Did I say something like that before? That headaches caused by overusing my eyes don't go away even when time rewinds.
To be exact, it's more that they start hurting again after only a little time has passed since recovery.
I don't know the exact reason, but it seems there's a risk that comes with overusing the power in my eyes.
Surely, with an ability like this, it would be drawing on a huge amount of energy in one form or another. It would be stranger if there weren't some kind of downside at all.
...As I wandered away from the battlefield and started thinking deeply about my eyes, I could feel the prisoners' gazes growing a little sharper.
Well, what am I supposed to do about it? I really feel like I'm about to die...
Still, maybe because everyone understood to some extent, no one said anything. Though they did seem jealous.
Maybe they're letting it slide because I did quite a lot in this mission. It's not like I've been completely slacking off.
Ah, but that wasn't what I was trying to say. What was I going to say...? Right. That was it.
When I step away from the fight and quietly observe the scene, all sorts of different information catches my eye.
For example... things that have been... revived leaking a familiar fluid from their eyes.
When I look at that tear-like substance, I can't help but think that whatever is shedding those tears must have influenced this phenomenon in some way.
Ah, there's one more thing. That is...
"Dante, do you feel the Golden Bough nearby? The Golden Bough had been lodged in the one called Dongbaek, but..."
"
Because the space changed, I can't see it... the corpse.
But it's definitely not far away. I can feel it..."
That thing Faust mentioned. That the Golden Bough couldn't be seen anywhere.
If I were willing to roll my eyes hard enough to extend my recovery time from weeks to months, I might be able to catch a clue, but there was no point in doing that, so I didn't act on it.
Besides, if I didn't push myself, Dante, that human Golden Bough compass, would probably find it somehow anyway.
Knowing that, maybe that's why none of the prisoners even looked remotely panicked.
...Ah, there's an exception now. Sinclair seemed to notice something and asked in surprise.
"Ah, Dongrang isn't visible either."
Come to think of it, Samjo isn't here either. I wonder if he's still alive.
I went to the trouble of keeping him alive, so if he dies in some absurd way, that'd be rather pointless. Or maybe...
Just as my head was being eaten away by one stray thought after another, Faust's voice came to me.
Reason really does keep running off.
"He's likely in the same location as the dead Dongbaek."
"Until now, we have... experienced ego depth simultaneously. Perhaps because of Dante's that closeness... if I should call it that..."
Sure enough, Dongrang and Dongbaek had been fairly close together. As for why Yi Sang wasn't caught up in it... forget it. That's not the important part.
The key word here is the one Sinclair used: closeness.
Closeness, huh... Yes, that makes sense. Dante's ability to reflect memories and various things back to us could be described that way.
Some of the prisoners seemed to understand that subtle choice of words, while others did not.
For example, Heathcliff. The one who seemed to understand was probably Faust.
"What nonsense is that? Closeness?"
"Do you mean bonding?"
"Yes... one of the effects of that bonding, wasn't it?
Then what happens if someone like Dongrang reaches ego depth?"
Oh, that's an interesting hypothesis.
The bonding Faust mentioned is probably one of the abilities closely tied to our resurrection, as far as I can guess.
There's no way an outsider like Dongrang would be affected by it.
"Why, then we simply need to go find out from here on!
First, let us dispose of those fellows!"
...That's very much like Don Quixote, a remarkably simple answer.
Still, that doesn't mean it's wrong.
In the end, if we cut our way through them, we'll see Dongrang.
By then, we should be able to answer Sinclair's question too.
...Of course, I'm not the one doing the fighting!
Everyone, do your best for my share too~
*
Whoa, a grade 3 employee.
To be exact, a corpse.
Uh... well, that means we're supposed to deal with it.
Looks like those ones died too. Grade 3 employees aren't exactly cards Wings just toss around.
They're pretty troublesome to deal with... right, but I'm not the one dealing with them.
I should've bought popcorn outside. I've got nothing to do.
All I ever do is spear things when an ally's in danger, catch a crisis and report it, or lend a little direct help if the prisoner is nearby.
...So it's not like I have nothing to do. Well, if the weapon leaves my hand, Dante just clicks away at the terminal and the identity changes, bringing the weapon back anyway, so it's not a problem.
Still, the burden is much lighter when I'm not doing some bizarre stunt like trying to dodge every attack while facing the enemy commander in the middle of enemy lines.
How comfortable it is when a situation is under control. This convenient power like my eyes is especially effective in small-scale skirmishes.
Although, because the power itself isn't that strong, without gambling it only leaves me at around the middle tier among the prisoners... but that's still decent enough.
Among the prisoners, there are only two Smoke War veterans! Two!
- Swoosh—!
"Not beautiful."
Ah, it's over. Ryoshu finished it.
Come to think of it, that woman is incredibly strong too... though after bonding with Dante, she seems to have weakened a lot, so I'm not sure how strong she really is now.
Judging by all that talk about art and whatnot, is she a weak one? No, that doesn't seem quite right, since the two of them seem to have slightly different philosophies...
Hmm...
- Click, click.
Had it been a while since I started all those useless stray thoughts?
Before I knew it, yellow fragments began drifting through the air around us.
Was that the influence of the Golden Bough? Let's see...
Following the direction the fragments were drifting from, I turned my eyes and found, at the end of that line of sight, a crack large enough for several people to fit through.
Space and petals were rippling around that crack.
"So Yi Sang's ego depth is beyond there..."
"
Now, let's go in.
With Dante's order, all the prisoners, including Sinclair who was trembling with tension, headed toward it.
...The color is dreary. This feeling is... T Corp?
As I crossed through the crack while feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, a familiar voice reached us.
"Wow, I didn't think I'd come back here again. Is it because of that thing called the Golden Bough? Or is it thanks to you, Yi Sang?"
...That insane man is barging into such an uncertain place without a shred of fear.
If Samjo were here, wouldn't he have collapsed from high blood pressure?
Of course, separate from that, this space is rather... what should I say... cozy.
So cozy that I'd like to stay here forever, if possible.
I could feel that the prisoners' feelings weren't all that different.
It was only a hunch, but that suspicion turned into certainty through Rodion's question that followed.
"It's cozy... where is this, Yi Sang?"
"The only place where I could breathe... I-o."
A place where one can breathe.
From Yi Sang's words, I could guess where this was.
The place where, as far as I knew, he had the only memory of ever smiling.
Somewhat old-fashioned experimental devices arranged in a messy yet orderly fashion... perhaps the place where the old association Yi Sang said he once stayed with had been active. Maybe that was it.
While the prisoners each looked around the place, Dante discovered something and then pointed at it.
"
...There are papers on the desk.
"Ah... yeah, usually things like that are left there for guests like us to read."
I don't think that's usually the case... but this is an ego depth. Maybe Rodion is right.
After all, this isn't a real living space but an ego depth created by the mind. So maybe it's okay to go take a look?
With half my reasoning based on a fair assumption and half on pure curiosity, I trotted over and picked up the stack of papers Rodion hadn't touched.
Let's see...
"Someday. A letter I wrote... and the format is... a script, I see."
Yeah. Just as Yi Sang said, the contents of the paper were in the form of a script.
It feels very much like it was left here for us to see... is this ego depth's form a play?
"Then it would be reasonable to assume that a number equal to the cast has been distributed."
"Then... it wasn't that there was no one here, but that it was waiting."
Meursault's words, and Yi Sang's, cleared up the small doubt I'd been feeling until now.
Originally, this would have been an ego depth that would have dragged the story along however it pleased as long as someone was inside, but with its form changed into a play, it wasn't meant to unfold the story on its own. Rather, it was waiting for actors to perform according to the script.
And if that's the case...
"Ah..."
"Haa... this means... in this atmosphere, we're probably the ones who have to read the lines, don't we?
Maybe Dongbaek will come too, Yi Sang.
If this space... haha, I don't even know what to call it... anyway, if the entrance to this space opened right before Dongbaek died, then her consciousness might have been caught up in it too, just like us."
...He stole my line.
Setting aside how irritating that was, there was nothing wrong with what he said.
Given the atmosphere, it was true that we'd probably have to read the script, and as he guessed, Dongbaek might have been caught up in this phenomenon too... maybe.
The human brain doesn't stop functioning the instant the heart does.
But that aside, we had something else to press him on.
"...For what reason did you stab Dongbaek?"
"She was taking far too long to die... what, do you need a closing line for this?"
"...State the reason."
The sudden stabbing of Dongbaek.
Yi Sang, who seemed to feel the greatest disgust over that act, pressed Dongrang hard.
Even in his final words, there seemed to be a trace of anger in his voice.
I've never once seen Yi Sang get angry in the past few months we've lived together... so that must mean his friend is that important to him.
"No... you knew too, Yi Sang. Dongbaek in that state was about to meet death immediately... and in a painfully scattered way at that. So even with your anger, you can't spit it out at me, can you? It was all the same in the end."
After hearing that answer, Yi Sang swallowed his words with a rather dissatisfied expression for him.
...Annoyingly, he's only saying things that are right. Makes me want to hit him.
After that, there was no sign of the conversation continuing.
Yi Sang or Dongrang, both of them probably felt that continuing it would be meaningless.
...
As the silence dragged on a little longer, the tension spread through the space finally eased, and there was room to bring up another topic.
Probably the first to speak would be the one among us who likes explaining things the most.
"This ego depth... it seems to be manifesting in a different way than before. An ego depth is a place, or a form, where someone's mind has been materialized.
The energy emitted from it is powerful and complex... enough to draw in not only the prisoners, but also those nearby who are deeply connected to Yi Sang."
"...Is that so? So... these clown bastards who'll be doing this pointless acting got dragged all the way here. Right?"
"It's only a hypothesis, but... yes, that seems likely. We'll just have to do our best according to our respective roles."
Right, correct. I figured Faust would start explaining sooner or later. Heathcliff, who questions everything, is just a bonus.
If things had gone this smoothly up to now... was it time for someone to voice a complaint?
For example, Ryoshu?
"...And if we can't?"
"Then the form we're trying to express in the ego depth will be ruined... and as a result, we won't reach the Golden Bough. It means we have to proceed as closely as possible to the original, that is, Yi Sang's actual memories."
That's right! After spending a few months together, I've started to get a handle on these people's habits.
This feels pretty good. Days with this high a hit rate are rare.
It's only natural to feel good when you understand things exactly the way you thought you would.
And today, there was one more person besides me who felt that way.
Heathcliff. He opened his mouth with a thoroughly pleased expression, and...
"Good. I understood perfectly. So..."
- Boom!!Crackle, crackle, crackle...
"What was that?! I thought my heart was going to jump out!"
...Fireworks?
"I had those who came to be with me suddenly, or by chance... or by fate."
"That line sounds cool."
As Yi Sang's monologue was met with Dongrang's response, and all the prisoners were still trying to collect themselves.
Then, all of a sudden, someone completely unexpected appeared.
"...Then why were you standing in front of the door like an idiot?"
"...What, an idiot?! Wait... you were definitely just..."
"Why are you staring at someone's face like that, as if you were looking at a dead person? What, do I suddenly look cool to you?"
...Dongbaek?