Chapter 144

But even as she kept defeating foes she didn’t remember, Menou didn’t regain any of the memories she’d spent to use her Pure Concept. The people Menou did remember never appeared. Michele, Hakua, Akari, Maya, Sahara, Abbie. She still had memories of the people she’d encountered over the past six months. Or perhaps there were a few she was forgetting. It did seem strange that she could only come up with six people’s names. “…Phew.” She pressed on. There was no floor, no walls, and probably no air. Menou didn’t understand how she was walking, or how she could breathe. She had such little sense of reality that she’d even started to wonder if she had accidentally wandered into a dream. The origin of Guiding Force, the depths of the planet, or the world of the soul. There were many ways to refer to this place. Even Pure Concepts were only a tiny component of the makeup of it. The longer she stayed in this endlessly large, incoherent place, the fainter Menou’s sense of self became. The chaotic sea of Guiding Force was changing a little. It almost felt like the Guiding Force around her was starting to take on a will of its own, as if it had taken an interest in Menou. Sometimes, the particles drifted up to her, or whirled around as if teasing her. They didn’t have a physical form, of course. The Guiding Force wasn’t trying to help nor hinder her, only to interact with her. Or perhaps Menou was getting closer to being Guiding Force herself, and the effect of the Guiding Force around her was getting stronger. Menou pushed her way through yet another oncoming swirl of Guiding Force. At this rate, she might lose herself entirely. She had to come up with a strategy, but her thoughts were growing vague, even her sense of danger becoming hazy and tenuous. Was this the end…? Nothing had been done to her, nor had she done anything; the swaying of the sea of Guiding Force was simply bearing down on Menou with such intensity that she nearly yielded to the world around her. But then she heard the hard clack of crisp footsteps. Menou raised her head and saw a priestess standing before her. “……?” Menou opened her mouth to say the priestess’s name. Nothing came out. Who was she, again? Menou wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling she knew her. The woman’s hair was a sinister shade of dark red. She was tall, standing straight in a way that was strangely intimidating. Menou didn’t know her. Not her sneering lips. Not her scornful eyes. Not her merciless fingertips. The inability to remember her was so frustrating that Menou wanted to claw at her own throat. The sight of this woman filled her to the brim with bittersweet nostalgia, yet she had no idea what those feelings meant. Could Menou really call herself “Menou” if she couldn’t remember this woman? She felt suddenly conflicted, even miserable. Without realizing it, Menou was gripping the yellow cape she wore at her neck. The lack of her own memories was so painful that she nearly wanted to cry. For some reason, the red-haired woman didn’t attack Menou. Unlike the other memories she’d encountered thus far, this one didn’t fling accusations at her or try to admonish her at all. She just raised her arm, looking annoyed, and pointed. “That way…?” Was something over there? Before Menou could ask, the red-haired woman vanished. For a moment, Menou just stood there in a daze. Her heart was on the verge of breaking. She’d forgotten someone important to her. She couldn’t even remember what was important anymore. For the first time, the full weight of losing her memories hit her like a crushing blow. But she couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. Menou walked on, confident now. She knew somehow that the direction the woman had pointed in must surely be the right way. Then Menou’s feet touched the ground and made a noise. Something material had appeared in this empty space. There was a clear, glass-like floor now, and boxes arranged at irregular intervals. Controlled Guiding Light ran across the transparent surfaces in geometric patterns. Here, there was finally order. Now that objects that could be touched had appeared, the power that had surrounded her suddenly disappeared. Menou felt oddly forlorn at the loss of the Guiding Light around her. Even though a space that wasn’t full of Guiding Light was what she ought to be more accustomed to, she’d somehow gotten used to being enveloped in it at all times. Frightened by her own vulnerability, Menou ascended the transparent surface. She proceeded carefully. The Guiding Force in the matter here was all flowing toward a single point. Menou followed that path as she walked. Finally, she reached the central point, where a girl was standing alone. It wasn’t the kind of place where life occurred naturally. Menou didn’t need to ask to know who the girl, who was naked save for a white button-up shirt, was. This was the real Ran Gadou. The user of the Pure Concept of Vessel. She had tousled black hair and noticeably dark circles under her eyes. Her physical appearance was exactly that of the Ran Gadou Menou had met before. The girl looked at Menou blankly. “Who are you?” Ran Gadou’s dark eyes and expression showed little interest as she spoke. Sweat poured down Maya’s cheeks. She was creating a channel from Menou’s physical body, protecting her soul with an Original Sin conjuring. The shadow Menou had in that world was proof that Maya was supporting the “Menou” who had left her undefended body behind. But it was no easy task to support someone else’s soul and spirit. Crouching next to her, Gadou wiped Maya’s brow. Without Maya’s help, Menou’s soul probably would have melted away into the sea of Guiding Force. She probably would have never woken up there in the first place.