Snowflakes fell from the far-off sky, and a wind steeped in moonlight swayed through the late night of Reccordak.
“……After I joined the Imperial Knights.”
Julie was buried amid the northern coniferous forest. She sat in a rocking chair, looking down at the bracelet on her wrist.
“It was my first real mission.”
Epherene listened to the quiet words she spoke.
“To protect the professor in Marik. To transport the core.”
“Transport?”
“Yes.”
Julie let out a low breath. Her white breath drifted like smoke. Snowflakes settled softly upon her shoulders.
“At the time, the head of Yukline, Lord Dikaillen, was preparing an important piece of research. I do not know exactly what kind of research it was. However, I am certain that the ‘core’ was absolutely necessary for Yukline then.”
A past Epherene did not know, could not know.
“My fellow knights and I advanced into Marik together with Deculein. However, an unexpected attack occurred.”
Even now, Julie considered that day their fault.
She could not accept the very term “unexpected.” A knight ought to consider every possible circumstance and prepare with appropriate force.
“The mission failed, and many people died.”
“……Did you lose the bracelet then?”
“Yes.”
Epherene nodded and took a steamed potato from the basket in her arms. Steam rose from it as she bit into it.
“In thaff case. Ah, hot. Ha, hoo. Ha, hoo. The profeshor, hoo.”
She asked while rolling the piece of potato around in her mouth.
“The profeshoh. How did he find this bwacelet again?”
“……Marik was reopened, was it not?”
“Ah.”
Julie thought he must have deliberately retrieved it when Marik was opened this time.
She simply did not know the reason. She could not even guess.
To him, it should have been nothing more than an utterly ordinary bracelet.
“It must be precious to you, Sir Knight.”
“Yes.”
Julie answered at once.
“It is the first and last gift I ever received from my father.”
Though now it had become like coal.
Memories of that day were melted into this bracelet.
The heart that had been pounding even before she received it. The swelling emotion that followed. The tip of her nose growing hot, and her eyelids, heavy as though soaked with water.
All those things, still vivid, were inside it.
“The one and only gift of my life.”
Proof that her father, despite everything, had thought of her at least once.
“That is how precious it is.”
Julie turned to look at Epherene again. Epherene also looked into her eyes.
“……Miss Epherene. What about the contents of that letter?”
She pointed to the letter on Epherene’s lap. It was the letter Deculein had left for her.
“Oh, this? There’s nothing much in it. Do you want to read it?”
“……May I?”
“Yes.”
Epherene handed the letter to Julie. After reading it, Julie frowned, just as Epherene had at first.
[Epherene.
I leave this letter to you.
You will surely be able to realize the meaning of this letter.]
“……What is this? Is this the end?”
“Exactly. Just three lines, and that’s it. When I first saw it, I was so dumbfounded.”
“Magically—”
“Nothing. There are no devices at all. This is really it.”
“…….”
Julie nodded for the moment and returned the letter. Then she leaned back in her chair.
“Miss Epherene.”
“Yes?”
“If what you say is correct, we will regress. This bracelet on my hand, and my memories, will all disappear.”
“Yes. That’s right. Definitely.”
“Then, perhaps, could you explain? Why you said that. Why Professor Deculein does not hate me.”
……Rustle, rustle.
Heavy snow drifted between their gazes. Their hair fluttered in the cold wind.
A vast and tranquil landscape.
“……Mm.”
Epherene lowered her head without a word. She looked at her two feet placed in the snow. She rubbed the ground, making round marks.
“You know.”
She looked up at the sky again. Snowflakes touched her face like flower pollen.
“The professor’s life isn’t that long.”
“……?”
“Whether we regress or not, the professor won’t be here in the near future. He doesn’t have much time left. The professor probably knows that too.”
Epherene spoke evenly. Of the Deculein she had met within her time.
“So…… maybe the professor didn’t hate you, Sir Knight, but wanted you to hate him?”
Julie fell silent. She slowly closed her eyes.
“So…… someday, when he leaves on a long journey. So that you won’t hurt. So that you can be happy instead.”
“…….”
“Of course, that’s just my imagination.”
Wind blew through the forest. The trees swayed like waves.
Epherene glanced at Julie’s expression and asked.
“……It’s just imagination, imagination. Are you okay?”
“No.”
Julie shook her head.
“Even if it is imagination, it hurts.”
She placed a hand over her heart. Somewhere, the sound of ice breaking rang out.
“It is a statement I do not wish to forget, precisely because it hurts.”
—Hey!
Just then, Delric appeared from the other side.
—It’s time for the meeting!
Epherene quickly rose. Things had been starting to grow awkward, so this was good timing.
“Let’s go now, Sir Knight.”
“Yes.”
Julie also stood, and just as they were about to leave together.
—……You know.
At the “voice” that came as if in a whisper, Epherene froze in place. She flinched and looked back over her shoulder.
—The professor’s life isn’t that long…….
The conversation she and Julie had just shared had been caught up in the “erosion of the voice.”
“You’re diligent, aren’t you?”
Epherene let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.
—Epherene! Come quickly!
Delric’s shout called her again. Julie was already waiting far away.
“Yes! I’m coming!”
Epherene quickly ran off.
* * *
Whooooosh—
Before long, a snowstorm raged over Reccordak, inside Julie’s office.
The group sat gathered around a large table.
“First, I narrowed it down to only the knights among the thirty who have any possibility.”
Delric spoke. There were seven names in total on his list. “Jaylen Vedasf,” “Yufle von Sven,” and…….
“Syrio Ragnis.”
Sylvia said. Julie also let out a deep breath.
“Yes. He is one of the suspects as well. Among the thirty invited knights, Syrio was certainly present.”
“…….”
Sylvia sank into thought for a moment.
Syrio. As the vice-captain of Iliade, he was far too familiar to her.
Delric nodded.
“The other knights all have definite alibis. Of course, not enough to remove them from suspicion yet.”
“How can you be sure?”
At Sylvia’s question, Delric stroked his mustache and answered.
“They are fools who dared to ambush His Majesty. Aside from us, there are many people chasing the culprit. Perhaps, if we simply wait quietly, we may come to know who the culprit is. However…… Epherene.”
“Yes.”
Delric looked at Epherene. His eyes were quite resolute.
“Our goal is not merely to catch the culprit.”
“Of course.”
“Have you learned the ‘conditions of regression’?”
“No. Not yet.”
For now, she was waiting until April 9. The most likely first hypothesis was that “regression occurs on April 9.”
Delric said.
“Good. Until then, you must absolutely not die. Even if we fail to catch the culprit, if you regress to March, you will be able to stop everything.”
“Yes.”
“Then…….”
It was at that moment.
Kwaaaaaaa───!
A tremendous vibration shook the entirety of Reccordak’s grounds. The blizzard outside the window was cut off, and the whole world was dyed in darkness.
Barrier magic.
However, it was an ambush they had expected.
Julie looked at Epherene.
“Miss Epherene.”
“Yes. Let’s run together!”
“No.”
She shook her head. Then she turned to Allen.
“Yeees?”
Allen, who had been sitting politely and only listening to the conversation, tilted his head.
“Mr. Allen. How many people can you take with spatial movement?”
“Hmm~ With 「Stride」 that pierces through a barrier, only one person can accompany me.”
“……Uh.”
Epherene let out a breath of dismay. Julie smiled faintly.
“Yes. I thought that would be the case. I will remain here.”
“There’s no need—”
“There is. One person must face the mastermind directly and inform you all of it.”
“…….”
Julie said so and rose. Delric clenched his teeth, and Sylvia looked at Julie.
“Therefore, I will grasp as much as possible about the ‘mastermind’ here, and deliver clues as certain as I can.”
Julie held out a crystal orb to Epherene. Epherene held the small orb to her chest.
“It is not for transmission, but for recording. A twin crystal orb. Everything I say will be recorded.”
Julie looked back at Delric and Sylvia.
“Sir Delric, Miss Sylvia. You two should also take shelter. For now, Miss Epherene takes priority, but Miss Sylvia possesses exceptional magical talent, so—”
“I can pierce the barrier. Collapsing it is hard. I have to find the core.”
“Yes. That will do. Sir Delric, please cover Miss Sylvia.”
“…….”
Delric looked resentful, but soon nodded.
“I will. Let us meet again, without fail.”
“Yes. I do not intend to die either. Then—”
Claaaaang──!
Every window in the building shattered. Through the exposed openings, a robed assailant rushed in. There were also “things” that moved on all fours, as though they were not human.
In the middle of that chaotic battlefield, Allen slowly walked over and took Epherene’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
Allen smiled brightly and took one step forward.
Behind him, Julie could be seen swinging a sword of ice. Delric escaping together with Sylvia.
And.
“……Ugh!”
Epherene found herself outside the barrier with Allen.
She looked around. Everything in every direction was pitch-black, and the stench was thick.
“This is…….”
Allen clapped his hands together and answered.
“The sewer.”
* * *
Drip— drip—
Falling water droplets.
“Ugh…….”
Drip— drip—
A foul smell that struck her face and scattered.
“……Ah.”
Epherene opened her eyes.
Scratch, scratch—
She scratched her head and looked around.
Quite a lot of time had passed, but the scenery was still that of a sewer treatment plant.
But she had grown so used to it that she no longer smelled anything. She had long since become buddies with the rats.
“……I’m sick of this.”
Of course, she had not stayed in the exact same sewer every day for a month. Even while moving from place to place, whenever she was about to be chased down, she always ended up returning to “some sewer somewhere in the city.”
“…….”
Epherene sat alone on the ground and blankly thought.
What month and day is it?
Maybe around April 4 or 5.
“When…….”
Like this, she was simply wishing.
Only wishing.
For April 9 to arrive already.
Even one day sooner.
“……I’m so filthy.”
A month’s worth of grime and stench. The result of refraining even from 「Cleanse」 to avoid magical detection.
She rummaged through her arms and took out Deculein’s letter.
[Epherene.
I leave this letter to you.
You will surely be able to realize the meaning of this letter.]
“Ah…… I told you I don’t know.”
A letter she had read hundreds, thousands of times while living in hiding.
Just what the hell was this supposed to mean?
How was she definitely supposed to realize anything when she did not understand even one single bit? This fu…… fu…… fu……
“Fuck! Seriously, fuuuuucking hell——!”
Epherene shouted a loud curse while shaking both fists, then lay down spread-eagled again.
Her whole body soaked in exhaustion, she muttered blankly.
“How am I supposed to definitely realize the meaning of this letter……? If I regress, I’m definitely going to ask…….”
Epherene’s words stopped midway.
……A month ago, Julie had died.
She had not died in Reccordak. From what Epherene heard, her injuries had not even been that severe.
With her own power and the support of Yusephine and Zeit, Julie had destroyed part of the “mastermind,” but because of the aftereffects of that day, her heart was destroyed and she died. Her older sister Yusephine also committed suicide.
Thanks to her, they learned the name of one of the people behind it.
“Jaylen Vedasf.”
……Delric had gone missing.
After Reccordak, he had joined up with her, then left, saying he would search for clues separately. Until then, he had been communicating with her through a crystal orb, but at some point, contact was cut off.
His last words had been someone’s name.
“Yufle von Sven.”
……Sylvia was imprisoned.
Ednic, Giltheon, and Gindalf had all “sealed” her together. They said Sylvia had “gone mad.”
And so, what she—who had lost everything—feared now was this:
What if she regressed to a point “after Deculein had died”?
“If that really happens…”
What am I supposed to do?
If she regressed to a time without Deculein.
Was it game over?
“…You said you wouldn’t leave everything to me.”
Epherene turned over. On the hard floor, she curled up like a shrimp.
“You said you wouldn’t make me bear it because I’m still young…”
A torment she could not dare put into words, one she had never even imagined.
“But this…”
Now that everyone was dead, only I’m alive down here at the bottom of the underground like an earthworm, only wriggling like a real earthworm.
What on earth is this…
“…Hnghiiing.”
Epherene, who had been sniffling, suddenly sprang upright. Some thought had abruptly struck her, and anger surged up with it.
Perhaps anger was, after all, the only fuel that could overcome sorrow.
“No, but what the hell is this?”
The object hanging at her waist.
The wooden pocket watch Murkan had given her.
“…What am I supposed to use it for?”
A wooden pocket watch.
No matter how much she touched it, no matter how much mana she poured into it, nothing happened. Not even “time” flowed in this stupid, blockheaded watch.
“What are you! Answer me! At least the letter can be read! What the hell are you!”
She gripped the pocket watch tightly as if strangling it and held her breath like that, but…
As expected, nothing changed.
“…Miss Epherene?”
Just then, a soft voice approached.
Epherene flinched and looked that way.
“…Mr. Allen.”
“Yees. Are you all right?”
“…”
Epherene glared at him sullenly, then shook her head.
“No.”
“Is it hard? Still, hang in there. We found the culprit, didn’t we~”
“…”
As he said, they knew who the culprits were. They had been among the seven suspects Delric mentioned.
All “seven” of them, including Syrio.
Syrio had been ambiguous, but Allen had determined that the one who had handed Sylvia over to Giltheon right away was Syrio.
“…But I feel like I’m going to go insane.”
Even knowing she would regress, this itself was too much stress.
What if she was caught? Would she regress even if she died, or would death be the end?
Even if she regressed, what if Deculein wasn’t there?
“It’s all right. Today is April 9th.”
“…Huh?”
Epherene’s eyes went wide. Startled, she asked again loudly.
“You said yesterday was April 3rd!”
“That’s because~ rather than April 8th becoming April 9th, from April 3rd, suddenly jumping—”
“Hey──!”
Epherene ran over in a flurry and seized Allen by the collar.
“How does that make any…?”
The very next moment, her words caught in her throat.
“…Mr. Allen? Why is your body… so cold?”
“That’s because~ I’m dying.”
“…”
Only belatedly did Epherene examine Allen’s body. There were many wounds all over him, and the bleeding was severe. In particular, the area near his pubic bone had been completely pierced through by something like an awl.
“Why… why?”
“Yees. I encountered the Altar. I—no, we—are on the front line against the Altar. We clash often.”
Allen spoke with a low laugh.
“But… they had already realized it. That Miss Epherene regresses.”
“…”
“And… they said this. Even if Miss Epherene regresses, Professor Deculein won’t come back to life. The Emperor won’t come back to life. The ‘standard’ of the regression has already changed.”
“…What?”
“So, that’s why I said it was April 3rd. I’m sorry. Even if you regress anyway…”
Allen slid down and leaned his body against Epherene’s shoulder.
Epherene’s mind went blank. Her vision turned white. It felt as though some thread she had been holding onto until now had snapped.
“…Mr. Allen?”
“Yees. Still, it’s all right.”
In her arms, Allen made a small smile. A single tear flowed from the corner of his eye.
“Because I lived with hope for a month.”
Epherene looked at him.
Her lips trembled. Her legs shook.
A despair she did not know dug into her heart, uncontrollably vast and ever clearer.
“Miss Epherene. If you regress one more time… please tell them this as late as possible.”
“…”
“All… right?”
Allen closed his eyes as he made the request. He did not erase the smile from his lips.
Dudududududu———
Before long, the world shook as if an earthquake had come. The wailing wind, and the resonance of the air. Amid it all, Epherene held Allen tightly.
And then…
…She regressed.
—Epherene! Hurry up and come!
Delric’s shout rang out thunderously.
Blink, blink—blink, blink—
Snowflakes settled beneath her opening and closing eyes.
“Uh…?”
Epherene stood there blankly and looked around.
The landscape reflected in her eyes was full of sharp trees in every direction. Earth buried in snow. The coniferous forest of the North.
…A cold wind swept through her clothes.
—Epherene! What are you doing not coming! It’s time for the meeting!
The point of regression was the North.
After she had told Yulie the truth about Deculein, just as the meeting was about to begin.
In other words, a time when “Deculein was already dead.”
“…Ah.”
A final breath escaped her blankly.
Then, Epherene realized it. She accepted despair as reality.
Just as Allen’s last words had said, the “standard” of regression had truly changed.
—Epherene!
“…Uaaaaaaaaaagh!”
Epherene screamed. Her legs gave out, and her body moved on its own. A deathly hyperventilation surged into her heart.
“Aaaagh——!”
“Miss Epherene! Why all of a sudden—”
“Epherene! Why, why are you suddenly doing this!”
Yulie and Delric, over there, were also greatly startled and came running.
“N, n, n, no, nooooooo…!”
In the northern forest where a fierce blizzard raged. Amid that nature where the trees swayed like waves.
Epherene screamed and fainted.