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“………”

Aurora remained silent, silently comparing me and the woman who seemed to be a goddess.

“Hey, say something!”

“… It’s because your suggestion cannot be accepted, Fortuna.”

Spurred by such words, Aurora finally opened her mouth.

“Ah, are you going on a rampage alone again, playing the good girl?”

The goddess called Fortuna visibly sulked and crossed her legs. With a spring or a signal, the chair she was sitting on descended abruptly, hitting the floor.

But there was no sound of impact. Fortuna looked at me with a grin and boldly recrossed her legs. The metal armor and shoes enveloping her legs made a hard noise.

“Nice to meet you, Glass=Dimelia.”

With reddish-white wings aggressively spread, Fortuna looked down on me.

“You should step back, Fortuna.”

Aurora quietly warned her, but Fortuna disregarded it with a raised eyebrow.

“Have you heard about the conditions for reincarnation?”

While playing with a staff adorned with a phoenix-like ornament, Fortuna addressed me. I hadn’t heard any such conditions, so I shook my head.

“There is no need to talk to him. I will carry out the reincarnation.”

“It should be done by Chronos, not you.”

“I have the decision-making authority.”

“I have it too, right?”

The short exchanges between Aurora and Fortuna continued. Fortuna’s appearance made me feel like there was something hidden behind Aurora’s soothing and pleasant words.

The foster father I killed had been like that before revealing his true nature.

“Fortuna, are there conditions for reincarnation?”

I intervened between the arguing pair and called out to Fortuna.

“See, you haven’t told him, have you?”

With a triumphant glance at Aurora, Fortuna advanced along with her chair, approaching the crystal cage.

“Just placing him in a seemingly happy environment and granting a new life is Aurora’s way. But since he’s a hero, it would be a waste not to utilize that knowledge or whatever, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s dangerous. As a goddess who can interfere with human fate, that power should be limited.”

Before I could answer, Aurora sharply interrupted.

“You’re too rigid. I’m not saying to distort fate using the “Akashic Records”. I’m just saying to let him reincarnate as he is.”

I didn’t know the process of reincarnation. However, I understood that there was some differing condition between Aurora and Fortuna.

“Don’t be deceived just because a goddess is saying it. After all, this “execution” was ordered by Aurora to Cassius because it contradicted the process of samsara.”

I had vaguely felt it, but knowing the full picture of my execution, there was nothing I could do about what had already happened.

“I thought it was fine to confirm whether your soul properly enters that homunculus even after that. It’s only complete if the soul properly enters, right?”

“There was enough completeness. Failure was inconceivable.”

“Yes, yes. It’s for justice.”

Interrupting Aurora’s words, Fortuna stood up from her chair, flapping her hand beside her head. The metallic shoes and armor rang coldly, echoing around.

“Hey, which one would you prefer? Being reborn as a baby with both memories and everything reset, or reincarnating with all of your current memories intact?”

It seemed like the condition for the reincarnation Aurora mentioned involved agreeing to lose my memories. If I had agreed to reincarnate without being told the conditions, “I” would unconditionally be erased. However, that condition seemed plausible. That only made me curious about Fortuna’s condition.

“…Is such a thing possible?”

“Of course. So, which one?”

I thought she would present another condition, but perhaps there isn’t one?

“…If I reincarnate with my memories intact, can I redo my life…? The conditions we are discussing now, is it just the difference between having memories or not?”

“That’s right. I will arrange for you to be born in a good environment this time. Comparing with that terrible life, it might feel considerably better. Well, whether you can feel happiness or something, it might be difficult for you who doesn’t know it.”

“………”

I felt slightly favorable towards Fortuna who spoke while smiling joyfully. Rather than being pitied like with Aurora, I oddly found myself more convinced when shown my situation objectively. It was something I agreed with.

If indeed what Fortuna says is true, I wonder what life would have been like if there was no inherent loneliness or unhappiness.

“See, you’re becoming interested, right? Besides, you have your memories, so you can continue your alchemy research, can’t you?”

“Fortuna”

Fortuna urged emphatically, but it’s not clear when a whim might touch upon the taboo. Proof of this is the change in Aurora’s tone of voice.

“…I can’t think about that now.”

“Oh dear, how pitiful. Did I scare you? You don’t have to glare at me with such a scared face.”

As if it was someone else’s problem, Fortuna looked up at Aurora and said.

“I’m not angry at the glass, I’m angry at you.”

“Why? It’s not like it’s prohibited, and until now, I just went along with your aesthetics, right?”

Saying so, Fortuna returned her gaze to me.

“You’ve also been executed, so you won’t do bad things anymore, right?”

“Let’s live without such worries in the new life.”

After all, if one is to be granted a new life, there’s no need to commit a taboo. I became interested in a life without alchemy.

“See, it’s fine. I was also thinking it would be just right to observe how this hero would live after being reincarnated while retaining their memories.”

“… I cannot consent to distorting reincarnation for your amusement.”

Aurora chose her words carefully to show her opposition, but Fortuna laughed, pointing a finger as if to antagonize her.

“It’s written all over your face that you strongly oppose it.”

“If you understand that, then you should stop immediately.”

“No way!”

Aurora’s voice trembled slightly with anger, but Fortuna didn’t care at all. On the contrary, she rebuffed Aurora’s advice and raised the staff she held towards the sky.

“Chronos! Wake up, you sleepyhead!”

The floating chair in the sky began to emit a faint light. The vague, faint light quietly outlined a person’s shape, and a young girl appeared, dressed in reddish flaxen hair and clothes of a similar color to her hair.

In the girl’s hand was a golden staff that looked like a mechanical spring. Looking up at the girl sitting quietly on the chair with her eyes closed, Fortuna tapped her heel impatiently.

“I’m telling you to wake up!”

As Fortuna flapped her wings, a gust of wind swept through, blowing the chair away. The girl, still with her eyes closed, jerked and slowly rose into the air.

“Yaaaawn… How cruel to do this just after I woke up, Fortuna-neesan.”

“If you want to go back to your nap, hurry up and reincarnate this guy. Chronos!”

Fortuna ordered in a stern tone. The goddess, who seemed to have just awakened, — Chronos, blinked her eyes and stared at me.

“It’s no good, Chronos. This person still has their memories—”

“Can’t you listen to what I’m saying!?”

Ignoring Aurora’s words, Fortuna ordered forcefully. Chronos, as if overwhelmed by that force, waved the mechanical golden staff hesitantly.

“I agree to the reincarnation. Grant this person a new life—”

Responding to Chronos’s words, the spring on the golden staff began to move. At the same time, a series of unfamiliar characters emerged on the white floor.

“I don’t remember consenting to this!”

I screamed, and a tremendous stream of light rushed towards me. The crystal cage broke, and the light swallowed me up in a blink of an eye.

“You don’t have the right to refuse. At best, be a good experimental subject!”

The last thing I heard was Fortuna’s mocking voice.

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