After eating the baby castella dish, we went around the attractions I had visited in the previous six days…… such as the Monster Race with Dr. Vier and Neun-san, and the VR attraction with Alice.
Of course, we weren’t able to visit all of them, but I think we were able to smoothly go around them with the support of the different Gods.
Shiro-san’s excitement is quite intense, but it’s a new experience for me…… To be honest, I had a lot of fun.
I feel like I got to see a lot of different sides of Shiro-san today…… It’s hard to notice because of her usual expressionlessness, but she’s always trying to fight Kuro and was getting worked up with various things…… She surprisingly had a childish part in her.
[……Kaito-san.][Yes?]
[There is a place I have to go, do you mind if we go there?]
[Eh? Y- Yes, I don’t mind.]
I suddenly felt a strange sense of unease at what Shiro-san said. Most of the places we’ve visited so far have been at Shiro-san’s request, but this is the first time she’s asked for my confirmation like this.
Wouldn’t that mean that this place Shiro-san wanted to go to is really important to her?
[Well then, let’s go.]
As soon as Shiro-san said this, the scenery changed. The sky, which should have been dyed with the color of sunset, has now turned blue.[Arehh? This is…… the Sanctuary, right?]
[Yes.]
The place Shiro-san brought me to was the familiar Sanctuary…… the floating garden where I first met Shiro-san.
[Kaito-san, there’s something I’d like to ask you.]
[Something you’d like to ask?]
[……What if…… This is just a “what if” but…… A person you know of…… It can be one of your family, a friend, or your lover. What if “that person has lost all memory of you”?]
[……H- Huhh.]
[It’s not that they have forgotten about you, it’s that all the memories about you disappeared in their mind. If that person couldn’t remember you anymore…… Do you think that person is different from the person you have spent your life with?]
I don’t know why she would ask me such a question. However, Shiro-san seemed to be very serious as she asked this question…… Is this an important question?
[That’s a difficult question to answer…… but let’s see. You could call them a different person, I guess? To put it simply, I think they would turn back to the person they were before they met me.]
[I see…… That means what makes a person such a person is their memory…… their heart, isn’t it? Or perhaps, would they still be the same person as long as they have the same vessel…… the same body?]
[……I think it’s more about the heart.]
Even after hearing all this, I still don’t understand the purpose of Shiro-san’s questions. What in the world…… is the answer Shiro-san was looking for?
As I was thinking about this, Shiro-san turned her gaze towards me, looked straight into my eyes and continued.
[Well then, is the act of “completely erasing a person’s memory”…… the same as murdering that person?]
[……That’s also a difficult question to answer but, let’s see. It certainly might be an act that’s equivalent to killing that person.]
[……Is that so……]
Hearing my answer, Shiro-san slightly looked down. After a few moments of silence, she looked away from me and quietly muttered.
[……What do I really want to do? I don’t know anymore.]
[……Shiro-san?]
[I’ve told you something worthless. I’m sorry…… “Please forget about it”.]
[Eh? !?]
When Shiro-san told me this in a voice that sounded as if she’s holding back her emotions, my vision turned all white.
I was walking through the venue of the Six Kings Festival when my feet suddenly stopped.
[……Arehh?]
[Is something the matter?]
When I suddenly found myself exclaiming, Shiro-san, who was walking next to me, tilted her head.
[Ah, no, I guess I was zoning out a bit…… What were we doing again?]
[It was almost time for the last day’s party, so we were talking about parting ways.]
[……Speaking of which, that was the case.]
That’s right. On the last day of the Six Kings Festival, a party is being held in the Central Tower. I had just met up with Lilia-san, who was also attending the last day’s party, and we were talking about parting ways early since we had promised to head to the party’s venue together.
Yes, that should have been what we were discussing about but…… I wonder why? What is this strange sense of discomfort I’m feeling?
[What’s the matter?]
[No…… Shiro-san, how was your day?]
[I had fun.]
[So did I. Thank you for hanging out with me today.]
I feel like there’s something out of place, but I don’t really know what I’m doubting about, so I chalk it up to being my imagination and thanked Shiro-san for today.
When Shiro-san heard my words, a thin smile appeared on her lips.
[Kaito-san, thank you for today. I will take my leave then.]
[Ah, yes. It’s me who should be thanking you instead.]
[Then, this is my way of saying my thanks.]
Before I could even ask her why she would say her thanks, Shiro-san smoothly brought her face close to mine…… and our lips met with one another.
[……Huh?]
[See you later.]
[……………………Eh?]
It was so shocking that even after Shiro-san left, I stood there for a while in a daze.
Dear Mom, Dad————– Just like that, my date with Shiro-san ended…… but to be honest, within this Six Kings Festival————– This is the most shocking event that happened.
After parting ways with Kaito-san, Shallow Vernal returned to the Sanctuary. Then, she lightly brushed the empty space and entered a space that only she could enter.
There, she found a white sphere with a vast array of magic formulas engraved on it. Slowly touching the sphere, Shallow Vernal muttered within that space that held no people other than her.
[……I see…… What I was doing was an act of killing you huh.]
Within the voice that leaked out of her mouth…… one could feel a little bit of hesitation.
[Even if that’s so…… I will still not give up. Kaito-san…… If you “lose all memory of the year you spent in this world”…… “If everything started all over again, and I’m the one who saves you”…… Will I be special to you?]
However, there was no one in that place that answered her quiet mutter.
<Afterword>
: “What the God of the Apocalypse Wanted”
T/N: 13/181
