The Brandon I remembered had a limp. He stuttered when he spoke.
But if Brandon was Seiren, then nothing could be trusted. After all, it made no sense for a human who was supposed to be dead to be wandering around perfectly fine.
The shadow cast by the moonlight was enormous. The sight of the mask staring at me sent chills down my spine.
“You’re quite rude. No introduction before speaking to a lady who’s revealed her identity.”
“……”
“Should I just call you Guest Number 24, as your nametag says? Or are you a murderer who kills children for fun?”
There was no answer. I kept feeling uneasy, wondering if the gaze behind the mask had spotted Peril.
“Have you found the way?”
At that moment, his voice flowed out.
“Even though you had a chance to escape, staying here means it’s impossible without the guide’s signal.”
“Do you really need a guide so much that you’d wear a necklace you even claimed was from the great mage?”
“……”
“It was all for nothing. I, too, had business at the temple, so I was planning to visit the priest soon anyway.”
―Heh heh, you’re not planning to abandon me, are you, lady? I think I’ve proven my worth enough today.
Arkan’s voice briefly echoed inside my head.
“Ah, so there was no need to wear a mask.”
A short laugh escaped me, then he removed the mask.
His eyes, slit like a snake’s, stared straight at me.
It was as if the clumsy way he had spoken to me before was just my misunderstanding.
“Hello, Lady Bianca.”
He smiled with a friendly face and greeted me.
“You have the guide, right? Hand it over.”
“Oh, this?”
I lightly tapped my bag, and Brandon approached me.
“It’s better not to make a big deal of it and just hand it over. You don’t even know how to use it properly.”
“Why? Judging by how far I've come, I think I’m using it properly.”
Brandon sighed and scratched his forehead with the handle of his dagger.
“There’s honestly nothing about you that I like. I don’t even know what you hoped to gain by helping Eileens’ rebellion...”
The moment he reached out to me, I hugged the bag and started running. Brandon followed slowly behind me, speaking as he went.
“Sigh, Lady Bianca. No matter how much you struggle, Eileens is on my side. There’s only one thing left—to abandon the empire.”
From the direction of the imperial city came chilling screams. The ground trembled slightly, as if an earthquake had struck.
“Also, you’re mistaken about one thing—I’m more interested in you than the guide. Killing you here wouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Thud!
Another loud crash echoed.
“Hey, did you hear what I said?”
I stopped only when it became hard to breathe. I thought I had run quite fast, but I still saw Brandon. His footsteps were leisurely, as if chasing after a toy.
I gasped and met his eyes.
“If the guide wasn’t the goal, you wouldn’t have shown me the necklace in the first place.”
“Ah, caught me. I’m terrible at lying.”
Before I knew it, we had come close to each other.
“But it’s not a complete lie. The guide can’t be recovered from someone’s memory.”
“That’s a relief. Then you can kill me without worries.”
Brandon only looked at me for a moment before turning his gaze toward the imperial city.
“...Do you hear it? What you’ve done just now.”
“I hear it clearly.”
“But the people here still remember Eileens. That will become the nourishment to reclaim her name.”
Brandon raised one side of his lips and bowed slightly.
“Though the process is different, the outcome is the same, right? To escape from here, you have to merge with Eileens, but because of you, Lady Bianca, the time trapped in memory only grows longer.”
“How can you be so sure the ending is the same when the process is different?”
My words seemed to irritate him, and he began to gnaw savagely on the inside of his cheek.
“You have a knack for making people angry.”
“……”
“I do. I can’t kill women. That’s my last shred of conscience as a knight.”
Brandon threw the dagger he was holding in front of me.
“So, how about suicide?”
I briefly doubted the voice that pierced into my ear.
“Hmm, I’ve been too harsh to a lady, unknightly of me. Then how about I die with you? Fair, right?”
“……”
“There’s still a long way to see the end of memories anyway, so dying while waiting isn’t so bad. Wow, I’m a genius.”
Brandon raved about his own cleverness.
I looked at the shadow leaning behind him and picked up the dagger.
“Alright.”
“Ugh, as expected. Adventurers just get each other.”
Just as he reached out for the dagger on the floor—
“...Close your eyes.”
Ricardo’s voice sounded, and blood splattered across my cheek.
“Kuh!”
Brandon gasped painfully, looking at the sword piercing him. His neck veins bulged as Ricardo kicked him with cold eyes.
Still unsettled, Ricardo turned his gaze into the air. When I hesitated and got up, his eyes immediately fixed on me.
“Why did you go alone? When I was chasing you, you suddenly disappeared…!”
“This isn’t reality. Even if I get hurt here, it won’t affect the real world.”
It wasn’t that I followed him without thinking. If I took Peril’s fate in my place, a new path would open, and around then, Peril would also be freed from the memory.
It was a rational decision.
“You acted like that because it’s not real?”
“Why, why are you angry? I’m not hurt, and even if I were, it wouldn’t be a problem!”
At that moment, a warning magic circle surrounded Brandon. Startled, he stepped back, and I saw Eileens approaching, holding him captive, her voice sounding urgent.
“...Are you hurt?”
She asked while binding Brandon. I wiped the blood off my cheek and shook my head.
There was no need to ask if everything had been settled. Her face looking at me seemed much more relieved.
After much contemplation, Eileens spoke quietly.
“I don’t think this was the best way.”
“But it’s not the worst, right?”
At my words, Eileens’ eyes widened, but after a moment, she smiled and nodded.
What if this had been reality?
When I thought such a foolish thing, Arkan spoke.
―Lady, do you know exactly what the guide is?
That has been my question for a long time. I hadn’t expected Arkan, who usually avoided the topic, to bring it up first.
―The guide records all the paths humans have walked in a book. The accumulated paths connect to a single timeline, which becomes fate.
‘...So?’
―The records lead to the library. There, you can borrow books and correct parts that the guide recorded incorrectly!
Correct the records...?
―I’ve been waiting for someone who can correct my errors for a very long time. I want to guide you down that path.
His voice was full of joy.
It was something I couldn’t understand yet.
―Don’t worry. Someone who walked that path with you exists!
At that moment, Ricardo approached me, his face twisted as he said,
“Promise me.”
“……”
“Never do this again.”
I didn’t intend to refuse even that. But without waiting for my answer, Ricardo forcibly pressed his finger to make a mark.
“Ah, I understand.”
Only then did I see his face turn pale. It felt like he had become a clueless child.
‘Feels like I have another grandpa now...’
Suddenly, everything around me went dark. It was as quiet as being trapped in the deep sea. Still, it was easier to breathe.
At that moment, a warm hand grabbed me and lifted me up.
“...!”
When I opened my eyes, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“It’s been a while.”
It was Peril.
I looked at Peril with stunned eyes, and he spoke jokingly.
“Ah, should I change how I address you now?”