Nothing.
Dark.
Cold.
No dreams, no sound. I just sank.
Even within that consciousness, there were things I watched.
I didn't know how long I had been like that.
Then suddenly,
I felt like someone was crying.
Somewhere far away,
But desperately.
"……Luca."
A voice I recognized.
"Wake up……"
Another voice, trembling.
"Please……"
That was the moment.
My consciousness surfaced.
The first thing I saw was the ceiling.
White. An endlessly white space.
"……Ah."
My voice was hoarse.
I was alive.
That fact surprised me a little.
And then,
I felt something off about my vision.
Left and right.
The way I saw things was subtly different.
The colors, the way light felt—something was……
Why? And the treatment…… how?
"Luca!!"
The one who threw herself against me was Licia.
Then,
Sera, looking like she was about to cry, standing a little distance away.
And both of them.
Each had blood streaming from one closed eye.
"……Ah."
I felt like time stopped for a moment, and somehow I understood. I understood all too well.
No, if this had just been some sick delusion of mine, that would have been fine.
"……What happened to your eyes, both of you?"
Licia's shoulders trembled.
"……"
Sera looked down.
"Things look different. Like there's something foreign in them? Also, I have some memories I can't tell whether they were a dream or not."
No answer came.
That was the answer.
I looked up at the ceiling.
I couldn't muster the energy to be angry, nor the energy to be exasperated.
And besides, I had no right to.
Just, the depths of my chest felt heavy.
It was my fault.
In the end, again.
Protected, only protected.
Someone gets hurt.
Someone cries.
Someone loses something.
It had become the norm around me.
"……I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
I muttered quietly.
Neither of them argued back.
That was when.
The world groaned.
A crack ran through space itself.
The white world began to collapse.
"Trial Complete."
A voice echoed.
The voice I had heard when coming here.
Right now, that voice was incredibly infuriating.
"Hero Candidates, beginning return process."
"Transferring records to the White Original Tome."
"Publishing Trial contents."
In that instant.
I had a bad feeling about something far away.
◇
Holy Theocracy.
A massive light covering the sky.
The White Original Tome was shining.
Only a handful of people could perceive it directly, but
into the minds of every citizen,
the records of the Trial flowed.
Whether they were images or someone's memories,
they were vague and fragmented.
But something was wrong. Two people who should have been there were painted over in black.
You couldn't tell who they were.
You couldn't see their figures.
You couldn't hear their voices.
So what?
Only one thing was clear.
Sera standing before the fallen Hero Candidates.
Corpses.
Blood.
Magical beasts.
And a blood-stained thin sword.
Only that was emphasized.
As if Sera was the source of everything.
"A criminal."
Someone muttered.
"She killed the Hero Candidates."
"A traitor."
"Execute her."
The anger spread in the blink of an eye.
No one felt anything was off.
The White Original Tome had shown it.
That was an unconscious, absolute command.
No one knew.
That the Original Tome had been broken. That it had been freed from the Black Original Tome's control without anyone noticing.
No one knew.
Not even the White Original Tome itself.
◇
The scenery changed.
From the looks of it, a church.
Had we come back?
The moment I understood that,
shouts erupted.
"There she is!!"
"A criminal!!"
"A murderer!!"
"Get her!!"
I was stunned.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
That many people,
directing their murderous intent at Sera.
Sera stood frozen.
Because she had understood.
Because the fact remained that she had killed.
So she couldn't deny it.
"……"
Licia stepped forward.
Flames wavered.
I stopped her.
"Please stop."
I was tired.
Truly.
I was sick of it.
What had happened? I had seen more darkness than I could count.
People's deaths, hatred, this ugliness.
I had seen it all.
"Luca……?"
Licia turned back.
I looked at Sera.
The girl, now with only one eye, had a face that looked like she was about to cry at any moment.
Beside her was Licia, also reduced to one eye.
Both of them.
They had been hurt for my sake. They had gone that far for me.
And yet, the world threw stones at girls like these.
Blamed them. Tried to judge them.
Without knowing anything?
I didn't understand. Why? We were……
"……This feeling again."
I muttered.
The feeling of nothing mattering anymore.
The feeling of wanting to throw everything away.
The feeling of wanting to abandon everything.
Even so, this time it was slightly different.
What I wanted to throw away wasn't myself. It was the world.
"Let's go."
I said.
"Eh?"
"Let's run."
Licia blinked.
Sera raised her head too.
"Where to……?"
"Anywhere is fine."
Luca answered.
"Somewhere these people aren't."
I didn't care anymore.
What did the Hero matter? Sera was probably being controlled by that black something. They should have stopped her, even though they were stronger than me.
The Trial, these people's expectations, Sera's responsibility.
All of it.
Right now, truly.
I didn't care about any of it.
So……
I grabbed both of their hands.
And ran.
From the ugly words.
From this scum.
From the world.
As far as we could go.
◇◆◇
Far from the clamor of the Holy Theocracy.
The basement of an old castle.
The lighting was sparse, the air heavy. But everyone gathered there was cloaked in extraordinary power.
Ash Necros.
A dangerous organization that even the Holy Theocracy was wary of. After burning down the area around the Theocracy's main gate, they had suddenly vanished.
In a room within that organization's headquarters, a single girl was quietly bowing her head.
Black hair and refined features.
And above all, distinctive red eyes.
A former Imperial Princess of the Empire, who had once fallen even to the status of a slave. Luca's personal maid.
Yuka Noctille.
"Are you sure about this?"
The man seated in a throne-like chair asked.
"You're from the Kingdom, a person on the side of Light, aren't you?"
"I am not."
It was an immediate response.
Without a shred of hesitation.
"I exist solely for Lord Luka's sake."
The executives present laughed.
As if they'd seen something amusing.
Some with deep interest.
Some with amusement.
That was fine. They could laugh all they wanted.
I was only going to use them.
Any existence that threatened Lord Luka, I would burn away.
I was sure I would see him soon.
When that time came, I would have him hold me tight.
Chapter 3 — Complete