”…… I don’t know how to live my own life.”
The past she told me from her own lips far exceeded my imagining.
The string of acts she’d suffered made my imagination look like child’s play.
Floné Milfonti is no hero. Her essence is self-centeredness, a devil who thinks nothing of sacrifices for her own sake.
“The self that was Reina vanished long ago…… I can’t even tell whether I brew tea because I want to or because it’s for Sensei……”
…… I see. No wonder my words hadn’t reached her.
The resolve I’d held was too tiny, too unreliable.
“I…… I’ve lived all this time for Sensei……! My family! A normal life! All of it taken from me!”
She shoved me hard, and I crashed onto my rear.
The thinness of my resolve and the weight of the words I’d cast at her — pathetic.
”…… Hey, Ouga-kun.”
”…… What?”
Reina held both arms toward me.
“If you truly think of me…… won’t you let me kill you here?”
…… Right. As she says. Death would be better——
“——Refused.”
—— That’d be the old me.
My feelings aren’t soft enough to give up for that.
If they weren’t enough — let me set my resolve anew.
With the determination to shoulder all of Reina Milfonti, I cast my words at her.
“Killing me won’t make you happy.”
“I told you!? Everything I am is for Sensei! Why won’t you understand!?”
“Because you’re crying, Reina.”
The mask that had dammed her heart was useless now.
Her real feelings overflowed.
“W-why am I crying……? I need to defeat you, defeat Ouga-kun……”
“You’re wrong. You can be free now.”
“I’m not wrong……! This is my will…… yes, it must be……”
The very person tormented by the past clings hardest to it.
That’s because at the very end, the fear of Floné planted deep in her was controlling Reina.
Then there’s only one thing I can do for her.
“Reina — fire your strongest spell at me.”
Her movement froze.
Confused, unfocused, her eyes turned toward me.
”…… You’re — serious?”
“Yes. You want to kill me, don’t you? Then do it.”
“I — I know the trick of your technique……! If you take this, you’ll die!”
“The possibility of death is not a reason for me to give up.”
I have to show resolve.
The resolve to protect Reina — from Floné, from the world’s evil.
“I told you. I want you.”
This is a battle of conviction.
The curse of for Sensei she’d guarded her whole life, against the conviction I’ve built in this new life.
I’ll triumph here and show her the royal road of Ouga Veret.
“For that, let me prove it. That you can’t kill me.”
”……”
I stood and pierced her with my gaze.
I struck my own heart hard, fire here.
“I will not fall to my knees! Not until I hold Reina in my own hand!!”
“Be quiet!!”
The embedded machinery’s hum sounded.
The fluid in the vials decreased — and proportionally, Reina’s pressure swelled.
The light converging in her palm shone, and electricity crackled along her arm.
…… A mana pressure I’d never felt before.
I mustn’t take it. Dodge — instinct screamed.
Whether I can endure it, only the gods know.
Rather than carry regret forever, dying without regret is better.
And — I have no intention of dying here.
”……Ouga-kun. Any last words?”
“None. I’ll be talking to you again shortly.”
”……I see. ……Ouga-kun. The time with you, it was fun.”
So saying, with tears falling, she released the spell to kill me.
”——[Superconductive Lightning Magical Cannon (Railgun)]!!”
In an instant, a torrent of light surged in, swallowing me.
Before I could think, impact blew every thought away.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The unleashed cannon of light shaved Ouga-kun and the wall behind him; a moment of silence wrapped the area.
A few beats later, a destructive sound that almost burst the eardrums echoed.
”…… Hah…… hah……”
A strike I could confidently say was everything I had.
Affected by my body’s mana now empty, the assaulting fatigue almost made me sit, but I stared straight at the place he’d been.
Dense dust hung; I couldn’t see him.
…… Of course. Receiving an enhanced spell like that — there’s no way to be safe.
A fact anyone would know.
I should quickly confirm the body and report his death to Sensei.
”…… This was right.”
I averted my eyes from where he’d stood and looked at the hand that had killed him.
That time was a fleeting dream I saw.
”…… Do you say that to anyone, Ouga-kun?”
“Of course not. Only to people who are special to me.”
I can forget it inorganically, like the rest of my life.
“I’m not letting you go anywhere. You will come back here.”
“For that, I’ll give it everything. By any means, with these members, we’ll meet as the Council together. We will sweep aside the difficulties standing in our way.”
I will, as I’d wished, return under Sensei and walk the life I always had.
“Understood. Then I’d like to request Reina’s tea. It really was delicious.”
…… But why……
“I want you!!”
Why…… won’t the tears stop.
”…… Ouga-kun……”
”……Ah.”
”…… Eh?”
…… Did I mishear?
A small voice, just now…… his……
I hadn’t looked downward.
I’d wanted to believe it was a phantom sound. Or didn’t want to make his death real.
“——My — win…… Reina.”
But his words forced me to raise my face.
“Ah…… aah……”
There — without question — stood Ouga-kun.
Dragging his right leg, he walked straight toward me.
His body wavering from damage, his figure was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen.
Never deviating from his path, to me.
Not angry. Just smiling gently, Ouga-kun took my hand.
”…… As promised — I caught you, Reina’s hand.”
So saying, he slumped against me as if collapsing.
I couldn’t move.
I could see, up close, the wounds across his body. His fine clothes in tatters; the exposed skin marked by jagged cuts.
All of it — what I had inflicted.
So did I have the right to be hugged by him. Was I qualified to hug him back.
When I can’t even cast [Heal], a useless thing.
My thoughts spiraled into a negative maze.
“——Reina.”
“Ah……”
All that hesitation was made meaningless because Ouga-kun stroked my head.
“Don’t worry. I’m by your side.”
The roar of Sensei’s anger and the memory of the violence she’d doused me with were burnt into my mind.
Normally just recalling them made my chest ache, but right now I wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
A warmth enveloped me as if to protect me.
“Let’s walk the road slowly. You can stay as you are, Reina.”
I had been afraid of walking a future I didn’t know where led.
If I lost Sensei as my anchor, what was I living for.
Above all — that day. The deaths of Papa and Mama and Mary would lose their meaning.
Was someone like me worth living, I’d asked myself forever.
“I want the you you actually are.”
”…… Yes…… I…… too……”
But — I won’t hesitate anymore.
“I…… want to live by your side, Ouga-kun……”
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Aaah…… my body hurts all over. ……No, half the sensations are already gone.
Well, that I have my life is something to be grateful for.
The explosion sound from Reina’s spell will draw someone here soon.
Without lost limbs, you recover.
For now, I want to feel the warmth in my arms.
”…………”
Reina, wearing a calm expression.
The match with her had been a one-or-nothing gamble.
A method of running mana through the body to enhance it — confirmed effective against magic too in the practical hall with Mashiro before the tournament — [Limit Override (Gear Change)].
I hadn’t used my full mana before, but somehow my body had held its shape.
I need to thank Mother for giving me a sturdy body.
”…… Um, Ouga-kun.”
“What is it?”
”…… What should I do for your sake……? Um…… my body is like this, but I can do things a man would prefer……”
”…… A girl shouldn’t expose her chest carelessly.”
“S-sorry……”
She visibly deflated as she rebuttoned her uniform.
…… I’m not angry, but I should mind word choice with her for a while.
”…… Don’t think hard. Live as you like.”
“Um…… just until I get used to it — a guide of some kind would help……”
“A guide…… I think — tea research. I want to drink your tea every day.”
For Reina and me, this fits.
No need to agonize.
“……fweh.”
“Hm? Did I say something weird?”
“N-no…… right. You said you’d be with me forever, so we’d have that kind of relationship…… W-what’s the reason……?”
“Your tea was delicious.”
“——Tch. ……I’m happy……”
…… So you can make that face.
Does she realize she’s wearing an expression she’s never shown before.
You’re already moving forward.
May she never forget the feeling, the face, of this moment.
“Heh heh heh. That smile suits you best, Reina.”
Sending that wish, I poked her cheek with my finger.