Mitsuki spent a long time thinking about what he should do. Even if his emotions were "anesthetized," he was still the same person as always, which meant overthinking things until reaching a conclusion had always been his greatest obsession.

Among all those thoughts, he decided it was time to check his "General Status," so the moment he switched from the notifications tab to the system’s main tab, it immediately displayed the section without hesitation.

Mitsuki frowned.

[ General Status:

❖ Physical: (Arm amputated), (Sutures on the abdomen and vital organs)

❖ Mental: (Temporary emotional overload), (Temporary nihilism)

❖ Spiritual: (Fragmented soul), (Unstable life force), (Unstable spiritual essence) ]

’Now there are even more things I have no idea about. First of all, how does the soul even work? At least in the games I’ve played, the soul is always treated as the very essence of life and all that, but sometimes it’s portrayed as something more physical than spiritual.’

There were many concepts tied to the soul, but for Mitsuki it was difficult to figure out under what principles the soul operated in this world, since he had seen hundreds of thousands of wandering souls and spirits within the World of Ethereals.

He sighed and shook his head.

’Maybe Ellegaard knows something about it, but after the conversation we had, she probably doesn’t want to speak to me anymore. She might even try to kill me the next time she sees me.’

Whatever the situation was, he needed to find a solution to this problem. Who knew how dangerous it could be to have a broken mind and soul?

After carefully reviewing everything, Mitsuki closed his eyes to rest, but the system had one final message for him.

[ The skill "Progression Healing" has activated. ]

[ Description: Your body will heal the injuries sustained by consuming a large amount of life energy, but it will not be able to restore lost limbs or organs (additional raw material required). ]

’I was starting to wonder when this skill would activate. And it looks like I won’t be able to recover my arm until I find raw material for it. If I’m lucky, maybe Ellegaard can make me a new arm.’

He raised his hand and looked at the stump of his arm.

His gaze relaxed considerably from one second to the next.

’I’m surprised by how little I care about losing my arm.’

After all, a nihilist with Emotional Anesthesia could become a pretty apathetic person.

***

It was the top of the great Church of the Goddess of Light. Ellegaard sat atop the cathedral dome, gazing out over the ashen landscape of the ruined capital. The expression on her face revealed just how deep in thought she was.

She sighed a couple of times.

Suddenly, Jeanne appeared beside her as though she had teleported.

"So, have you decided that we should save him from our world?"

Ellegaard didn’t look at her. She kept her eyes on the scenery as she answered.

"I don’t know. Mitsuki Kirishima doesn’t seem like a monster capable of destroying the world... He can’t even save himself. He’s so weak that killing him and ending all of this would be far too easy. It almost feels like some kind of cosmic joke."

Jeanne smiled and rested her head against Ellegaard’s shoulder.

"Joke or not, Mitsuki came to our world for a reason; a reason even he himself doesn’t seem to have considered. Maybe that’s just the kind of person he is..."

The elf remained silent. She rested her forehead against her knees while holding her staff in front of herself.

Jeanne continued smiling as she looked at the broken structure of ash, once created by that princess to bring sunlight down like a beam of death, decorating the tragedy-stricken kingdom with its dark gray hue.

"The Herald has a very fragile heart; his tears are the answer..." she said, quoting a line from the prophecy.

Ellegaard sighed and replied:

"Find him and save him. If you can’t do that, kill him..."

"That might be the most important part of the prophecy, Ellegaard. It isn’t about destruction, but salvation because if we can save Mitsuki from the misery of our world, doesn’t that mean our world could become a better place? I mean a place without tragedy or ancient curses slowly corroding the lands."

Raising her head, Ellegaard looked Jeanne in the eyes.

"Do you really believe that? From my point of view, everything comes down to our chances of success. If the Herald is as fragile as the prophecy says, then how are we supposed to save him from suffering in our world? It’s much easier to kill him and end all of this."

"Then why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?" the princess asked with a sharp gaze.

The elf looked down at the floor; she didn’t know how to answer.

"You didn’t kill him because you knew it was wrong to judge someone for something they haven’t done. Even you tend to think things through better than I do before acting, which is why you decided to postpone Mitsuki’s death."

Ellegaard gripped her magic staff tightly.

"Shut up. Don’t talk about me like you know me."

"I do know you, Ellie," Jeanne said with a brief laugh. "I’ve known you since I was a child and you were a grumpy teacher who hit me with her staff whenever she could. You even used to hit my father with your staff! He’s a king, you know?"

Remembering that, Ellegaard smiled nostalgically.

"You’ve always been this aggressive and cruel with everyone, and that’s the only part of you I don’t fully understand. Everyone we’ve helped throughout our journey ended up distancing themselves from us because you always did the same thing to them that you did to Mitsuki that night. It’s just that Mitsuki has been the only one so far who hasn’t given up on us—at least that’s what I think."

Ellegaard sighed, exhausted from thinking so much.

"The tick tends to obsess over things too easily. I had to stop him before it got him killed."

"Ellie, don’t be a hypocrite. Isn’t Arcane Magic your greatest obsession? Weren’t you the one proudly telling me that when you were a child, you studied nonstop until you fainted? I think that, in some way, you see yourself reflected in Mitsuki, and that’s why you want to stop him from becoming like you."

That painfully accurate statement angered Ellegaard, who rose from her seat and lifted her magic staff with one hand, ready to strike Jeanne.

"What would you know, child?!" she shouted before swinging the staff down.

However, Jeanne caught the weapon with a single hand and incredible ease. Of course, this was the difference between someone who trained their body to fight with a sword and someone who trained their mind to use magic.

"That’s exactly who you are," Jeanne said with a smile. "And then you call me childish. You should practice what you preach, Ellie. Maybe then you’d become a better teacher and I’d become a better student."

Defeated by Jeanne’s irrefutable arguments, Ellegaard muttered a curse under her breath and jumped off the roof to go be alone somewhere else.

The princess watched her with a smile before the elf disappeared into the darkness of the rubble.

The rain was soft and gloomy now, pouring endlessly over her.

"You’re always adorable when you get angry like that... It reminds me why we’re best friends."