Chapter 12.5
That night, Verunoa had not completely left.
More precisely—
Even after he had disappeared, he was still watching.
The spatial transfer had already been completed.
Distance was no issue.
Neither was the barrier.
And yet—
The image of that girl still lingered in the back of his vision.
“…”
Verunoa unconsciously started to raise a hand before stopping midway.
His spirit’s voice immediately cut in.
“Hey.”
“What is it?”
“Still watching her after you’ve already left? That’s honestly kind of bad.”
“It is not surveillance.”
“Then what is it?”
“…Confirmation.”
He answered instantly.
But unlike before, the certainty behind that word had weakened.
The spirit let out a small laugh.
“That’s just an excuse now, isn’t it?”
“It isn’t.”
“Then what exactly did you confirm?”
Verunoa fell silent.
The answer should have come easily.
The stability of her magical power.
Structural abnormalities.
Spirit responses.
Those were his usual observation points.
And yet—
The first thing that came to mind wasn’t any of them.
“…She looked sleepy.”
The words slipped out quietly.
Only after saying them did he realize what he had just said.
The spirit burst out laughing.
“That’s not an observation. That’s an impression.”
“It isn’t.”
“That’s completely a human reaction.”
“Be quiet.”
Verunoa lowered his gaze.
Within his hand remained traces of pale silver-blue energy.
The lingering remnants of the magical adjustment he had flowed into the girl’s room earlier.
Normally, it existed to collect data.
But now, he was sensing something else through it.
—
She hadn’t rejected it.
If anything…
“…It has adapted to her.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
For a moment, the spirit fell silent.
Then it spoke again, sounding more serious than usual.
“You know…”
“What?”
“That’s not normal.”
Verunoa didn’t deny it.
He had already realized that denying it held no meaning anymore.
Instead, he quietly asked,
“…Is it abnormal?”
“Yeah.”
An immediate answer.
“But…”
The spirit continued.
“Maybe it isn’t that she’s ‘broken.'”
“…”
“Maybe she’s just a different shape.”
Verunoa’s gaze wavered ever so slightly.
“…A different shape.”
“Yeah.”
“Then is it not simply abnormal magical accumulation within her vessel?”
“It might be one aspect of it.”
The spirit gave a light laugh.
“But, you know…”
“What?”
“By the time you’re still calling her an ‘observation subject,’ I already think something’s changed.”
Silence.
Verunoa closed his eyes once.
Then—
“…The reasons for returning have grown thin.”
That much, he admitted.
The spirit laughed delightedly.
“That’s actually a pretty big problem.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the type who acts according to reason.”
“I am.”
“And your reason is starting to fall apart.”
At those words, the night air seemed to grow slightly heavier.
Verunoa looked up at the sky.
The garden was already far away.
And yet—
He understood now that distance didn’t matter.
“…Tomorrow.”
“Hm?”
“I will visit officially.”
The spirit fell silent for a moment before laughing again.
“Yeah… that’s definitely not just ‘confirmation’ anymore.”
“It is confirmation.”
“You’re still saying that?”
Verunoa gave no answer.
He simply began walking quietly.
Behind him, the spirit spoke softly.
“Hey, Verunoa.”
“What?”
“You know…”
“…”
“I think you’ve already stepped into a place you can’t return from.”
The night was quiet.
But that silence—
was no longer just silence.
