On a bed in a dimly lit room, there lies an old woman.
With a skinny body, while trying to keep her weak eyes… The old
woman calls out to the girl beside her, who continues to stare at her.
[…Good grief… I tried… to persevere but… as expected… I'm almost
reaching my limits… 150 years huh… Who would have thought… I'd be
able to live this long just because of my clinginess.]
[......]
The old woman slowly speaks her words, as her body hardly moves
anymore, and her face only slightly tilted towards the girl.
She was the woman who clings to life the most in the world. She took
various life-prolonging measures and continued to chase her dream of
becoming an immortal until the day she lay on her bed.
However, it was never for her own sake… She continued to fight against
the barrier of human lifespan, trying not to leave behind one
important… really important person in her life.
But unfortunately, the old woman couldn't get over that wall… and so,
her life would soon run out.
[However… Well… Being on the verge of death like this… makes me
understand. I am… a lucky fellow… If I were to wish more happiness
than this… I will be struck by divine punishment.]
[...…]
[…It's just that… there's one thing… I regret… That I was unable to be
with you… Until the end…]
[...…]
[…I'm sorry… I will… be leaving you… I'll be going first.]
She realizes that she is dying and apologizes to her best friend, with
whom she has spent most of her life with, for dying first.
Thereupon… many tears fall into the old woman's hands.
[…No…]
[…Unnn?]
[…I don't want this… Iris… Don't die… Don't leave me alone…]
The girl who became immortal burst into tears and told the old woman
not to die.
The old woman was the last one already… The last among the beings
the girl loves with all her heart… and other than this old woman, the
others have already died.
[…You're still… as selfish as usual… but, sorry…]
[…Iris…]
[…Hey, OOOOOO? Do you mind… if I ask you… one favor?]
[…Eh? U- Unnn.]
Reaching out a withered hand to the girl's eyes, wiping away the girl's
tears with her trembling hand, the old woman slowly… spoke with a
smile.
[…Do you remember… that bet we made a long time ago? You know…
that bet we made… in the trading city…]
[Eh? Unnn… That bet is about "who can have a lover first", right?]
[Yeah… In the end… The both of us never had one…]
[…It's not that Iris couldn't, it's that you didn't, right? For my sake…]
It was just a small game they played a long time ago. Two girls who had
never been in love and made such a small bet to see who could fall in
love and have a lover first.
But in the end, the bet never came to an end. The reason why the girl
who became an immortal monster couldn't was obvious, but even
though the old woman had such an opportunity, they were all rejected
without hesitation… She chose to remain with the girl.
[…No… In the end… I wasn't able… to find someone… better than you.]
[It's the same for me. I couldn't find anyone I would feel more
comfortable with, Iris.]
[…I see… Hey, OOOOOO?]
[What is it?]
Her muffled voice calls out the girl's name, the old woman utters her
small wish.
[…I want you…"to experience love"…]
[Eh?]
[…Fall in love… Find your significant other… and then… be happy…]
[…Why… are you…]
The girl, perhaps sensing what the old woman is trying to say, opens
her eyes wide and has a shocked expression on her face.
That's because the wish uttered by the old woman… is a restraint for
the girl after she loses the old woman…
[…I'm sorry… I know that… you'll suffer… because of this. You're free to
resent… this dying woman's selfish wish… However… even so… I…"want
you to live".]
[ ! ? ]
[…That's why… please… if you still… think of me as your best friend…
This final wish of mine… please grant it. And then… someday… you'll be
able to smile again… just like back then…]
[Iris? Iris!?]
Even as she was speaking, the old woman's voice was getting weaker
and weaker… and the girl could painfully feel that her life was about to
run out.
So, the girl shed tears and desperately called out to the old woman…
Asking her not to die…
Looking at that girl, the old woman smiled… and with the gentle smile
on her lips, she said her last words.
[…For… the… good… fortune… of meeting… you… thank… you…]
[Iris!!! A- Aahhhh… aaaaaa… Uuuuuu… Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!?]
It's truly ironic, as the girl's Heart Tool of bonds called Ἑκατόγχειρες, as
the death of those she had weaved her bonds with was too vivid, as if it
was painfully piercing deep into her heart.
Hearing the sound of the breaking bond that she weaved… What
remains in her heart is the proof that such a person existed… a small
and unfeeling fragment of that bond…
In that empty room, within the dim darkness… the girl's sorrowful
wails echoed…
After quietly finishing her final conversation with her best friend, Alice
wiped the tears she shed before she knew it.
[…I want to go to where my best friend… and all my important people
are. However, by doing so, I would be stepping on the last wish of my
best friend, who has been following my selfishness all along. Since that
day… I couldn't afford to die.]
[...…]
[I somehow wanted to fulfill my best friend's wish. However, my mind
had already started to think that all the people I met… I've come to treat
them on the premise that I would separate from them on their death…
And in the end, I couldn't have any kind of romantic feelings for them.]
I see, so that's why Alice… called those last words as a curse. She wants
to die, but if she dies, she will betray her best friend.
It's the last wish of someone really precious to her, and that's why those
words bind her heart more strongly than anything else.
[…From then on, I tried a lot of things. I played a musical instrument,
painted, made things… The only thing I had was a staggering amount of
time, so I used my time to master every single thing there is.]
[…Unnn.]
[In the process, I also met and befriended new people… and watched
them die many times. I kept looking at the shifting world and continued
to see many deaths off. I felt my heart grow colder and colder, until I
eventually felt nothing at all…]
I suppose it's not just a matter of years or even decades… Maybe Alice
has been living through thousands or tens of thousands of years of that
mind-boggling time, fulfilling her best friend's last wish. Only having
that goal…
[However, after spending a staggering number of years… I thought. In a
world where there are only humans, I will definitely never be able to
fulfill my best friend's wish forever… So, I did a lot of research on how
to go from my world to another world.]
[Does that mean that Alice came to this world on your own?]
[Yes, well, I found a way to do it but… the catalyst was a bit of a
problem… so I stole the core of the Evil God that was tightly sealed up
and used it!]
[ ! ? ]
She somehow smoothly said something outrageous again… No, well,
compared to the method of being summoned to this world just like how
I came here, going to another world on your own seems to be a higher
hurdle…
[Then, taking the "ashes" of my closest friends into my body with
Ἑκατόγχειρες, evolving into an even more monstrous creature, I then
powerfully invoked the Great Magic of Different Dimension
Teleportation. Also, it was just a side effect, but somehow, after taking
in their ashes, I was able to transform into my closest friends for a long
time. Even though it was my own power, I still feel like Ἑκατόγχειρες
has lots of mysteries…]
[…And it's into this world?]
[Yes. No, well, I was also surprised. I've become even more powerful,
there's also the fact that I still haven't mastered my own power yet
but… I was beaten to a pulp by Kuro-san as soon as I came to this
world.]
[…S- Speaking of which, Kuro also said something about fighting
Alice…]
Apparently, for Alice, Kuro was the first person she met when she first
came to this world… but what kind of exchange did they have that it
immediately led to a battle between them…?
[It's that, you know? After defeating the last boss, I dove into the hidden
dungeon with great enthusiasm, and it was like the first one who
greeted me was the hidden boss that I should be facing in the end…
Well, seriously, Kuro-san was super strong.]
[…That way of speaking…]
[Anyway, that's how Kuro-san called out to me and taught me how to
use my power~~. From that point on, Kaito-san should know about it
to some extent, right? I was called Shalltear, meaning I was the same
person I used to be, and at the same time, as one of the members of the
Six Kings, I began to call myself No Face.]
Then, 20,000 years ago, she fought in that war against the God Realm
and became friends with Fate-san… wait, arehh? I don't think I know
about the fine details that much.
With that in mind, I was going to ask her about that topic, about her
promise to her best friend but… Alice looks me straight in the eyes and
gives me a beautiful smile that seems to suck me in.
[…And then, I met you… and fell in love.]
[ ! ? ]
Dear Mom, Dad——– Those words she unexpectedly told me along
with her past. She has been jokingly telling me those words before but…
I wonder why? Those words I heard just now—— they had a
completely different impression than before.