The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Vol. 5: The Promised Land

The Land of Salt

The night was over.

Peace was slowly returning to the holy land after the attack. The monsters had been utterly defeated, and most of the priestesses in the holy land were disposing of the monsters’ corpses. Lower-ranking members were assigned to clean up the giant one outside. Though they were impressed that the archbishop had taken down such a beast, getting rid of a body that was debatably larger than the holy land itself was a struggle.

The fog that had settled over the area was a problem, too. It wasn’t just morning mist. The Pandemonium barrier from the south was drastically reducing the effect of the holy land’s barrier. All the priestesses could do was wait for the vapor to fade, but it showed no signs of letting up.

Amid the white fog, a priestess in glasses was wandering the holy land.

It was Hooseyard.

She was typically inside the station building in the cathedral, but at present, she was searching for Momo.

When Elcami had returned from fighting off the monsters yesterday, Hooseyard asked why Momo wasn’t with her, and she was given the bizarre reply, “She said she’s taking a shower first.”

Since Hooseyard hadn’t yet synced her scripture with Momo’s, she couldn’t contact the girl with a communication conjuring. Which meant Hooseyard had to wait outside the cathedral for her, or Momo wouldn’t be able to get back in.

So even after she’d teleported the girl in the kimono into the cathedral, she herself waited outside.

Before long, day approached.

Hooseyard knew as soon as the sun had set that it wasn’t just a matter of taking a shower, but she still told herself Momo would return quickly. Yet the girl had been missing for nearly half a day now.

This can’t be right
, Hooseyard had told herself, and she’d forced her sleep-deprived body to start looking for her subordinate.

Had something happened during the battle, or was she merely slacking off somewhere? Knowing Momo, the latter seemed more likely, but it was dangerous to jump to conclusions without proof.

There were a few pilgrim and priestess casualties from the incident, and a couple of people were missing. Hooseyard worried that Momo was among the victims, so she wandered the holy land half in tears for a while until someone finally called to her.

“Miss Hooseyard!”

It was Momo’s voice.

Although she wore white priestess robes, the modified frilly skirt and heart-patterned tights stood out anywhere. Hooseyard was so thrilled to see the pink-haired girl that she forgot to scold her for disappearing without permission.

“Miss Momo!”

“Yes, it’s meee.”

Her response was a full octave higher than the tone Hooseyard knew.

The unexpected pitch made Hooseyard’s glasses slide down her nose in surprise.

“Wh-what happened? You seem to be in a very good mood.”

“Huh?” Momo’s eyes went round, as if she had no idea what Hooseyard was talking about. “What do you meeean? I’m always like this, sillyyy!”

“R-really? I mean, I guess now that you mention it, but…really…?”

“But of cooourse. Whatever do you meeean?”

Hooseyard stared at Momo, who insisted she was acting perfectly normal.

Momo didn’t seem to be aware of it, but she was definitely being strange. Specifically, her tone was much peppier than usual, and her mannerisms were far cutesier than necessary. There was no sign of the arrogance and disinterest she’d openly displayed before. Momo was acting like an assistant who truly wanted to please her beloved superior.

The change was so stark that Hooseyard was more disturbed than concerned.

“So…nothing’s wrong?”

“Of cooourse not!”

Momo beamed back at her with her most adorable smile. It was such a pure expression that it pierced right through the exhausted Hooseyard’s distrust and into her heart.

This friendly, eager-to-please, adorably honest Momo was much closer to the ideal assistant Hooseyard had once envisioned.

“Of course! This is totally normal!”

This was far preferable to the rebellious girl from the other day. Faced with the advent of her dream assistant, Hooseyard could only accept this transformed Momo unquestioningly.

“Let’s go back to the cathedral, shall we?” she said dreamily. “There’s still a lot of cleanup, so we’ve got our work cut out for us! Let’s do our best together…!”

“Okaaay, you can count on meeee!”

Wearing the biggest smile she had in recent memory, Hooseyard headed back to the cathedral with Momo in tow.

“All right, I’ll be right baaack.”

Momo excused herself from the station building in the cathedral to go about her work.

She only ventured a few steps, paperwork from Hooseyard in her hands, before checking that no one was around. Then she let herself relax.

The air around Momo warped. Her hair color, clothing, and height shifted until she turned into Menou.

“Well, that was a success, at least.”

Menou shook out her ponytail and started walking.

She’d successfully disguised herself as Momo and followed Hooseyard into the cathedral.

As usual, she and Momo were working separately. She’d already entrusted her assistant with another important job.

Despite successfully infiltrating the cathedral for the second time, something didn’t sit right with her.

“Why did she doubt me at first…?”

When Menou first approached Hooseyard as Momo and was met with hesitation, she feared her disguise had failed.

Menou was Momo’s direct superior, not to mention that they’d grown up in the same monastery. She was confident she had a perfect grasp of Momo’s speech and actions. As far as Menou knew, her performance today had been a flawless reproduction of Momo, from her tone to her smallest gestures, on a higher level than ever before.

And yet Hooseyard had been cautious of her energy and attitude.

It made no sense. Menou had definitely pulled off a perfect imitation of how Momo behaved. The Executioner was confident she had acted out her assistant’s adorableness down to the last detail.

“Perhaps I was careless… No, maybe that woman’s just guarded as the priestess in charge of entrance to the cathedral.”

Menou was certainly closer with Momo and had been her senior for much longer. She didn’t think she’d underestimated Hooseyard, but evidently, those glasses were for more than show. Impressed by the priestess’s sharpness, Menou headed toward Kagarma’s room.

She followed the hallway straight to the entrance to the south tower, climbing the stairs.

This room was specifically for the Elders who occasionally visited. It was where Menou had been staying until recently. She walked confidently toward her destination. There were few people in the cathedral, and she encountered none of them.

Once at the top of the steps, Menou entered the room without so much as a knock.

“Why, hello, Ms. Menou.”

A girl wearing a kimono greeted the Executioner. She didn’t seem surprised in the slightest by the abrupt entry. Manon stood and greeted Menou. She had entered this place just as Menou escaped, filling her role as Kagarma’s attendant. As she moved closer to Menou, Manon spread her arms in a gesture of welcome.

“Please come in. I’m ever so glad to see you! I was just about sick to death of being alone with Mr. Director here! I’ve done what I came to do, so I was about to have him prepare a train for us.”

“Oh? That works out perfectly.”

“Does it?”

One of the reasons Menou had returned to the cathedral was for the Guiding train.

It was a necessary component for her goal of destroying the conjured barrier known as the holy land. Menou could have threatened Hooseyard into doing it if necessary, but if she had the aid of someone who was able to use it freely, so much the better.

“Say, Manon. I’d like to make a deal with you. Could we talk a moment?”

“A deal…?” Manon’s smile stiffened. She took a graceful step back, drew out her iron fan, and covered her mouth. “Is there anything I could possibly offer you, I wonder?”

“Yes, there is,” the Executioner replied.

The Director wouldn’t refuse a request from Manon. That was an alluring power.

“In that case, whatever do you intend to offer
me
, Ms. Menou?”

“What’s hidden in the inner sanctum of the cathedral.”

Manon’s eyebrow twitched.

She had alluded to that secret several times, leaving Menou to suspect she was interested in it. That hunch had proven correct.

“That’s what you came to the holy land to look for in the first place, right?”

“…Indeed. I suppose there is no point in denying it. You’re correct, Ms. Menou.”

Just as Menou thought, Manon seemed to have an idea that whatever was kept in the inner sanctum was connected to her goals. She’d only planned to depart the holy land because she’d deemed it impossible to acquire at present.

The heart of the holy land, the place hidden at the center of the cathedral, was strictly protected. It was even more carefully monitored than the Dragon Gate, which could teleport people anywhere on the continent. The secure area possessed no physical or conjuring-based means of entry.

“A device that collects memories, stores them like a vault, and supplies them,” Manon stated. “What the holy land truly guards is an ancient relic known as the Star Memory.”

That was Manon’s prize. Menou hadn’t known its title, but Manon had once told her of a device that could restore Otherworlders’ memories.

Since Manon didn’t have any memory loss, she was likely hoping to acquire it for Pandæmonium’s sake. Perhaps she wanted to expand the Human Error’s power even further, or…maybe there was a more personal reason.

“It’s odd that you would try to bargain using the Star Memory, Ms. Menou. How can you offer something you don’t have access to?”

“You’re right, but listen…”

The Star Memory was in a completely secret location. It was even deeper within the cathedral than the station building Hooseyard called home. The archbishop spared no effort to keep the inner sanctum protected. Manon was correct that Menou couldn’t reach it—no one could.

Unless…

“What if I told you there was a way to destroy the barrier known as the holy land, cathedral and all?”

“…Well, wouldn’t
that
be interesting?”

Manon’s eyes glittered.

Destroying the holy land was something she’d deemed impossible, even with the help of Pandæmonium’s pinky. The barrier city was powered by the immense Guiding Force of the biggest earthen vein on the continent. Unable to come up with a way to bring it down, Manon had settled for using the fog barrier to neutralize its effects by letting monsters in.

As the two girls stood talking by the entrance, Manon gestured to the sofa with her fan.

“Please come in, Ms. Menou. Have a seat. I imagine this conversation might take a while.”

Managing the Guiding train connected directly to the holy land was one of Hooseyard’s duties.

She didn’t have to do anything to adjust the Guiding Force route or the Dragon Gate that connected to the station. They were an invention of a culture from a thousand years ago. As much as Hooseyard adored the Guiding Force route known as the earthen vein, the system of the Guiding train that delved into it was already perfect without any intervention.

Once there was a set destination, the advanced conjuring tool handled all else automatically. It was best not to mess around with it needlessly. However, Hooseyard was still there as a ceremonial conjurer to keep an eye on things just in case anything went wrong.

“Thank you again, Hooseyard.”

“Not at all, sir. The train will be departing soon, so please go ahead and board.”

Like any other time she saw a passenger off, there was nothing for her to do but watch as Kagarma departed for home. She’d already ensured the girl who’d come with him, Manon, was on board, too.

The train set out, exuding Guiding Light as it chugged along the rails for ten meters before vanishing into the Dragon Gate.

Another job done. Hooseyard was stretching when suddenly, she felt a quake.

“Bwaaah?!”

The floor beneath the woman’s feet shook violently, and she nearly lost her balance, but she managed to catch herself.

An earthquake?
Hooseyard thought, although she quickly realized that couldn’t be it. She had noticed the strangeness immediately because she was so sensitive to changes in the astral veins.

The earthen vein was going wild—more than she had ever experienced before.

“I-it can’t be…! Is it because of the Guiding train?!”

Hooseyard’s face went pale as she realized the gravity of the situation.

“The Guiding train exploded in the earthen vein?!” Archbishop Elcami exclaimed in disbelief upon hearing Hooseyard’s report.

The earthen vein that connected to the holy land was the foundation of the network of veins that spread all over the continent. The strength of the Guiding Force flowing through it was far beyond a human’s control. Even a dozen talented priestesses working in concert could only draw up a small fraction of the energy.

Yet now, the vein was wildly shooting off power like a volcanic eruption.

After a moment of stunned silence upon hearing the cause of this phenomenon, Elcami began quaking with rage.

“You fool! How could you let something like that happen?!”

“W-well…”

Hooseyard stammered in the face of her boss’s fury, forcing an explanation out through pale lips.

Kagarma had requested to use the Guiding train that navigated the earthen vein to return home. Somehow, it had gone off course. It was difficult to interfere with the earthen vein from the outside, but if something had ruptured within it, there was nothing to be done. It was the most effective way Hooseyard could imagine to inflict direct damage upon the earthen vein.

“I—I didn’t…do anything wrong. So whyyy…?”

“Idiot! I don’t need your excuses. What happens now?”

“Yeek! I-I’m not sure, but I suspect a dragonblight will occur. And it will be…very detrimental for the continued existence of the holy land…I think…”

Hooseyard glanced nervously at Elcami and immediately regretted it when she saw the archbishop’s face had gone bright red.

She was boiling with anger. The loss of a valuable Guiding train, an out-of-control earthen vein that threatened the holy land, and the possibility of a dragonblight. Each problem was sufficient cause for outrage on its own.

Elcami couldn’t ignore this situation. The holy land sustained itself thanks in no small part to the grace of the earthen vein. If something disrupted that flow, the holy land would undoubtedly suffer. Repairing the damage was paramount. Elcami’s face was twisted with grim indignation, but her mind was hard at work devising a solution.

“…We must fix the earthen vein at once. This is an emergency.”

“H-how many people can you assign to this task…?”

“We’re going to evacuate everyone in the holy land, pilgrim and priestess alike. For now, they’ll be sent to the graveyard monastery that Master Flare manages.”

“Huh?!” Hooseyard exclaimed in abject disbelief, but Elcami was serious. She contacted the necessary priestesses through a communication conjuring.

“Hrm… I can’t reach Flare. What the hell could she be doing at a time like this…?!”

The holy land was going to disappear. There was no stopping it now. A massive amount of Guiding Force was required at all times to keep the barrier city running. If even one strand of the earthen vein was separated, it was only a matter of time until the entire thing fell apart.

Thus, Elcami had to ensure nobody saw what remained once the town vanished.

For one, there was the train station where Elcami and Hooseyard now stood and the teleportation tool known as the Dragon Gate. And then there was the facility within the inner sanctum, the Star Memory. Elcami doubted it would ever happen, but if what resided beyond that was revealed, the Faust would never recover.

The archbishop ground her teeth. To think that this would happen right as they were preparing for the return of the Lord…

She needed to get everyone far from the holy land to keep them from seeing the truth. An evacuation was the best excuse.

“B-but what about dealing with the earthen vein? As I said before…it could easily become a dragonblight, so—”

“You and I will just have to do it ourselves,” Elcami interjected, cutting Hooseyard off.

“With only two people?!”

“Enough! What are you dawdling for? Get moving. I thought astral veins were the one thing you were good for, you dunce!”

“Yes, ma’aaam…”

With tears in her eyes from the latest of many unreasonable demands, Hooseyard hurried off to investigate the earthen vein’s condition.

The two women had forgotten something important, however: the scripture conjuring. While it reached many in the area, one person in particular didn’t hear the evacuation instructions.

As the foundation of the holy land weakened and chaos took hold, Akari Tokitou sat alone in the cathedral’s northern tower.

“Menou must be a real CWF to come up with an idea like this.”

“And what is ‘CWF’ supposed to mean?”

“It’s short for ‘crazy weirdo freak.’”

In a rural area that was a safe distance from the holy land, a pair of girls watched Guiding Force surge from the ground like water from a geyser. Their discussion was oddly relaxed for such a tense situation.

Menou’s method for disrupting the earthen vein had been incredibly simple. Momo had interfered with the vein to form a small-scale fountain of Guiding Force. They’d employed the same conjuring to wrench up the earthen vein in the battle in Grisarika.

On its own, this tactic didn’t have much effect. The earthen vein Momo was messing with this time was considerably larger. Even with Momo’s immense Guiding Force, the most she could do was create a tiny bend in the flow.

But what would happen when the Guiding train, which turned into Guiding Force and followed the flow of the earthen vein, hit that curve?

The result was clear to see. It was the same thing that would occur to any train if its rail was twisted out of shape. The Guiding Force went off the track of the earthen vein, causing immense damage and exploding from the ground. The remains of the invaluable, irreplaceable ancient relic were scattered around the holy land.

“Wasn’t the Director on that thing? Is he dead or what?”

“I certainly hope so. He was staying in the same room as my darling all this time, that dirty old man.”

“Seriously? Yikes. That’s a death warrant if I ever heard one.”

“Precisely.”

“But Manon was riding with him, right? If she got hurt, I’d hate to think how Pandæmonium will react.”

“Why should we care? She’s a criminal, after all. The world is better off if she’s dead.”

“One more thing, Momo.”

“Now what?”

“Isn’t this gonna turn into a dragon?”

“……”

Momo silently looked up at the sky.

Air surged from the hole in the ground like a roar, whirling into a maelstrom. The shock waves of Guiding Force made everything underfoot tremble, as if the world were screaming in protest. The scattered energy slowly, powerfully, came together.

The Guiding Light blazing up from below had connected to the sky.

The heavenly vein and the earthen vein—together, they were called astral veins. What transpired when they linked without a conjurer to control the union?

KABOOM.
A ripple ran through the world. That was just an optical illusion, of course. The wave of Guiding Force was so enormous that it looked like all of creation was undulating.

The chaotic outburst of Guiding Force had found direction. This convergence of incredible power was enough to alter the weather. It swallowed the clouds and pulled up dirt and sand. All this otherwise lifeless matter began to take a shape of its own, clinging to the Guiding Force that had tied the land and the sky.

Such a massive amount of Guiding Force in one spot gave the world the illusion that a new existence with a unique will had been born there.

This artificial life phenomenon spread slowly but surely, soon sucking in the corpse of the giant monster Elcami had sliced in half and absorbing it. Then, as if that wasn’t even remotely satisfactory, it began ripping up the ground itself.

The phenomenon of Guiding Force storming wildly, absorbing all the matter around it to get bigger and bigger, was known in this world as dragonblight.

Momo squinted up at the natural phenomenon beyond human understanding.

“Yes, it’s turning into a dragon, all right.”

“Okay, then I’m going home for real this time.”

Faced with a massive disaster on the same level as a Human Error, Sahara turned and ran as fast as she could.

At the center of the overflowing fog…

One cherubic little girl had created a connection between two places that would normally be impossible to link—the holy land and Pandemonium. The child was still trapped in place after the battle with Elcami, and Manon was by her side. After boarding the train with Kagarma, Manon had Pandæmonium summon her, allowing her to escape without getting caught in the explosion.

As Manon destroyed the stakes pinning Pandæmonium in the air one at a time, she beheld the phenomenon that was blowing away the encroaching fog.

A dragon that greedily devoured everything in sight, trying to become a living thing with the power of the earthen vein.

“Well, it looks like Ms. Menou kept her end of the bargain.”

While Manon watched with satisfaction as the dragonblight began, the child next to her looked cross.

“Mmm…”

Pandæmonium wore a rare look of sorrow as she observed the massive phenomenon that could destroy an entire nation.

“That’s supposed to be a dragon? For a vestige of the
Dragon
I knew, it’s so much smaller. Really, talk about disappointing.”

“It’s…smaller?”

“Mm-hmm. Much, muuuch smaller. It doesn’t even compare.”

Manon took another look at the distant dragon. It ran from the heavens to the ground, absorbing all in its path. The giant tornado would likely grow into an unbelievably massive hurricane and swallow up everything in sight.

“You’re saying
that
is small?”

“Mm, it’s tiny.”

It was a phenomenon big enough to alter the weather, yet Pandæmonium called it “tiny.” The little girl in Manon’s arms let her legs dangle, and she pursed her lips.

“It’s hard to believe this is what became of
Dragon
, the greatest Pure Concept ever. Seriously, it’s positively tiny.”

“My goodness… How large was the original
Dragon
, then?”

“Hmmm. I’d say the person who had the fastest and best Pure Concept ever…” She reached up with a slender arm and pointed at the sky. “…was about as big as that at their apex.”

As one of the Four Major Human Errors, Pandæmonium looked proud as she pointed to the moon visible in the daytime sky.

The holy land was fading.

The Guiding Force that had always supplied the conjured barrier city was being devoured by the newly born dragon. In its efforts to convert into a living thing, it was consuming everything it could to expand and gain life.

The dragon thrashed against the flow of the earthen and heavenly veins, desperate for freedom.

As all the priestesses evacuated, Menou walked calmly through where the holy land had been.

Now that the barrier city had vanished, all kinds of objects were flying around. Though the buildings themselves had been made of barrier conjurings, the items and furniture contained within were ordinary matter. With nothing to support them, all those odds and ends were tumbling down like an avalanche. The resplendent holy land had become a chaotic garbage dump.

One of the only structures that was still intact was a train station with a track that went nowhere.

And farther beyond it, a small cylindrical building.

That was the location of the Star Memory that could collect, store, and supply memories.

The holy land that was the object of so much worship, including the cathedral at its center, existed solely to conceal two things that were now plainly visible.

It obviously suggested the pair of structures were important. Menou looked up at the exposed buildings. She didn’t know why they went to such lengths to protect them, nor could she imagine what members of the Faust would think upon seeing them. Perhaps they’d be shocked that such things had been kept in the cathedral, or maybe they’d accept it.

Regardless, Menou’s goal wasn’t in either of the structures.

After a moment of observation, Menou climbed up to the train station platform. It was the same one she’d stepped onto upon arriving in the cathedral. It appeared abandoned amid the clutter of scattered furniture, but there was someone waiting there.

She must have fled here in a panic when the holy land began to disappear. This would have been the closest safe place to the north tower where she’d been imprisoned.

Akari stood aimlessly on the strangely exposed platform. The railroad track to nowhere seemed appropriate for someone so lost.

When she noticed Menou walking over, Akari’s face stiffened. Menou smiled anyway.

“I came to get you like I promised, Akari.”

“M… Menou…”

Akari looked up. Her expression was conflicted. Unlike Menou, she must not have gotten her thoughts and feelings in order yet. In this state, it would be easy to outwit her in a battle of words. Menou snickered internally, but she didn’t let it show on her face.

“E-everything kinda disappeared… Did you do this, Menou?”

“I certainly did. I erased the entire holy land just to see you.”

Menou clasped her hands behind her back, lifting her chin. She was putting on a similarly mischievous air to the way she’d behaved when she and Akari first met.

“Well? Aren’t you happy?”

“Of course not!”

Akari’s response came out as a strangled yell. Her face was red and furious over what Menou had done. There were even tears in her eyes.

“The holy land is super important, isn’t it?! What were you thinking?!”

Akari was less worried about the damage than she was what would befall Menou now that she’d committed this atrocity.

Faced with Akari’s heated concern, Menou only shrugged.

“Who knows? I’m sure it’ll work out.”

The archbishop and Hooseyard would stop the dragonblight. Once the earthen vein settled, the holy land would likely be reconstructed. There wasn’t much to be done about the furniture and other objects that littered the area, but it wasn’t anything fatal.

Besides, it meant Menou could see Akari again now. Menou had achieved her goal.

“Listen, Akari.” Menou reached out a hand. “I came here to find my way.”

“Find your way…?”

“Exactly. I’m about to say something utterly pathetic, but…” The Executioner took a deep breath and dramatically threw her arms out wide. “Right now, I have no idea what I want to do.”

Akari’s eyes betrayed her astonishment. She had never imagined Menou would say such a thing.

“Menou, you…you didn’t come here to kill me?”

“That was my intention at first.” Noting Akari’s surprise, Menou nodded. That was supposed to be the plan. “But the problem is, I can’t kill anyone. At least for now. My path forward feels unclear.”

On her way to kill Akari, Menou had been defeated by Master Flare. When she’d failed to kill her teacher, Menou shattered her self-identity and lost her way of life, and she still hadn’t recovered.

Akari frowned in confusion. She peered around at the empty holy land, at the piles of objects, then back at Menou.

“Even though you did all this?”

“Yes, even though I did all this,” Menou replied, looking satisfied. “Should I kill you or not? Do I want to live or die? I can’t say. I lost everything when I battled Master Flare, and now it’s in shards. There’s no clear answer to what path I should take… What do you think, Akari?”

“M-my decision hasn’t changed! If my being alive puts you in danger, I’d rather you just kill me! Either way, I want you to live, Menou.” Akari’s choice was the same as ever. “If you say you can’t choose, I’ll do it for you! Run away, right now. Take Momo and leave, so you can survive…”

“Hmm.” Menou hummed thoughtfully. Then she looked at Akari so frankly that it gave the other girl a start. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Akari. What you’re trying to do has reached a dead end. You know that, right? Just look at the results… You’ve been turning back time, repeating the same loop over and over on your own, but has anything gotten
better
?”

Akari’s face paled.

She knew Menou was correct. For some reason, Master Flare had memories of the looped timelines. The fog barrier had weakened enough to let out Pandæmonium’s pinky finger. Akari kept losing her memories, to the point where she wasn’t even entirely sure who she was anymore.

No matter how many times she went back to the beginning, it never improved. Each repetition only made things worse.

“Do you plan to keep deluding yourself? To just keep doing the same thing over and over because that’s how it goes, never actually looking around you?”

Just blindly running forward, like I always have?

“You’ll never be able to save me by being so complacent.”

Akari’s anger flared to life in her eyes. “Then what am I supposed to do?!”

Her spirit let loose, Guiding Force flowing freely from her soul through her body. The power laid bare by her emotions was just as deep as the dragon raging in the distance.

“I’m too stupid to figure it out!” Akari cried. “That’s why I’ve been doing things the way I want! It’s fine if I die and you live, Menou! I don’t want to survive so badly that I’d be willing to kill you!”

She shouted out her desires like a child throwing a tantrum, and Menou accepted them.

“If I could go on living with you, then of course I would! I mean, what could possibly be better than that? I’d be so happy… But I can’t! No matter what I do, you always die, Menou. Why don’t you get that my survival only messes everything up?!”

Menou’s repeated demise had permanently scarred Akari.

The person she cared for most, dying because of her. How deeply had such trauma damaged her heart?

“Please, I’m begging you to understand!”

Menou let every ounce of Akari’s storm of grief sink into her. She recognized that she really was hung up on Akari. Menou hadn’t known her for nearly as long as Momo. Their relationship wasn’t as special as that with Master Flare. However, there was something that drew her to Akari nonetheless.

So Menou offered up her hand.

“If you want me to understand, then go ahead and make me.”

It was worth wiping out the holy land and driving away any intruders to be alone with her.

Menou had a method of comprehending Akari that went deeper than words.

“Akari. I’m going to connect my Guiding Force to yours now.”

“Huh?”

Ignoring her confusion, Menou took Akari’s hand.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m here to find my way.”

A mutual Guiding Force connection. They had done it several times before, typically so that Menou could use Akari’s massive Guiding Force to enhance a conjuring. But at its core, a Guiding Force connection was a means of touching each other’s souls through body and spirit.

One’s true feelings, memories, and personality lay directly in the soul.

“What have you seen during all the repeated cycles? What did you think and feel? Let me experience all of that through a Guiding Force connection, Akari. I’ll live your past through your eyes. I’ll accept all your emotions. And if, after all that, you and I decide on the same way forward, I’ll run away just like you told me to.”

“…All right.”

Akari’s eyes stilled.

She’d relived everything so many times. Once Menou saw exactly how hopeless the accumulating timelines were, she would give up, too. Akari was confident that Menou would realize what a pointless effort it would be to attempt to save her.

“All right, let’s begin.”

“Okay.”

Menou let Guiding Force flow through their linked hands.

Guiding Force: Connect—

Cautiously, tenderly, and with the ease of two people becoming one, they connected. Absent was the resistance that normally occurred. Akari trusted Menou with her own soul and spirit, even now.

Menou had only gone deep into Akari’s soul once, when she used the conjuring that ended the fight with Archbishop Orwell. Other than that, she’d remained on the surface of the spirit, skimming power from it.

This time, she was ready to step deeper into Akari’s soul than ever before.

Akari Tokitou—Body, Spirit, Soul—

Menou wasn’t after the Guiding Force that Akari produced. Menou moved further into Akari to touch her soul through their Guiding Force connection.

As before, Akari’s soul contained immense amounts of power. It was meant to exist as a planetary concept, not reside within a single person. The limitless energy had once frightened Menou, like the void of space.

Now, she drew closer calmly, and it wasn’t just her spirit. Her entire self was entering Akari in a Guiding Force connection deep enough to transfer her soul into Akari’s body.

Curiously, the Pure Concept of
Time
accepted Menou.

She came into contact with its essence. It didn’t try to control or absorb her; it was merely there. There was no good or evil intent. Like the ocean with its wild waves or the surge of a thunderstorm through clouds, the Pure Concept existed heedless of any human affairs.

Now that she had tread into
Time
, Menou soon arrived at Akari’s own soul. Menou reached out and gently touched the girl sitting curled up in a ball. Akari’s current thoughts and feelings rippled through her.

There was Akari’s kind heart and the fear she’d experienced. Her intense hopelessness mingled with feelings so overwhelming that she wanted to scream.

Menou smiled gently and pressed even deeper. She would accept all that made up Akari—from the knowledge of what happened to how she felt in those moments.

Menou began to vicariously experience Akari’s travels through the repeated time loops.

The confusion and caution upon first encountering Menou, and how she’d slowly opened her heart over the course of their journey. Starting to smile more often, growing more reluctant to part, and then the despair when Master Flare killed Menou. The conflict when she learned the truth and her joy at meeting Menou again when she turned back time, followed by the pain and loneliness of being distrusted and disbelieved, and her resolution to change fate on her own.

Akari’s feelings through all the cycles filled Menou’s soul.

Menou supplied more Guiding Force from her soul as if to match. The connection was so strong that their personalities felt ready to meld.

Menou lost all awareness of herself as a person and viewed herself from Akari’s point of view.

Through her eyes, Menou was reliable, never made a wrong move, and came to decisions without hesitation. She constantly leaped into danger resolutely and always showed up to save Akari when she was in peril. To Akari, Menou was her hero.

And yet even that champion couldn’t overcome Master Flare.

Menou died over and over. The joy of reunion was invariably followed by the grief of loss in a circle of despair and solitude. It was an endless loop of emotions that was beyond description. Menou understood Akari’s feelings from the bottom of her heart. She felt sympathy for her earnest desire for Menou to live.

It truly was hopeless.

Akari’s repeating journey was a cage of time that trapped her in misery.

Menou’s spirit separated from Akari. Now that their hearts had perfectly synced, she thoroughly understood Akari’s feelings since coming to this world.

Akari had given an answer for Menou’s route forward.

She wanted her to live.

As her friend, her best friend, the person more important to her than anyone else, she wanted Menou to continue on.

It was such a heartbreakingly pure wish that she wanted to cry. A simple prayer, a fleeting hope. Such was the shining ideal that Akari was trying to achieve by sacrificing herself. The way of life Akari wanted for Menou was crystal clear.

Was this Menou’s response, too?

She could see the path before her. It was hopeless to try to defeat Master Flare. Menou’s best option was to flee. She’d already lost once, and her convictions as an Executioner were shattered in the process. Perhaps a life on the run, forever trying to shake off the pursuit of the Faust, suited her.

Maybe that would be for the best
, Menou thought, and started to draw her hand away from Akari’s.
But Akari wouldn’t be there.

Menou stayed put.

Not yet. This wasn’t enough to find her real answer yet. Menou wasn’t satisfied with Akari’s choice alone.

Because the real Menou wasn’t as strong as the one Akari saw.

Menou clasped Akari’s hands between both of hers as if in prayer. Akari blinked in bewilderment at the sudden action. Undeterred, Menou drew her face close to Akari’s…

“Men—owww?!”

…and struck her forehead against the other girl’s with the force of a headbutt.

Akari’s murmur of confusion turned into a shriek of pain. Menou reopened the Guiding Force connection, touching Akari’s soul.

Menou had just taken in Akari’s entire life.

This time, it was her turn to let herself pour into Akari’s soul.

From the point where their foreheads met, she connected their Guiding Force and let it flow. It wasn’t enough for Menou to understand Akari. She had accepted Akari’s feelings. Now Menou would have Akari understand her as well. Just as seeing Akari’s repeated time loops put Menou on the verge of an answer, surely Menou’s recollections would lead Akari to a new one as well.

So Menou laid her whole self bare to Akari. Her own life, which Akari didn’t know. The journey that began when Master Flare took her in. The training in the monastery to become an Executioner. Her first meeting with Momo. The days of killing once she became an Executioner. It was the stark reality of Menou’s origins as a person.

Then there was the journey over the past three months since she met Akari.

It was brief, quiet, and undoubtedly the most Menou had ever smiled in her life.

The trip Menou and Akari had each experienced unfolded from their own perspectives, then reorganized into one. Their separate lives blended together. Two different paths unified.

Menou was there, inside Akari.

And Akari was inside Menou, too.

They understood each other’s hearts and minds. Akari’s gentle emotions melted Menou’s heart, scarred and self-punishing from having claimed so many lives. Menou’s logic offered an answer to Akari’s endlessly cycling despair.

There might have only been one route, but it didn’t need to be walked alone.

It could be shared with another at her side. Loneliness was not a constant. She need only reach out to the one there instead of remaining isolated. For the first time, their two answers were in agreement.

Menou opened her eyes. Akari’s face was closer than she’d expected with their foreheads still pressed together.

They were linked.

The Guiding Force connection had ended, yet a path was still bridging their souls. It was fragile and invisible, but there was definitely a Guiding Force route between them. Their emotions resonated in harmony. They felt so unified that it seemed strange to be separate entities.

This was likely a temporary state. However, Menou understood Akari better than ever before, and the same was true of Akari. They had fully witnessed and accepted each other.

“You’re still not sure?”

“I mean…”

“You only have one life, Akari. If you spend it worrying, you’ll regret it.”

Menou had seen the many things Akari had experienced repeatedly, but she said this nonetheless.

“I’m going to live.” Akari wanted her to continue, even though she had killed people. It was Akari’s strong wish that spurred Menou to overcome the logic that told her she shouldn’t be permitted that happiness. “So your answer should be the same, Akari.”

Akari looked sullen. Her intent to die to ensure Menou’s survival had been usurped by Menou’s logic, overriding that feeling.

“That’s not playing fair, Menou…”