[Gasp!]
Mori, who had naturally assumed he was alone in the room, flinched in surprise and lifted his head.
Leaning against the doorway, which Minte had left open upon entering, stood someone with their arms crossed.
"What is it that the other knights are supposed to remember?"
It was Anelli.
[C-Captain.]
Meeting Anelli's cold gaze, Mori instinctively felt his body curl inward, and he drew himself even tighter.
Anelli, who had been silently observing Mori, slowly entered the room.
The two escort knights who always followed her were nowhere to be seen.
After closing the door, she fetched a chair and sat down in front of Mori.
"If you don't intend to follow me, you may leave at any time. But if you influence my knights in any way, I won't go easy on you."
[I, I…….]
Flustered, Mori stammered.
"If you have a grievance with me, say it to my face. Don't go stirring up my knights for no reason."
She was clearly drawing a line between the other Dullahans and Mori.
It was Mori who had initially treated her coldly upon first meeting her. Yet, being treated this way now brought a surge of self-pity, and Mori answered in a choked voice.
[I am a k-knight of the Round Table. Following you is my duty.]
"You serve the 'former Captain,' not me. So you have no need to perform that duty for me."
[But you are the Captain.]
"You think of her and me as different, don't you?"
At those words, Mori's eyes widened slightly.
Anelli's words were accurate. Mori did not think the person before him was the Captain he had followed.
They were completely different people. Because his Captain…… had lost her powers and become human.
[……You are different.]
At Mori's feeble reply, Anelli bared her teeth in a smile.
"Right? I don't mind hearing that."
Leaning her chin on her hand, which rested on the arm of the chair, she narrowed her eyes and spoke in a gentle tone.
"On the contrary, I'm glad."
[I, I knew it.]
"Knew what?"
[The Captain never… never really wanted powers like that. So you forgot everything and became someone else.]
At Mori's words, Anelli's smile faded slightly.
Staring silently at Mori, Anelli asked in a lowered voice.
"Did she tell you that?"
[The C-Captain…….]
Mori couldn't bring himself to continue. Emotions surged within him in an instant; if he tried to speak, it felt like he would burst into tears any moment.
Why couldn't the other knights remember?
Why did he have to remember everything?
This was the question that had tormented Mori ever since he awoke. Why did he have to remember everything?
The blood-soaked moments of that day, the screams, the betrayal and despair—all of it.
[The Captain…… wished to be liberated.]
"Liberated?"
[By performing the final power, to be free…….]
Mori envied the other Dullahans.
The other Dullahans, who were simply, purely immersed in the joy of meeting their Captain again.
Would it have been better if he too had lost his memory? If he couldn't remember their end, could he have met her again with a smile?
If he couldn't remember how Zigore died……. If he couldn't remember how Zigore stood against them to protect the Captain and died.
Then he wouldn't be angry at Zigore, who now blindly defends the Captain.
[Having lost her powers now, she has found the freedom she desired. So now she doesn't want to care about anything anymore, right? She… she doesn't care about anything anymore.]
Anelli stared silently at Mori without answering.
Mori continued, sniffling.
[That's why you keep that betrayer by your side so casually.]
A strange light flickered in Anelli's eyes.
"……You recognized Samuel?"
[I r-remember everything.]
The first knight, who secretly adored the Captain. The only one unaware of his feelings was the Captain herself.
The knights cheered on and supported his heartfelt affection. They encouraged him, believing his feelings would be reciprocated someday.
But what returned was a cold blade and a chilling betrayal. The memory of that time was so vivid, yet now the knights faced that betrayer without a second thought.
Horrified, Mori told Zigore the truth. Did he know who that person was? Did he know who the Captain was keeping by her side?
What had Zigore said then?
「If it's the Captain's will, it's fine. She must have her reasons.」
Zigore could say that because he didn't remember. Because he didn't know how he himself had died by that blade.
[It would have been better if I hadn't woken up at all.]
Better to have never awakened than to see the Captain, who lost her powers and became a completely different person, and his colleagues, who lost their memories and acted so carefree.
A wave of gloomy emotion crashed over him. Mori, who had momentarily lifted his head, buried it again.
He didn't want to do anything, felt no motivation at all. When he first opened his eyes, he thought he should perform the unfinished power himself, but after being badly beaten by some Monster, even that felt unappealing now.
Better to just stay like this……
[Eek!]
Mori's curled-up body suddenly floated into the air.
Anelli had grabbed Mori's head and lifted him up in one swift motion.
Holding Mori up to eye level, Anelli spoke clearly.
"As you said, I don't want to care about anything. Whether the world perishes or not has nothing to do with me, and I have no interest in it."
Startled by her extreme action, Mori couldn't even think of resisting. Held by the head, dangling in mid-air, he faced Anelli.
"Nevertheless, I will complete the final power. If I need the help of a betrayer to do so, I'll accept it without hesitation."
At that, Mori opened his mouth in a bewildered tone.
[Wh-why?]
"Because I want to return their heads to my knights."
Her purple eyes were as cold and unfamiliar as they had been these past few days.
"Because I want to see for myself the faces of those who laugh and cry for me."
Yet, for some reason, Mori saw a glimpse of his former Captain in that cold gaze.
The Captain he had always respected, who would gaze steadfastly ahead to fulfill her duty—his kind Captain.
"And I don't leave unfinished business for others. You bear the responsibility for your own choices. I don't know what your Captain burdened you with, but you don't have to do it."
Having spoken decisively, Anelli frowned and added.
"So make up with Zigore. No matter how much children fight and make up, you two are knights from too long ago to be called children, aren't you?"
Mori couldn't say anything, simply frozen.
Clicking her tongue softly at Mori's state, Anelli set him back down on the floor. Unlike the abrupt lift, her touch was careful now.
Even back on the floor, Mori remained dazed.
"Samuel will guide me to the Veladia Valley. The goddess gave him that chance. It's a companionship of necessity, not an acceptance of him as my knight. Even if you want to kill him, I can't allow it. So if you want to leave, leave."
Returning to her original posture with her chin propped, Anelli took a short breath, then added curtly.
"Make up with Zigore before you leave."
[……Why?]
"You were close with Zigore, weren't you? I'd be troubled if he blamed himself after you left, thinking it was his fault."
Mori couldn't say anything.
Clearly, this woman before him was different from the Captain he knew. The Captain wasn't this extreme, nor this callous.
But…….
"What? Don't want to make up either?"
When Mori didn't answer readily, Anelli asked with a displeased face. As Mori remained silent, she scanned him with a somewhat uneasy expression.
"You're not hurt somewhere, are you? Did I grab you too hard?"
[I, I was the Captain's successor.]
At Mori's sudden confession, Anelli paused. A complex emotion flashed through her eyes for a moment, but it was fleeting.
"Whatever she burdened you with, forget it."
[But she t-taught me how to handle the power.]
At that, Anelli snorted and crossed her arms.
"If you could have acted as the goddess's proxy, I wouldn't have been resurrected in the first place. No one can replace me, that's why I'm suffering through this now, isn't it?"
Muttering curses, seemingly directed at no one in particular, about being forced into an unwanted babysitting role, she continued in a languid tone.
"Just do what you want. Don't feel obligated or worry about duty or anything."
Mori's mouth fell open without him realizing.
He was the successor chosen by the Captain, and he had always been proud of that. Being chosen by the Captain was his pride and honor.
He had never once considered that there was a choice in that position.
It was such an honorable duty that he was busy just gratefully accepting it.
"Was I speaking too difficultly? You don't have to diligently love all things. If there's something you want to hate, hate it. Like that swindler Monster who stabbed you in the back this time. Or me. Hate to your heart's content, leave and live doing what you want."
At the mention of leaving, his heart sank with a thud.
Without thinking, Mori blurted out in an urgent voice.
[Th-then I'll continue being the successor.]
Perhaps because Mori's answer was unexpected, Anelli frowned and fell silent for a moment.
"……Where did you hear what I just said?"
[D-do you dislike seeing my face?]
At Mori's question, Anelli paused. As if recalling something she had overlooked, she pressed her temples and muttered quickly.
"Ah, does realizing the final power require finding your head too? Then I'll call for you once I find it, so go play somewhere suitable in the meantime. No need to travel together…… Why are you crying?"
Only upon hearing Anelli's question did Mori realize he was crying.
Even if asked why tears were falling, Mori had no answer. He himself didn't know why he was crying.
But the tears wouldn't stop.
And he had no hands to wipe them away.
Watching Mori, who was silently shedding tears without making a sound, with a troubled expression, Anelli pressed her forehead with her index finger and asked.
"Were the knights of the Round Table originally prone to tears? Or did becoming a Dullahan increase the tears?"
Naturally, Mori couldn't answer. He just shed tear after tear from some inexplicable sorrow.
And Anelli, though clicking her tongue, stayed quietly by his side until Mori's tears subsided.