The next stage illuminated was a place that had already become familiar.
It was the school.
[The next day, Kromer came to school as if nothing had happened.]
"Sinclair, thank you so much for showing me something precious."
"This is my repayment."
[Then she pressed two mysterious coins into my hand.]
...Coins?
It felt like I'd heard about them just a moment ago...
"Keep them with you at all times. Understood?"
[I couldn't help but nod.]
Ah, I remembered.
[After that, every night, the scene beyond the ventilation duct tormented me like a nightmare.]
At that final moment, before I was pulled into the memory.
[I naturally began avoiding Kromer.]
Kromer had asked Sinclair whether he'd brought the coins.
[Just looking at her filled me with fear and a sense of déjà vu, and I could picture myself trembling apart.]
Given the circumstances, those coins were probably the ones Kromer had given me.
[But there was still something I had to get from Kromer.]
[The basement key.]
Come to think of it, I still hadn't gotten that either.
[If my parents happened to be organizing the keys one day, I might be exposed in no time.]
[I had betrayed my parents in the warm world for the first time...]
[And I was terrified of being forced to confirm that I was no longer in the same place as their world.]
Again, time passed.
And the school.
"Kromer... could you give it back now?"
"Give what back?"
"The basement... key..."
"...Pfft."
[One day, after I'd squeezed out my courage.]
[Kromer burst out laughing as if she'd heard something completely unexpected, and I, terrified, slowly backed away.]
"Puhahaha!!! I was wondering what you were so flustered about, and it was just that..."
"Fine, I'll give it back. Sinclair, we don't need the key anymore."
"We"...?
I felt my suspicion harden into certainty.
There was no one Kromer could have meant by "we" other than Sinclair or the N Corp Inquisitor Department.
In context, that slot should clearly be filled by the Inquisitors.
"And also..."
"Your wish will definitely come true, Sinclair. You mean not wanting to undergo prosthetic-body surgery."
Crazy bitch.
"You remember your promise, right? You made my wish come true. This is my repayment."
[I curse my own stupidity for not realizing exactly what Kromer was saying, because I was so relieved to have gotten the key.]
[Who Kromer meant by "we."]
[Why she said it was no longer needed. What she meant by making my wish come true...]
[My foolishness for not asking a single question...]
[I regret it, and I curse it.]
Consciousness rises.
*
The hill of corpses, now familiar, and the detestable Inquisitors greeted us.
As usual, we brushed through the battle with only one or two injuries, then surrendered ourselves to the light of the brilliantly shining Golden Bough and the vast current of the story as it surged toward its climax.
"So you really did hand the key over to Kromer."
"How did you know?"
[Damian had the ability to notice even the things that were never said.]
[When I once asked him about it, he only said, "If you observe people closely, you'll know," and refused to explain any further.]
"Sinclair, from here on out, even harder and more painful things may keep crashing down on you one after another."
"But you mustn't give up."
"Because that pain will help you grow more beautifully."
[No matter how difficult the words, once they passed through Damian's mouth they all became convincing; he had that kind of mysterious power.]
[Listening to him made me feel like I really could grow. Like I could become someone worth that much.]
"Yeah... but I don't really understand, Damian."
"Figure it out. Then tell me the answer."
[Though his tone was gentle and his eyes were smiling, for some reason I felt like I had no choice but to do as he said.]
[There was definitely something special in those eyes.]
[A special power that drained me and left me helpless the moment our eyes met.]
[But...]
[Then why had he never even mentioned it once?]
[I still find myself wondering that to this day.]
And again, consciousness rises.
The next enemy was an Inquisitor mutated to resemble a beast.
The number of dead was two, and the injured, excluding the dead, was two.
*
[That day was Christmas Eve, when the whole village was filled with bells and joy.]
[Under the blessing of the holy night, I intended to go back and make my own confession to my family.]
[I would tell them that I had made a stupid mistake and stolen the basement key, but that I would return to being their exemplary son.]
[That during that time, I had suffered terribly and found it horrifying. That I had come to realize just how peaceful and satisfying the world I belonged to was.]
[Then my family would be startled at first, but soon they would accept me back into that paradise.]
[Surely, that was how it would be.]
[But.]
"...Huh?"
...
[Normally, from the moment I stood before the window, I should have heard the robot dog greeting me, but the house was only wrapped in the silence of the night.]
[And what I faced next was a paradise turned upside down by ruin.]
I could be certain my guess had been right.
"Sinclair... run..."
From one side came the voice of Sinclair's sister, who had not yet been completely broken.
"Sin... Sincl... Sin, sin, sinsin..."
And soon after, the voice of Sinclair's father, who seemed almost finished being destroyed, also... reached me.
Boom!!
[Someone brought a blow down on his father's head.]
[A bizarre figure wearing rusted silver armor.]
Guido.
So Kromer really had been one of N Corp from the very beginning.
"To think those who are not human would covet humanity and spout false emotions so freely."
"Leave them be, Guido. It's just the survival instinct peculiar to impurities."
"No... perhaps it would be more accurate to say they're only afraid of the power going out. Hah hah!"
Her familiar nature, smoke-free and reduced to ashes, lit a small spark once more in my vengeance.
Heh. Yes. From the moment I entered here, I'd had only one goal.
[Mechanical fragments, blood, and chunks of flesh sprayed into the air, then fell back to the ground.]
As far as I was concerned, I wanted to turn her limbs into the prosthetic bodies she hated so much, but that would be impossible in this situation.
If I tried something that reckless, I might end up putting the others in danger too.
"Sinclair! You came!!!"
"Ah... ah..."
[Kromer approaches, holding a hammer smeared with blood and flesh.]
So then—
"Ah, this thing?"
"I've always found it unbearable to be even slightly involved with filthy trash like that."
"Because I'm a philanthropist who loves people!"
Into that disgusting bitch's head,
"But if they're the child of such impure bastards..."
"What should I do with you, Sinclair? Hmm?"
I would drive a spear through it.
Even if I had to defy death to do it.
[My legs had long since lost all strength.]
[My mouth was the same. It felt as if every part of my body was moving on its own.]
[I could see Kromer's feet in front of me. I couldn't even lift my head. So close that I was afraid, I squeezed my eyes shut.]
[The thought of that hammer, still carrying the flesh that had crushed my father, mother, and sister, coming toward me was unbearable.]
[...]
[But there was no sign of anything.]
[Puzzled, I cautiously opened my eyes and raised my head.]
[Kromer was looking at me.]
[Smiling with a perfect expression, just like the time she had sat me down at my desk and spoken to me while telling me her name.]
"But you're my hero, Sinclair."
[Then she reached into my school shirt pocket and took out a coin.]
[One of the two coins she had given me.]
"From now on... doubt everything, worry about everything... and live in fear while constantly thinking of me."
"Ugh... ugh..."
"And then, when the time comes... I'll call for you."
By the time Kromer said that, Sinclair had slowly begun to close his eyes.
...He was probably under too much stress. Poor kid had suffered a tragedy far too cruel for his age.
I thought I'd need to pay him a little more attention once we got outside.
"Hey! Take this child somewhere safe! If anyone lays a hand on him, I won't let it slide."
Confirming that Sinclair had closed his eyes before her very own, Kromer loudly ordered the Inquisitors.
Between Guido from earlier and the way she looked now... so she really had been a high-ranking N Corp official from the start.
[Amid the ringing in my ears, the sound of footsteps, and the dizziness...]
[I fainted on the spot.]
And soon, with the protagonist of the act collapsing into unconsciousness, the climax of the story came to an end, and consciousness rises once more.