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The disturbing sound of heavy dry-heaving echoed from Azaki Kiryuuin\'s mouth behind her, and her aghast face crumpled.

Fwoop~!

A single swing of her blade being her only response, that was all I needed to understand her intention.

The tip of her sword pointed straight at my face, and her expression, which had distorted to become that of a person half a step away from being brought to tears, reflected in my eyes.

Looking into those sapphire eyes of hers that glistened from the pressure of subdued tears, I could see right through her.

"I know what you want me to do, but I\'ll have to decline."

The mire in which she found herself stuck.

A situation in which I was her only hope.

"..."

"I\'m not going to make an antidote for you."

"..."

"By the end of the year, Azaki Kiryuuin will die."

She didn\'t respond to my words, only holding that laughable sword of hers with a trembling stance.

The poison I coated the blade of the knife with was not one that would kill him quickly. During its creation, I focused more on ensuring with absolute certainty that it could not be cured once inflicted rather than on its raw lethality.

There is an important reason for this, but first, there is some background knowledge to be known.

In this world, there can be no two people born with the same Measurement.

There are a limited number of people on the planet but an infinite number of Measurements, and so the number of Measurements that can exist at any given time correlates directly to the global population.

As such, there are countless Measurements that exist only in theory or at different times.

What happens when someone dies? Well, that just means the dead person\'s Measurement is withdrawn from the pool of currently existing ones.

There are numerous cases of powerful Measurement wielders existing in the past, whether it be decades, centuries, or even millennia ago, whose powers are no longer present in the world.

That\'s not to say those specific Measurements are forever gone, no―it just means they do not exist in reality at this point in time.

Whenever a human is born, they are born naturally possessing a Measurement taken from the unimaginably vast pool of non-existing Measurements. There is no genetic or any other kind of influence that impacts a person\'s given Measurement; it is simply random.

There is no scientific explanation for the existence of Measurements and it is not something that can be found in any species on Earth other than humans either, but it is something naturally accepted by the human race regardless.

The truth for why this is the case is not something that is possible to know, but some philosophers in the past have claimed that the existence of Measurements is what makes humans unique from all other animals on the planet.

Naturally, as someone who has enjoyed science and philosophy since I can remember, this is something I have always been curious about.

Even still, there is no clear answer.

If I were to ask the Measurement of Truth why Measurements exist, I would receive but one response:

「It is the natural order of the world」

My point is, whether there is an explanation for it or not, you can bet that when someone dies, it is unlikely for their specific Measurement to make another appearance for many years.

To reduce the risk of my plans going haywire, there is a need to get rid of Measurements that could act as figurative wrenches to interfere in the works.

Thus, I want to kill Azaki Kiryuuin, who possesses the Measurement of Time.

Using a specially-designed poison to ensure his death even if it takes a while that cannot be cured no matter what they try.

Having a poison that will kill you quickly is useless if the enemy can pause time, but taking that a step further, it doesn\'t matter if you can pause time if the poison cannot be cured.

That was my plan―a scheme to end his life in a way that will ensure that very outcome.

"Eeuuuughh...!!"

Seeing his ruined figure now, being carried away on a stretcher by those pointless underlings of the Wardens, I wanted to smile and congratulate myself.

One could say my plan was working like clockwork.

"...You will make me an antidote."

Avon Laura suddenly opened her mouth after a long period of silence, but was she hard of hearing?

"Are you deaf or were you simply not paying attention? I already announced my refusal, did I not?"

She straightened her arm to shake off the jitters, resulting in the apex of the dangerous weapon in her hand almost poking my nose.

"Sorry? Did I ask for your opinion on the matter, Truth? I do not recall giving you the option to decline."

Staring for a moment at her, who appeared to have regained some semblance of composure and her previous determination, I sighed, thinking there was no helping it.

"...Haa. Fine."

Reaching my hand into my blazer, I took out a small, see-through glass bottle and shook it lightly with a smile, as if to show it off.

Seeing Avon Laura\'s puzzled gaze as she watched me with extreme vigilance, I explained.

"You didn\'t seriously think I\'d be such a careless person as to make only one, tiny ampoule of antidote, right?"

Her mouth made a motion of understanding as if exclaiming \'oh...\' to herself before she swallowed her saliva and lowered her sword, eyes glued to the bottle in my hands all the while.

Judging that she was about to snatch it out of my hands if I didn\'t do anything, I acted.

"Now, now, don\'t hurry yourself. The poison I administered isn\'t one to kill so rapidly. There\'s no need to rush things, is there?"

She glared at me.

"...I was not planning on letting you escape today, but if you give it to me now, then I shall postpone my business here for another day."

Oh, really?

"How kind of you. If that\'s true, make these fellows leave first. I don\'t want to see any of you guys for a long time."

Hiding the bottle with folded arms, perhaps the defensive gesture made her afraid of losing the one thing that could cure her friend, as Avon Laura hurriedly dismissed the dozens of white-clad employees around us.

As they slowly began to disperse and disappear, she addressed me.

"I did as you asked."

"I appreciate that."

Having those cultish people surrounding me and chasing after me was making me quiver in my boots, you know? I\'m only a growing boy, so it was rather terrifying.

"Make no mistake. This is not the last you will see of us, but we can at least afford to back off for now if it means saving the life of one of our dearest. This time was met with unforeseen difficulties anyway, which we will be sure to take into account for next time..."

The latter of her words were accompanied by a glance in Sophie\'s direction, but it was nothing major to be worried about.

"That\'s a shame. I would have hoped to never see you again."

"The feeling is mutual. I would likewise hate for my eyes to get tainted by your ugliness. In any case, we truly will not bother you for at least a short while, so hand over the antidote."

I smiled.

"You really are driven by urgency, aren\'t you? Well, it\'s understandable, considering the circumstances."

Tightening the grip on her sword\'s hilt, she seemed totally unwilling to spend more time here than necessary.

"Shut up and hand it over. You are testing my patience."

If I dragged this out any longer, I really would get a sword-shaped puncture in my stomach.

"I see. I wouldn\'t want to see what consequences arise from that, so I will give in. You really give me no choice."

I first confirmed that everyone had actually left the area, and it indeed was the case that she was the last person remaining.

The moment I stretched my arm out, she seized the bottle before I could react, but that was fine. Turning around and finally sheathing her sword, she began to leave without another word.

I called out to that departing figure.

"If you\'re going to give him the antidote, I would do it right away. I said it wouldn\'t kill him quickly, but I definitely engineered the poison to be lethal, okay?"

She said nothing in response to my advice, but I knew she heard me from the sudden increase in her walking speed.

Watching her back until she exited my vision completely, I nodded and spoke to the stream.

"That\'s it for today, guys. I\'ve got some stuff to do but I\'ll see you next time. There were no explosions this time but it was still fun, right? Anyway, bye."

I turned the stream off without looking at the comments since I could always check them later on and turned to Sophie as I took my mask off.

"Good job today. I didn\'t expect to hear your honest thoughts about me, but I must admit that it was interesting."

Flinching at my words, I wondered if her face flushed a little from embarrassment.

"S-shut up, will ya? I just spoke the truth, is all..."

She took her mask off as well and we walked side-by-side through the school grounds in silence for a while. I wanted to look for my bag if possible, but I wouldn\'t be surprised if those guys stole it.

"...By the way, Oscar, I didn\'t expect ya to actually give \'em an antidote. Was it just to make \'em fuck off?"

"Ahaha."

"? The hell you laughin\' at?"

"Ah... No, I\'m not that simple."

"Huh? What?"

Chuckling, I looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"―That \'antidote\' was poison, too, you know?"

The bottle I handed over to Avon Laura was no antidote. It contained something called \'sarin\', a colourless, odourless liquid that functions as an extremely potent nerve agent.

Considered a Schedule 1 substance and chemical weapon by international governments and organisations, sarin is outlawed in all countries; evidence of its effectiveness.

If Avon Laura really administered such a thing to the Azaki Kiryuuin who is already on his deathbed, then, let alone cure him, it will put him out of his misery on the spot.

Even a small dose is lethal in a matter of minutes post-intake, so there really is no escape for him at that point.

Did she genuinely expect me to hand over an antidote just like that after I had already achieved my goal?

Honestly, what a fool that woman is.

"Iyaah... That\'s... pretty damn evil, dude."

I replied to Sophie\'s freaked-out reaction candidly.

"He is someone so justice-oriented that I would have no choice but to get rid of him sooner or later. In addition to that, his Measurement poses a great threat to future plans."

She nodded.

"I get that. Manipulation of time sounds fuckin\' annoyin\' even if the guy usin\' it is a complete shitter, so I can\'t really deny that... Makes my goal easier, too, so I ain\'t gonna complain \'bout it."

After that, the topic moved from murder to Sophie\'s father, Professor Asanami.

Personally, I think they are two things that would go well hand-in-hand, but that\'s for another day.

"Oscar, I\'m gettin\' worried. Those bastards definitely knew my dad and they even knew me. Are they gonna tell him about what I\'m doin\'?"

"Oh, yeah. About that; your dad will undoubtedly know. If I were to guess, he\'ll probably confront you about it and start involving you in the organisation to try and convince you or change your mind. If he does that, that probably means he\'ll withdraw you from school, too, to get you away from me."

I nodded and affirmed her concerns, which didn\'t help her mood at all.

"What?? Are you for real? W-what the f-- No, screw him! My stance ain\'t gonna change on this and I don\'t give a shit what he does, he ain\'t gonna make me!"

Seeing her troubles, I smiled.

Of course, I had a plan that would solve all of that in one go.

"Right, obviously. If you want, I can sort that out for you."

"Hm? Wait, really? How\'s that?"

It was simple.

"Come live at my place."

She froze for a moment at my suggestion.

"...Huh?!"