Fujimaru Tachibana, Denied by the World

Matou Shinji's words were analysis, conjecture, and narration.

As he spoke, the BGM grew increasingly somber. People in the real world could not help but follow his train of thought, and the more they considered it, the stranger it seemed.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had suffered betrayal and nearly lost everything, should have loathed the mission of "saving the world." So why had she made her younger sister bear such a mission as well?

And what exactly had happened to Fujimaru Tachibana, that she needed to shoulder this mission in order to continue existing?

Countless people wanted answers. Countless people speculated. Countless people followed Matou Shinji's analysis, for he possessed more information than they did.

In response to Matou Shinji's analysis, the young Fujimaru Ritsuka in the Light Screen footage merely said calmly, "You really do have a great deal of information, and you've already guessed many things. It's true that I hate the mission of saving the world. Or rather, neither my sister nor I ever wanted to become saviors."

"The only reason we reached this point was because there were things we had no choice but to do. After all, in those circumstances, we had no desire to shoulder some grand cause. All we wanted was to survive."

Matou Shinji nodded. "Indeed. Most of the time, people only seek an ordinary life. And when they have to fight, it is because they have no choice—because if they do not fight, they will die."

Those words represented Matou Shinji's acknowledgment, and he was not surprised by Fujimaru Ritsuka's answer.

Or rather, this robotic Matou Shinji had never shown an expression of surprise. From beginning to end, he had remained exceptionally calm—after receiving information, he could analyze it and respond at incredible speed.

In truth, this was a conversation between a