Chapter 222 Sisters

The battle to subdue Oz ended in great success.

We achieved our goal, and even reaped an unexpected reward.

'I never thought we'd be able to save Alice's sister...'

Project-Unknown had never even appeared in the original story.

Maybe it was closer to saying it had never needed to appear.

In the original, Alice had become a calamity after being swallowed by nightmares on her own. There had been no need to bring out Unknown.

'Does that mean Project-Unknown had been completed somewhere, even if it never appeared in the original?'

I could only sigh quietly.

It seemed misfortune was the very origin of the twins.

I thought of the bad endings they might have faced, alike in nature but at different times.

Two girls who had suffered, suffered, and suffered again, even in places I never knew about.

Only today could the sisters' long years move on to the next season.

They say spring always comes after winter.

Whether the Alices believed that or not, spring had come to them far later and more slowly than it had to others.

'Still, they held on through all those long years...'

Was it pity? Sadness? Pride?

My heart surged with all of it, feelings that could also be called gratitude.

I quietly looked down at the bed.

"......"

It was a simply prepared field cot.

A white-haired girl slept softly on top of it.

Even after I escaped from the realm of the mind, Unknown had remained unconscious for several more hours.

"V-Viktor... My sister really is going to be okay, right...?"

"Of course. I removed all the nightmares clinging to your sister long ago. She's only asleep because she's tired, and because of all the exhaustion that built up. She'll wake up before long."

"Right... I'm sorry. I just keep getting anxious..."

Alice had already asked the same question several times.

Sitting beside the cot, she kept gently rubbing her sister's hand.

As if she wanted to feel that warmth more clearly.

My heart was complicated, but in the end, I smiled fondly.

"It's okay. Your sister is safe. So instead of worrying, let's think about how you'll welcome her when she wakes up."

"......Okay."

At my words, tears welled around Alice's eyes.

She bit her lip as if trying to hold them back.

As though she were saving those tears for when her sister woke up.

"Sir Garulik!"

"You came, Sir Kantas. How are things at the laboratory?"

"We're wrapping things up without much trouble. The Academy's support troops are helping alongside the Border Knight Order."

Even while staying in the tent, I received report after report without rest.

Cult forces still remained throughout the laboratory.

The reinforcements that arrived at just the right time had helped deal with them.

Among them were the Border Knight Order I had called, and the Academy security personnel Javert had mobilized.

"I'm sorry to keep making you handle the cleanup."

"Not at all! I owe you a debt, Sir Garulik, so naturally I should accept a request like this. Besides, isn't this for justice and the greater good, rather than personal gain? It's an honor to be of help to you."

"Those are welcome words. In that case, please clean out the inside of the laboratory, despite my shamelessness."

"Understood! Ah, right. As you instructed beforehand, we've disposed of everything found in the storage room on the spot."

"Good. Please make sure not a single trace remains."

"Yes! I'll check once more to make sure nothing was left behind!"

Everything proceeded without a hitch.

Only after several more hours did I feel like I could finally catch my breath.

The nerves sharpened by tension gradually relaxed again.

I dropped into a chair prepared in one corner of the tent.

"Fuuu..."

A deep breath escaped me.

Only then did it truly sink in that the battle was over.

'It's really over. We got rid of the traces of the Glacia Family, and it looks like the laboratory cleanup is nearly finished too...'

Oz was dead.

He had practically been the Cult's final boss.

There were other executives, but none could compare to Oz in his awakened form.

'And not just Oz. We rooted out all the executives who had belonged to the researchers under him...'

The Cult had lost its head.

If things continued like this, the New Kingdom's influence within the Allied Forces would grow stronger.

'The biggest enemy left now is... the New Kingdom.'

I had cleared one great hurdle, only to face another.

Still, I decided to rest for a while.

'Should I wait for Allie to wake up...?'

Unknown woke exactly half a day later.

Her eyes opened only around dawn.

"Ugh... Ughhh..."

The white-haired girl shifted a few times, then slowly forced her heavy eyelids open.

Her red eyes stared hazily at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Her throat, rough from sleeping so long, let out a groan.

"Where am I...?"

"Sis?"

Before she could finish asking, a voice answered first.

The girl who had stayed beside her throughout the half day she slept.

Alice blankly looked down at Unknown.

Her blue eyes blinked several more times in disbelief.

She knew her sister would wake up, but perhaps her heart had not truly accepted it yet.

"......Really."

Her dazed gaze stopped, and tears began to fall one by one from eyes that could no longer hold them.

Alice steadied her choked voice and forced out a question.

"R-Really... really, are you my sister? You're Allie, right? Then do you know who I am...?"

Desperation.

Many emotions were mixed together, but that was the best word for it.

"Who you are...?"

"Tell me."

"Liss."

"......"

"My little sister... the one I love most in the world..."

The younger sister could not remain calm at that answer.

At last, Alice's legs seemed to give out, and she sank down.

The dam broke completely, releasing the tears she had kept trapped inside.

"Sis, Sis..."

Her heated sobs filled the tent.

Even as she cried, the girl desperately pressed her sister's hand to her cheek.

As if she wanted to feel her sister's existence more clearly.

"Hic, Sis... I, I really..."

"Mm. I'm listening."

Even in her hazy state, Unknown answered.

Her hand reached out first, as if by habit.

Like it was familiar, the older sister stroked her younger sister's head.

Of course, tears fell from her red eyes as well.

"I missed you... I missed you so much..."

"Me too..."

The two exchanged words that could have been tears or joy.

That moment struck with startling clarity.

"I missed you too."

"Sis, hic..."

A miracle.

A dreamlike life that bloomed on the nourishment of three pairs of paradoxes, fate and chance, tragedy and salvation, repetition and overcoming.

The life the Alices had once believed meaningless blossomed into the most beautiful petals after every hardship, every disillusionment, and every winter night.

In other words, it was an armful of flowers. Or spring itself.

'Is this enough?'

Spring rain erased winter, if only for a while.

I simply smiled as I quietly stepped back a few paces.

* * *

The two had turned the place into a sea of tears.

Only after several hours did the ripples that had spread in layer after layer finally settle.

"Liss, I can't breathe... I'm not going anywhere, so could you stop hugging me so tightly?"

"Ah... S-Sorry... I didn't realize..."

Even after getting her emotions under control, Alice had no intention of leaving Unknown's side.

Instead, she stuck to her like glue, anxiously checking on her sister's condition.

Allie stroked her younger sister's head as if there was no stopping her.

'She looks fine on the outside, but it would still be better to let her rest for a while...'

It seemed like we should return to the Academy soon.

I quietly stepped away.

Her condition had stabilized, and I thought it would be good to give the two of them some time alone.

"Fuuu."

When I pulled back the tent flap and stepped outside, a chilly wind blew in. Was winter coming already?

I quietly put on my mask.

Throb.

Out of habit, I rubbed at my neck.

Then I scratched it a little and sat down against the base of a nearby tree.

"Then... shall we take care of the remaining business?"

My hand operated the status window.

Then blue windows and notifications appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

[You have cleared the Main Quest!]

-Title: Eclipse

-Details: Stop the Cult project, 'Project-Emerald City.'[1]

[You have perfectly cleared the stage.]

-A reward will be granted. Please check your inventory.

Ding!

[You have cleared the Main Quest!]

-Title: For All Alices

-Details: Defeat 'Oz (OZ),' leader of the Cult's Chimera Project.

[You have perfectly cleared the stage.]

-A reward will be granted. Please check your inventory.

Ding!

[You have completed the Hidden Quest!]

-Title: Habitual Devotion

-Details: Achieve 'mental death' 700 times or more for someone.

[You have suffered mental death 492 times for others!]

-Combined with the previous 349 times, your total has been calculated as 841.

-A special reward will be granted. Please check the Title System.

Now then.

Let's see what rewards I got for all that hard work.

Footnotes:

[1] Project-Emerald City and Oz reference L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.