I understood that everything in the Underworld was a kind of dream object taken from a vast collection of memories—but even still, the soft, steamed bun and juicy, succulent meat sent me into a brief state of nirvana. It took just three bites for the precious food to vanish into my stomach—or more accurately, return to the fluctlight memory field—leaving me with just a combination of satisfaction, disappointment, and one very hearty sigh.
It took Alice four bites to devour her bun, and she exhaled the same way I did. I was struck that the Integrity Knight, practically an avatar of pure battle, could have such a girlish side.
“Ah, I see,” I remarked. “You can steam a bun without even any tools. I guess it makes sense that you’d be Selka’s sister, after how good she was at cooki—”
Midsentence, a hand shot out and grabbed my collar. This time, it was not annoyance or disgust that marked Alice’s features. Those blue eyes were furious as exploding sparks, her cheeks were pale, and her lips were trembling. She practically hoisted me up with nothing but her right hand and rasped, “What…did you just say?”
Only then, at that belated moment, did I finally recognize my terrible slip of the tongue.
The golden-haired Integrity Knight staring a hole in me from less than a foot away was none other than Alice Zuberg, Eugeo’s childhood friend and sister to the apprentice nun Selka—but she herself had no memory of this. Eight years ago she was taken to Centoria and subjected to the Synthesis Ritual that made her into an Integrity Knight by taking away her most precious memory and installing a Piety Module that blocked the rest.
As far as she knew now, Alice was a knight summoned from Heaven to uphold the peace and order of the realm and fight against invasions from the darkness. According to what had been implanted in her mind, the Axiom Church and its ruler, Administrator, were all-powerful and trustworthy. She would never believe the truth: that Administrator was finding promising people around the world and transforming them into her pawns to uphold her own power and greed.
In fact, it was because we could sense that talk alone would not convince Alice that Eugeo and I planned to use Cardinal’s special daggers to temporarily paralyze her. We certainly didn’t plan on the current situation, but my objective remained the same: avoid fighting Alice, regroup with Eugeo, and create an opportunity for him to use his dagger on her.
Sensing that I could have destroyed that plan with one ill-timed slip, my mind raced for a solution. The expression on her face made it clear that I couldn’t wriggle out of this by claiming I had misspoken.
It seemed there were only two options. I could either fight Alice here, knock her out without killing her, and carry her up to the ninetieth floor—or I could suck it up and tell her everything.
My choice would depend on what I believed about her. If I believed her skill with the sword was below mine, I should choose battle. If I believed she could be reasoned with, I should choose dialogue.
A few seconds of deliberation later, I made my choice. With the full might of Alice’s flaming blue eyes upon me, I said, “You have a sister. I’ll explain…I don’t know if you’ll believe it, but I will tell you everything I believe to be the truth.”
However this statement struck her, Alice mulled it over for several seconds and then released me. I dropped flat on my butt onto the stone, where the knight looked down on me from her kneeling position. Even hearing me out in this situation seemed like it was outside the bounds of an Integrity Knight’s activities. She was locked in a battle between her logical duty to vanquish me with her blade and the desire to know what was unknown.
Eventually, desire won out. She slowly lowered herself to a proper sitting position and hissed, “Speak. But be warned…if I sense that your words are meant to mislead me, I will not hesitate to cut you in two.”
I sucked in a long breath and held it. “That’s fine…if your decision to attack me comes from your own true heart. And the reason I say that is because inside of you is an order that was implanted in you by someone else, an order you’re not aware of.”
“…Are you speaking of the Integrity Knight’s duty?”
“That’s right,” I said. Alice’s eyes narrowed with hostility. But I could detect an emotional hesitation lurking behind them. That would be Alice’s true feelings. I hoped that my words would break through to that part of her.
“Integrity Knights are summoned from the celestial realm by Administrator, the pontifex of the Axiom Church, in order to maintain order and justice…or so you understand. But only the people here within Central Cathedral actually think that. The thousands and thousands of people living across the realm don’t see it that way.”
“What…nonsense are you talking about…?”
“Go down there to the city and ask anyone in Centoria what the prize is for the winner of the annual Four-Empire Unification Tournament. They’ll tell you that the winner receives the honor of being made an Integrity Knight.”
“Made into…an Integrity Knight…? That’s nonsense. That can’t be right. I’ve interacted with many of the knights, and not a single one has ever said they were a human being before that.”
“It’s just the opposite. Not a single one of you started as anything other than human,” I said, back straight, staring her right in the eyes. I was desperately trying to break through to that human part of her, deep inside. “Alice, you don’t know who gave birth to you in the ‘celestial realm,’ or where you were raised. I’d bet your oldest active memory is Administrator telling you that you are a holy knight summoned from Heaven.”
“…”