"I remember..."
Makiri's phantom knelt on the ground, clutching his head in both hands.
"I remember..."
He remembered Lizlaixi's face. Why had she, who did not understand people's hearts, believed in them?
"I'm sorry..."
His voice trembled.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I... I've become... what I least wanted to become..."
He began to cry.
He cried silently.
As a soul who had lived for five hundred years, he had not shed tears in a very long time.
But now, his original self was weeping. Precisely because he had regained his conscience, he had the right to cry.
"If Hohenheim saw me now... he would definitely..."
"He would definitely kill me without hesitation..."
Sakura looked at the crying man before her. She truly could not tell how this phantom related to the terrifying old man from before.
She did not understand such complicated things. Now, her heart softened despite herself, and she tried to comfort him.
"Um... are you the old man from before?"
"Zouken Matou? No, I'm not... heh, I am." Amid his contradictions, Makiri acknowledged his past. That rotten Old Worm was none other than himself.
Sakura froze. She did not quite understand why he said no one moment and yes the next.
But watching his shoulders tremble left her feeling heavy inside.
She released her grip on Messmer's cloak and took a small step forward.
"Then... why are you crying?"
Makiri raised his head and looked at her. "Makiri Zolgen. He was once a Hero of Justice."
"And now... he has fallen and become the most disgusting monster in the world. Anyone in this world with a conscience would grieve over that."
Sakura looked at him. Perhaps the clever child had understood something. She reached out and gently touched the book's cover. "Then... if a good person turned