A cool breeze blew. The appropriately warm sunlight shone down.
A land filled with autumn weather that couldn't be better than this.
A corner of a huge but quiet amusement park.
A strange man with a clattering, old cotton candy machine on a walkway decorated with a colorful theme.
A merchant who is anxiously worrying that the machine might explode, a lonely businessman with no customers.
“No one is coming.”
That's me.
“That's right. No one is coming. …Nom nom nom.”
Ah. The name of the child biting into a cotton candy next to me is Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh Lily? Something like that.
At the same time, she is the boss who is in charge of the indefinite rental of the cotton candy machine and the unlimited supply of materials.
Of course, I don't think I owe Gilgamesh anything, and Gilgamesh doesn't think she's put me in her debt either.
It's just playing house.
“No one is coming, well, it's a fake world, so that's probably why. There's no one else but us, right?”
“That‘s correct. As expected of Marduk. That was an excellent deduction.”
“I don't need your empty compliments. It's not the first or second day…”
“My compliments are not that cheap, you know… well, it should be fine.”
The young Gilgamesh threw the cotton candy stick she had been sucking on into the air. The stick went right into the golden ripples.
As I stared at the direction where the stick disappeared, Gilgamesh tilted her head.
“Are you asking why I don't throw it away? It's a cotton candy that Marduk made. Isn't it more than worthy of being collected?”
“That's not it. The bigger Gilgamesh bought it for 4 gold bars… don't you have anything?”
Gilgamesh burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! Such irreverence. It's been a while, so I really like it. Do you have any thoughts of returning as a retainer? I can give you 4 gold bars every hour.”
“The reason I'm being so bold is because I've been wasting a whole day in an empty amusement park with no incidents. As for being a retainer…”
“You won't, right? I know. I was just joking.”
Gilgamesh cut me off smoothly, yet firmly.
Is it because she doesn't want to hear the words of direct refusal from my own mouth?
To change the mood that was about to become awkward, I started the cotton candy machine again.
As I was making cotton candy, twirling the stick, something cold poked my cheek.
Looking closely, it was a gold bar.
“What's this?”
“The price. The adult me gave you 4 gold bars, so I can't give you less than that.”
“But if you give me a gold bar the size of a cotton candy machine, how am I supposed to take it?”
“This is the only chance I have to take it out. Just take it for now.”
It was a meaningful statement.
Gilgamesh let out a sigh and then immediately resolved my curiosity.
“This world is a Singularity reconstructed based on Marduk's memories. It's a Singularity, but magical energy doesn't exist. It means it's a special world where the physical laws of our world don't apply.”
“You mean there's no such thing as magic, curses, gods, or demons?”
“To be precise, since there's no concept of them, their existence has also been extinguished. Marduk's words are not wrong.”
I didn't understand, but I nodded.
Gilgamesh let out a small laugh and continued her explanation.
“I'll be a little more kind. Marduk, before you met your first death on Earth, did you know about the Root that mages talk about?”
“I didn't.”
“That's why there's no Root here. Likewise, there's no magical energy~ no gods, angels, or demons!”
“Because I didn't know?”
Gilgamesh nodded.
Since it's a world made from my memories, that's possible. But another question arises.
“I didn't know about the ability of your treasury either. But you're handling it skillfully now. If it's a world made based on my memories, there shouldn't be a treasury, right?”
“I was using a loophole until a moment ago. I tricked the Holy Grail a little into believing that Marduk originally knew about the Gate of Babylon. Since Marduk has recognized the anomaly, I can't use it anymore.”
Gilgamesh shrugged.
“The Holy Grail I gave to Marduk is on a different level of performance. Even I can't escape its restraints. Though I don't know if I resist with all my might.”
I told Gilgamesh to open her treasury. Gilgamesh shook her head.
“You really can't?”
“No. And my physical abilities have also declined to match my age. Marduk can kill me at any time if he puts his mind to it.”
“Please don't say scary things.”
Gilgamesh nodded. Seeing her cheerful smile, she must be thinking something else on the inside.
Gilgamesh's consistently relaxed attitude. I wanted to be mischievous.
I want to see her expression crumble. With that thought, I secretly poked Gilgamesh's side with the cotton candy stick I was holding.
Unlike my prediction that she would naturally dodge, Gilgamesh didn't even notice.
“Hiyat?!”
Gilgamesh jumped up like a frog in hot water.
Wow. A sight I've never seen before.
Gilgamesh, clutching the poked area, turned to me with a blushing face. Small tears welled up in her eyes.
“It hurts.”
“…Sorry.”
A sense of guilt wells up. Conversely, I thought her tearful face was cute.
Setting aside the complicated emotions, I apologized sincerely, and Gilgamesh said no more.
Instead, she whispered this in my ear in a slightly smaller voice.
“Next time, please poke me with something less painful.”
I pushed away her strangely erotic face with my hand.
Ignoring Gilgamesh who was pouting and grumbling, I turned the cotton candy machine.
I'm gradually getting used to the noise of the machine.
“So? Isn't it about time you told me why we're wasting time like this?”
“Shall I?”
Gilgamesh climbed onto the gold nugget the size of the cotton candy machine.
The surface of the gold nugget sparkled, reflecting Gilgamesh's image. It was a brilliant sight.
Gilgamesh swayed her legs that didn't reach the ground.
“This Singularity is simple. It ends the moment Marduk's wish comes true. Easy, right?”
“How exactly does it end?”
“That would depend on what wish Marduk made last, wouldn't it?”
Gilgamesh seemed to have already guessed, but she asked me anyway.
Is she giving me time to think for myself? I'm sorry, but I remember that much.
Perhaps because it was right before I died, it comes to mind very clearly.
“Having fun with everyone at an amusement park… right?”
“I don't know for sure. I didn't hear it. More importantly, did Marduk really make such a wish?”
“Why? Is it strange?”
Not particularly. Gilgamesh said.
“No. I was just wondering if it wasn't too merciful a wish.”
“Merciful?”
“I was the one who told you to make your true wish, Marduk, but honestly, I didn't have high expectations. ’Kill everyone.‘ Honestly, I thought you'd wish for that.”
“I'm not that cruel of a person.”
“…Hee.”
Gilgamesh gave a playful smile and jumped off the gold nugget.
Gilgamesh, who landed lightly on the ground, spun around once on the empty street.
“But isn't it comfortable? If you kill everything you hate, only the things you like will remain in the world.”
“I don't know if you're being serious or just joking.”
“Please answer as if I'm being serious.”
“Then I'd have to take you to a mental hospital.”
Gilgamesh burst out laughing. The manga-like description of clutching one's stomach and laughing suited her well.
“Why? Please tell me.”
“If I kill all the fae just because I hate them, I'd also be killing Mia, my mother, and the people of Orkney who liked me.”
“They're all already dead. You know that.”
“The point is that there are good fae and bad fae. Just because there are 100 bad fae doesn't mean the 10 good fae didn't exist.”
Boring. With that feeling, Gilgamesh puffed out her cheeks.
“Then what about the witch? Is the witch a bad fae or a good fae?”
“…That's.”
I don't know.
In the first place, is there anyone who can distinguish someone as black and white? Does anyone have that right?
As much as the evil deeds Morgan has committed, there are many good deeds Morgan has done for me.
Right now, the evil deeds have become too great, but… still, I can't completely brand Morgan as a villain.
“I've hated Morgan, and I've liked her. The conclusion I've come to is…
“The conclusion is?”
“…I just hope Morgan doesn't do that kind of thing from now on.”
Gilgamesh burst out laughing again. It was a completely different laugh from before.
It was dry and full of annoyance.
“Because you're Marduk, I'll hold back my harsh words. But, isn't that too complacent? Morgan has already rejected your proposal several times.”
“That's true.”
“So weren't you hurt? Don't you think you should inflict the same kind of pain on her?”
Gilgamesh insisted that it had to be that way.
Out of concern for me? Or because she hates Morgan? I don't know. I can't look inside Gilgamesh's head, so how can I be sure.
Gilgamesh's words feel right. Both reason and emotion nod in agreement.
It's the same from an outsider's perspective. It doesn't make sense for me to forgive Morgan.
I'm a fool who surpasses the level of a pushover or an idiot.
“Then nothing will be solved. That kind of thing… that's not the ending I want.”
“You‘re so frustrating, Marduk. You're a fool, plain and simple. No. Marduk is a fool.”
I shrugged. Gilgamesh let out a sigh as if the ground would collapse.
To waste such a pretty face like that. Still, the fact that her cuteness doesn't fade made me realize again how outstanding Gilgamesh's looks are.
“After enjoying the amusement park together and the Singularity collapses, what do you think the witch will do first?”
“………I don't know.”
“That‘s a lie. Marduk, you seem to have a great talent for lying. Everyone notices, you know?”
“I think that's also because you guys are too excellent.”
Gilgamesh didn't respond to my lame excuse.
Instead, she sighed and looked at the ground. Then she turned her head again and looked at the sky, then stared at me.
If I met her gaze, she would turn her head slightly and pretend to be uninterested.
And when I looked somewhere else, she would stare at me again.
“…I saw with my clairvoyance a while ago, everyone is coming to the amusement park. They should all arrive by this afternoon.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“I'll have you know, I have no interest in the riffraff other than Marduk.”
Her wording is harsh.
“I'll be smiling for Marduk's sake, but I can't do more than that. The seats for my friend and my husband are already full.”
Gilgamesh, who had stretched out, said with a confident voice.
“The ’me‘s will agree with this.”