episode_0096

“――Okay then.”

After gathering myself, I quietly raised my head and faced the other person.

It was quietly looking at me. I still couldn’t see his face, but I got that feeling.

“Now, what should I do?”

Apart from making up my mind, I had no idea what to do in this place where there was absolutely nothing. As I looked at it, I couldn’t help but ask a question.

It nodded as if it understood, then took a step forward and displayed a dagger that was a span in length.

“You can stab your heart with this.”

It was entirely black from the handle to the blade, and looked more like a shadow in the shape of a dagger than a dagger.

“Stab my heart with that… … ?”

It nodded at me.

“You can change the shape if you want. Like this.”

As it said so, it grabbed the blade of the dagger and swept it, and when it let go. It was not a dagger, but a broadsword.

And when it stuck its sword in the ground and took two steps back, a black shadow poured out from the blade of the sword and turned into a huge guillotine.

As I was staring at the guillotine, overwhelmed by its mysterious and terrifying atmosphere, the thing that had stepped aside put its hand on the guillotine’s pillar.

At that moment, the guillotine melted and became a dagger again.

“Then, why is it in the shape of a sword? It can change into something else, and if it just passes through even if you poke it, isn’t it meaningless?”

“It has meaning. If I explain it in detail, you won’t understand, so I’ll give you an easy example.”

It said that and threw the dagger on the floor, and unlike the guillotine, it bulged out and soon turned into an ornately decorated chair.

It naturally sat down on the chair and continued talking.

“When people see a sword, they think it is dangerous, and when they see fire, they think it is hot. Do you know why?”

“The sword is naturally dangerous, and the fire is naturally hot.”

“Yes. Why do we think that’s normal? The sword may not be dangerous, and the fire may be cold.”

I shook my head at those words.

“That’s nonsense.”

“Yes, that’s right. You know very well that’s nonsense. They are all things that we know through ‘experience’.”

It stood up and said:

“The reason this takes the shape of a sword is for implication. In order to bring out the obvious knowledge accumulated through direct or indirect experience, such as ‘If you stick a sword in your heart, you will die’ or ‘If a guillotine falls and your head is cut off, you will die’.”

Did you understand?

The words were complicated, but not so much that I couldn’t understand them, so I nodded slowly.

When I nodded, it smiled in satisfaction and placed its hand on the chair. As before, the chairs came together and became the first dagger I saw.

It quietly approached me, pointed the dagger’s hilt towards me, and handed me the dagger.

“There will be no pain. If it seems like a lie, rather than stabbing the heart, try cutting the palm of your hand or the tips of your fingers. It will pass through like holding your hand through the fog.”

Seeing the way it spoke so calmly and lightly, I reached out for the dagger without thinking, but stopped just before my fingertips touched the dagger.

Do I really have to die? Is this really the only answer? What I vaguely thought I should do, became a small question.

“Is this really the only way?”

“There are other ways. Either you stay in prison until your innocence is proven, or you wake up and run away from the academy right now.”

He suddenly raised his head when he heard that he was running away from the academy, then lowered his gaze again and looked at the dagger it was holding.

escape? Ha, after I smashed that pig’s head, I didn’t move a single step from that spot. Because I was so shocked that I had killed someone, I couldn’t do anything other than laugh.

I felt like a fool for having had hope, even if only for a brief moment, so I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

“There is no way you can escape. Because I’ve already been arrested and tied up in front of other guards and professors.”

“The choice is ultimately yours. Death, flight, life. Everything.”

It seemed to respect my choice and tried to put down the dagger. I reached out and grabbed its wrist.

Contrary to my thoughts that it would pass like a shadow, I could feel the warmth and vitality of a person, albeit very faintly, on its wrist.

That was――no, she was a person, not a monster. It was just that his face was not revealed, but he was a living human being like me.

Of course, it could all be my imagination. Things like that were probably good stories now.

“Over there. It may sound strange to suddenly say this, but…”

I looked at her quietly and said,

“Thank you for your help.”

She seemed to be embarrassed and shook her shoulders. It was hard to see because she was assimilated into the darkness, but seeing as the arms of her dress were shaking, she must have been shaking.

Argyle too… … . No, it doesn’t matter if I call you by my nickname now. okay. Thea also shivered like that when she was startled while wearing a dress.

“Why are you saying that?”

Her voice was trembling. As expected, I was embarrassed. I smiled faintly, grabbed the dagger, and let go of her thin wrist.

Thea also had such thin wrists. No, it was thinner than that. I always ate less to look good to me. I hope that doesn’t happen in the future… … . It must be difficult.

“For breaking my brainwashing and giving me another opportunity to help Thea. Because it’s all you. So I wanted to say thank you.”

I looked down at the dagger in my hand. The dagger made of shadows was so light that it was hard to even tell if you were holding it in your hand, and even if you poked your fingertip with the blade, it only dissipated like smoke.

“When my brainwashing was broken, if only I had sought help from others instead of giving in to my anger. The story would have been different. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t regret it.”

I regret it, because I was already sick of it after giving Thea up to that guy with my own hands.

“If it weren’t for you, Thea would have remained brainwashed until I was released from prison. Then you came to me again and gave me another chance. It wasn’t something that was forced, but it presented several options.”

I closed my eyes and gathered my confused mind. Of course, it was a meaningless action.

“So, thank you. And I’m sorry. Because I couldn’t give you anything in return.”

When she opened her eyes again, her shoulders were shaking intermittently. I wonder if he is crying.

I wanted to comfort her, even if just a little. But it didn’t happen. No, that shouldn’t have happened.

That would be tantamount to insulting the woman who offered to help me.

Let’s accept it calmly.

“The story got a little long. I’ll just go now.”

There was still no answer.

I smiled slightly and held the dagger backwards.

Aim the tip of the dagger’s blade toward the heart, and slowly. I slowly brought the dagger closer.

I know it doesn’t hurt, but I also know this is for the best. I was so scared that the tip of the dagger trembled.

No, my whole body was shaking.

“Over there. Can I ask one more thing?”

I quietly closed my eyes to forget the fear.

Waiting for an answer for a moment, I wondered how much I could control my emotions. Her trembling voice was heard.

“Yes… … . What is it?”

“What happens when you die?”

I didn’t think there would be an answer back. Because it was a meaningless question I asked to forget my fear in the first place.

“There is nothing.”

But to my surprise, she answered my meaningless question.

“Just like falling asleep, all you have to do is let go of all the pain and memories and fall asleep.”

“Ha, it seems there is no such thing as heaven or hell.”

Her words that there was nothing were obviously despairing, but funny enough, they were like a small light to me.

“Thank goodness. If they said there was heaven or hell, I would definitely have ended up in hell.”

I felt like I would regret it if I delayed any longer, so I quietly plunged the dagger into my heart. Daggers scattered like smoke passed through my body.

As she said, death is like falling asleep, my eyelids became increasingly heavy. My limbs became weak and my breathing became slow.

I naturally leaned over. I laid down on the floor.

“Ah… … .”

The last thing that came to mind was her face, the only person I had ever loved since the moment I fell in love at first sight.

Even as my vision became blurry, I could see her face very clearly.

It felt like I could reach it if I stretched out my hand. I tried to raise my arms somehow, but I couldn’t reach them.

“Thea… … . Sorry… … .”

With those last words, I――

* * *

“Tsk, am I late…? … .”

“Ah, this is a pain in the ass.”

What they saw before their eyes, as they abandoned their bodies and ran, was the image of Taylor Durang lying on the floor, trembling and coughing up blood, and the image of Professor Draco in confusion.

“This is… … . This is ridiculous… … . It’s impossible… … !”

It was the moment when their case completely fell into a labyrinth.