Epilogue: Azure Swimming
The sky was a vivid blue, as if someone had painted it.
Countless fish and shellfish were washed up on the beach, and seabirds were pecking at them competitively.
The storm had passed.
They say the rare storm that occurred in the Mediterranean brought immense damage to various places.
Of course, that was information we learned later.
"Shishou, how is it?"
"Can we go?"
Yuriu and Belka poked their heads in from the side.
"Probably. But it's a temporary fix. Getting back to Palermo is the best we can do."
I pulled my body out from the bottom of the boat and stretched to my fullest.
My body is stiff from being crawled under the hull on my back since morning. But with this, we can finally leave port.
"Good work. By the way, Sakuya-sama, a hermit crab is walking on your head."
Lilitea pointed to her own head to tell me.
I released the hermit crab at the base of the pier pillar and walked up to Ursna, who was sitting on a log a little distance away.
"How is your leg?"
"I had first aid applied to the injury. I am fine and energetic."
She smiled and showed me her splinted leg.
"Are you really sure? We can drop you off at the town?"
I proposed that, but Ursna shook her head.
"I will remain here and wait for the police."
We intend to return to Palermo once and report the incident on Gallery Island Galleria Isola to the local police.
Of course, we intend to answer honestly what the police ask, but if asked whether we will tell everything, I can't quite promise that.
"I see. Understood."
There was a moment of silence between Ursna and me.
It wasn't particularly awkward, but I unintentionally asked.
"Ursna-san, why did you go so far?"
"...What do you mean?"
"When I showed the photo, you covered for Lou. Besides that, you cared for that child in various scenes. Cared too much."
To me, it looked like something that transcended the mere relationship of a server maid and a master.
After showing an expression like a crying smile for a moment, Ursna said this.
"That child's mother... Apollonia gave birth to Luciolla in her second marriage, but she was blessed with one girl during her first marriage too."
"...Don't tell me, you are."
Beyond the beach, Belka and Fido were playing around. Belka picked up a twig that drifted ashore and waved it in front of Fido's nose.
Belka threw the twig far away. But Fido didn't react to it at all and didn't move a step.
The person who threw it ran to pick it up while complaining, "Moo—!"
"After my athletic career was cut short, it was Grandfather Eliseo who supported me from the shadows when I had lost my purpose in life. It was only through letters, and we never actually met... It was during that time I learned I had a half-sister."
Belka threw the twig once more. Chasing after it, someone dashed out energetically. It was Yuriu.
"I thought I wanted to go meet her someday. But I couldn't find the courage... and while I was hesitating, Grandfather passed away, and I learned that child became all alone. So this time, I made up my mind to go see her. That child I actually met was truly innocent and adorable, like a gem. She became my treasure. But... I couldn't say I was her older sister."
"Why...?"
"That child was always afraid of the outside of the island. She stubbornly believed her only family was Grandfather, and she needed nothing else. I couldn't tell her... that a woman she'd never met before suddenly appeared and was her sister."
"So you chose to live together as a server maid at least."
"Pretending to support that child, in reality, I was the one clinging to her. Empty me."
After the bombing and collapse subsided, we split up and searched, but in the end, neither Graphio nor Luciolla—was found anywhere.
"Someday... I have to confess. I thought that, you know. I... am truly an idiot............"
Her sobbing dissolved into the faint sound of the waves.
The ground of Gallery Island Galleria Isola was gouged here and there, and the mansion was half-destroyed.
As for the ringleader who ordered such a thing—she was standing at the tip of the pier, gazing at the horizon.
Beyond that, the submarine in question was anchored. It means preparations to return are already complete.
"Good work on the riddle solving."
When I approached from behind, Chardina spoke without showing any sign of turning around.
"Thinking about it, maybe Sea-Wraiths was Eliseo's maiden work. The first and last cursed work he created as a researcher."
Under the parasol held out by Carmina, the crimson dress swayed in the wind.
"I blew everything away, but it was fun, so it's fine. Now then—"
"...You don't think I'll let you escape just like that, do you?"
When I provoked her, Carmina and Altra, standing on either side, glared at me with dangerous expressions.
"Can you do that, Sakuya? You're quite unsteady on your feet."
"I wonder. Or should we settle this on Reginleiv?"
That was the original destination.
"Reginleiv?"
Chardina laughed, "How amusing."
"Right. We made that promise too. But Sakuya, there's no need to go to such a place anymore."
"...No need?"
"Why, because it's already here."
At that moment, I saw a huge shadow offshore.
It must have been in my field of vision for a long time, but I seemed to have overlooked it until now, distracted by the conversation with Chardina.
That shadow approached us before our eyes.
It appeared before us with overwhelming mass.
Tremendously huge, robust, and intimidating—
"That is my second home, the Aircraft Carrier Reginleiv."
"Not... an island...?"
"Oh my, my special economic zone is much larger than the islands around here, you know?"
A small pick-up boat pulled up alongside the pier swiftly.
Chardina's new subordinates waiting on the boat were all armed without exception.
Supported by Carmina and Altra, Chardina transferred to the boat.
Then she looked back at me and held out her right hand as if it were natural.
"Coming along?"
I couldn't answer.
"Though I can't guarantee we'll head to Japan safely."
The Millionaire Phantom Thief Celebrity giggled.
"...Oh my, what scary faces, all of you."
Before I knew it, everyone was gathered behind me.
Lilitea, Yuriu, Fido, Belka.
Everyone was pretending to be fine, but they were enduring the pain of their injuries.
We can't jump into Chardina's pocket in this state—huh.
A tense atmosphere flowed between the two sides.
Eventually, Chardina let out a bored breath.
"Well, fine. I was able to talk plenty with Sakuya last night, so let's leave it at this for now."
When she gave the signal, the boat roared its engine and returned offshore.
We stared fixedly at Chardina and Reginleiv lying beyond her.
□
"Right, we're off!"
"Come on, Master! Get in, get in!"
"H-Hey, don't push!"
Our ship, having undergone repairs, somehow managed to float safely on the sea.
Though, compared to Chardina's aircraft carrier that had already departed, our little vessel looked pathetic—like a leaf bobbing in the water.
"Belka, don't mess up the steering this time."
"Of course! Trust me, trust me—!"
The ship carrying us slowly drifted away from the island.
Ursna was waving from the pier. She had already stopped crying.
Something suddenly welled up inside me, and I turned my face away from the island.
When I turned, Lilitea's face was right there, startlingly close.
"Whoa! You scared me! What is it, Lilitea?"
"Sakuya-sama."
"Man, we went through the wringer again this time, didn't we?"
"……Is your body alright?"
Lilitea tugged at my sleeve, her expression somewhat clouded.
"My body? Well, I'm tired, sure, but as you can see, I'm fit as a fiddle. If anything, that's my only redeeming quality……"
You know that, right? I spun my arms to show her. Still, her face didn't clear.
"Besides, unlike usual, I didn't actually die this time. You know, during the bombing."
I added that, trying to reassure her.
I really think I did a good job surviving that. I wanted to praise myself on that point.
However—.
"Sakuya-sama…… do you not remember?"
Lilitea knitted her brows tightly.
"Sakuya-sama, you did die back then."
"Eh?"
I died?
"No, that can't be. I mean, after I fell underground, I stood up right away……"
"No. Your body was crushed by heavy rubble…… You were most certainly dead. However, before I could even rush to your side, you had already returned."
With terrifying speed—Lilitea said.
"I revived…… in an instant……? Me?"
So, are you saying I didn't even realize I had died?
Like a person unaware they've dozed off for a split second—?
I had never revived at such a speed before.
What was different between then and all the times before?
"Ah……"
No, come to think of it, the intervals had been getting shorter little by little.
The time it takes to revive—.
What does that signify?
—Right now, a massive vortex is beginning to form on the other side of the world. And that vortex, Sakuya, is spinning around your immortality.
What is happening to my body?
Just then, the ship lurched heavily, and Lilitea, losing her balance, fell into my chest.
"Whoops!"
Our eyes met at point-blank range.
I expected Lilitea to pull away in a panic…… but she didn't.
Clinging to my arm, she looked up at me with even deeper concern.
The blue sky of the Mediterranean was reflected in her beautiful eyes.
"Um…… s-sorry."
Why am I apologizing?
"Master—! Was that shake okay? You didn't fall off the boat again, did you?"
Worried about me, Yuriu popped her head out from the rear of the ship with a grin.
I hurriedly separated from Lilitea and scratched my head.
Then, to cover my embarrassment and lodge a complaint, I shouted toward the wheelhouse. "Belka!"
"Sooorry—!" came the immediate reply.
With that, the unsettling thoughts that had been spreading in my chest a moment ago somehow vanished.
"Anyway, I'm fine. Good grief, Lilitea, you're such a worrywart! Now, let's all go ho……"
—……
What was that?
Just now, something—.
I felt like I heard something far off in the open sea, and I looked up.
I strained my ears and eyes, searching for the direction of the sound.
But no matter where I looked, there was only the gentle horizon stretching out; I saw nothing, and I heard nothing.
Nothing—.
"Lilitea…… just now…………"
"Is something the matter?"
"…………No, must be my imagination."
I looked up at the sky once and took a deep breath.
Every time the prow split the waves, white spray brushed against my cheeks.
It looked somewhat like soft down feathers.
Feathers of a seabird, or an angel, or a Siren, or something of that sort.
By the way, despite what I told Lilitea, I definitely heard it.
I heard it.
At the edge of the sea.
It was high-pitched, somewhat unstable—yet like the song of someone who knows love—.
"Lilitea."
"Yes."
"To make a shirt without using a needle or leaving a seam…… do you think such a thing is possible?"
"Scarborough Fair, is it? That is a difficult task."
Lilitea thought for a moment before saying, "However."
"If one were to knit from a single thread, it might eventually be completed."
I couldn't return any words to that unexpected, brilliant answer.
Lilitea peeked at my face, looking a little embarrassed.
"Was this answer insufficient?"
"……No, yeah. That's right."
Nothing is impossible.
It isn't.
Right?
Hey—Lou.
Graphio! Over here!
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