An old woman lay upon a bed in a dimly lit room.
Her body was emaciated, and her eyes were barely open as she spoke to the girl who sat by her side, watching over her.
"Well now... I tried my best to hold out... but it seems I’ve finally reached my limit. One hundred and fifty years... I suppose I lived a long life, clinging to the world as I did."
The girl remained silent.
The old woman, whose body could no longer move, tilted her head ever so slightly toward her. Her words came slowly, woven with effort.
This woman had clung to life more tenaciously than anyone else in her world. She had undergone every possible life-extending treatment, chasing the dream of immortality until the very day she became bedridden.
But she had not done it for herself. She had resisted the wall of her own lifespan solely so she would not leave behind someone precious—truly, deeply precious—all alone.
Unfortunately, she had been unable to climb over that wall. Her life was finally at its end.
"And yet... now that I’m on the verge of death... I understand it well. I was a fortunate soul. To ask for any more happiness than this... surely I would be punished."
The girl’s breath hitched.
"My only... regret... is that I couldn't stay with you... until the very end."
"..."
"I’m sorry... I’m leaving you behind... I have to go now."
Sensing her time had come, she apologized for dying first to the best friend she had spent most of her life with.
Several tears fell onto the old woman’s hand.
"No..."
"Hmm?"
"I don’t want this... Iris... Please don’t die. Don’t leave me alone!"
The girl, who had become ageless, wept as she pleaded with the woman.
Iris was the last one left. Everyone else the girl had loved from the bottom of her heart was already gone.
"As always... you are a selfish one. But... I truly am sorry."
"Iris..."
"Tell me... can I ask one thing of you?"
"What? Y-Yes, anything."
Iris reached out with a hand that had become as thin as a withered branch, trembling as she wiped the tears from the girl’s eyes. A slow smile spread across her face.
"Do you remember the bet we made long ago? You know... back in the Trade City."
"Yes... it was about which of us could find a lover first, right?"
"Indeed. In the end... it seems neither of us ever managed to find love."
"Iris, it’s not that you couldn't. You chose not to. You stayed with me instead..."
It was a small contest from the distant past. When they were both just girls who knew nothing of romance, they had made a silly wager to see who would fall in love and find a partner first.
Ultimately, that bet was never settled. The girl had become an immortal monster, but Iris had certainly had her chances. She had discarded every single one of them without hesitation, choosing instead to walk beside her friend.
"No... in the end... I never found anyone I wanted to be with more than you."
"I felt the same way. I never found anyone who made me feel as safe and at peace as you did, Iris."
"I see. Then... listen to me."
"What is it?"
Calling the girl by her name in a raspy voice, Iris voiced her final wish.
"I want you... to try falling in love."
"What?"
"Fall in love... find someone precious to you... and then... find happiness."
"Why would you... say that...?"
Perhaps sensing what Iris was trying to imply, the girl’s eyes widened in shock.
The wish was a preemptive strike against what the girl intended to do once Iris was gone.
"I’m sorry. I know this will only bring you pain. You can be angry at me... for the selfish wish of a dying woman. But even so... I want you to live."
The girl gasped.
"So, please... if you still consider me your best friend... fulfill this last request. And one day... find that heartfelt smile of yours again... the one you used to have."
"Iris? Iris!"
Even as she spoke, Iris’s voice grew weaker and weaker. The girl could feel her life slipping away with painful clarity.
She wept, desperately calling out to her friend, begging her to stay.
Iris looked at her one last time, wearing a gentle smile as she spoke her final words.
"I’m so glad... I met... you. Thank... you."
"Iris! No... Ah... Aaaah... Nooo!"
It was a cruel irony, but the girl possessed Hecatoncheir, the Heart Tool of Bonds. The death of someone she shared a bond with pierced the very depths of her soul with agonizing vividness.
She heard the sound of the bond snapping. All that remained in her heart was a small, cold Fragment of the Bond—the proof that the woman had existed.
In the empty room, amidst the dim darkness, the girl’s wailing echoed.
Alice finished telling the story of her final conversation with her best friend and wiped away the tears that had surfaced in her eyes before she had even realized it.
"I wanted to go to the place where my best friend and everyone else had gone. But if I did that, I would be trampling on the final wish of the person who stayed by my side through all my selfishness. From that day on... I couldn't bring myself to die."
"..."
"I wanted to fulfill her wish somehow. But my heart had already reached a point where I interacted with people on the assumption that we would eventually be parted by death. I simply couldn't harbor romantic feelings anymore."
I see. So that was why Alice called those words a curse. She wanted to die, but dying meant betraying her best friend. Because it was the final wish of someone she loved more than anyone else, it bound her heart more strongly than anything else ever could.
"After that, I tried all sorts of things. I played instruments, I painted, I crafted... I had an appalling amount of time, so I mastered every one of them to some degree."
"I see..."
"In that process, I met new people and grew close to them... only to see them off to their deaths over and over again. I watched the world change while I remained the same, witnessing countless lives end. I felt my own heart growing colder, reaching a point where I felt nothing at all."
This wasn't a story of years or decades. Alice had lived for an astronomical amount of time—perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of years—with the sole goal of fulfilling that wish.
"Eventually, after spending an absurd number of years, I realized that in a world inhabited only by humans, I would never be able to fulfill her wish. So, I began researching ways to reach another world."
"Does that mean you came to this world on your own strength?"
"Yes. Well, I found a way, but the catalyst was a bit extreme... I stole the Evil God's Core that had been under a heavy seal and used that!"
"Wait, what?"
She’d just casually dropped another bombshell. Compared to being summoned like I was, reaching another world on one’s own seemed like it would have an unimaginably high hurdle.
"Then, I absorbed the ashes of my best friend and my other loved ones into my body using Hecatoncheir, evolved into an even greater monster, and forcibly activated the Great Magic of Otherworld Transfer. As a side effect, taking in those remains allowed me to transform into their forms indefinitely. Even for me, Hecatoncheir is full of mysteries."
"And that’s how you ended up here?"
"Yes. It was quite a surprise, actually. I had powered up, but I hadn't mastered the new strength yet... and as soon as I arrived, Kuro-san beat me to a pulp."
"Now that you mention it, Kuro did say she fought you once."
It seemed Kuro was the first person Alice met in this world. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of exchange led to an immediate battle.
"It was like defeating a final boss and walking into a hidden dungeon, only to have the secret boss jump you on the first floor. Seriously, Kuro-san was incredibly strong."
"Watch your phrasing..."
"Anyway, Kuro-san offered to teach me how to use my powers. I think you know the rest from there. To separate myself from my past, I took the name Shaltier, and I eventually became known as the Six Kings No Face."
She had fought the God Realm twenty thousand years ago, became friends with Fate... I realized there were still many details I didn't know.
But as I was about to ask about those years and the promise to her friend, Alice looked me directly in the eyes. She wore a smile so beautiful it felt as if I were being drawn into it.
"And then... I met you... and I fell in love."
"!"
Dear Mother, Father—
Those words were spoken alongside the story of her past. She had said things like that as a joke many times before, but for some reason... hearing it now, it left a completely different impression.