She squeezed her eyes shut, large tears forcing their way out.
I pulled her into my arms and held her tight.
“…I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. You’ll live forever. If we were together, someday I’d grow old and die. I’d leave you behind. I couldn’t even think of becoming your partner in those circumstances.”
“Kanata…” She circled her arms around me too, as if to console me. She stroked my hair. “I’m sorry, Kanata… If only I were a normal girl. If we’d been born in the same period… You never should have had to feel this way…”
Then her hand froze, as if she noticed something was wrong.
“Kanata…” she said. “Why am I sensing unholy impurity coming from you…”
She finally noticed. I worried over how to say it, but I made up my mind and decided to just tell her. Everything. “Actually…when I went to the Garden of the Dragons, Ridler gave me two items. One was the Ravia Tablet, the item that saved us. The other…was the Necronomicon.”
A lich of ancient times, Grave Break Norn, had communicated with angels and recorded what he learned there in a tome of extremely high-level death magic spells. Lunaère had taught me almost nothing of that school of magic.
That’s why I accepted that book from Ridler, so I could teach myself. When I had the time, I’d read the Necronomicon, deepening my understanding of death magic.
If all I wanted to do was go between Earth and Locklore, I didn’t need to be able to use every spell ever. It would have been enough to just ask for Dimension Gate. But being able to cast magic like a Lesser God meant that I could try out the spells in the Necronomicon and make myself a lich, like Lunaère.
I actually did the ritual when I was there, with the Highest God.
He loved it.
But as I was walking back down the stairs to Locklore, I got as far as making a plan to take Lunaère to Earth. I decided that without asking her opinion. Then I came to my senses and realized that just going off and making myself a lich for Lunaère was pretty awkward, and maybe a bit presumptuous. That’s why I hadn’t been able to tell anyone.
The situation got complicated.
It seemed that my unholy impurity wasn’t that bad, because the high-level ceremony was completed in its entirety. It didn’t seem to affect Pomera and Philia, who were around level 2000. They didn’t even notice.
“What have you done?! Y-you moron! You’re an idiot, Kanata! Why would you do something so extreme all on your own, just rushing forward without thinking?! And what would you do if I turned you down?!”
She was completely right. That’s why I hadn’t said anything once my normal, sane self was back in control.
“Are you…turning me down?” I asked.
Lunaère squeezed me in her arms and kissed me. “How could I turn you down…? You’d be lost without me.”
Her face turned bright red, and her voice was so quiet it was nearly nonexistent.
I held her tight, and this time I was the one to kiss her.