071. Ending (2)
071. Ending (2)
And Rinne opened her eyes.
She opened her eyes in her own room.
That is, the hideout she had set up in the basement of Krädel's residential block without even asking permission.
When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the bed in that hideout.
......What in the world had happened?
She was fairly certain she had been carrying out the Cradle of Silence capture operation.
Specifically, she had rescued Luce and Cookie, and was in the middle of rescuing Violetta.
No, not even halfway through. It was after the rescue.
Right after she saved the last reader, Eve's tentacles lunged at Oppa—and she supposed she had taken the hit in his place.
Because she had thought dying herself would hurt a little less than watching Oppa, whom she really liked, die instead.
She had thrown herself in without even realizing it.
Therefore, by all natural logic, she was supposed to have died.
"......I'm not dead?"
Rinne muttered, without even realizing it.
The very fact that she could say that meant she was still alive.
She had simply been very deeply asleep and dreaming.
......A very, very strange dream.
In other words, she and Yeonhwa had separated, leaving her bound hand and foot in a world under Yeonhwa's control, unable to do anything. Then Oppa had barged in, kissed Yeonhwa, and mediated between the two of them...?
She had had such a strange dream.
......No, judging by the feeling alone, it seemed like something that had actually happened.
But surely, such a thing couldn't possibly have happened.
So it must have been a dream, right?
'Must've been a dream?'
"Gah!"
Rinne let out a cry without thinking.
Because a voice that was not her own echoed inside her ear.
"What are you? Who are you?"
'Who do you think?'
"Who is it?"
'A pitiful maiden ghost who had Si-hu stolen from her by you.'
At that, Rinne caught on.
"......You, don't tell me, you're Yeonhwa?"
'Yeah. That was the name. Sob sob.'
"What? You couldn't speak this clearly before."
'We made an agreement, didn't we.'
"Agreement?"
......Ah.
"What, that. Did that really happen?"
'Yeah. Though rather than saying it was real in the sense of happening in the real world, you should see it as something that happened inside Eve's server. Anyway, the agreement itself is valid. Toodles.'
And because that agreement remained valid, she could now trade remarks with Rinne as a completely independent personality.
Yeonhwa spoke in a voice that only Rinne could hear.
Rinne thought it felt bizarre, as if she had gone a little crazy.
She only thought it, and didn't voice it aloud.
But Yeonhwa understood and answered anyway.
'What can I say. Just grit your teeth and endure it.'
...She was reading Rinne's innermost thoughts and talking like that. It only made her more irritating.
Because of that, instead of mulling over complaints in her head, Rinne decided to change the subject of her thoughts entirely.
She had been curious anyway.
"Anyway, what happened? Why am I here?"
What about the Cradle of Silence?
What about the readers, including Violetta?
Was everyone safe?
To the puzzled Rinne, Yeonhwa replied dismissively.
'I don't know that either. I just opened my eyes too. But seeing as you're safe here, isn't it likely that Si-hu resolved everything?'
Yeonhwa had a tendency to praise the Commander far too highly.
......No, Rinne was in no position to talk about others.
She had initially distrusted and looked down on the Commander, yet now simply assumed he would somehow handle whatever came up.
On top of that, she had developed a habit of first asking the Commander for help whenever something difficult or arduous came up.
She would even linger near the Commander when she had no particular business.
That was because Rinne secretly liked the Commander as a ma—
"What? Why won't this feeling go away?"
'What feeling.'
"Why do I still like Oppa?"
'Why would it go away?'
"We're completely separated now, you and me. But if you're the one who likes Oppa, then logically I shouldn't still like him after splitting off from you."
'......Are you seriously saying that right now?'
Well, what else would it be but serious.
'You really do act like an idiot sometimes.'
Once again, Yeonhwa read her thoughts and retorted.
It was unpleasant, as expected.
So she steered the conversation back to the original topic from an odd angle.
"......Anyway, you're saying you don't know what's what either? Why I woke up here, or what happened before I woke up?"
'Yeah. No clue at all. Since we don't know, let's ask Si-hu when he comes by in a bit. Or we could go find him first.
'Ah, speaking of which, I want to see Si-hu's face. I want to hold his hand, cling to him, and breathe in that slightly mature, cool scent of his. I love Si-hu. I love him so much.'
"Don't activate your olfactory nerves as you please. No, more than that, don't order me around. I'm holding the initiative right now. If you don't like it, use the agreed-upon time to take the initiative yourself."
'Can't use it.'
"Huh? Why?"
'Because I already used it all.'
"What bullshit is that?"
That was when Rinne asked her in return.
Someone knocked on the basement door.
Soon, a familiar voice rang out.
"Rinne, are you awake?"
It was the Commander.
The moment Yeonhwa registered that fact, she became unbearably noisy—going on about how nice his voice was, how much more mature he sounded than when he was younger, and listing all the little things about the Commander that had made her fall for him.
With all that noise in her head, Rinne couldn't hold a conversation with the Commander. She focused for a moment and, as the primary personality, pushed Yeonhwa into the background.
Then, in the now-quiet basement, Rinne answered.
"......I'm awake. Come in for a moment. I have a lot to ask you anyway."
At her firm tone, the Commander complied without complaint.
Afterwards, Rinne listened to the full story from the Commander.
It didn't stray far from what Yeonhwa had guessed.
In short, everything seemed to have been resolved safely while Rinne was unaware.
Even so, if she put the events in chronological order,
1. Right after Rinne and Yeonhwa reached an agreement, the Commander joined up with Eve 27.
2. The two combined their strength and entered the old version data sector beyond the collapsed firewall, and ultimately activated the Healing Phase to cure Rinne.
3. In that process, the infected Eves on the main server that could not accept the Healing Phase automatically collapsed.
4. The combat forces, including Laika, broke through the Cradle of Silence, whose ranks had fallen into disarray due to the collapse of Eve, who had been functioning as the Lord Legion.
......Ah, of course, carrying Rinne, who hadn't regained consciousness yet.
"Then my readers......."
"They're all safe."
They had returned safely.
And they had safely reunited with their Commander, Jang Yu-na.
"There's a little more to Eve 27, but it doesn't really concern you, Rinne, so I'll explain that part little by little later.......
"Oh, right. The Cradle of Silence has also officially been secured."
"Oppa captured it?"
"As captured by us."
The Commander corrected the subject and added.
With the capture officially complete, the information restrictions on the Cradle of Silence were scheduled to be lifted the next day.
Along with that, a very minor but important change had occurred.
"They say you can publish the final volume of Beyond the Cradle."
The Cradle of Silence was no longer a top secret matter of the military.
That meant a light novel based on it could now be sold openly.
The Commander summarized it like that.
At those words, Rinne, how to put it.
Didn't really have any particular thought.
The only thought filling her head was simply that she liked this man.
That she could die for this man who had cleared away the burden that had weighed on her heart for years.
Rinne, the little female brat who couldn't bring herself to voice thoughts like that,
She put on airs and added a pointless little scoff.
"I finally feel like a weight's been lifted. I'm grateful, I guess."
The slight nasal tone at the end was a flaw.
But if it was a flaw of that degree, it was fine.
If it was embarrassment of that degree, she could endure it.
As Rinne thought that, the Commander hesitated for some reason.
As if he were wavering, wondering 'Would it be okay to ruin this moving conclusion like this.'
Why was he acting like that.
To the puzzled Rinne, the Commander spoke as if he had steeled his resolve.
"......But I told you this story yesterday too."
"Huh?"
What was he saying now?
For a moment, Rinne couldn't understand.
To that Rinne, the Commander spoke again.
"You're on the second day of recovery now. You regained consciousness yesterday."
"What? I just woke up right now?"
"Well..."
The Commander chuckled as he answered.
"Yesterday, Yeonhwa had taken the initiative."
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
1 second.
'Fufufu.......'
Piercing the silence, Yeonhwa's laughter echoed.
Still, Rinne couldn't believe it.
"What bullshit? Yeonhwa took the initiative."
"She already spent a day as Yeonhwa. The explanation I just gave you was all things I told her yesterday. And yet...... seeing you now, it seems you have no memory of it at all?"
No memory.
Absolutely none.
Her memory ended with the negotiation with the Commander and Yeonhwa inside Eve's server, and when she opened her eyes, she was here.
Si-hu looked at Rinne with pity and cautioned her.
"Anyway, give Yeonhwa a warning."
"A warning? What kind of warning?"
"That...... in front of Laika, she shouldn't do that kind of thing with me."
......That kind of thing?
"Th-that kind of thing...? Wh-what did I do with you, Oppa, right in front of Laika?"
The Commander didn't answer.
Instead, he just added with a pale face.
"I already explained that it wasn't you but Yeonhwa who did it. Still, be careful. Laika is still incredibly pissed. I came looking for you because I wanted to tell you that."
"No, what did I do with you, Oppa?! What did I do?!"
Without finishing his explanation, the Commander left Rinne's basement.