A girl who was kind beyond words saw all of this, yet felt not the slightest trace of happiness.
She had thought about leaving Raize, about distancing herself so as not to drag him into her troubles. And yet, at the same time, she desperately yearned for his abilities—yearned for the possibility that he could resolve her problems.
On one side was her self-imposed belief that it would be better for him, that she should not involve him. On the other was her unwillingness to give up the chance to solve her own issues.
And… deep down, the girl was also deeply attached to the sense of freedom and ease she felt by Raize's side.
This contradictory and tangled emotion made Eu's gentle heart ache unbearably. After that violent emotional surge—after wanting to keep him close, after forcefully controlling Raize herself—guilt erupted all at once.
As Eu poured out her words in broken fragments, Raize received the full weight of her conflicted feelings.
He had never expected the young girl to harbor such emotions toward him.
What could Raize say? What did he truly want to say?
But now, looking down at the delicate face filled with turmoil in his arms, he knew he had to do something.
More than that, he strongly rejected Eu's self-denial and firmly refused her thoughts of leaving him.
"Eu…"
With a gentle call, and under the girl's dazed, tear-filled gaze, Raize lightly pressed his forehead against hers. He looked straight into Eu's sapphire-blue eyes, which still shone like stars even in the darkness.
One hand softly stroked her head, while the other held the petite Eu tightly against his chest.
At this moment—and for the future as well—he truly wanted to protect the girl in his arms, especially after seeing the King of the Night's memories.
"As for that calamity… it isn't entirely your fault. You never intended for your power to run out of control. Before meeting you and Sei… I had already abandoned almost everything I could give up. After once having nothing, now I have you both. You fill… at least a part of the emptiness inside me."
He gently wiped away the tear marks at the corners of Eu's eyes. Still pressing his forehead against hers, Raize gazed into her beautiful eyes, revealing an emotion she had never seen in him before.
Responding to her feelings with his own, he spoke sincerely.
"My obsession with becoming stronger comes mainly from my hatred of loss—and even more from the feeling of being stripped of everything."
"I don't want to lose what I've grown accustomed to. I'm used to you eating oranges and watching TV in the living room. Used to seeing you greedily at the dinner table. Used to you getting hungry late at night and asking me to make midnight snacks. Used to cooking extra portions because you're here…"
Raize had already grown accustomed to it all. And if what he was used to were to suddenly disappear, that feeling would be unbearable.
Everyone experiences this at some point in life.
When a pet you raised at home, or grandparents who watched you grow up with gentle smiles, suddenly pass away and never return.
You instinctively walk toward their room or their house, wanting to see them one more time—only to realize that the people you were used to seeing are gone forever. That brutal contrast before and after is unbearably painful.
Once experienced, that feeling can never truly be forgotten.
Time may dull everything, but it never erases it completely.
In his previous life, Raize had experienced that pain three times.
His grandfather and grandmother passed away one after the other, and the Samoyed he had raised since it was a puppy fell gravely ill, beyond saving. Not wanting it to suffer, Raize made the agonizing choice of euthanasia.
He was used to having them within his sight—yet reality left them absent forever.
In this life, he experienced it three more times: his parents, and his younger sister.
He was used to them being at home. Used to his father sternly urging him on. Used to his mother calling him downstairs for breakfast. Used to his petite little sister bustling around him playfully.
The resonance of misery from both lives—if not for Nep's help, he might have completely collapsed.
If anyone dared to take away what he had grown accustomed to, Raize would immediately reveal an utterly unhinged, ferocious cruelty.
Whether you were some damned "D moe girl or a sanctimonious do-gooder—if you touched Raize's reverse scale, he would dare to do anything, no matter how atrocious.
"I've grown accustomed to the girl named Eucliwood Hellscythe. And I can sense that you've been thinking about leaving my side."
Raize gently inhaled the faint fragrance of the girl so close to him. Their gazes met, accurately receiving each other's emotions.
Listening to his straightforward words, in this intimate moment where they were almost kissing, Eu felt no shyness at all.
She only wanted… to hear more. More of Raize's words.
Without even realizing it, the contradictions in her heart gradually calmed and subsided.
"If I hadn't met Sei and you, Eu… after losing everything, I wouldn't even fear death. But now… I cowardly fear the disappearance of what I've grown used to seeing."
Nep, Sei, Eu, and later the shipgirls like Laffey—all of them occupied an extremely important place in Raize's heart.
They were like pieces of a mental jigsaw puzzle. Though they could not replace the piece called "family," they had become indispensable parts of his inner world.
At the very least, they prevented the cracks within him from continuing to spread and collapse uncontrollably. If they disappeared, how could he be fine with a piece of his heart being carved away?
"I know there are plenty of scum who have their eyes on you, Eu. Just thinking about such people appearing before me makes me want to tear them apart. You are an important piece of the puzzle I've grown accustomed to in my heart. I won't let anyone touch you—nor will I allow anything to take you out of my sight!"
"So… Eu, don't be sad or feel guilty anymore. Seeing you cry makes me feel awful too. I accept you, and I'll accept all of you. If your power runs out of control, I'll help you. If bad people harass you, I'll beat them up. If you're hungry, I'll make you good food. If you're sick, I'll take care of you…"
A sincere, radiant smile appeared on his handsome face. Raize gently cupped Eu's fair, delicate cheeks, making her look directly at him.
Letting her brilliant, sapphire-blue eyes clearly reflect his own face.
Letting every emotion of this moment pour, without restraint, into the girl's lonely, shadow-filled heart.
"Please don't run away anymore. Blindly retreating only makes you lose more. I'm willing to help you face hardship. If you feel guilty or uneasy, then help me too in return. I'll face everything with you."
"Just… stay by my side."
Raize finished speaking, and Eu fully received his feelings toward her.
You are not a burden. You are not a calamity. I will face any hardship with you…
Every sentence struck the lonely chambers of Eu's heart, stirring violent waves of tangled emotion, making her solitary heart tremble.
Her heart had grown complicated after being with Raize—because her kindness made her unwilling to trouble others.
Especially Raize, who had already become her friend. She didn't want him to be placed in danger.
He had already lost his family. Eu could see that Raize carried a sense of world-weariness; there were very few things he truly cared about.
Just as he said, if nothing had changed, he wouldn't have cared about anything at all, with no pursuit of ordinary life.
Those who gave off an aura of not belonging to this world weren't only her—Raize was the same.