A familiar place. A familiar dream.
But this time, the number of people was different.
"It is a pleasure to see you again after some time, Celestial Michael."
"It's been almost three months, so I'm not sure if 'after some time' quite covers it. And as always, I won't say it's good to see you, Black Suit."
"I understand. You have more than enough reason to be wary of me, of us, Gematria. Of course, that is a problem that could be very simply resolved by just taking this hand. Our position is that we wish to act as your collaborator, rather than your adversary."
"Ahaha, no thanks. I'll respectfully decline. Besides, you have to distinguish between not being hostile to me and how you view the people around me, don't you? I'm not cut out to be a researcher who controls, observes, and records a laboratory... I've long since become a part of this experiment. Perhaps I was a part of it from the very beginning."
"Kekeke. My, I have been rejected once again. But that is quite alright. O, Celestial Michael, the doors of Gematria will always be open for you. In the moment you fall from playing in the brightest, highest places... and also in the moment you struggle to ascend from the darkest, lowest depths."
Was that a curse or what? Honestly, the urge to punch him was rising. Why was he speaking on the premise of my fall and struggle?
Anyway. In the Gematria meeting room, where Black Suit had always been the only one to greet me, I was met for the first time by all of them, excluding Beatrice, each occupying a seat around the circular table.
...I didn't think this seating arrangement was a good idea. It made me feel like I was a member of Gematria, and it was deeply unsettling.
"You're not alone today, I see. I figured Maestro would be showing up soon, and it would've been a problem if he didn't, but... yes. I never imagined I'd see you two as well, Golconde and Decalcomanie."
Come to think of it, besides Golconde & Decalcomanie, the other two had already made a contract of some sort with me. Please, just not you, Golconde... you're the one I'm most scared of here.
"The preparations to fulfill our bargain are complete, my Muse. It would be best if the caterpillars you have prepared can at least comprehend the basics of art, but it matters not if they cannot! Even such ignoramuses shall, through my producing, eventually metamorphose into butterflies, and if they gather to support you, it will be more than enough to sublimate into art!"
"Ah, uh... yeah. I see."
Wow, I think I can actually stand hearing him call me 'my Muse' now. Is this the Himari effect? After listening to her cringeworthy self-praise, I can somehow manage this...
"My Muse! Grant me your applause!"
"...Golconde, the fact that you and Black Suit are here—"
"Bestow upon me your applause!"
Ah, please. Why are you doing this to me...
"—can I take that to mean you've discovered some important information?"
I asked Golconde as I reluctantly clapped for Maestro. I could see Golconde, beyond the frame, lift his head. Not that it changed anything, since his back was turned.
"When your hand touches it, a new Text is overwritten upon an old one. The more that happens, the further the story strays from the literary conclusion I have so long awaited. As an observer, it is not a desirable situation, yet it is precisely because I strictly adhere to the position of an observer that I am regrettably forced to simply watch these changes in the Text."
"That's... good news for me, at least."
"However, your narrative is only just beginning to take shape. And at its center lies your Text and that girl's. The Text of that girl, whose essence even I have been unable to read since a certain point."
"...What?"
"As of now, I can no longer grasp that girl. Is it a similar feeling to you overwriting a Text? Perhaps the impression of ink being smeared over it with a finger, to prevent it from being read? Ah, but this change is a welcome one. There is nothing so dull as a Text whose ending one already knows."
"Indeed!"
"..."
So, what Golconde was saying was that he could no longer grasp the Mika inside me. Her Text...
"Don't tell me Mika left, or the suspended process of fusion has... no, that's not it. I'm sure he said back then that once the process was disrupted, that was the end of it."
"Oh, the girl has not left that body. As I understand it, the only one in this world who can liberate her is you. The fact that her Text has become unreadable in this manner may, perhaps, be related to a change in you."
"Indeed!"
Thankfully, the worst-case scenario I had momentarily imagined hadn't occurred. But still, I couldn't help but have questions.
If that's the case, what is this 'change in me' that contributed to this situation? What's the difference between the me from my last meeting with Mika last month and the me now?
"Could it be..."
"Do you have a hypothesis in mind?"
It couldn't be because I ate that *mala* sauce in Shanhaijing that provides an express tour service to the underworld, could it? (TN: A humorous Korean expression, "황천길 관광 서비스" (Hwangcheon-gil gwangwang service), for something so spicy it feels like a trip to the afterlife.)
...Probably not. No matter what, it couldn't be that.
"Um. It's nothing. I don't really have anything in mind."
"There is no need to think so complexly. It is possible the girl simply chose to hide her Text from me of her own accord. If the girl was influenced by you, an existence from the outside, it cannot be dismissed as an impossibility."
"By any chance, will this situation affect my transfer to a new body?"
"...Even with things as they are, is your goal still to release that girl into the world? If so, then nothing will change. Our experiment to present to this world the complete form of an artificial angel, which will lead to the conclusion of the narrative you sing, will continue without stopping."
"Indeed!"
Finishing his words, Decalcomanie bowed his head and turned away. His form flickered as if it were dispersing into particles and vanished completely from this space.
"Kekeke. An interesting story indeed. A being that holds the highest-order mystery is, as I thought, worthy of research. Ah. Please do not mind my presence and continue your conversation with Maestro, Celestial Michael. I am merely a medium to bring about this meeting."
"This makes the additional contract we made meaningless, you know."
"Hmm. However, this is not a fault on our part, is it?"
"...I know. I was just grumbling."
I wondered if I should have just crushed Kaiser back then, but the General Student Council President had wished for them to be spared for the time being, so perhaps it couldn't be helped... It was hard to shake the feeling that things were getting twisted somewhere.
"Maestro... um, what's this?"
As I turned my gaze from Black Suit, Maestro held out a USB and a disk-shaped device. I found it hard to understand why he was giving them to me.
"The song and choreography are contained within, and this is a hologram projection device. A choice made to conduct the producing remotely."
"It's not that I don't know what they are... but even if you give them to me now, won't they be gone when I wake up?"
"You will understand when you awaken from your slumber, my Muse. Also, I expect you to be prepared. My artistic soul, my pride, will not permit failure to reach the pinnacle even with this producing, which is the culmination of my everything! Should you fail to keep up with the lessons—"
"Hey, that's never going to happen, so you don't have to worry..."
"...In that case, we shall see each other again soon. Use the device and give me a signal with about an hour's notice, and I shall have my preparations complete. My Muse... I hope this work of mine meets your satisfaction."
With those words, Maestro also vanished. As had always been the case, the only ones left in this place were me and Black Suit.
Black Suit, a smile that looked utterly bizarre due to the shape of his face plastered on, bowed and offered a natural greeting.
With the image of that bastard Black Suit, who looked particularly loathsome today, burned into my eyes, I finally awoke from my dream.
And upon waking, I understood Maestro's words.
Because on my... no, on Nagisa's bedside table, lay the USB and the disk he had handed me.
I didn't know exactly how this was possible, but it gave me the chills...
I quickly got up and secured them so Nagisa wouldn't see them, then checked the time and lay back down in bed. 5 AM was a little early, even for me.
My eyes took in the angelic face of Nagisa sleeping soundly beside me. She actually is an angel, but anyway.
Her long, slender eyelashes and her sharp yet delicate nose. Her clear skin and her firmly closed lips; there wasn't a single part of her that wasn't lovely.
I hope she never gets hurt... I hope she can successfully reunite with her long-lost childhood friend.
For the happiness of both Nagisa and Mika... perhaps, truly, I might be able to set even myself ablaze.
***