The last traces of sunlight disappeared beneath the horizon.
Above the Kurogane Estate, the evening sky gradually surrendered to darkness. The first stars emerged, followed by countless others that illuminated the vast expanse overhead. The moon rose quietly, casting its pale light across the rooftops and the surrounding mountains.
Arata and Sirius remained on the roof.
The conversation had taken a different direction from what either of them might have expected. For once, Arata had spoken about something that had nothing to do with Circuits, battles, or the extraordinary nature of his existence.
He had spoken about Earth.
His former life.
And the person he had been before arriving in this world.
Arata watched the last remnants of the sunset disappear.
"I didn't want to escape because of how hard things got. I became isolated because of how I think. It's like I was the only person aware on the entire planet while everyone else was mindlessly going through life."
His words carried no particular bitterness. They were simply his interpretation of the experiences that had shaped him.
He had never considered himself someone who was incapable of living among others. Rather, he had gradually developed a way of viewing the world that made ordinary interactions increasingly exhausting.
He questioned intentions, doubted sincerity, and found it difficult to accept kindness without wondering what might be hidden behind it.
Eventually, solitude became preferable.
Arata glanced at Sirius.
"I was cast aside on Earth, and I was still cast aside in this world….but that didn't stop me from living how I wanted… and it's quite ironic that in this life I have the power to rewrite reality with my imagination, my greatest gift."
He looked toward the night sky again.
There was something amusing about the circumstances.
In his previous existence, imagination had been his means of escaping a reality he disliked. It had allowed him to construct worlds, possibilities, and entire scenarios beyond the limitations of his surroundings.
Now, in this existence, that same ability had become the foundation of a power capable of influencing reality itself.
The very thing he had once used to escape the world had become something that could reshape it.
Sirius slowly stood.
She looked toward the moon and the countless stars scattered across the darkness. The evening breeze moved through her long white hair as she considered everything Arata had told her.
Then she turned toward him.
"Are you happy with how things turned out, or will you search for a way back home at the end of your journey, or why you even came to this world?"
Arata remained silent….He considered the question, Returning to Earth.
It was something he had never seriously contemplated since arriving in this existence. His memories of that world remained intact, but they no longer carried the same significance they once had.
He had left behind a life that he had never particularly enjoyed.
And in exchange, he had entered an existence filled with possibilities he could barely have imagined before.
After a while, Arata stood up.
He placed both hands inside his pockets and looked toward the distant horizon.
"It was indeed better and a lot more interesting arriving in this new form of existence. Gods among humans, sovereigns above gods… there's a lot of mystery surrounding the Great Circuit, and I intend to find out what it truly is. Not knowing something gets me curious, so I have no desire going back to Earth."
His eyes followed the stars.
The Great Circuit remained an enormous mystery, even to those who had spent their entire existence pursuing its secrets. The First Circuit Beings, the ancient conflicts, the upper realms, and the countless dimensions beyond Kael'Ar were only fragments of something considerably larger.
For Arata, that was more than enough reason to continue.
There were questions he wanted answered, possibilities he wanted to explore, and things he wanted to understand for himself.
He had no intention of abandoning that curiosity.
"In this existence, I made something of my own."
As he spoke, his fingers lightly touched the black silk scarf around his neck.
The geometric patterns woven into the fabric were visible beneath the moonlight.
He remembered the children at the Hoshigawa Restaurant.
Rei, Mitsuki, Asar, and Nax.
The four of them had spent time making that scarf for him, staying up late despite having their own responsibilities. It was a simple gift, but one he had accepted with genuine appreciation.
He had established a restaurant, created a place where they could live peacefully, and given them an opportunity to build something of their own.
It was a small existence compared with the scale of the worlds he had encountered but it belonged to him.
"I have people who look up to me."
His hand moved away from the scarf and rested against his chest.
"And I have a fundamental connection to you… I want to know why."
Sirius became still.
Her golden eyes settled on Arata.
The connection between them had been present since their first encounter. It was not something either of them had deliberately established, nor was it something that could be explained through an ordinary understanding of Circuit compatibility.
She had crossed the boundaries of her own multiverse after receiving a mysterious instruction to find the user of the Soul Circuit and when she finally met him, something within her had recognized his existence.
It was as though their meeting had been anticipated long before either of them had begun their respective journeys.
Sirius raised her hand and touched her own chest.
She looked directly into Arata's crimson eyes.
"From what I heard… you changed since arriving here. You have things you cherish and things you care deeply about. You just wanted a quiet and normal life by your own standards, despite your powers always leading you to the spotlight."
Arata listened.
Sirius had observed him for some time. She had seen his interactions with others, his tendency to avoid unnecessary attention, and the way he preferred to remain outside the conflicts that constantly seemed to surround him.
Despite possessing the Soul Circuit, he had never shown any particular desire to rule over others or establish himself as some supreme existence.
He wanted freedom.
The freedom to decide where he went, what he pursued, and how he spent his time.
His abilities had simply made that desire considerably more complicated.
Sirius continued.
"I, too, was also an outcast that was lost in the shadows of everyone else, but I never gave up. At nights when I was alone, I developed the habit of writing stories, and it led to my awakening one day…"
Her expression softened slightly.
For a moment, the two stood beneath the moonlight, each considering the similarities between their pasts. Arata had used imagination to escape the limitations of his original world.
Sirius had used writing to create something beyond the circumstances that had surrounded her.
Their methods had been different, but both had eventually awakened powers that allowed them to influence existence itself.
Arata glanced at her. Sirius looked at him and smiled. "We are similar after all." Arata did not immediately respond. He considered her words, then looked toward the stars.
Perhaps that was why their connection felt so unusual.
Their souls were fundamentally different from anything their respective worlds could explain, yet there was an underlying familiarity between them.
The first users of the Soul Circuit and Pen of Creation, Evion and Semaki, had once traveled together toward the forty-fifth dimension.
Their history remained incomplete, and Arata still had no definitive answer concerning the relationship between those ancient figures and their own existence.
But the possibility was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Sirius stepped closer to the edge of the roof.
"From now on, I will walk this journey with you for two reasons: my personal interest in you and the bond between us. So I'm sticking around whether you like it or not."
Arata looked at her.
He had expected her to reach that conclusion eventually, especially considering that she had already expressed an interest in pursuing the Great Circuit alongside him.
Still, her final remark was unnecessary.
"Was that last line really necessary?"
Without waiting for a response, Arata stepped off the roof.
His body descended toward the lower courtyard, and he landed effortlessly on the ground before continuing toward the entrance.
Sirius followed behind him.
"Just wanted to make that clear."
Arata said nothing.
He had already accepted that traveling with Sirius would probably be considerably more troublesome than traveling alone. Nevertheless, her presence was not something he particularly disliked.
Besides, their connection was a mystery he wanted to investigate.
And he had no intention of leaving an unanswered question behind when the answer might be waiting somewhere along his journey.
Above them, the moon continued its slow passage across the night sky.
Within the Kurogane Estate, the family gradually settled into their evening routines. The events of the day had given them much to consider, particularly the revelation concerning their youngest member.
Two days remained before their departure to the upper realm.
For Arata, however, the journey ahead had already begun in his mind.
The night passed slowly within the Kurogane Estate.