A gentle smile came over Tory’s face as she reminisced about the past. It probably hadn’t been a bad time.
Cyril and Myfila followed after us. It was so quiet, even our footsteps sounded loud as we trampled the grass, likely because the turrets made no sound as they shot the destructive beams without recoil.
“According to legend, Pandora was the old name of the goddess Pearla, who became the wife of the beast. The beast appeared at some point or another before anyone realized, but it had no name, and Pearla gave him one—though considering her antics, it was more like she forced one on the beast instead.”
“Then do you know about the end of the age of gods?”
“Perhaps? I was present at the time, I suppose.”
“The temple describes the end as though it was sudden. According to them, Pandora wanted the throne of the head of the gods and started a war with them, then in the end, he was slain.”
“That’s all ancient history now. What use is it for a human to know the history of the gods?”
“…Is it so wrong to want to know how my partner died?”
Since I wasn’t wary of her anymore, I opened up to Tory. I didn’t know how many seconds the silence lasted after that.
Eventually, the ancient greater elemental told me in a serious tone, “He did not die a dishonorable death. He was not tempted by anyone else into his actions, nor did he seek glory out of greed. I can guarantee you this, on my name.”
“Good enough for me. Now I just need to know a way to get him to move.”
Just then, Tory stopped, still holding my hand.
Had something happened? I looked around, but I didn’t see any graves or buildings nearby. Tory had turned around and was staring into my face.
“Though, Feil Fonaf, I can see it—you are a working scholar.”
“—?!”
I hadn’t expected that. I withdrew my hand instinctively.
I could tell right away that she’d peered into my past. For a powerful necrospecter like Tory, it would’ve been a piece of cake reading someone’s entire past just by holding their hand like she’d done to me.
She could have done anything to me the moment I let her take my hand—I’d actually known that from the start.
I hadn’t withdrawn because it was unpleasant, however. I was just so surprised by the experience of having my memories read for the first time that I was genuinely shocked.
“Apologies, apologies. I was just so curious to know what circumstances led to Pandora becoming your Counterpart.”
She didn’t seem upset by my reaction. She hid her hands behind her back and smiled.
“Did you see something we had in common, then? Me and the legendary beast?”
She didn’t respond directly. “Heh-heh-heh,” she cackled nastily. She brushed aside the black hair on her shoulder and said with eyes that looked like they could see through everything, “As an apology for peeking without permission, I will answer your question.”
That was exactly what I’d wished for. If I could get any advice about Pandora from Tory, I’d let her look into my memories as much as she wanted. That was the whole reason we’d ventured out to the floating cemetery in the first place.
For a moment, I was almost so tense, I could’ve keeled over waiting to hear what Tory would say.
“I—nor even the origin elemental who birthed me—cannot control the Pandora you have summoned.”
My knees almost bent when I heard those despair-inducing words.
“…However, that does not mean it is impossible.”
My mind went blank when she smiled at me in a way that suggested there was still hope. “Did you hear that, Feil?!” Cyril clapped me on the back, and I couldn’t help but pitch forward.
Tory stopped me before I could actually tumble.
“Oh, my, my, you pitiful child.”
“Well…it’s just, I’ve felt dead on my feet the last couple days.”
Even though she was the corpse of a girl who had died a thousand years ago, she didn’t smell. In fact, I caught traces of something floral from her. I needed to know the answer as soon as possible and grasped her by the shoulders. I looked straight into her eyes and asked, “So how do I do it?!”
“I will not go so far as to reveal that to you.”
She grinned in reply. As for me, my face had frozen without a trace of a smile because of the anticipation.
“Are you not a scholar? Think of the answer for yourself.”
Now that I knew there was actually a chance I could get Pandora to move, it was all the more disappointing she wouldn’t tell me how to make it happen. Even though I was in front of people, I let out a dejected “But…”
Tory seemed to have developed an appetite for my despair, and she chuckled.
She prodded my forehead with her index finger, and suddenly, she had teleported. She’d disappeared from in front of me, appearing in the next second seated on my shoulders. I could feel her sitting on me, but not any weight. She was floating.
“Feil Fonaf, the answer is within yourself. You simply haven’t thought of it yet.”
The moment I shook my head, she teleported yet again. This time, she stood in the air above Cyril’s head and looked down at me.
“In the past, magic used to be a part of we elementals and beasts.”
Next, she was in front of Myfila. She reached a hand toward my teammate and kneaded Myfila’s soft cheek.
“However, once humans obtained magic, they began to develop it, cultivating it into something much, much stronger. And among those methods, there are some that departed from the orthodox ways of thought.”
Myfila didn’t stop the elemental, so Tory kept messing with her cheek. I got the sense she was so occupied with that, she didn’t even bother to turn around to face me.
“It’s nothing special. In fact, you are viewing Pandora in too special of a light. He is dead, but only in the way that death exists for every creature. As long as you do not forget that he is a living creature, you’ll soon come upon your answer.”
“……I see.”