Chapter 124 - x

It was not just a blind reliance or abandoning logic.

She didn't assume she didn't have to think about anything and just do whatever Subaru said. Subaru could be wrong, and he might have trouble or stumble or even fail sometimes.

But correcting him, giving him a shoulder to lean on, and helping him were just more expressions of her trust in him.

"Subaru said that Regulus's wives held the key to Lion Heart…"

Touching her lips as she slipped into thought, she went back over the explanation she had heard from Subaru again.

Stopping time, his heart not beating, his wives being crucial, Regulus being a bad person—all these factors were swirling in her head.

Authorities were mysterious powers that were different from and more special than blessings.

"If only I knew more about blessings…"

Unfortunately, Emilia didn't have a blessing, so she didn't have intimate knowledge or experience of what it was like to have one. It would have been nice if Otto or Garfiel were there to explain, but there was nothing to do about that.

She tried to use her imagination to make up the difference, envisioning a meaner, worse Otto and Garfiel to try to get closer to Regulus, who had a power that was more unique than a blessing.

"A bad Otto…would refuse to talk things through, or stay up all night, or always pester Frederica and the others…I guess? And a bad Garfiel would scratch up all the walls maybe…?"

That was the limits of her imagination in picturing the two of them as bad people. They were just too good to begin with, so she couldn't imagine them being evil.

" "

While she was struggling with that, Sylphy and the others were arguing about various theories, trying to uncover some weakness of Regulus's.

In terms of numbers and wisdom, Emilia couldn't see herself making a difference in their discussion. So she chose to leave the realm of things that could be theorized from experience and analyzed by thinking it through to the people who were most experienced.She decided she should try to reach for any points that couldn't be reached in their discussion.

"—Right."

Suddenly, her violet eyes shot open, and she hit her hand as she had a flash of insight.

Spreading her slender, pale fingers, she asked something of the lesser spirits gathered in the chapel. In response, the lesser spirits slipped under every one of the women in the building. As they answered back one after the other, the very last spirit gave her the response she was looking for.

"I knew it!"

Emilia suddenly shouted in a loud voice, causing Sylphy to spin around.

Noticing her reaction, she started to walk over to Emilia.

"What is it? Did you realize something?"

"Ummm, ummm, maybe! There's something I want to double-check, though. Could you help me, Sylphy?"

"Of course. I'll assist you however I can."

Emilia was getting a bit flustered, but Sylphy nodded reassuringly and put her hand on her shoulder. The other women all nodded, too, standing up straight and waiting to hear how they could help.

Emilia nodded back.

"Okay, then—please excuse me."

"Of course, go… Eeep?!"

Sylphy's obedient expression fell apart the moment Emilia did something totally unexpected. After a brief moment, Sylphy's snow-like cheeks slowly turned red.

That was an entirely reasonable reaction because Emilia had put her hand right against Sylphy's breast without a moment's hesitation, touching the bare skin beneath the dress and running her hand all over Sylphy's chest.

"—Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

"Eh? Um, uh? This is, eep, ummm…"

"Please stay still. This is really important."

"I-important? What is…?"

Sylphy's face turned red as an apple while Emilia had her way with her. But Emilia was entirely serious, and she paid no heed to Sylphy's embarrassment.

"I'm checking the sound of your heart."

"My…heart…?"

Sylphy's expression froze at that unexpected response. Emilia nodded in confirmation.

"Just now, I asked the lesser spirits to check the flow of everyone's mana.

And your heart was the only one that seemed strange…"

"It's a little scary to be told that about my heart…"

But she seemed to realize the situation was serious despite Emilia's odd choice of words. And as the rest of the women around them wore worried expressions, Emilia carefully examined her pulse.

Placing her hand firmly against Sylphy's breast, she focused, listening to the one-two, one-two of her pulse.

The heartbeat conveyed unease and tension, and as she felt it with her hand, Emilia realized something. There was an entirely different pulse intertwined with Sylphy's heartbeat— "How awful."

After a moment of reflection, Emilia instinctively understood what was happening.

At the same time, she was painfully aware of the true impact of the meaning behind Sylphy calling Regulus a little king and Subaru saying the world he ruled was a kingdom.

Regulus's Lion Heart was merged with Sylphy's heart.

In other words—

"Regulus can attach his heart to the hearts of the people he has decided are his wives!"

5

Subaru's death-defying attempts to stall for time had already lasted for more than ten minutes.

"Focus! Focus! Focus!"

Breathing heavily, his mind raced as he concentrated every function of his mind and body on evasion.

Drawing a rather miraculous flight, Subaru managed to barely escape the destruction Regulus spread and still keep running.

Pristella's third district was a terrible sight to behold after he and Regulus had passed through.

The famous picturesque scenery had been utterly ruined, like a miniature display broken by a child's tantrum, and there were pockets of flooding from all the broken waterways.

But even so, it was a mark of pride for Subaru that he was following the map in his head, avoiding the shelters so that the people of the city wouldn't be caught up in Regulus's violent rampage.

"In consideration of your caliber, why don't you just give up and let yourself die already?!"

"Graaaaaaah!"

The merciless kick crashed through a dreadfully beautiful building. It lost balance and crashed helplessly into all the houses around it. Intentionally dashing into the rising dust cloud, Subaru used the improvised concealment to escape Regulus's eyes as he continued to run away on a battlefield now devoid of readily usable traps.

It was a flight that took advantage of Regulus's pointless obsessions. The Archbishop of Greed despised the idea of his enemy dying somewhere where he couldn't see it happen. It was an expression of his twisted need for recognition that he had to prove his strength by crushing any who opposed him head-on and watching them break before his eyes.

Because of that, Regulus could be stalled by intentionally leaping into a smoke screen.

"That's right—keep following me, dumbass! I'm not scared of you!"

Subaru kept running, lobbing taunts at a Regulus who he couldn't see on the other side of the thick clouds.

This was the correct way of fighting Regulus. All the people who had fallen trying to destroy Greed had been defeated because they were brave. They should have been weak and frail and focused on running away like cowards the whole time.

If they had, they wouldn't have lost to such a pathetic man.

"Every last one of you! When will you figure it out! We're different! Everyone is born possessing different qualities! You can't hope to match or reach a complete person such as myself! Just accept that you are lacking, find some satisfaction in that realization, and then die!"

"—!"

Subaru gritted his teeth bitterly as a shock wave suddenly crashed into him from an unexpected angle. He couldn't avoid it completely and got blown away as the destruction it caused spread.

And—

"Ha! You had your fun running around all you liked, but when you finally

did fall, it was over all too soon."

Breaking through the cloud of dust, Regulus appeared, his face twisted into a proud, triumphant smirk. Before him, Subaru lay on the ground next to the rubble of a building, groaning with his face half covered in blood.

"Agh…"

"Well, that's just how it goes. It was destined to end this way. Considering the gap between you and me, perhaps this is just the natural result that was always bound to occur. Now I don't have to irrationally preoccupy myself with you any longer. Ahhh, three cheers indeed for a world made right."

Regulus made a show of crushing the rubble underfoot as he walked over to where Subaru lay, as if to say Subaru's head would be next.

"By the by, do you not find yourself terribly presumptuous? There have been more than a few people like you who got all riled up trying to defeat me. But none of them managed to leave even a scratch on me. That's what happens when you wish for something beyond your ability. It is natural providence."

Feigning his own lack of worldly desires, the Archbishop of Greed was confident in his assessment that excessive avarice was what invited destruction.

Greed gave rise to vain conflicts, and desire for possessions spawned an endless thirst for more, which simply led to the ultimate tragedy. He was babbling about how a lack of desire was actually the most precious thing, about how honorable poverty was the way of life people should aspire to.

Not that he lived by those words. He simply forced that lack of desire onto others.

"It's a wonderful thing to be content within yourself. A man's reach should not extend his grasp. To do otherwise leads to nothing but destruction. No one ever learns anything, though. You are all incorrigible fools. It is a sad thing in truth."

Regulus ran his hand through his white hair, basking in the dramatic moment.

The lamentation in his voice was not fabricated. He quite genuinely grieved and pitied the foolishness of Subaru and everyone other than himself.

And with that pitying gaze looking down from on high, Regulus glared at Subaru, who was struggling to breathe.

"Now, tell me where that unfaithful woman is. Do so, and I shall grant you an easy death. I don't have the sort of proclivities that inspire me to torture my enemies to death. I told you, did I not? I am a merciful man."

"If you're so merciful…you wouldn't…use your power…on your brides…"

"Hmm? Ahhh yes. So you realized that much? You're a cunning man. My Lion Heart… Where did you hear that anyway? …But in the end, it still

amounts to nothing more than one more vain struggle."

Instead of getting enraged, the corners of Regulus's mouth curled upward after hearing the ragged response from Subaru. He was in a good mood, smiling scornfully at Subaru's struggling.

"It is true, my Authority is related to my wives. My condolences, though, because you cannot reach my wives, and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to do anything."

"…Because they won't betray you?"

"It's much simpler than that—I have entrusted my most precious heart with my wives. Neither I nor my wives know who among them carries it." Subaru was speechless at his casual indifference.

Regulus's Lion Heart—in order to keep that power active, he also needed his Little King power. Subaru's analysis had been correct on that point. However, the form of the connection between the two was far more malicious than he could have imagined.

"My wives' rights are equal, my love for them is equal, and the responsibilities they bear are divided fairly among them as well. That's the bare minimum requirement for a man who takes multiple wives, is it not? I love my wives so much that I quite literally entrust my heart to them."

"If none of them has realized it, then…"

"No one pays attention to the beat of their own heart day in and day out, after all."

Seeing that villainous smirk again, it finally dawned on Subaru. The crafty way that Regulus hid his heart. It was simple and effective, and more than anything, there was no way to combat it.

"It is a wife's job to manage her husband's wealth. But I am not a greedy man. I do not possess the sort of meaningless wealth that rubes like you get so obsessed over. So what I gave my wives is my very self. The ultimate expression of love, wouldn't you agree?"

The very idea was hideous.

Regulus acknowledged the vicious betrayal he had perpetrated as if it was entirely natural, without a trace of malice or the slightest pang of guilt.

His evil surpassed what Subaru had imagined. When he sent Emilia to the chapel, he had given her a handful of different theories to work with for trying to solve the riddle of Regulus's Lion Heart. But he had not envisioned this development.

"…There's a way to deal with this. But there's no way Emilia can do it."

If the explanation Regulus had given with that shit-eating grin was true, then there was one way to neutralize his power. Subaru could think of a way. If he could get the message to Emilia, then it would theoretically be possible to defeat Regulus.

The problem had nothing to do with finding a solution, though. It had to do with actually carrying it out.

—Because it meant choosing to kill his wives.

"Hah? What are you…?"

Regulus looked confused as Subaru let out a deep breath and slowly stood up.

Subaru, who had collapsed and been struggling to breathe, righted himself and brushed off his clothes and then slowly wiped the blood from his face. Regulus was shocked, but Subaru just shrugged.

"I was just playing dead…well, playing almost dead, I guess. I got cut on the forehead, and the blood made it look a lot worse than it really was, so I figured it was worth a shot."

"—!"

"I had faith in you. I was sure you were the sort of idiot who would start monologuing if you saw your enemy on the verge of dying."

And Regulus had played right into his hand. All it had taken was spreading some blood over his face and acting like he was barely holding on. Thanks to that, he had gotten confirmation of Regulus's power. Even if it was a terrible thing to know, it was better than staying in the dark.

"How much of a fool must you make of me before you're satisfied?!"

All of the superiority Regulus had been oozing just moments ago was gone, swallowed up in a rage as he charged straight at Subaru.

Despite his amateur stance and bearing, his speed was beyond all reason. Every once in a while, Regulus had displayed an ability to instantaneously accelerate that had shocked even Reinhard. However, now that Subaru knew what his power was, he also understood the trick behind that.

"Fgh!"

That moment, he unleashed all the power he had built up in his right leg, not hesitating as he leaped to the side, dodging in the exact way he had planned before even standing up. Since Regulus could only dash straight forward, his attack completely missed.

Regulus's superhuman change was also an effect of stopping time for his body.

By freezing time for his body, he could prevent all physical phenomena from interacting with him. That was the crux of his power. That meant freedom from every possible concept that might hold him back.

By freeing himself from gravity, air resistance, and conservation of momentum, Regulus gained an extraordinary source of power. But the fact that he didn't use it more often was probably because he couldn't fully control it himself—

"Don't mess with me! Who do you think I am?!"

"The dictionary definition of an absolute piece of shit! I have to let Emilia know…"

Dodging Regulus's latest attack, Subaru flipped the howling villain off and then spun around.

He had finally pinned down Regulus's Lion Heart and Little King. He just needed to get the information to Emilia somehow. Get her the answer to make a choice.

In order to save the town, to save Emilia—

" "

Turning around, Subaru's gaze went to the part of town where the chapel was.

In all his running from Regulus, the chapel that had been so far away had managed to start coming back into view. It was just a few streets over.

Then something dramatic happened just as he was picturing the valiant effort Emilia was surely making inside.

"—Ah."

—Where the chapel should have been, a tower of ice suddenly shot into the sky.

6

Sylphy's heart and Regulus's heart were merged.

That was the conclusion Emilia had reached about his power after confirming Sylphy's unnatural pulse.

Unsurprisingly, a nervous, uneasy mood swelled in the air when she said that—

"M-my heart…and…?"

Sylphy, in particular—the one whose heart had become host to Regulus's pulse—was in shambles.

She blanched, and if Emilia had not supported her, she might well have collapsed to the floor. Her already naturally pale expression turned a pallid, sickly color as she tried several times to speak before finally getting the words out.

"There's no…mistaking it?"

It was a whisper softer than a baby bird's warble.

Even knowing that it would be a painful truth, Emilia nodded.

"…The lesser spirits said it was a weird heartbeat, and I could feel it with my palm, too. I could hear something overlapping with your heartbeat."

"…How much must that man trample on people's hearts…!"

She clenched her chest as her voice quivered with rage and hatred. And then—

"I see. So in the end, I should have just done this from the start."

"—! Wait! What are you going to do?!"

Sylphy's face warped bitterly as she reached down to the ground.

Her white fingers picked up a shard of glass that had once been a part of the chapel's broken windows. There were hundreds of them scattered all around from when Reinhard's first attack had destroyed half the building. Picking it up, Sylphy smiled as she held the sharp edge to her neck.

"How ironic. I spent so long studying that man's moods because I didn't want to be killed by him… All so I could read what he wanted like a book."

"Did Regulus tell you to…?"

"No, no, that isn't it at all. His scheme was something else entirely—he was constantly pushing his own weakness onto us, the ones he called his wives, in order to force this choice."

Emilia couldn't understand what Sylphy was saying as she smiled almost self-deprecatingly. But she realized that Sylphy shouldn't be allowed to look like that. It was not the sort of smile she should have, and there was no reason she had to experience something that made her feel that way.

"The only way to stop that man's heart is to stop my heart along with it. Would any good person who heard that really be able to make that choice?"

"—Ah."

"I suppose he would probably say something like 'not even death can tear us apart.'"

Having it spelled out that explicitly, Emilia finally understood Regulus's evil intent. Sylphy had deeply studied his personal brand of malice after years of living with him. Because of that, she also realized that there was no escape—

"No! Please wait! There has to be another way. I'm sure if—"

"There is no magic solution to this. That man would never provide any sort of way out. There is no way to stop only half of a heart."

"How can you just give up like that?! I don't want that! If I just let this happen… Then why did I leave the forest in the first place…?!"

Sylphy had already made up her mind, and Emilia's pleas echoed hollowly.

Another victim? Another person who couldn't be saved because of Emilia's ignorance and lack of strength?

Just like everyone in the forest. Just like Fortuna and Geuse.

People around her were giving up their lives in order to make up for Emilia's shortcomings.

"Being chosen by that man, being carried off…they were truly miserable days."

While Emilia desperately searched for another way, Sylphy's voice regained its calm. As if she had made her peace with the end that awaited her.

Step by step, in order to bring those long misfortunate days to an end.

"I was so desperate not to invoke that man's anger. I overlooked all that man's injustices, just trying to protect the newer wives…the girls who were in the same boat as I was. Just like the wives before did for me."

That was the real reason why Sylphy had taken the initiative and acted like a representative for Regulus's wives.

There had been others like that before her, too. Someone who had stood at the head in order to protect the wives who had triggered Regulus's temper and lost their lives to protect the rest of the group. Sylphy had inherited that will, and that was why so many of the current wives were still alive.

Indeed, the fact that Emilia was able to be there like that was because of Sylphy's determination, too.

"Even if that man trampled my heart, he wouldn't meddle with my body… If he had corrupted both, I wouldn't have been able to take it. Because of that, I endured everything that man said, as well as his voice and his awful treatment. I endured and endured and endured…and for what!"

Sylphy bit her lip as she stared up toward the heavens. There were tears in her eyes, and even the tears themselves seemed to have a violent, burning anger to them.

"That man violated my body so nonchalantly! I thought at least my body would be left alone! But he couldn't even give me that much! We were always that man's slaves!"

The tears fell as blood seeped from her hand that was clenched around the glass, her fingers quivering in anger as it bit deeper into her skin. Her face twisted in pain, but her lips softened in satisfaction at the flowing blood.

"That man would consider us worthless and kill us if we got even a single scrape. 'A woman with a scar is unworthy.' So this cut is proof of my freedom."

" "

"You haven't done anything wrong. I am grateful to you. But there is no better way than this to get revenge for everything that's happened, for all this time."

Overwhelming Emilia, Sylphy pressed her bloody palm to her chest. As her dress was stained crimson, she looked to the other women who had been Regulus's wives and said what was on all their minds.

"I'm sure that man's heart will move to someone else when I die. There's no way it wouldn't. That man would never be hung up on any one person and has no favorites. Because the only one that man could ever love is himself."

"—Yes, that's right."

One of the other former wives nodded.

It was an agreement with what Sylphy was saying. And the woman with wavy brown hair who said it stepped out of the pews and picked up a shard of glass just like Sylphy.

Her eyes were alive with emotion again as she reflected on the hard days she had been forced to live through.

"I've wanted to die countless times before. Telling myself that going on like this couldn't really be called living. In which case I would rather just meet my family again sooner on the other side…"

"The only reason I didn't already do it is because I didn't want to die… Even if death would free me from this misery, it was scary to imagine the nothingness swallowing me up."

"But if dying…if my death can cause that man even just a tiny bit of pain…if my death won't be in vain, then…"

One after the other, the women walked out from the pews and picked up shards of their own. They advanced as if those sharp points of glass represented hope for them. As if to say that Emilia's words had allowed them to find hope, to find a purpose for their lives.

"…There is no mistaking that that man does not have any other wives than us. He is not clever or careful enough to hide one away. As his wife, I can guarantee that. So let's end this with us." Sylphy paused for a second. "Ironic, since our existence as his wives itself is proof of his sins."

And then, with trembling breath, Sylphy bowed her head in Emilia's direction.

"I beg of you—make sure our rage reaches that man. We rejected that man even though he wanted us. You are the only one we can turn to." Sylphy's earnest plea wounded Emilia gently yet deeply.

When she said that, she and the others gripped the shards of glass in their hands and held them to their necks. They all were united as they— "—Wait."

Emilia interrupted their resolute decisions.

Having been silent throughout, there was a strength in her voice. That extended beyond her emotions as physical hands of ice extended from the floor and held back all their arms.

She forcefully prevented them from cutting their own throats with the shards of glass.

"Please understand! I appreciate your sentiments, but there isn't any other way!"

Sylphy's eyes went wide as she struggled against Emilia's interference.

They couldn't see any way to get vengeance except through their own deaths. They couldn't hurt Regulus without using up their own lives.

That was the conclusion she had reached. So for that sake, they had to stop their own hearts. They had to die. Emilia understood the painful answer they had arrived at. And to disprove that conclusion, she had thought and thought and thought as hard as she could in order to find some other way.

So—

"I'm sorry. It's not that."

"What…?"

"I wonder if Subaru would have thought of something…but I'm not smart enough. Even after thinking really hard, I couldn't come up with any other way. So…"

Countless pale gleams danced in the air around Emilia.

The sparkling lights were the lesser spirits materializing after having gathered mana. They filled the entire interior of the chapel, an enormous number, creating an almost divine spectacle.

Sylphy gulped at the fantastical scene that had sprung up around them as Emilia continued.

"I will stop your hearts."

" "

"I won't make you cut your throats. I won't force you to suffer through something so terrible."

Emilia slowly raised her arms as the lesser spirits surrounded her arms.

A snow began to fall in the chapel, piling up on all their shoulders and at their feet.

It was the kindest and cruelest magic that only Emilia could perform— "I'm sorry. This is the only way."

"Please don't apologize."

Sylphy exhaled as she guessed Emilia's intention.

Behind her, all the other women were of the same mind. They all looked at Emilia and as one said:

"Thank you."

"—!"

Those words were the last ones spoken.

The next instant there was a pale-blue gleam that filled the chapel, and there was a crackle as the atmosphere froze.

CHAPTER 4

LILIANA MASQUERADE

1

"Lady Priscilla?!"

Liliana's scream filled the plaza in front of the control tower that was surrounded by red-and-white flames, which kept out over a thousand rioters.

Priscilla had held the upper hand against Sirius up until that shout.

In fact, Priscilla had charged forward at unbelievable speeds, and her sword had been just on the verge of removing Sirius's head. The slash had contained tremendous power, and Liliana had been holding her breath, watching it unfold.

But a mysterious phenomenon had happened that should not have been possible.

" "

Priscilla had closed in so fast, but her momentum slowed, as if time itself had turned against her.

It was a common trope that time seemed to move slowly just before death, and Liliana had experienced it herself more than a few times when she had been on the verge of starving, but this time it affected only Priscilla.

As a result, Sirius suddenly had a chance to leisurely pull back her chain and hit Priscilla while she was defenseless.

"Lady Priscilla! Lady Priscilla, Lady Priscilla, Lady Priscilla!"

The gold chain's force needed no description. The stone pavement around the plaza had been torn up by the fighting thus far. If Priscilla suffered a direct hit without any opportunity to soften the blow, her beautiful visage— and not to mention her life—would be in danger.

But right as Liliana cried out, Priscilla spun her body as she flew through the air and thrust her Sunlight Blade into the ground to kill her momentum.

When she stopped, she looked up.

"Calm thyself. I am unhurt."

"E-ehhhhh?! But how?!"

The chain had left no visible injury. And just as Liliana started to think that Priscilla had escaped unscathed, one of the three jewels in Priscilla's necklace suddenly shattered. It seemed very much like it had taken the damage Priscilla would have sustained—

"…Compensation for my necklace will not come cheaply."

"I see—so you are able to have things that you value take damage in your stead? Well, well, that is rather haughty, a truly prideful way of life… No, that can't be, can it?"

"A boorish supposition and the pinnacle of unjust suspicion. Summing up the totality of the discourtesies you have perpetrated thus far, not even ten thousand deaths will be enough to atone. An incandescent flame that burns without end will spell your doom."

Sirius's tranquil stance was unchanged while Priscilla's intensity and ire rose in unison. The shine of the Sunlight Blade in her hands increased gradually as well. The sword had been glowing a bright red, but it gradually grew more and more brilliant, until it was a bright white like pure sunlight.

There was no mistaking that Priscilla's temper was directly related to the attack that had just happened. But it felt like her true anger was connected to the exchange that had preceded that attack.

"'Iris and the Thorn King'…"

And then "Teleos's Rose Knight" and "Magritzer's Gibbet."

That was what Sirius had said, but they were all names of quite famous stories. They had all long since been turned to verse, and Liliana had even earned her daily bread performing them before.

So why had Priscilla flared up after hearing the names of those stories?

"Please don't be so angry. It's tiresome to get so angry, and it leaves your heart so parched, doesn't it? Wrath is the most detestable emotion in this world. Emotion is what fills people's hearts… They should be joyous and at ease. Would you really disagree with that?"

"Th-the people out there sure don't seem to be enjoying themselves."

"Hmmm?"

"W-wait! D-did I just say that out loud?!"

Sirius's curious gaze flitted over to Liliana, who had interjected without thinking. The dark-purple eyes peering through the gaps in the bandages met Liliana's gaze, and the Songstress immediately felt her knees start to tremble.

Sirius smiled faintly at that excessive reaction.

"It's true. Right now their hearts are influenced by unease and grief. It is a sad thing, but…at the same time, it is also proof that people's hearts are filled with affection and love for others."

"Wh-what?!"

"Under the influence of my power, people become able to open their hearts to one another in a true sense of the phrase. With that, they can share the emotions they are feeling, things that can't be put into words. People are noble creatures capable of empathy and sympathy. They can understand the feelings of others. They can share in the same grief that someone near them experiences. And by overlaying all that understanding, it becomes possible to share in all feelings—a truly mutual understanding, which is the natural first step toward love."

There was ecstasy in Sirius's eyes as she expounded on love.

—Her logic was a sweet poison.

Even knowing it was a poison, many gave in to temptation when they came face-to-face with its sickly sweetness, which weakened their resolve as they wished desperately for salvation. To brush it off required an unbending sense of self like Priscilla.

Or else…

"Eh? Are you stupid?"

Liliana looked up at Sirius as she said that.

"…Huh?"

"Are you perchance an utter idiot? Ummm, can you not see them? The people around us? Can you not hear them?"

Liliana gestured to the surroundings with her lyulyre as Sirius's eyes widened in shock. The people on the other side of the white blaze, the milling crowd unable to clear the burning waters. They had lost all selfawareness in the overflowing, unsolicited torrent of emotions, battered by impulses and completely in Sirius's thrall.

"You call that understanding one another? Is that what empathy is supposed to look like?"

As a minstrel, Liliana's ears were special.

She was capable of hearing the unique voices of a thousand people at the same time. There was an infinite variety of voices that could be similar without being exactly the same. And the same was true for emotions.

Because people could laugh even when they were sad. And every smile was different.

And yet…

"It's disgusting."

A manufactured equality, a forced synchronization, the implanted idea that being the same was a blessing.

To her ears, it all sounded like a hideous, abhorrent grudge.

"Don't you dare call that understanding. Manipulating people by forcing emotions on them isn't empathy—it's absurd!"

Liliana's shoulders were heaving as a visceral loathing welled up inside her.

"If you really want to share your emotions with someone, then just shut up and listen to my music!"

She was breathing heavily. Sirius was stunned by the force of her response, by the rejection of her venomous temptation. Stunned that it had been brushed off not by Priscilla with her steely individualism but by Liliana. And not out of some formidable sense of self but by the minstrel pride that drove Liliana.

" "

Looking at Liliana as she breathed raggedly, Sirius suddenly swung her arm.

The chain that followed let out a roar as it hurtled at Liliana's head. It was a powerful attack that would surely split her skull, but it was knocked down before ever reaching her.

"No room for talking anymore? You've finally revealed your true self."

"—Ah?"

Sirius's eyes widened as Priscilla sneered and spun her Sunlight Blade, batting away the golden chain.

"That urge to silence all that is inconvenient." Priscilla's smirk deepened, and she seemed pleased. "Did the Songstress get to you even more than I did? Retreating to coarse violence like that is the lowest form of evasion."

"…No. No, no. No, no, no. That's…that's impossible. I would never act

on impulse like that. That's right—there must be a deeper meaning…"

For the first time, Sirius's composure cracked. She put her hand to her face and started muttering madly.

She seemed to want to explain her own impulsive action. But just like Priscilla said, there was not really any other explanation besides Liliana's inconvenient response had touched a nerve.

"Allow me to explain it for you. There was no reason. Just now, you heard something that was disagreeable to you. And that enraged you. That's all it was. Just cheap wrath."

"Do not sully my and that person's wrath! It is nothing so tawdry!"

The golden chains clanged in response to Sirius's rage once more. Priscilla still wore a mocking smirk on her face as she spun her Sunlight Blade and met the attack, advancing while parrying. Intense sparks exploded as the stones of the plaza flipped, exploded, and cracked beneath the force of the dance between sword and chain.

The golden chains flashing in the night sky, the white blaze that didn't burn, and the unvoiced cries of the people.

And at the center of it all, the crimson woman and the mysterious woman covered in bandages swung, glared, and tried to kill each other—

"Wrath is the one and only irreplaceable gift I received from my husband!

The treasure that he chose for me and me alone…!"

"All you were given by your husband was anger? That's quite the joke. I have had eight husbands, but they all plied me with gift after gift in order to keep my interest."

"Eight…! Even though I've spent so much time trying so hard to connect with just that one man's heart!"

"Do not blame me for your own lack of charm. Indeed, I question whether that pitiful man you loved even had eyes for you."

"The two of us forged deep bonds and loved each other with our whole beings! Argh!"

Revealing a rage far more intense than any other yet, flames engulfed Sirius's entire body. The bright red flames spread from her arms to her chains, and an intense wave of heat washed over Priscilla.

The chains clad in flame snapped at her incessantly, like fiery snakes chasing their prey.

Swallowed up in the resulting fiery blast, even Priscilla had no way out.

She was sent flying by the violent explosion, but she thrust her Sunlight Blade into the ground, refusing to fall.

The jewels on her necklace audibly shattered, and then the clasp itself burst, leaving her neck defenseless.

"That man and I loved each other deeply! But he was a faithful, upright, and sincere man, so he couldn't abandon partway that which he had already started! There are far too many harlots who mistake his sincerity for innocent love and simply bask in his kindness! Ahhh, ahhh! So aggravating, so deplorable, so horrid!"

Priscilla had prevented most of the damage she would've sustained at the cost of her necklace. Meanwhile Sirius's swelling rage seemed like it could grow without end, summoning a swirling scarlet inferno in response to her intense emotion.

Its power would turn any half-hearted resistance to ash in an instant.

"Why must you all so heedlessly batter my heart?! An intense, hearttrembling emotion, namely Wrath! Those trembles become a roaring flame that incinerates criminals along with their sins! Is that what you wish for, you self-satisfied vixens?!"

"Where do you get off with that prattle, fool?"

Sirius swung her arms, setting the serpents of fire roaring above her head as the Wrath she hated so engulfed her. The chains crackled, clad in a red flame, burning everything in their path as they closed in on Priscilla.

" "

Priscilla's Sunlight Blade thrust up into the head of the fire snake. A destructive crash that didn't sound like the clash between a sword and chain resounded, and the fire snake missed its target, causing a violent explosion where it lashed into the ground.

Dodging through the fire and the dangerous fragments, Priscilla closed the distance with Sirius. Chasing after her, the fire snake wrought destruction each step of the way, forcing Priscilla to focus on defense.

Priscilla soon fell into a disadvantageous position, no longer on the offensive, as if she lacked the means.

"—No, it's me?!"

Liliana, who had been watching from the sidelines ever since her forceful condemnation earlier, finally realized it.

It was not that Priscilla lacked ways to attack. It was that she was stalling

for time because of Sirius's power, in order to avoid the massacre that would occur if she simply sent Sirius's head flying then and there.

For the arrogant, vainglorious, self-centered Priscilla to do that— "You impossible-to-understand, voluptuous…!"

Liliana stomped in frustration at how much Priscilla concealed herself and her thoughts. For her to focus on stalling for time when it was so unsuited to her was a testament to how much she trusted Liliana's song.

"So annoying! If you like it, then just say so already! Wait, she did say she liked it before, right? Damn it! Arrrgh! —Lady Priscilla!"

"—Oh."

After plenty of pointless talking, Liliana called out to Priscilla and signaled one point. Noticing that, Priscilla's red eyes narrowed. And with a malicious smile that didn't pale in comparison to the Archbishop she was fighting, she nodded.

"Don't look away from me! Not when my Wrath is about to scorch you to the bone!"

"Do not assume I need my full attention to deal with the likes of you. You have no place to comment on what I do."

Catching the intense chain of fire against the flat of her blade, the pavement beneath her shattered from the unbelievable impact. The next instant, she leaped into the air, landing right next to the burning control tower.

She thrust her Sunlight Blade at the foot of the tall burning tower.

"It is an unsightly blaze, so allow me to demonstrate how it is done, as the trailblazer of fire."

Touting a sense of aesthetics for arson incomprehensible to anyone else, Priscilla transformed the flames.

The bright red blaze that had shrouded the control tower became the same white-hot inferno that was still burning the canals. Unlike Sirius's sinister fire, it almost seemed to give off a holy glow.

A beautiful white flame that anyone would hesitate to sully— "The stage is set—now amuse me."

"Leave it to me!"

Liliana ran at full speed toward that tower of flames that regular folks would hesitate to touch. Seeing that, Sirius, who at this point was erupting in rage at every little thing, reached out toward Liliana's back.

"What are you doing to the light of love I share with him?!"

"Courting someone by setting fire to an entire building is the sort of ridiculous gesture a villain in a story might think up, and you should probably

stop doing things like that! Ha-ha! I said it! I actually said it!"

Liliana laughed as she ran while Sirius's chain homed in on her back. But she never looked back. She didn't pay it any mind at all.

Because—

"—Whatever she does, she does with my approval. Withdraw at once, fool."

Running past Liliana, Priscilla stood right in front of the chain. Her Sunlight Blade swung horizontally, scorching the air in its path while cutting down the fire snake that hung over Liliana's head.

As the flames scattered, Priscilla slipped through the shower of sparks and clashed once again with Sirius. Ignoring the crashes and bangs she could hear behind her, Liliana finally reached the burning tower.

"Agh, I'm already tired after just a little running. I've taken it too easy since settling down here…!"

When she had been a traveling minstrel, sleeping out in the fields and on mountains had been an everyday affair. But after indulging in the easy life in Pristella, she couldn't even fall asleep without the help of a soft bed anymore.

"This is all his and everyone else's fault."

Kiritaka had stopped her in this city, welcomed her as a diva, convinced multiple people to pamper her, and then Kiritaka had pursued her with a zeal that made even Liliana recoil.

Because of that, Liliana's legs were grumbling. It was bad enough she couldn't call herself a traveling minstrel anymore.

—Time to remember what it really means to use these legs again.

"Ghhh!"

Steeling her resolve, Liliana held her lyulyre as she leaped into the burning tower. In an instant, her little body was surrounded by an unbelievably intense heat. But she didn't scream out in pain from the heat licking at her body. She refused to do something that would hurt her throat. "—gh, gi…"

The white flame enveloping the tower mercilessly seared Liliana's spirit. But that was all it did. The fire didn't burn her skin, hair, or lyulyre. It was a merciless yet kind flame.

The white inferno burning on the water had not burned her skin either when she touched it before. The same thing was occurring with the flames consuming the whole of the tower.

Priscilla's flames were a pure white that burned only what she chose— they were symbolic of Priscilla Bariel's own character.

Because of that, Liliana was free to race up the burning tower once it had been transformed from a red to a white flame.

However, it was still deadly hot. It was painful and agonizing. She wanted to writhe in pain. But she didn't burn, she was not scorched, and she was not going to die.

Even though she could swear her eyes would melt, her tongue would sizzle, her hair would burn, her skin would char, her bones would burst, her flesh would sear, and her consciousness would fade, she was undoubtedly safe and sound. Her only purpose was singing—

" "

Gritting her teeth until they grated, she ran up the tower.

—One floor, two floors, how many floors does it have?! Where's the roof?! Where am I?! There're just hot, hot, white flames to the right and left. Why do I have to suffer like this? Hot! Suck it up! Too hot!

"—Aaagh."

She wanted to scream at the extreme heat. She wanted to scream her lungs out.

But that was the one thing she couldn't do. Otherwise, her throat would be ruined. She couldn't give up her voice or ruin her fingers. If her fingers melted, she wouldn't be able to play her music.

Eyes, skin, and hair were fine, but her throat, fingers, and ears were not. She needed them for her music.

Finally emerging from the stairs, she kicked open a particularly thick door and was greeted by the night sky unfurling in every direction before her eyes. Ignoring the swirling heat beneath her feet, she ran over to the edge almost in a daze.

The wind was blowing strong, and down below, she could see a red figure and a white figure spinning dangerous things and lots and lots of people crying out near the ring of white flame.

Liliana was so, so very hot and felt like she might die at any moment.

She was in the eye of an inferno. The bottoms of her feet were so scalding hot, and the white flames only grew stronger with each gust of wind, forcibly piercing her heart with sadness. Biting down on it, she faced forward— "Sniff, sniff…a-all right, this is a once-in-a-lifetime big-time stage!" It was so hot and painful, she was sure she was going to die.

She had pressed on even while thinking that. Because she could look out at everyone from this vantage point. Because her voice could reach everyone from this stage.

It felt like she was going to die, but there was still something she had to do before she died—

"Hear ye, everyone at the back! And those up close, watch my dance closely! And for those way in the back, I'll be raising my voice, so you listen, too! Liliana Masquerade shall perform a song and a dance for you! Lend me your ears for 'Beyond Daybreak'!"

—I'll cram all these feelings into it!

2

As it turned out, Liliana didn't remember what had compelled her to first take up singing.

Liliana's family—going back to her mother's mother and her mother before her, and even her mother before her—had been a family that traveled the world without staying long in any one place and singing wherever they decided to rest their heads.

Traveling minstrels grew bored quickly and staying put for long was bad for business. Living like a tumbleweed drifting wherever the wind blew was far more suited to their lifestyle. There were some who gathered into groups, forming a troupe to perform their acts, but Liliana was not really the sort to enjoy being one face in a crowd. She didn't hate being around other people, but it didn't fit her character, either. Frankly, she would just end up breaking up with a group over differences in sound.

Because of that, Liliana had set off alone, just like her parents had in their youth.

She left the nest when she was just thirteen. Even for a family of minstrels, a group notoriously happy to live and let live, setting out at such a young age was still considered quite early. If anything, it was terribly rash.

"Who asked you?! Who wants to waste away in a place like this?! You two do what you want! I'm going to the city!"

And as a result of that minor squabble, Liliana followed her dream and flew the nest. At the tender age of thirteen, she had broken up with her family over differences in musical ideals.

The reason it had come to that was because of Liliana's psychological maturity back then.

Around when she turned ten, all she wanted was to be independent. Not out of rebelliousness toward her parents. If anything, it was the opposite. By the age of ten, the young Liliana was incredibly developed. Her heart had been set aflutter by the countless tales of adventure her father had played and her mother had sung. Her inspiration was the innumerable tales minstrels had passed down through the generations.

At the time, the people who appeared in her mother's songs were like idols to her. The more she grew to know their adventures and challenges, their fights and loves, their conflicts and self-restraint, the more unbearable she found being stuck in one place.

Not when the people I knew so well through songs could live so freely.

To the ten-year-old Liliana, the heroes and legends of myth and song were her friends.

The urge to walk the same roads they walked, to see the same scenes they saw, to be out under the same sky that they all peered up at. The urge to experience some of what they had lived through consumed her.

If anything, she wanted to congratulate herself for enduring those urges for three whole years.

Motivated by the passion welling up inside and her one-sided sense of comradery with the characters in those stories—after metaphorically stealing her father's lyulyre playing technique and her mother's singing voice and a great many famous songs and then physically stealing the legendary lyulyre passed down in her family as an heirloom—Liliana set out into the world the night she turned thirteen.

"Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha! I'll show you, Mom and Dad! I'm gonna be the queen of minstrels!"

Her parents hunted her down through the mountains for three days and three nights, but after finally shaking them, Liliana won her freedom at last.

That night was the beginning of Liliana Masquerade's great adventure.

—Thinking back on it now, my parents had been holding me back at the time because of how much they loved me.

From the age of ten, her parents had crushed her ambition to go out on her own with all their strength. They pointed out where she was lacking in skill, laughed out loud at how lazy she was about studying the songs, and occasionally they even made her go without food.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! A little slip of a girl like you is a decade too early to be going out on your own! I'm not going to share this rabbit I trapped with such an impudent brat!"

"Oh dear, what a shame! And today's rabbit meat made such a nice stew! I feel sorry for any child who refused to listen to her parents!"

For better or worse, they were still her parents. They had surely been troubled when Liliana left.

"We can save on food costs now! That girl always ate a bit too much!"

"With Liliana gone, hmm, maybe we could have another child, ha-ha-ha!" They had to have been troubled. They must have regretted it. Surely… And that last family spat had been their final gift to Liliana.

By cutting off her escape route like that, they had steeled her resolve so she wouldn't give up easily, since after parting like that, it would be so hard to come back home after giving up on her dream. That was surely what it was.

People grew weak when they had a way out. The existence of a place to go back to would naturally transform a fiery challenger's spirit into a weak flickering ember. And that went doubly so for traveling minstrels. The two fundamental supports that anyone could fall back on were their homeland and their family, but for a minstrel without a homeland, reliance on family could become all the more powerful.

Severing that bond was the greatest trial in the quest for true independence.

When Liliana was drinking muddy water, eating blades of grass, and feeling weak as she curled up in a burrow she had stolen from a wild animal and whimpered about wanting to go back home, she realized what her parents had been doing for her.

If her spirit had broken there, the current Liliana wouldn't have existed. She would have just put away her lyulyre, found herself an acceptable husband, gotten married, and maybe had a dozen kids or something.

—And what a hell that would have been.

"Ah."

And later in her travels, she happened to cross paths with her parents in the street of a town, which had been really awkward. All the more so because they were holding a little girl in their arms who Liliana didn't recognize. She had to assume it was probably her little sister, but she didn't stop walking. She just straightened her back, held her head high, and walked past her parents without hesitation or shame while tears poured from her eyes and her nose started running.

She didn't say a word to her parents and didn't introduce herself to her little sister. But that was fine. That was the life Liliana had chosen—the life of a traveling minstrel who set forth in the embrace of her songs.

And when the day came that she was famous the world over for her singing, her parents who were always quick to follow popular trends would surely start bragging about her. And the first victim would undoubtedly be that sister whose name she didn't know.

—And that's a grand enough dream to shoot for, isn't it?

"Ha-ha, that's a story to set a breast all aflutter. Not that I have much to be fluttering, though!"

And with that reaffirmed resolution, the maiden Liliana continued on her path at the ripe old age of seventeen.

3

Now twenty-two, Liliana had been on her own for nine years—naturally, the road she traveled had been filled with hardship, and it could hardly be said to be smooth sailing.

Particularly right after she had first set out, when she had almost died in the mountains just two days after she vowed to become the minstrel queen. She had been picked up by a merchant caravan that happened to be passing by, and if they had not hired her as a maid, she surely would have perished alone in the wilderness not long after.

They were traveling merchants who plied their trade across the lands, and she accompanied them for a time.

Fortunately, they were a well-trusted group of merchants and were welcomed in every town they visited. Taking advantage of that, Liliana began her career as a minstrel with a lyulyre in one hand. Those days were mainly spent singing by the side of the road to earn her daily keep. She still carried around the first gift she received after a performance as a charm.

After around a year of this, the band of merchants broke up, and turning down a marriage proposal, Liliana set out on her real solo journey this time.

She encouraged herself by declaring that her time in the shallow waters was now over, and the legend of Liliana Masquerade would begin anew.

Setting aside questions of when exactly it started the first time.

The years of suffering, hardship, searching for hidden treasure, and patronage from people in power can be charitably omitted.

Basically, a great many things happened. The world was a cold, lonely place for a singer all on her own without the support that came from being a part of a merchant band or a member of a famed family of minstrels.

The admonition her parents had given her when she left—that her dream was not an easy one—was something she understood deep in her bones by now. But a major turning point came for Liliana when she realized how the world really worked.

—The realization that the heroes and heroines in my songs, the people I thought were my friends when I was young, are actually just complete strangers and entirely unrelated to me.

There was no great revelation or moment of enlightenment. It was just something she sort of realized one night.

As she wavered on the verge of death, suffering from stomach pains and fever after getting sick from eating grass for sustenance during one of her struggling moments, it suddenly clicked.

The people I knew in those wonderful stories would never have ended up like that. Because their stories were already over.

The days they had spent coughing up blood, dreaming, shouting, and swinging their swords were long past, and Liliana was just a thief scraping the surface of their lives and then telling that story to other people.

Liliana loved them, but they couldn't love Liliana.

Her feelings were indefinite and worthless, entirely one-sided, and most importantly, they were looking backward at a dead end with no way out.

So what am I? What is a minstrel?

It was only after she had run away from her parents, while boasting she would become the minstrel queen, and after having lived as a minstrel for several years in her own way, that Liliana realized that she was a fraud.

That was her first real setback. The shock was comparable to having her nose and teeth utterly shattered.

" "

Liliana's pain, fever, vomit, and diarrhea continued for three days and three nights.

Troubled by her realization, in dreams and in a fuzzy reality, Liliana thought long and hard about her identity.

On the fourth day, Liliana woke up feeling better. She washed her face in a small brook and drank from it.

The face she saw reflected in the water looked different, changed. She could hear the grass swaying in the wind, the brook babbling clearly, and the insects and birds chirping cheerfully.

—And when I just naturally heard that all as a song, I broke into tears.

Liliana sobbed, unable to stop the tears overflowing from her eyes and unable to contain herself as she leaped into the river.

The insects, birds, and fish were shocked, and the wildlife burst into song as Liliana's head broke through the surface. That day she laughed and cried and laughed and cried.

Descending the mountain and going into town, dirty from the mud and water, Liliana stepped out into the road to begin a performance.

Everyone avoided her, disgusted by the shabby-looking girl holding a lyulyre. The owner of the shop she had stopped in front of looked upset, and the people traveling along the road all looked annoyed as well.

If she had stood there for just a few seconds more, some heartless person would almost certainly have tossed her aside.

But she was quick to begin her dance. Not because there was any guarantee she wouldn't be kicked aside if she didn't start at once.

—I just wanted to start singing as soon as I could.

" "

The moment she first strummed her lyulyre, several people there probably noticed it.

She looked shabby and dirty, but the well-worn lyulyre and her hands that strummed it were both scrubbed beautifully clean.

There was no knowing how many noticed, though.

But what is certain is that anyone who noticed forgot it and everything else in the next few moments.

" "

Liliana's performance began, music swelling at her subtle and graceful command, and every person on the street stopped what they were doing and held their breath.

In just that one instant, everyone was hit by a sense of a dramatic transition, stunned by the cresting wave that crashed against their hearts.

Their eyes were entirely focused on the shabby-looking girl who had stood up to dance. And basking in those gazes, Liliana imagined looking down at herself from a bird's-eye view, seeing herself become impassioned as she stood on the stage, pouring all of her being into the music.

She focused and focused and focused, and just as she reached the upper limits, she began to sing.

That was true music. Everything else she had sung before was something else entirely.

She rediscovered all the famed pieces she thought she once knew. That feeling broke through and spread.

The people she had thought of as irreplaceable friends who were always at her side left her behind, ascending into the sky beyond. And with a bright and clear heart, she sang, seeing them all off.

A song was a gift. She was nobody to her old friends from the songs that had been passed down through the generations.

And that was fine. Liliana understood that as a minstrel. And having understood that, she would continue to sing.

She would travel to every corner and brag about them. About just how great a group of people had once lived and breathed in this world.

She would go around and talk about how she had for a time misunderstood and thought of those wonderful people as her friends. And someday, she would become close with truly amazing people, so that she could go around bragging about how amazing her actual friends were.

" "

By the time she finished her song, Liliana was weeping.

The people who had been listening in mute shock were crying and sniffling, too.

A thunderous round of applause filled the street, and Liliana Masquerade became a minstrel on that day.

Liliana's affair with music had continued ever since.

4

Liliana sang from the top of the burning control tower as she remembered the first time she had sung after setting out on her own and then the first time she had sung as a true minstrel.

An intense, reckless emotion similar to those moments was swirling in her breast.

She wanted so desperately to sing. There were too many things she wanted to put into words and set to music. Even though she was in the middle of a performance, she wanted to keep going more than anything in the world.

It was like a sickness.

The white flames that burned only what they elected to burn were still roaring unabated. The ruinous aspect of the fire didn't afflict Liliana, but the incandescent heat continued to torment her. It felt very much like the soles of her feet were being burned, and her body was still clamoring from the exertion of having run all the way up the burning tower. It was a terrible anguish that made her want to break down and cry out in agony.

But she couldn't do that. And rolling around in pain would just be a waste. There were people below her who would listen to her song, and her voice existed to sing, not to cry.

" "

The song she sang was not one passed down by her mother or anyone in her family.

In the sense that one of a minstrel's duties was to share stories from generation to generation, her performance was a failure, but it was the song that Liliana had accepted as her first gift, when she had realized that the whole world was filled with the sound of music.

The new morning was approaching, and crimson gold already started filling the sky.

Liliana loved the sky that revealed itself at the start of each brand-new day, driving away the night.

And the blue sky that overtook the crimson-gold sunrise, bringing true morning in its place.

The sky that lay beyond daybreak.

Because no matter how dark the night, morning would always come.

The clear blue on the other side of the sunrise that signaled the beginning of another day—that sky would come again for everyone.

" "

Chaos still gripped the city. In their unease and grief, many people were unable to move. And in that dark night, unable to see or tell what was going on, everyone was trying their best to keep up their spirits.

Liliana sang of how despite the struggle they faced, morning would come again.

Her fingers flew across the strings of her lyulyre as she sang and danced. She used every last bit of room on the top of the tower to make sure people could hear and see her.

But sadly, Liliana's voice couldn't reach all of them.

It was not a matter of raising her voice. Some of them were simply too far away. And the crowd below was restless, too. No matter how much she poured into her song, there was a physical and psychological wall that she couldn't overcome.

Liliana believed in the power of music.

But sound could only become music once it actually reached someone's ears.

How many people were there around the plaza, faltering under the weight of tremendous anxiety and grief? Hundreds? Thousands? Liliana had never entranced such a large number all by herself before.

The average person didn't have the means or the tools to amplify their voice to reach countless people all at once.

Liliana's attempt was reckless, and her wish was too far out of reach.

Was she being foiled by harsh reality again? Was she just being reckless like her parents had said when she was ten? Was it just history repeating itself?

The power of music was real, but was she still a fake?

Am I just going to let it end like this?

Just when that resentful thought was about to scorch her throat—

"Liliana—sweet diva. Prithee, captivate me with thy singing for all eternity."

" "

The absurd pickup line of a very foolish man crossed Liliana's mind.

He was a strange one. Put bluntly, he was eccentric. Calling him a pervert was probably more accurate.

There had been many others who had approached Liliana with wicked intentions after they heard her singing. But Liliana had kept her distance from all of them. She refused to lend her voice to anyone who had ulterior motives that went beyond an earnest devotion to music. That was her pride and duty as a minstrel.

"I have been captivated by your beauty. Please stay by my side!"

But he was the first to try to get close to her out of base interest in her appearance.

He didn't find out that Liliana was a minstrel until after he had already tried his best to woo her. When it happened that she was singing before him, his focus was on her face and chest and legs more than on her singing, and honestly, in addition to it being unpleasant, she had even felt alarm bells go off in her head.

But it was not as if he was unmoved by her singing, either, even though he didn't attempt to hide that his feelings were for Liliana herself.

He both had strong feelings about Liliana's appearance while also understanding her singing, and upon learning more about her character, he had not recoiled or shunned her.

So—

"I want to have you to myself. But your voice must not be monopolized. The diva's voice for all and Liliana for me. Is that too much to ask for?"

When he suggested using the metia so that all Pristella could hear her singing, he had worn such a carefree smile.

It left her marveling at how innocent and unassuming his smile could be.

Unfortunately for him, though, if that was his idea of a pickup line, then he's out of luck because my greatest struggle was trying to not crack up on the spot.

Liliana knew all sorts of stories of love that had been passed down through the generations. She was an expert when it came to love.

She knew all about men and women who grew excited and lost themselves in the throes of passion. She was well versed in what words allured, what attitudes made hearts flutter, and how to make budding love bloom.

She was not so naive that she would fall for such a clumsy line.

I'm not that naive. I'm not. But I really did like the ring of the word diva. Even if it is so wonderfully over-the-top that I can't quite bring myself to puff out my somewhat lacking bosom in pride.

Because he—Kiritaka Muse—believed that Liliana could be a diva.

Because he made her this town's diva.

"My sweet diva, Liliana. Your singing can bring happiness to everyone!"

" "

Reach, ring, resonate—

No matter how black the night, even if it's so dark that you can't see in front of you.

The morning will still come. Just like always.

Believing that more strongly, more loudly than anyone, she sang.

The song of Pristella's diva, Liliana Masquerade.

" "

As she sang and sang and sang, Liliana didn't notice a small change.

Her ears could no longer pick up the moans of countless people whose hearts were being ruled by others' emotions.

The people gathered around the burning canals who had been whimpering in pain and grief were looking up at the sky. No, not at the sky—they were looking up to the fiery control tower where they could hear a song.

They couldn't take their eyes off the singer. All their attention was focused on their ears, and every last one of them could hear her voice.

The voice that should not have been able to reach them was setting their hearts ablaze.

It was not a miracle or a mass delusion. And it was not an unintentional effect of the Archbishop's ability to share emotions.

This was the awakening of Liliana's heavenly gift, the blessing of telepathy.

The blessing that had until that moment been a simple boon to Liliana transformed into a true power inside her, taking root and growing.

It was a divine manifestation of musical power supported by her true strength as a singer and her resolve to lay everything on the line in that moment.

Of course, Liliana was not aware of it herself.

And there was no one there who could wreck the mood of the moment and tell her the truth.

Liliana was just singing with all her heart and soul.

She was just putting everything into that one moment, pouring everything into her song as a true minstrel.

And the voice of Pristella's diva rang out in the night.

5

"—My eyes did not deceive me."

Holding a Sunlight Blade that glowed red as if a sun were embedded in it, Priscilla smiled beautifully.

The singing had reached Priscilla's ears as well.

With the control tower engulfed in white flames as her stage, Liliana's voice reached its zenith.

The fires created by Priscilla's Sunlight Blade burned only those she chose, but the heat of the fire was all too real, and the control tower was steaming hot, easily hot enough to cook meat on its now bright red stones.

Liliana's feet were at that very moment roasting from a heat so intense she had to be wishing she could just leap off the building. But there was no trace of the pain or any whimpering or bravado or excuses or any distortions at all in her full-throated singing.

She couldn't possibly be ignoring the heat, but her song surpassed any pain she was feeling. It was an idiotic thing, the pinnacle of stupidity that only a true fool could achieve. Proof that a fool with talent could bring about impossible results that overturned all logic.

"Her absurdity is most gratifying. A simpleton and a fool are similar but different things. Fools have no value at all, but simpletons can at least be amusing. And she has demonstrated a worth beyond mere amusement. As such, I shall reward her efforts."

As Priscilla talked to herself, by now familiar fiery chains howled above her head. The metallic snake shrouded in flames flailed madly around where she stood, seeking to tear through her flesh.

"A boor and disagreeable in the extreme," Priscilla scoffed as she answered in kind with an attack of her own.

Her blade drew an elegant arc as it cut down the writhing metallic serpent with ease. There was a series of light sounds, but her beautiful form was unscathed. Suddenly—

"You and that girl are a serious bother! What is she doing?! What is she singing?! The means are different, but it's the same essence! She's just proving the possibility of people understanding each other through another means!"

Sirius shouted in a spittle-flecked rage at having her own power be disrupted.

Swinging her arms, the strength of her flames increasing with her rage until she was shrouded in a crimson inferno, Sirius glared hatefully at Liliana perched high up above.

Liliana's blessing had awakened, and it was on par with Wrath's Authority.

If Sirius fell under the influence of Liliana's song, the effects would be channeled through her own power and spread to every person in the city whose heart had been dominated.

That was the true nature of Liliana's music now.

The madness was fading from the eyes of the people lining the burning canals. Instead of absurd swells of intense emotions filling their eyes, there were only tears that welled in response to the depths of their own emotions.

The cultist couldn't desecrate the meaning embodied by those heartfelt tears. That was the difference in ability between the diva and the monster.

"Why?! Why?! If it was him, if I could just reach him, I could prove it! Why must you stand in my way?! Even though people wish to join together with one and another! Even though they wish to become one! Even though that is how the world has continued, how it will continue! Why?!"

"There are a multitude of ways to interpret a single song. Even two people hearing the same masterpiece do not experience the same depth of meaning when they describe it as beautiful. For someone who clamors so much about emotion to have such a shallow understanding of something so crucial… There is no love so pathetic as one created by a fool like you."

"No oooooooone asssssked yoooooou!"

Enduring Priscilla's scornful gaze, Sirius gripped both of her shoulders. The next instant, she ripped off the bandages that were covering her body, releasing the golden chains wrapped around her torso and limbs.

Bits of flesh and blood oozed from every which place as Priscilla's expression twisted in revulsion. The now fully unleashed chains bared their true fangs.

Enduring the terrible pain of her skin being peeled, flesh being shredded, and bones being ground away, Sirius turned that flowing blood into greater flames, igniting the chains that she swung ferociously, attacking with pure hellfire.

The two long snakes of flame connected to Sirius's arms swelled with an intense blaze so bright that it banished all shadow.

"Unsightly in life and unsightly in combat. You would do well to remember that the life one lives shows in the face."

Even when confronted with Sirius's greatest display of power and hostility, Priscilla's attitude didn't change in the slightest.

"Quivering emotions, violent passions! That is fury! That is Wrath!"

Fueled by deep hatred and loathing, Sirius's flames grew, filling the entire plaza in front of the tower with a tremendous blast of heat.

The inescapable heat consumed the plaza like a tsunami, crashing down toward Priscilla to turn her into cinders.

What could the likes of a mere human do in the face of unavoidable, unstoppable flames that would burn everything?

"My will is the will of the heavens, and my Sunlight Blade cannot help but make it a reality."

Standing against the approaching wave of flames, Priscilla held her Sunlight Blade in a low stance. She stretched one leg back, dropping into a crouch as she faced off with the onrushing fire. It was the beautiful stance of a true swordswoman.

"Incinerate her!"

Sirius roared venomously at Priscilla on the other side of the wall of fire.

Priscilla simply let it pass. All that reached her ears was Liliana's singing.

"—Tear it to shreds."

Her heart swelling with the singing that was coming from overhead, Priscilla swung her Sunlight Blade upward at the encroaching flames.

It was a single swing—even if it was a legendary magical blade that possessed power beyond human understanding, it could only burn itself out helplessly in the face of such a towering tsunami of flames.

Were it not the Sunlight Blade of Priscilla Bariel, that is.

Having swung her blade upward, Priscilla's crimson figure was untroubled. She should have been swallowed up by a wild inferno that would have incinerated every trace of her beautiful figure, but there was not even a single bead of sweat on her brow.

The very hellfire that should have consumed her suddenly disappeared from the plaza.

However— "—!"

After defeating the wave of flames, her Sunlight Blade's radiance increased dramatically, but her expression also changed. Not even taking a moment to comment, she started running as if propelled forward by an explosion.

Her crimson gaze locked onto Sirius, who had turned her back on Priscilla and started running.

The monster's furious sprint distanced her from Priscilla in an instant. From the way she was running, it was clear that she had not even waited to see the result of the attack she had just unleashed. It was not a simple attempt at flight, though. From the moment she unleashed the attack, Sirius's aim was clearly not Priscilla—

"Stop that earsplitting song! I won't allow such selfish emotions to negate the Wrath I received from hiiiiim!"

Eyes bloodshot, Sirius was hurtling straight at the control tower where Liliana was singing. The white blaze enveloping it was a fire that allowed only Liliana free movement. Even if Sirius could control fire normally, the flames of Priscilla's Sunlight Blade were fundamentally different, and Sirius would surely be mercilessly burned if she leaped into the fire.

And knowing that, the monster running toward the tower was attempting to tear it all down—

"—What do you think you are doing with my property?!"

Stepping forward, Priscilla accelerated in the blink of an eye, outstripping the wind as she closed in on the monster's back. Swinging her blade overhead, she slashed down diagonally toward Sirius's slender form.

"—Ngh?!"

The moment just before the blade was about to tear into Sirius, a gold chain entwined itself around Priscilla's arm.

The chain appeared out of thin air, fixing her arm in place over her head. Priscilla's eyes widened in shock as Sirius spun around and raised her leg. The bandage that once covered the limb had been removed, and the chain binding her slender leg was bared.

"Rrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

With a hair-raising roar, the chain flew straight at Priscilla's face. Even Priscilla couldn't evade a well-executed surprise attack and was forced to take the hit directly.

The chain controlled by Sirius's leg slammed straight into Priscilla's face, flying several times faster and hitting several times harder than the ones Sirius controlled with her arms. A thunderous sound of flesh and steel meeting violently rang out, and the barrette that was holding Priscilla's orange hair went flying, letting it stream out freely.

"—You…"

Her crimson gaze pierced Sirius.

Priscilla had sustained no visible damage. Even after taking the sort of attack that should have permanently marked her beautiful face, there wasn't even the slightest of blemishes. But her pride had been terribly wounded.

Unable to fully dampen the force of it, she had stopped her advance, effectively allowing Sirius to press forward.

"Crumble and burn to ash, you frauuuuuud!!!"

In that moment, Sirius closed the distance with the control tower in a single lunge, drawing upon even more leg strength than she had used to hammer Priscilla and smash the base of the tower with her incomprehensibly powerful chain strike.

The giant serpent shrouded in flames crackled as it swung across the base of the tower. It slammed into the side of the stone tower with a thunderous crash, shattering the wall and sending the structure toppling into a gruesome sea of fire.

With Liliana still atop the tower, it began to collapse and fall apart.

" "

Her orange hair flowing behind her, Priscilla's eyes widened as she saw the tower begin to tumble. She could see Sirius's loathsome back turned to her. But she couldn't see Liliana's figure atop the crumbling tower.

However, Liliana was still singing. Even as the floor crumbled away and she was swallowed up by spreading destruction, Liliana continued to fulfill her role as a diva, still captivating the hearts of the people.

"—I approve of that resolution!"

Stepping forward, Priscilla charged straight at Sirius's back without hesitation.

If Liliana's song stopped, the people's hearts would fall again into Sirius's clutches. Making a split-second decision, Priscilla raised her glowing Sunlight Blade and took off, the stones on the ground exploding underneath her feet from the force alone.

Seeing that, Sirius's lips curled up as she hurled renewed scorn at Priscilla.

"Heartless egotist! Trying to justify your own inability to empathize, calling your deficiency superiority! Don't make me laugh! People wish for understanding and unity above all!"

"Uncultured fool!"

Having toppled the control tower, Sirius was berating Priscilla for prioritizing the enemy over saving Liliana.

Sirius leaped, swinging chains down at Priscilla with the force of stomping her leg. They crashed into the ground, followed by a delayed explosion of flame wherever they made contact, breaking Priscilla's posture in the fiery wind. She held her ground in the blast, enduring for a moment before advancing again.

Even as she got swept up in waves of intense heat, Priscilla's crimson eyes never wavered.

Sirius's wrath was the same. It had already passed the point where any other person's voice could reach her.

Both of their value systems were complete and internally sound. Because of that, they were also utterly incompatible.

There was a tremendous clamor from the leaning tower. Fragments of stone exploded out in the destruction as it belched black smoke and flames all around, transforming the plaza into an incandescent purgatory.

The people who had been at the foot of the tower fled with tears and cries as it began to fall. But the tears were not of sadness but of praise for the singing that refused to stop.

Seeing that, Priscilla—

"—To become one is love!"

"No—love is the tolerance to accept even what is different. The idea of everyone seeing things from the same perspective, thinking the same things,

and feeling the same way all the time is utterly repulsive."

There was a flash. The chains mercilessly closed in from four sides and were promptly cut down by Priscilla, who moved on instinct alone.

Her Sunlight Blade absorbed the wall of flames that erupted from the ground, knocking aside every last one of the rampaging chains. The next instant, Priscilla pushed forward as the sound of blade meeting chain was swallowed up by the cacophonous collapse of the control tower.

Cutting through that clamor, Priscilla's momentum brought her directly next to Sirius.

"This is it."

"—I wouldn't be so sure!"

The moment the blade reached Sirius, the space in front of the Archbishop's chest warped unnaturally.

Immediately after, what appeared on the other end of the distortion was a girl whose whole body was bound by Sirius's gold chain. Sirius was holding a sweet little girl not much older than ten in front of her.

"Nnnnnnngh!"

Priscilla immediately discerned that this was the same Tina whom she had heard about before the beginning of the operation and realized that she had been held captive by Sirius this entire time.

"Your heart that pities this girl! That is the sprout of love that has taken root in your—"

"Overwrought."

She realized it, but Priscilla was unmoved by her presence. Just as she had said before the operation began, Priscilla had nothing to spare for trivial problems.

Because of that, Priscilla didn't hesitate in the slightest even with the flashy entrance of a hostage. Her sword didn't falter at all, passing diagonally through both Tina's and Sirius's bodies. The red blade clad in such tremendous heat easily severed the chains binding Tina, and then a white flame erupted.

"—H-huh?"

"My Sunlight Blade burns only what I wish to burn and cuts only what I wish cut."

The chains split apart as the young girl regained her freedom. She fell to her knees on the spot, her tearstained face peering up, dumbstruck by the feeling of the sword that had gently caressed her body.

She had no dreadful wound to worry about.

Priscilla had nothing to spare for trivial problems. And so, she avoided the trivial problems by simply not cutting something she didn't wish to cut— meanwhile, behind the little girl, the filthy monster's blood sprayed.

Sirius looked down at her wound and then slowly shook her head as she gazed at Priscilla. And she cocked her head as if confused to see Priscilla standing across from her so leisurely.

"My pain…do you…?"

"Why would I feel your pain? Trouble me not with such trifling ideas like a union of hearts. You may die alone in the grips of your delusions." Priscilla swung her blade again as the monster cocked her head.

There was a tremendous sound and force as Sirius's body bounced across the pavement, spattering blood everywhere as she went flying into the waterway before making a big splash and sinking beneath the surface.

Seeing the giant spray of water out of the corner of her eye, Priscilla looked at her Sunlight Blade.

The dazzling gleam of its blade grew clouded, and the light faded from the sword.

"…The sunlight fades… The sun is in shadow? Count yourself lucky that you've managed to escape, scum."

As Priscilla muttered to herself, the collapsing tower finally finished falling. Most of the stone tower had transformed into a mound of rubble, and there was no trace left of the upper parapet where Liliana had been standing.

The tower had partly collapsed into the canal, and the singing had stopped.

"…U-ummm…"

A youthful voice called out as Priscilla's eyes focused on the mountain of rubble.

It was Tina. She looked like she was still unable to believe she had regained her freedom, but she quivered and started bawling when Priscilla peered down at her imperiously.

Priscilla sighed slightly and returned her Sunlight Blade to its sheath in the sky.

As she did, the white flames burning the waterways immediately disappeared, and the great mass of people started approaching the scene. Many of them went to the mound of rubble, searching for the diva who had presumably been caught in the collapse.

"A noisy bunch for a noisy night. This is the time for a song, and yet… To fail to meet my expectations is nothing other than rank negligence— disappointing."

She seemed disinterested, as always, but there was a wealth of emotion embedded within that boredom.

Priscilla turned away from the crying girl and looked out at the canal filled with the rubble of the tower.

"But that was not bad. I suppose I should praise your efforts."

6

Floating, floating. Just going with the flow of water. Floating, floating.

My whole body feels heavy, and I'm totally empty. Is this what it's like to be battered and bruised? I can't lift a finger.

"Ahhhh, uhhhh."

My throat is completely drained, too. I'm just a lump of bruised flesh now.

Falling into the water like this could've easily led to me drowning to death, but fortunately a minstrel's clothes are so skimpy there's hardly any fabric to absorb water, so I somehow end up floating like this.

Well, if I just keep drifting along, I'll end up carried out into the world beyond by the Great Tigrasea River, so I shouldn't stay in the water for too long, buuuut for now I shall just keep floating.

"Ayyyy, eeeee."

Still, that tower was absolutely bursting with flames. I was being broiled alive up there, so when I first hit the water, it was a nice, refreshing feeling, but I'm starting to get to the point where I don't even feel the cold, so, well, this is getting questionable.

If we're talking about questionable, though, I sort of feel like the state of mind required to just keep singing away as the flaming tower fell out from under me was maybe worse! That was pretty godlike if I do say so myself, though!

So, well, worse comes to worst, even if I just sink under the surface like this, I'll at least have won, right?

I've still got tons of ambitions to realize as a minstrel, but in a sense, I'm a woman among women who did what needed to be done when push came to shove.

Even if I didn't fulfill my dream of singing a song that would be remembered for all time, my performance must have left some kind of impact on the people who heard it in the plaza, right? Even if it becomes just a story for the dinner table, if I left my mark, then that's fine.

"Ooooh, ooooh."

Incidentally, those odd sounds I've been making are supposed to be a cry for help. Basically, a sign that hey, I'm here. Yeah. I mean, to be honest, I'd rather not die after all!

Still, though, I'm about at my limit, and a lot of things have happened, so all in all, it was a pretty fun life.

So, as I start to slip under, thank you for everythi— "—Liliana!"

"Eep?!"

That was a shock, just as I relaxed and started to slip under the surface, someone called my name. I can hear the sound of someone leaping into the water and feel them swimming close.

And a surprisingly solid set of fingers is grabbing my cute and slender shoulder—

"Is that by any chance Kiritaka?!"

"I'm glad I could meet you again, Liliana! You were adorable and beautiful floating on the surface, but it can't be good for your health to cool your throat and body too much after such a major performance, can it?"

"Wh-what a pretentious…ummm, uh, but, uhhh…"

It was Kiritaka of all people who pulled me close and rejoiced at seeing me again with such a dramatic reaction.

His hair that was always so neat and tidy is drenched, and rather unusual for him, he had taken off his shirt before diving into the water. And that smile he flashed after saving me from the verge of drowning.

It's all a little too good to be true and just a little bit awkward.

"K-Kiritaka? Ummm, the Archbishop said you were out there in the crowd, but…"

"Ugh! I—I can't really excuse myself for that. It is true that I was caught in that deranged gathering and went wild along with everyone in the crowd…"

"Ha-ha-ha—well, well, well. That's a bit shameful, isn't it…?"

It's an odd thing, but I couldn't really hide the nuanced feeling I had at finding out that it really hadn't been a lie that Sirius had held Kiritaka as insurance and that she had unleashed him in the crowd. It seemed like that boast about not telling lies had been real, but I wouldn't say, for the record, that the sum total of her flaws was not the sort of thing that could be made up for by a single virtue!

Honestly, I never want to deal with her again!

"B-but—but you were in such a terrible situation, so why are you here…?"

"—It's because of your singing voice, Liliana. My adorable diva."

"Uhyaaa!"

I couldn't help a weird squeak at such a blunt, straightforward response. Kiritaka smiled as he looked down at me, his hair all messed up from the water.

"Everyone who was consumed by the Archbishop's malice has returned to their senses by virtue of your singing. I was simply the first to rush to your side… I wonder if that could be considered proof of my love for you?"

"So brazen."

That answer was just what I'd expect from Kiritaka, and I could feel myself losing energy. I was already starting to doze off and could feel my consciousness starting to get fuzzy.

"Liliana? Liliana! Are you okay, Liliana?!"

"If you are asking if I'm fine or not, then I'm not fine at all. I'm really, really sleepy, so I'm going to take a little nap. I've hit my limit…"

It sounded sort of like someone on the verge of dying, but I don't feel like I'm going to die, so it's probably okay.

It's just, I was relieved. Though feeling safe inside Kiritaka's arms is a little, well…

"I won't die, so I'll leave the rest to you…"

"Ah yes, understood! I'll carry you to someplace safe, so you needn't worry, Liliana!"

"If you can keep your hands to yourself while I'm asleep, then let's talk a bit more…"

"Ehhh?!"

He wouldn't even think of it, of course, but just to be sure. I am a maiden after all.

Since I might just end up saying something really embarrassing when I do wake up.

—Like how I'm glad to be your diva.