--all of that lagnetism came through to me.

　'Contradiction'.
　That's what the haze is in me and Ragne.

　It's over.
　The direct hit of the 《Distance Mute》 is able to annihilate the target without regard to life or death.
　This is the end of 'The One Who Stole the Reason of the Stars' Ragne Kaikwola, but I continue to 'watch' the Ragne who has lost both arms below me without being careless.


[St. ■Star]
　na■nk: lunar■lagoon■rear■ri　
　HP---/-- MP■■■ 9/3■9 cl■ ago: guard■ people


　I'm seeing garbled text.
　The same thing happened in the past with Palinkulon, but it doesn't show any signs of being fixed like it was then.

　Because it was me, I realized that the "conversion result (status)" display hasn't caught up with Lagune.

　That means that she is a being beyond the power of the original Kanami.
　What's more, it also means that she is beyond even the perception of the world, which modifies the 'display' from time to time.

　Ragnet called himself a false image.
　He tried to become a "human being" and a "thief of the logic of the stars," but he must believe that he could not become a "human being" or a "thief of the logic of the stars.

　But that's not true.
　I think she is the first being to be both a 'human being' and a 'thief of reason' on her own.
　Because of the inconsistency of her existence, she is unable to 'display' and her demand for 'compensation' from the world is stronger than most people.

　-- Lagne Kaikwola is the real thing (...).

　However, the real thing is a large figure on the shining lake -- a human figure to be exact, lying down in a human figure and sighing deeply. And in a whisper, he mutters, "Thank you, Mr. Nosfi, thank you .......

　I guess I'm ready to die at any time.
　With an expression of acceptance of even annihilation with the loss of his soul, he utters his will.

''Well then, Kanami's brother ....... Please do your best for me ....... You will carry both my life and Nosfi-san's life on your back .......
Yeah, I know.

　One of the victors is obligated to bear the lives of the other two.
　I had no intention of denying it.

　Ragne's will was accepted.
　All that was left to do was pull out the left arm that was inserted and that was it.

　But I was hesitant to move my arm.
　The whole time I was fighting, I had Nosfy's message in my head.
　The words that only I could save Ragne.

　The face-to-face Ragne understood all of the fluctuations in my mind.
　And somehow, using the extra life I had available, we started chatting about other things.

''...... Well, haha. I'm sure the two of us really have a connection. We watched a play together in the "Dancing Competition" ...... for a duel in the labyrinth. They took us on a boat together and let us join them ....... At the end, we even had a date in the Great Holy City and killed each other ....... It was a lot of fun, not surprisingly?

　The air of killing that had been in the air earlier was gone, and it was the carefree Ragne that was there a few days ago.
　With his friendly nature, Lagune confesses to me.

'I hate Kanami's brother, but I love him. ......

　It's a contradictory term.
　But somehow I don't feel the discrepancies that cancel each other out there.

'This haze of content hated your brother, and this acting epidermis favored him ....... Both are me and both are true ....... That's all there is to it: .......

　Ragne didn't seem to have any interest in resolving her contradictions.
　I can be sure because of me and Ragne's close relationship, but ...... now she's admitting to everything.
　Everything, including the meaningless self.
　So I guess that's why it's real (...).

Hahaha. It's really a very appropriate and stinky thing for us to do! Even at ......, Riel-sama praised me for being such a stinker. Rielle-sama, you understand, don't you?　He waved me off and said it was fine. So--

　I thought I was being cared for.
　Now Lagne is my 'ideal' Lagne.
　But I shook my head that the performance was unnecessary.

"That's enough, Lagune. Don't worry about me so much ....... I know better thanks to you too .......
'Hmm?　Haha. It smells so fake. I can't imagine a scene where my brother can win against that sister at all.

　Ragne anticipates and speaks of the outcome of the battle that awaits us in the future.
　In order to deny it, I will insist on my own growth and change.

'But I'll be fine. Your murder has helped me learn a lot of things, and those ...... 'reason-stealers' have taught me everything I need to know. Especially from the Palinkron guy, who made me feel like I was my own person, ....... I can do it now. --Yeah, I promise.
Heh. ...... You're really good at that, Mr. Palinkulon. I thought you were skipping something, but you're doing it right. It's good preparation for that.

　Lagune goes through my best promise and mentions the name of a former colleague. I'm a little saddened by his reaction, which shows my trustworthiness, but I'm convinced that's just as well, and I continue with my story.

''Ah. A preliminary study, or ....... After all, everything that guy said at that time must have been prep work ......
That's right. He's good at laying the groundwork for the distant future.

　I could go on and on with the appropriate banter.
　But that's not allowed by Ragne.

...... You'd better go quickly, brother. You're already pretty much stranded by me, you know. Down there, it's clearly not normal anymore ....... I want you to go and help Mr. Fafner quickly .......

　Ragne turned his eyes to the 'Scripture' in his own pocket.
　He seems to be telling me to take it with me because it's a parting gift.

　But this attitude, on the contrary, is what holds me back.
　From a while ago, Lagune has been giving me nothing but advice. He's trying to use all of his last hours to help me as much as he can.

"--Big brother, you kept your promise.

　Lagune sensed my feelings and answered before I could ask.　
　And with that last word, she turns away from me.

　It took me a while to remember the promise she was making.
　As I recall, it was the night before the day Lagne killed me. I promised to save Ragne.
　It was an incidental part of Nosfy's life, but I did promise.

　But I failed to keep my word.
　I hadn't given Lagune the light, and she was never meant to be born.
　To be sure, nothing has changed for Lagune since the night before.
　She hasn't been rescued at all.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.
　I'm not blinking at all, only shedding a single tear.

I always knew that there was no such thing as 'the best' anywhere ....... But I was told there was, and I wanted to believe it ....... I wanted to believe my mom. ......

　I wanted to believe it, but I couldn't believe it, Ragne.
　In the end, Ragne, who didn't even defeat the 'best' enemy and didn't get anything out of it.
　Quickly I throw what I couldn't say to Nosfy to Ragne.

'But Ragne ....... For me, you were definitely the 'best' enemy. ...... At any rate, I was killed once. You're my worst enemy .......

　It was the complete opposite of what he said to Nosfi and his outstretched hand.

'I don't want to fight you again, and I don't want to see you again ....... So I'm going to put a stop to it now.

　Hearing this, Ragne repeats my words.

'I am the 'best' enemy. I don't want to see you again. So I'm going to kill ......?
Yeah, .......
Ha-ha-ha.

　Immediately, Ragne scoffed and shook his head.

　I tried to give Lagne's life a little meaning, but he laughed and denied it.
　Then, as if to say that we (...) don't have such a thing, Ragne continues to shake her head.

　--Yes, we.

　The time will come when I will have to shake my head and admit everything, just like this Lagune.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.

　After he finishes shaking his head, Lagune squints dazzlingly and begins to speak into the empty air.
　He didn't have me in his sight anymore.
　No, maybe it's the loss of blood that's nearly erased my vision. I know firsthand how the world suddenly gets darker when you're dying. If you're not good enough, your ears, and Ragne is already--.

"--...... Yeah. I never trusted ....... I knew you didn't like me. I knew she wanted me dead, and I knew it. Because she's a bastard, you know. The whole "I love my daughter" thing really stinks. There's no way I could believe it. ......

　The one who speaks to her is her mother, for example.
　To that point, Ragne answers alone.

'...... But I loved my mom like that. I hated her, but I loved her.

　On the way to this "summit", Lagune has "inverted" many important things at "cost". I'm sure there are some things that are still being reversed even now. The status on the verge of collapse is obvious. It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to find a way to get a job.

'I couldn't believe in anything, but I want to believe in that feeling of mine. This is the only thing I'm not acting. I don't like my mama because she's my mama's daughter, I like her because she was me. -- 'I hate (I love) you'.

　I know what that 'I love you' means because it's me.
　Ragnae, at last.
　It's only now that I've admitted that I hate my mom from the bottom of my heart that I can finally say that I love her from the bottom of my heart.

　That's the one thing that will never change, no matter how it's 'reversed'.

'I don't need love, I don't need life. I don't even want the word 'live'. ...... I just wanted my mom to be there.

　At the same time, Ragne admits that he never had a mama.
　After all, whether or not there was a blood connection between 'Mama' and Ragne Kaikwola, Ragne couldn't mention it until she died.
　And she did not believe in that connection at all. We made it up as if it wasn't there, ourselves.

　Still, Ragne said, "I love my mom.
　So she answers to the sky.

'The world is always so dazzling and dark ....... I didn't even know where I was walking, but ....... I feel like I'm walking straight because of my mom's words ....... I feel like that because I feel like ......--

　Ragne closes her eyelids, saying that it shouldn't be okay, but it's okay.

"Yeah, I didn't get to be the best, but this is the most expensive place in the world... ..., Akaru--toko--......

　With that, Ragne died of blood loss.

　After confirming his death from the 《Distance Mute》 connection, I don't say goodbye and pull out that magic stone.
　Just like the 'Stealers of Reason' of the past, her body turns into magical particles and disappears.

　Her clothes and the Heart of Helmina are left in its wake. And the pendants of the Scripture and the Thieves of Reason.

　You will be able to get the best out of it.
　I take everything from her and stand up.

'Nosfy ...... and Ragne ......'

　I chew on the loss of two (...) family members.
　At the same time, the 'summit' is coming to an end.

　First, all the magic of the mirror left behind by Ragne shattered and scattered.
　Now there was no more wall to trap the light. Next, a brighter light bursts out, and all the magic power on the rooftop escapes to the outside world.
　While the mirror's 'Snow of Magic Power (Tear Ray)' was falling, the rooftop was as dark as if the light had been switched off - it did not become dark.

　Just as the orange-yellow sun was about to rise from the rounded horizon.
　The morning sun. The morning sun reflected off the mirror's "magical snow (Tear-Ray)" and a variety of shimmering lights that seemed to play sounds spread out across the field of vision.

　After a long battle, the Great Sacred City is now about to greet the second morning beyond the night.

　--I know the meaning of this in advance with my 'future vision'.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're going to do with it.

　It's natural to be able to pull out your sword at any time, of course, but I also don't neglect the preparations for the activation of dimensional magic.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're doing.

　In the middle of this process, all of the mirror's "magical snow (Tear Ray)" has fallen to the floor.
　And next, another snow begins to fall on the roof.

　It's white and cold, and if you touch it, it melts - snow.

　Not magical power, but a material natural phenomenon.
　The snow, crystallized by the cold air from the water in the atmosphere, falls in a flurry.

'Real snow ....... It's the first time I've seen it over here ....... I don't know if I've seen it since ...... over there.

　Outside of magic, it's the first time I've seen it in another world.
　I pick up that single snowflake in the palm of my hand and watch it melt with my body heat.
　A nostalgic memory is evoked.

　It's life in my former world.
　After losing our parents, my siblings and I had moved out of our father and mother's luxury apartment.
　We snuck out of that white room to a snowy town. I remember how cold it was all year round, unlike the temperate city center where we had lived for so long.

　Just going outside for a short time made me freeze to the core of my body from the tips of my hands.
　That's why we always walked hand in hand.
　It's a good thing that I'm not the only one.

　--The snow is a symbol of my sister, Aikawa Yotaki, to me.

　I'm not going to be able to get rid of it.

　You'll be able to see that you're the most important family member.
　The most important thing, I love her deeply as a family, and she is more important than my own life.
　It's my duty to help my sister, and it's my mission to make her happy.

　That's why he used to go to the "deepest" part of the labyrinth, the "deepest" part.
　I believed that if I reached the "deepest" part of the labyrinth, I would be able to meet my sister.
　We could return to our world and live together again.
　Just like the old days, the two of us, so close together.

'Ha ha ....... That can't be true, lagne .......

　A dry laugh escapes me.

　Immediately I discarded the outer skin of The Sister's Ideal and checked the haze inside it.
　Thanks to the pioneer known as Ragnet, the process was smooth. Most importantly, having died and been reborn - a lot of things have been fixed.

　I'm the same as Ragne.
　That was made clear in last night's 'Affinity'.
　Ragne was a bit mistaken, but that was for my own sake, not just to help her.

　As a result of that review in "Affinity", I found out - first of all, just as Lagne is not "the one who steals the reason of the stars", I am not "the one who steals the reason of the dimension". I'm just tricking the world with an act that takes advantage of the nature of magic being a mirror.

　Of course, if Lagune Kaikwola is a dream itself, then Aikawa Uzumi is also a dream itself.
　In my case, that dream is--.

　-- 'I am Aikawa Uzumi. So I will definitely protect my sister.''

　This is the illusion.

　Through Ragne, I saw a side of my sister that I never knew existed.
　I chased away the approaching Lagune with my chilling eyes and magical power.

　Now I have to confirm each and every contradiction in myself.

　I open my tightly clenched fists and look forward.
　I'm going to get down from this rooftop to meet the person I want to meet--


　She appears ahead of you (・・・・・・・・・・)


　--even though there should have been a fierce battle downstairs by 'the one who steals the reason', that person came up the stairs gracefully without a scratch.

　Yes, just one person.
　After the battle of Hoozeyards Castle was over, there was only one person who had reached the 'summit'.

　I can't mistake that figure, that face, that eye.

　The clothes are the same, but they are new in another world.
　It's not just the same quality of black hair that I have, growing to my waist, and walking with it exposed to the snow and wind. Her eyes are also a deep black, and her skin is a morbidly transparent white in contrast. The corners of her eyes and mouth droop, revealing her soft and friendly nature. From the quietness of her posture and gestures, the word "Yamato Nadeshiko" first comes to mind. Such a girl.

　My younger sister, Aikawa Yotaki, appeared.

"-- Huh. It's a little chilly.

　Yotaki exhales a pure white breath and rubs his hands together to keep warm.
　Even though it's been years since they've seen each other again, Yotaki reacts lightly, as if the day's awakening has passed.

''Ah. Good morning, brother.''

　Yotaki smiled and threw me a cheery greeting.
　I can be sure, as an older brother, that there is no sarcasm or altruism in it.

　As usual.
　It's the Yotaki I know.
　So I'll answer the question as usual.

"Ah, good morning. Yotaki.

　We exchanged greetings with each other.
　A moment later, the morning sun fully emerges as if it had heard what we were talking about.
　The morning glow shines from behind Yotaki.

　That light burns my eyes, but I don't look away and concentrate on the story.

''But ......, well, what can I say ......?''
Well. You're right, there's a lot to talk about.

　Perhaps it was because we met again at a point where I hadn't yet collected my thoughts, but I couldn't help but be crisp.
　The fierce battle just before must have had an effect. I felt as if one of the gears in my head was broken because of that drop.

　But I remembered the fight with Lagune and the others and calmly gave a word of answer.

'No, there's no hurry. ...... Let's take our time and talk. Let's 'talk' first. It's typical for me to start there .......
"...... Huh. A story, huh? You're right, that's very typical of your brother, isn't it? Including that wastefulness.

　This time I knew immediately that it contained sarcasm and altruism.
　I say back, feeling nostalgic for the same venom as ever.

I'm sorry for dressing it up," I say, "but this is who I am. But this is who I am.
'Yes, sir. That's my brother.

　They say the same thing, but they don't mean the same thing.
　I think that I'm just an 'acting skin' and Yotaki is an 'ideal brother figure'.
　I want to reconcile those discrepancies from now on - I want to break them.

"As we promised, we will not hide anything from each other.
'Yes, I promised you. When the fight is over, we'll talk to each other without hiding anything. ...... Unlike my brother, who is a liar, I will be honest with you. Including why I'm awake now and here.
I'm not going to lie, either. I'm not the same person I was a thousand years ago, no, I'm not the same person I was a thousand years ago.

　If we are the same as we were then, we have no face to match the 'stealers of reason' who have disappeared.
　The many lessons I learned from everyone.
　I can't let it go to waste.
　I clutch the pendant on my chest and swear to everyone here that I will not waste it.

So, let's end it here and now. Yotaki.

　When Yotaki saw that figure...

Huh...

　I was ecstatic.
　I can tell that the meaning of that is rapture.
　Yotaki is more pleased with my growth than anyone else.

　Now, finally, Youtaki must have what he's been waiting for.
　YouTaki continues to look at me in ecstasy and praises me.

''Brother, your magic power is ...... above all, your heart has become stronger. Now we can finally talk as equals. Even if I really talk to you, your brother won't run away anymore (・・・・・・・・・). I won't break (・・・・). I won't die (・・・・).

　The words were attached to the end of the story, but I know firsthand that it wasn't a joke.
　After understanding everything, I promise Yotaki that I won't run away or break or die no matter what.

''Yeah,''

　I nodded.
　Seeing me, Yotaki's cheeks flushed even more with joy. Then, after glancing at the backward stairs, she forms an exclamation.

''Aha. And now!　Including downstairs (・・・・・・), all the [reason] your brother had to deal with is done!　Your brother has shed his weakness and gained true strength: ......!　All just like that "prediction of the future"!　Aha, aha, aha--!

　Oh, and the 'she' below is done, too.
　I knew it, but I couldn't be present at that moment.

　Still, it's rare to see Yotaki making such a big deal out of it.
　The only time I can think back on it is when my parents disappeared and I reconciled with them at the hospital.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a smile on your face that is as big as that time.

Sigh. This time you will be able to 'get along' with me.

　With a feverish white breath.
　He smiled and gave me a smile that had nothing but goodwill.

　That would be our cue.

Then let's have a private family meeting. Brother.
Yeah, let's get started. Yangtaki.

　It's a sign that a long story is coming to an end.

　A brother and sister of a certain "Gentile" wandered into another world and spun their lives there.
　The answer to the question of the meaning and the reason for it begins (end).

　The truth is, I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I don't want to admit it.
　It is the "truth" that I didn't want to know until I die.

　However, I cannot escape into the darkness anymore.
　Guided by the "bright light" in my heart, I am moving forward.
　I swear to my "mirror self" that I just took care of, and I will walk in my own way.

　Even if the thing waiting for me in my last days is the same as Lagune's

　The rooftop of Hoosier's Castle.
　My brother and sister are alone in the snow.
　We are close to each other, basking in the sunshine of the dawn.

　Thinking back, it seems like a long time, but it was short.
　A few months have passed since we were summoned to the labyrinth.
　If you include the time I was unconscious, it was another thousand and one years.
　Finally, the separation of the siblings is over and the reunion is accomplished.

　--Ah, it begins (end).

　I thought of two words at the same time.
　A true story of separation begins and ends here and now.

　Contradictory but not contradictory - yes, I felt that for sure.
　I acknowledged it.