"What exactly are you? I've never seen anyone completely break down and absorb a magical creature like this before."

"Break down?"

"This is perfect timing. I was on the brink of death, but following the flame has brought me a new dream. Excuse me for a moment while I do something reckless."

She climbed down from the window sill and stretched her legs toward the floor.

-Ting...

The sound like jade marble rolling over glass.

Along with it, the landscape of dreams surged like waves.

"...What is this?"

The scenery of the dormitory was suddenly overlaid with the landscape I saw in my dream.

It felt as though I was forcibly dragged into a dream.

Iscaliote looked around my small room and spoke.

"It's cramped here. Let's go to a bigger place."

With her words resonating, my body was flung out of the balcony window.

Outside the balcony was an empty universe.

There was no distinction between sky and ground, only the Milky Way flowing.

Startled by the sudden situation.

A soft surface supported my back.

I realized the ground had formed beneath me and lifted myself up.

Then, far away, I could see my room.

As it gradually moved farther away, it quickly shrank to a dot and disappeared.

In the place where my room had been, a pure white moon rose.

The moon ascended into the sky.

On top of the moon, a girl basked in its pale moonlight.

Blond hair wavering unsteadily, and green eyes flickering faintly.

Like a ghost wandering through a dream.

Iscaliote.

She carefully descended from the moon.

As her toes touched the transparent ground, a clear sound resonated.

The ground rippled, and pure white stars sprang forth.

The stars emerged shyly like new sprouts.

She drew a star toward her with an unseen force and held it in her hand.

And then she spoke.

“I almost went to the Moon Country, but I’m glad I found you.”

She casually tossed the star to the ground as if throwing a pebble, and it sprouted, transforming into a new form.

-Aooow…

Is that... a ghost?

The star, now resembling a ghost, howled.

“Could you help me? I’d like to borrow your abilities.”

Iscaliote.

She looked desperate.

But, that's that.

"Could you explain the situation first?"

I don't know anything about Iscaliote.

Even as someone who's possessed, that's the case.

Iscaliote is like a MacGuffin character who hasn't been mentioned much.

How could I help when I don't know her current state or her intentions?

There should be a limit to selfishness.

Then she spoke awkwardly.

"I was talking too much about myself."

She rolled her tongue in her mouth, choosing her words.

"I'm becoming a monster for the sin of consuming people."

"...Wasn't it because of the Parasite Queen that you killed them? Please don't confuse me."

"The Parasite Queen?"

When she heard my words, she tilted her head quizzically.

“Parasite Queen? Parasite? Oh, you're talking about that, the parasite. So it wasn't a disease or a parasite like I thought, it was a magical creature?"

"Yes, well... it was a renowned apocalypse-level monster."

"Back in my day, I thought it was merely a disease, you know zombie virus? I thought it was like that."

That's a relief.

"So that's why you couldn't just burn the parasite..."

Her self-talk showed a sense of relief.

"Anyway, my request is for you to improve my condition."

"By 'improve' you mean..."

"I want you to burn all the people the Parasite Queen inhabited and their origin, in other words… I evolved my Unique Armament by consuming souls."

"That's..."

"Yes, it's a method used by monsters. Because of it, I'm becoming a monster myself."

The reason she was strong.

It was because she devoured people.

It sounded like something a terrible witch would say, but she likely had no other choice.

In the era she lived, the time when the Parasite Queen rampaged, humans were practically magical creatures.

"If things go on like this, I'll die along with others, our souls will merge and become warped into a horrendous monster. Please, I beg you. Let these souls rest."

She pleaded earnestly.

"Unlike me, your ability to deconstruct and fully absorb souls is our only hope."

I'm the only hope...

If what she says is true, and it helps me grow, I have no reason to refuse.

The only point of concern is...

"May I ask, how do I absorb them?"

"Well..."

She spoke with uncertainty in her voice.

"You probably need to directly fight and defeat the souls."

"Do I really have to? Can't you just hand them over?"

"That way, your ability's trigger won't activate."

Trigger?

"The power that allows you to deconstruct and absorb magical creatures will only activate against opponents you personally defeat."

Hearing it put that way, it does sound like consuming someone you've bested in battle.

I suppose it's not entirely wrong.

Anyway, as I showed a doubtful expression, she said, "I tried to confirm by connecting to your dreams using 'Flame'. We can't be sure until we try."

Despite her lack of confidence, since directly absorbing wasn't an option, I suppose I have to fight.

I spoke to her one last time.

"When it's all over and you wake up, can you help me when I'm in danger?"

"Does that mean..."

"But for today, I'll only stay with you until tomorrow morning... It can't all be done in one day, right?"

Because tomorrow is the Midterm Ability Assessment.

"Yes! I'll make sure to wake you up by tomorrow morning. We can't finish this in just a day or two, anyway."

"Why is he sleeping?"

Ella from the Punitive Squad.

Even when Ella barged in through the door, Gardner slept soundly, unaware of the world.

"He's even sleeping on the floor. He's going to have a stiff neck."

‘Disappointing.’

She wondered what kind of person he was, receiving the favor of the Head of the Disciplinary Committee.

To think he'd be this undisciplined.

This is... unexpected.

"Why does the Head of the Disciplinary Committee even favor this guy..."

She lifted Gardner up and stood him.

"Hey! Is what you said really true?"

Ella asked the man who had come to report earlier.

"Yes! That Gardner hit my friend's head..."

"Not that; is it true that he's favored by the Head of the Disciplinary Committee?"

Although not completely certain...

Since the rumor that Gardner is favored might work against him, the man eagerly went along with it.

"Yes! Absolutely certain! Even after being scouted by the Punitive Squad, he decided to stay with the Disciplinary Committee, which shows just how much the Head of the Disciplinary Committee cherishes him!"

He was so caught up in his enthusiastic talking that he didn't notice Ella's expression.

Had he glanced at Ella's face even once, he would have closed his mouth.

Her mouth shut strangely tight, with the corners forced into a smile.

A groan-like sound escaped from between them.

"...What’s so special about that?"

"What do you mean, 'not special'?! How can you say that?!"

He began to embellish his claim that ‘Gardner is favored by the Head of the Disciplinary Committee.’

Although it was merely speculation, it was almost as good as a fact.

He started explaining, using both gestures and words, why Gardner was favored by the Head of the Disciplinary Committee.

It was a very logical and reasonable story.

However, Ella did not believe what he was saying.

She didn't want to believe it.

"Why do you say such things?! Even if you don't like Gardner's actions, his virtue in choosing to remain with the Disciplinary Committee and his loyalty to the Head of the Disciplinary Committee are unparalleled!!! Isn't it natural for someone to be moved by such qualities?!"

"...Enough."

"Even the Head of the Disciplinary Committee wouldn't be different!!! To refuse such an exceptional offer like being scouted by the Punitive Squad for her sake!!! Choosing to stay with the Disciplinary Committee!!! And he wasn't even in a leading position back then. That was when he got injured during an operation! When the Disciplinary Committee was struggling the most, Gardner stayed purely out of loyalty!!!"

"I said stop..."

"When deployment orders were issued, he would rush to the front lines without a single word of defiance!!! There can be only one lord under the sky, and if you don't cherish a subordinate with such unwavering loyalty, then who should you cherish?!! There's even a rumor that when Gardner was hospitalized, the Head of the Disciplinary Committee personally visited him..."

"Enough. You bastard."

"..."

Ella grabbed him by the collar.

Only then did the Top Rank F-Class get a good look at Ella.

Her eyes were bloodshot red, filled with an expression that she desperately wanted to twist his mouth shut.

'Why is she angry?'

That was his last memory.

Ella.

As she walked down the corridor, everyone made way for her.

The reason wasn't just because she was a Punitive Squad member...

It was because tears were streaming down her face.

'If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn't have joined the Punitive Squad...'

She just wanted to help the Head of the Disciplinary Committee.

Back when the Head of the Disciplinary Committee was not yet a head.

A year ago, when tensions were frequent between the Disciplinary Committee and the Punitive Squad.

Both sides needed someone knowledgeable about their situations who could mediate, and Ella volunteered.

The simple reason was that back then, a senior officer named Alcatraz...

She wanted to be her dependable colleague.

Not just a junior needing guidance.

An equal peer.

And someday, she hoped to be of help to the Punitive Squad...

"......"

However, the Punitive Squad was not an easy group to be part of. The relentless workload and handling the raving lunatics who were the targets of their punishments.

In the midst of enduring all that, there was no way she could have possibly helped the Head of the Disciplinary Committee.

What would Senior Alcatraz think of Ella seeing her like this...

If Gardner was ‘the Loyalist who remained with the Disciplinary Committee despite the Punitive Squad's attempts to scout him.’

Was she ‘the Traitor who abandoned the Disciplinary Committee and fled to the Punitive Squad’?

"...No, it can't be."

Even the Head of the Disciplinary Committee knew why Ella left. Because she told her. Besides, she wasn't the type to be overly concerned with such matters.

"Yeah, I got too worked up."

Hoo...

Ella took a deep breath and calmed herself.

The guy earlier made some irritating comments that drove her to lose her temper. What was it... that the Head cherished him? That's nonsense. The Head's favor isn't so light as to be swayed by something like that.

'Hoo... I should take this guy back to the dorm and get some rest.'

Once she steadied herself and was about to return to her routine,

Ella's terminal buzzed in her pocket.

‘Come to think of it... Elki is missing. Could it be Elki?’

Elki had fallen behind when heading to Gardner's dorm.

Elki didn’t have great physical abilities after all.

Ella absentmindedly pulled out her terminal and answered the call.

"Hey, where are you Elki?"

[Ella, it's me, Alcatraz.]

"Senior? What is it?"

[Is Gardner there by any chance?]

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