...Heracles said it in Okeanos, didn't he? 'A hero must never desire a second life, a wish for themselves.' They share a common understanding. The understanding that 'The world belongs to the humans living in it.' That is why... they steadfastly refuse fusion with humans.
To paint over a personality and be reborn is the deed of a devil or a vengeful ghost. Even an Anti-Hero would likely not accept it.
...And so the fusion experiment collapsed. One year later, Marisbury was found dead in the Director's office.
...It was ruled a suicide. After that, I took over the work and became the Director.
...Honestly, I hated everything. Learning the father I respected was a heretic, inheriting those experiments without understanding why.
Everyone expected things of my title as Director, piling demands upon demands endlessly...
I was constantly on edge, wondering when Mash would take revenge on me. 'She'll slaughter me brutally in the toilet! It's only natural!' ...Was that my catchphrase?
But, even so... the one thing I absolutely, absolutely could not do... was to treat her as if she 'didn't exist.'
Because isn't that right? No matter the form, no matter the intent, there is no sin in a life that is born. Then, even if it's the bare minimum. As the one who created her, if she doesn't have freedom and rights, if I don't give them to her, she truly ceases to be a person.
Roman told me, too. 'Even if the fused Heroic Spirit sleeps, Mash's aptitude as a Master is top-class. Not utilizing this is a waste of time.' Thinking back, that was his plea, phrased in a way a magus would understand.
...Honestly, between the anorexia and being on the verge of hysteria, I barely had the capacity to deal with it... but as I said before, I gave Mash freedom.
...I thought I would be killed, and I was scared. But if I turned my eyes away from Mash, I would truly become a 'monster.'
I managed to judge that ignoring Mash just because I didn't want to see her was 'wrong'... somehow. Even back then.
Mash was recognized as a full-fledged human and gained her freedom.
Before, her body was too innocent. Mash's body, raised in a sterile room, could not adapt to the outside world. ...The old Mash was a girl who could only live within Chaldea.
—Now, it's different, right?
Yes. Gil... The King of Heroes took measures.
He consulted with Romani, quickly identified the problems with Mash's body, and selected a 'Device to regenerate, reinforce, and regress the body.'
Her current operational limit... her lifespan has been extended to her 60s thanks to the modification of the capsule, setting her body to survive in the environment of the Age of Gods.
Improving cell degradation, reinforcing the flesh. Reinforcing her existence beyond that of a normal human.
It's still far from the average life expectancy... but Mash will no longer suddenly stop functioning.
A life as a normal human is already... promised to her.
...That is the history of the girl named Mash Kyrielight.
Assigned as the chief of A-Team, half a year later the fires of Chaldeas went out. I negotiated with the UN, got permission for Singularity investigation by Masters... Because of Lev, most were driven to near-death, the Control Room exploded, a Rayshift accident occurred... and Mash became a Demi-Servant.
That is the truth... of your junior. Of Mash, who became a Demi-Servant.
Having finished speaking, Olga Marie looked at Ritsuka.
"...I am prepared for criticism and abuse. Excuses like 'it was my father's deed' are unforgivable. Because I am of the family that overlooked it. Direct all condemnation to me. Not to Romani, but to me."
Olga Marie's voice trembled as she stared desperately, her body shaking.
"—If, if... if you say you will cut ties with me... I-I-I will a-acc... accept it... but, just one thing."
Even so, she made a wish.
"Please, take care of Mash. ...She thinks of you as more important than anything. That much is certain. ...Please, continue to be her good Master. ...Her good friend..."
Ritsuka remained silent for a while, but eventually raised her head.
"Marie!"
"Y-Yes!"
"—You did a good job. Olga Marie, you really are great!"
—Ritsuka smiled brightly.
Sending heartfelt praise to the struggle and confession of her irreplaceable friend and Mash.
"Eh, eh...!? I-I am of the family that toyed with Mash's life!?"
"But it wasn't what you wanted to do, Olga Marie."
"She couldn't be born from the union of a proper father and mother... I am the daughter of the cause of that!?"
"Being born from a proper union doesn't guarantee a proper upbringing, you know."
"—Uh."
Ritsuka laughed and declared.
"I always think. Life isn't about 'how you were born,' but 'how you live.'"
She believes that from the bottom of her heart.
One cannot choose their birth, nor how they wish to be born.
Then... isn't what matters how one walks, how one lives, and how one ends the life they were given?
"Mash's birth might be a little special, but she's living right now like this. And you, Olga Marie, didn't run from the responsibility and have worked hard alongside us until now. Everyone is doing their best to live. ...Isn't that enough? There's nothing bad about that, is there?"
"But, but...! Everyone blamed me! They said, 'You are heartless'! They called me an 'Incompetent Director'!"
Olga Marie fell into a panic, confused.
By Ritsuka's answer. By her warm affirmation.
"So, before you could say that, I...! Before you could hate me, I decided to be hated...! I...! I decided to leave Mash to you... I...!"
"I won't blame you. We all know best just how hard you've worked, Marie."
Ritsuka knelt on one knee before the collapsing Olga Marie and gently took her hand.
"It was painful, wasn't it? It was lonely, wasn't it? Really, truly... you did a good job."
"...Ritsuka..."
"I am here. Mash is here. Everyone is here. ...You don't have to carry the painful things alone, Olga Marie."
Slowly, she hugged Olga Marie.
"I have only one thing to say, Olga Marie."
"...One thing...?"
"'Truly, thank you for your hard work. And thank you for being born.'"
"————Uh..."
At Ritsuka's warm affirmation, Olga Marie began to sob as if a dam had broken.
"I-I-I... I... I...!"
"Yeah."
"...It was good... that I was born...!? Real, ly...?"
"Of course."
"Is it really... okay... for me to be... your... friend...!?"
"Obviously. There is nothing to blame you for."
Gently, she embraced the trembling Olga Marie.
"Let's appreciate the past where Mash was born and you recognized her freedom, and let's live in the now. Let's live this 'now' with all our might, and connect it to the future. It's okay. A Marie who was loved by her parent enough to respect him, and a Mash who is kindly supported by everyone—you two can do it. The miracle of being born, the coincidence of meeting. —Let's cherish that."
Ritsuka accepted everything and smiled with pure joy.
"Because me, and Marie, and Mash... we are all, every one of us, the same 'Life'!"
"————Ritsuka——uh...!!"
Burying her face in Ritsuka's chest, Olga Marie cried. She cried and cried.
"I-I-I...! I thought you would hate me! I thought Ritsuka would call me a monster...! I was scared, so scared, for so long...! But, I didn't want to keep secrets from Mash and Ritsuka...! I—!!"
She couldn't tell anyone. The answer seemed obvious.
She had prepared herself to carry the burden until it crushed her.
She had prepared herself, trembling, to let go of the bonds she had gained as the price.
...But that was a misunderstanding.
To Ritsuka, all life is equal.
Whether created or not, the value and preciousness never change.
Because she has already met one.
An irreplaceable best friend... who was created, yet guided and saved her.
"Yeah, yeah. —It's okay, it's okay. You did your best. Truly, truly. You worked so hard—"
Ritsuka continued to hug the sobbing Olga Marie.
—Her precious friend. Her friend who tends to push herself too hard, who is precarious and fragile.
Gently, strongly. She continued to hold her.
So that it would convey, even without words.
'Nothing between us will change.' ...To convey that—
...Eventually, Olga Marie cried herself to sleep. Watching over her, Ritsuka picked Marie up on her back, intending to carry her home.
"Goodnight, Mash. Olga Marie. ...Let's keep counting on each other, okay?"
Slowly, the two left the room—
(Phew. That was the confession of a lifetime. I'm glad it settled where it should.)
—Yeah! You did it, Fou! I believed that they would definitely understand each other!
Birth and origins are irrelevant to life. Just 'living,' just 'existing in this world' makes everything irreplaceable... makes everything 'Precious'! Ah—Master, and Marie too... truly, good for them—!
"Hmph—It was obvious, was it not? There is no superiority or inferiority in anything other than Myself. Good grief, she is high maintenance. ...Though for a mastermind of the scene, that was excessively wicked, Beast."
(Whatever are you talking about?)
"Playing dumb. ...Well, fine."
"—You heard that, didn't you, Mash?"
『—Yes... Yes...!! Senpai, and the Director... are my irreplaceable... precious, precious... —Ugh...』
—Her consciousness is awake!? Eh, then that whole conversation just now...!
(Oh my~ that's weeeird~ oh my my~ that's strange. It should have been in Sleep Mode~)
~
"Fou! (See ya later.)"
『Consciousness Awakening: OFF』
Boing
『Consciousness Awakening: ON』
"Kyu? (Oopsie~ I pressed it~)"
Patter patter patter
『...Senpai? Director...?』
~
"You understand, Mash. Do not worry about your birth. You are you. Continue to behave as you are... unchanging."
『—Yes! King of Heroes... Truly, truly! Thank you so much—!』
—So, so very! Precious! Fou!
(Yup!)
『Fou multiplies into Mash, Olga Marie, and Ritsuka cosplays, spins around in circles, and turns into butter.』
(Use it for the celebratory butter cake! Ea!)
—Fou—!?
-------------------------------
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