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After finishing my conversation with Chris and parting ways, I quickly took care of some urgent tasks, such as adjusting my storage magic tool.
Now I was walking through the capital of the Hitia Duchy, Celest, searching for Shion.
As expected of the capital of a nation known as a magic powerhouse, many large-scale magic tools that couldn't be seen elsewhere were in operation.
The buildings themselves were also taller than those in other places.
Normally that might have felt oppressive, but because the districts were uniformly planned, it didn't feel particularly cramped.
When I was a child, I had lived in the Dawn Village, which was about a two-hour carriage ride from here.
I had visited Celest several times back then, so the cityscape brought back a wave of nostalgia.
That said, I didn't have a strong sense of the layout, nor did I know the places Shion liked to visit within Celest, so searching for her was proving difficult.
An hour had already passed since I started looking. I had wanted to find her on my own if possible, but I couldn't waste any more time. I decided to head back to the main branch of the Downing Company and ask Telshe-san for likely locations when I suddenly sensed a large number of ice spirits.
I hadn't felt them when I left the company earlier, so it seemed we had crossed paths.
Following the place where the ice spirits were most concentrated, I made my way up and eventually reached the rooftop.
Among the many tall buildings in Celest, the Downing Company building was one of the tallest, so the rooftop offered a sweeping view of the entire city.
Shion was sitting on the edge of the roof, looking down at the streets below.
"Finally found you. So this is where you were."
"Hm? Orun? Weren't you supposed to have things to do?"
"I already finished adjusting the storage magic tool. I left the other matter to Chris since he was happy to take it on. Still, the Downing Company really lives up to its reputation. Everywhere I looked, there were state-of-the-art facilities. If I had more time, I would have loved to take my time looking around."
Just as I had expected, the special formula Grandpa had used for my storage magic tool was no longer sealed inside.
I had used the company's equipment to modify the formulas, so from now on I would be able to use the same storage magic tool as in the previous timeline without any problems.
"It just shows they didn't get called one of the world's leading magic tool companies for nothing. Well, I spent all my time at the academy studying magic, so I don't know the first thing about magic tools. I honestly can't tell what makes the equipment here so impressive."
Shion laughed, looking a little embarrassed.
In the Hitia Duchy there was an institution called the Stromeria Magic Academy where one could study both magic and magic tools.
Thanks to this academy, the citizens of the Hitia Duchy as a whole had far deeper knowledge of magic and magic tools than people from other countries, which was the biggest reason it was called a magic powerhouse.
What was interesting about this academy was that it actively accepted students from outside the duchy as well.
Naturally, there was some screening for foreigners, but it was said to be much more lenient than the usual standards.
Shion had attended this academy since she was very young.
"The academy, huh. Come to think of it, I never got the chance to hear about your old days even in the netherworld. How long did you stay at the academy?"
"Until I was fifteen. I entered when I was seven, so that makes about eight years. At first I only went because my family told me to, but after that day… when I was told you had died, I continued attending of my own will. So I could fulfill the promise we made to go to the outside world together."
As she spoke, Shion's eyes looked both nostalgic and somehow guilty.
"That day" probably referred to the day the Dawn Village was attacked by the Cyclamen Order and Philly Carpenter, the [Recognition Alteration] user, rewrote my memories.
In reality, Oliver and I had survived, but by the time Amuntsars and the duchy learned of that fact, we had already moved to the Nohitant Kingdom.
Given the terrible state of the village and the fact that no survivors had been confirmed, it was apparently concluded that everyone who had lived in the Dawn Village—including Oliver and me—had died.
When I had reunited with Chris in the previous timeline, he had said something along those lines, so my guess probably wasn't far off.
"After graduating from the academy, I joined Amuntsars. It was the only place where I could learn about the art principles and the outside world. Joining the Order was completely out of the question. …And so, under the lofty banner of protecting the world, I killed a great many explorers."
I had guessed why Shion had joined Amuntsars, but hearing it from her own mouth still struck a chord in my heart.
If I hadn't lost to the Cyclamen Order that day, if my memories hadn't been rewritten, she might never have chosen the path of staining her hands with blood.
"…I see. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but… do you regret it, Shion? Killing those explorers?"
"I don't regret it. It was a path I chose after thinking it through until I could accept it. Besides, since I've taken so many lives, I don't even have the right to feel regret. …But there are still things I can't stop thinking about."
Shion covered her face with her hands as she poured out her troubled feelings.
"…I've lived all this time with our promise as my support. Now that you've come back, I want to fight alongside you. I want to go to the outside world with you. But… do I even have the right to do that? After walking a blood-soaked path for so long… someone like me…"
"Shion…"
When I opened my mouth to say something, Shion's shoulders jumped.
"—Wait, why am I spilling all these weak complaints? How embarrassing! You'll only feel troubled if I say things like this. Sorry, just forget what I said. …Oh, right! I just remembered I have something I need to talk to Telshe about—"
Shion tried to cover it up with a playful tone and quickly tried to slip past me.
Those words just now had undoubtedly been her true feelings, a glimpse of the guilt she carried.
I couldn't pretend I hadn't heard them.
I grabbed her wrist as she tried to escape.
"—You don't need it."
"Huh?"
"You don't need any 'right' or qualification."
I gently pulled on her wrist, turning her around to face me.
Then I looked straight into her eyes.
"I was really happy when you accepted the broken, self-destructive me in the netherworld. You told me back then, right? 'If something painful happened, throw it all at me.' 'I want to carry that burden together with you.' I feel the same way. I want to carry your sins together with you, Shion."
Shion shook her head strongly.
"No…! This is something I chose to do of my own will! It's something I have to bear alone!"
"If you did it to fulfill the promise you made with me, then I share the same sin. Besides, if I hadn't lost that day, a completely different 'now' might have existed. In that sense too, I bear responsibility."
"That kind of logic… is completely unreasonable…"
"Unreasonable logic is fine with me. As long as it lets me carry the things you're bearing."
Ever since I was a child, I had longed for the outside world.
I wanted to travel through unknown lands where no people had lived for hundreds of years.
My goal of conquering the great southern labyrinth as an explorer had probably been influenced by [Recognition Alteration], but I believed the root of that desire had always been inside me.
'Returning to the outside world' had been the very ideal of Amuntsars.
However, after several hundred years, Amuntsars's main objectives had shifted to 'protecting the order of this world' and 'destroying the Order,' and the desire to go to the outside world had become heresy.
I had manifested my ability shortly after birth and had been ruled by it.
But thanks to the sealing magic my father had cast on me, I had managed to resolve that to some extent and learned to coexist with my ability.
And thanks to the high comprehension that came with my ability, I had realized early on that my own thoughts were different from everyone else's.
That was why I had kept my dream hidden deep inside, never telling anyone.
Until the day I saw the beautiful silver world Shion had created and accidentally let it slip.
I had been terrified inside, bracing myself for her rejection.
So I had thrown caution to the wind and invited her to the outside world, and she had smiled brightly and said she wanted to go with me.
For me, who had felt a certain loneliness even though the people of the village had always been kind, that promise had felt like salvation.
"…I don't want to see you suffering, Shion. I want you to smile by my side. Because to me, you are a special existence."
"That kind of thing… is unfair…"
Shion's shoulders trembled slightly as she lowered her face.
I pulled her close as if embracing her and gently drew her face against my chest.
I could feel her tears soaking into my clothes.
I softly stroked her head and, without saying anything more, simply let her know I was there.
Within that embrace, her tears gradually began to calm.