"Wow, so this is a potato doll! Tastes even better than I heard when you try it yourself, huh? Hahaha!"
"..."
"Hahaha..."
"..."
"Ha... ha ha... ha... hmm..."
Despite Reed's desperate attempts to liven the mood, the atmosphere only grew heavier and heavier. In the end, even Reed's cheerful energy began to falter.
Glance, glance.
The Xenos' eyes turned toward Ais. Then their gazes, as if demanding an explanation, landed on me.
"I ran into her and brought her here."
"Th... really? That's great! Welcome!"
"..."
Reed tried to speak brightly again, but the response was lukewarm.
Whether it was Ais or the Xenos.
At least Rey and Reed were looking at Ais with awkward but fairly friendly expressions, but in Gross's eyes—the leader of the anti-human faction, or rather, the one who would become that—there was deep distrust and dissatisfaction.
That was only natural. During their last meeting, the hatred for monsters buried deep inside Ais had been laid bare. The most typical human response to monsters still hadn't faded from Gross's mind.
The gargoyle glared at Ais, grinding his teeth as if he had no intention of hiding his sharp fangs. Reed, flustered by the way things looked ready to turn into a fight, hurriedly tried to stop Gross.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? She's a guest, okay?!"
"Guest, my ass."
Guest? Looking at her like that and still saying something like that?
There was something unfathomably deep in Ais's eyes. None of them knew exactly what that emotion was, but they could tell it was certainly not goodwill.
And they understood her. They knew all too well how vast the distance was between monsters and humans.
But that didn't mean they could simply accept the situation in front of them. Knowing that didn't make this attitude any less irritating. That was all. Reed, unable to find a rebuttal, merely watched the mood carefully, and Vesta, who had been quietly observing the situation, finally spoke.
"Ais."
"..."
"Ais."
At the repeated call, Ais finally looked away from them and turned to me with a sulky expression.
Seeing the complicated emotions layered in her eyes, I could only let out a wry smile. The good news was...
"There's no disgust."
What the heretics saw in those eyes was certainly not goodwill.
But that did not mean it was disgust, either. Ironically, humans were not creatures who could live by yes and no alone.
They liked things without wanting to get too close, hated things without being able to hate them outright. That kind of ambiguous feeling that was hard to put into words—that was the human heart.
That was the emotion Ais was feeling now. If I had to sum it up in a single word, it would be...
"Confusion... maybe."
She was confused. The monsters she had barely managed to forget, the ones that should never have existed.
The difference this time was that there was room in her heart now.
And the gap between ordinary monsters and these ones.
That meant she still couldn't make any judgment about the Xenos, and at the same time, it meant she was ready to face them.
She was ready to face those she had always refused even to touch, always pushed away. I didn't know whether she would take their hands or not, but she would not keep covering her ears and pretending not to know, as she had until now.
"As expected."
It had been the right decision to bring her here. Not everyone here would think so, but I was certain of it.
If there was someone who would one day bridge the gulf between the Xenos and humanity, it wouldn't be me.
It would be Ais.
Today's meeting would become the foundation for that. That was why I didn't want this encounter to end in vain.
"Ais. Isn't there something you should do?"
"...?"
She looked puzzled at my words, but soon her expression twisted sharply.
It was the face she made when reason and instinct collided. The face of someone whose common sense was being thoroughly shattered.
I had been like that too. Thoroughly broken, crushed, and then remade.
How many times had I repeated that process just to win once? Sensing that she, too, would grow through hardship, I waited for her choice.
How long had it been? Ais approached the Xenos, who were holding their breath and waiting in the tense silence.
Her expression was still not bright, but it had softened a little, looking somewhat relieved.
"...Um."
"...Yes? What is it?"
Ais walked up to Rey, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly bowed her head.
"Thank you for helping me before."
"Ah..."
"...And... um..."
Should she say it? Or not?
If I were being selfish, I didn't want her to. But if she didn't, it felt like she would stay stuck in place.
Ais tilted her head slightly and looked at the rabbit-like man. He didn't seem especially happy or sad at her appearance. Probably, whether she backed away now or spat out insults, his expression wouldn't change.
But even if Ais was somewhat dull, she wasn't stupid. She had already realized why he had brought her here.
Even if he had no intention of forcing anything on her, what lay within that act was his trust in her—and in them.
Ais didn't want to doubt that trust. She tried to understand the self he believed in, and them.
It wasn't easy now. But still... someday...
"...I'm sorry for saying such horrible things."
"......"
Silence followed. At the young girl's apology, Rey could do nothing but look down at the bowed head.
A human bowing to a monster. Rey knew that sight. The white hair he had seen then overlapped with Ais's golden hair.
He had never imagined something like this would happen. He had half given up, convinced that any exchange between them and humans would end as nothing more than a dream.
That was only natural. Humans kill monsters, and monsters kill humans. That was common sense. That was reality.
Vesta's existence had been a possibility, but a very faint one. Not only because he gave off that precarious feeling, as if he might vanish at any moment, but because his very existence was a miracle to the Xenos.
Miracles don't happen twice. The Xenos knew that, but even so, they thought it was fine.
Wasn't this proof that they and humans could interact? Even if it was only a hollow possibility, his existence alone gave the Xenos something to live for.
They had thought asking for anything more would be a luxury, an impossible dream...
"Ah..."
A single tear rolled down Rey's cheek. Unlike the vague happiness he had felt at meeting Vesta, this reaction shocked even Rey himself.
They had only recently been born. Because of that, they didn't really understand what emotions were. Even when those emotions were their own.
In that instant, Rey realized one feeling.
It was hope.
Unlike Vesta, who had been friendly from the start, Ais had shown hostility—but the change she now displayed cut deeply into their hearts.
Unlike Vesta, whose [special] nature meant they could not expect a second time, Ais had shown a [ordinary] response. Maybe that meant they really could live together with humans.
That hope filled his heart until tears welled up.
"I... um..."
His feelings rose too high and spilled out of his mouth on their own.
Suppressing the emotions he couldn't quite turn into words, he finally forced them into shape and spoke.
"Thank you."
For facing us.
For simply facing them, without even accepting them, he was this happy.
Seeing that, Ais's expression sank even more complicatedly.
Are these really monsters?
At that fundamental question, Ais could not suppress her confusion.
Monsters are monsters. You kill them without exception. There can be nothing else.
That was the common sense, the prejudice, the unwritten rule carved into Ais.
Partly because of her desire for revenge, and partly because it was simply the obvious truth.
That was how deep the gulf between monsters and humans ran. The struggle that had continued since ancient times had been etched so deeply it had entered their very genes and been passed down to the present.
Besides, wasn't Ais a living witness to that era, someone who had seen those scenes with her own eyes? To Ais, monsters were nothing more and nothing less than absolute evil.
And yet, could she really define the ones laughing, talking, and crying in front of her now that way?
Was it all right to ignore the hands they had extended?
She was confused. Before one small confusion could be resolved, a larger one followed close behind.
And Vesta silently watched over her.
All he could do was plant the seed. What kind of seed it was, whether it would bloom or not. If it did bloom, what form it would take.
He knew none of that, but he had certainly planted a seed. A seed that would change the future. Yet he didn't think it was a great matter.
"I can't feel anything."
Even after the history had changed, his body showed no reaction at all.
What that meant...
"So this is part of the proper timeline too."
His intervention hadn't changed nothing, but the change was so slight it might as well have been nonexistent.
They had merely met a little earlier. That was all. This hadn't changed the future, nor twisted it.
I didn't know what ending this meeting would reach. But...
"It'll be fine."
Looking at Ais's expression—so different from the one I had seen in the future—I could be sure there was no need to worry.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy. Just as it had been for me, her choice would fill her path with hardship.
It would be difficult. There would be moments when she nearly broke. There would probably even be moments when she did break.
And yet. If it was her, it would be all right. Because she was the Ais Wallenstein I admired...
No, the Ais Wallenstein I acknowledged.
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