"I once closed a dungeon, and in doing, so I killed its master," Ailette said sadly.
Tesilid knew exactly which dungeon she was talking about.
"What kind of a place was it?"
"It was a rocky wasteland with lightning flashing everywhere, and there was a huge hole. It was like a..."
"Bottomless pit."
"Oh, yes. A bottomless pit."
She was right. He had, indeed, been the Dungeon Master there. But the term master didn't always connote one's control over a place. This particular dungeon had a tendency to limit the power of its master. That particular dungeon had been a prison, and the master of the dungeon was its prisoner. Tesilid had been sentenced to imprisonment over thirty-one lives, but he had been liberated during his seventeenth life sentence thanks to Ailette.
His savior, who had killed him in one of his lives, spoke once again.
"And there was the Save Point," she continued. "Now that I think about it, the truth was always there for me to see. The artifact was used by a returner, and there can only be one person who could've used it in this universe." She looked up from her lap, directly into his eyes. "It was you."
That's how she realized he was in Loop One Hundred Seventeen. She added the number of times the Save Point had been used to the start of his sentence at Loop One Hundred and topped it with another lifetime because she had killed him on that occasion.
They were both silent for some time. She tried to find clues in his expression, but she could hardly see past the tears welling in her own eyes.
"Tesilid."
She suppressed her emotions and managed to call out his name. She knew how Loop One Hundred had ended. Reed was sent to the abyss, where he was sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment while being suspended in an existence with no beginning and no end. His only salvation was death, after which he would start another Loop anew. But that wasn't the worst part of it. The world in its Third Season only subjected him to more tragedies and suffering.
Her voice quivered as she spoke. "Does that mean... you repeated your sentence seventeen times, from Loop One Hundred to Loop One Hundred Sixteen?" she asked. "All the while forcing yourself to drink from the Well of Immortality? How did you endure so much suffering for so long?"
Tesilid's lips parted several times to speak, but he soon realized it was pointless since no words could affirm her question more powerfully than silence itself. The sinner couldn't bring himself to face her, so he dropped his gaze to the floor. But Ailette wasn't done.
"Tell me... Did I come too late?" she whispered. "Did I take too long to save you?"
He knew she was blaming herself for not rescuing him from that awful fate sooner, so he was forced to speak.
"Do you hate me?" he asked. "After all, I used to be Reed at one point."
She blinked, breaking the barrier of tears that had been veiling her eyes. She seemed puzzled by his words.
"Hate you? Why would I hate you?" she asked. "If anything, it makes me despise the world. How could those people do such horrible things to you? The world had no right to treat you like that. You deserve so much better."
She then started recounting his life.
"You tried so hard and withstood all the trials they threw at you. You sacrificed yourself for the people countless times and saved the world ten times over. You only deviated once from that path, that's all... You know that... I mean, I do," she said reassuringly. "I know it all too well."
Her words made Tesilid realize he wasn't alone. The world reset itself every time he returned for another Loop, while he retained his memories from all his Loops. Going through countless lives with all the tricks the world played on him made him nearly go insane from the feeling of solitude. But now, he finally had someone who could understand him.
"The world ought to love you for everything you did!" she shouted.
Right then, he impulsively outstretched his arms and hugged her. He then whispered in her ear.
"You know what I have done, and that's all that matters to me. Your sympathy means the world to me."
"But that's not enough..." she protested.
"No. It is," he corrected in a stern voice.
He truly believed that she was the only good thing left for him in the world.
"You are my world. When you feel sympathy for me, that means my whole world feels for me," he said sincerely. "And if you would..." he stammered. "Love me..."
He couldn't finish his sentence. She could only hear his rapid breathing ring in her ears. Ailette caressed the sinner's cheeks when he couldn't bring himself to ask for her love. She then met his gaze and kissed him on the lips.
"Then the whole world will love you."
She finished his sentence for him. It was a consolation for his feelings, a confession of her own feelings, and a promise to make those words come true. He tried his best to answer her by forming a smile despite nearly bursting into tears.
The rain subsided to a drizzle from a downpour that seemed to wash away all the sins in the world. The couple moved closer with their gazes locked on each other, adding their heated breath to the cool autumn air.
â
I never knew watching the rain could be so fun. It was already quite late, and I began to wonder if the man by my side was altering my notion of time as well. It sounded rather plausible, since his gorgeous looks often seemed to make time stop altogether.
"Drink this, Allie."
"Thanks."
Tesilid and I were still in the worship hall. I was sitting on one of the pews when Tesilid brought me a warm drink. The heat from the mug felt nice as it spread across my palms. I let out a breath of air and commented about the weather.
"It will get cold tomorrow after the rain."
"Yeah, winter is almost here."
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World boasts that the uniform worn by the holy knights of Voiceism has excellent insulation.â
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls looks forward to seeing the most handsome man in the world put on the new uniform.â
Tesilid, who seemed lost in thought, said, "Perhaps the rain might turn into snow if it continues to fall until early morning."
"Then it would be the first snow of the year," I answered.
"Yeah."
He looked dreamy because he probably hadn't seen snow for thousands of years.
It would be so nice if we could catch the first snow of the year together...
Then an unexpected message popped up.
â¬Â«System» [The Voice that Shapes the World] expends a small amount of divinity and plausibility to make it snow!â
The temperature suddenly dropped, and the rain outside turned into a blizzard.
"Huh? What's going on?!"
It took me a while to understand what was happening. I blinked my eyes in bewilderment until the answer dawned on me.
"Lord Voice!"
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World says that it was about the time of the year for snow. They say it wasn't necessarily for your sake.â
"I get that, but this is so sudden..."
"Oh. Has God blessed us with this gift? It's so beautiful."
"Tez loves it. Thank you, Lord Voice."
"Thank you, Lord Voice," Tesilid repeated after me as he placed a blanket over my shoulders.
I didn't really need it, thanks to the well-insulated uniform. But I let him be affectionate for the sake of romance. I raised my right arm to lift one side of the blanket.
"Would you like to join me under the blanket?"
Tesilid froze for a second and then smiled silently. I never realized people could smile and say no at the same time.
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls giggles because she knew he'd refuse the offer.â
"Allie, I have to tell you something."
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's too bright."
"Oh!"
The miracle performed by Lord Voice had caused my halo to light up once again in reaction to the powerful divinity. I scrambled to turn off the art nouveau-styled halo as soon as possible.
I blushed and muttered quietly, "This performance is over the top, Lord Voice."
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World says you'll soon grow used to it.â
â¬The Executive of Creative Economy comments that your item is rather humble for a legendary-tier item.â
â¬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos tells you to exchange it for the [Fluttering Lily Effect] instead.â
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls strongly suggests the [Rose of Temptation Effect] would suit you better.â
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World uses their overflowing divinity to put all those items in their basket.â
Divinity is the currency in the Divine Realm. It so happened that Lord Voice had too much divinity to spare at the moment after Voiceism was proclaimed to the world. It made me want to work hard so I could make Lord Voice even wealthier with divinity.
Sipping the warm tea had made me delve into my thoughts, and it took me a moment before I realized Tesilid and I had stopped talking. I glanced over to find him watching the white snowflakes falling outside the window. The silence wasn't particularly uncomfortable, but I started searching for topics to talk about because I missed his voice.
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls suggests discussing family planning.â
Lord Scale! Please behave!
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls laughs so hard that they end up coughing.â
I figured I shouldn't respond to them since they just wanted to see me react to their suggestive jokes. I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
"Allie."
I didn't have to start a conversation to hear his voice. The handsome man who had been watching the first snow of the year turned to me.
Then, with his usual calm voice and expression, he asked, "What are you going to do about Reed?"