"It was like yesterday."

Anise began telling Leon the time when Shin had visited Evana.

Leon sat near her and did not try to interrupt.

And what Anise told him next made everything Leon had been doing until now feel like a borrowed dream.

Shin Kataino had visited Evana City long before it fell into this messy loop.

His main purpose for visiting here was to find a solution to a problem he had been chasing for years.

What was that problem? And why Doctor Anise of all people?

Leon had already known it, and the answer was tied to one name.

Lumina Elizabeth Dare.

Back then she was still alive and still walking the world with her sword in hand. She had been an active participant in the Great Calamity War.

She had fought beside legends. She had made a name for herself that even the Calamities themselves had taken notice of.

But she was not just another warrior.

Lumina Elizabeth Dare was on par with the Five Calamities without ever reaching the Calamity rank herself.

Unlike everyone else in this world who could only use selective mana types and limited affinities, she could use them all.

She had understood magic and mana down to its very fundamental layers. So deeply that she had come up with her own techniques, and spells of catastrophic level.

That was who Lumina Elizabeth Dare was.

A human who had reached a place where even the beings from outer reality watched her in silence.

But none of that was what truly bothered Shin. What truly bothered him was something else entirely.

Unlike every living and non living thing residing in this universe, who had their entry stored in the Akashic Record, Lumina had no entry.

It was as if the Akashic Record had refused to acknowledge her existence.

And it was because of this that she was constantly being hounded from the beings of Outer Reality. Those being wanted her, because they believed that if one did not have an entry in the records, then that one could be free from fate.

They could carve their own destiny.

So to stop this, and to keep her safe, to free her from being chased her entire life, Shin had thought of finding a permanent solution.

And that was why he had come to Anise.

But even she had no idea what Lumina truly was.

On top of all this, Shin had discovered something else about himself as well.

He had been cursed by Zenith, the succubus.

Shin was slowly turning into an undead.And no matter how strong he was, this was one curse he could not fight.

He was running out of time. But Shin refused to die before he found his solution.

So he came up with a plan.

A brilliant plan according to him, that was nothing short of madness.

He used one of his Unique Skill to split his own soul into multiple fragments. And scattered those fragments across different times, domains, and worlds.

Each of his fragments were carrying a small portion of his consciousness.

Each one capable of attaching itself to an active living being.

It was a consciousness scattered into infinity of a man who refused to die until the woman he loved was saved.

And one of those Fragments... had found its way to Leon.

That was the reason for the urge Leon felt, that was why he wanted to save Lumina so desperately.

Those feelings were never his own.

"Hm? Are you going out?"

Anise saw Leon leaving the small cave.

Leon didn’t reply to her and simply went outside.

The cave was located deep within the forest from where the sky was hardly visible.

He walked past several trees and bushes until he discovered a small pond.

Leon just wanted to walk past the area, until he saw Irene standing half submerged on the water, half bent posture.

She had her pants and sleeves rolled up, but even still they got wet.

’Right, she was fishing.’

He decided to help her.

"...?"

Irene sensed him coming, simply straightened her posture and glanced back.

Leon lightly waved at her.

"Leon..."

She noticed him rolling up his pants and sleeves.

Ripple.. Ripple

"Cold..." Leon muttered after he stepped on water.

"Why are you here? Your body needs rest."

"I have rested for ten years. Believe me the last thing I wanted to do now is to rest."

Leon waded a little further into the pond.

The water was cold against his skin.

Irene watched him for a moment, then turned back to the water.

"You should not push yourself. Your muscles will start cramping if you stay in too long."

"I know."

"And your mana core is still not fully recovered."

"I know that too."

Irene sighed.

She bent forward again and slowly reached into the water to search for a fish.

Leon stood next to her and copied her stance. He pushed his hands in the water.

They stayed like that for a while.

.....Quiet.

She glanced at him sideways.

And she frowned. "...What happened?"

Leon blinked.

"What?"

"You have this dull look on your face."

Leon turned his head slightly to face her.

He had not expected her to notice.

Then again this was Irene. The detective who had spent ten years studying his sleeping face. Of course she would catch it.

"It is nothing."

Irene did not look convinced.

She walked closer to him through the shallow water. Her wet pants clung to her calves and her hair had come loose from its tie and fallen over one shoulder.

"Leon, you can tell me."

Leon signed. "I talked to the Doctor about Shin and... Elizabeth."

Irene listened without interrupting.

She held the fish she had caught in her hand absently. Her expression slowly changed as he spoke.

"Is... that so... So this is why you were asking about Elizabeth..."

A small smile touched her lips.

"I kind of noticed it, you know."

Leon looked at her.

"Heh. Of course you do."

"Mhm. You really do love her, huh."

Leon bit his tongue.

He did not know what to say.

Because at this point, he was certain. Those feelings were not his.

They never had been.

A memory surfaced. From a long time ago, back when he was still in Eclipse Institute.

The day he had entered the book The Shattered Swordmaiden.

He and Alice had stepped inside it together.

He remembered now.

A small system window appeared in front of him that day. Warning him that he was getting watched.

’So it was Shin.’

A piece of his scattered soul had been hiding in that book. Leon was a perfect candidate, a human not from this world.

One of Shin’s fragments was in that book.

Leon had never noticed.

He clenched his fist beneath the water.

"Leon..."

Irene’s voice pulled him back.

"..."

He turned to face her.

She was holding the fish loosely in one hand. The other hand was rising slowly towards his face. Her fingers slowly brushed against his cheek.

It was cold, and wet.

Leon raised his gaze and met her golden eyes.

She was so close to him.

He could feel her breath, and the warmth emitting from her body.

He could see every fleck of light in her irises. The way her lashes were damp from the mist hovering over the pond and the way her cheeks were bright pink.

"Leon." Irene said softly.

"You can live the way you want."

Her thumb moved gently along his cheek, cherishing him.

"You can love who you want."

"You can do what you want."

Her hand moved up. Her wet fingertip pressed softly against his lips. Stopping him before he could interrupt.

"Just... do not think so hard."

Her finger traced gently along the edge of his lips.

"Whatever pain you are carrying right now... It was never yours to begin with, Leon."

The wind moved through the trees above them. The pond rippled around Leon’s legs.

Irene raised herself on her toes, and pressed her own lips against the finger resting on Leon’s lips.

Leon’s eyes slightly widened.

He did not feel Irene’s lips on his own. The finger between them did not let it happen.

They stayed like that for a whole minute, before Irene moved back.

She rested one of her hands over her chest. Felt her heart beating beneath her palm. Then she looked at Leon with a soft grin.

"The feelings I have for you... they all belong to me."

"...."

That moment Leon just couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

She looked so mesmerising.

He could feel the heat rising over his own face.

Raising his hand and he felt his own lips.

That was... not a kiss. Then why was his face getting hot?

"Hehe." Irene giggled, "that’s a cute reaction. I always knew you could make that face."

"..wh–what..." Leon took a step back, still covering his lips. "Why did you do that for?"

He knew why, but still he asked.

"...Just because..."

Irene smiled softly.

"Uhh I am... yeah I think I need rest now."

His face was getting redder by the second. He could feel it burning all the way to his ears.

Leon turned around quickly and started wading out of the pond.

His mind was a complete mess, and his heart was pounding so loud he could hear it over the ripples around his legs.

What was he supposed to say to that?

He stepped out of the water and started walking back toward the cave.

He just needed a moment. Just one moment to gather himself before he turned around and faced her again.

Behind him, the water rippled.

"Leon!"

Her voice rang clear through the forest.

He stopped, and slowly looked back at her.

The first thing he noticed was her face.

It was even redder than Leon’s. Irene had raised both her hands to her mouth, and at the top of her lungs, she shouted.

"I love yooooou!"