Ubilk told them both the story he had inherited from his ancestors and the memories left in the astrolabe.
The firelight reflected off the cracked old astrolabe in his hands. A silvery-blue glow flowed between its patterns, as though something were slowly breathing deep within those markings.
He spoke very slowly, as though opening a long-sealed chest-the things inside were so heavy that he had to pause and catch his breath with every layer he uncovered.
The Sky Curtain gradually dimmed as he spoke, but new images began to emerge-a story from another time.
The scene in the Sky Curtain slowly unfolded.
[After Subaru woke up, he discovered that he had not experienced Return by Death, and the person who had appeared before his eyes at the very last moment-
"...Finally found you."
The woman staring fixedly at Subaru abruptly murmured those words.
As she spoke, the expression of the woman watching Subaru changed. The mechanical gaze that, until moments ago, had earnestly sought to see through everything about him slowly, dramatically shifted with the passage of time-into an expression that could be called a smile.
Her face beaming, the woman gazed at Subaru and said,
"-Master."
"...Huh?"
"Master! Honestly, honestly, honestly! You kept me waiting forever~!"
Subaru did not even have time to be stunned. The instant after his eyes widened, the woman, overcome with feeling, threw herself at him and knocked him to the ground.
Beatrice, swept up in the momentum and pinned beneath her along with him, let out a cry of "Eek~!"
But the woman paid her no mind.
She simply buried her face against Subaru's chest with all her might and clung tightly to him. Her long ponytail swaying, she called out to Subaru again and again.
"Master! Master! It's been so long! I was so lonely! I thought I'd spend my whole life sniping anyone who came near!"
"W-wait! Hold on, hold on! What's going on!? What are you talking about!?"
"How could you even ask what's going on? That's so cruel! You're the one who ordered me to, Master. You told me to interfere with anyone approaching the shrine... though the method was my own original idea." (Note: original)
"That's not what I'm asking! I'm your master!? What are you talking about!?"
Although Subaru was enjoying spectacularly close contact with the woman's soft skin, he had no energy to spare for appreciating that perk.
On the contrary, held fast by her monstrous strength, Subaru desperately twisted his body, trying to escape.
But the woman apparently had her own position on the matter and had absolutely no intention of letting Subaru go.
As a result, Subaru and the woman wrestled on the floor with Beatrice sandwiched between them.
"You, just let go first! This is completely ridiculous...!"
"No! Absolutely not! You're saying that because you're planning to disappear again when I'm not looking, aren't you, Master!? You haven't changed at all! That's so cute!"
"What's that got to do with me-!!"
Whatever past trauma she might have had, the woman stubbornly refused to let go. Subaru grabbed her face and tried to pry her off, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Who even are you, anyway!? What the hell is going on!?"
"What are you saying, Master!? I'm Shaula! The star guardian of the Pleiades Watchtower! Your adorable apprentice, Shaula!"
"Doesn't ring a bell-!"
The name of the woman calling herself Shaula should have been the name of the [Sage] who lived in the tower.
She was both the objective of Subaru and his companions' journey and a wise person said to know everything. How could that [Sage] possibly be such an incomprehensible woman?
Subaru firmly objected.
Then, while neither side gave an inch and they continued tangling together without making any progress-
"-Oh no! I woke up and Subaru was nowhere to be found! I need to tell everyone so we can look for him..."
Emilia rushed out of the dragon carriage, her hair a mess from sleeping.
Her face full of anxiety, she emerged from the carriage only to encounter the two tangled together-though Beatrice was actually there too-and her eyes widened at the sight.
"Emilia... tan! What a relief you're up! Actually, this woman..."
"Hmph."
"Ow!? Emilia-tan, why did you just kick me!?"
"I'm not really sure myself. I just felt sooo frustrated!"
And so, unable to receive help from Emilia, who was in a bad mood for some reason, Subaru had to remain tangled up with Shaula for a while longer-
"E-enough already, someone hurry up and help...! This is no joke...!"
Even Beatrice's feeble cries proved futile, and the sounds of Subaru and the others' desperate struggle kept echoing through the tower.
In the end, the crushing wrestling match with the Pleiades Watchtower's [Sage] (provisional) continued until Julius and the others noticed the commotion and came downstairs.
"Miss Anastasia, what do you remember after Ram and I passed out?"
"Oh, am I allowed to talk too? I thought you'd forgotten I existed."
"Sorry, I gave priority to people I knew. So, what happened? I remember up until that demon beast was defeated, but after that..."
"Well, it was frightening in the pitch-black darkness. You and Miss Ram were both unconscious, Natsuki, so I was the only one who could negotiate with our 'Sage.'"
"Negotiate with the 'Sage'... with this?"
Hearing that, Subaru pointed toward the right arm he had been deliberately ignoring-where Shaula was still rubbing her cheek against him.
"She really doesn't bring a lofty word like negotiation to mind."
"What a witty way to put it. But I'm puzzled too. Someone who barely spoke no matter how I tried talking to her is now so infatuated with you, Natsuki."
"Quiet and reserved? This?"
"Hey, hey! Why do you keep calling me 'this'...? I'm Shaula, Master~"
Subaru responded to Anastasia's wry smile, only for Shaula to glare at him unhappily.
Long eyelashes, well-proportioned features, a curvaceous figure. She undoubtedly had everything a beautiful woman needed, and ordinarily, having her snuggle up to him should have been nothing but a blessing.
"Even if she's beautiful, when someone suddenly clings to me with her affection meter maxed out while mine's still at zero, I'm way past just feeling confused..."
"-! Did you just call me beautiful!?"
"Hey! Don't just hear what you want to hear!"
As Shaula pressed even closer with shining eyes, Subaru tried to peel her off with his left hand.
But no matter how much strength he used, he could not escape her monstrous grip. Still deprived of control over his right arm, Subaru could only sigh.
"No choice. I'll sacrifice my right hand and prioritize moving things along. You can speak like a normal person, right?"
"Sure, sure-! If you say I can, Master, then I can~"
"Wonderful. Your willingness to cooperate is a great help. Then, may I ask whether you are the 'Sage' living in seclusion in this Pleiades Watchtower?"
"Ignoring you~"
"Answer him! Didn't you just say you'd talk properly!?"
She had only just agreed with a smile, yet immediately snubbed Julius's question. Subaru rebuked her attitude, and Shaula puffed out her cheeks.
"Hmph~ What's your problem-? Besides, this was basically your order, Master. You said not to respond no matter what anyone asked, or just stab them to death. I've only been following it to the letter!"
"Your master's seriously awful."
"He is. Master's a super-awful person. I want him to reflect deeply on his actions and apologize."
As she spoke, Shaula rubbed her head against Subaru's neck. Faced with this doglike display of affection, Subaru closed one eye and flicked her forehead.
"Ow... Actually, that didn't hurt, but is this abuse!? It's abuse! Master's using violence against me! I'll see you in court!"
"Where did you learn expressions like that...? Anyway, talk properly to people other than me too. If you consider me your master, then listen to what I say."
"...Is that okay?"
"-? Sure it is. I'd even recommend it. I want things to move forward."
At Subaru's answer, Shaula stared in astonishment. Then her expression gradually changed, passing through surprise, understanding, acceptance, and gratitude-
"Oh yeah-! This is awesome~! Master's given permission~! That means I don't need to keep up the mysterious beauty persona anymore~! Hooray-!"
"You never had any of those qualities to begin with!"
Shaula laughed joyfully, her ponytail swinging wildly with her excitement and whipping Subaru across the face and head.
Shielding himself from her ponytail with his left hand, Subaru said,
"Whatever. Anyway, are you the legendary 'Sage'?"
He went straight to the point: the reason their party had visited the Pleiades Watchtower. In response, Shaula made a face as though she had eaten a sour plum.
"Hmm~ That's a hard question to answer."
"Hard? Why's that?"
"If you're looking for Shaula, Master, that's me. Then we're all lovey-dovey. But if you're looking for Shaula the 'Sage,' I don't know."
The corners of her mouth turning down, she began conversing seriously. Even so, her answer to the very first question was already unsettling. Shaula had no awareness of the title "Sage." That meant-
"May I ask you something, Lady Shaula?"
Julius, likewise concerned by her answer, raised a hand and called her name.
"Calling me 'Lady' makes me shy. I'm not used to it, so just call me by my name. Lady Shaula, you say... Ehehe."
"Then, with your permission, Miss Shaula.-Even today, the achievements of Shaula the 'Sage' are celebrated throughout the world. Are those accounts about you?"
"Well, who knows? I've never left the tower, after all. Somehow my name's spread far and wide, you know? And they're calling me a 'Sage.'"
Shaula touched her lips as she answered in confusion.
"Oh, of course. If Master named some woman other than me Shaula, and she did something 'Sage'-like, that would be another story... Did you?"
"Don't look at me when you say that. I'm innocent either way."
"Master doesn't seem to have any idea, so I really must be the only Shaula. It's my very own name, the one Master gave me... There aren't any other Shaulas."
"I see.-What a thoroughly wicked man."
"Don't. Look at me. When you say that! I'm being falsely accused! I'm innocent!"
Setting aside the intervening farce, there was no falsehood in Shaula's words or behavior. In that case, the worst possibility was that the rumors were wrong. Listening to their conversation, Anastasia took coins from her purse.
"You're suddenly settling the bill... No, right?"
"It's a little hobby of mine. Hearing loose change clink helps me think faster... But that's not what I'm doing now. Here, take a look at the kingdom's coins and you'll see."
With that, Anastasia tossed the coins in her hand to Subaru. He hurriedly caught them. She had thrown him four coins: a copper coin, a silver coin, a gold coin, and a sacred gold coin.
"You're not planning to bribe Shaula, are you...?"
"I wouldn't mind if it worked. Look, there are designs engraved on the coins, right? Currency and a nation's history are inseparable. In other words, a country's history is engraved on its coins."
At Anastasia's words, Subaru stared at the designs on the coins. He had not had many opportunities to examine money before, but looking closely now, each kind of coin did indeed have a different design.
"The sacred gold coin has the 'Divine Dragon,' the gold coin the 'first Sword Saint,' the silver coin the 'Sage,' and the copper coin 'Lugunica's royal castle.' Didn't you know?"
"Huh, Emilia-chan sounds so knowledgeable...!"
"It's perfectly normal to know something this basic. Subaru, haven't you ever noticed when you buy things?"
Emilia's pointed question hit home, and Subaru whistled to play dumb. The designs were indeed as she had described: a dragon on the sacred gold coin, a sharp-eyed man on the gold coin, and the royal castle on the copper coin. Engraved on the silver coin was-
"A handsome young guy. He sort of looks like Shaula, but sort of doesn't."
"But this picture is what people think Shaula looks like."
The silver coin bore the image of a handsome, long-haired man with chiseled features. Naturally, no matter what angle they viewed it from, he could not be mistaken for a half-naked beauty.
"Heh~ That's really well drawn. Looks just like Master."
"How does that look like me!? Oh, no. If the 'Sage' on here is your master, you mean he looks like the master you remember?"
"Oh, stop~ What are you saying? My only master is the one right here."
"Then let me say it again. How does that look like me!?"
Peering at the silver coin from beside him, Shaula made her rude remark without a trace of malice. But Subaru's response was poor, so she said unhappily,
"Uhh~~ From what I can see, they've captured all the features. There's hair, two eyes and ears, and a nose and mouth too."
"That's it!? Most people have all those parts!"
"I don't think the person on the silver coin looks like Subaru either..."
It was practically a kindergartner's way of identifying facial features. Not only Subaru, but Emilia also judged that they looked nothing alike. In fact, everyone except Shaula gave a wry smile.
"Hmph-I'm just bad at comparing faces, okay? I can tell boys and girls apart, but isn't everything else pretty much the same?... Oh, size is different too."
"She added that after looking at Betty."
"Beatrice is tiny and adorable, one of a kind, so that's fine. More importantly, how can you call me your master when your eye for appearances is that sloppy!? You've got the wrong person!"
Taking advantage of Shaula's excuse, Subaru hurriedly returned the disreputable label that had been stuck to him all this time. That established that they had nothing in common, but it did not mean he could relax.
"Oh. I didn't recognize Master by his appearance, so no problemo~"
"If it wasn't my appearance, what was it? My aura?"
"Your stink. Nobody but Master could give off such a dark, choking smell that it twists my nose and still be fine."
"I've never been hurt this badly before! What, do I stink that much!?"
The moment the key word "stink" came up, Subaru braced himself.
But what Shaula said next shattered that resolve in a single blow.
"Why are you angry? Oh, because I said it was choking? Don't worry! You really stink, Master, but it's not the gagging, puking kind. It's a weird smell that makes you want another sniff!"
"What kind of girl says 'gagging' and 'puking'!? And that clarification doesn't help at all!"
Subaru covered his face with his palm, so mortified that he nearly burst into tears on the spot. "What even is this... I thought I was getting used to people saying nasty things about me, but this level of insult is just too much. What did I do..."
"I-it's okay, Subaru. I understand. Why don't you take a nice bath later?"
"You don't understand at all!"
As Subaru sulked in floods of tears and Emilia kindly comforted him, Ram, irritated by the exchange, intervened.
"Anyway, now that the hairy one has given permission, answer the questions honestly.-You're Shaula, but not the 'Sage.' In that case, do you know the 'Sword Saint' and the 'Divine Dragon'?"
"The Sword Saint and the Divine Dragon?"
"Their names are Reid and Volcanica."
"Ugh!"
At Ram's words, Shaula stuck out her tongue with a look of distaste.
"You know them?"
"More than know them. I've known Reid the 'Master Swordsman' and Volcanica the cynic for ages. I haven't seen them since we parted. Are they doing well?"
"Reid died. A long time ago."
"Seriously!? That unkillable guy really died!? How!? Did he pick up something weird and eat it!?"
"He reached the end of his lifespan. No one can defy their allotted time."
"His lifespan... Ahh, right. That makes sense. Reid was human, after all."
Upon learning that her old friend had died, Shaula lowered her eyes forlornly. Perhaps it was just their imagination, but even her ponytail seemed limp, and she looked lonely with her head hanging.
"Then, is Volcanica doing well?"
"He's a dragon, you know."
"I see. Volcanica deserves to die more than Reid, though. It would've been nice if he'd died first~"
"Hey, that's pretty harsh."
But her loneliness lasted only a moment before she switched gears and disparaged another old friend. She even looked refreshed afterward, prompting Ram to close one eye thoughtfully.
"Let me ask again. Just who is the 'Sage' who was supposed to be here-your master?"
"-? What a strange question. You're with him, so don't you know?"
"Unfortunately, your master hit his head on a toilet bowl, so his brain no longer works properly."
"Why did it have to be a toilet?"
"Master, you did it again..."
"Again!?"
Under Shaula's sympathetic gaze, Subaru tasted needless humiliation. Shaula seemed to accept that answer, however, and sprang to her feet.
"Then I'll announce it myself. Master's name... yes, he's also a great wise man of tremendous renown! If anyone in this world deserves to be called a 'Sage,' it's Master and Master alone!"
"Skip the introduction!"
"But chances like this don't come around often~. Still, that's Master for you."
Shaula, who had been building suspense with exaggerated gestures, stuck out her tongue at Subaru's request. Then she poked her own cheek, continuing her childish antics. Her master's name was-
"-Flugel."
"...Huh?"
"Master's name is Flugel. The 'Great Sage' Flugel is Shaula's master."
As Shaula puffed out her ample chest and spoke that name, her voice brimmed with affection. She gazed tenderly at another man named Natsuki Subaru, then respectfully pointed him out to everyone.]
The image in the Sky Curtain slowly faded here, like a thick book gently closing. But the silence that followed was more deafening than any clamor.
At the same time, the patterns on the surface of the astrolabe in Ubilk's hands dimmed slightly, as though it had just released something it had stored for a long time.
He lowered his head and examined every mark on the old instrument, as though checking whether it was still intact.
"This is..."
His voice was a little lower than before, as though he had laid down some burden,
"-the earliest trace of the Curtain Light Project."
No one answered him immediately. The long silence in the hall was like a cooling mist, settling heavily on everyone's shoulders. Several breaths passed before anyone spoke.
And the voices that followed sounded heavier than before, as though weighed down by that memory spanning four hundred years.
Faced with Ubilk's storytelling-even though he had talked until his mouth was practically cracking from dryness-everyone could only maintain a watchful, contemplative attitude, trying every possible way to make these stories make sense.
Almost everyone found it inconceivable.
Such an enormous amount of information brought more than hope. It still aroused doubts in some, for words alone were no proof.
Even if the information revealed on the Sky Curtain did indeed corroborate the facts-the Watchtower's guardian, Shaula, truly did treat Natsuki Subaru as the "Sage" Flugel.
"Ubilk,"
Vincent's voice rang out in the silence, like a stone thrown into still water,
"This idea of yours is quite novel. Such a grand, sprawling heroic epic and love story is certainly moving. It truly is a shame you never became a storyteller. But have you actually confirmed this idea-or story, rather-with those involved four hundred years ago?"
Naturally, Vincent remained skeptical of anything not yet fully clarified. Of course, he also detested this so-called Stargazer and wanted to take the opportunity to needle and mock him.
These prophets prided themselves on knowing destiny, on knowing everything, yet in the end, he was still the one who had to clean up their mess.
He toyed with the oni mask in his hand and watched Ubilk, the scrutiny in his gaze more pronounced than before.
Distrust was one thing, but he knew perfectly well that the information Ubilk had brought explained far too many things he had never understood.
"Still, Mr. Ubilk really has provided us with... a tremendous amount of information,"
Otto rubbed his temples and gave a wry laugh,
"Though I'll need a little longer to get my head around it."
As the Emilia camp's internal affairs officer, Otto was accustomed to organizing incoming information into a framework as quickly as possible.
His clever mind raced as he pieced together the clues from the Sky Curtain and the astrolabe-
The Sky Curtain had appeared because of the Curtain Light Project, jointly devised four hundred years ago by the "Sage" Flugel-Natsuki Subaru-and "Star Eyes" Vigel.
Its purpose was to save Satella, the "Witch of Envy," and completely destroy Pandora, the "Witch of Vainglory," who sought to rewrite the world.
As a dear friend, Vigel had sealed all his memories inside the astrolabe, helping Flugel activate the project through its inheritance by generation after generation of his descendants.
And to keep Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, from discovering the entire four-hundred-year project, he had willingly allowed a friend who had stolen part of the Authority of Vainglory to erase his existence.
Relying on an inheritance passed down through generations of descendants, all to help his friend across hundreds of years-such deeply moving friendship filled Otto with admiration.
"Such sincere friendship between Lord Vigel and Mr. Natsuki Subaru... it really is enviable."
Otto spoke softly.
He did not look up at anyone, as though he were only saying it to himself.
In a sense, he really was speaking to himself-because he suddenly remembered the stumbling trust between himself and Subaru, and that black-haired young man who always charged to the front despite understanding nothing.
He had never understood why Subaru always knew what to do and where to go. Now, at last, he knew.
But Petra, another of Natsuki Subaru's companions, was clearly focused on something different from Otto.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her skirt, her breathing unconsciously quickened, and even her cheeks flushed faintly-as though flustered by finally discovering some important clue she had missed.
"So! So does that mean Satella, the 'Witch of Envy,' was already... Lord Subaru's bride four hundred years ago?!"
Petra's puffed cheeks flushed red.
At first, hearing the legendary tale of Subaru and the group of world-savers had delighted and amazed her, but the longer she listened, the more wrong it sounded-someone had already gotten a head start on her and Lady Emilia four hundred years ago.
She thought, Honestly, Lord Subaru! He usually seems so clumsy, so how can he be so... so good at making people fall for him when it comes to romance!
"Subaru..."
Emilia stood at the edge of the crowd, her gaze resting on the blank space left after the Sky Curtain faded, her voice so soft she seemed to be speaking to herself.
She felt much as Petra did, but at the same time, she felt even more sympathy for Satella's circumstances-indeed, a sense of kinship in their shared misfortune.
Satella had finally managed to be with the person she loved, only to be persecuted by schemers with ulterior motives, forced to absorb a Witch Factor, and transformed from an ordinary, kind girl into a calamity upon the world.
And her beloved had been forced to seal her away with his own hands, leaving them separated ever since.
Emilia knew that Subaru would always stop at nothing to save her and the companions around him, making all manner of efforts and attempts unimaginable to ordinary people-no matter what danger he put himself in.
Since Satella had been Subaru's beloved when he was the "Sage" Flugel, and he had even come four hundred years into the future at any cost to find a way to reunite with her-that truly was Subaru, and something only he could do.
She suddenly remembered that long ago, when Subaru first told her, "I'll always be by your side," there had been a similar light in those black eyes, as though brought from somewhere very, very far away.
At the time, she had not understood where that light came from.
Now she felt she understood a little-that light might have been a conviction spanning four hundred years, though he himself had forgotten its source.
And that was precisely the Subaru she had fallen in love with.
Emilia was delighted that Subaru was now her knight, and that this knight named Natsuki Subaru had always loved her.
But she absolutely could not become complacent and stop moving forward because of that.
On their way to the Sage's Tower, she had sworn she would never let Natsuki Subaru's eyes and attention remain solely on that girl Rem. She absolutely could not lose to Rem.
Although she still did not know exactly what had happened between her knight and Rem, she knew that the Authority of "Gluttony" must have played a part.
But she could tell that Natsuki Subaru cherished this girl just as much as he cherished her, certainly no less than he did the adorable Beatrice he had brought out of the Forbidden Library-his eternal companion, bound to share life and death after forming a contract with him.
Now, before they headed to the imperial capital, she had discovered that Satella, the "Witch of Envy," was also among those residing in Subaru's heart. She could relax even less.
After learning this truth, Emilia also worried that Natsuki Subaru might have fallen in love with her because she looked just like Satella. After all, for a very long time, she had simply accepted Subaru's love and help without understanding why, and only after the Sanctuary incident ended had Natsuki Subaru finally become her personal knight-but Emilia was certainly not a selfish person, nor did she want to become one.
So if, during those times when she still could not understand or help Subaru, someone else had shared his worries and pain in her place and found their way into his heart-Emilia would be sincerely glad.
Thinking about it that way, Satella and Rem must have played that role when she could not, sharing the pain brought upon Subaru by his ability called Return by Death.
So, for the sake of the person she loved, she too would work even harder, so she would not lose to the other two, betray her knight's expectations, or fail her own love!
As she thought this, Emilia's fingers involuntarily curled into fists.
Her eyes filled with a deeper resolve, as though she could finally see the road ahead clearly.
"So that means the captain's biggest enemy is Pandora, the 'Witch of Vainglory'!"
Garfiel could not help cracking his knuckles, seemingly ready to fight at any moment, his anger plain on his face,
"That rotten bastard put the captain through so much! Once we've dealt with all this crap in the Empire and found the captain and Rem, I'm gonna avenge him myself!"
"Calm down, Garfiel."
Ram's voice snapped coldly from beside him, but there was no real anger in her pale red eyes-it seemed more like a habitual way of concealing her concern.
Her thoughts were far more complicated than her words:
That idiot Barusu has been carrying this weight for four hundred years, unable to tell anyone... If Rem learned about this, she'd make that irritating face she always makes when she worries about someone else.
"Looking for a fight? Then hurry up and get to the imperial capital instead of making a racket here!"
"A brute who knows nothing but swinging his fists is foolish in the extreme."
Priscilla shifted position again on her chaise longue, the hem of her red gown swaying slightly in the light like a slowly burning flame,
"If, as that Stargazer claims, the root of all this truly is some 'Witch of Vainglory' named Pandora, then with an Authority like that, ordinary force cannot possibly resolve this."
Still, a beauty was a beauty. From any angle, she looked enchanting. She brushed aside the orange hair that had fallen over her shoulder, her gaze sweeping slowly across everyone's faces before settling on the empty space where the Sky Curtain had faded,
"The key remains that man. Nat-su-ki Su-ba-ru-that was his name, yes? A splendid story, quite beyond my expectations, one might say. His name has now earned the right to be remembered by me."
"Our immediate priority is still to meet up with Barusu..." Ram pressed a hand to her forehead helplessly and sighed, her voice carrying a weariness she had not shown in a long time,
"That idiot has been shouldering so much all alone..."
At some point, Vincent had put the oni mask back on. No one knew what he was thinking.
The mask concealed every expression, but the eyes visible through its openings were deeper and graver than before.
He was recalculating the course of the game, reassessing the weight of the man named Natsuki Subaru.
He had once thought Subaru was merely a foreigner with outrageously good luck, an outsider accidentally caught up in the Empire's struggles. But now he realized that Natsuki Subaru had been standing on a higher chessboard than his from the very beginning.
He had always thought he was controlling the situation, only to discover that he was merely a piece in another, larger game.
"Bro..."
Al had already withdrawn to the side to rest. He leaned against the wall, his voice so low that he seemed to be speaking to himself,
"What you're carrying... it's just too much. Now even I don't know what to say."
He reached up and touched his helmet. The iron felt cold and hard, as heavy as the thoughts inside it.
He had thought he knew enough-about Subaru's secrets, about what made him unusual. Only today had he learned that what he had seen was merely the tip of the iceberg.
"But even Teacher... couldn't escape the clutches of Pandora, the 'Witch of Vainglory'?"
There was a rare uncertainty in Al's voice. He thought of Echidna, the "Witch of Greed" acclaimed as omniscient and omnipotent-his teacher.
If Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, had been manipulating everything behind the scenes, had his teacher's will at the time truly come from his own judgment, or had it been guided by some higher power?
Al's fist slowly clenched at his side, relaxed, and clenched again.
For the first time, his "mission to follow the star" felt like a joke-he had believed he was following the star's guidance, but what if that star itself had already been rewritten by Pandora?
If everything he believed in was merely a square on a chessboard someone else had carefully arranged-then what did that make him?
"If the blame for throwing the world into chaos was forcibly rewritten and transferred by Pandora, if Satella, the 'Witch of Envy,' was actually innocent all along-then what does the mission Teacher gave me... even mean anymore?"
His voice grew quieter and quieter, until he could barely hear his own final words,
"Bro, you've really given me a tough one... By all rights, the Sky Curtain and everything Ubilk talked about shouldn't even exist!"
He took a deep breath and forced himself out of the thoughts he was sinking ever deeper into.
"Things started going wrong back in the Demon City. By all rights, no matter what, that power should've swallowed at least the entire Crystal Palace. So why did it disappear after swallowing only half the city this time? Surely it wasn't a poor appetite..."
He paused, as though remembering something,
"The explosion from Tanza's Soul Marriage Technique definitely couldn't have been the main reason. Then it could only mean-she's already been freed. Your plan really got me, bro!"
Al looked up toward the roof, as though speaking to someone who was not there.
"It's all the 'Witch of Vainglory's' fault!"
He said it loudly, as though summing up the entire matter.
A brief silence fell over the hall. Everyone was digesting that weight in their own way-the promise from four hundred years ago, the erased existence, a love that crossed time and space, a secret project still being carried out.
Outside the window, the Sky Curtain had gone completely dark, but everyone knew it would light up again. Because the Curtain Light Project was not over yet. Because Natsuki Subaru was still somewhere far away, making his way toward the finish in his own fashion.
And they-whether present or absent-had to reach him before he reached that finish.