The Hardest Work Is Already Done-Wouldn't It Be a Shame to Let Her Return to the Ley Lines Just Like This?

"Ayaka, you've grown up."

"..."

Her voice was filled with gentleness and emotion, like the first ray of sunlight after winter snow, perfectly dispelling the loss and negativity that had filled the white-haired girl's heart.

For a moment, no one spoke. Other than the wind passing through the cave, all the onlookers tacitly chose to remain silent.

A figure appeared as specks of fluorescent light gathered in the air.

Facing the white-haired girl's gaze, as though she feared she was still in a dream, Kamisato Ayaka, whose body had yet to fully solidify, reached out and tried to touch the little girl's forehead.

"..."

Yet when she reached out, her hand passed straight through the other person's body as though it did not exist.

Though they stood so close together, as she looked at her grown daughter, her hand paused. She suddenly realized that an immense distance still lay between them.

"..."

"Just as I thought. It seems none of that was a dream."

"I truly did fall gravely ill beyond saving. For me to be awake now, you must have put a great deal of effort into it."

She did not stop moving. Though she could not touch her, she still recalled the days she had spent with Ayaka while alive.

Having been separated from the ley lines, most of her memories from life had become somewhat blurry. Yet when it came to her two children, whom she had failed in her duties as a mother, even after so much time had passed, every memory remained incomparably vivid.

"Mother...?"

"I... I and Brother... I'm sorry, I..."

She wanted to express the feelings that had accumulated in her heart, but the emotions surging through her chest were too overwhelming. When the words reached her lips, she could not somehow form