Ch.7070. Memories Exist Even in Darkness

“Grr… ugh…”

Ellie still shows no sign of leaving my embrace.

Her increasingly reddening cheeks seem to speak for her emotions.

Getting warmer. No, not just warm—her cheeks are burning hot.

Haah…

“Um… Ellie? When are you going to let go?”

“…I’m dead now. I don’t exist. I’m not even human. Just let me be a doll… Put me on your bed nicely…”

“What are you talking about…?”

“No… Elise doesn’t exist anymore… Don’t look for me…”

“Are you acting like this because I saw your messy room?”

“No… grr… ugh…”

“What is it? Hmm?”

“I don’t know. Really…”

Sigh…

Only time will help deal with Ellie in this state.

No matter how much I try to comfort her with words, she keeps rejecting them.

I have no choice…

With Ellie still on top of me, I use my hands to embrace her.

I wrap my arms around her back and pull her closer to me.

Well, from the crybaby’s perspective watching this, it might seem ridiculous, but this is more efficient.

I don’t want to bother with detailed explanations.

“Um… I think we’ll need some time, so could you go in and finish the cleaning that Ellie couldn’t complete…?”

“Uh… um… I-I guess so. But what about you two…?”

“Ah, please wait a little. We’ll help once Ellie calms down.”

“Haah… That’s not what I meant… I don’t know what to gather or how to organize things in there.”

“Oh.”

“Wait, just ‘oh’? Is that really what should be coming out of your mouth right now?”

“Just do your best. If you can’t handle that much, maybe you’re not qualified to be a magical girl?”

“Hey, this has nothing to do with being a magical girl.”

“Isn’t helping people in distress, citizens in trouble, what magical girls do?”

“That doesn’t mean taking on every menial task…”

“Either way, a citizen is experiencing discomfort, and you’re refusing to help. How cold-hearted.”

“I really don’t know how… Haah… Whatever, just don’t complain to me later. And finish whatever lover’s quarrel or whatever this is quickly and come inside. It’s obvious I can’t finish this alone today. Haah…”

“What lover’s quarrel? Where are you go— Hey! Aagh… really…”

What does she think is happening between Ellie and me…?

This is just, because Ellie is flustered, and the most efficient way to help her through that is…

Haah. Let’s stop thinking about it.

It’s easier to believe that those complex words from that simple brain were just a slip of the tongue, not their actual meaning.

“Ellie, still not ready?”

“…Just a little longer…”

“Haah…”

Ellie kept her head buried in my embrace until complaints about when we’d come inside were heard multiple times from within.

Ellie wasn’t originally like this.

Back when she was more reliable.

She didn’t show this side of herself then.

She treated me just like I was her real sister.

At first, I resented how someone about my height tried to act like my older sister.

Looking back now, that was such a childish thought.

Back then, I had no memories.

It was just mindless rebellion born from living in the wild.

With the thought that I only needed to be loyal to that person.

Pushing everyone away, those who were precious to me but whom I can’t meet now…

Ellie was the one who embraced such a person as me.

Probably, if I had returned after being defeated by Blanc, overwhelmed with embarrassment and various emotions…

Yes, I think I would have been held like this too.

At first, I think I pushed Ellie away, asking if she was treating me like a baby.

But even then, she stroked my head saying it was okay…

Just quietly staying with me until all my emotions were resolved…

Just… staying still…

Yes, that’s how it was, but when did she start showing her childish side to me too?

Was it when I gradually regained my memories and became more mature?

No, that’s not it.

She had been showing signs of it to me little by little even before that.

I’ll have to think about it in detail later.

For now, that crybaby has gone beyond wailing and is now making sounds that are… hmm…

Almost like animal noises rather than human speech.

Is it time to leave Ellie behind and go help?

No, the right thing would be to somehow drag Ellie along to help her.

Actually, wouldn’t this all have been avoided if she had just kept her place clean from the start?

She kept her bedroom so clean, but ignored requests to clean her desk with the ridiculous excuse that “smart people’s desks are naturally messy.” This wasn’t just a one-time thing.

That’s the root cause that led to all of this.

Yes, even I think this is Ellie’s fault.

I think it’s time for her to accept the consequences after I’ve comforted her this much.

So I forcibly dragged the reluctant Ellie to help the crybaby in Ellie’s office.

It took quite a bit of time to clean up that mess, but we eventually finished within the planned timeframe.

Well, honestly, we were a bit late, but not by hours.

It was only possible because even Blanc, who had been providing me with weapons from the armory, joined in to help.

Otherwise, we would still be in that den… that used to be a den, for much longer.

After organizing all the belongings and thoughts, we headed to the conference room.

The place where important matters of the now-vanished Eden were handled.

The place where that person always stayed and commanded us executives.

To that place.

* * *

“Is the installed device responding?”

“It’s detecting well for now. But do they really not notice this?”

“The doctor adjusted it so they wouldn’t notice. It should be interfering at just the right level.”

The dark room was illuminated by several monitors.

Those monitors brightly displayed surveillance camera footage of the already collapsed Eden.

The people in the surveillance cameras were bickering, chatting, and rummaging through various rooms.

It would be natural for those who had lived in those rooms to view such scenes unfavorably, but they showed no reaction.

As if they knew this was bound to happen.

Or as if this too was part of their plan, something that needed to happen for their greater cause.

The people on screen left one room and entered through a large door.

“They’re entering the conference room. You did install it properly, right?”

“No one detected it, and you can see for yourself that it’s working properly.”

“Haah. You know how weak that little Elise is. You wouldn’t have forgotten.”

“What right does that brat have, abandoning Eden to save herself?”

“You know how well that kid’s brain works when it matters? We’ve benefited from it many times.”

“Well, everyone in Eden’s leadership knows she just becomes a grinning child when she’s around Vine.”

“Ah, Vine is there. Well then…”

“I wasn’t suggesting you let your guard down.”

“Well, what else can it do besides suggestion anyway?”

“You’ll see.”

In the darkness, the two people held their breath as they watched the two intruders and their former colleagues who had invaded their collapsed home.

* * *

The conference room I entered after so long still didn’t have a speck of dust.

Since it was the space where that person spent the most time, it naturally had the highest level of technology.

That lonely and solitary chair, displaying its grandeur.

A chair befitting that person’s status, designed in the way that person would most appreciate.

And since that person was always at the center of meetings, the projector was positioned for their convenient viewing.

Well, I’m not sure if it would even work now.

That person’s seat was at the head, with chairs arranged on both sides.

The closest place to that person, on the right.

The seat for Eden’s right hand.

“Vine, what are you fiddling with?”

“Ah, Blanc. This is my seat. That chair over there was the boss’s seat, so I’d prefer if you didn’t touch it.”

“I don’t really care about that… but that was your seat?”

“Yes, we discussed and reviewed how to deal with you here. Hehehe… The extraordinary weapons you’ve seen were also bestowed upon me directly by the boss in this very room.”

“Aah… That’s information I’ve really wanted to know.”

“Whether you were curious or not, this space holds many of my memories.”

“Hmm… I see… So, why did we come here?”

“Rest assured, I didn’t come just for nostalgia. There’s something important we need to take from here.”

What might look like an ordinary office space to the casual observer…

If I step on this footrest under the chair…

“You’ll be surprised again. Feel free to look forward to it.”

“This, this is…”

“Some of the energy I’ve collected over time and uniforms. There are weapons too, but they were for emergency evacuations.”

“Ah, no… wow…”

“Actually, the research lab earlier would have been more surprising. That place was truly the pinnacle of Eden’s technology.”

“Why did you prepare all this so thoroughly…?”

“Of course, to realize an ideal, one must prepare through careful calculation. Especially to bring something down.”

As I was saying this, gathering items and heading toward the wall that had rotated to reveal my hidden compartment,

The projector, which should not have turned on, began to operate.

And that projector…

Was showing me something impossible.