Chapter 73 - The Star Seeker

In over 50 regressions, there had never been a single instance where Stella spoke to me.

She would just control the homunculi's movements from behind, relentlessly aiming for my life.

With a strategy that felt full of hatred, contrasting with the innocent smile etched on her face.

But this time, something was different.

The 365th regression. When I momentarily lost my ability to fight due to being outnumbered…

“I have a question.”

She actually called off the homunculi and asked me a question.

‘Why?’

It wasn't that I didn't have a guess. In this 365th regression, I had lasted the longest out of all the battles so far.

‘Did something change in her mind?’

My mind raced like that, but… anyway, this situation was a good thing. I could buy even a little more time.

“...Go ahead.”

I nodded and replied. Stella then crouched down, meeting my eye level.

And she asked. With that same smile on her face.

“You said it earlier, didn't you? Whether I really thought Arien chose you purely based on emotion.”

Ah, so that's what she was bothered by.

“That's right.”

“What did you mean?”

Stella's default expression was always a smile, but now she looked genuinely full of questions.

The affection she had for Arien, at least, was real.

…Well, maybe I should tell her a little.

It wasn't just to buy time. As corrupt as she was, she deserved to hear the story.

Because Stella was Arien's friend.

***

As she absorbed the mana of the Ulfendite piled up like mountains in the underground warehouse, Arien, on the other hand, was lost in agony.

“...I don't know.”

Who could have imagined that such words would come from the mouth of Arien Ortega?

She didn't know all the knowledge in the world, but she was a girl who could if she wanted to.

Even before entering the academy, Arien was held in such high regard at the Magic Tower.

A girl who could unravel the entire structure of this world, which was made of reason.

But Arien was now lost in a more complex agony than any other challenge she had faced in her life.

The moment of choice was so unfamiliar. That moment when she had to choose between Rain and Stella.

It was an utterly chaotic situation. Why did the girl who identified herself as Stella know so much about her?

Was there any proof that what Stella said was true? There was no such proof. It was only her own claim.

But it was also true that Stella knew too much about Arien and the homunculi.

Of course, it was also true that she was still suspicious.

Rain was also strange, if you thought about it. How did he know to follow her?

What did he know about the situation to extend a hand to Arien?

How did he know that such a large amount of Ulfendite was buried in the basement of this factory?

From a rational point of view, both sides had too many elements of suspicion.

-Arien, you may not remember… but we're sisters. Sisters who can understand each other and be there for each other.

The words of the girl who identified herself as Stella were so warm.

Warmth was certainly in the realm of emotion, a field Arien hadn't accurately grasped…

But it was an undeniable fact that the girl's words had settled warmly in her heart.

-You don't have to do painful things anymore. You don't have to try to understand things you don't know.

-You just have to be yourself. With that alone, we can connect.

The words Stella had conveyed as she reached out her hand were even more so.

Words so gentle they could bring tears to her eyes.

At those words, Arien might have thought.

The human heart. A subject so ambiguous that its very definition was faint, there was no need to explore it anymore.

There was no need to suffer the pain of searching for a tiny jewel in a sandfield in the pitch-black darkness anymore.

It made sense.

Arien was a homunculus. A life form clearly different from humans.

For such a homunculus to try to understand humans? It might have been an impossible attempt from the start.

“...!”

Seeing herself thinking such thoughts, Arien couldn't help but be momentarily startled.

Because it was an inner self she hadn't even known.

‘…Was I thinking that without even realizing it?’

Only then did she realize. Arien was tired of exploring the human heart.

She was fed up with that thing called the heart, which seemed within grasp yet slipped away no matter how much effort she poured into exploring it.

For Arien, who had absorbed any knowledge like soil soaking up water until now, the shock must have been even greater.

The more she looked back on the past, the more reasons there were to choose Stella.

-…Let's go, together.

…However, Arien chose Rain Enlight.

That was the result. But why?

Even if it was a momentary impulse, there is always a reason behind that impulse. There is no such thing as 'just because'.

Arien compared Stella and Rain again.

When she saw Rain, did her heart pound as much as when she saw Stella? Was she as emotionally shaken?

No. Not at all. She certainly felt comfortable with Rain, but Stella was more than that.

Was Rain's claim more well-founded than Stella's?

That wasn't it either.

“Then, why.”

It was clearly a heart that even she herself did not know.

No human perfectly understands their own heart.

Perhaps that was proof that Arien was human.

***

Stella was asking Rain. In that moment of choice, why did Arien choose Rain?

-Do you really think Arien-ssi chose me based entirely on emotion?

Why did he say that the choice was not in the realm of emotion?

“...It's a simple story.”

“Explain.”

An explanation. Rain thought that it wasn't grand enough to be called an explanation.

“Because she is none other than Arien-ssi, isn't she?”

But Stella, who heard those words, still had a dissatisfied expression.

“Not enough.”

As she said that, Stella gestured, and a homunculus pointed its weapon at Rain.

It must have been a threat to explain it in a way that was easy to understand.

“...In that situation, you said this to Arien-ssi. That there is no need to understand the human heart anymore.”

“That's right.”

Rain had arrived late, so he hadn't heard it exactly, but…

Rain knew that in the original , Stella had said that to Arien, who was agonizing over the heart.

That there was no need to understand the hearts of humans, that it was something they could never understand anyway.

That only they, who were fellow homunculi and shared the same past, could understand each other.

Rain continued to speak.

“But that is nothing more than complacency. It means closing off the possibility of understanding each other and settling into your own world.”

“...Are you serious?”

Stella's expression had changed to one of slight disbelief.

“You talk as if understanding each other is even possible.”

Her tone also became somewhat venomous.

“You humans can't understand each other even in relationships. You'll probably remain that way forever.”

Rain thought. It certainly wasn't wrong.

People clash because they don't understand each other, and they oppress those they think are beneath them.

But, even so.

“...Even so, people strive to understand each other. Even if that possibility is ever so small.”

“That's foolish.”

“But they are moving forward, embracing the possibility.”

“……”

Stella's face, which had always been wreathed in smiles, hardened.

“Arien-ssi is a born explorer. There's no way someone like her... would give up with a possibility right in front of her.”

No matter how thread-like that possibility, there was no way Arien would give up.

That was the story.

Stella had said, ‘Let's close off the possibility of understanding each other and live in our own world.’

Rain had said, ‘We must move forward with the hope of understanding each other.’

In that fleeting moment, he hadn't said those words aloud.

But Arien's brilliant intellect had perfectly understood the message embedded in the choices in that short moment.

And she chose.

Instead of remaining in happiness, Arien chose to move forward.

“Aren't you the one, then, who is falsely claiming to be Arien-ssi's confidant?”

“Ha?”

“It makes sense, since you also don't understand Arien-ssi at all, do you?”

After those words passed, a brief silence followed.

And then.

“How unpleasant.”

The expression on Stella's face as she said that was completely distorted.

“Disappear.”

And as she said that, the homunculus that had been pointing its sword at Rain raised it high.

‘…Still, I said what I had to say.’

Rain had no regrets. Because he had said everything in his heart.

And because this was not the end.

Just as Rain was thinking that and about to move his body.

A certain sound was heard.

Pang-!

The sound of something being shot out.

And then.

Thwack!

The sound of a weapon being struck by something and sent flying.

“...!”

In that moment, Rain and Stella heard the sound of something being shot out and looked in that direction.

And what was at the place their gazes were directed at was.

Tap.

It was the ‘Star Seeker’, Arien Ortega.

***

“Arien...!”

Stella cried out. It might have been a cry that even felt somewhat desperate.

But Arien’s expression remained calm.

“Stand down. I have absorbed all of the Ulfendite's mana. You, who are using your mana to maintain the barrier, have no chance of winning.”

And she warned her in her characteristic tone.

“……”

At that sight, Stella's face distorted even more, but she soon composed herself and smiled.

“Arien, are you serious?”

“I am serious.”

Hearing Arien's answer, Stella continued to speak.

“You know, Arien. Does this man know? That you are a homunculus, just like me.”

“……”

“You may be trying to understand people… but people won't understand you, and they can't. Because you are a homunculus, and they are human.”

At those words, Arien couldn't help but shut her mouth.

A doll that merely imitates the form of a person, a copy of a human.

In people's perception, a homunculus was closer to a machine than a human.

The position a homunculus held in society was so clear it was embarrassing to call it common sense.

Hadn't she come here to eliminate the risk of her identity as a homunculus being exposed?

Arien's eyes wavered once. And Arien looked at Rain.

What kind of expression would Rain make when he found out she was a homunculus?

It was an expression of such worry.

But—Rain was just looking at Arien with the same expression as always.

As always, he was calmly watching the path Arien was taking.

What kind of emotion did Arien feel seeing that face?

‘…Again, I don't know.’

Arien still couldn't grasp her own emotions.

But, clearly, Arien had already made a decision for reasons she herself didn't realize.

Arien raised her hand. A magic circle shining with a brilliant sky-blue light spread across the floor.

That light certainly resembled Arien's eyes.

“Arien!!”

Stella shouted, but it did not reach Arien.

Vwoom-.

Then Stella manipulated another homunculus to aim for Rain Enlight.

It was an attempt to exploit the fact that one cannot chant another spell while in the middle of casting one.

However.

Thwack-!

Rain parried the homunculus's strike with the sword in his right hand and then disengaged.

It should have been impossible. Rain was exhausted, and even at full strength, the homunculus's combat power would have been difficult to handle.

But the sudden enhancement of his physical abilities, which he had never shown Stella before, made it possible.

Tat-!

And, he shouted.

“Now!!”

A brilliant, shining sky-blue magic circle spread across the floor.

On top of that huge magic circle, smaller magic circles overlapped. On the locations of the enemies, excluding Rain.

A magic that created a pseudo-barrier to accurately strike only the enemies within it.

Where the Stars Sleep.

“The last star of midnight shall slumber quietly here.”

The girl chanted briefly.

That was her decision.

Even if she had to wander in the pitch-black darkness.

Even if the sparkling jewel she sought was buried deep in the sand of that darkness.

Even if the day she found the light of that jewel would never come.

The girl would set out in search of the light.

She was not perfectly aware of her decision, but it was a single, natural conclusion.

One who sets out to find what shines in the darkness.

That is, one who sets out to find the shining stars in the pitch-black night sky.

In other words, a seeker of stars.

That was the protagonist of , the 'Star Seeker' Arien.

And then.

Fwap.

As Arien spread open her tightly clenched fist—.

Kwaaaang-!

A dazzling sky-blue mana exploded precisely from beneath the enemies' feet.

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