It was cold.
So cold that it seeped into my bones from the tips of my fingers and toes, making it feel as if my body was slowly turning into ice cream.
Instinctively, I tried to warm myself up as much as possible. I rubbed my feet together, clasped my hands, and shivered my whole body. My upper and lower molars clacked together, creating a continuous rattling sound.
My skin was already feeling warmth.
From the sensation on my skin, I knew I was wrapped in a blanket. However, the warmth only reached my surface, leaving my core perpetually cold. It was so cold I felt as though cold water flowed through me instead of blood, and ice filled my flesh instead of muscles.
Ah, so cold. Just so cold.
I wanted another blanket, yearned for human warmth, and driven by necessity, I began to move.
I opened my eyelids.
My pupils absorbed the world’s light, and I pushed myself up with my hands on the bed, rising with a surge of momentum.
The scene that flooded my vision was a nondescript wooden room. There was only a bed and a table. It wasn’t particularly clean or dirty, but in Another World, it was considered quite good. My life in Another World up until now had given me a general understanding of this room’s value.
” Huh…?”
I had just woken up from sleep.
However, my first utterance was a question.
There was no doubt a large clump of questions in my chest. But I couldn’t articulate what I was questioning, nor find the words to continue.
In this strange—yet remarkably familiar—sensation, I calmly surveyed my surroundings.
Ironically, I no longer possessed the humanity to be flustered by such things.
“First, I need to know where I am.”
Gathering information with a light flick of Dimensional Magic was instantaneous.
I understood the entire structure of the building I was in.
It was a decent inn. I was currently in a room in a corner on the second floor. The price was probably around a few dozen silver coins per night. In the mainland countries, it would be considered on the lower end, while in the Allied Nations, it would be considered on the higher end for a single room.
And among the sixteen people moving within the inn, I found one familiar face.
A Foreigner with black hair cascading down to her waist.
She was dressed in clothes from Another World, but she was unmistakably my sister.
Aikawa Hidaki was in the room next to mine.
She was just about to leave her room. My Dimensional Magic captured this.
Without time to think, Hidaki entered my room.
There was no knock. Even within a family, it was an unceremonious entry.
However, it felt incredibly nostalgic.
It was a scene I had witnessed countless times in my original world. Hidaki opening the door to my room, peeking inside, calling out to me in bed, and confirming things with me. That was now being repeated in Another World.
“—Older Brother. Are you awake?”
I replied just as I would have in my original world.
“Yeah, I’m awake… Finally, I’m awake…”
Perhaps it was the realization that I had been asleep for a very long time, but those words slipped out.
My sense of time had been vague since earlier. I was reluctant to recall yesterday’s events, and a sense of lethargy clung to me. A normal person would be overwhelmed by nausea and discomfort, but I—I was used to it.
Hidaki’s twin pupils pierced me as she observed my state.
Her two black eyes moved continuously, observing my every action.
“You still seem sleepy… I’ve just prepared breakfast. Would you like some too? Of course, there’s no white rice, though.”
“Breakfast…?”
I traced the meaning of those words with Dimensional Magic.
Breakfast was laid out on the table in the adjacent room. Furthermore, there were signs that the kitchen had been used in the inn’s dining hall downstairs. A light use of Past Sight naturally activated, and I understood that Hidaki had bought ingredients early in the morning and cooked there.
—That sickly Hidaki had taken over the meal preparations, which were my role.
Suddenly, a certain obsession took hold of me. I got out of bed and approached my sister, my voice raised.
“Hidaki…! I’ll do that! I’ll do it, so you just rest—”
“Haa, Older Brother… I’m fine now.”
However, Hidaki’s exasperated sigh stopped me.
She placed a hand on her chest and gently chided me, as if to scold me.
“All of that is finished. It’s over. …So, just as I’ve relied on you until now, please let me do it from now on. We talked about this the other day, didn’t we?”
“Ah, that… was that so…? I’m fine now… I think, thanks to Nosfy, the two of us, we are already…”
Hidaki’s illness was cured.
It was an incurable disease in our original world, but in this magical Another World, it had finally been healed. This meant I had nothing left to worry about.
With a sigh of relief, I relaxed my entire body.
“Ah, it’s over… Everything, all of it, is done now…”
“Yes, it’s over. With this, everything, all of it, is finished.”
I acknowledged it, and Hidaki confirmed it.
Hidaki wouldn’t lie about anything.
I could now perceive all human falsehoods. Not only through observation of irregularities in breathing and pulse, but also through a double lie detection, including Dimensional Magic, I could discern it even without conscious intent.
Hidaki’s blood circulation was good. Her body temperature was normal. Her physical condition was perfect.
In other words, it was truly over.
Understanding this, I responded with a quiet, solitary remark.
“…Shall we have breakfast together?”
“Yes, let’s eat together.”
After quickly tidying myself up in the room, I entered the adjacent room with Hidaki. There, bread that was soft in Another World—but hard in my world—was laid out, along with a warm root vegetable soup.
We sat at the table, clasped our hands and said “Itadakimasu” simultaneously, and began to eat.
I bit into the bread, which had the hardness of a cookie, and softened it with the moisture in my mouth. After swallowing the bread, I slowly sipped the soup to moisten my dry mouth.
The moment the liquid touched my tongue, I could discern all the ingredients of the soup in minute detail. I could also discern the cooking procedure. This wasn’t intentional analysis; it was the ingrained habit of an accomplished Dimensional Mage. However, from this information, I realized how meticulously Hidaki had prepared the soup, and it strangely pleased me, making me smile.
“It’s delicious. It’s really delicious, Hidaki… Thank you…”
“…Haa. I’m glad.”
Upon hearing my evaluation, Hidaki let out her characteristic sigh and focused on her meal.
It was a simple meal with nothing particularly noteworthy. She tore off pieces of bread, dipped them in soup, tore off pieces of bread, dipped them in soup. There was no particular conversation. It was simply a time to eat with family. Just that alone was all I needed.
Just a calm, secure, peaceful, warm meal that warmed my body… Just… just…?
A faint doubt intruded upon the leisurely time.
It was a chill in my body that the warmth from the soup filling my stomach couldn’t entirely banish—a physical coldness.
“Hey, Hidaki. Isn’t it strangely cold…?”
To that one remark, Hidaki casually replied.
“Yes, of course it’s cold. After all, it’s snowing outside.”
“It’s snowing…?”
Even while eating, I got up unceremoniously and approached the room’s window.
I pushed open the wooden board that separated me from the outside.
Instantly, a cold air that chafed against my skin gusted into the room. It was a wind mixed with a little powder snow. And before my eyes unfolded a fitting scene.
“Whoa…! Amazing…!”
It was a world of silver.
Snowflakes gently rained down from the sky, and the familiar, simple townscape was enveloped in pure white snow. All I could see was white, whether I looked up or down. My own breath was white. Only the clothes of the people walking on the street added color to the canvas.
I enjoyed the snowy landscape not only with my eyes but also with my ears.
From the soft sound of falling snow to the footsteps of bundled-up children running around joyfully.
And from afar, a melody could be heard. It was light, gentle, pleasant, and a sound of percussion instruments, like skipping notes.
“Hidaki, this tinkling sound…”
“It’s the sound of bells. It seems there’s a custom here of wearing bells. From large ones to small ones, all sorts. I sometimes see children swinging handbells.”
Because the bells were mixed in various sizes, I hadn’t been sure, but it was indeed bells.
“The sound of bells strung together, so many… This, somehow, is like…”
The unending melody made me inexplicably excited.
The town was experiencing a normal day, yet I felt like I was living a special kind of everyday life. A mix of the anticipation of new events and the reassurance of eagerly awaiting familiar ones. A exhilaration that made the blood from my heart feel thicker than usual.
“Yes. It’s just like our world’s Christmas festival. …Sigh. Tiara, you clearly heard what we said and just copied it wholesale.”
Hidaki voiced what I had been deliberately avoiding saying, with a sigh. Among her words was a name I couldn’t ignore.
“This, Tiara…?”
“Yes, Tiara did it. She said to ring bells like this when snow falls. It seems the founder of Revannism decided this a thousand years ago.”
Saint Tiara.
I know her well.
She was my companion a thousand years ago, a great person who shaped the history of these thousand years, and a girl who saved me in the world a thousand years later.
“Brother. Did you perhaps forget about her?”
However, if asked like that, I had no choice but to say I forgot.
I had spent years traveling with Tiara a thousand years ago. But, I could only recall a little of it.
Still, even with just that little bit, I knew for certain that she was my benefactor. Companion, great person, benefactor. It should be correct, but I felt a strange lump in my throat.
“About Tiara, I’m gradually remembering her…”
“Gradually? Sigh, that’s a relief. …That she hasn’t vanished into oblivion.”
“Not at all. Absolutely not! Because I met Tiara a little while ago… — I met her? It’s okay to say I met her, right? That…?”
“I heard that. You met Tiara after her ‘Rebirth’ and said goodbye, right?”
“That’s right. We said goodbye… I’ll never see Tiara again… I won’t see her again…”
A little while ago.
On Road Eleven in the country of Fuziaze, within the Allied Nations.
There, I reunited with Saint Tiara and thanked her for a thousand years ago.
And, with her strong nudge, I finally understood my true feelings—
“—! It’s, it’s cold…”
“Well, that’s what happens if you leave it open. Are you an idiot, Brother?”
The further back I delved into my memories, the colder I felt from the core of my body.
I quickly closed the wooden planks, preventing the cold air from entering through the window.
“Still, it’s sad that I can’t meet Tiara anymore…”
The cold increased.
Shrinking myself, I agreed with the emotion.
“Ah, I feel so sad… At least I understand that much.”
Suddenly, only the corners of my eyes felt intensely warm, as if tears were about to fall.
I couldn’t understand the meaning of it on my own, but I instinctively felt, “I need to hear more about Tiara.”
However, before I could ask, Hidaki stood up and efficiently began preparations for going out.
“Brother, let’s go soon. It’s time.”
It seemed we had plans to go out.
Naturally, I was to accompany her. But, I asked again for confirmation.
“Go out? Time, where are we going?”
“—You’re really still half-asleep. If we’re going anywhere, it’s the Labyrinth, of course.”
It was a place outside my expectations.
‘Labyrinth.’
The starting point of the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ a thousand years ago, a place that evokes all of a thousand years ago, a giant corridor connected to the ‘Deepest Part’ of the world.
“We are Explorers living in the country of Fuziaze in the Allied Nations, so we have to do our jobs. Or, are you going to spout irresponsible delusions like ‘I’m already rich, so I want to laze around at home with my cute sister forever’?”
It was a casual remark in everyday conversation.
…But, there were parts I couldn’t overlook.
First, the place where we are. Not the Mainland, but the Allied Nations. Judging by the quality of the inn, it’s probably somewhere around Valt. And the confirmation that it was about ‘being with my sister forever.’
The black double pupils of Hidaki, who was talking so casually, seemed to be watching my reaction.
So, I shook my head and answered her casual remark.
“No, it’s not like that. I’ll go. But, are we two people entering the Labyrinth alone? More…?”
“Of course, she’ll be helping us today too.”
As she said that, Hidaki had already left the room.
I followed her as she led the way down the inn’s corridor.
After passing the entrance reception and going outside, I shivered at the cold.
Hidaki, who had smartly put on something like a thick coat, took a muffler from her pocket and wrapped it around my neck. While feeling a sense of nostalgia in that series of actions, we stepped into the world of silver snow. It was difficult to walk due to the accumulated snow, but with our Physical Abilities, it didn’t slow us down or tire us.
We walked smoothly along the completely white street and arrived at the entrance of the Labyrinth.
It was early morning, and coupled with the weather, there were few people.
Waiting there was a single girl.
Seeing the two of us arrive, she waved her hand enthusiastically.
“Oh, Kanami! And Hitaki! You’re late!!”
From her cheerful voice and gestures, I knew it was Dia.
However, her atmosphere was different from usual. She was wearing so many cold-weather clothes that she looked like a plump squirrel. A large muffler was wrapped around her neck, just like mine, and her golden hair, which had grown longer than before, was drooping.
In her left hand, she held a handbell and was constantly ringing it with restless ‘shan shan’ sounds, just like the children we passed on the road. And, as her appearance indicated, she wasn’t even carrying a sword at her waist. She was dressed entirely as a rear guard.
“Dia, sorry to keep you waiting. Brother overslept. It’s not my fault, so please don’t blame me.”
“Ah, it was Kanami after all! Hitaki is frighteningly meticulous, so I thought it was Kanami! Anyway, let’s go quickly since we’re late! We’re leaving right away!”
Dia, who was adorably angry and puffing out her cheeks, took my hand with her free hand. While ringing the handbell with the other, she tried to lure me into the Labyrinth.
The flow of that conversation was so natural, it felt as if the two of them had interacted for several years I didn’t know about, which struck me as odd.
I stopped walking.
“Huh? Kanami, what’s wrong?”
Dia turned around.
As she moved, the tips of her golden hair that were tucked into her muffler drifted out. The length of her hair, her fashion sense, and above all, her way of speaking, were all a little softer than before. It was clear that Dia was no longer trying to be a ‘male swordsman.’
“Um, ah, well… It’s a cute outfit. The muffler looks good too. It suits you. And, the skirt as well…”
My mouth moved of its own accord.
I was pointing out that her cuteness stood out more than her coolness.
With a subtle undertone, as if asking, “Isn’t this a bit strange?”
However, contrary to my intention, Dia’s face turned completely red.
Avoiding my gaze, she replied.
“R-really…! You think it suits me too, Kanami! That’s great! Fran prepared these clothes for me! She kept saying ‘this suits you’ and ‘that suits you,’ dressing me up like a doll every day…! But it was worth enduring! You think they’re cute, Kanami! Hehehe.”
From embarrassment, Dia spoke ill of her friend.
It was typical of Dia’s way of speaking… but her words had a touch of elegance.
Perhaps it was the dignity of an aristocrat? There were fewer of the rough gestures of a boy from before.
“That’s good, Dia. …And Brother, you can die with that flirty habit of yours. What are you doing, hitting on her with your first words?”
Hidaki walked up to Dia and rejoiced in her friend’s happiness as if it were her own. However, she delivered a sharp remark to me, as if I were family.
But, I had more important things to worry about right now, so I asked Dia again, not Hidaki.
“Dia. And, the thing you’re holding now as well…”
“Ah, this? They were giving them out at Eltralyu Academy, so I took one. It makes a nice sound, doesn’t it? …I love it.”
The atmosphere was no longer suitable for asking, “Where did your sword go?” Resignedly, I fumbled through my ‘Inventory’ alone, without the two in front noticing.
But, I couldn’t find the ‘Aris Family’s Treasure Sword,’ which had originally belonged to Dia.
The only usable sword was, for some reason, the ‘Ruf Bringer.’
I was bewildered by the absence of my close friend, Rowen.
Does someone else have it now?
When did I give it to whom, and where?
As I pondered this, Dia mentioned our goal for Labyrinth Exploration.
“Alright! Then, Kanami, Hitaki! Today, we’ll definitely clear the 80th floor! I can’t wait to see what’s in the ‘Deepest Part’!”
This was important to me too.
There had been so many important things happening lately that I was easily distracted.
“Right… we decided to aim for the Deepest Part of the Labyrinth… To reach the Deepest Part, we’ve been cooperating with everyone and progressing little by little… but that’s…”
–Why?
I couldn’t remember the reason for that goal.
Until now, the reasons were “return to my original world” and “cure an incurable disease.”
But now, they were no longer necessary.
My sister was by my side, already healthy.
“Why… Brother, what are you talking about now… *Sigh*…”
Hidaki looked at me with cold eyes, accompanied by a sigh.
Meanwhile, Dia looked flustered, worried she had done something wrong.
“Ka-Kanami… Is it no good? I was the one who said at the beginning, ‘When everything is over, I want to do something like an Explorer again.’ So, as a provisional goal, we decided to aim for the very back…”
I was surprised by the flimsiness of the reason–but also understood it to be reasonable.
After all, I had no decent goals left.
My first and greatest goal, “Reuniting with my sister,” was over.
“The safety of my companions” was also secured.
All that was needed now was “peaceful daily life, and nothing else.”
Now that everything was over, it wasn’t so strange to investigate the Labyrinth, which had been left unfinished.
“…No, it’s not no good. This Labyrinth was created by me a thousand years ago. I have a responsibility to end it. It’s not something I can leave indefinitely.”
For the time being, I decided to voice the lingering sense of mission to avoid worrying Dia.
However, my sister easily saw through my intentions.
“This is just an excuse. You say these difficult words because you think being ‘thoughtful-looking is cool,’ don’t you, Brother? Your true feelings are something else, Dia.”
“Eh? Isn’t that right? I almost convinced myself…”
“Sigh. Dia, you really are pure. I worry that you’ll be easily deceived by a foolish man. …You remind me of him. Truly.”
Hidaki looked at Dia with a distant gaze. Perhaps she saw a glimpse of an Apostle from a thousand years ago. However, knowing that Dia wouldn’t like that gaze, she quickly stopped and turned the conversation back to me.
“Brother. It’s just because it’s fun, right? This Labyrinth exploration. This adventure in Another World?”
Fun?
Was I having fun right now?
Right beside me were Dia’s two sparkling eyes. It was my habit as a person to live up to her expectations. As Hidaki suggested, I nodded.
“Yeah, it’s fun… maybe. If it weren’t fun, I wouldn’t enter a dangerous place like a Labyrinth.”
“H-Haha… Good! In the end, Kanami is the same as me! Adventuring as an Explorer is super fun, just like being the protagonist of a book!!”
“Like the protagonist of a book…?”
Dia’s words shook me.
“Adventure,” “Protagonist of a book,” “The Labyrinth is fun”—
“—Connection—”
Suddenly, Dimensional Magic activated.
It was of the dimensional attribute, but it was Hidaki’s magic, not mine. She created a magnificent magic portal, no less impressive than mine, and was carrying out the final confirmation before departure.
“Sigh. Well then, here begins our fun, fun Labyrinth exploration. Seldra Queenfilion was scheduled to be summoned on the 80th floor, and Noi El Lieberl on the 90th floor… but both have already been summoned by Nosfy. Only the 100th floor remains. The one to be summoned there is Kanami Aikawa, who is here now. There are no more enemies to speak of. Reaching the 100th floor can be considered a certainty.”
Hidaki spoke before the Labyrinth.
From behind her, the morning sun shone through and illuminated us.
Although it was a snowy day, a very bright light glittered, piercing through the clouds.
I recognized that light.
Very bright light and very cold snow.
As if overlapping with my current vision, a different scene from here began to faintly appear. As blurry memories gradually melted away, past events began to surface.
Even then, Hidaki, who was in front of me, continued to speak.
“Once we get there, it’s clear. Come on, let’s do our best, Brother.”
Now, and in the past. Overlapping.
Hidaki was saying the same thing to me.
Almost the same conversation.
Only, the location in the past was different.
A very, very high place, a very, very bright place. A place fitting for words like “highest” and “brightest,” where my sister and I were having an important conversation…
“To the 100th floor. To the Deepest Part of this World—”
Now, and in the past. Hidaki invited me along.
Gracefully turning, Hidaki reached out her hand towards me, who had stopped.
She told me to take her hand and follow her.
That we would go to the ends of the world, forever and ever, just the two of us—
I wonder what my past self answered…
I can’t recall the words, but I can remember the expression on my face at that time.
“…Yeah. Let’s go.”
Now, unlike the memory of the past—I answered with a smile.
Here, I finally felt like I understood.
I couldn’t recall much, but I understood the gist of it.
About an hour since I woke up. It took quite some time.
“Let’s get to the 100th floor quickly. Though, it’s a little regrettable that our fun adventure will also end so quickly. Ah, it’s ending already… Haha.”
I created a smile freely and spun some fitting words.
I thought it was very natural.
Compared to when I was a child, I had truly become much better.
At that moment, the girl whose name was no longer certain, ■■■, came to mind.
If she could do it, I too could do it, and ‘courage’ surged within me. I have no memory, but there is a sensation of death etched into my soul. My heart feels chillingly cold, but I know only what I must do.
However, if this continues, it seems that every time my mind resets, I will quickly understand the gist of things. Day after day, as if resisting, I understand the gist, then forget it… well, that’s not particularly important.
“Kanami! You shouldn’t think about ending things before we even start our adventure! That’s the bad part about you, Kanami… Honestly!”
“…Sigh. Brother, you’re as clueless as ever.”
“Haha. Sorry, sorry…!”
Passing through Connection and entering the 60th floor of the Labyrinth, I confirmed the important part with a smile like ■■■’s.
I know well.
“Memory” is a trivial thing.
“Self” is a matter of state of mind.
You can live with a smile even without a “reason for being born.”
What’s important is not to give up.
No matter how painful or difficult things become, forward, forward, forward—I swore to ■ as ■, believing that one day I would reach my goal and continue moving forward. That oath is etched not in my brain or blood, but in my soul.
Of course, it wasn’t just the oath with her.
I have truly engraved the feelings of so many people into my soul.
I changed from the time I first wandered into Another World.
So, it’s okay.
Even in this situation, I can direct a sincere smile, free from ulterior motives, towards Hidaki.
We arrived at the 60th floor, which was devoid of gentle light.
With the usual sense of loneliness, I approached Hidaki.
There was no longer the impetus of light, but I smiled at Hidaki. In return, Hidaki smiled back at me with a sincere smile, free from ulterior motives.
“Haha.”
“Fufu.”
Even without words, we understood each other.
And the “Talks” in that high and bright place seemed to be continuing still.
It was a little different from other families, a little outside the bounds of human convention, and on a slightly grander scale—but undoubtedly, we were now having a family meeting.
Is this what Hidaki meant by going all out? If so, I have no choice but to respond with all my might.
Even if it’s just little by little.
I will confirm everything.
I will ask everything, even the things that will end once I ask.
About my childhood, about my parents, about a thousand years ago, about Tiara, and about now.
Like ■■■, who died, I will acknowledge the truth and—end it.
I promised.
I surely promised her.
So, even if it means my end at the same time, I don’t mind.
I’m not so weak that I would back down for such a thing.
I have become strong.
Truly…
I have truly become strong…
