[A Fictitious Return] - Rail Zeppelin

Finally found the conductor. Think his name was Rodin.

You really do know who I am. May I call you Faker?

Knock yourself out. So, what the hell happened here?

Still got no idea why I was summoned, or why this guy here has a personality when he's just a set of memories.

Also, just getting those damn doors open was a huge pain in the ass.

Well, I do have a response to that final question of yours.

Fujimaru, we have been making use of your clone...

...because we have confirmed that this Singularity is somehow tied to your memories.

So is that why the doors have been opening whenever he collects a new memory scrap? ...Ahh, now I see. You made the train harmonize with his memories.

Whenever Fujimaru's true body recovers memories, the door in front of you, his clone, opens.

That relationship alone enabled us to make this train harmonize with your memories.

？！

It's the same principle that let me serve as a body double.

Regardless of what two things actually look like, you can take surface-level elements to make one resemble the other.

Remember what we talked about earlier? How we thought there was some connection between your memory scraps and the doors?

It's actually the other way around. They acted as though this train and your memories were connected, and so, they actually did connect.

That's all magecraft really comes down toa bunch of cheap tricks and sophistry.

Yes, that's all correct.

Since your memories are tied to this Singularity, my train, which harmonized with those memories, is now tied to it as well.

The fate of both this Singularity and this train are now intertwined...

...which, in turn, means it is now possible to decipher this Singularity.

Naturally, we also used several spells to improve your odds of experiencing feedback from your true body.

We believe you faced off against people you knew as a side effect of those spells.

？！

I do apologize for interfering without your consent.

Fearing your refusal, I decided it would be best not to seek your approval.

We were once mortal enemies.

True, we did fight in my world, but I didn't expect your knowledge of those events to transfer to this world and its Rail Zeppelin, too.

Our acting manager can perceive the threads of fate, even if they were originally spun in a different world.

？！

That must be a lingering memory of your old manager...

I heard she was a high-ranking Dead Apostle. I'm surprised a shadow of her is still playing manager, even after the original left this train behind.

...Guess I could say the same for you.

It was our acting manager who instructed us to use you to decipher this Singularity.

The Rail Zeppelin can travel through mystical realms with no issue, but it is not built to travel through Singularities.

We can take it to other realms to avoid the Bleached Earth Phenomenon. We can also get it within a hair's breadth of a Singularity.

But under normal circumstances, entering a Singularity would not be impossible.

Indeed, even as I speak, the train is still running above this Singularity's periphery by the thinnest of margins.

Lacking the ability to Rayshift, we have no choice but to fulfill other conditions for entry.

To do that, we had to be able to decipher this Singularity.

Hmm, now I see.

So what's your ultimate destination then? And why do you even want to get into this Singularity so badly?

If he was here now, he'd probably say something like, "it's not the whodunit that's important, but the whydunit."

That will soon be clear. Now that you've come this far, our deciphering efforts are all but complete.

？！

So, you saw it.

What just happened!?

Hells. There's no mistaking it. I still dream about the damn thing!

I've felt the strike of that accursed lance once before. It's Rhongomyniad!