A port floating near the royal capital.
Having come to see off the Empire's envoy delegation, I stood face to face with Finn.
Kurosuke was eyeing me warily.
"Partner, are you really sure about this?"
And Luxion was the same.
"--Master, you have made the wrong choice."
Both of our cheat items were nagging away at us, which was a real pain.
I shrugged my shoulders at Finn.
"Well, I'm sure you've got a lot you'd like to say, but the next time we meet we'll be enemies. You can go ahead and lose, you know."
Finn, his complexion poor, fired back at my flippant remark.
"Keep talking. Well, if I win, I'll at least put in a plea for clemency for you."
I held out my hand.
Finn gripped it firmly.
"--I'm sorry. This is the one thing I can't yield on. I can't accept your proposal."
"Is that so. --I knew you wouldn't."
I had offered to provide the Empire with the technology to supply mana.
But Finn's decision did not waver.
Even if we provided the technology, Mia would spend her whole life on a hospital bed.
Even with Luxion and the others, that was the limit.
Finn could not accept that.
There was no way he could accept it.
Thinking of his little sister from his previous life, I knew he would absolutely stop it.
"--It was fun. That's no lie. I wish we could have stayed not knowing anything, and just spent our time having fun together."
"Yeah."
While I was talking with Finn, Mia came over.
"U-um, Lord Duke!"
"What is it?"
I responded with a smile.
Because Mia didn't know the truth.
I couldn't show her a cold attitude.
"U-um, about Lady Erika's illness... she'll be all right, won't she?"
"--Ah, no problem. Luxion and the others will treat her right away."
"I'm glad. We're leaving in such a hurry that I couldn't even properly say goodbye, and I was worried. We finally became friends, after all."
--I shouldn't have let her get close.
If only this child had had a terrible personality, I wouldn't have had to agonize like this.
"I'll be sure to tell Erika. --Take care."
"Yes!"
Mia's beaming smile was so dazzling--and so hateful.
It would have been nice if she'd been a more infuriating brat.
The boy knight called out to Mia.
"Princess Miliaris, it's time to set sail."
"Y-yes! Um, Lord Duke--no, Leon-san, thank you for everything!"
While I waved back at Mia, who was waving with a smile, Finn turned his back to me.
"--Leon, goodbye."
"Yeah, goodbye."
I saw the two of them off with a smile.
◇
The rooftop of the royal palace.
It was Marie who had brought Erika, in her wheelchair, outside.
"The weather is really nice today. --Erika, Mia and the others can't come back anymore, you know. It's such a shame, I was looking forward to playing with them again next year."
Erika, looking paler than before, answered Marie with a smile.
"Mother, were you planning to play with them even after graduation?"
"I kind of feel like repeating the year. Getting to spend school life with you is so much fun. But I wonder why your health suddenly took a turn for the worse? Cleare won't tell me the details either."
Erika knew the reason.
"--I wonder why."
(Uncle has probably figured it out, though.)
"Erika, you aren't in pain? Want me to ask Bro to let you use the medical capsule again?"
"I'm fine. I'm used to being hospitalized."
Most of her old age had been spent in a hospital.
After she finished working, her health had failed her right away.
After that, she had been on a bed the whole time.
(I'm sure this is happiness that God gave me. After all, I got to meet Mother, and Uncle, and they cherished me.)
For Erika, every day was like a reward.
There had been unpleasant things too, but now she was very happy.
(If I alone disappear, there will be no more problems. That's fine. That's the flow of this world, after all.)
When Erika looked up at the sky, she could see the Empire's envoy airship in the distance.
It had gone outside and was waiting there for a while.
"I wonder if Mia and the others ran into some kind of trouble?"
"Who knows? The diplomats are pulling out too, so maybe they're confused."
"It was all a bit hectic, wasn't it."
Because of this incident, relations between the two countries had become tense.
Marie hadn't noticed that.
The rooftop door opened, and Leon came out.
Erya was there too.
"Erika, the Duke came to visit you."
Behind Erya, who looked somewhat bewildered, Leon wore a plastered-on smile.
(--I ended up causing Uncle trouble right to the end.)
Marie pushed the wheelchair, drawing close to Leon.
"Hey, the mood here is kind of scary. Erika is a sick person, so if you're irritated, do it lat--ah, Bro?"
Leon drew a handgun, and, ignoring Marie, spoke to Erika.
"You're a bad child. You deceived me, didn't you?"
Erika nodded.
"I'm sorry. But if you had known, would you have let me stop?"
"--You really are a bad child. I wonder who you take after."
Her own life, and the lives of the Empire's people.
There was no need to even weigh them on a scale.
Erika was a throwback in whom the blood of Old Humanity ran strong.
If she told the truth, there was no telling how Leon would act.
(If I alone become the sacrifice, everything will be settled neatly.)
After clearing the third installment of that otome game, Erika had searched for information on the internet.
What was written there were articles about the weapons that appeared and the worldview.
It said that in the past there had actually been a conflict between Old Humanity and New Humanity, and the weapons were the negative legacy left behind by both sides.
Surprisingly, the series had continued, and that setting had apparently been carried over.
And Erika was a person in whom the blood of Old Humanity, which opposed Mia, ran strong.
The reason Mia disliked her was written as "we wanted to incorporate the feud between Old Humanity and New Humanity."
It was a setting that didn't appear in the game itself.
"I think it turned out for the best. If I had told the two of you the truth, there's no telling what would have happened."
Leon might have attacked the Empire.
That alone was unacceptable.
"--Personally, I appreciate your kind feelings. But, did you predict this?"
Leon turned the muzzle of the gun toward Erika.
Erya panicked.
"B-Bro!"
Marie was the same.
She stepped in front of Erika and spread her arms wide.
"What are you thinking?!"
Leon had a serious look in his eyes.
"Move. This is the way to solve everything."
Erika thought about Leon's actions.
(There seems to be a reincarnator on their side too, so could it be that killing me is the condition for avoiding war? If so, then I guess this is as far as I go.)
The Empire knew that Leon cherished Erika.
Afraid that he would oppose them as things stood, they may have pressured the Kingdom to do something about Erika.
It's just like him.
She thought he had decided to take Erika's life in order to avoid war.
(I really am causing Uncle trouble right to the very end.)
Feeling unsteady, Erika thought this.
"--It's all right. If it's by your hand, being shot wouldn't be so bad."
Marie turned around to face Erika.
"Wh-what are you saying?! There's no way that's okay!"
But right after Marie turned around, Leon opened his mouth.
"--Erika, you are a bad child. But, I'm an even worse guy."
"No, Uncle, you are kin--"
Before she could finish, Leon pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit Erika.
Blood spurted out, and blood splattered onto Marie's face.
Marie touched it with her fingers and was trembling.
Immediately she pressed her hands against the spot where Erika had been shot.
(--It doesn't hurt as much as I thought.)
"Erika! Erikaaaa!"
(I'm sorry, Mother. I knew from the start it would turn out like this. Erya, I'm sorry too. And Uncle--Uncle?)
Leon was faintly smiling.
To Erika, that smile looked as if Leon had broken.
◇
The Empire's envoy delegation.
On the deck of the airship, Finn, who had been gripping the railing, crouched down.
"Partner, there's no surveillance on us. Leon kept his promise."
"I see."
Tears streaming down his face, Finn was grateful to Leon.
"Thank you, Leon. --I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Brave's eyes looked sad.
"This great me thinks that you, my partner, are wrong. But--I'll be on my partner's side to the very end."
"Sorry, Kurosuke. I dragged a fool of a partner like me into this."
"You don't call me Brave, but to this great me, you're the best partner. Of all the wielders up to now, the best partner. This great me guarantees it."
Brave had had various owners up until now.
He had had a member of New Humanity who had fought Old Humanity as his master.
After that the wielder changed, and when the war ended, he had slept.
The one who dug him up was Finn.
"--The only one who treated this great me as a partner is you. So, I alone will stick with you to the end."
"Sorry about that. You're right. This is what I--what we decided. I can't just keep crying."
"Partner, even this great me only has a fifty-fifty chance of beating that guy. Don't forget that."
"Yeah, I know."
In order to protect Mia, Finn couldn't afford to push things in the Kingdom.
Fighting in Leon's territory was disadvantageous.
Finn had been let off.
"--Leon, I'm sorry. I can't join hands with you."
Brave alerted Finn.
"Partner, it's Mia."
Finn wiped his tears.
"Sir Knight, Boo-kun! --Huh? Sir Knight, were you perhaps crying?"
Finn forced himself to smile.
"No, I just got some dust in my eye."
"You shouldn't lie. The area around your eyes is red, after all. So even you, Sir Knight, find saying goodbye hard."
"--Yeah."
"It's all right. I'm sure we'll meet again. Oh, I know! Next time we should invite you to the Empire. Let's invite the Duke and the others, and Lady Erika too."
Faced with the innocent Mia, Finn no longer knew what he should do.
"Mia, do you--want to get along well with Erika and the others?"
Mia tilted her head, her face asking why he would ask something so obvious.
"Of course I do. Um, I can't attend the academy anymore, but I've found a new goal. I'll become a bridge of friendship between us and the Kingdom. I'm a princess, so I can do that much, right? Right?!"
Faced with Mia's expectant gaze, Finn nodded.
"Yeah. Someday--I hope it will be that way."