“Huh…? Weren’t we going to leave things up to Cardinal after we beat Administrator?” Eugeo asked. Kirito’s lips moved as he sought the right thing to say, but there was a rare moment of hesitation in his eyes. He turned away.
“Kirito…?”
“…Actually, I’ll tell you the rest after we get Alice back. This isn’t the time to be thinking about extra stuff.”
“Well…okay, I guess,” Eugeo replied. Kirito hurried down the terrace to escape his gaze. Eugeo followed after him, feeling no small amount of apprehension about what had just been mentioned, but the sudden surge of tension that gripped him when he saw the large doors ahead swept away his concern.
Given how many Integrity Knights had been waiting for them on the fiftieth floor, it seemed clear that whoever was giving the orders—Fanatio had mentioned a prime senator—intended to put a stop to them right then and there. It was practically a miracle that they had withstood the furious assault of the knights and won.
Now that they had broken through that barricade to threaten the top floor, this prime senator would use whatever power necessary to stop them. They might open this door and come across the commander of the Integrity Knights with all the remaining members, flanked by powerful priests and monks to cast sacred arts from a distance.
But there were no side routes in. Whatever awaited, they had to meet it head-on.
Kirito and I can do this.
They shared a look of determination, reached out to the doors, and gave a push together. The large slabs rolled inward.
“…!”
The resulting combination of color, trickling water, and sweet scent was so overwhelming that Eugeo couldn’t believe his senses at first.
They were still inside the tower. The same white marble wall as the rest of the obelisk was visible in the distance ahead. But the floor here was no longer stone tile; instead, it had thick, soft grass. Here and there bloomed holy flowers, which were the source of the scent.
To Eugeo’s surprise, there was even a pristine little brook a short distance away, its surface sparkling. From the doorway ran a narrow brick-lined path that crossed over the brook with a wooden footbridge before continuing on.
Beyond the river was a small hill. The path snaked its way up and over the slope, which was covered in flowers. Eugeo followed the trail with his eyes all the way to a single tree standing at the top of the hill.
It wasn’t a very big tree. The thin branches supported dark-green leaves and little orange cross-shaped flowers. The light of Solus coming through the windows just below the high ceiling fell right on that tree, illuminating the flowers like gold.
The slender trunk also shone in the sunlight—and at its base was a flash of even brighter gold…
“Ah…!”
Eugeo didn’t even register the gasp that came from his mouth.
From the moment he saw the girl resting against the trunk with her eyes closed, he failed to think of anything else.
Like some trick of the gentle, dappled sunlight, the girl’s entire form shone with gold. The beautiful armor that covered her top half and arms was already dazzling gold to begin with, and her long white skirt had embroidered highlights of similarly colored thread. Even her polished white leather boots seemed to radiate in the sunlight.
But more beautiful and glowing than anything else was her long, flowing hair. It was perfectly straight, running from her perfectly curved head down her back, like a waterfall of holy light and molten gold.
Years ago, he had seen that hair every single day. He had tugged on it and jammed twigs into it, innocent and ignorant of its glory and fragility.
That golden shine that was a symbol for friendship, longing, and just a tinge of love, turned in the course of a single day into a reminder of Eugeo’s weakness, ugliness, and cowardice. Now the light that should have remained forever out of his grasp was in reach once more.
“A…Ali…ce…,” he mumbled, scarcely hearing the words. He lurched toward her, wobbling down the brick path. Eugeo couldn’t even sense the pleasant fragrance of the holy flowers or the babbling of the brook. The only sensations that connected him to the rest of the world were the warmth of his sweaty hand clutching the collar of his shirt and the pulsing sensation of the little dagger beneath the fabric.
He crossed the bridge over the water and started up the hillside. Less than twenty mels to reach the top.
As he looked up, he saw the downward-facing features of the girl, clear as day. There was no expression of any kind on that pure white skin. She just sat there, eyes closed, floating in the warmth of the sun and the scent of the flowers.
Is she sleeping?
If he snuck up on her and held out the dagger to prick one of the fingers resting on top of her knees…would that be the end of it, right there?
Just then, Alice raised her hand, and Eugeo stopped, his heart leaping into his throat. Her shining lips opened to let him hear that familiar voice.
“Please wait just a little longer. The weather is so nice, I want to let her soak in the sun a bit more.”
Her eyes, bordered by golden lashes, slowly opened.
Irises a shade of blue that existed nowhere else in the world met Eugeo’s gaze. He anticipated a softening in her look, the hint of a smile to play over those lips.
But the blue of those crystal eyes was not gentle like it once was. It was the color of permanent ice, unmelting under centuries of sun. Eugeo was trapped in place, an intruder caught in the sights of a sentinel.
So battle would be unavoidable.
Lost memory or not, she was Alice Zuberg from the village of Rulid, and now he would have to point his sword at her—to return her to normal. No matter how hard and unforgiving the fight would be.
He understood the strength of Alice Synthesis Thirty, Integrity Knight. He’d learned it by experience, when she smacked him in the face with her scabbard. He hadn’t merely been taken by surprise; he hadn’t even seen the blow before it landed. How difficult would it be to neutralize a warrior of such skill without hurting her, either?
She could not be fought with anything less than his greatest effort.
But can I even manage to cut a single lock of her golden hair?
He couldn’t take a single step forward, much less draw his sword for battle.
While Eugeo struggled like never before, Kirito approached from the rear and murmured hoarsely, “You shouldn’t fight, Eugeo. Just think of how to stick Alice with Cardinal’s dagger, that’s all. I’ll block her attacks with my body if I have to.”
“B-but…”
“It’s the only way. The longer the battle goes, the worse our odds get. I’ll take Alice’s first hit on purpose, hold her down, and then you use the dagger. Got that?”
“…”