Chapter 18: The Rule Within

Here, it seemed…

A completely identical scene.

The girl slowly stood up, then lightly crouched and began trying to touch the liquid layer beneath her feet.

Strange as it was, it felt like a liquid. If she pressed hard, her palm could easily pass through it, yet her feet could stand solidly on top.

She had no idea what it was…

But if this was her dream… it shouldn’t be too unreasonable, right?

She lifted her head and looked at the full moon hanging high in the sky. It still gave off an ink-black glow, staining the whole world.

Even… the world in her eyes had completely become gray and white. The only thing left with color was her own body.

Black liquid seemed to flow down from the center of the moon, falling from the heavens to connect with the distant, unseen sea. From afar, it looked like a road linking the moon and the sea.

This place seemed to be… last time…

Chihaya Sayo trembled all over. She felt every muscle shaking, and the piercing pain carved into her bones seemed to stimulate her senses again.

If she remembered correctly, last time in this dream, the substance beneath her feet had crushed her into powder… That agonizing pain was still vivid.

Only… it seemed different from last time. She could feel the black substance beneath her feet was as meek as a cute kitten. It still carried her body steadily, but for the first time, she could sense this strange substance giving off a bit of… goodwill?

Compared to last time, she seemed more able to control this space. Maybe… she could do what she couldn’t before, like…

“Chair?”

The girl spoke softly, testing. As if answering her call, a rather short stone chair slowly rose from the thick black liquid, stopped at the most comfortable height, and quietly settled before Chihaya Sayo.

This was… success?

“This is your mental world. You can make small changes without affecting the overall appearance… The rules allow it.”

An abrupt voice came from behind the girl. Chihaya Sayo quickly turned around, but…

She did not find anything she could call a “person.” Standing behind her was a mass of black fluid writhing like an upright worm.

So… there really was another consciousness hidden in her body?

Chihaya Sayo swallowed. She had expected this. She had gotten an answer from Mitestin, but she had also considered the possibility that Mitestin lied.

Only…

How should she put it? She hadn’t expected the other her to look so… unique?

“You… you are the consciousness hidden in my heart?”

“Correction. I am not a consciousness. I am ‘Rule’ itself.”

The writhing black upright fluid spoke, if it had anything that could be called a mouth.

As it spoke again, the black fluid on its body slowly receded, like a person washing away dirt, revealing the true form of the existence that called itself ‘Rule.’

A face not of this world. Hair down to the waist. Small, cute breasts that fit in one hand. And a pair of distinctive crimson eyes that gave off a faint red glow even in the gray-white world.

It was unmistakably Chihaya Sayo herself.

“You… you are the evil thought that has tried to control my body many times?”

“Correction. I am not an evil thought. I am ‘Rule’ itself. Everything I do is to execute the established rules of this body.”

‘Rule’ spoke its correction without any movement.

No, not just physical movement. Even her expression did not change in the slightest, nor did her pupils shift.

As if, just as she said, she was merely executing the established rules of this body, without the slightest transgression.

“The established rules of this body?”

“Yes.”

‘Rule’ gave a slight nod and spoke softly.

“This body of yours was born from humanity’s evil thoughts. This body was born to destroy humanity. If you lose consciousness or fall into sleep, I will carry out your will for you.”

The voice of ‘Rule’ was pleasant, but cold without a trace of warmth. As if she were not talking about destroying humanity, but about what to eat tomorrow.

“Destroy humanity? I don’t have any thought like that…”

“Correction. I mean the destiny this body carries. Destroying humanity is inevitably your will.”

‘Rule’ directly interrupted Chihaya Sayo. Her voice did not change at all, still cool and steady, but her words left Chihaya Sayo confused.

“You mean this body has its own will?”

“No. You are this body’s will, and the only will of this body.”

“Then…”

Chihaya Sayo probed carefully and asked softly.

“Since you follow my will, can we not destroy the world? I never wanted to destroy the world from the start…”

“No. This is your destiny, a future that will inevitably happen. Compared to the process, I respect the ‘result’ more.”

‘Rule’ softly rejected Chihaya Sayo’s proposal.

According to her, this body was a weapon to destroy humanity and carried an instinctive desire to destroy humanity. In her view, no matter what, the future self would walk the path of destroying humanity, so she only followed the will of the ‘future self’?

That was too abstract. Who designed such an idiotic rule? It served not the present self, but the future self in her deductions?

“Destiny… my destiny is to destroy the world? That’s too strange. Look, right now I’m a total saint who can’t even kill a chicken…”

“How you are now does not matter. No matter what you choose, you will inevitably reach that established result.”

‘Rule’ gently shook her head and confirmed again.

“This is destiny.”

“Destiny? Who told you about destiny? Who can see through destiny and the future? Everyone’s future is uncertain. It changes with my choices…”

“No!”

‘Rule’ stubbornly shook her head, but her words still lacked emotion.

“This is destiny. It is the future. It is a fact that will happen. Even if you refute it, you cannot change it.”

Chihaya Sayo felt the veins at her temples bulge. She had to press them back with her fingers.

No. Talking to this ‘Rule’ was too infuriating. It was like a piece of wood that could not think, only repeating a few sentences whose reasons it could not explain. In just a short while, Chihaya Sayo felt her blood pressure about to explode.

Wait, according to her, ‘it’ was originally a rule that could not think…

So in the end, she had been talking to a brick wall? She knew explaining to a stone would get nowhere, yet she had patiently talked with it for so long.

But according to her, as long as she stayed conscious, she would not enter the state controlled by ‘Rule.’

“All right. How do I go back?”

“This is your mental world. You will naturally leave and wake up if you want to leave. If you have questions, you can imagine coming to the mental world. I will tell you everything I know.”

‘Rule’ gave a slight tug at the corner of her mouth, forming a fairly standard smile. But that smile… made Chihaya Sayo uncomfortable.

According to her, this was her mental world. She had come here because she carried a strong emotion of “wanting to ask Mitestin”?

The surrounding world spun and flickered under Chihaya Sayo’s will, forming a rapidly spinning kaleidoscope that dazzled the eyes. After a few blinks, she opened her eyes and saw the familiar ceiling and…

“You’re awake? Let’s eat.”

Erena gently pushed open the room door and called Chihaya Sayo out to eat.

The meal was simple: a few slices of toast, some simple sauce, and a cup of warm fresh milk.

Still, for Chihaya Sayo, who often skipped breakfast, such a simple meal was quite a feast.

Chihaya Sayo took a small bite of bread and lifted her eyes to stealthily look at Erena, who sat across from her, focused on her own bread.

Erena looked much messier than yesterday. She was like a lion cub that had not woken up, all ruffled. Though she showed no extreme emotion, her eyes were red and swollen in a frightening way. She had clearly just been crying.

Well, after what happened yesterday… anyone else would have broken down already, probably.

Come to think of it, it was all her fault. If she had not affected that middle-aged man’s emotions, what happened last night might not have occurred.

Chihaya Sayo opened her mouth, but said nothing. The two ate breakfast quietly, tacitly avoiding any mention of yesterday.

“How about we go out to relax today?”

“Okay, I was just thinking that too. Since we’ve come to England, we have to experience ‘Alton Towers’ at least once. I’ll take you there today.”

Erena lifted her head and showed a fairly nice smile at Chihaya Sayo across from her.

She really had the potential to be a dating sim protagonist. That mental strength was unmatched. The night before, her adoptive father had been shot dead by a Spirit, and the next day she could take a girl to an amusement park…

Though that adoptive father was not a good person anyway. If anything… Erena probably felt a little sadness, but more than that, other complicated emotions.

“Thank you, then.”

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