The World Is Round
Because the Earth is round, the flames of the burnt offering. The fire that incinerates sins. The blaze of the God of Justice and Seasons that heats the blunt lump of iron called a soul, hammers it, and forges it into a sharp sword. Human sins know no end, so the seasonal furnace burns eternally as well. And.
Zara was the girl who bore the sins of the entire world──.
"The harder the vow is to keep, the greater the power it grants... but truly, what matters isn't power. It's the promise itself."
One person's flame was enough to set the whole world ablaze.
"Make only vows you can keep yourself."
Within the flames that swallowed the world, Zara confronted her past. Just like that day when she'd vowed never to abuse herself again, the fire shimmered like a mirage, revealing her history.
An embarrassing past. Zara's face flushed red. From the heat of the flames. Or perhaps from the past she couldn't look away from.
"...I know. I'll keep it. It's a promise... One I made to myself..."
Zara thought the flames were rebuking her. She'd harbored bad thoughts. Nurtured wicked intentions. Spat ugly words. Nearly acted on them. She'd been on the verge of breaking her promise. It was truly shameful, so her face burned red despite herself.
"But... isn't it okay to feel a little sad sometimes...? These are my feelings too... Denying your own emotions is for cowards..."
But sometimes, even knowing she'd writhe in shame and regret that night, didn't she just want to cry endlessly, pitifully? So Zara cried. She knew it was shameful to collapse and sob, but she cried anyway. So helplessly── her throat choked, her breath caught, tears streaming sorrowfully.
"......"
Tears blurred her vision. Sobbing choked her throat until her ears rang. Her tears wouldn't dry in the flames. The past in her eyes melted away. Flames, light, and history blended into a brilliant sunset. Only then did Zara understand why people likened the past to a sunset.
One by one. Everything vanished, leaving only Zara behind.
"......"
And.
In the jumbled world where nothing was visible, a fierce flame ignited──the strength to never lose herself. Tears veiled her sight, but her figure stood unwavering. Her ears rang from crying, yet the lies she'd spat in the past and the malice within her rang crystal clear.
"Today was a lucky day."
In the past landscape where everything else had vanished, only Zara and the malice within her remained.
"Yesterday's me was more shameful than today's."
"...Huh?"
Zara was talking to herself.
"I wish my misfortune wasn't my own fault..."
"Why... is this...?"
Something that should rightfully exist in her own past──Gigachad was nowhere to be seen. Gigachad's voice didn't ring out. Her own figure was this clear. The whispers of malice from her depths were this distinct. Only Gigachad had vanished, as if sliced away by a blade.
"I really hate this world!"
"......"
Something was wrong. Zara stopped sniffling. She wiped the tears clouding her eyes. Slowly, taking deep breaths, she faced the sin before her. Only then did everything that wasn't her come into sharp focus. The acrid chimney smoke, the carriage barreling toward her, the bald man tormenting her──and Gigachad.
"I'm Gigachad. Your inner self. The potential within you."
"...Liar."
In other words, the flames' message was simple. Gigachad... wasn't her 'inner self'!
"The only one who can change you is yourself."
"Con artist. Scum. Bastard..."
Everything Gigachad had ever said was a blatant lie. From the start, only malice dwelled in her depths.
"You've become a better person."
"Why... why did you deceive me...? Why did you come to me...?"
She was born wicked. That unchanging malice was horrific, its indelibility pathetic. But she'd learned she could stand proud despite her wicked birth. Because Gigachad had told her so. Because she'd realized another potential existed within. Because he'd said it was okay.
"You could've just... left me miserable... For someone like me... You shouldn't tell me to try for happiness..."
But if it all had been the deceit of a con man. If that potential had never existed. If this was just another malicious lie, like the world always inflicted on her.
"Zara-pip. You don't need me anymore."
Then.
Gigachad's final words were surely lies too. Zara still needed Gigachad.
"Liar... Heh, hehe."
What a pathetic situation... Yet somehow, Zara felt her lips curl upward.
"Hehe. Ehehehe. Ahaha!"
Zara laughed. Tears welled from how gleefully. Her belly ached from how heartily. Not from happiness. Zara had never laughed from happiness.
"Hehe..."
Zara was unfortunate. Today was more miserable than yesterday, tomorrow more than today. If she only laughed when happy, Zara would never laugh again. Happiness like others' was forbidden to her. So whenever she craved happiness, Zara just laughed. Not because she was happy, but to become happy. Fairy tales end with "and they lived happily ever after"──always with smiling faces!
"Today was a lucky day."
Thus. Zara laughed now to become happy. And.
Happiness would never come to Zara. What she truly desired was her fate's curse──unattainable.
"Gigachad. I'm unlucky, so I probably won't find you today..."
Therefore.
She had to seek happiness herself.
"Tomorrow, you might be even farther away. Tomorrow's me will be more miserable than today's."
Even if she never found him. She probably never would. But.
At least, she had to try to find happiness. That was how to live proudly before herself──Gigachad had taught her that.
"So if tomorrow's me is farther from Gigachad than today's..."
And who knows. Maybe.
"I'll circle the whole world to find you."
The world is round. If you don't stop, you'll eventually lap it once.
"So wait for me. Hehe."
Thus, another 'predestined fate' twisted.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong, Young Master?"
"Didn't the world just flare up for a second?"
"Pardon?"
Something flashed like flames. Was it my imagination?
"Perhaps you mistook my burning ambition for gold?"
"Is that so...?"
"...I'm kidding. Don't seriously ponder it from there."
"That's persuasive!"
People don't need mental illness to hallucinate. Sometimes, those consumed by intense desire see illusions too. I'd hallucinated the world ending after three straight all-nighters grinding Endless.
"Wasn't that just sleep deprivation? Don't pull all-nighters──get some proper rest."
"Yes, Mom."
"Who're you calling Mom."
I flopped onto the bed, bone-tired. Endless was trash-tier. No normal mentality could endure this bullshit.
"Still, we've cleared the toughest hurdle for now."
"The toughest... hurdle?"
"Mentally speaking. Most people drop here."
After this point, few quit from mental breaks. Not because it gets easier──if you were the type to quit from hardship, you'd have bailed already. Everyone left was a masochist gorging on this garbage game.
Like me.
"...Is Zara okay now?"
"Eh, she should be. Zara's tough. She'll light her own way forward."
"Good."
"We should worry about ourselves. A few more doomsday buttons left ahead."
Months sharing Zara's malice via telepathy left my head throbbing. I buried my face in the pillow.
"Anyway, let's rest today..."
"Young Master."
"Yeah, Canaria."
"You haven't paid today's wages yet."
Ah. Canaria's greed wasn't new, but today it grated...
"Canaria."
"Yes."
"You've insulted me..."
"Pardon?"
I pulled a gold coin from my pocket, tossed it, then activated telepathy to fill the room with coins. Gold rained from the sky. Canaria shuddered, buried in the deluge.
"One of 'em's real. Hunt it down."
"...Hnnng."
"Canaria?"
"C-Can I just live in this room forever...?"
Oh. This was a reward instead.