In the end, Rin didn't succeed in escaping. A single thread of greed made her stay.
Shiraha sent a text to Mei on his own, briefly explaining the current situation, then didn't bother looking at the question marks Mei-nee sent back in reply.
This room held not only traces of Elysia, but of Sakura too. Here, Rin saw things from her sister's past, all placed with great care, not at all in the style of a child.
"Sister really did have a good relationship with you."
Rin touched another small toy from the Previous Era, the Lunar Glimpse.
It was actually just a simple projection pendant, shaped like a cherry blossom. Rin picked it up, her fingertips gently tracing the edges of the petals. The texture was warm and smooth, as if it had been caressed countless times.
Shiraha picked up the thread. "Sakura-nee is a very good person. Except when it comes to her taste in music."
Rin smiled knowingly. Indeed. Sister's taste in music was truly, irredeemably awful.
She placed the pendant back where it belonged, then came before Shiraha and crouched down, meeting his eyes at level.
"Brat... no. Shiraha." Her voice was very soft, as if coaxing a child. "Since you call me Rin-nee... will you trust me?"
Shiraha didn't mind the hands cupping his cheeks. He answered with righteous conviction. "Depends on the situation."
"I want to see Sister."
Rin's movements were gentle, her fingertips lightly brushing across Shiraha's cheek.
Shiraha answered crisply and decisively. "That won't do."
Rin's fingertips instantly dug in, making Shiraha's cheek sting with pain. He forcefully suppressed the urge to deliver a heavy blow to Rin's dog head, retreated two steps, and rubbed his cheek.
Rin's tone was unfriendly. "Aren't you Sister's little brother? Why are you stopping me from seeing Sister?"
She didn't have much desire to destroy the world. After all, she'd already destroyed it.
After the Corruption, humanity didn't even have settlements left, they could only gasp for air underground.
Rin could be considered a Herrscher who saw things through to the end. Everyone who'd hurt her had died. One could even say, every single snowflake in that avalanche had been repaid by her.
Afterward, Sakura had used her life to call back Rin's conscience. And finally, fifty thousand years of isolation had nearly ground her mind to dust... oh. It was already dust.
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, his expression subtle. "Because Mobius-nee is in the Elysian Realm."
A flash of ferocity crossed Rin's face. "I can leave her alone."
She and Mobius didn't have any major grudges. Mobius had indeed researched Rin, but... Rin had also counter-killed Mobius.
Mobius had suffered countless defeats in her life and at Rin's hands, she'd suffered an especially colossal one.
The corner of Shiraha's mouth twitched. "Actually, just now, Elysia-nee told me to say that. She told me, if you showed any desire to control the Realm, you absolutely couldn't be allowed in."
"Rin-nee... just now, you clearly treated the Realm as something that belonged to you, didn't you."
Truthfully, there were plenty of reasons. As long as a person wanted to find one, they could always find one.
And letting Rin into the Realm, that was absolutely, utterly impossible.
Rin covered her face, forcibly suppressing her emotions. She drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. She looked around, her voice carrying a calmness pressed down to the very extreme.
"Elysia... this Elysia you speak of, where is she!"
"Let her come out and confront me directly!"
Rin was no longer the little useless thing from the Previous Era who could do nothing. Now she was a Herrscher. The Herrscher of Corruption.
She had far, far too many cards to play. At worst, at worst...
Forget it. She'd keep Yae Sakura's body after all.
"Senpai has always been here."
Shiraha smiled and wrapped his arms around Nee-chan's arm. His smile was brilliant, his eyes sparkling.
Rin: ....
"I'm not in the mood to play house with you."
"Let Elysia come out!"
She reached out, passing through the air beside Shiraha.
Shiraha said nothing.
But Rin could sense Shiraha's emotions. She reached out again and touched that patch of empty air.
"Do you really believe someone's here?"
Rin sneered, but inside she felt a flicker of lingering fear. This kid... couldn't actually be insane, could he?
Shiraha emphasized, "Nee-chan raised me as I grew up. She's been by my side ever since I was six years old."
Elysia always had to find her own amusement. So she cooperated very obligingly, embracing Shiraha and letting him lean back against her, his full weight resting on her body.
Rin: ....
She was growing slightly uneasy now. Her earlier bold declarations had mostly scattered. Where was Shiraha's point of support?
"Then aside from you, who else can see Elysia?"
She needed to confirm whether this Elysia truly existed or not.
Shiraha was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
Rin was speechless.
If you have a delusional disorder, just say you have a delusional disorder. Don't go on about 'always being by your side.' You scared me.
"I want to see Sister."
She repeated, her voice even firmer.
Shiraha also went quiet. "I think... Sakura-nee probably wouldn't want to see you."
He quickly added, "Sakura-nee is a good person. She absolutely wouldn't allow you to enter the Elysian Realm."
Rin sneered. And who taught you to say that? That invisible Elysia?
"But I believe in the bond between Sakura-nee and you. So in the end, Sakura-nee would probably choose to go find you, at the cost of this memory body dissipating."
Shiraha spoke very seriously. In fact, on this point, he truly hadn't lied. Sakura was very bored in the Realm. Everyone had deliberately kept the matter of Corruption hidden from her.
If there was a chance to come out and see Rin one last time, Sakura wouldn't refuse.
"I can make her sta—"
Rin's words came to an abrupt halt.
Damn it!
Rin clutched her head. If she switched hosts, what would happen to Yae Sakura?
Yae Sakura couldn't leave her either. Calling her a "Pseudo" was one thing, Yae Sakura didn't even have a physical body.
Even in the story, Yae Sakura was attached to a Stigmata, and in the end, she transformed into a Stigmata and remained with Theresa.
"Rin-nee?"
"Let me think. Let me think."
Rin clutched her head and curled up alone on the carpet.
Yae Sakura couldn't leave her. And Sister, because of everyone in the Realm, couldn't leave either.
So—as long as she could just enter the Realm herself...
Then both Yae Sakura and Sister could survive.
At this moment, Shiraha let go and crouched down beside Rin-nee. "Sakura-nee is a hero."
Rin sneered. "That's what you people consider a hero."
Shiraha didn't deny it. Sakura's role in the Previous Era was truly hard to describe. Could a hero in the darkness really be called a hero? An anti-hero? But how many people back then even acknowledged it?
Shiraha shook his head. "But Sakura-nee is indeed a hero. I also believe in Sakura-nee, that when humanity faces a crisis, she would still step forward."
Rin's expression grew even more twisted. It was because of these responsibilities you people forced onto Sister!
"Rin-nee... how long has it been since you've seen your own homeland?"
"Five hundred years ago, I saw it often."
Shiraha shook his head again. "Even though Rin-nee is an old-timer... your life shouldn't be stuck in the way it was five hundred years ago."
He extended his hand. "First, look at the present-day Far East, look at the cherry blossoms, on behalf of Sakura-nee. Then we'll discuss other matters, alright?"
"Sakura-nee..." Shiraha paused. "Hasn't seen her own homeland in a very long time."
Rin was quiet for a moment. First, record this era, then go see Sister?
"Did Elysia teach you to say this too?"
"Sakura-nee taught me to say this." Shiraha spoke, his voice natural. "She hoped I would look at the scenery around me more, and then slowly tell her about it. Sakura-nee really loves listening to these stories."
Rin looked at the hand Shiraha extended.
Small. Warm. Like the hand she'd once extended toward Sister.
She reached out and took it.
This time, she didn't swat it away hard.
"First, I'll look around." She spoke, her voice sullen. "Just look around first."
It's all Yae Sakura's fault!