Chapter 273 273: Remembering

"Ratatoskr has sold out!"

"Honjou-dou has sold out!"

In the end, aside from a small portion of customers whose attitudes were extremely unfriendly, Shido still successfully completed the doujinshi sales. Both sides sold out all their books at almost the exact same time.

The process was so smooth that it even gave people the illusion of, "Did we prepare too little stock?" In fact, when they sold out, there were still large numbers of people lined up. Only after seeing the sold out signs being hung up did they leave in disappointment.

Shido and Nia stared at their retreating backs, then both let out a breath at the same time. The two of them dropped into the steel chairs, looking rather worn out.

In truth, during the selling process, Takajo had come to Nia's booth. Faced with this friend she had once been too close to, yet had not dared to look up with Rasiel, and had finally chosen to distance herself from entirely, Nia immediately lost her composure.

Shido did not miss that chance. He launched into a series of arguments with Nia. The two sold books while arguing, and in the end, it had finally reached this point.

"So the result is a draw."

Mikoto said.

"…"

Nia leaned against the chair and looked up at the ceiling. A few seconds later, she took off her glasses and used the sleeve of her clothes to wipe away her sweat. Then, after glaring fiercely at Shido, she took out Ratatoskr's doujinshi from under the table—the one she had received at the start of the event, following the custom of neighboring booths exchanging each other's works.

"…Fine. Since you sold out—I'll read it."

"!!!"

Hearing Nia's words, everyone looked at one another, then burst into cheers and hugged each other. Of course, mixed in among them was also Natsumi's scream after she was accidentally hugged by Miku.

___________________

Inside a car speeding through the streets of Tengu City, Westcott was holding a terminal and smiling happily.

"Wonderful. If we had acted it out ourselves, it would have felt fake no matter what."

"Are you talking about Material A?"

Ellen sat beside Westcott and glanced at the terminal.

Material A—in other words, releasing Honjou Nia—had originally been part of DEM's plan. However, after Nightmare's surprise attack and Itsuka Shido's attack, everything had instead become extremely natural. It looked completely as if Nia had truly escaped because of a series of coincidences.

"We should call Sister by her codename now."

"I still cannot agree with releasing a Spirit we had already captured."

Ellen shook her head.

Nia was a Spirit she had personally captured. Originally, they should have focused on making her fall into despair, using her to explore how to make her—and perhaps even other Spirits—invert.

However, whether because Nia's tolerance was too strong, or because she had already held no attachment to this world, even after they exhausted every method, they could not make her despair.

That was right.

For a full five years, DEM could not make Nia invert.

Until the Tenou Festival, when a turning point appeared.

"The inverse form of Miko that descended before us three months ago was an inspiration. I heard she inverted again afterward, but unfortunately, I was not present."

Westcott said.

Although there had already been Miko's first inversion, Devil, and Miko's second inversion, the one that Westcott had truly seen with his own eyes—and the one that left the deepest impression on him—was still the one from three months ago.

"I do not think approaching Miko's inverse form is wise, Westcott."

Ellen said unhappily. Although obtaining an inverse form was Westcott's long-cherished wish, no matter how she looked at it, that inverse form of Miko was far too dangerous.

"An inverse form even the world's strongest Wizard finds troublesome? I'm growing more and more interested."

However, Westcott did not seem to care about the enemy's strength.

"Let us put Miko aside for now. It seems Sister has already made contact with Itsuka Shido."

Ellen looked at the terminal and said that.

"Sister's mental state has fallen into disorder, and Itsuka Shido, just as I expected, successfully grew close to Sister."

Westcott smiled and placed his hand on the terminal.

This terminal was connected to a small Realizer inside Nia's brain.

Through that Realizer, Nia had completely forgotten everything she had suffered over these five years—being cut open alive, having holes drilled into her skull, having her limbs sawed off little by little.

There were two reasons for doing this. At the time, Nia had already been tortured to the point where she could no longer maintain herself, entering a state like a broken tool.

"The current Sister has once again felt human warmth, and once again holds hope toward the feelings between humans. If, at this moment, we make her remember everything from the past, she will likely fall into even greater despair."

Westcott's meaning was simple.

If torture alone had no effect, then first let her feel warmth. Let her feel happiness. Then, at the very moment of that happiness, turn everything into nothing.

"Then, let us begin."

With an eerie smile, he pressed the button controlling the Realizer inside Nia's brain.

He did it without hesitation, having thrown aside so-called humanity, mercy, and even good and evil, with an attitude as casual as ordering food at a restaurant.

"I'll have to ask you too. Lend Ellen a hand."

Once all the actors stood on the stage, and the performance began, Westcott spoke to someone sitting in the passenger seat.

"…"

That person silently nodded.

Near the bench on the west side of the park, the Spirits and Shido were waiting for Nia.

Although Nia had said she would read Shido's book, she also demanded a quiet environment.

And so, until Nia came over, it was simply idle waiting time. Mikoto looked around uneasily, while Shido anxiously bounced his leg.

"Shido, doing that is bad manners. Mikoto too. At a time like this, all you need to do is believe in everyone's effort."

Kotori noticed the two's behavior and said that.

"Oh… sorry."

Shido stopped bouncing his leg.

But if one looked closely, they would notice that the Chupa Chups in Kotori's mouth was also trembling nonstop. There was no helping it. After all, whether Nia would acknowledge their manga was directly related to whether the capture succeeded or not.

"No, I'm not worried about the doujinshi."

Mikoto shook her head.

As long as Nia used Rasiel to look up Shido, she would understand that there were people in this world who were exactly the same inside and out.

However…

"I was thinking, if Nia really is captured… then no matter what DEM wants to do, now is their last chance, right?"

What the girl was worried about was whether DEM would make a move.

At that moment, Nia walked over.

And so, everyone temporarily pushed DEM matters to the back of their minds and gathered around Nia.

"Well, it was drawn very well. But thinking you can move my heart with a book like that? Aren't you all too naive?"

Nia's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.

Hearing her words, everyone could not hide the disappointed expressions on their faces.

"However, it's not as if it had no merits. How should I put it… I can give you one more chance for a date, boy."

Nia turned her head away and said softly.

A single doujinshi really was not enough to move Nia. No matter what, it had been rushed out under limited time and page count. Being able to reach a professional level was already very impressive.

But if one wanted it to shake the heart, it really was not enough.

However…

After using Rasiel to view Shido's meetings and bonds with the Spirits, Nia had been completely moved.

The omniscient Angel had told the girl everything without reservation.

It showed those girls whose hearts had once been stubbornly shut tight, and how they gradually changed after coming into contact with warm sunlight like Shido.

The boy's words were all true.

He truly wanted to help them without holding anything back.

"So— I can go on another date with you. If you are a man, boy, then try to move my heart."

Noticing Shido's stunned expression, Nia said that somewhat shyly.

"!!!"

"We… we did it!"

The next instant, everyone finally came back to themselves and burst into cheers.

"How should I say this… Mm, you all really get along well. Hey, boy, if it's you, then maybe…"

Looking at everyone rushing forward and surrounding Shido in the center, Nia could not help smiling.

And then, at that very instant…

"Huh? Ah… ah… ah… aaaaah… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

She suddenly clutched her head and collapsed to her knees. Pitch-black spiritual power overflowed from her body.

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