"What are you doing here? Mocking my stupidity?"
What broke Aoko Aozaki out of her frozen state was Alice Kuonji's questioning voice, as cold as a winter wind.
Roland looked at the pitiable Witch, her lips pressed together, and chuckled.
He could sense the confusion and anger hidden beneath Alice Kuonji's clear-spring exterior.
She probably felt she had been deceived.
He had already had his hands all over her, and even their Contract had become part of fate, yet despite being the outright victor, he still had not returned the Western-style Mansion. She probably thought he had broken his promise again.
"This thing? Didn't I tell you? I took it with me for the time being. Don't worry. Since you can no longer resist me, naturally, I won't go back on my promise. Otherwise, why would I have come here as soon as the acceleration finished?"
It had to be said that this was an excellent excuse. Naturally, the Witch would not think restoring her Western-style Mansion took priority over completing the cycle.
"Then how are you going to do it... Restoration on this scale must be troublesome. Do you need my help?"
"It's just a snap of the fingers. No need to make it so complicated."
With a remarkably casual tone, Roland snapped his fingers. The next instant, boundless shadows once again covered the empty foundation and spat out the entire Western-style Mansion. Like fitting the final piece into a jigsaw puzzle, it caused not the slightest ripple.
Blazing white light suddenly spread from Roland as well, passing through everything around him and reaching the Western-style Mansion. Wherever the light swept, not only the mansion, which had looked largely unharmed to begin with, but even the road shattered by Aoko's Magic Bullets returned to pristine condition.
Seeing that picture-perfect