Chapter 74 - The Star Seeker, The Story After

It was a result born from a terrible entanglement of coincidence upon coincidence.

Originally, Arien would not have had to agonize. The Arien from the original story had a faint humanity at this point in time.

She would rationally determine that the Stella before her was suspicious and reject her.

Then, she would enter into battle… and an explosion would occur.

That was the predetermined causality.

But causality was overturned.

Arien began to explore her humanity a little earlier than in the original story. And she began to agonize.

That was why Arien's subconscious affirmed the stirring of her heart upon seeing Stella. That defined Arien's actions.

It became a weakness for Stella to exploit, but at the same time, it became a stepping stone for further growth.

The girl thus came to stand at a crossroads.

Would she settle without moving forward?

Or would she move forward with hope?

It was not a choice that was concretized in Arien's brain.

A choice of the subconscious, decided through the subconscious in the subconscious.

And Arien chose to move forward.

Through that experience, Arien came to recognize it. A heart that could not be verbalized, that was beyond the realm of reason.

There is no reason why it must be so.

There is no basis for choosing so.

But, I want to.

Through such a thought process, Arien chose to be by Rain's side.

And that was something that filled the void of reason in her understanding of humans.

***

It was truly an explosion of light so dazzling it could blind you, and so beautiful.

Arien's signature magic from , the game I had only seen.

『Where the Stars Sleep』.

Its beauty was more than the descriptions written in the game.

‘The scene where the sky-blue magic circles overlap and spread across the floor. Keuh-.’

…Did that sound a bit like gushing? But it couldn't be helped. What gamer could see this and not make a fuss?

I didn't think it was impossible that I could literally go blind because it was so bright.

Because it really was bright.

“...Hoo.”

Anyway, after the explosion ended, I returned to the scene.

[ Time Remaining : 35.23 ]

Swiftly, with my body enhanced by using 『Moment of Decisive Battle』.

[ Strength : D → B ]

[ Agility : C+ → A ]

[ Stamina : D → B ]

[ Intellect : B → A ]

[ Mana : D → B ]

[ Dexterity : B+ → A ]

Truly, saving 『Moment of Decisive Battle』 until the end was a good choice. Dragging out the time as much as possible was also good.

At the last moment, I used 『Moment of Decisive Battle』 to escape the attack from Stella's homunculus.

“I can't just let myself be used as a hostage.”

The art of battle lies outside the enemy's consciousness, was it? Those words Jeduin taught me were a great help.

I walked back to the corridor where the explosion occurred.

‘You can only call this the scene of a massive explosion… That's all I can say.’

Of course, since Arien had precisely designated the range, it wasn't to the extent that the whole factory was blown away like the Ulfendite explosion in the original story, but…

‘I'm sure other people saw this.’

Even in the original story, Arien's 『Where the Stars Sleep』 boasted considerable power.

Since such a technique had exploded, its light probably leaked out far into the distance.

To be precise, it might have been visible all the way to downtown Endinium.

‘Though there probably weren't many people who saw it since it's late at night.’

I looked up at the corridor's ceiling, or more accurately, where the ceiling used to be.

The sky-blue explosion that erupted from the magic circle soared into the sky.

And as a result, the ceiling had become the ceiling (that was).

“...It's all gone.”

Even though there were so many homunculi, they had vanished without a trace.

It was a matter of course. Stella's homunculi did not have physical forms.

They were merely fragments of a dream.

The continuation of the dream Stella couldn't finish. The ability to create a utopia. That was Stella's magic, 『Dream Realization』.

‘This won't be the end.’

It was obvious, but Stella, being the First Astro of Ad Astra, wouldn't end with a one-time event.

She would persistently extend her influence to Arien until the latter half of .

“Well, whatever.”

Still, the situation wasn't bad. The Arien in this world was different from the Arien in the original story.

The girl who had been tormented by an unintentional massacre was not here.

There was only Arien, who had faced her past a little earlier.

Thump.

As I continued to walk down the corridor, something came into view.

“……”

It was the sight of Arien, staring blankly at the sky beyond the hole in the ceiling.

The clear moonlight settled on Arien's sky-blue eyes and hair, making them shine even brighter.

“Arien-ssi.”

I called out to Arien as I approached her.

At that, Arien turned her head and looked at me.

“The enemy has fled.”

She suddenly started with that. It was very much like her, if I had to say.

“...Is that so.”

“Yes. It seems they had prepared an escape route in advance.”

Well, in the original story, a huge explosion from the Ulfendite was the canon event… so she would have prepared her own escape route.

“……”

And then, silence fell again. Arien's gaze was still fixed on the sky.

As for me… I waited quietly. It seemed like Arien was probably choosing her words.

She might look like that, but she must be complicated inside. At least, the Arien I knew from was that kind of person.

Arien, who had been staring at the sky for a while, turned her head towards me after a little time had passed.

“...You heard, didn't you.”

And she asked such a question.

“Heard what?”

I had a guess, but I asked back anyway.

“...The story… about me being a homunculus.”

At those words, I readily nodded. Well, there was nothing to be shocked about. I already knew from my knowledge of in the first place.

‘From the reason for her birth to the process, I'm in a position where I can't help but know.’

Because of this, my reaction couldn't help but be quite simple.

“Yes, well.”

As I nodded, Arien spoke again.

“...Are you okay with it? I'm sure you know what kind of being a homunculus is.”

A homunculus, a pseudo-sentient lifeform that only borrows the form of a human.

In this world, the treatment of homunculi was… well, about the same as humanoid robots in reality. But much more advanced.

But I once again nodded as if it were no big deal.

At that, Arien wore an expression as if she couldn't understand.

“Homunculi are not human. They do not go through the developmental process of emotions that humans rightfully experience.”

That was true. Homunculi are born already somewhat grown when they are cultivated.

It meant they couldn't go through the socialization process that people rightfully experience.

But one could also think, then why not just create homunculi in baby form and raise them?

“Also, we are beings that fundamentally cannot think like people.”

The arrangement of their thought processes was also a problem. Because their thought processes were programmed one by one, one couldn't expect the rich emotional expression or complex thoughts of a human.

“We are not born in the human way, but are beings born into ‘such a form’ with magic formulas engraved in our brains.”

In short, they were like the AI of modern times.

Of course, in Arien's case, as she was the masterpiece of Magic Tower Master Tyrion, she was indistinguishable from a human.

“...We will not be able to understand each other.”

Arien added at the end.

But, I thought.

Is that important?

“Is that so.”

I just responded calmly to Arien's words.

“I request that you respond a little more seriously.”

Arien said with a serious look in her eyes. Did it look like I was just giving a half-hearted response?

But I was responding seriously enough right now.

“Well, even people don't live in perfect understanding of each other. No matter how close they are.”

Just thinking about my relationship with Yuna proves it.

I have a definitely close relationship with Yuna, but she doesn't know everything about me.

I also have general information about Yuna, but there are gaps in the finer details.

“……”

Arien was silent. So I added to my story.

“And yet, people live together. Even though they don't understand each other.”

Serene and I.

Yuna and I.

Khan and I.

Regina and I.

And, like Arien and I.

“Why do you think that is?”

I asked Arien.

“...I do not know.”

But Arien shook her head at my question. Well, I expected that kind of reaction.

“It's because even if they can't understand each other, they respect each other.”

“Respect…”

People are different. There is no means to grasp each other's hearts.

Unless something like a mind-reading technology becomes widespread.

But, people live together by respecting each other.

I don't know the feelings Serene has for me, nor what happened in the past.

The same goes for Regina. Since she's a villain who appears only briefly, my information on Regina is limited.

As for the detailed personalities of Yuna and Khan, there were many parts that I was surprised by after interacting with them directly.

I also have many things I'm hiding from the people I can call my friends. My very foundation was like that.

And yet, we live together. Even though we don't know each other perfectly.

“There's almost nothing we know about each other properly. And yet, to be able to respect each other.”

Something like that.

“Is surely a wonderful thing.”

I looked at Arien's expression. The girl's expression was still not relaxed.

“...But, I want understanding. Understanding of people. Is that forever impossible?”

“I don't think that's a futile effort either.”

I like the character Arien.

I like her attitude of challenging the impossible, her attitude towards life.

“If we respect each other and never stop trying to understand each other…”

And, I think.

“Someday, won't we reach it? That thing called perfect understanding.”

I said, raising the corners of my mouth slightly into a smile.

It was nothing more than an optimistic hope. The day when people perfectly understand each other might never come.

No, it's not a matter of 'might not'; the possibility is higher that it won't. Perfect understanding itself is close to the realm of fantasy.

But, even if it's a fantasy, so what?

No one loses anything because of it.

“……”

Arien was silent for a moment, then looked up at the sky.

And she reached her hand towards the sky.

Towards the stars in the night sky, which she could never reach.

At that, I too followed Arien and looked at the sky.

Perhaps because it was a remote area with no lights, countless stars hung in the sky as if they were about to pour down.

“It's beautiful.”

It might have sounded like something I said because the silence was awkward, but those words, at least, were sincere.

It was beautiful. This sky.

“It is.”

Arien replied in a calm voice.

I wondered what kind of expression she was making now. I was a little curious… but I didn't turn my eyes away.

And so, we looked at the sky for a long time.

It was possible that we had engraved in a corner of our hearts the will to one day reach the unreachable stars.

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