When honesty threatens to ruin everything, denial becomes the easiest refuge.

In such moments, what breaks first… the courage to confess, or the strength to keep pretending?

…

'That's just bullshit.' Leon thought cleanly, for Rumi to hear it.

As a True Spirit, Rumi had read and understood all of Leon's past, present, and the future he wished to achieve.

And among them, Rumi had seen an abrupt shift in Leon's goal.

After his transmigration, Leon didn't hold vague goals such as returning home knowing full well it's stupidity to return back to a corpse which probably till now gets cremated.

That's just what Leon always told to himself.

The main reason for Leon to not return was because he didn't see any purpose in reliving his old life where he achieved what he wanted to achieve.

He had it all, money, fame, power, everything. Surely there were more human wishes to achieve, but Leon was uninterested in those.

It's like finishing the actual goal of a game, and then only doing all the side quests.

What more things had left to play in it?

Nothing really.

Leon had thought about it too. And that's why after transmigrated in this body, he had a vague goal for himself. As the one who created this world, he knew more than anyone how cruel and different this place was compared to his old world.

'So what I saw in your mind was wrong?' Rumi stayed fixated in her statement. She was not arguing, but instead she wanted to clarify it.

'Probably.' He said.

Leon was not admitting it, but deep down he was well aware of his goal, he just didn't like to admit it because that would be out of his character.

Never in his life Haru would ever imagine he would feel such condolence, and pity towards one of the game's characters, and that too from his own game.

'Alright,' Rumi said, 'One last question…'

'Ask away.'

There was a brief pause.

'When you deny returning,' Rumi spoke calmly, 'when you say there is no purpose left in that world… are those words also true for the one you remember the most in this world?'

Leon went quiet.

Rumi did not say her name. There was only one woman in his thoughts who always appeared when he shifted his goals. Only one presence that remained untouched by his logic, and calculation.

Lumina Elizabeth Dare.

Leon respected her. That was the word he always used. Respect, and Admiration.

She was the kind of woman who made even Leon want to admit things he never once thought of having.

'I don't know,' Leon answered honestly.

Rumi accepted that.

'Then there is no reason for you to bring her back' she replied. 'Is there?'

"…"

Leon did not respond.

But Rumi continued inside his mind.

'Haru, as your spirit bond, I told you earlier that I would help you achieve your goal. And I meant it. But when I read your thoughts, I found overlap after overlap. Your goals always contradict one another. They exceed what your current self should be capable of—'

'I know that!' Leon snapped.

The reaction was sharp enough that Rumi fell silent immediately.

Leon's hand clenched.

'Yes,' he continued, his thoughts were a bit unstable now. 'Alright. I admit it, okay. I shifted my goal. And I know it well.'

His chest felt tight.

'I want to give her the life she was denied. The life she wanted the most. Is that so wrong of me? Why does it need any justification? I just want to do it.'

His lips quivered as if he were about to shout those words out loud.

Alice noticed immediately.

She turned to face him completely.

"Leon?" she asked quietly.

She stepped closer, as her hand slid from his wrist into his palm, gripping his shaking fingers firmly.

"Hey… you are scaring me?"

She had never seen him like this.

Something was wrong with him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Leon did not answer.

His focus was elsewhere.

Inside his mind, he spoke again.

'Tell me, Rumi. Do you not wish to see Charlotte? Have you never thought about killing the bastard who did this to her?'

Rumi replied without emotion.

'I have no memories of her. I only know her through your thoughts, Haru. But you knew her. You created us all.'

Leon silenced her immediately.

'That is exactly why,' he said.

'I made you. I made her too. I wrote her fate. I wrote her end.'

'I cannot change her past. But I know a way to change her future. Even if she is already dead.'

In the world of Rebirth of the Fivefold Calamity, there existed five layers of reality.

At the top stood the 'Upper World'. The realm with the greatest influence, yet the fewest who allowed to reach.

Below it was the 'Spirit Spectrum'. A place which belongs to True Spirits and Elementals, where existence in lower reality managed and was regulated.

The third was the 'Astral Spectrum'. A realm humans could interact with using the right resources. Where will, stories, and accumulated existence took form.

Below that lay the 'Mortal Domain'. The most diverse, the weakest, yet the most essential reality. Humans, elves, demons, beasts. All lived here. And it is the only place where existence with the right conditions, could ascend to higher reality.

But beneath all of them existed something else.

'The Endless' reality.

As the name suggests, it held nothing.

Leon knew the rules of all five layers. He knew how they worked. He knew how five ordinary humans once climbed to the highest layer and became the Great Calamities.

The more one climbs reality, the more one can have influence in the lower realm.

If that was possible. Then so was recreating a character.

Rumi spoke again.

'Is that your goal?'

Leon did not hesitate this time.

'Yes.'

He had already taken the first step the moment he exited from the Astral Tale Library. The moment he made contact with the Astral Spectrum first.

'Understood,' Rumi said calmly.

'Your thoughts were difficult to analyze. But this clarifies everything. I will follow your goal, Haru. Through it, I will also search for my old self.'

Charlotte's will still existed within the Astral Spectrum.

With a True Spirit at his side, Leon would no longer need a medium to enter it. That was the privilege of True Spirits.

With Rumi, he can enter up to the Spirit Spectrum.

"..."

It was fortunate that Rumi had been weakened when saving Eula from memory manipulation. Fortunate that she had wandered the Mortal Domain for so long.

Because now, she would become the key to everything Leon had planned.

Squeeze~!

"Oowch!" Leon snapped back to reality as something suddenly pinched his cheeks hard.

His vision refocused, and the first thing he saw was a pair of ruby red eyes staring straight into his face with a very questionable expression.

"Awice… whaa are wuu woing?" he mumbled, his words completely mangled as Alice continued squeezing his cheeks without mercy.

"I'm just helping you," she said flatly.

"…Whaa? Yoo nufts?"

"I learned it from sister Veronica."

Leon blinked.

Then he reached up, grabbed both her wrists, and pulled her hands away from his face.

"That hurts," he sighed, rubbing his cheeks. "Also, she is my sister."

"That's good to hear." Alice said, tilting her head slightly. "Also, I am close to her now."

"…In your dreams?"

Alice stopped teasing and looked at him properly now.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked. "You looked stressed. Like, really really stressed."

Leon twitched.

He let go of her hands and adjusted his specs, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose before answering.

"Why?" he asked casually. "You worried?"

"Yes."

The answer came instantly.

Leon's mouth opened slightly.

"…That was fast."

Alice crossed her arms. "Of course I'm worried. You were standing there like you were about to collapse or punch a wall. Or maybe both."

Leon chuckled quietly.

"So… what's bothering you?"

Just looking at her made Leon remember about her creation.

She was meant for deletion, as Haru didn't like her character much. Once the team made approval of her, they reassured Haru that she would not be a waste.

And they proved it.

After her influence in the story grew stronger, after the players got to learn about her true side they all changed their view.

From getting called her as 'Bitchy', 'I hate her', 'Just kill her already', Annoying! Annoying Annoying! She brought it on herself!', on becoming the number one character of the <Rebirth of Fivefold Calamity> overnight.

Alice proved all of them wrong.

Haru saw her character changing as versions rolled out. With proper logic, and character lore, she became the fan's favourite.

Leon looked away first.

He exhaled, long and tired, like he had been holding it in for far too long.

"I'm just stressed," Leon said simply. "And hungry."

Alice blinked.

Leon adjusted his specs again, avoiding her gaze as he continued,

"Let's grab something to eat. I've got an appointment during lunch anyway, with our dear princess."

Alice's expression froze for half a second.

"…Princess?" she repeated.

Leon nodded casually. "Yeah."

She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to ask more.

Which one? Why? What kind of appointment?

But she stopped herself.

"Tch. Fine." Instead, she looked away and clicked her tongue quietly. "…Alright, I'll treat today. Eat whatever you want."

Leon blinked, then smiled.

"Hooo Hooo. I won't hold back then."

The world felt strangely normal again.

He accepted it instantly and started walking forward without hesitation.

Alice followed after him, her hands shoved into her pockets.

"…Hm?" Her eyes shifted past Leon's shoulder.

Someone was approaching them from the opposite direction.

"Am I disturbing something?"

Ethan waved at them casually as he walked closer.

Leon stopped.

Alice clicked her tongue again. "Depends."

Ethan chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

He glanced between the two of them, then added.

"You both heading somewhere?"

Leon answered first. "Food."

Ethan's eyes lit up. "Perfect timing then. I have something to discuss with you two."

Alice sighed. "What?"

"Let's go to a quiet place first. I will have to explain a lot of stuff."

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