I'll kill you after I finish this game!

"I want to hear it."

Mary smiled and placed her hand on Fujii Ren's head, stroking it gently. Looking at Ren's stunned face, she said, "I want to know what Ren is doing at this school."

Listening to Mary's soft voice, as if Mary were a friend from the same school, gave Fujii Ren a peaceful illusion.

I have this urge to leave everything here and just sleep forever.

“I used to enjoy time with Titi on campus. There were lots and lots of people my age, and the buildings were as beautiful as castles. I always felt very happy.”

Mary recalled possessing Skadi's body, where Skadi had also been forced by her older brother to go to school to experience youth, and she said with a smile in her eyes.

The pupils reflecting Mary's smiling face trembled slightly, and the other person's words unconsciously reminded Fujii Ren of her past.

The twilight sky, the bustling crowd, the girl on the guillotine...

Margaret Bruy, a girl born and died at the guillotine.

She had no parents, no brothers, no friends... no one to share her life with.

Therefore, being born in this era allows us to enjoy spaces like schools...

Skadi, the senior student, once took Mary to experience campus life.

At first, was it like a jewel that Mary had never seen before?

This incident made Fujii Ren both sad and relieved. Perhaps meeting Skadi and then her in her life wasn't such a bad thing.

Blinking her light blue eyes, Fujii Ren looked up at Mary and said softly with a smile, "I'm curious about how you felt back then. I was also very happy at school."

I'm not just being polite; I'm genuinely very happy. This is a joyful place.

In places unrelated to killing or being killed, bloodshed or war... Fujii Ren also likes this place, a place away from noise and hustle and bustle.

She... longs to go back to those days.

"Hehe... In this respect, she is different from Lian. In the past, Titi was not very willing to go to school, but in the end, her older brother forcibly threw her into school."

"Was Skadi-senpai...very rebellious before?" Fujii Ren's expression turned somewhat strange upon hearing this.

Because Mary's words implied that Skadi used to be rebellious and a child who didn't really want to go to school.

"Hmm...Titi spends her days either practicing martial arts or doing things in the lab that I don't understand. She doesn't want to go to school because she doesn't want to play around with those kids."

Mary told Fujii Ren about Skadi's past when she was young.

Skadi wasn't actually rebellious; she was just too talented and skipped many of the things that people her age should have experienced.

At only fifteen or sixteen years old, his knowledge of various technologies already surpassed that of the world's best. Let alone going to high school, becoming a doctor would be an exceptional achievement.

When it comes to attending high school classes, Skadi actually prefers to audit lectures given by professors with knowledge and technical expertise.

At that time, Skadi only had two things she craved: power and wisdom. She wanted to become stronger, acquire knowledge to increase her wisdom, and then continue to use her wisdom to become stronger.

As a result, her older brother Oga couldn't stand it anymore. Xiaotong lived a happy life that Oga was satisfied with, while her other younger sister didn't laugh or make a fuss and devoted herself to cultivation and scientific research.

Not happy about it, Oga, as the older brother, directly stopped her monotonous life and forced her to correct it, which is why she was reluctant to go to school.

If it weren't for Mary, Skadi would probably still be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant towards her older brother and continue her dull life.

Fujii Ren listened with great interest and curiosity as Mary recounted Skadi's past.

It turns out that Skadi has an older brother and a younger sister in a parallel world, and the reason she doesn't go to school is because she was born a genius.

He is almost fluent in the foreign languages ​​of major countries around the world, and is proficient in a wide range of skills, from playing the violin and medicine to piloting airplanes. He can learn anything he is interested in.

Therefore, she has little motivation for things she is not interested in. She only goes to school to experience youth reluctantly because she is forced by her older brother and persuaded by Mary, who is possessed by him.

"Although you were unwilling... you were happy, weren't you?"

Seeing Mary laughing as she spoke, Fujii Ren, infected by her laughter, also smiled and said.

With Mary by my side, even doing mundane tasks takes on a new vitality.

"Yeah, I'm really happy, but Titi always makes fun of me."

Mary nodded, puffing out her cheeks slightly as she mentioned Skadi's constant teasing.

Fujii Ren knew why, after all, Mary was like a child, always having things she didn't understand and was curious about.

Back then, quite a few things happened that made Skadi laugh, and thinking about it, Fujii Ren couldn't help but laugh too.

"Ah, Lotus!"

Mary, seeing Fujii Ren trying to suppress his laughter on her lap, immediately put her hands on her hips and looked down at her angrily, saying:

"Are you making fun of me too? You're just as wicked as Titi!"

"Uh...sorry, sorry. In exchange, I'll tell you about my story." Seeing Mary's anger, Fujii Ren chuckled and changed the subject.

Mary's attention was indeed diverted, and she stopped being angry all of a sudden. Instead, she looked at her curiously, gesturing for her to speak quickly.

This childlike personality can indeed make people feel better. Fujii Ren also talked about her own story, although it wasn't as dramatic as Skadi's.

"Kyou and Shirou are in my class. Those guys are stupid and noisy, and they always get me into all sorts of trouble..."

But she was actually very happy about that too.

"...I hope it can continue indefinitely."

At this point, a bitter expression appeared on Fujii Ren's face.

Originally, it was thought that this would continue until I graduated...

"The school rooftop is my refuge. I met a strange upperclassman there in my first year, and an even stranger one in my second year... Skadi."

Before I knew it, my interactions with Skadi had become a part of my daily life.

Although the other party initially tried very hard to pull her into the world of the unconventional, compared to the people at the Black Round Table, Skadi was the one who took care of her and helped her in various ways.

Furthermore, given everything she learned from Mary, it was impossible for her senior to be her enemy.

“Then, that idiot Kasumi would always come after us and make a fuss.” Skadi turned her head slightly to look at the school rooftop, a hint of reminiscence and longing flashing in her eyes, and said, “Thanks to her, that place has become a gathering place for people like us.”

Yuza Shirou is always so smug, and Rei-senpai is always there eating those weirdly flavored sandwiches...

"Not long before my senior came, there were four of us together, but now..."

As Fujii Ren finished speaking, her smile vanished, and she unconsciously covered her eyes with her arm, not wanting Mary to see the look in her eyes.

But now, Kasumi has become a murderer for her sake, Yuza Shirou has dropped out of school and disappeared, and Skadi has pulled her into an unseen world.

No, even without Skadi's pull, she was destined to be forcibly dragged to that world, as if... she was meant to live there anyway.

Everyone in my memory has collapsed, and most importantly, Fujii Ren is no longer the person he was back then.

The familiar school, the person who loved it—everything has completely changed...

"Then... Lian, may I join your world?"

"------!"

Fujii Ren stared blankly at Mary, who was looking at him expectantly. In this abnormal reality, he was the wrong person to say such a thing.

Because Fujii Ren had a premonition.

Once I return to my daily life, Mary... she will disappear.

If I were to revert to my former innocent self, my connections with Mary and Skadi would naturally revert to... nothingness.

That is probably, no, a certainty that cannot be avoided upon careful consideration.

"Hey, is that not allowed?"

Mary's pretty face flushed slightly, and her timid tone revealed a hint of shy embarrassment.

Because of the gentle contact with Mary.

Therefore, precisely because of this... Fujii Ren only wanted to indulge in this lukewarm illusion.

She and her senior, among others, fantasized about a twisted yet blissful daily life.

Is that a good idea?

"...OK."

A smile unconsciously curved her lips. Thinking of Mary and her senior joining her, she subconsciously felt that she would be even happier. Following her heart, Fujii Ren said:

"It will definitely be a lot of fun, it's a promise."

Hotaru Sakurai and Rusalka were not there, and in this school filled with dead people and doll-like students, only she and Mary were truly alive.

It was like a beach dyed red by the sunset... as if forgotten in some world where time had stopped.

------

"Ugh, that's so jarring."

On the school rooftop, Yuza Shirou looked down at the scene in the courtyard and said to himself with a self-deprecating smile.

Eavesdropping on two girls' conversation is really lewd and disgusting.

Yuza Shirou didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was too quiet around him, and he couldn't help it.

It all reached his ears, but fortunately, Fujii Ren did not activate his senses when he arrived.

Perhaps because he was too weak, he was almost overlooked, just like those hypnotized students.

However, in any case, it turned out just as I had predicted.

The school is something those people at the Black Round Table can take over at any time.

It's like a stray dog ​​urinating on a pillar, leaving its scent to declare that this is the territory it has set its sights on.

The school was clearly acting strangely, and they were even telling their classmates not to fight over things.

If so, the status quo is merely maintained.

If you're going to play a game of capturing territory, you usually find another location.

A greedy person will definitely do this.

Fujii Ren would most likely come to this school anyway, so after settling Kasumi in, he followed along, though he was already half sure.

According to information obtained from Lian, the third altar is not located here.

So, where is the probability highest?

If we want the eight altar nodes to open smoothly, we must first close the areas with high population density.