Blade Poised Against the Cycle

...

After the simulation ended.

A truly awkward silence hung between me and Rossweisse.

What happened in there? Why are you two acting like this?

May I ask the Captain?

Absolutely not.

Hmm, the captain is keeping more secrets from me!

Well, by protocol it's something only the Captain needs to know, so I won't pry further. Must have been quite the private affair between you two!

If you know what's good for you, shut that mouth of yours—

Rossweisse, what's going on?

...No, it's nothing. Go on back.

Mm, alright. I'll head back to the room first.

Sig nodded, her mismatched eyes gleaming.

Wait... Can you come with me?

I have something to say.

Drink as much as you want. I'm footing the bill tonight.

You're my friend. It's only natural.

...

Silence fell between them again. But it wasn't the kind born from awkwardness or hesitation.

It was closer to embarrassment.

Forget it. And I'm not— I'm not embarrassed.

Um... Captain.

You...saw it all, didn't you?

Yeah, if you saw it, you know everything. I told you not to get involved, but you're not the type to listen to something like that.

There's no grand reason I asked you to come here, either.

I just...wanted to say thank you.

Thanks to you, I was able to give my sister peace, and I could finally say what I needed to say to Kyrken.

And I figured something out, too.

The reason Kyrken instructed me to kill my sister.

I didn't understand it at the time, but...looking back on the past like this, something's starting to click.

Kyrken must have known everything. That I wouldn't kill my sister, and that my sister would become a sacrifice for the Chaos Bloom.

And yet, she didn't care. In the end, the only one Kyrken was concerned about was me, her Apostle.

Who knows, does that goddess even understand the concept of "death" to begin with? To Kyrken, whether it's life or death, it's nothing more than the cycle of souls.

From a god's perspective, it might be a perfectly acceptable thing. But the humans who have to accept it are different.

Literally... Our outlook, our way of looking at things, is different. Though of course, understanding and accepting are two entirely different matters.

Rossweisse said that and stroked the back of her neck. The neck where the leash of light had once been bound now bore nothing at all.

It disappeared after that day. It never came back.

Looks like instead of keeping me on a leash, she's letting me roam free now. I suppose that fits with what Kyrken calls the mystery of the cycle.

As I listened to Rossweisse, a hypothesis suddenly came to mind. Perhaps Kyrken's true aim was this very enlightenment of Rossweisse's.

After all, Rossweisse had begun to understand the being that is Kyrken, little by little, and had grown mentally by a step.

If Kyrken had known that someday Rossweisse would go through the Trauma Code Simulation and grow, not simply rejecting and hating Kyrken, but...

Beginning to understand the souls and the cycle that Kyrken presides over.

Could it be that all of this was in the palm of Kyrken's hand all along?

Of course, this is just my hypothesis. As long as a god looks down upon humans and humans look up at a god, it will be a long way off before their looks and thoughts can ever meet as equals.

All I can do is agonize over it, recalling that look Kyrken sent in those final moments.

As the mood grew somewhat somber, I set my thoughts aside for a moment and turned to look at Rossweisse.

Hm? About what?

I— I— I don't know what you're talking about?! Something I was going to say...

Yeah, at this point, why not?

...Don't leave me behind like my sister Siegrune did.

What do you want me to say? You're the first person like you I've ever met.

I put up walls and pushed everyone away because I didn't want to be hurt by goodbyes anymore.

...And you're the first one who ever climbed over those walls anyway.

You're my first, you know that?

What a lukewarm reaction. How annoying.

...Do you not like me or something?

...Ha, so that's how it is?

Fine, then let's go all day as friends.

I'm not letting you off easy, so brace yourself.

I clink glasses with Rossweisse, both of us smiling.

We'd been through the Trauma Code Simulation, but my relationship with Rossweisse was unchanged.

I was already someone who had made it past her walls. I was her friend. But...

Thank you, Companion.

For becoming friends with Rossweisse.

From somewhere far away.

I felt as though I heard a voice like that.

This is so annoying.

It's not really directed at you.

It's more about this whole situation.

Rossweisse looked around with her usual expression of displeasure.

Her already sharp eyes now carried an even deeper irritation and aversion.

Hmm, that's quite the scary look!

Is the esteemed Apostle of God displeased with entrusting herself to a device like this?

It's not that I distrust technology or science.

Didn't I say? It's the situation itself that I don't like.

Hey, scientist. What did you explain earlier?

I told you about the Trauma Code Simulation.

Right. That strange simulation.

That's what I don't like.

No, that's not what I mean.

Sure, trauma is a bit... You know, but showing it to you... That's fine.

B-b-because we're friends.

I give a light nod at Rossweisse's flustered words and ask in return.

Well, if you see my trauma, naturally...

Rossweisse paused for a moment, then murmured in a voice that was clearly filled with displeasure.

...'That being' will appear.

Her voice carried unmistakable contempt, fury, and self-derision.

Rossweisse, who had been gritting her teeth, seemed irritated even by the considerate silence, and roughly grabbed my hand to pull me along.

Ugh, forget it. If we have to do it anyway, let's just start already.

Dwelling on it will only make me feel worse.

Rossweisse lies down inside the simulation device with a reluctant expression. As I follow and lie down, the metallic cold sweeps over my entire body.

...Hey, I'll just say one thing.

No matter what you see or hear in there, do not interfere. Ever.

...It's not for my sake. It's for yours.

Push forward! Victory is right in front of us!

AAAARGH!! My arm!!

Kill every last one of those bastards!

A raw, bloody scent and the smell of iron linger in the air, mingled with the screams and battle cries of countless people.

Beneath my feet, foul liquid pools together, and cold, still bodies pile up.

That was when I came to my senses. Yes, this place...

What the hell are you doing?

Yeah, it's me. And I'd rather not die because of some good-for-nothing companion who's spacing out, got it?

If you value your life, start running!

At Rossweisse's scolding, I hastily move my body. Leaving behind the battlefield where blood and iron run rampant in a furious dance, I run madly.

I knew I was inside a simulation, but even so, the battlefield was filled with a madness that could drive anyone out of their mind.

What's wrong with your stamina? How have you even survived until now?

This is nothing, quit whining.

I'm going to keep running until we're clear of the battlefield. I'll slow down after that, so run like your life depends on it.

Push through just now and you'll live. You're a mercenary too, so you know what I mean, right?

And stop being so stuffy. We're both mercenaries, so why...

What's wrong?

W-What are you talking about?

Never mind that, just keep running!

It's clear. The Rossweisse inside the simulation was quite a bit softer than she is now.

Even now she's shouting at me to run faster, but at the same time she's gradually slowing down, looking out for me.

Phew... We should be fine for now.

Hey, are you okay?

Hmph, I'll give you that, running hard like that wasn't bad.

You ran for dear life because you were afraid of becoming a burden to me, didn't you?

I appreciate the sentiment, but save your energy. This is all about living to fight another day.

...Do you have to put it that way?

Well, sure, our side did lose... But mercenaries don't really have sides, do they?

So it's not running away in defeat. It's living to fight another day. Got it?

Her personality was a bit gentler, but her characteristic pride was still intact. Rossweisse's face scrunched into a frown.

After a brief lull in the mood, I voiced something I had been curious about.

What year? What are you talking about?

What kind of random question is that? And what even is AD?

I think you mean a calendar system, but that doesn't mean anything anymore.

There's a Black Wave right in front of us, do you really have the luxury to think about something so trivial?

Why are you acting like you don't know? That's exactly what started this damned war.

The neighboring country got swallowed by the Black Wave and turned into a cursed land you can't even enter anymore.

And they say the soldiers who were fighting went mad and turned into some kind of monsters... That's no joke.

As the name "Black Wave" brought to mind theories like Dark Material or plasma explosions, I soon arrived at a completely different conclusion.

The sudden surge of monsters, and a black miasma that robs people of their sanity.

Uhm, well...

Chaos? Oh, you mean the Black Wave?

discord, huh... It's a literal calamity, so it's not a bad name for it.

The entire world of Sephiron has been thrown into discord because of that one Black Wave.

Not at all.

First that Chaos thing, and now this... Are you writing a novel or something?

An era where Chaos exists, yet the concept of Chaos is still unknown.

It seemed I had arrived in the very early days of the Chaos universe.

What's wrong? Why are you suddenly staring at the sky?

I can't know exactly how many hundreds of years back this is. The name of the planet, Sephiron, is also one I've never heard before.

But if this truly is the early days of the Chaos universe, then somewhere far away, there must be people who abandoned their home and made their escape.

...A home called Earth.

What a real piece of work you are. Not only are you a merc with a feeble constitution, but also... Wait, hold on.

Something's...off.

Why am I traveling with you?

Something's...wrong.

Me, traveling with a rookie mercenary like you?

Not just as a business partner, but as a companion close enough to watch out for your life?

Something's wrong. This is wrong.

If she figures it out now, it'll be dangerous. I answered immediately without hesitation.

Together...?

Was that so?

Right, I suppose it was...

Watching Rossweisse accept it, I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

This is, after all, a simulation, and in this original past, Rossweisse was alone. I am nothing more than an impurity that forced its way in.

Still, Rossweisse was the first agent to notice that sense of unease.

Well, either way, it doesn't matter. It's not like we've fully escaped the battlefield yet.

Two people are better than one when it comes to staying alive, right?

I saved your life today, so next time, you save mine. Got it?

Rossweisse said that with a faint smile. Of course, she was someone who knew how to smile like this, too.

Just what kind of trauma had she gone through for that smile to disappear from her face?

...An inexplicable sense of anxiety crept over me.