Perhaps that sense of dissonance had been flickering for a long while now. However, it wasn't until Eden-san left that it finally took a concrete shape.
"……Kaito-san. I’m sorry. I think I’m a little worn out…… Would it be alright if we did our date another time?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah…… are you okay?"
After Eden-san departed, Alice spoke those words while wearing a forced, bitter smile.
There was nothing inherently strange about what she said. Alice had been fighting a serious battle against a powerful existence like Eden-san until just a moment ago, so it was only natural for her to be exhausted.
And yet, for some reason…… there was a sense of unease deep in my chest, a dissonance I couldn't explain with logic.
"Ahaha, I’m perfectly fine! It’s just that even the special Alice-chan gets tired sometimes, you know?"
"I-I see……"
I wondered why. Alice was laughing…… so why did it look like she was crying to me?
Come to think of it, it was the same earlier. Alice was supposed to be incredibly angry, yet for some reason, I felt as though she were trembling in fear.
That said, I couldn't clearly explain exactly what was wrong…… which was precisely why I didn't know what to do.
"Well then, I’ll leave a Split Body behind as a guard…… If you’ll excuse me."
"……Yeah."
I thought about calling out to stop Alice as she cut the conversation short and left…… but I didn't have the words to make her stay. Reconfirming that I knew nothing about her, I could do nothing but nod in the end.
To me, Alice was a friend I could let my guard down with—a "bad friend." She would suddenly appear to chime in on my remarks or joke around, and that sight had become a matter of course before I knew it.
I felt like I knew Alice…… or maybe I just wanted to believe I did.
Alice almost never talked about her past. There was a clear wall there, and it felt as though she were implicitly pleading with me not to step inside. And so, I remained in the dark.
However, today, Alice had shown intense passion for the first time. The look on her face at that moment wouldn't leave my head, and it forced a single realization upon me with painful clarity.
It wasn't that I knew nothing about Alice…… it was that I hadn't been trying to know her.
Alice always treated me favorably and smiled at me. I had been spoiled by that, convincing myself that I understood her and avoiding the effort to truly know her.
After all…… at that moment…… I didn't even understand why she had lost her composure and become so angry.
I couldn't let things stay like this. At the very least, I couldn't forgive myself for being unable to offer a single thoughtful word to Alice as she walked away with such a sorrowful-looking back.
Returning to her empty general store, Alice flipped the sign on the door to "CLOSE" and entered the shop. She pressed a trembling hand against the wall.
"……I was naive. That first Teleportation Magic…… I was completely off-guard and taken by surprise. If that thing had intended to kill Kaito-san…… I…… I……"
She covered her face with both trembling hands, her entire body shaking as if she were cringing in terror.
The voice vanishing into the void was a wail of mourning—the cry of a girl terrified of the worst possible future.
"……I don't want it…… Not that feeling again…… never again……"
Alice muttered in a grief-stricken voice, staring into the dim darkness as tears flowed.
"……I won't let him be taken. Everyone who opposes Kaito-san…… I’ll kill them all. I won't let him be taken…… I won't let him be taken…… I won't…… lose Kaito-san……"
Those were not words meant for anyone else, but a mantra spoken to convince herself.
While suffering, while lamenting, there were things she still couldn't let go of, things she didn't want to lose. Those thoughts relentlessly tormented Alice's heart and her own helpless self.
"……It hurts…… What should I do? Iris…… Iris…… how can I break the curse you cast? Answer me…… Partner."
There was no one to answer her plea for salvation. Only the sound of a sobbing girl echoed within the quiet, thin darkness.
"……Sorry. Regarding that, I might not be able to be of much help either."
"……I see."
Knowing I couldn't let things stay as they were, I decided that I needed to learn about Alice. However, I was hesitant to ask her directly about the topics she had hidden for so long.
So, I decided to ask elsewhere. The first person I turned to was Kuro, but after she heard my story, she shook her head apologetically.
"I don't know much about Shaltier either. No…… I know to some extent, but I don't really understand her."
"You don't really understand?"
I had hoped that Kuro, who was her family and had known her for a long time, might know something. But Kuro replied that she didn't know much about Alice. And that she didn't quite understand her.
"My first impression when I met Shaltier was that she was a very incongruous child. I thought her combat techniques were incredible and that she had experienced considerable battle…… but it was like she couldn't handle her own power, or rather, she felt like she was being swung around by it. It was as if she had suddenly become strong and didn't know what to do with that power."
"……"
"Well, I became friends with her while giving her advice and helping with her practice, but…… how should I put it? There was a sense of dissonance."
"Dissonance?"
It seemed Kuro didn't know the details of Alice's past either, but she appeared willing to tell me her impressions. She continued while sipping coffee from a yunomi.
"Yeah. Shaltier is very bright and energetic, but…… I wonder? I can't think of a good expression for it either, but it was as if she were 'playing a role' called Shaltier. I had a vague feeling that she wasn't laughing from the bottom of her heart. Though, I only realized that very recently."
"……Eh?"
"I think I felt the dissonance itself, but only vaguely. It only took a concrete shape after Kaito-kun appeared."
"After I appeared?"
"Yeah. I can't explain it well…… but it’s just different. Between when she’s with us and when she’s with Kaito-kun."
Since Kuro didn't know Alice's past either, she was speaking strictly from conjecture. But according to Kuro, Alice's demeanor was different when she was talking to Kuro compared to when she was talking to me.
I had almost never seen Alice talking to anyone else, so I hadn't felt that dissonance. But if Kuro said so, then it was probably true.
"Shaltier, who was always more level-headed than anyone else and kept a thin film over her true feelings, started showing intense passion from time to time when it came to Kaito-kun."
"……"
"This is just my guess, but I feel like Shaltier is terrified of losing Kaito-kun. But I don't know the reason why she’s so obsessed with you. It’s a feeling that’s completely different from the Shaltier I knew before."
"……"
"This is about all I can tell you. I’m sorry I couldn't be of much help."
"No, thank you. You’ve helped a lot."
In the end, I remained without any details, but there was one thing I could be certain of.
The dissonance I felt from Alice and the passion she showed toward Eden-san…… the key to those answers lay in the past she was hiding.
But investigating that was difficult. Who else would know things that even Kuro didn't?
Would Shiro-san, who can read hearts, know? No, it was just a hunch, but I had a feeling Alice possessed some technique to prevent even Shiro-san from reading her heart.
In that case, what about someone Alice might have voluntarily spoken to? Fate-san? It seemed Alice and Fate-san were close, so she might know something.
Dear Mother, Father—Having seen a side of Alice I had never seen before, I realized that I knew nothing about her at all. That is why, in order to truly reach the Alice of today, I first felt that I needed to know about her past.
In the Upper Level of the God Realm, in the Temple of the God of Space-Time—one of the three temples of the Supreme Gods—Fate, the God of Fate, appeared before Chronoa in her office.
"God of Space-Time, got a minute?"
"The God of Fate, is it? What is it? I am busy enough as it is with the visit from the God of the World. If it is not urgent……"
"I’m going to the Human Realm for a bit."
"……Hah? Wait, do not be ridiculous! I told you I was busy! You have a massive amount of work as well……"
"I’ve already finished it. Here. This is all of it."
"……What?"
Hearing Fate say she was going to the Human Realm, Chronoa assumed it was her usual slacking and prepared to scold her. But immediately after, Fate placed a large stack of documents on Chronoa's desk.
Fate working voluntarily was a sight that was normally impossible. Chronoa was dazed as she picked up a few documents and looked through them.
"……Indeed. Everything is properly handled……"
"Then there’s no problem, right? I’m going to the Human Realm. It’s an important errand, so don’t get in my way, okay? I went out of my way to do something as damn troublesome as work for this, after all."
"……A-Ah. Since the assigned work is finished, there is no problem. But what on earth has happened? For you to head out on an errand even if it meant doing work……"
"……"
Glancing at Chronoa, who was quietly murmuring with an expression of disbelief, Fate turned her back and walked toward the entrance.
She stopped for a moment at the door and muttered in a small voice, as if talking to herself.
"It’s nothing much. I’m just going to punch a stupid friend who’s moping over something trivial……"