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Wandering alongside Sophie Asanami, we were taking a look around at the various stalls and such that were soon to be available.

The Festival took place on and around the school grounds and during school hours, running from morning to afternoon. Instead of normal classes, students were free to enjoy the Festival as much as they liked, with many clubs opting to run stalls or other events.

Being the final month of the year, the early morning temperature was cold, and the winds that awaited Winter were sharp.

Currently, the Festival was yet to begin, and stress was evident in our surroundings.

The atmosphere around the school was dense. Even just walking around, with so much hyped tension in the air, the students\' anxiety was palpable.

Additionally, as the event was open to the public, there was even more pressure on the students to show a good performance during this time.

Well, as for students like me who weren\'t so busy with that type of bothersome thing, we could take it easy.

"Hey, d\'ya think the Cooking Club guys managed to finish their prep?" Sophie asked me. Without turning to look at her, I looked straight ahead and replied.

"They finished."

Nodding as if that was that, she curiously looked around some more. In silence, we walked around some more until, eventually, an announcement was made as someone unseen could be heard speaking with great fervour through a microphone.

[Good morning, everyone! I know we must all be quite nervous, but you better shake it all off because it\'s time! For the 21st annual Weinstell High, Magnificent Winter Festival! To begin!]

Following the enthusiastic declaration, a resounding ovation echoed throughout the Festival grounds and countless local residents and families began to flood the venue.

"Woah..."

Sophie let out a soft exclamation as what used to be a relatively barren site suddenly filled with a horde of people. Glancing at her, I grabbed her hand and started walking, trying to find the less-populated paths as we went.

"Uh--oh?! H-hey, what\'re ya doin\'...?"

Perhaps taken aback by my abrupt actions, she flusteredly mouthed a flurry of words at me whilst her feet staggered through the crowds.

Dozens of random strangers standing in the way.

A bustling atmosphere with never-ending, tumultuous noise.

People not looking where they are walking, constantly bumping into each other and stepping on each other\'s feet.

With everything going on all at once, I turned my head to Sophie Asanami and said a single word.

"Annoying."

She stared at me for a moment with a stiff expression before bursting into laughter.

"Pahaha! You don\'t like bein\' stuck in the middle of busy places, right? Aight, let\'s go then!"

With a sudden surge of energy, she leapt off the ground and pushed me forward. Grasping my hand tightly, she pulled me along and pierced the crowd ahead of us at a frightening speed.

"..."

Being dragged along so effortlessly, I wasn\'t trying to resist, but my mind soon blanked as I gazed at the back of her head.

It\'s not like there was some kind of odd feeling, but something more peculiar than that.

A feeling as if there was no feeling.

Looking at the back of her, my eyes moved down to that slender hand that took a firm hold of my own, clasped together and transferring a sense of warmth.

I don\'t know what it was.

Somewhere, in the far retreats of my mind, I felt something unfamiliar.

And then, all of a sudden.

I recalled it.

"..."

The depiction of the "Hell" within me flickered in front of my eyes.

❖─────❖─────❖

In an area that was not-so-secluded yet still fairly distant from the hectic atmosphere of the Festival, Sophie Asanami brought me to a place where we could overlook it all.

Similar to the rooftop on which we usually spend our free time, we sat atop a grassy hill.

It wasn\'t a place inside the school, but as I mentioned previously, the Festival sprawled out over a wider region.

"Hoo. This better?"

Her hands on her hips as she let out a short exhale, Sophie looked at me and asked. Feeling my ears prick, I turned my body to examine the area.

Verdant, lush grass beneath our feet.

Subdued, remote cheers from the festivities being celebrated.

Observing the ongoing Festival from up here, we could oversee most of what was happening from a rather serene standpoint.

Even without the Festival to watch, it was almost certainly a tranquil, out-of-the-way place.

My gaze moved to Sophie Asanami.

"...It\'s preferable."

"Heh. Right?"

Witnessing her face liven up in real-time, I wondered for a moment why my statement seemed to raise her mood with emotions similar to relief and pride.

"Did you know about this place?"

I was curious, and thus asked.

"It\'s, uh... The place I used to come spend my time when I wanted to avoid my dad."

The answer she gave with a bitter smile as she scratched the back of her head was one I should have expected.

I nodded as if to say \'I see\' and sat down on a felled log nearby―one that appeared purposefully transformed into a kind of natural bench. Sophie took a seat next to me.

"..."

"..."

We didn\'t say a word to each other; simply sat in undisturbed silence like we occasionally do.

It wasn\'t an awkward atmosphere. Just sitting peacefully.

Overlooking the Festival, I saw students and even fellow classmates of mine walking about, mostly couples, but there were also those running between stalls they were in charge of or were helping out.

Gradually, my vision blurred, and with it, my perception of the Festival slowly vanished.

I didn\'t think about what my eyes were seeing in front of me.

In fact, I was not seeing what my eyes saw.

Were my eyes disconnected from my brain? No. It wasn\'t that I wasn\'t looking at the Festival.

My eyes were seeing the Festival, but I was not.

I was no longer perceiving the Festival.

I was no longer thinking about the Festival.

Instead, my concentration was honed fully on the mental imagery in my mind.

Recent events; all of the strange and peculiar things that have started happening recently. I focused on them, and I thought about them.

It all started on a particular day; the 14th of November, 2027―exactly one month ago.

The day Azaki Kiryuuin returned from death.

After that rueful day, several questionable things happened in succession.

First, there was that odd girl from the twins\' school; she was only an ordinary rich girl from a high-class family, and yet I still could not forget that mystifying look in her eyes.

After that, during an ordinary day when I was walking home with Selina and Emir, I felt as if I was being watched. Despite no people or creatures being present at the time, I felt it distinctly. When I asked further about it, I only got one ominous message in reply:

「You do not have access to this information」

It was a response that sent shivers down my spine and one that raises goosebumps all across my body even now.

It was the same response I am always given after asking about the incident ten years ago, too.

As I thought, there must be a correlation, though to what extent exactly, is unknown.

...But that wasn\'t all.

The final oddity that occurred was when I tutored Liam Chiba-Wallace. With his Measurement, he saw something within me.

Something that I couldn\'t see, but could only be described as "Hell", and a black hole that eviscerated everything around it into utter oblivion.

Something like that being a representation, or perhaps even some kind of manifestation of my luck, how could I feel anything but something sinister awaiting me?

I recalled each event vividly.

Engraved into my mind whether I liked it or not, I contemplated these occurrences over and over until I was sick of it.

But I could not get sick of it.

How could I?

Instinctively, I could feel it.

Intuitively, I could sense it.

This is a matter that involves my life.

Whether I live or die―the outcome will be determined by my responses to these strange happenings.

Measurement of Truth.

I know you won\'t give me an answer to this question, but...

Am I right?

「You do not have access to this information」

...Bastard.

Gritting my teeth subconsciously, all I wanted was the answer.

Really.

As someone who could have the answer to pretty much any question for his entire life, do you realise how much it pains me to be denied answers in this way?

Please.

What about me is unqualified to know the truth? Why are you rejecting me?

Alas, the answer was the same.

「You do not have access to this information」

I asked again.

「You do not have access to this information」

And again and again.

「You do not have access to this information」

I asked over and over, time and time again, but there was no satisfactory reply.

I did not know why this was happening.

I could not know.

And I was not allowed to know.

Changing the format of my questions, I asked things such as \'Is it related to my escape from the Playground?\' and \'Will I ever be able to know?\'.

I had a thought.

No, not a thought, but a hope.

A sliver of hope within my heart, so minuscule it was borderline nonexistent, yet present nonetheless.

A hope that if I could phrase the right question the right way, I just might receive an answer.

Of course, no matter what I asked or how I phrased it.

「You do not have access to this information」

―The response was only the same.

Inside, I was seething, but I knew; nothing could be done, at least not right now.

It was this very fact that vexed me the most.