[What are you smiling about? You look terrifying.]
"I'm thinking about getting rid of you."
[...And how exactly do you plan to do that, oh stoic master of mine?]
"I'm going to become a knight."
[Out of nowhere - why a knight?]
"I'm going to become a Celestial Knight and find a proper Giosa to replace you."
[There is no Giosa as fine as me anywhere! Look at me! I'm being remarkably well-behaved even while you plot to discard me!]
"If you dislike it, stop pestering me about killing innocent people."
[For most problems, killing is the quickest and cleanest solution. It's comfortable for you and exciting for me. I'm simply suggesting a method that benefits us both. Respect my preferences, master.]
Echi ignored it and moved on.
The question of what to do with the demonic sword was settled. Now another problem remained. She retrieved the empty package from her drawer, the one she had taken from Nora earlier.
"You said you have no memory of the time before your awakening, correct?"
[Would you remember what happened while you were asleep?]
"Then you wouldn't know how you ended up in our kitchen."
[Not a thing.]
Echi examined the wrapping paper and string carefully. Nothing written anywhere, no traces left behind.
Without any ability to use magic, there was no way for her to dig further on her own.
Whoever had left the demonic sword there had not done it out of good intentions. Did someone bear a grudge against the Roaz family?
She had to resolve this before leaving for Azenka. She could not depart knowing her family might be in danger.
But she couldn't simply stand guard until something happened - this wasn't a problem that could be tracked down quickly, and disposing of the demonic sword was more urgent still.
'I need someone who can investigate this for me and watch over my family while I'm away.'
There was one person she could ask.
Only one came to mind, someone who had known her and her family for years, whom she trusted like family. Someone strong enough, and wise enough. And like every other precious person in her life, someone who had died at her hands.
'Nicole…'
She was due to arrive at the mansion tomorrow. Echi folded the package away and steeled herself.
"...Things are going to get complicated."
[Complicated? Who are you planning to kill?]
"Go to sleep."
Echi grimaced as she pressed the demonic sword back against her palm. It grumbled as it dissolved into her hand.
* * *
She woke early the next morning as well. Years of minimal sleep while hunting Giosa had made early rising a habit, and she had grown accustomed to getting very little rest.
If she wasn't up before Nora came in, hiding the mark on her palm would become difficult.
Of course, there was no explaining any of this. If she kept waking early two days in a row, everyone around her would start staring.
So she slipped out at dawn for a short stretch, came back, and lay still pretending to sleep until a more reasonable hour.
It was somewhat torturous. After years of harsh training, simply lying still felt wrong. Her body was restless, itching to move, to do something.
'At least I didn't have a nightmare for the first time in a long while. And I probably won't for a good while to come.'
She pressed her cheek into the pillow and smiled faintly. She had slept without dreaming - a deep, clean sleep she barely recognized. She would adapt to resting again eventually. She had earned the right to a break. She was allowed to rest.
The knock she had been waiting for came, and she sat up promptly.
"Miss, it's time to rise."
"I'm awake, Nora."
"Oh my."
When Echi opened the door, Nora's eyes went wide. As she prepared the washbasin, she remarked with something approaching wonder, "You were up early yesterday as well."
"I'm going to make a habit of it. When is Nicole expected?"
"She's already here. Unpacking in her room."
"Already? You should have woken me."
"Miss Nicole said not to."
That was in character. Nicole was the person Echi felt most at ease with.
There was no need to be careful, unlike with other ladies her age which meant Echi also tended to show her irritation freely. Nicole had certainly told Nora something along the lines of: don't disturb her, she gets unpleasant in the morning.
While Nora laid out a simple breakfast and helped Echi dress, Echi turned over the question of what to tell Nicole and how much.
'If it's Sister Nicole...I could probably tell her the truth. But not everything. Not yet.'
Nicole Sijuten was a mage under Roaz's patronage. Noble families sponsoring talented individuals wasn't unusual, but Nicole's situation was particular.
She was an orphan whose magical ability was so meager she struggled to secure a sponsor at all. Most nobles deemed her useless and turned her away. Only the Count and Countess of Roaz had taken pity on her circumstances and welcomed her.
With their support, Nicole had attended a boarding magic academy, returning to the Roaz estate every holiday to spend time with Echi and Lancel, as close as siblings in all but blood.
Nicole's magical abilities were, frankly, so limited that even calling her a mage felt generous. The Roaz family had never blamed her for it - they knew she was doing her best.
The Count and Countess had even granted her the small village of Sijuten as a territory, regardless of whether she became a proper mage.
Then, near Nicole's graduation, something changed. A sage from the tower - where the finest mages gathered - noticed a talent in Nicole that fell outside all conventional definitions.
Nicole became the sage's apprentice, then her successor, and entered the tower. By the time she was twenty-two, she had risen to prominence as an extraordinary mage.
Now Nicole, successor to one of the Seven Sages, had surpassed the Roaz family in standing - yet she still used the surname the Count and Countess had given her, and she still returned to the Roaz estate for her holidays.
"Everything's ready, miss."
"Thank you, Nora."
As Nora made the final adjustments to Echi's clothing, Echi dismissed her and walked alone toward Nicole's room.
Down the hallway, she turned over her memories of the erased timeline.
In that past, Nicole had arrived at the Roaz estate on this same date - but she had come to ruins. She had come following the trail of the demon that had murdered the Roaz family.
Echi had never found out how Nicole reacted when she first saw what was left. By that time, Echi had already been spreading destruction through nearby towns.
Nicole had not recognized her.
It was only natural. In a matter of days, Echi had become unrecognizable even to the people closest to her. Nicole had stared down the demon with swollen eyes from crying and a gaze burning with hatred. She could easily have run - but she hadn't. She had charged forward stubbornly, for the sake of the Roaz family she intended to avenge.
It was only in that moment that Echi had understood how deeply the Roaz family had mattered to Nicole, despite how little Nicole had ever shown it.
The wound Nicole gave her was the first injury the demonic sword's host had taken. Nicole Sijuten was an outstanding mage, and the cursed sword had still been learning its host's body. The wound was not fatal. But in exchange for inflicting it, Nicole had died.
'I'm glad she didn't recognize me. If she had, it would have been harder for both of us.'
Before she knew it, she had arrived in front of Nicole's door. She hesitated, hand raised.
[Why are you just standing there?]
The demonic sword stirred in her head. Echi gripped her right hand tight, drew a slow breath, and knocked.
Footsteps approached from inside. The door opened.
"...Echi?"
Nicole looked baffled. Short red hair cut at the shoulders, dull green eyes, slightly prominent cheekbones, dark circles beneath them - not the ravaged grief and blazing hatred of the last time, but the ordinary mild confusion of someone who had been interrupted mid-task. A familiar face.
Exactly as Echi remembered it.
Echi swallowed the tears that tried to rise and smiled.
"...It's been a while, Sister."
"Ah, yes."
"May I come in?"
"Of course."
Nicole stepped aside. The room was chaotic. Nicole had never trusted servants with her belongings, and her lack of organization had made the room look ransacked within an hour of her arrival. Echi pushed aside a stack of papers from the nearest chair and sat down without comment.
"Are you all unpacked? How long are you staying this time?"
She asked with a smile. Nicole pushed up her smudged glasses, studying Echi closely, and frowned.
"Is that really you, Echi?"
"It's me. Is something strange?"
Nicole cleared the books from another chair and sat, giving Echi a long, assessing look. The old Echinacea would have immediately called out the grime on those glasses and made no secret of her feelings about the state of the room. She would have refused to set foot inside at all.
"The Echi I know doesn't smile at me like that."
Only hearing Nicole say it did Echi realize she had been acting differently.
She hadn't noticed the glasses. She didn't care about the mess in the room. After a very long time, these things genuinely didn't register - because a dead person was standing in front of her alive, and nothing else came close to mattering.
"I'm just happy to see you."
"Sounds like you want a favor. Just say it - I'm busy."
Nicole's reply was brusque. Echi couldn't help smiling more. Not a thing had changed. The only difference was Echi herself.
"It's not nonsense. I genuinely do like you very much."
"Are you ill? That's extremely unsettling."
"I used to think about how hard it must have been for you at the magic academy, getting scholarships while everyone treated you as the sponsored daughter. I thought it was remarkable. You were always so careful not to make it awkward between us, and I never once thanked you for it. And I criticized everything. I'm sorry for that."
"...Did you eat something strange?"
"I just feel like I've never actually said it before."
Nicole shuddered, rubbing at her arms. Echi kept smiling. There was something freeing about saying what she had always thought but never allowed herself to - what pride and propriety had kept locked away.
Because once someone was gone, you couldn't say it anymore. And no one knew when that would be.
In the old days, she had privately looked down on the parts of Nicole that weren't aristocratic. She had accepted Nicole's companionship while quietly dismissing her in her heart. She had let something petty and stupid keep her from being honest.
Nicole appeared thoroughly flustered by Echi's warmth - she kept clearing her throat, glancing around, and fanning herself with her hand.
Then, in a voice that was trying very hard to sound collected, she asked:
"What exactly is this request that required such embarrassing preamble?"
"I do have a request. But what I just said — all of it is genuine."
"Fine, fine, spare me. Get to it."
Echi obediently set the empty package on the table in front of Nicole. Nicole picked it up with a puzzled look, checked that it was empty, and frowned.
"What is this?"
"A package found in our kitchen this morning."
"It's empty. What was inside?"
"Sister, what I'm about to tell you has to stay between us. Can you keep it?"
"What's so serious? All right, go ahead."
Echi checked over her shoulder.
They were alone. She took a slow breath and lowered her voice.
"Inside was a demonic sword."