"—Pandora."
Ice swords stained crimson manifested.
Once generated from the ground, they closed in from every angle, three hundred and sixty degrees, converging on my opponent.
Their number was not particularly large—twenty at most. If they were the same ice swords I had used before, they would have been easily brushed aside.
However—
"Guh... cough!"
Blood.
Vivid crimson blood danced through the air.
He seemed to be defending himself somehow, but his defenses were now as good as non-existent. Before this magic, everything became meaningless.
The process involved adding compression to the formula, resulting in a compressed spell.
What I had compressed this time was a massive amount of code, originally equivalent to an Extensive Chain.
By manifesting it through a new type of magic called Pycnogram, I had created this—Pandora.
It was an absolutely unavoidable ice sword that could pierce through even a Material Field.
Gradually, the ice generated by Pandora began to envelop Paratrogo’s body.
I approached him.
In my right hand, I held a single ice sword stained red.
It was dyed a deep crimson. Born with my blood as a medium, no defense could stand against it.
The fact that I was able to use this power, which I had obtained in the final battle of the Far East Campaign, was surely... because of Rebecca-senpai.
"...It’s over, Paratrogo."
Blood dripped from both our bodies.
Without wiping it away, I pointed the crimson ice sword at my opponent.
"Hahahaha!! So that's it!! Ah... I see now... I finally understand what kind of existence you are...!! Ahahahahahaha!"
The battle was already decided.
In a few more minutes, Paratrogo would be completely swallowed by Pandora.
I had no intention of killing him. I would see to it that he received the punishment he deserved.
"Ice Sword, you're the best!!! Hahahaha!! No wonder the Previous Ice Sword couldn't compete with this!!! Hahahaha!!"
"..."
I glared at him.
Did he know?
Yes... it seemed he did.
"I'll be looking forward to... seeing what kind of path you walk from here on..."
"..."
"—I'll be watching."
His massive frame was swallowed by the crimson ice.
Still laughing, Paratrogo was completely frozen.
It was over. It was over, but... I stared at my hands. I let the crimson ice sword dissipate and checked my current state.
"...I see. So that's what happened."
I looked up.
The clouds drifted away, and a full moon appeared in the sky.
The moonlight illuminated the rooftop.
I hadn't lost consciousness like I had before.
My thoughts were perfectly clear. My Magic Area was normal. I was able to suppress it just as I always did.
I had been thinking about it lately. Ever since I arrived at this Academy, the rate at which I recovered from Magic Area Overheat had been strangely fast. I had fought Instructor Gray, the Grim Reaper, and now Paratrogo; normally, it wouldn't have been surprising if my Magic Area Overheat had worsened.
But on the contrary, I was getting better.
I was drawing closer and closer to the state I was in during the final battle of the Far East Campaign.
This was undoubtedly a cause for joy. To be fully cured would be a wonderful thing.
However, a certain concern crossed my mind. When I became the person I was back then, what path would I take?
I found myself suddenly pondering such things...
"Ray..."
"Ray-san..."
I headed toward Rebecca-senpai and Maria, who had been waiting in the corner. It appeared that Rebecca-senpai had regained consciousness.
She now had her head resting on Maria's lap and was staring fixedly at me.
"Ray-san..."
"Yes."
"So it was true... you were the Ice Sword Sorcerer all along..."
"Yes. I apologize for keeping it hidden from you until now."
I knelt down and looked into her face.
Not much time had passed since I had applied the Chronos Lock.
Senpai continued to speak in a weak voice.
"You're covered in so much blood... you've pushed yourself too hard..."
"The bleeding has already stopped. It just looks worse than it is."
"Are you really alright...?"
"Yes. There are no problems."
Then, Senpai reached out her hand toward my head... and gently stroked it.
"Thank you. It must have been so painful all this time... for my sake..."
"I don't deserve—"
"Maria, thank you too. Thank you both, truly."
And then, the three of us cried together right there.
We shed tears quietly.
But these were no longer tears of sadness.
For a certain tomorrow now awaited us.
◇
"Ray. Are you feeling better?"
"Master."
As a precaution, I had been hospitalized and was reading a book in bed. Even though I was "hospitalized," I was scheduled to be discharged tomorrow.
I had heard that the Cultural Festival had concluded safely this year, with the Post-festival Party having finished as well.
Today, Master had come alone, without Carla-san.
Her face was as dignified as ever.
"I'm fine. I believe I told you that already."
"Well, I just thought I'd check in on you."
"...What happened after the battle?"
I hadn't killed Paratrogo. He had been kept alive and taken into custody.
But as for the real Evan Bernstein...
"Evan Bernstein was killed by Fiction."
"...I see."
"I don't know the details of the connection between those two. But she spoke of it with total detachment."
"...Regarding this matter, was this for the best?"
"This is one of those things where there's nothing we can do."
"...You're right."
The events that had been taking place in the shadows of the Kingdom—they had all centered around Evan Bernstein and Lieselotte Eden.
While I was fighting, Master and the others had been battling the assassins from Eugenics that Bernstein had sent out, and those situations had also been successfully resolved.
Everything had concluded according to the Sorcerer of Fiction’s script.
"Well then, I'll take my leave. Your Magic Area seems to be fine as well."
"Yes. Master, I'll see you again soon."
"Yeah."
With a light wave of her hand, Master departed.
Almost at the same time, there was a polite knock on the door of my hospital room.
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
She looked exactly as she had that night.
A pitch-black long coat, long boots, and pure white hair. Letting her hair flutter slightly as she entered was the Sorcerer of Fiction—Lieselotte Eden.
She pierced me with a fixed gaze from her crimson eyes.
Then, she sat down on a nearby chair and flashed a friendly-looking smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"...I should be able to be discharged tomorrow."
"I see. That's good."
A brief silence followed.
As if to tear through that stillness, I asked her what I had just heard from Master.
"Mr. Bernstein..."
"I killed him."
"...I see."
"Yes. He was already beyond saving. His Magic Area had been completely eroded. It was my final act of mercy. I put an end to it."
"...Regarding this incident. I understand that it was all your scenario. But, was this really for the best?"
"Ah. You mean that."
I had heard it that night.
That she and Evan Bernstein had been lovers.
That was why she had told me to leave him to her.
Surely... she had already prepared herself to kill him even back then.
"With Evan, yes. We were lovers. But I didn't understand what love was. I became his lover because I was seeking it."
"..."
"But after Evan died, I realized it. I really did love him after all."
"I see."
"It's ironic. Realizing it like this only after he's gone. I truly am a hopeless human being."
As she spoke with that porcelain, beautiful face, she looked somewhat lonely.
"However, the fact that Evan became obsessed with me to an abnormal degree and went mad... was his own weakness."
"...Are you saying that because of his weakness, he sought power?"
"Yes. But you and I are people on the side of those who 'have.' While we can imagine those feelings, we will never truly understand them."
"..."
That was certainly true.
I could imagine those feelings.
But I could never completely understand someone else's heart.
"You know, I think," she continued, her voice gentle this time.
"Think what?"
"That thinking you've understood another person is the height of human arrogance. You could even call it a form of violence."
"...I think you have a point."
"It's because others are incomprehensible that they can be 'others.' That's what I've come to think in my life so far. And this incident has made that very clear to me. In the end, all we can do is imagine."
"..."
Lieselotte Eden.
I had heard rumors that the Sorcerer of Fiction was a person without any emotion, like a doll.
There was certainly some truth to that impression. With her exquisite face, pure white hair, and crimson eyes, as well as her detached way of speaking, it was only natural to think so.
However, to me... she seemed like a human being living with deep inner conflict.
"Ray White. I know your worries. However, the path you take is something only you can decide. In the end, humans can only follow what they have decided for themselves."
"Yes."
"Please don't become like me. Although, that's likely a needless worry. There are many wonderful people around you, after all. You have Lydia-senpai as well."
"Yes. I believe I'm blessed in that regard."
She called Master "Senpai." I didn't comment on it. It seemed like Master and the others had their own complicated history with her.
Then, she stared at the book in my hand.
"Are you reading that?"
"Yes. When it comes to romance novels, I like this author's work."
Luna Eter.
She was a famous novelist. I was originally introduced to her work by Abby-san, but the way the characters' emotions were meticulously described made her one of my favorite authors.
I had read this romance novel, which had become a global bestseller, so many times the pages were worn thin.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Glad...? What do you mean by that?"
"I'm the author."
"...Eh?"
"Hahaha! So you can make a face like that too!"
She laughed out loud.
And no wonder. I would never have dreamed that the author was right in front of me.
"People have different faces. And in my stories, I depict the faces I've imagined. For better or for worse, people use different faces depending on the situation. I wanted to express that through my novels."
She reached inside her coat and pulled a pen from her breast pocket.
"Are you going to give me an autograph?"
"Yes. I rarely do this, but I'll make an exception for you."
With a wink, she wrote her signature, including my name.
As she handed it back to me, she continued, her words sounding as if she were telling them to herself.
"People are captivated by fiction. But that can also be a factor that makes a person human. By writing stories, I expand my own world. And by being entranced by the same fiction as people all over the world, I establish my own self. I suppose you could call it a proof of existence."
People are captivated by fiction, huh?
That was likely true. People find meaning in things they cannot see.
Precisely because they don't understand, and because they want to know, they live on believing in fiction.
Even if they know it isn't real, people are still entranced by it.
Thus, people live within a collective illusion. By doing so, they recognize their own selves.
That must have been what she meant.
It wasn't an incomprehensible concept. Since I was also a person who had struggled with similar conflicts, I could certainly empathize with that feeling.
"...That's amazing."
"No. It's nothing that grand. I'm merely a single, small human being... just groping in the dark and resisting this life. Well, at the end of the day, it's just an old person's ramblings. You're free to ignore it."
"No. I think you're still very young and beautiful. Besides, I've learned a great deal."
"Hahaha, look at you. You're making me blush, regardless of my age."
Although she expressed it in an exaggerated manner, her cheeks weren't flushed at all, and her expression remained almost entirely static.
Seeing things like this made her seem somewhat otherworldly.
Then, she stood up and turned on her heel.
"Ice Sword... no, Ray White. I hope your life, like my stories, will be filled with hope and light. That's my wish."
Pausing for a moment, she finally spoke with a truly beautiful, radiant smile.
"—Have a good life."
Neither a doll nor a machine.
Lieselotte Eden.
I thought that she, the Sorcerer of Fiction, was indeed human.
That smile told the story more eloquently than anything else.
"Yes. Thank you."
As I bowed my head, she walked away with composure.
Then, with her snow-white hair swaying, she left the room.
I looked up at the sky through the window.
A clear sky unique to autumn, unlike that of summer.
Winter would be approaching soon.
Just as the seasons cycled, our lives would also continue to cycle.
That was what I thought—