After listing off the unique abilities and past deeds of the Puppeteer, Roderus, as if he had someone in mind, recited her codename.
"Identification code: 『Faceless』. I’ve had contact with the puppets she controlled before. Was this her real form all along...?"
"So, you're saying she’s Desu’s little sister?"
"I’m not even sure if they're blood-related."
Roderus furrowed his brow, a sour expression on his face. He seemed conflicted, unsure of how to process her.
It took a long time, but we finally learned her codename. The name stuck in my mind effortlessly, without any filtering. It wasn't her actual name, but a fitting alias that complemented her abilities.
The memory-lost 『Faceless』 was much quieter and more harmless than expected.
I had her sit down while I prepared the magic circle. I intended to run a thorough diagnostic.
Aisha naturally joined in, assisting me with the spell. Our brain functions were quite similar, and the flow of magic between us had a lot in common, so we were a good match when it came to things like this.
What would’ve taken me 15 minutes to do alone, and 20 minutes with Yuna, took just 5 minutes now.
I laid Faceless inside the large, temporary magic circle and held her cheeks to keep her head still. The magic circle was essentially an MRI, though using a different method, to take a detailed look inside her.
"Okay, now lie still, patient."
"Got it."
"If you can stay perfectly still for 10 minutes, this man here will give you a bunch of candy."
"Ooh...!"
Faceless’ eyes sparkled like a child’s. It was a far cry from the cold, menacing gaze she had when she faced off against Sissel in that abandoned factory. She seemed like a completely different person.
Beside me, Aisha smirked.
"So, are you going to forgive the villain who lost her memory?"
"I don’t know yet."
It’s still too soon to say. I’ll have to wait and see.
As I activated the magic circle, I absentmindedly stroked Aisha’s head whenever I had a free moment. Though she shook her head, acting as if she hated it, she didn’t try to escape. What a rascal.
Do you realize just how cheeky your comment was?
Though Aisha was teasing, it seemed she was genuinely worried about her own nature. The way she subtly probed me made that clear.
Even though she had distanced herself from ‘that’ and chosen the name ‘Aisha,’ she was still questioning whether she could really shake off her past misdeeds so easily.
If you dig too deep, it gets really complicated and gives you a headache. Was Aisha really ‘that’? Or perhaps something akin to ‘that’s’ offspring? Could she truly clear her karmic debt? Was there even a way to completely cleanse her of her past?
It was all still uncertain. After all, you can only assess a life when the final period is marked.
For now, I just hope the path she’s chosen, the one towards goodness... ends with a happy ending. I want to help her achieve that.
Wuuuung—
I projected my magic to scan inside Faceless.
First of all, her muscle arrangement was highly unnatural. Here and there, old and young muscles were fused together like a patchwork. Something major had happened inside her body.
And... the wound from when Bennet nearly split her body in half was almost healed. My guess is that she pushed her metamorphosis ability to its extreme to mend the injury.
By manipulating her bones and flesh, she had managed to heal herself.
However, given her severe brain damage, it must have been impossible to handle such a complex task with precision. As a result, she pulled every last resource from her body to somehow patch herself up.
That must be why she reverted to the form of a young girl.
I understood that much. So, was her memory loss due to damage to part of her brain? Maybe she drew too many internal resources, using up what should’ve been spared to heal the wound?
The magic-scan-scanner moved from her toes, traveling up and finally reaching her head. Now it was time for the secrets to be revealed.
The exact cause of the memory loss was...
"What the—"
"What, did you find something weird?"
"Uh... She has two brains."
"What?"
Inside her head, there was something resembling a tumor. At first, I thought this might be the cause of her memory loss, but upon further investigation, it wasn’t a tumor—it was a second, independently functioning brain.
About the size of a newborn’s brain, it had pushed aside her original brain and taken its place.
"And the candy?"
"Hold on a second, you. Guardian, please come over. We’ve got a situation here..."
The one we called "Whitey" was a newly born entity inside Faceless.
This is all just a hypothesis, but to summarize:
While using her body manipulation ability to heal a fatal injury, Faceless lost consciousness halfway through. To continue the healing process, her instincts kicked in and created a second brain, resulting in a massive accident.
Aisha commented.
"...That’s straight out of a horror movie."
Right. It's definitely horror, especially with how difficult it is to find a solution.
Even reaching the truth that she has two brains is tough enough. I could diagnose it, but how would other mages manage to scan her properly?
Moreover, performing a surgical removal is out of the question. Even if you had a squad of twenty priests pouring divine power into the surgery, who would operate? And if something goes wrong, she could either die or turn into a complete vegetable. Finding a solution is really hard.
If Faceless weren’t such a nasty piece of work, this whole thing would be a no-doubt-about-it horror story.
Kim Lulu, the master of simplification, summed it up in one go.
"So, Whitey is basically a baby, right?"
"That’s exactly right, sister-in-law. It’s not so much that she lost her memories; she’s more like a new lifeform. She’s picking up bits of knowledge from the original brain here and there, but... for the most part, she’s a blank slate."
"...Is there any way to avoid killing her?"
"I never planned on killing her, but since you’re asking, let me ask you in return. Can you handle it, Roderus? The original brain isn’t completely destroyed. Functionally, it’s still intact. Even a minor shock could wake her up."
Roderus, maybe because he’d grown attached during their time together, asked if there was a way to save her and deal with it.
The risk is clear.
If Faceless’s original personality resurfaces and takes control, Roderus and his people will be in danger. And that danger will extend to me, too.
The Redburn family has already been crippled, partly by chance and partly by effort. Roderus was freed, Envers was removed, their infrastructure was dismantled, and now we’ve secured Faceless.
But if Faceless regains her senses and decides to attack Roderus and Kim Lulu in the middle of the night, turning them into 'meat puppets'?
The Redburn’s power would grow instantly. Just imagining Faceless controlling the body of a transcendental-level mana tank like Kim Lulu gives me chills. How would I even stop that?
If the guardian wants it, I’ll figure something out, but the risk won’t disappear.
Roderus’ face stiffened as he contemplated, but when he saw Kim Lulu’s tearful expression, it seemed he made up his mind. He looked at me and spoke clearly.
"...I want to atone for my family’s sins."
"Okay."
First of all, physically separating Whitey and Faceless is impossible at the moment. However, there is one way it might be possible.
A race change.
If I turn her into an information-based lifeform, it would eliminate the risk of her dying a horrible death from a mistake. After that, we can separate them cleanly.
But unlike my body, I can’t just flip a switch and transform her instantly. To do it safely, I’ll need time to fully analyze her body.
"Bring Whitey here regularly. I think I can solve this in about six months if we take our time."
"...Is that all?"
"That’s not all. You guys will have to go through a lot of trouble. You’re essentially babysitting a ticking time bomb for six months. If it gets too difficult, just say so. I can always stick her in a cryo pod and freeze her for the time being."
"You... always make things happen just like that. You monster."
Roderus’ gaze was filled with a mix of complex emotions. It was probably something like, "Thank goodness you’re a decent person, even if you’re weird."
From here on, this situation is entirely on Roderus and Lulu.
"I’ll set up some safeguards to make sure Faceless doesn’t wake up, but just in case, make sure you teach her a few things. Mainly morals. If she snaps, she’ll cause a lot of trouble."
"...I’ll do that."
"Yep! We’re going to raise her into a good kid!"
Leaving behind the couple who had committed to a beautiful form of parenting, I implanted the necessary magic in Whitey’s head. This included several suppressive barriers to prevent Faceless from rising, and...
Sssssss—
"...Hey, you..."
Aisha’s suppressed gasp reached my ears. That was practically a compliment, so I held back the excitement swelling inside me.
I closed my eyes and focused.
I carefully examined the deepest part of her being, a place still beyond human understanding. The place where the soul resides.
It’s an unfathomable sea where neither information nor intent can be fully grasped. But I had a vague 'sense' that acted as my compass, something the fake Mima had left behind.
I might not be able to reach the realm of great creation, like making an artificial soul or something grand like that...
But I could at least create a 『Shell』 to reinforce the fragile, newly-born soul.
Click.
"──Grow up kind and happy."
And so I did.
In short, it was 『Soul Reinforcement』.
Even though I’m the one who did it, it’s the kind of magic that could shake the world, even if I say so plainly. This world essentially runs on the soul’s power, known as 『Metamorphosis』. Even Aisha can’t do that.
How’s that, brat?
"Hey, if you could do something like that, shouldn’t you have helped your heroines first...!"
Of course, I’ll need to study more and make sure I help my girls out.
With that, the issue of the memory-lost Faceless and the chaos at Crown Hall was wrapped up. The Roderus-Lulu couple agreed to visit the academy regularly, and the devastated streets were fully repaired.
As for everyone else...
Naturally, given the nature of the incident and its scale, Iriyd’s position was somewhat shaken. But I heard that Princess Elaine, the first princess, had absorbed that lost influence in its entirety.
Power had simply shifted from one pocket to another, so the damage was minimal. Fortunately, the siblings seemed to get along well, so that was a relief.
I also left a message for the mysterious wandering bard, Rabbit Princess, who had once again set off on a journey across the continent. I told her that if she ever returned to the academy, she might be able to regain the impressive destructive power of her original metamorphosis.
If using it was causing her soul to deteriorate, I could solve that with 『Soul Reinforcement』.
The long journey is over. It’s time to return home.
And at last... my family and I returned to the academy.
Time passed, and winter was upon us.
If I put it like that, it sounds like time flew by, but it’s only been two months. After all, my journey across the continent happened in the fall.
What did I do once I returned to the academy?
I taught students, spent my days off being lovey-dovey with Yuna and Yuri, sometimes fending off Selvia’s sudden charges, and even had drinks with the professors.
At the same time, I spent some time refining the fruits of my journey. I thought about how to reuse fire magic again (Yuna was furious), and I delved deeper into the study of souls.
But most importantly, I meticulously prepared for the next session.
In fact, I did a lot. I had more than twelve scenarios ready and countless maps already made. I even expanded the server room twice to maintain the simulation world.
So why hadn’t I started the session yet? Because I couldn’t find the right players... or rather, I hadn’t made the right connections.
Looking back, players had always fallen into my lap. I’d throw around a cursed sword, and they’d be thrilled to pick it up. I’d hide a hidden piece, and they’d be excited to find it.
But now, the students had grown more experienced, and the romance had faded.
"Hey, isn’t this sword stuck in the ground a cursed sword?"
"Probably a mad wizard’s trap."
"Hey, isn’t that thing in the cave a hidden manual?!"
"Definitely a mad wizard’s trap."
Maybe I’ve been teaching too many different classes. If I had known this would happen, I would’ve skipped the "Collection of Continental Magic Traps" series—the "Get Stuck and You’re Doomed" edition.
Yuri placed a steaming cup of cocoa on my desk and whispered.
"See, I told you moderation is key, Mima."
"I didn’t expect them to lose all sense of adventure. So, what brings you here at this hour? Weren’t you shopping with Yuna?"
"I heard some interesting news. It seems Bennet’s party is returning to the academy."
"...Did they get kicked out of the Holy City?"
That wasn’t the case.
On the contrary, they had apparently secured control of the Holy City and were returning because they had the luxury to do so. According to Niore’s suggestion, they also wanted to make some memories and decided to return to get their academy diplomas.
I’m happy to see some familiar faces again. The timing is perfect.
It’s always better to have more people who can help deal with the aftermath.
"Aisha, are we ready?"
"Yeah. I’ve placed the mana stones, and the mana flow is stable. The barriers we ordered from Willowleaf Workshop didn’t fit quite right, but it’s not a big issue."
"Then we won’t be ordering from them again. Anyway, good. It’s time for a new challenge. Once Yuna’s back, we’ll get started."
Preparations for a happy ending.
We were about to attempt the extraction of 'that.' Just 1%.