—The Memory Room.
The gray round-table hall had become like an arena.
The silver greatswords clashed violently, their forms seeming to reflect the hearts of their wielders.
The greatsword he held was neatly shaped. But the greatsword Lyle wielded was jagged like a dragon's head, its maw gaping as though trying to devour something whole.
He raised his greatsword and brought the two silver blades crashing together. The defining characteristic of the silver greatswords—the weapons of the First Generation—was their overwhelming, almost violent destructive power.
On top of that, they sought to drain every last drop of mana, making them enormously taxing for the wielder. Lyle had not yet learned to handle such a weapon.
(Because he has nothing, he seeks. Because he yearns from the depths of his heart—a monster of insatiable hunger.)
He sensed that the current Lyle was dangerous. Lyle knew he himself was empty, and the memories of who he once was lay right before his eyes. He would stop at nothing to reclaim them.
(We're already different people, Lyle and I.)
Still, he didn't want to return the memories to Lyle. That would be the same as letting Lyle reclaim his memories and cease to be who he was now.
If Lyle regained his memories, both of them would vanish and a new [Lyle] would be born—a complete Lyle who inherited both their memories.
(That's the answer the Jewel sought. But… that won't do. Unless it's the current Lyle, winning against Ceres means nothing. The continent would simply trade one monster—Ceres—for another—Lyle.)
To reclaim everything would be the same as unleashing a new monster upon the world.
So he offered the simple answer.
—To let Lyle keep his memories and simply cease to exist—
That was the outcome he sought.
Watching Lyle swing his greatsword with a desperate expression, he raised his own blade and deflected the blow. The attack was heavier than the last, and his lips twisted into a grin.
"See? With moves like that, you'll never get your memories back, no matter how long you try!"
"Don't look down on me from up there like that!"
For Lyle, who had lost everything, it was inevitable that he would want to regain his memories of family. However, if he did so, he would remember all the kindness of his family. If that happened, would he be able to endure it when he recalled killing his parents and Ceres?
Their silver greatswords clashed, scattering sparks and blue light, illuminating the space between them at the round gray table.
The body enhancement from Skills brought various effects—
Right now, Lyle was pushing Lyle to his limits. No, he was being pushed. Lyle was forcing out power beyond his limits and providing a place to use it.
(That's it, that's fine. This is all I can do... Lyle!)
As they both landed, they took their stances with greatswords ready. The shockwave and its aftershocks had left both their clothes in tatters.
Lyle confirmed that Lyle's magical flow was adapting to his body, then channeled his own magic into his greatsword.
It was a bluff—
'Look, I'll send you flying with this. Then I'll be freed from inside the Jewel. Finally, I can get outside!!'
Laughing as if driven to madness, he taunted Lyle. Falling for Lyle's provocation, Lyle took a similar action.
*I think he's being a little too honest,* Lyle thought.
'You're doing that trick again. You have no originality whatsoever.'
"Shut up!"
Both greatswords had transformed—one into Lyle's blade with its clean, straight silhouette, and the other into Lyle's ominous weapon that resembled the head of a monster. As they stepped in, they charged at each other, thrusting their greatswords forward like spears.
They kicked off the ground, gouging the earth and raising clouds of dust.
'That's good'
Saying this, Lyle shifted the tip of his greatsword slightly to the right—
They collided, and both greatswords pierced deeply into each other.
Lyle's left arm was blown away, and Lyle's small body was skewered by the greatsword, coughing up blood. Lyle's greatsword vanished, and his body crumbled without regenerating.
"Why, at the very end—"
He tried to dismiss the greatsword, but Lyle gripped its blade with both hands and refused to let go.
"……If anyone should disappear, it should be me. I couldn't stop Ceres. I couldn't save my parents. What's the point of me coming back now? You're the one who endured the hard times, Lyle. You held on so well. And you fought so hard. Lyle… you're so much stronger than me."
Lyle let go of the greatsword and toppled forward. Lyle caught him, and the silver greatsword, still embedded and unmoved, continued to destroy Lyle's body.
"Hey, I still have questions! What about your memories?!"
Lyle was smiling.
"Is that really necessary? Well, it could be a parting gift for the me that's disappearing. Just like this, I'll fade away, and my existence will truly vanish. You can stay just as you are."
Lyle didn't understand what he was saying. He tried desperately to make the silver greatsword vanish, but it wouldn't listen. It seemed as though Lyle was gripping it, forcing it to destroy him.
"What did you even want, after all that?! Prodding me on like that!"
"……Didn't I tell you? I wanted you to save me. When Lyle said he wanted to save his family, I understood what that meant. So, I'm satisfied with that now. I couldn't agree with the Jewel's way of thinking. That's why I chose this method. Besides, if I were to get my memories back… Gugh!"
Lyle coughed up blood. Lyle told him to stop talking, but when he tried to restrain him with his right hand, a blue gem simply appeared in his palm.
"See, here's the second one."
He'd received the first from Septem. Now, he was about to receive the second from Lyle.
When Lyle took it, it was once again drawn into his body and vanished.
"What is this?"
"There are three. Collect all three. Then, the third of Lyle's Skills will awaken. It's very special, unfair even, but you'll definitely need it… Ahh, I'm done for."
With that, Lyle forced himself to stand upright on both feet and waved at Lyle. Blood was trickling from his mouth, but he was smiling.
"Why won't you let me—"
"Bye-bye, little brother. This was fun. I wonder if this is what it would be like to have a brother… Hmm, Ceres was adorable too, but having a brother is nice. And the answer is simple."
Lyle felt as though he was being thrown out of the memory room, his body forcibly ejected.
"I am your big brother. You don't have to think of me that way, but I want to put on a bit of a show for my little brother who's going to keep striving. Also, Lyle also has family—"
The moment he vanished, Lyle had indeed said something.
"—Lyle has family too, you know."
That was what he said.
—In the Hall of the Gray Round Table.
The one who appeared there was Mireia, gripping a gun in her hand.
Facing Lyle, who looked as though he could vanish at any moment, she pointed the barrel at him.
"...The Jewel's wish was for Lyle to have his memories restored. And yet, even going against that, you..."
Lyle watched his crumbling body and smiled.
"All that matters is winning in the end. That kind of thinking is exactly why you'll fail. The goddess should learn that already. There's nothing perfect in this world. Lyle certainly can't do it alone—he could never beat Ceres on his own. But so what? That's precisely why Lyle can beat Ceres. Because he can't do it alone, you see."
Mireia kept the gun trained on Lyle.
"To seize victory with the help of others... Indeed, with the power Lyle has gained to catch up to Ceres, that might be difficult. But this way, Lyle's chances of beating Ceres—"
Lyle pressed his forehead against the muzzle. It was as though he was daring her to take careful aim right here.
"That's exactly why it's fine, isn't it? Just win as a human. All the goddess-this and monster-that is annoying. As long as you don't win as a human, it'll never end."
Lyle, whose legs had shattered and crumbled like glass, collapsed forward, his arms destroyed as well, leaving only his torso and head.
The silver greatsword vanished, and Mireia holstered her gun.
Then she gently lifted Lyle into her arms. He was smiling to the very end.
"Is there anything you'd like to say? Anyone is fine."
At Mireia's words, Lyle started to open his mouth, then shook his head.
"Too late for family, so that's fine. Just tell Lyle 'sorry for the trouble,' and to the Successive Heads, 'thank you for everything'—that should do."
Mireia nodded. And then, with one last amused grin, Lyle...
"Oh, and about the princess you were worried about — I have a proposal. Mireia, won't you go along with it? It'll be interesting."
Though slightly exasperated, Mireia lent an ear to Lyle's final proposal.
"What is it? What kind of solution?"
"It's simple. If it were me—"
After hearing Lyle's proposal through, Mireia laughed, and Lyle crumbled away and vanished—
The next day.
I once again put in a request to use the Audience Chamber.
His Majesty and the Queen looked annoyed. And the dignitaries, having caught sight of my face first thing in the morning, were muttering complaints under their breath.
What terrible hatred.
His Majesty opened his mouth with a look of distaste.
"You want to use the Audience Chamber for a second day, and it's causing us no end of trouble? Today's schedule has had to be drastically rearranged, and the entire castle is in a panic trying to adjust. Honestly, people of House Walt—"
Then, the Third Generation spoke in a voice lower than usual.
"Come now, Lyle... shall we use my Skill? Don't worry, one level is enough. Let's dig into those old wounds of the heart and pack them with salt."
The Fifth Generation was eager to join in too.
"If this lot could just hold their feelings in a little more, it wouldn't have come to this. What a mess."
The Seventh Generation was quieter than the day before.
"...Come. Remember the terror of House Walt."
The dignitaries who had once been held captive by the Seventh Generation. And the former crown princes who had been made to show their disgrace in full. It would be easy. Easy enough.
"Thank you so very much for accommodating my request today."
I bowed with a smile, but the people around me were directing unkind stares in my direction. However, my Skill—the Third Generation's [Mind]—was showing me the scene unfolding around me.
Behind me, slightly to the side — there stood the figure of the Seventh Generation. The very person who had once chased His Majesty and the dignitaries around, carving trauma deep into their minds, was visible to them. The trauma imprinted by the Seventh Generation had created just the right kind of crack in their hearts.
And the Seventh Generation — nothing more than an illusion — opened his mouth.
"To think my own grandson would sit there on the throne looking all high and mighty — that sniffling little brat has certainly grown bold. Looks like he wants to be chased around again."
His Majesty and the dignitaries who bore that trauma shot their eyes wide open, their bodies suddenly jolting as their breathing began to falter.
"What's the matter, Your Majesty? Oh, that's right. I was meaning to bring up something I couldn't convey yesterday."
Behind me, I had the Seventh Generation illusion recite lines that the real Seventh Generation, sealed within the Jewel, had scripted.
"Ah, yes... Tell them something like, 'I suppose it's time to repay the favor of reducing the ransom.' Did you really fake those tears of joy back then? Well, no matter."
At the Seventh Generation's instruction, I carried it out. The illusion of the Seventh Generation behind me spoke.
"When I reduced the ransom, you wept with joy — but it seems your little speech about never forgetting this debt of gratitude was a lie after all. The lands of Fonbeau that my father and I carved away... hmm, perhaps this time I'll have my grandson carve away everything. Your heads included, of course."
His Majesty had half risen from his seat, sweat pouring down his body. He was trembling violently, his gaze fixed on the spot behind me.
Around the throne, the sight of the trembling dignitaries had thrown the crowd into an uproar. After all, every pair of eyes was staring at the space behind me.
"Your Majesty, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? Someone — cancel the audience—"
The Queen, worried for His Majesty, moved to bring the audience to an end — but His Majesty himself.
"W-Wait! W-We'll continue! Just continue as you were!"
He was clearly staring at the space behind me, terrified. I responded with a smile.
"Is that so? I'm glad to hear it. It's something important, and I wanted you to hear it."
The Seventh Generation illusion behind me glared at those assembled.
"This is a request from my grandson. You'll listen, won't you? Unless you want to be chased around like in the old days, I'd suggest you listen carefully."
Some of the elders in the crowd were nodding their heads vigorously, again and again. The dignitaries who bore no trauma could only watch in bewilderment, unable to make sense of any of it.
I turned toward His Majesty.
"This is an important day where House Walt and Fonbeau join hands and let bygones be bygones. So, how about granting me the princess?"
At that, the Queen and the dignitaries who bore no trauma—
"How insolent! And who said anything about letting bygones be bygones! The blood of the Fonbeau royal family is not cheap. Not to the likes of someone from House Walt!"
"Your Majesty, grant us permission to kill this wretch right here!"
"Who said we'd forgotten our grudge against House Walt!"
The audience hall erupted in agitation. Yet half of them remained silent. And well they should — they were looking directly at the Seventh Generation as he spoke.
"Oh? You want to fight? How delightful. Come now, let me see how strong you've become. Rest easy — my grandson is stronger than I ever was. Would you prefer a one-on-one bout? Or perhaps a full-scale war? Go on, choose. I'll chase you around until you cry all over again, just like the old days."
The Emperor and the traumatized dignitaries looked on the verge of tears at the combative grin the Seventh Generation wore.
Then, when the Emperor made his declaration in a loud voice, the traumatized dignitaries piled on.
"W-wonderful! The day that puts an end to years of conflict! I-I think it's a fine idea! Y-yes, the daughter — who would be a good match, quickly, quickly — l-let's discuss it!"
"What a splendid proposal!"
"Truly a joyous occasion! This will be a wonderful day for Fonbeau!"
Their eyes were darting everywhere. Drenched in sweat, they were clearly in a panic. They must have been remembering their trauma. Their bodies were trembling.
When the Queen turned her gaze toward the Emperor and those dignitaries—
"Wh-what are you saying... Have you forgotten! How much suffering House Walt has inflicted upon us! Are you even still nobles of Fonbeau! The person standing before you is someone from House Walt!"
But even the Queen fell silent at my next words.
"Your Majesty, and Your Majesty the Queen—"
"Wh-what is it!"
The Emperor stumbled over his words, but no one corrected him. They probably didn't have the composure for that.
"Thank you for hearing my wish. Then, I would like to request Princess Lianne."
And the audience hall fell silent.
Everyone seemed to have found someone to push Lianne onto, and were deep in thought about various things.
...Right, this was the last solution that Lyle had come up with. But going forward... whether this would be enough of a countermeasure against Lianne, I couldn't tell.
It was Lyle's plan, but I was starting to feel anxious about whether it would really be all right.