The solution Sakura was proposing was a simple change of thought. The chains countered her words, arguing that he only saw light in her words because he wanted a convenient way to escape what he’d done and cling to life.
But even so…
“Maybe it is okay…for me to keep living…,” Karamori murmured. Those words clawed up from a place deep beneath his death wish and cracked the chains binding him. “But…what if I’m just latching onto your advice because it suits me?”
“What’s wrong with that? If it helps you, that’s all that matters. Once you find happiness, you’ll be able to spread your joy to others and do anything you set your mind to. So your first priority is turning that frown upside down.”
Sakura smiled.
“Your life has meaning.”
The chains shattered. They fell to the ground, alongside Karamori’s tears.
He would never be able to outrun his guilt. But sometimes, you had to deceive yourself to keep on living.
Karamori cried silently, and Sakura patted him gently on the back.
They sat like that for some time until he’d calmed down.
“Ah, dammit,” the owner said, cleaning the counter seat two seats down from them.
“What’s wrong?” Sakura asked.
“Oh, I think the customer that just left forgot this book.”
“Oh no.”
“I’d never seen them before, so I don’t know if they’ll be back. I’m gonna have to chase after them, so…”
But the owner trailed off as another customer arrived with particularly bad timing. His expression sank.
“I’ll give it to them!” Sakura said suddenly.
“Really? Thanks. I doubt they’ve gotten far.”
“Sure! What did they look like? Do you remember what they were wearing?”
“He had a green coat and an eyepatch over his right eye.”
“Got it! I’ll be right back, Karamori.”
Sakura took the book from the owner and cheerfully ran out of the restaurant.
In her hands was that bright-red, strangely foreboding book.
She never came back.
That was the day Oka Sakura went missing.
Report.
Contact was successfully made with the individual who infiltrated a Noary research facility on XX/YY and stole confidential information.
The target’s actions cannot be restricted in any way, to the extent that even killing or binding her would likely have no effect. Judging by her testimony, it appears her fate has been fixed.
A red book serves as her core, and it is reasonable to assume that destroying it would also eliminate her. Procedures began for her to be disposed of by a Canary capable of concept destruction, but they were temporarily delayed after a strong entreaty by Chief Nanba.
The target has been exceedingly obedient, so uses for her are being considered.
Additionally, the girl’s possessions and appearance clearly identify her as missing high school student—
Karamori sat in his hospital bed late at night, tightly gripping his sheets. The mark on his right arm had receded to the size of a fingertip.
It had been one week since Oka Sakura went missing. His soul had been burning with worry for her the entire time. Tonight, he’d finally received news from Nanba that broke his heart.
A few days ago, a strange girl had raided a Noary research facility. Apparently, this was Oka Sakura, whose very existence had been rewritten.
The girl Nanba had shown him a picture of had the wrong hair color—blond—and the wrong eye color—red. She didn’t even have a side ponytail. But her face was undeniably Sakura’s.
Further investigation by Noary confirmed her identity. However, Karamori had known it was her as soon as he’d seen the red bracelet around her right wrist. It was the same one he’d given Sakura.
In that moment, Karamori came to an important realization: Tyrfing’s efforts to ruin the life of its wielder went beyond directly harming them. The sword wouldn’t hesitate to hurt others too if it meant bringing its wielder pain.
“I managed to prevent them from killing her… And believe you me, that took a lot of convincing,” Nanba said from his stool by the bed. His exhaustion was written clearly on his face. “Someone proposed turning her into a vanit investigator. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but there are some real nutsos among my superiors, so it might just end up happening. Either way, I’ll do my best to make sure she doesn’t suffer.”
“Is there any way…to turn her back?” Karamori asked hoarsely.
Nanba shook his head. “Maybe. But if there is, I have no idea. Vanits are unpredictable; each one operates under entirely different logic. Honestly, the odds of an investigation revealing a way to bring back your friend are slim to none.”
“…”
Karamori squeezed the sheets hard enough to leave nail marks on his palms. He now knew that his curse could harm others as well as himself. He’d been willing to let it do whatever it wanted if that meant his own destruction. But he’d been naive.
Karamori took a deep breath.
“Please let me be a vanit investigator. I’ll…I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Sure. I’m not gonna stop you… Actually, after what happened, I can’t recommend any other path. I’ll make the necessary arrangements. I’m sure my superiors will have their objections, but I’ll find a way to convince them… If you’re gonna do this, though, you need a proper motive. Not even considering the situation with Tyrfing, this’ll be a hellish job. You won’t last without something to drive you and get you through hard times.”
“I already have that,” Karamori said, looking up. His eyes were no longer a lifeless black but burned with determination right from his soul. “I’m going to bring back Sakura, no matter what. And…I’m going to find my life’s meaning.”
“Your life’s meaning?”
“Yeah. I want to find a reason for me to live on after killing hundreds of people and subjecting Sakura to that fate.”
“…That sounds like searching for the bluebird of happiness.”
“I know. It’s self-serving. But I want to find a reason I can be satisfied with.”
“I see,” Nanba said with a faint smile. “In that case, I want you to add one more motive to the list.”
“Hm?”
“Dispelling your curse. Don’t forget about that.”
With that, Karamori set forth on his journey as a Canary.
A journey in which he would continue trying to find a reason to live and seek hope as he atoned.