X wanted to continue asking.
"That forest."
"Memories and regret."
"Years dyed black."
Every word Big Bird had spoken felt like a heavy cornerstone laden with mystery, stacked atop the already towering wall of doubt in his heart.
His instincts as a Manager—along with that damned habit of wanting to probe everything, analyze everything, solve everything—were screaming wildly in his mind.
—Ask her.
—Ask her what that monster truly is.
—Ask her what Big Bird has to do with all of this.
—Ask her what kind of past lies buried in that tainted forest.
Those questions were like bullets already chambered, pressed against the tip of his tongue.
Yet when he looked at Big Bird's expression —so full of regret and sorrow—the words simply refused to come out.
This wasn't restraint.
It was something more instinctive: an unwillingness to hurt her.
X suddenly realized that asking questions right now wouldn't be a search for answers—
It would be using a blade called curiosity to pry open an old wound that had already festered and rotted, only to be forcibly stitched shut.
"Haa…"
In the end, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, releasing those countless questions along with the heavy air in his chest.
What replaced them was a completely different kind of response—so gentle it was almost a whisper.
"Tainted…"
X softly repeated the word, as if weighing it.
"It sounds like the color of that forest has become a memory you can never wash away."
"…"
Big Bird did not respond.
Her tall, slender figure seemed to tremble—just slightly.
The movement was so subtle that X almost thought it was an illusion born of his intense focus.
But he knew.
She had tacitly acknowledged it.
That silence was heavier than any spoken affirmation—more real than words ever could be.
"…I don't know what that monster is, nor do I know what you went through."
X stepped forward and stood beside Big Bird, shoulder to shoulder with her.
"So I can't say something irresponsible like, 'It'll be fine this time.'"
He meant it—and he acted accordingly.
He offered no false promises, nor did he try to gloss over her blood-soaked past with cheap, pretty words.
Comforting her might have been the better choice.
But at least for now, it wasn't the right time.
So X simply chose to stand there with her, silently gazing into that boundless darkness woven from pain and regret.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly in that moment.
Neither of them spoke. They simply stood in the dim forest, facing one another in silence.
After an indeterminate length of time, X finally spoke, breaking the heavy stillness himself.
"I should go."
His voice was still soft.
"Little Bird is probably getting impatient. After I say goodbye to her, I'll be leaving this place."
With that, X turned around, preparing to leave Big Bird's side.
This time, he didn't say anything more.
He knew that tonight's conversation had already brushed up against a critical boundary.
Another word might shatter the fragile trust they had just established.
If that was the case, then stopping here—leaving a little distance between them—might not be a bad thing.
However, just as he had taken a few steps—
"X ."
Big Bird's voice came from behind him.
In that voice—usually weary and cool like spring water—X heard something rare.
A hint of reluctance.
He stopped and turned around, looking at her in surprise.
But what Big Bird said next made him feel that perhaps the earlier silence would have been the kinder farewell.
"If you still end up finding her…"
Her voice remained steady, but within it lay an unquestionable resolve.
"Then remember one thing."
"Don't come back."
—
"!!"
X jolted awake on the soft, warm thighs of One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.
The scene from the dark forest replayed vividly in his mind.
Sensing the sudden movement of the man resting on her lap, One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds gently reached out, her warm, supple hands brushing softly across his cheek.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
She spoke quietly, her tone filled with pure, untainted concern.
"No…"
X shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Feeling the softness and warmth against his face, the restless agitation stirred up by Big Bird's words slowly settled.
"There are just… some things I'm worried about."
His gaze shifted slightly, meeting her pearl-like, beautiful eyes.
"To worry too much… is to invite anxiety."
"If it isn't something urgent—something that must be resolved immediately…"
Her voice remained as gentle as ever, as if it carried a power capable of soothing any wound.
"Then please, don't let it steal the peace and rest you deserve."
"Please rest well…"
"You're very tired… I can feel it."
Though X tried to keep his head from moving too much,
the crown of thorns resting upon his head still brushed repeatedly against her soft thighs with every small motion, bringing her faint discomfort and pain.
Yet even so, the nun paid it no mind.
She didn't even flinch, all so he could rest more comfortably.
"Sleep, my dear X ."
As she spoke, her slender fingers traced slowly upward from his temple—
Across his slightly gaunt cheekbone—
Until they reached the corner of his stubbornly open eyes.
Gently, she closed his eyelids.
"You haven't closed your eyes in a very long time."
"No… I can't sleep yet…"
X tried to sit up, but the hands resting on his head suddenly pressed down with more force, preventing him from rising.
"Goodness… let go…"
Feeling that pressure, X gave up struggling.
Being restrained like this—struggling would only hurt her.
So he opened his eyes slightly and spoke softly.
"If you press like that… the thorns will hurt you…"
"No~."
Even as the thorns pricked into her flesh, One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds maintained that gentle smile.
This time, though, it carried a touch of playful stubbornness.
"…"
They remained locked like that for a long time.
In the end, as with so many previous standoffs—
X was the one who yielded.
There was no other reason than this:
He didn't want to waste her kindness.
"…Alright. You win, Goodness."
X let out a breath, his body finally Relaxing completely.
"Then… I'll sleep for a bit…"
"Just a bit…"
Since gaining the ability to enter the Backside of Lobotomy Corporation, this was the first time in a long while that he truly closed his eyes—
And sank into the warm embrace of darkness.
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