After Alice and my thoughts connected with each other, we chatted for a while in a position where I held Alice in my lap.
　I put one hand around Alice's waist as she sits on my lap, and my other hand connects with Alice's intertwined fingers.

　We continued to talk for a while, and before I knew it, Alice had fallen asleep, and I could hear her gentle breathing.
　I think she must have fallen asleep because all the tensions she had been under have been lifted and she felt tired.
　Instead of the painful sleeping face with tears streaming down her face that I saw a short while ago, the current Alice seemed reassured, and a small smile seemed to be floating around her mouth.

　
　No matter how bright the surface is, I'm sure that Alice's heart was so tense that she didn't have any room at all.
　That's why, even if Alice wanted someone else, there was no space in the back of her mind for that person to enter, and as a result, that may have been a big wall at the end of her life.

　Maybe I'm wondering if timing was a good thing, too.
　And by confiding in me and turning into a lover, she was able to come to terms with her past, which gave her a sense of composure in her heart.

　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that. I'm really happy about that, and above all, I can't stop loving Alice.
　I promised myself that I would never let her shed those painful tears again, looking at Alice's peaceful, sleeping face.

　But still, she looks like she's sleeping comfortably... maybe she's having a good dream.









　It was in an unpopular wooden building.
　Seeing that familiar place, which now only remains in a corner of her memory, Alice understands that this is a dream.

''It's ... nostalgic.''

　It was a place where her precious memories remained... the adventurer's guild she used to frequent when she and her best friend were adventurers together.
　The place, which seems to be a tavern and receptionist in one, makes Alice's heart feel calm along with an inexplicable sense of nostalgia.

　Although it was a dream with a very clear consciousness, the reason why I can look at the scenery of the past with nostalgia like this is because Kaito accepted my heart.......
　While thinking like that, Alice's thoughts, which were looking around the room, stopped when she saw a certain table.

''.......Eh?''

　A large room that I had expected to be empty. At a table at the far end of the room, a figure sat with his back to Alice.
　The figure, who had two-tone gray and black semi-short hair and appeared to be no taller than Alice, had a huge jet-black wand propped up next to him, probably more than twice his height.

　Although her face was obscured by her rear view, there was no way Alice could mistake the figure for anything else.
　

"...It's been a long time, 'Alicia'.......or is it Alice now?
Ili..........?

　With a familiar voice, the girl turns back to Alice and smiles slightly.
　Her beautiful light green eyes, with a light that seems to be a mixture of the same old sharpness and gentleness, look at Alice quietly.

''........Iris.......Iris!
"...phew.

　Oh, this is a dream. It couldn't have been a dream otherwise but for Alice it was okay to dream.
　Reuniting with her best friend who was supposed to be dead.

''This........tachikake!
Whew!

　He then counter-struck Alice, who was running up to him, with a counter-strike of his cane into her face.
　Blown back, Alice is blown away as she is struck back and falls over a nearby table and raises her upper body while holding her beaten face.
　Then, Iris approaches the fallen Alice with a strong footsteps, tsk tsk tsk.

''Yi, Iris?　What are you doing all of a sudden...
I knew it would take some time, but it's taking too long!　You fool!
'What?　Wait, what, Iris?
"You've been pining over this for tens of thousands of years!　You have a perfectly clear mind!　Thanks to you, you'll always be 'out here'!
'What?　Yeah, what does that mean.... this is a dream...

　Alice, who was being scolded like old times... while being grabbed by the collar and shaken heavily... asked back, feeling uncomfortable with the words Iris had told her.
　Then Iris let out a big sigh, removed her hand from Alice's and then picked up a chair that was lying nearby and opened her mouth while sitting on it.

It's a dream, it must be a dream... but I'm talking to you like this, and I'm the 'real thing' in a way...
"...what?　Oh, no....
A lie. As I told you, I didn't think I could leave you, the great idiot you are, alone... well, as it turned out, it was far too long before we could talk like this.
How, why, how, how...

　Iris tells her that she is the real thing, and Alice is astonished by her words and asks her what she means.
　She is sure that Iris is dead. Alice, who had taken care of her last breath, should have known that better than anyone.

　But hearing those words, Iris continues to speak with a wry smile on her face.

I can easily predict your behavior. I have spent so many years researching, and at last I have not found a way to become as old as you.
Yeah, yeah. And Iris is....
But in the process we came up with a theory.
...What?
Isn't it possible that the heart and soul of a person can have their own soul in it?
What?

　The words Iris told her caused Alice to look in astonishment for an unknown number of times.

'I could have foreseen that you would take my heart tool into Hecaton Cairn along with my body, so I gave you solé on your deathbed.
"...Wha...wha...wha...how did you get that?
'Why didn't I tell you?　It was simple.
....
In the first place, it was a gamble. You have only one chance, and as far as I know your Hecatoncale is the only one that can capture someone else's heart tool, which is an empty theory. But, well, this is how we succeeded...
So... so... then... is it really... the real Iris?

　

'................It's been a long time.
Irissssss!
'Nooo!　Hey, hey, don't scratch it!
Iris!　It's Iris.................I missed you!　I've missed you so much!
Hahaha, man, you really are a shitty piece of work.

　To Alice, who jumped at Iris as if she was being played and shed large tears, Iris muttered as if she was dumbfounded.........................and her eyes were very kind.
　

''Ugh........why didn't you.......talk to me until now?　I, I........
'Why?　Is that because your mind was too full of worms to get out of mine? What?
If you'd been quicker to dismiss my death, I would have gotten out of here sooner but you have the gall to........
Oh, uh...

　Currently, Iris is a being that resides in the mind tool. She can speak directly to Alice's mind, but she can do little else.
　But up until now, Alice's mind has built a wall that doesn't accept any outsiders, and Iris couldn't talk to Alice either.
　But this time, thanks to Kaito, Alice was able to firmly dismiss Iris's death, and her mind became relaxed... Thanks to that, Iris was able to meet Alice again in the form of a dream.

"You should be grateful to that man. Thanks to him, we can talk to each other in this way, even when you are unconscious.

Say thank you in person but, well, dreams are short and it's time to wake up.
"...what?　Ah!

　When Iris tells her in a calm tone, Alice realizes that her body is beginning to become transparent.
　A dream is not something you see all the time you are asleep. It's not a very long time for Alice and Iris to have a conversation.

　But this isn't the last time.......Alice, who has an anxious expression on her face, smiles gently at Iris.

'Don't worry we can talk about it again as much as we want. As long as you continue to live........
Uh-huh!
I'll be able to talk to you in my dreams again. I'll scold you if you ever get bothered by something stupid again, so be prepared.
Yes ... yes ... yes.

　We will meet again. Hearing those words filled with the most hopefulness, Alice nodded again and again with tears streaming down her face.
　And while seeing off the waking Alice..............................Iris told her in a gentle voice.

''........Congratulations, Alice. Please be happy, please be happy, that is my new wish to see you again like this.