Chapter 71

I met with Ciel periodically to check on her condition.

For a while, she roamed freely around the city, but at some point, she shut herself in her room.

An apartment near the Academy.

Originally, it had been a place to distribute Junk Chips within the Academy, but after the plan was scrapped, it began to be used as Ciel’s home.

During our last meeting, Ciel told me she was “changing.” Right after hearing those words, I removed all the small things I had implanted in her body, including the bomb.

And I gave her a generous allowance, telling her she was free to go wherever she liked. Yet somehow, Ciel shut herself in her room.

Then, that day came.

With about two days left before Iri’s exam would be completely over, I met her again.

Greeting me with a serious expression, she immediately said, “We need to talk,” sat me down, and began to speak.

“I majored in philosophy.”

She was telling me her story.

The story of who she was before she became “Ciel.”

In the past, I would’ve brushed it off as useless talk and waved her away, but that day, I couldn’t do that. I quietly took my seat and listened to her story.

“Philosophy is kind of useless, isn’t it? Right? Math and science are necessary for the world to advance, language is something we use every day, and economics is needed to make money and understand society.”

“Then why’d you choose it?”

“I just picked a university and a major that matched my scores. In our country, you can’t even get a job without going to college, and people around you react like the world’s ending if you don’t.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get a job.”

“Exactly. It’s what they call ‘humanities, social sciences, and philosophy.’”

Ciel gave a soft chuckle.

“I wasn’t interested in the classes. Socrates, Plato—just some old guys I didn’t know. Existentialism... skepticism... I’d cram that stuff into my head only during exams, then forget it two days later.”

Ciel had been an ordinary person.

Nothing particularly remarkable about her. She hadn’t lived fighting through life with deep worries about the future. She was just someone who envisioned a vague future and lived day by day, filling in what was needed.

“So I was in the philosophy department, but I didn’t really understand philosophy. I didn’t know what it was good for, or why this field of study still existed. But now, I think I get it. Like right now…”

“Ciel.”

“When death is near.”

Her emerald-colored mechanical eye trembled with unease. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words that lingered on the tip of my tongue. I forced them down.

“If I had known it’d be like this, I think I would’ve studied harder, right? Those people in the past probably had similar thoughts, which is why that subject even came to be.”

“You’re not going to die.”

In that moment, I spoke with certainty.

While she was momentarily surprised and speechless, I used the opportunity to pull out the item I had brought with me.

“This is...?”

“A Liberator and a personality storage device for cyberization. You understand what they are, right?”

“A machine that awakens the soul of an Android, and one that stores my soul. It’s amazing such things exist. The world really is strange.”

Her response was oddly indifferent.

Thinking she might not fully grasp what these devices were, I strengthened my tone.

“This will copy your current personality. After finishing Act 3 of Part 1, we’ll use these devices to restore you to—”

“Can it be done for sure?”

Ciel cut me off.

Her voice was sharper than usual.

It was the first time she, who normally feared me, had interrupted me like this. But only for a moment—she soon returned to her calm voice.

“Even if you do that, what would change?”

“If you stay like this, you’ll be devoured. You have to try something.”

“Devoured? No. I see it differently. I’m just changing. It’s better to leave things as they are.”

“Why?”

“Think about it. Even if you copy my personality, my consciousness is ‘here.’ The moment the copied personality is overlaid after everything ends, the ‘me’ that exists here will disappear. Can you understand that?”

“I see…”

I could understand what she meant.

Let’s say there’s a file called “personality.”

That file becomes corrupted by a virus. At that moment, the owner restores the file using a backup.

Then the owner could continue working without a problem. But what happens to the file that was overwritten?

“…But you could be wrong.”

Even in this world with cyberization technology, the exact nature of the “self” hadn’t been clearly defined. No, rather, it was seen simply as a “specific synaptic pattern” flowing through the brain.

So it wasn’t so much replacing the existing “soul” in the body with a new one, as it was restoring a damaged soul to its original state.

I didn’t know the real answer.

I wasn’t a cyberization technician.

Let alone a philosopher.

So I couldn’t say exactly how it worked—but I chose to believe in the latter.

“If you do nothing like this, you’ll become the character ‘Ciel’ itself. Not a ‘Transmigrator in Ciel’s body,’ but a ‘Ciel with the memories of the Transmigrator.’ Are you really okay with that?”

“It’s fine.”

Ciel answered immediately.

“I’ve thought it over a lot, and I still think accepting the change is better than overwriting my soul.”

“…Then let me ask you one last thing.”

I lowered my voice.

And looked straight into her eyes.

“Are you really okay with this?”

A brief silence passed.

Then Ciel gave her answer.

“Yes, I’m okay with it.”

“…”

It was her choice.

No matter how much I nagged beside her, it would only be a disturbance. She had her own convictions, and she had the right to choose.

“Alright.”

I slowly rose from my seat.

And there, I made a declaration.

“Ciel, I promise you.”

“A promise?”

“I’ll protect you. No matter what it takes, I’ll use everything I have to protect you. At first, I saw you as an enemy. But now, I see you as a true ally.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Though I had spoken rather seriously, Ciel responded with a faint laugh. But soon after, she too gave a serious reply.

“I’ll be in your care,” she said.

* * *

Since that day.

Ciel and I had been waiting for the right moment.

The moment Silence would wake up in his hospital bed after finishing treatment.

And finally, that day had come.

All preparations had been completed, so it would be fine to move on to the next step.

I led Iri and Miyu to the hospital room where Silence was. Medical staff were on standby from the entrance, but I left them to the assistants and went to see Silence.

"[Y-You are...?]"

The moment I stepped into the hospital room, Silence recognized me. Now fully conscious, he was already wearing his LED mask.

When Iri and Miyu appeared behind me one after the other, the symbols [??] popped up on Silence’s mask. Although this was technically their second time meeting, Silence probably wouldn’t remember that.

On the other hand, Iri and Miyu probably had no idea why they’d been brought here right after finishing their shopping. To them, Silence was just a “stranger.”

They were probably confused.

But there wasn’t much time.

I cleared my dry throat and began to speak.

“I’ll explain everything from the beginning.”

I briefly told Silence what had happened, starting from the moment he was being controlled by Araya up to now. Iri and Miyu filled in the missing parts.

"[What in the world...…]"

Silence seemed shocked to learn such things had happened without his knowledge. But there was still much left to say.

“Now to the point. Why have I gathered you all here today?”

The three of them seemed curious about that part, their attention fixed on my mouth. I slowly began.

“Silence.”

“[Yes?]”

“I heard you were looking for the one who killed your lover. I’ll tell you who the culprit is.”

“[W-Wait a minute. What are you saying—]”

“I’m the one who did it.”

“[…Excuse me?]”

A silence filled the hospital room instantly.

The atmosphere was like something was about to explode.

“W-Wait—!”

Iri, quick on her feet, stepped in between me and Silence. But Silence ignored her and lunged at me.

He grabbed my collar with his left arm, and stretched his right arm back.

Click.

His wrist opened, and in an instant, a 10 cm-long blade sprang out, aiming straight for my neck.

“Stop! Please calm down! Calm down!”

Iri grabbed Silence’s arm mid-strike. She tried to hold him back with all her strength, but it wasn’t enough to subdue the enraged Silence.

“[Move.]”

Silence muttered coldly and swung the blade at Iri. She urgently leaned back but still got a light cut on her face.

Taking advantage of the momentary gap as Iri stepped back, Silence pressed the blade against my neck.

"[What did you just say?]"

“Nayeon. The one who killed your lover is me.”

“[…Wait. No. That’s not right! That can’t be right!]”

As I responded confidently, Silence shouted with trembling eyes. Shaking his head vehemently, he pressed the blade even closer to my neck.

“[Do you even know what you’re saying? What’s your game? Just a while ago, you came to scout me as a special scholarship student!]”

“I did.”

“[Then why did you say you’d ‘help me find the culprit’? What’s your motive? Are you really the one who killed her? If that’s true, why did you kill her—and why confess now?! Why?!]”

“Stop it! Please, just calm down!”

“[Shut up! This doesn’t concern a third party!]”

“I-I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so sorryyyy……!”

Silence tried to kill me.

Iri tried to stop him.

Miyu, terrified, was crying in the corner.

I watched the scene for a moment, then opened my mouth.

“If it’s a chance to kill me you want, I’ll give you plenty.”

“[W-What…?!]”

In that moment.

I grabbed Silence’s wrist. He tried to break free, but I gripped it even tighter.

And I guided his blade straight toward my neck.

“[W-What is this…!?]”

Silence panicked.

To him, it must have looked like the blade had stabbed into my neck. But he was wrong. In reality, his blade couldn’t penetrate my skin armor module, and it bent—then snapped.

Clatter.

The broken blade hit the floor with a clinking noise, and the three of them stared at it in shock.

Only then did the hospital room fall silent.

And once more, I spoke.

“Do you want to kill me? Then…”

I quietly proposed.

“Listen to what I have to say first.”

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