb, and she scampered off towards Celica.I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

And as expected,

"Whoa!"

She froze.

The giant stopped immediately.

"Do not cry…ah, do not cry…ahh."

In her agony, Madame scratched her cheeks with her hands of blades, seemingly trying to coax the baby to not cry..

"Wahhh~!"

"Ahh…ahh…Shaun…do not cry…"

Ai was convinced. Madame was not acting maliciously after all.

She simply wanted to go to the side of a crying child.

"…Shaun, please do not cry. …Oh."

Madame's face crumpled in an expression of compassion and madness.

"My, baby …."

"No."

For the first time, Scar, who had been ignored as though she was a mere platform for the baby, came into Madame's sight.

"This child does not belong to you."

A chill went down the monster's spine.

"…! Ga, gagaga!"

The body of junk rattled.

The atmosphere was tense. Madame was akin to an amoeba of indeterminate shape, expressing her feelings with her flesh, and was on the verge of returning to her madness.

However, only Scar was able to speak boldly.

 

"This child belongs to herself."

 

Then Scar gently smiled at the still crying Celica,

"Do not worry, Celica, she is not scary. She is just a normal, kind old lady."

"—Ga, gaga!!"

"She came to see you because she was worried."

"Ah ….ahh."

The body composed of murder weapons shaking unsteadily. The joints of the junk had loosened. The blades made of rusted, severed blades lost composure, and suddenly made a funny face.

Seeing this, Celica suddenly stopped crying.

"Ah…."

The funny faces continued to play along, showing tearful smiles.

At this moment, the baby’s reactions appeared realistic, for Celica inadvertently forgot to cry as she stared at the toys efore her. The crow that was crying was smiling. It appeared Celica found Madame’s various funny faces to be very amusing, and she started clapping.

"Ah…ah…ahh…"

"…Would you like to hug her?"

Scar held out the baby, seemingly ensuring that Celica could touch Madame. Ai and Alice almost jumped out of their skin, but Julie of all people stopped them.

"Uu…ah!?"

Madame became a mosaic of delight and confusion, and suddenly reached her hands out.

"Ah……."

But her hands were made of dull blades, and they could not hold a baby.

"Ah! Ahhhh! Aaahhhh!"

The madness was coming to life, and Madame cursed the world as she shoved the murder weapons into her own face.

She was on the verge of falling apart again. She absorbed too much matter that her mental state was too dispersed, and she was on the verge of losing her ego..

 

Psst.

 

But it did not happen this time.

With a crunch, the blades that had formed Madame's hands fell to the ground.

"Hold still."

Psst, psst.

The sounds of dusting snow off the back echoed again.

"It must have been hard for you to carry such a heavy weight on your back…"

It was the hand of a family member sweeping the back of a person who had returned from returning from a long journey. It was the hand of a friend upon the shoulder of a wounded person.

It was the hand of a mother patting the head of her child.

"Ah, ahhh…"

The junk that armored Madame completely fell away one by one. The eyes and hands of the Gravekeeper separated the junk from her actual body.

The hands that would bury the Dead and deal finality were certainly giving birth to something other than destruction.

"Ah…ahh……ahhh………"

Madame was akin to an infant being combed as she let the Gravekeeper clean her up. Her body became smaller and smaller, until she became a small, old woman.

"Ahhh…ahh …."

"Come."

Scar handed Celica to the old woman.

The color of intelligence had returned to the old woman’s face.

"…Thank you…thank you…oh, good child, good child…"

The old woman beamed and tickled Celica's cheek. Her movements were adept.

"Thank you… for being so beautiful, just like your mother…"

After playing with Celica for a while, Madame returned the baby to her mother.

"Are you done…?"

"Yes."

Madame stood there alone and closed her eyelids.

"…I remembered everything."

Her voice and body were trembling.

"I remembered everything from the day the flames burned."

The old woman covered her face with her wrinkled hands.

"What…have I done!"

"Stepmother…!"

"Ah, you!"

Shaun waved off the guards' hands and stumbled over. The old woman had ashes pouring from her eyes,

"…I too am sorry…for the things I have done to you…calling you Shaun, as a child that does not exist to me…what a grave sin it is."

"I’m the same!"

The fists of the man who was no longer a boy shook uncontrollably.

"I've done terrible things to you…but I kept hiding it, acting like I’m your son…if you say that’s a sin, then I too have sinned!"

Ai thought that everything was finally going to be okay, that Madame had restored her mind. She could make amends with everyone, and move on to the next day.

However,

Shink! An iron spear pinned Madame to the ground.

It was the Dead, led by Bendo.

"Mr. Bendo! What are you?"

"That's my line, young Ai. What’s going on here?"

Bendo Gram and the Dead stood there with terrifying expressions on their faces.

"'You guys don't really want to bury her, do you?"

"Yes!"

This time, Ai declared.

"Miss Madame is now harmless!"

"So what about that!?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

For a moment, Ai did not understand.

"S-So what? She’s harmless! There's no need to fight anymore!"

"…No wonder I felt that something’s amiss/ It seems you’ve got this fight all wrong."

Bendo leaned his head back, looking really exhausted.

"This is a war, young Ai. It’s a war where she either kills us, or we kill her."

"B-But Miss Madame is now powerless... "

"All the better for us. There’s no obstacle to our swinging fists."

"But aren’t you just venting your frustrations? Please don't do that! What’s wrong with forgiving her?"

Phew—Bendo let out a long, unnecessary sigh.

"We were murdered."

 

The words contained a tinge of misery befitting the hills of hell.

"Ah…."

Ai knew that she should not have blurted out. She knew the futility of that.

But Ai was at a loss for words.

"B-But..."

"We've were murdered."

"…!"

"We were killed by that monster."

"……"

"Are you going to say, ‘even so’, young Ai? That we should forgive her?"

Ahem, Bendo coughed, the air exited his lungs, and he spit out black blood.

"…It is fine, Miss Ai. …"

Madame gently patted Ai's back in a comforting manner.

"I have done such things…accepting such punishment is a relief to me instead…"

She had already accepted her fate.

"…If you guys aren’t going to bury her, that's fine too. We'll carry her into the wilderness and wait for another Gravekeeper…along with us…"

Thud, Bendo suddenly walked towards Ai. The other Dead around him did likewise. There was no violence there, only a flame burning peacefully.

What Bendo said should have been nothing more than a grudge, but Madame's acceptance of her sin became a justification to him.

Ai had nothing left. Reason, justice, hope, nothing.

 

But even so,

 

"…Mr Bendo."

Ai said.

"Do you still need something?"

"I…have a dream …."

Ai looked at the night. She was looking at the starry sky, framed by flames.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a startled Alice and Julie.

 

"I want to be myself."

"So what….—!"

Dan! Running with ashes rising beneath her feet, Ai snatched Madame in an instant.

"Young Ai! What do you think you're doing?"

"But that's not all to it."

"What are you talking about? Are you going to oppose us!?"

"Yes!"

Then Ai pointed the shovel.

"Because I want everyone to be everyone!"

"What are you—"

"Mr Bendo, you aren’t being yourself!"

Ai shouted.

"Mr Bendo, Mr Captain, everyone! You’re all fakes! The real people I know wouldn’t have lost to their vengeance! The people of Ostia have dignity!"

The spirit of the words bound the people.

"You too, Miss Madame! If you want to atone for your sins, please don't take the easy way out by disappearing! Take a lesson from Miss Dee here!"

Just as Scar had exorcized Madame with the Gravekeeper's hands, Ai was trying to exorcize the Dead with human words.

Ai cried. She was crying as though something worthy of grieving happened.

"Please don’t give up on yourself! Just because you died! If you can't do that!"

Ai stabbed her shovel into the earth and stood before them.

"I shall…stop you."

She was sad, anguished, but she could not stop. She raised her shovel to ready herself. If this could not work, then until that moment…

"I'll oblige."

Alice stood at where Ai hoped he would be.

"Really, it’s never boring being with you, huh?"

The rest of the group gathered behind them one by one.

That was not all. About half the people who stood with Bendo’s group went over to her side.

Bendo was certainly troubled at that moment, and with his usual eyes, he was trying to reconsider and open his mouth like he should.

And yet,

 

"…Such a strange matter."

 

Ai looked up at the sky with hostility.

"Mayor, this appears to be a rebellion."

"No, this is—"

"Hmm, how troublesome. I don't know if I can negotiate with you as the representative."

"…Looks that way."

The only two people present who were drifting in the air as bystanders wanted to ruin everything."

"We have no choice but to occupy the town."

"It appears so."

In the depths of purgatory, the angel and the demon discussed something that was worthy of hell. "

"Dee Ensy, be thankful. This place will be under the protection of our Emperor."

What is he talking about?

"Please hold on, Noellfaen. Why are the Living supposed to be in charge of this place? Us Dead are supposed to be in charge."

"Enough with the foolish words, demon. Are you trying to turn this place into a second Ortus?"

"What is wrong with that? The best outcome is to have the Princess stationed here. No Living shall pass the black surface"

Ai felt that she had done well.

Even though she was attacked and ignored, she endured and did not retaliate. She had Dee persuade them, and said all she could. Considering their predicaments, she did not badmouth them either.

But everything was,

"…Please do not stop me."

Ai took a step forward with a tense, ominous tone in her voice."

"Stop?"

Alice said, dangling two guns.

"Who’s stopping?"

Dee was furious to the point where her veins were popping, and she stood forther.

They had enough.

Ai plunged her shovel deep into the ground.

"Miss Madame, stand back."

She then pulled it out at once. The earth dug out by the silver blade was spewed out into the world.

The soil rained down like a squall upon the flames in the area.

With that, the immortal flames were extinguished.

 

"Everyone."

 

Ai said, holding the shovel up to her eyes, without letting go of her emotions.

"I shall introduce myself again. I'm the Gravekeeper, Ai Astin."

Her voice echoed coolly, overwhelming the constant buzzing of the flames.

"I have the power to bury all the Dead."

"…!"

"Hoh, that’s interesting. Then use your power to bury this dead demon here, and you shall be rewarded."

While the mouth yapped such words of dissonance, a silver bullet was fired at his mouth.

"Just to introduce myself again. I’m Alice Color."

The bullet was vaporized into a pillar of light just before it hit the lips. However,

"Gah!"

He managed to parry this shot, and the other two bullets hit both shoulders.

"Any projectile I shoot is certain to hit the target. Everyone knows I’m a dangerous man.

"Wait, don’t do that if you know that."

Ai turned pale because she feared that Alice harmed someone, but the latter merely winked as an excuse. Dee then said,

"I’m Dee Ensy, their boss."

"Hey!"

"I’m Julie, Ai's foster father."

"No, I haven’t agreed to that—"

"I am also a Gravekeeper, Scar, and this is my daughter, Celica."

Everyone started introducing themselves for some reason. Madame and Shaun were wondering if they should do the same.

"…Hoh?"

Faced with the two Gravekeepers, his trump card against the Dead, Noellfaen turned to Ai.

"What do you wish for?"

'I've been telling you for a while now. Please leave."

"I've also told you I can't do that."

Noellfaen, who must have recognized Ai as the one to negotiate, explained his reasons.

"Say, child. Do you think our deeds are evil?"

Fellmigora intended to maintain the status quo, the world of the afterlife. They thus wanted to manage this black surface that would be a hindrance to their plans.

"…We too have pressing reasons to be here, Gravekeeper child…."

Ortus in turn was thinking of creating a new nation, and sought eternity in this world. They were afraid that the potential Dead would be lost to the new world.

"…I don't think it's wrong."

As the one being persuaded, Ai understood their feelings somewhat.

She understood why they would not back down.

"I understand that you are just trying to protect your world."

"Then—"

"But..."

She lifted her head and looked at the world.

"In that case, you should understand, right? What you’re going to trample on is a world someone wants to protect…"

She looked up at the black surface.

"This black surface was made by a friend of mine that I have yet to meet."

Isola Edwards.

The girl who was the only one who went to a different world of her own volition while all 30,000 citizens returned home.

A person who lived with a deadly disease, yet never hated anyone; a brilliant person who could have destroyed Alice, but steadied herself on the brink. A comrade of Ai's who liked dream chrysanthemums.

Would she be offended if Ai treated her like a friend?

"—It’s not your hope, nor is it your despair. It’s her dream. This is the world she wanted to protect, just like you…"

If she got angry, Ai would apologize.

Ai held up her shovel.

"…If you still want to come to me, then by all means …."

That was the last straw for Ai.

 

"I too shall fight to protect the world."

 

Her friends took their stances behind her. The flames of ash trembled as they noticed the signs of destruction. It was a sign that they were serious.

"…I never thought I would die here."

The angel answered after a long silence.

"Well, it can't be helped. I suppose it’s good bitter medicine to wake the fools back in my country."

"An outstanding person like you is willing to die in battle? We shall welcome you in Ortus once you die."

Dust Believer chuckled.

"Shut up Dust Believer, you're the one in danger of extinction."

"I think that is a rather trivial matter."

"I suppose so?"

They glanced at Ai. There was determination in her eyes.

Suddenly, there was silence. Ai's eyes were downcast as she held the shovel, the angel spread his wings, and the bones stood upright, retracting the flames.

The winds of war had calmed, and it was as if peace had arrived.

But it was only a facade, for the surrounding area was filled with stinging hostility and aggression.

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

The flames of ash reacted to the hostility and blazed at an unprecedented vigor. The flames were no longer effervescent, and were waiting for the moment to devour them all.

And time began to move slowly.

An angel grabs a pillar of light like a great tree.

The bones danced while dressed in a flaming dress.

Ai grasped her shovel and lowered her center of gravity.

The Living followed the angel and pushed the limits of the Deformed.

The Dead ran with torn limbs as weapons.

The friends offered encouragement from behind Ai.

The fire of retaliation surrounded everything.

The black surface ignored everything as it merely spreaded itself like an otherworld.

 

No one could stop this conflict, not Ai's shovel, not the angel's light, not the noblewoman’s bones, nor the fire of deterrence. All that was left was for the moment of conflict to explode.

Supposedly.

People and flames collided. Confusion should have led to more confusion.

But,

 

The black surface, which had been watching the people like an abyss of the universe, shook at that moment.

 

Right before the destruction, right when hundreds of deaths and annihilation would occur.

A wave that should not have shaken prevented a battle that could not possibly be prevented.

Ai gripped the shovel as her mouth slacked and opened wide, staring at the black surface. Everyone was ignoring the start signal and looking at completely unrelated places.

Ripples appeared on the black surface. The boundary that had rejected all interference was shaking.

It was a phenomenon that occurred only when the Living passed through from this world.

But at this moment, nobody was near the black surface. Ripples were appearing from within the black surface.

And then,

 

"Oopsie—"

 

There were no dazzling lights, no rumbling earth.

The girl appeared.

 

+

 

She has fluffy silver hair, droopy eyes that look like she was crying or smiling, a worn-out sweater and a thick checkered skirt that were most probably her favorite clothes. And on her head, a single dream chrysanthemum flower.

The person who emerged from the black surface had been silent for so long, and appeared at first glance to be just an ordinary girl.

"Thank goodness…I made it through……."

…Who is she?

The question was prancing upon everyone's face. Nobody recognized her.

But for some reason, Ai had a sense of déjà vu about the girl's appearance. She had never seen or spoken to the girl before, but she felt a sense of familiarity, as if they had been friends for a decade.

"Miss…Isola…?"

"Ah, there's someone who knows me. Woah, you’re really, cute…oh, and there's big bro Alice and big sis Dee, too…ah, but…."

The girl blushed, perhaps embarrassed by the attention,

"Nice to meet you, I'm Isola Edwards."

The stated name belonged to that of the person who created this black surface.

"I’ve returned to this world, albeit unexpectedly."

Isola bowed her head.

Again, a puzzled silence descended upon them. This time however, Isola was included in the confusion.

"Um, I'm sorry for interrupting. It seems you’re busy…"

"…That does not matter."

The angel asked,

"Did you exit from that black surface?"

"Ah, yes—woa, it’s an angel. You're floating. It’s amazing~"

"…That does not matter…"

"I'm sorry."

Another child…Noellfaen shook his head in disgust.

"Where do you come from?"

"Ah, erm, I don’t know if you understand if I say it’s an otherworld. Even though I created it…"

There was chatter.

"Hey! Isola, were you the only one in that world? I sent 1,202 people from here!"

Capitalizing upon this confusion, Dee raised her hand.

"Yes, they’re all there, big sis Dee. 1202 people, not a single one missing. Everyone is now living normal lives in that world right now."

Again, there was chatter. All the people present faltered.

"I-is the world you speak of the one from fifteen years ago..."

"Yes, it’s a world without Gravekeepers or Walking Dead."

"Then, are there children too..."

"Yes."

Isola beamed.

"We have confirmed the development of fertilized ovaries in some mothers. I believe it is possible to conceive children there."

People were speechless.

The highly disciplined soldiers questioned away without regard for their own roles, and even exposed themselves defenselessly in the battle.

"But I only heard from the doctor. I do not know the specifics, so you’ll have to ask the people who’ll come through in the future."

"Future?"

Ai asked.

"By 'future' do you mean…people can come and go between here and there?"

"It is impossible to come and go.. One can either go, or come…this black surface is like the prior original. Every person can only traverse once in life."

In other words, the only person who could come here from the other side at this moment was Isola, who was there from the beginning.

"I suppose it’ll probably be several decades before the next person comes over there, when the children born there realize that they are dying."

Her words slowly sank into the hearts of the people.

The biggest despair of this world.

The fear that there would be no children, no one to inherit them.

It vanished at this moment.

"Ohh…"

Psst, the weapons fell.

"Ahh! Ahhhh!"

The Living cried with their bodies, and the Dead cried with their hearts.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

The battle was supposedly unavoidable.

And yet.

"Yes! Did you hear that!?"

"Yeah! How’s that possible! I can't believe this day has arrived!"

The world was not redeemed because of this. The fact remained that this world would eventually be left with nothing but Dead.

But surely a different wind was blowing.

Ai stood there in a daze.

 

The world had been saved.

 

The world was being saved before her eyes.

The shock just went through her body. She was neither happy nor sad, her heart was trembling, and she seemingly did not know what to feel.

There were cheers.

Whoa!! Both Living and Dead were united, raising their fists.

"Tell everyone what we saw here. The black surface shall save both Living and Dead!"

Dee immediately started to ‘whisper’ While the crowd cheered, Ai left the frenzy and walked over to Isola.

"You must be Miss Ai, no."

Isola was thin and gingerly frail. She was really just an ordinary girl.

And yet, she saved the world.

"Miss Ai. You're amazing."

"Eh?"

Yet that person praised Ai.

"You’re the one who saved big bro Alice, right…from death too."

"…You’re the amazing one, Miss Isola."

"Really?"

"Yes. You saved the world."

"Hmm~, but I couldn't save big bro. I think you’re the more amazing one after all, Miss Ai."

"Is that, so?"

"Yes yes. I respect you."

"…It’s kind of a mess, isn't it?"

"Fufufu, really…ah, big bro…"

Alice arrived behind Ai’s back.

"It's been a while."

"…Seems that way."

Alice gave a somewhat gaudy smile. For Isola, he was an older brother figure, but for Alice who had been reset many times, it was almost like a first encounter."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it, big bro. We can create memories together in the future…I finally made it to the starting point"

Isola stretched out, took a deep breath, loosened her flushed cheeks,

"After all…there's plenty of time."

She stared at the world with moist eyes.

"There really is…lots…"

"Miss Isola?"

She looked strange.

One would have assumed her flushed face was due to tension, but the redness faded, and the face slowly turned brown. The muscles did not move, and she was repeatedly heaving and breathing hard.

"Miss Isola!"

The girl fell over.

"…I'm glad I made it…really, thank goodness …."

"W-What's wrong with you!? What's going on!?"

"I'm sorry to scare you… but don't worry…it's just that I've reached the end of my life …."

"! You’re sick!"

Ai remembered Isola's illness. It was a congenital disease that caused muscles to lose elasticity as they grew, and finally even caused the heart to stop beating.

"Anyway, just lie down for now"

"No…please…let me see the world just a little bit more…"

Isola, supported by Ai and Alice, still refused to fall down.

The night was about to dawn.

"Ahh, so beautiful…"

Isola was shedding her last tears.

"Every time… I see the sunrise, I'm terrified that I won't see tomorrow…"

Her lips became dry, and her eyes slowly lost their luster.

"But I don't have to be scared like that anymore…I can see tomorrow again…"

She smiled as though she was being held in her mother's arms.

 

"This is heaven, isn’t it…?"

 

Heaven.

The words penetrated the people.

The madness was over; Living and Dead, soldiers and generals, everyone was listening to Isola's words.

The world was turned upside down.

Life that was lost had been restored, but it would not revert to its original state. Both blend and remain together.

Reality had been transported beyond the black surface, and this place would become the land of the Dead.

The first person in that land was crying, hoping to ingrain herself in this new world.

But her face suddenly winced,

"Or perhaps this place might be hell…"

She whispered anxiously.

"No."

Ai's heart was speaking.

"You're right, this is indeed heaven."

Her lips were quivering, as if she was being asked to represent the world.

While carrying heaven on her back, Ai looked straight into Isola's eyes.

Tears flowed freely.

"We won’t, let this place, become hell."

"…………I see…thank you."

Finally, Isola's life was coming to an end. Her skin was losing tension, and her eyes would soon lose their luster.

"You’re like an angel…"

The morning sun shone into her pupils and diamonds danced in her eyes.

Her eyes reflected the whole world.

In the sky, a seven-winged angel and a demon of flaming bones danced.

The earth was infested with the Living and the Dead.

At the edge of the world, flames dance, enveloping everything.

Only the moon, the sun, and the black surface were still moving supernaturally.

And standing at the forefront was a girl with sparkling eyes, crying for Isola.

 

(So pretty…)

 

She could not convey her thoughts into words anymore.

 

(Ahh, yes, I wanted to say this…)

 

She mustered up the last of her strength. She conveyed her thoughts with just her eyes.

 

(Hey, Miss Ai…if you want to...————…with me)

 

And so Isola breathed her last.

   

It would be a little later before they become friends.

 

Epilogue

Isola immediately made her way down the hill to receive the post mortem treatment from Dust Believer. It was a bit of a laugh to see the commotion, as if dozens of people were carrying a portable shrine.

The flames on the hill rang like a flag in the morning breeze. Ai's hair, which had somehow come undone, fluttered in the wind as she gazed at the rising sun.

What she told Isora, that this world was heaven, was a lie.

This world was neither heaven nor hell, merely a continuation of reality. The people who lived in this world were neither angels nor demons, but ordinary people.

"Good work."

Alice sat down next to Ai, patting her sunken head roughly.

"Madame is going to be charged after all."

Ai came to her senses. It appeared that while she was still feeling sentimental, the world moved on.

Looking over at where Alice was looking, Bendo and Madame were quietly discussing there. There was no further unreasonable violence there.

"Bendo said he got taught a lesson by the kids he raised…he said he decided to arrange for proper procedures, and Coven will be tried by the law."

From here, Madame appeared to be shaking and sobbing, holding her mouth.

It was the kind of judgment that she, who loved the law more than anyone else and executed so for years, yearned for.

"Thank goodness…"

Ai heaved a sigh of relief and slumped back down. Alice laughed and imitated her, falling on his back as well.

"Feels like this happened before, didn’t it?"

"Yeah."

It was at the World Tower. Like back then, they were looking at the sky, exhausted.

At this moment, they were looking at a jet-black surface.

"…The world is saved, isn’t it?"

"Yeah."

"What about you, Mr. Alice? Would you like to go to the new world?"

"Hard to tell."

"Hard to tell?"

"I just feel that I don’t know…I’m interested. She said that new world doesn’t have any Living or Dead, Gravekeeper, or Deformed."

Alice said, reaching for the black surface.

"I feel that if I go there, I might be able to feel alive again."

"…Maybe, maybe not."

"What about you then?"

"… Hmm. I'm not sure either."

But, Ai continued on,

"But I'm sure I won't go. I think I'll be a part of this world until the very end."

"I see."

"And when that time comes, we may be separated."

"Yeah. When the time comes, we may be at different places."

They spoke jokingly, as though discussing what they would do if the world would end tomorrow.

Maybe that day was just around the corner.

But,

"Well, let's go home for now."

Alice stood up and reached his hand out.

"Yes, Mr. Alice."

Grabbing his hand, Ai too stood up.

No matter whether the world would be destroyed, or whether they would be separated forever.

Perhaps they should have a nap before pondering again.

Afterword

—I want to save the world.

The story that ended and began on that white, smoky hill is now in its seventh volume. Thinking back, I've come a long way. While it’s too early for me to be deeply moved (after all, the series hasn't ended at all) but I'll let myself be carried away by the atmosphere and be deeply moved.

Let’s talk a little about myself once in a while.

This time, I'd like to write a little postcard.

(*I was careful not to spoil anything, but I think it's best to read this after reading the main story.)

If a story is a single thread, and you pinch and pull on one of them, the other books bound together like a spider's web will be pulled and lifted up. The books spread out like a web in every direction, and soon they become a tapestry of colors, each with its own personality, reflected in your eyes.

What you see is a series of books that you have read in your life. It is the pattern of your own world that you have discovered.

Now, fortunate to say, ‘Sunday Without God’ has become a part of it.

What do you think? What does the thread ‘Kamiinai" depict in your world?

Is it a piece of the beard of a terrifying monster? Or is it the tip of a white blade drawn by a warrior?

Maybe it's the green eyes of a girl with a silver shovel.

Or ugly misplaced threads that were not woven together, the dirty color of a stain that you wish you can get rid of.

Or the white that fills the blank space.

One thing I’m very grateful is that I’ve received letters from many readers, like ‘I've read through every volume many times’ or ‘The most eyecatching part is the summer green’ or ‘this is the feeling I got from my first volume’, and I’m really glad for them. I’ll like to use this chance to express my thanks I'm playing the most prominent role in the summer greenery," or "That was my first one. (Note. (Note: "Summer green" and "the first one" are not written in the fan letter, of course. The poem part is the author's own translation. ) I wish you and the world of books you encounter a vivid green.

I pray for you from beyond the yarn and ink.

 

Now, of course, I do have such personal tapestries exist as well, and I used to enjoy looking at the patterns and nodding my head and saying, "I think I like such like something similar to this thread," or "I see, I am interested in this pattern," and then searching for the thread I wanted.

However, as you all know, it's not always easy to find the ideal book or the ideal yarn. Even if I were to be delighted on first glance, I might discover on closer look that the color is off, or that it is not long enough.

 

So I would say the notion of ‘why don’t I spin it myself’ might be more common than I thought.

 

And the yarn I spun for many years is called ‘Sunday People’. (Yes, this was the title when I submitted Kamiinai. (Incidentally, when some senior writers played a game of guessing the winning work by looking at the titles of the finalists' works, some of these titles were unanimously rejected by the writers. This work was one of them)

This is the story of Kaminai, which was created in search of an ideal thread, but the strange thing is that the ‘ideal’ quickly slips away the moment it takes shape.

There is a saying, that there is a book for an entire form. It refers to how the book captivates you the moment you read it, and you will reread it many times in the rest of your life. I'm sure you have a book that you can read dozens and dozens of times, a book that you would take with you to a deserted island.

My position as a reader and a writer is different, but every story I write is also a book of my life.

But no matter how ideal a book is, people don't read it hundreds of times, or thousands of times, or the next ‘one more time’ after thousands. They won't read it again, and go to a new one.

I think it's the same with writing.

When you arrive at your destination, the scenery changes.

 

Just like Ai is now.

That's where she, I, and you are right now.

 

What does she see in her eyes? I shall leave this for volume 8. This will be the end of I'll tell you what I see in her eyes after volume eight, and that's all for now in this postcard.

—Oh? That’s quite a nice way to end the topic. Thank goodness. I've been wondering how to do so. I just kept writing and writing, telling myself to stop, but it was difficult to erase them all because the next morning was the deadline…no, it's already this morning. woaahh.

Ahem.

Now, I've written about this at length, what do I want to say? The answer is ‘this story will continue’.

Well, the editor-in-charge felt a sense of danger, thinking ‘this 7th volume feels more like a finale than I thought’ So while writing this finale, I had to emphasize that there would be a continuation. In that case, I felt that I should start from the content, and to sort out the entire work, but somehow while writing, even the afterword felt like it was the end, and I felt like I was shooting myself in the foot…how did it happen? I should work on writing an afterword that didn’t feel like an end.

Alright, let’s have a change of mood to how it usually is. But well, if we’re back to how it’s usually like, I’ll be talking about waist pains or stretching, so I should leave that aside.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid I don't have much to write about. And yet, I still have a lot of pages to write. For some reason, the afterword this time is the longest at nine pages, and yet the deadline is the shortest. Please look at your right hand. The sun is starting beginning to rise. Wahhh~, it’s the morning of the deadline! I'm melting~.

Speaking of which, I've been talking about the compilation of the series since the fourth volume, but thanks to you, I've finally finished it. (No, the series will continue, though.) The reason why this happened is because my original plot was that volumes 5, 6, and 7 would all be in one volume, which made no sense~ yep, I really wanted to punch myself. Seriously, what was I thinking? I said that, but It would be hilarious if I wrote something like "I want to punch you ......" in the afterword of volume nine or so. Ahaha.................. Should I take a pause and punch myself now?...nnnHmmm.

Oh yes, I should write this down.

As I mentioned earlier, I would like to thank those who sent me letters. Thank you very much. I haven't been able to reply to many of them, but I have read all of them, and they have been a source of inspiration for my daily keyboard work. In this job, sometimes I don't know which direction I'm facing. Your letters are a great help to me as they gently push me forward.

Thank you very much.

 

Now, it's time for the promotion.

Ta-da! Those who are far away, listen to the sound! Come closer, and see for yourself! Get your copy at your local bookstore! Congratulations! The second volume of the ‘Kamiinai’ manga by Abaraheiki-san is out! It’s released in the same month as this volume! Woohoo! If you've already read the first volume, you'll know that there are some shocking scenes. I'm sure some of you are wondering the same thing as I am, ‘Is it okay to draw such scenes......?’ but don’t worry, there are beautiful pictures, there shouldn’t be a problem (By the way, why do I use a lecture style when I advertise something?)

Well, enough with the jokes.To be honest, I've only seen the serialized version in the magazine, but I can see the ‘mood’ sensei gave through the illustrated pages. I think it’s something that’s very easily neglected. I love how Shino-san’s illustrations are basically adding colors to the gales, but Abara-san’s mastery of light and shadow is also amazing. I hope you enjoy it.

 

And there's more! The e-book versions of the novel and comic are also available. You can purchase them at ‘BOOK☆WALKER’ from your phone. I don't think anyone is going to download the seventh volume of Kamiinai even if I advertise it here (maybe that will happen if you’re reading this afterword in the bookstore, but that will hurt the bookstore. It’s quite a dilemma). There are many other titles available on Bookwalker, so please take a look at them. It's very convenient.

That's all! I'll let you know when there are more projects. Please continue to take care of me.

......Yes, in the near future. Fufufu.

 

Last but not least, a 360-degree omnidirectional acknowledgement. Thank you very much for all your help, editor-in-charge K-san aka Katie-san. My buddy Ibaraki-san, who has been working with me for three years, this cover is great too. Thank you very much. Once more, I'd like to say thank you to Abara-san. Thank you very much.

I’ll like to thank from this corner, all the people who have been involved in the book

And of course, to you and your books.

Thank you very much.

See you soon, bye bye.

 

Kimihito Irie

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