A familiar place. A familiar dream.
But the number of people is different this time.
“It’s been a while, Celestial Mikael.”
“It feels like it’s been almost three months. I’m not sure if ‘a while’ is the right term. But as always, I won’t say I’m glad to see you, Black Suit.”
“I understand. You have ample reason to be wary of me and Gematria. However, this can be easily resolved simply by shaking hands. We wish to serve as allies rather than adversaries.”
“Ahahaha, enough already. I’ll politely decline. You know, there’s a difference between not being an enemy to me and how you look at the people around me, right? Controlling the experimental area, observing, recording… I’ve long become a part of this experiment. Maybe I was that part from the very beginning.”
“Kuhuhuh. Oh dear, another rejection. But that’s fine. Celestial Mikael, our doors will always be open for you. Even in the moment you fall from the brightest and highest place… and during the moments you struggle to rise from the darkest and lowest.”
Is this some sort of curse? Honestly, I’m itching to slap him. Why is he speaking based on my fall and struggle?
Anyway, for the first time, besides Beatrice, all of them took their places around the round table in the Gematria meeting room where only Black Suit used to welcome me.
…I don’t think this arrangement is good. It makes me feel like I belong to Gematria, and it’s quite unsettling.
“By the way, you’re not alone today? I thought Maestro would show up soon, and it would have been a problem if they didn’t, but… hmm. I never imagined I would see Golkont and Decalcomanie here too.”
Now that I think about it, excluding Golkont and Decalcomanie, both of them must have contracts of some sort with me already. Please, Golkont, don’t be one of those…
“I’m ready to fulfill our transaction, my Muse! If the caterpillars you’ve prepared can understand the basics of art, that would be great, but even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter! Even those ignorant creatures will eventually metamorphose into butterflies through my producing, and if they come together to support you, it would be more than enough to elevate to art!”
“Ah, uh… okay. I see.”
Wow, I feel like I can handle being called ‘my Muse’ at this point. Is this the Himari effect? Hearing that self-praise I was so embarrassed about makes this much seem manageable…
“My Muse! Please give me applause!”
“…Golkont, your presence here with Black Suit is—”
“Applaud me!”
Oh, please. Why are you doing this to me…
“—Can I take that to mean you found some important information?”
Reluctantly clapping for Maestro, I asked Golkont. I could see Golkont’s head tilt back from beyond the frame. It didn’t change anything since they were turned away.
“Whenever your touch graces me, a new text is laid over an existing text. The more it happens, the further all stories drift from the literary conclusion I anticipated. As an observer, it’s quite an undesirable situation, but it’s unfortunate that I must continually bear witness to these changes because I strictly maintain the standpoint of an observer.”
“That… sounds like good news for me, at least.”
“But your narrative is just beginning to take shape. And at its center lies the text of you and that girl. A text of hers that even I cannot read anymore, as of some moment.”
“…What?”
“I can no longer grasp that girl. Just as you overlay new text, it feels like her text has been smeared over with something to prevent me from reading it! Ah, such changes can be welcomed happily. There’s nothing duller than a text with its conclusion already known.”
“That’s right!”
“…”
So, for Golkont to no longer grasp Mika’s text means…
“Don’t tell me Mika has left, or that the halted fusion process is… no, no. I clearly heard that once the process got disrupted, it wouldn’t end there.”
“Oh, the girl hasn’t left her body. From what I’ve understood, you are the only one in this world who can free her. It’s possible that the reason I’ve lost the ability to read her text is somehow related to your own changes.”
“Exactly!”
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario I momentarily feared hasn’t occurred. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Then, what could my change that contributed to this situation possibly be? What’s different between the last meeting with Mika last month and now?
“Could it be…?”
“Do you perhaps have a hypothesis?”
It can’t be because of that Mara seasoning I had on the tour to the underworld from Sanhaegyeong, right?
…It can’t be that. No way that’s it.
“Umm. It’s nothing. I have no particular guesses.”
“Don’t think too complicatedly. It’s possible the girl simply chose to hide her text from me. If she has been influenced by you, as an external being, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“Could this situation obstruct my move to a new body?”
“…Given that we’ve reached this state, is your goal still to bring the girl into the world? If so, then nothing will change. Our experiment to present the complete artificial angel, leading to the conclusion of your narrative, will continue without pause.”
“Exactly!”
After finishing his words, Decalcomanie bowed his head and turned away. His form shimmered and disappeared completely, like vapor in the space.
“Hehe. I’ve heard an interesting story. A being with the profound secrets of the highest level is certainly worth researching. Ah. Do not mind my existence; please talk with Maestro, Celestial Mikael. I am merely a medium to facilitate this situation.”
“If that happens, the contract we formed will become meaningless.”
“Hmm. But you see, that is not our fault, is it?”
“…I know. I was just throwing a little tantrum.”
I wondered if I should have just pushed Kaiser aside, but since the Student Council President wanted to keep that side alive, there was nothing I could do… I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were getting tangled.
“Maestro… um, what is this?”
Turning my gaze away from Black Suit, Maestro handed me a USB and a disc-shaped device. I couldn’t comprehend why he was giving this to me.
“It contains songs and choreography, and this is a hologram projection device. This is meant for remote producing.”
“It’s not that I didn’t know… but what’s the point in giving this to me now? Once I wake up, it becomes meaningless, right?”
“You will understand once you wake up, my Muse. And please be prepared. It would be unacceptable for my artistic soul and pride to not reach the summit with this culmination of all I am! If you fail to keep up with the lessons—”
“Hey, that won’t happen, so don’t worry…”
“…If that’s the case, we’ll meet again soon. If you use the device and give a signal after about an hour, I will be prepared. My Muse… I hope my work meets your satisfaction.”
With those words, Maestro vanished as well. Like before, only Black Suit and I remained in this place.
With a grotesque smile on his oddly shaped face, Black Suit naturally bowed and greeted me.
As I took in the sight of this seemingly repulsive Black Suit one last time, I woke up from my sleep.
Once I awoke, I realized what Maestro meant. My… no, Nagisa’s USB and disc were resting by the head of the bed.
I don’t know exactly how this is possible, but it gives me chills…
In a hurry, I sat up to tidy things up so that Nagisa wouldn’t see them, then checked the time before lying back down. 5 AM was a bit too early by my standards.
I took in the angelic face of Nagisa, peacefully asleep beside me. She truly is an angel, after all, but still.
With long, slender eyelashes and a cute little button nose, not a single aspect of her was unlovable.
I just hope she doesn’t get hurt… and that I can successfully reunite with my long-time friend.
For the happiness of both Nagisa and Mika, for their sake, I might even be willing to set myself aflame.
