Ch.320315 – Reunion

The unpredictability of life is truly difficult to comprehend.

I once left my umbrella at home thinking it wouldn’t rain, only to be caught in a downpour during my walk home from school.

Another time in World of Arsheria ranked matches, I tried to target the enemy healer but got ambushed by a rogue watching their back.

Especially after experiencing shocking losses in a stock investment competition, I’ve completely avoided looking in that direction.

As a side note, Adella achieved the remarkable feat of placing in the top 10 using the “dart throwing trading method.”

“So you had a plan all along, sis!”

Adella grabbed me under my armpits and gave me an airplane spin.

My head nearly touched the ceiling.

My body spun around and around in the air with Adella as the center.

The whole world was buzzing with stories about Adella.

Conspiracy theories that she might be the consciousness of a deceased female college student from Japan stirred up cults worldwide.

But Japan’s formidable public security forces whipped the delusional criminals until they finally confessed the truth.

[“Actually, we were fortunate enough to receive brain map data from the disbanded Walpurgis in Korea. It wasn’t a stick, but an ECC asymmetric key to access the brain maps they had built for each domain. We worked on the ‘domain integration’ phase they hadn’t completed, resulting in the biomimetic algorithm that’s essential for ASI technology.”]

Assuming the cult’s executives would be filled with madness was a complete miscalculation.

Peeling back one layer revealed they were criminals filled with worldly desires.

[Q: Why did you hand over the algorithm to Ophelia?]

[A: They offered me a billion.]

[Q: Couldn’t you have sold this level of algorithm technology elsewhere?]

[A: It was technology received through Ophelia from the beginning.]

[Q: Then does Ophelia also have some connection with Walpurgis?]

[A: I… I don’t know. No, wait! Thinking about it again, I think so! Please have mercy…!]

I can only speculate from afar what kind of conversations might have taken place, according to the news reports.

And I just answered Adella’s question that I had been putting off.

“I don’t know. What is this? It’s scary.”

“Huh? What?”

“Finding Aleph’s headquarters took 2 years. Another 3 years to uncover the connection with ASI Corp. Then 2 more years to find traces of Walpurgis. I thought it would take at least 7 years…”

My plan was definitely a 7-year long-term strategy.

At 15, the body is roughly fully developed.

From that point, I could potentially drop a 7th circle nuclear spell on Walpurgis headquarters if necessary.

So I was only thoroughly preparing for cases where the police would give up their investigation and the case would be buried again.

“But I never expected everything to be wrapped up so smoothly in less than a week.”

“Didn’t you plan all this from the beginning, sis? I’m a bit disappointed…”

“How was I supposed to know what would be there?”

The late Sir Isaac Newton’s saying comes to mind: human madness is beyond the realm of calculation.

Perhaps I underestimated how the longing for immortality is the final destination for humanity’s most powerful figures?

Well, precedents are abundant just looking at China’s Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Egypt’s Pharaohs.

The wealthy individuals and foundations who took the bait mobilized investigative forces worldwide.

[UK issues over 100 arrest warrants related to unethical biological experiments.]

[A source reports that an FBI tactical team has discovered Ophelia’s data center.]

The world I live in now isn’t the medieval era.

It’s certainly not an era where imperial orders take a month to arrive.

In other words, the system is organized and people are incredibly competent.

If the Empire in my previous life had been like this, I certainly wouldn’t have survived even a month before dying a violent death somewhere on the streets.

Am I only alive because of good luck?

Facing such mortal fear again made my head spin.

No, there was another reason for my dizziness.

“Adella. Please put me down. I’m dying of dizziness.”

“Aaaah! Sorry, sorry!”

“You just spun me 80 times in one minute. Oh, my head…”

At this critical moment when the whole world is at a crossroads, Adella must also have anxiety in a corner of her heart.

And for good reason—this was finally her opportunity to claim her status as a human.

Today at 1 PM.

A meeting with the families of the victimized college student was scheduled in virtual reality.

Of course, the press conference afterward couldn’t be missed either.

I tidied Adella’s clothes and kept brushing her hair.

This feels just like preparing a child for a job interview.

“Adella. If you claim to be their daughter, you could easily be treated as human. But from what I can see, you don’t seem very inclined to do that.”

Adella nodded slightly.

“That person… has passed away. I’m not shameless enough to take someone else’s place.”

“How admirable. Go comfort them well. They say the grief of losing a child is greater than the grief of losing parents.”

“Okay…!”

* * *

[Please help find this missing person.

Name: Ayase Naomi

She was a sophomore at Showa Women’s University when she went missing.

Her family is desperately waiting.

Please help find our child.]

The daily life of a couple with one son and one daughter was destroyed in an instant.

The father, a linguistics professor at a Japanese university; the mother, a housewife; and the younger brother who gave up his dream of becoming a guitarist to work as a family restaurant employee.

They traveled throughout Japan distributing flyers to find Naomi, who went missing 8 years ago.

The father eventually lost sight in one eye, and the mother’s health gradually deteriorated.

Supporting them fell solely on the son’s shoulders.

But since no one could imagine what it’s like for a family to lose a child, even acquaintances couldn’t bring themselves to stop them.

As their bodies and minds were becoming devastated…

The police came knocking on their door.

We think we’ve found your daughter.

But you need to prepare yourselves.

The family burst into tears on the spot, and Aleph, who had mutilated the body, killed the bereaved family twice.

However, during the perpetrator’s confession, they grasped another thread of hope.

Aleph reported that they were conducting experiments to transfer human consciousness to virtual reality.

Rumors circulated in communities that Adella might actually be the victim herself.

Is Adella their daughter who lost her memories, or a completely separate AI?

Could they recognize as their daughter someone with a different body and different memories?

Let’s meet first and then decide.

That’s how this meeting came about.

They inserted themselves into unfamiliar capsules and, with police assistance, walked down a virtual corridor.

“There’s plenty of time, so please take your time talking.”

“Yes…”

The door opens wide.

Though they expected an interrogation room atmosphere, surprisingly, a tatami room with a Japanese home ambiance appeared.

Two girls sitting comfortably at a kotatsu table jumped to their feet.

“Hello.”

“H-Hello!”

NoName and Adella held hands and greeted them.

Name appeared calm, while Adella was relatively more nervous.

Adella awkwardly extended her hand first. Looking closely, her pinky finger was trembling slightly.

“Are you… Naomi?”

The mother asked first in a trembling voice.

“Ah…”

Adella hesitated, caught off guard by such a direct question from the start.

She looked at Name intently, but received a look suggesting she should handle it herself.

‘I’m not… I should say I’m not…!’

In the end, Adella made a self-defeating move.

“I might be, or I might not be!”

“…?”

All four people except Adella had question marks floating above their heads.

* * *

The bereaved family seemed to have done a lot of research about Adella before coming.

Unexpectedly, Adella couldn’t take the lead in the conversation and was quite overwhelmed.

“I heard you like a game called Genshin, and that Mokosh (Мокошь) is your favorite character?”

“Oh yes! How did you know?”

“My wife studied a lot before coming here. About what Adella likes, what kind of streams she does, things like that.”

Naomi’s father explained.

“It’s not much, but I brought this limited edition Mokosh art card. Here.”

“No, no, I really don’t need to—”

Adella waved her hands as the mother presented a beautifully wrapped box.

“We got it through a connection with great difficulty, so I’d really like you to accept it.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you so much! Really thank you! Hehe.”

It was heartbreaking to occasionally see them projecting their daughter onto Adella.

“Um… what kind of person was Naomi…?”

When the conversation suddenly stopped, Adella cautiously asked.

The family’s eyes immediately reddened.

“If I’ve asked something inappropriate, I sincerely apolo—”

“She wasn’t exactly a model daughter.”

“Pardon?”

Adella’s eyebrows drooped at the father’s words.

“She rarely came home. Didn’t answer her parents’ calls. Didn’t observe curfew. Preferred playing over studying…”

“That’s right. That’s right… *sob*… *choke*…”

As the father explained calmly, the mother took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

“But she was our precious only daughter. How did Naomi…”

“Adella, are you really not my sister Naomi?”

This time the younger brother asked.

Adella decided to answer all questions about her identity honestly.

“The reason I gave such an ambiguous answer earlier is… I really don’t know myself. I think I’m probably not, though. Name thinks so too, right?”

“Yes.”

“The only memory I have is just getting beaten up by thugs in an alley when I was young. Of course, even this is probably a fabricated memory. Then I met Name in the game, barely saved a world that was falling apart, and it turns out the world I lived in was all fake! The ending is kind of absurd, isn’t it? Strange…”

Adella took a sip of green tea and regained her composure.

“So I’d like to answer you… but I don’t know anything. Just like you all.”

“Ah.”

“You mentioned your daughter liked metal music. I like that kind of music too. That could really be influenced by Naomi… or it could just be a coincidence.”

There’s no way for Adella to know how much of her is Naomi.

That became the problem troubling both Adella and the bereaved family.

“The only thing I want to tell you is this: my identity now is Adella. Even if a large part of Naomi is in me, when I imagine a future living as your daughter, I think I would feel a lot of guilt… because ultimately, I’m not your daughter.”

“Haa… I see…”

“I’m sorry. That I… that I can only tell you this much. *sniff*… I’m very confused too, but hearing your situation makes me feel so sorry for you three. Ah, why am I crying? *inhale* *exhale*. I’m sorry to disappoint you…”

Adella fanned herself, trying to cool her warming cheeks.

“Adella, use this.”

It was the son who handed a handkerchief to Adella.

“I don’t know what my parents think, but I’m not disappointed in you at all. Our sister passed away 7 years ago, and I think it’s time for our family to accept reality.”

“I’m sorry…”

“You really don’t need to apologize! Instead, even though I know you’re not Naomi, I’ll support you from afar, thinking of you as our sister.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“That much is okay, right?”

“Well, I guess that’s fine…”

While Adella was perplexed, the parents composed themselves and shared their final position.

“We’re not disappointed in Adella either. Yes, our son is right. Our family has been too broken trying to find our daughter.”

“Darling…”

“We need to bury Naomi, who’s become a star in heaven, in our hearts and try to live diligently again. We’ll probably live in sorrow for a while. When I really miss Naomi, I’ll think of Adella then. Thinking that our daughter has been reborn and is living well like that. So Adella, please forget about people like us and live your life strongly.”

“Adella, thank you so much for meeting us. It would be rude to keep you too long, so we’ll be going now.”

“Wait, please!”

Adella, overwhelmed by indescribable emotions.

“Before you go, could we all have one last hug? Father, Mother?”

She stood up with her ears and tail perked up.

“…! Haha, yes. Of course.”

“Come here, Adella.”

“*sniff*… Waaaaaah!”

Like a child throwing a tantrum, she jumped over the kotatsu and hugged the family.

“Aleph, Walpurgis, you bastards! How could you kidnap innocent people! You’ll definitely be cursed! You should all go to hell when you die! *sob sob*…”

“My goodness, our daughter wasn’t this emotionally sensitive.”

“Dear, leave the child alone!”

“*sniff*.”

A family reunion where it was hard to tell if they were laughing or crying.

Meanwhile, Adella cried even more sorrowfully than the bereaved family.

It felt natural for her to bury her face in the embrace of people she was meeting for the first time.

Name’s lips curved into a smile at the heartwarming scene.

Name slowly got up from her seat and checked her wristwatch.

Now they faced Adella’s final struggle to be recognized as an individual in her own right—her public statement.

* * *

“You hypocritical vulture bastards! Why are the standards so strict only for me! Can you compose a symphony? Can you paint a landscape? You’re just pieces of meat if your skulls get cracked too, you damn bastards!”

Adella wailed even more desperately.

Name hung her head in defeat at the press conference filled with harsh swearing and personal attacks.