This time, the reply took a very, very long while.
After quite some time, new text finally appeared in the chat room.
[Yaobikuni: (°ロ°)!? It's very rude to call someone a bedridden patient, you know?
Nameless-san, why would you think that? Please give a reasonable explanation.]
[Nameless: Because you're always online, Yaobikuni-san. No matter when I log in, you're almost always there.]
[Yaobikuni: Well… I can't really argue with that. Seems like I need to reflect on myself a bit. (´･ω･`)]
[Nameless: And there's also your schedule.]
[Nameless: Yaobikuni-san, you've logged off at exactly 10 PM quite a few times, haven't you? I've logged in after 10 PM several times myself, and every time, you weren't there.]
[Nameless: You're someone who spends nearly all your time online, yet your logout time is always precise. That makes me think your schedule might be controlled by someone.]
Shirou had spent his life in a children's welfare facility until the age of seven, so he understood this kind of situation well.
"..."
Kiara Sessyoin stared at the messages appearing on the screen, too shocked to say a word.
"Nameless" wasn't entirely correct, but he had hit the core of it.
After 10 PM, Kiara Sessyoin was always ordered to shut down her computer and prepare for bed.
It seemed that "Nameless" possessed an unusually sharp sense of perception.
But that wasn't what surprised her.
The real reason she was shaken was this:
"In this intangible online world… could someone truly pay attention to a stranger they've never even met?"
Kiara Sessyoin was born into a religious family.
She was the daughter of the head of the "Yoten-ryu," a branch of the Tachikawa School of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism.
Few people had heard of "Yoten-ryu," but the "Tachikawa School" was widely known in Japan.
It was a branch of Shingon Buddhism that emerged in the late Heian period.
Rather than venerating Buddha statues, this sect regarded white skeletal remains as its principal object of worship.
It later went even further, proposing a radical doctrine: men represent the Diamond Realm, women represent the Womb Realm, and the union of man and woman signifies the fusion of these two realms.
Today, Japanese Buddhism is often seen as permissive, with monks even allowed to marry. But that perception is largely the result of modern government-led movements that suppressed Buddhism and elevated Shinto.
In that earlier era, when violating the prohibition against relations with women was strictly forbidden, this sect not only accepted it but sought truth through it. That was the Tachikawa School.
Although it was labeled a heretical sect as early as the 14th century and suppressed by warrior monks sent from the Shingon headquarters, its influence lingered well into the Edo period.
And it did not vanish completely.
The Sessyoin family's "Yoten-ryu" was its inheritor. Its followers viewed the "Joyful Dharma" as a path to attaining enlightenment in one's own body, believing in concepts such as "innate purity," "the unity of two," and "the summoning of transcendent power."
At just fourteen years old, Kiara Sessyoin did not yet fully understand her family's teachings, though she vaguely sensed something was off.
But what did any of that have to do with her?
From the moment she was born, she had been diagnosed with an incurable illness and was not expected to live past fourteen.
Her entire life had been spent confined to a sickbed.
Her father's followers pitied her, but all they offered were sighs and sympathy. None ever reached out to truly help her.
Her father forbade her from interacting with the outside world. As a child, her only source of comfort was the Andersen fairy tales those followers left behind as gifts.
Over time, Kiara Sessyoin came to a conclusion.
"People do not save other people."
She even began to wonder whether the "humans" described in those fairy tales might exist nowhere except in herself.
It was only recently, after she came into contact with the internet, that a door to a new world finally opened before her.
Although the internet had greatly enriched the girl's inner world, her view of "humanity" had not changed.
If anything, the internet only reinforced it.
Kiara Sessyoin had once shared her story on a message board, but all she received were a few indifferent words of comfort.
If no one cared in real life, then no one would care online either.
Perhaps they read about her suffering in the morning, and by noon had already forgotten it completely.
Kiara Sessyoin gradually became convinced: there was no one anywhere willing to save her.
Aside from "herself," there were no true "humans" in this world.
But… this person seemed different.
Even if it was only online, "Nameless-san" was genuinely paying attention to "her."
On the screen, "Nameless" continued his reasoning.
[Nameless: I really admire your breadth of knowledge, Yaobikuni-san. You give the impression that you know everything.]
[Nameless: Though it's limited to information that can be accessed online.]
[Nameless: If you pay close attention, there are quite a few moments in your words that feel inexperienced, almost like a sheltered young lady who hasn't seen much of the world. Hehe.]
Kiara Sessyoin swallowed, unable to respond.
[Yaobikuni: Anything else?]
[Nameless: Another point is that you seem to have a very deep understanding of medicine.]
[Nameless: Being familiar with such specialized topics, you're either a doctor, a medical student, or a patient…]
[Nameless: Considering how people usually have work or school, yet you're online almost all the time, the last possibility seems far more likely.]
[Nameless: So overall, I'd guess you're a patient undergoing long-term treatment in some kind of facility.]
Kiara Sessyoin fell silent.
It didn't really matter whether "Nameless" was right or not.
For the first time in her life, she felt someone's attention directed at her.
Not pity, not sympathy, and not empty politeness.
It was real.
Even though they were nothing more than strangers who had met online.
"If it's him… then maybe…"
Kiara Sessyoin bit her lip and typed out a message.
[Yaobikuni: If… everything you said is true.]
[Yaobikuni: I have an incurable illness, and I don't have much time left.]
[Yaobikuni: If I told you that, what would you do? Would you be willing to help me?]
After sending the message, the chat room fell completely silent.
Kiara Sessyoin lowered her gaze, disappointment creeping in.
Just as I thought… even this person…
[Nameless: Of course.]
"..."
The girl covered her mouth.
[Nameless: Is there anything I can do to help you?]
[Nameless: I actually know a bit about medicine. Maybe I could cure your illness.]
[Nameless: You might not believe me, but… if possible, could we meet in person?]
[Nameless: Ah, sorry. I forgot you might not be able to move freely. I'll come to you instead.]
[Nameless: Which hospital are you at? I'll do my best to get there before this weekend.]
[Nameless: Could you give me a phone number?]
[Nameless: Yaobikuni-san? Are you still there?]
Messages flooded the chat, one after another.
Kiara Sessyoin stared at the screen without blinking.
What filled it was something she had never experienced in her entire life.
Warmth.
An eagerness so overwhelming that, to an outsider, it might even seem suspicious.
By the time she came back to herself, tears were already streaming down her face.
"I finally found one… a 'human' other than 'myself.'"