My drifting consciousness slowly surfaced. As I opened my eyes, blinking away the haze of sleep, the first thing I saw was Kuro's face—and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"Kaito-kun! Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? ...Do you... really remember me?"
Her voice was trembling with anxiety. The sight of her looking so vulnerable was a rarity, and I found it almost refreshing in an oddly misplaced way. I offered a reassuring smile to put her at ease.
"...Of course I do, Kuro."
"Kaito-kun!"
I caught Kuro as she threw herself at me, then pulled myself up to look around. An enormous crowd had gathered.
Isis-san, Lilia-san, Sieg-san, Alice, Fate-san... My precious lovers stood at the center of a sea of people beyond counting.
It was a truly heartening sight. To think that all these people I had forged bonds with had come to my aid... I felt incredibly lucky. Though, granted, over eighty percent of them were total strangers I was seeing for the first time. I decided to ignore that part for now.
Everyone showered me with words of joy and relief. Just as the warmth of their feelings threatened to bring me to tears, a monotone voice resonated through the area.
"Once again, that was a magnificent performance. As promised, I shall grant your wish. Furthermore, regarding the otherworlders summoned alongside you—whom you likely wish to aid—I shall allow them to travel between worlds just as you do. The Earth God has already given her consent."
"Shiro."
As Shiro-san appeared with her usual air of composure, the Gods knelt as one. Kuro, conversely, stood up and directed a sharp, piercing gaze at her.
I could tell Kuro was furious with Shiro-san even without relying on Sympathy Magic. I was happy she was angry on my behalf, but there was something I had to confirm first. I reached out a hand to restrain Kuro, who looked ready to pounce at any second, and stood up to face Shiro-san with a faint smile.
"...Now then, Shiro-san. Won't you finally level with me? What would have happened if I’d failed the trials? Would my memories really have been erased, just like Kuro said?"
"..."
During the Fourth Trial, I’d had more time to think than I knew what to do with. I had spent that time trying to discern Shiro-san's true intentions.
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't believe she actually meant to erase my memories. I trusted her, of course, but more than that... if her goal truly had been to erase my memories, she would have had a thousand easier ways to do it.
Shiro-san was nearly Almighty. If she wanted my memories gone, there was no reason to choose such a roundabout method as a trial. Had she been so inclined, she could have rewritten my memories to suit her whims in the blink of an eye.
That was why I decided to ask her point-blank.
Shiro-san remained silent for a moment after hearing my question, then tilted her head with her usual expressionless mask.
"If the trials failed, Kaito-san's memories would be erased? I don't recall ever saying anything of the sort."
"Huh?"
Kuro’s jaw dropped at the response. She wasn't the only one; everyone else was equally stunned.
"Wait... Shiro, what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. I have no memory of saying I would erase Kaito-san's memories, nor did I ever state that they would disappear upon failure."
"What!? No! Then what was that thing!?"
Kuro gestured frantically toward the large, cocoon-like object. Shiro-san tilted her head again.
"I never said that was the Cradle of Forgetfulness, either. If I had to put a name to it, I suppose it was 'a mere cradle that only looks like the Cradle of Forgetfulness.'"
"..."
Kuro fell into a stunned silence. Immediately after, Fate-san spoke up from behind me.
"...She's right. She didn't say it."
"Fate-san?"
"It's true. Now that I think about it, even when Shallow Vernal-sama was explaining it to us, she used phrases like, 'It would certainly be a great battle if I were to erase Kaito-san's memories.' She never actually said she was going to do it."
The other Gods seemed to realize it too, as Chronoa-san and Life-san both looked visibly agitated. Shiro-san ignored their reactions and turned back to me.
"As for what would have happened if you had failed... I suppose it doesn't matter much now, but I shall give you an answer."
"...Please."
That was the heart of the matter. What was her hidden motive? Her true goal?
"If Kaito-san had failed the trials... remarkably... he would have been unable to try again for one year."
"..."
A heavy silence descended over the crowd. Even I was floored by the sheer banality of the answer.
Wait, does that mean...
"...I could have retried?"
"I don't recall ever saying you had to clear it in one go."
Now that she mentioned it, I certainly didn't remember being told I only had one chance.
"For that matter, when retrying, you could have started from the exact point where you failed. As for the final trial, I had even prepared a Relief Measure where the time required to clear it would be halved with every subsequent attempt."
"..."
An auto-save function and a progressive difficulty reduction. She had thought of everything.
"In fact, given that I went to the trouble of spending so much time creating it... I am quite dissatisfied that you cleared it on your first try."
The "dissatisfaction" she’d been pouting about was over that!? I felt like I’d been dancing in the palm of her hand from the very beginning.
If retrying was an option, she really should have told me that at the start!
Serious-senpai: "...Wait, are you serious?" Natural God: "...I am extremely dissatisfied." Serious-senpai: "She’s still here!? Hey, what is the meaning of this? Retrying was an option?" Natural God: "Then let me explain the details."
Trials of the Creator God (Kaito-exclusive) - There are four trials in total. - If you fail midway, you can retry from that checkpoint. - Retrying decreases the difficulty of the failed trial. - For the final trial, the initial clear time is set to 100 years, but it is halved with each retry. - Upon retrying, any Penalty Time incurred by stopping or straying is reset to zero. - Failure results in a one-year cooldown, but going on "10 Dates with the Creator God" bypasses this wait entirely.
Natural God: "...It was a Super WIN-WIN System. Kaito-san would be happy to retry quickly, and I would be happy to go on dates with him. By my calculations, we should have been able to go on about thirty dates. My perfect plan involved Kaito-san inevitably visiting me with high frequency in his rush to retry... and yet, he cleared it in one go. I am very dissatisfied." Serious-senpai: "Are you kidding me!? Stop it! Why is the Last Boss performing a Serious Break on her own story!?"