Sonatine for the Forgotten · Chapter 10
As per the Manual
Claire
Ms. Carnelia.
I still can't tell what kind of person you truly are.
I spent so long looking up to you and following the image you left behind.
I thought I would understand you by the time I was close enough to touch your shadow.
But... the moment I entered this place, you moved beyond my reach again.
The version of you I faced had become a traitor whose every act had been hypocrisy...
And now I can no longer tell what to believe.
Carnelia
...
Claire
This is exactly the kind of moment of being unsure of what to do, even after thinking it over through and through.
In fact... I might never understand, no matter how long I think about it.
The manual only tells us what to do, not about the means to understand.
Bell
...Claire.
Claire
That is why, as someone who once looked up to... No.
...As someone who was once the youngest maid. As someone who cared deeply for Carnelia.
I will do as the manual instructs.
No matter the situation... trust your fellow maid. Support them.
And if they stray from the right path, don't hate them.
...Once we're back, I will come to your aid.
To guide you back to the right path.
Carnelia
...
Fufu... I must have been quite fragile back then to write something like that.
Bell
...Carnelia.
See us in the real world. And when we do, we'll talk again.
Claire and I will come for you, whether you're in the Astro Sanctum or anywhere else.
Carnelia
...It would be nice if that were possible...
...Actually, no.
Perhaps I should hope for that as well.
After all... we'll have so much to talk about.
As I said, this world consists of various remnants.
And among those remnants...
There is also Dissonance.
Claire
...Dissonance?
Carnelia
The Light of Dawn, artifact of the Master Maid, originally held the power to attune.
It allowed power to be stabilized, preventing instability from spiraling out of control.
...But the Witch of Favoritism... reversed that power.
Witch of Favoritism
The Light of Dawn, symbol of the Master Maid, possesses the power to attune the Heart of the Star.
An artifact that keeps the Heart of the Star under control through stability and balance.
But...
Imagine if it became the exact opposite.
What if it ceased to attune... and instead brought Dissonance?
Carnelia
The power I used in Aganon to break the Heart of the Star and awaken Mogulus... was Dissonance.
Bell
...
Carnelia
The power of Dissonance still lingers in both my journal and the projection of the past.
Of course... it hadn't reacted until now.
Claire
You mean, just as Bell and I entered this world through your journal...
The Dissonance left in it has awakened too?
Carnelia
To be exact, the unstable memories and thoughts of the version of Carnelia lingering within this realm...
...have amplified the Dissonance to grow stronger the closer I came to NOA.
And now...
It seems that the remnants are trying to become the owner of this place.
Bell
What?! Wait a second...! How many times has this place shaken already?
Claire
Ms. Carnelia!!
Carnelia
Once that self-proclaimed owner is defeated, both of you should return to reality.
That said...
...I wanted this world gone as well.
Allow me to lend you a hand.
Claire
Bell! Watch out!
Bell
Ngh, I can handle this much...!
*Huff...* *Huff...!*
Carnelia
Both of you have improved greatly.
I knew that about Bell from our last meeting, but you, Claire...
Claire
This much is hardly worth mentioning.
...I had to make up for your absence.
Carnelia
...
Bell
That thing calling itself the owner is gone for good.
Seems like it was just a last-ditch effort.
Carnelia
This realm should begin falling apart now.
Not much time should have passed in the real world.
It should be brief enough as though you were simply taking a nap somewhere in Candle Square.
Claire
That aside, Ms. Carnelia, you...
Carnelia
...Well.
Given that I am currently a criminal, I may not be in a position to meet you freely.
Bell
You're still not going to tell you what you did, are you?
...Whatever. No matter what you're planning, I'll go speak with Lady Alicia myself if I have to.
Carnelia
Bell.
Bell
I don't care what it takes. I'll find a way to meet you and ask everything myself.
And when that happens, you'd better not hide anything from me.
Carnelia
...Of course, Bell.
At that point... I suppose I'll have no choice but to explain everything.
Claire
...It won't take long.
Please wait for us until then.
Bell
...Goodbye.
Carnelia.
Carnelia
...I wonder whether I'll be able to.
Once, I was loved by many.
Noble A
Goodness, you've already mastered the entire hexomancy manual!
Noble B
Ms. Carnelia is clearly the one to become the heiress of the family!
A prodigy of hexomancy.
Maid A
How can Ms. Carnelia be so kind and beautiful?
Maid B
Did you hear? The NOA branch was named the best Candle Square in all of Lavistar.
Maid C
It's all thanks to Ms. Carnelia, of course!
The perfect Master Maid.
It was both my title and the sole warmth in my life.
There were times when I felt I would break without clinging to such things.
I held on with everything I had, yearning for an ordinary life.
???
Carnelia...!
Until one day.
She appeared before me.
???
I... I want to...
I want to be like you!!
The one who resembled a blue rose.
The one I had rescued once before.
I had to push her away. I had to.
I had to tell her not to become like me.
That there was nothing worth admiring in me.
But...
Carnelia
Claire, make sure you hold on to this book.
If you've thought it over through and through, but are still unsure of what to do...
Read this book.
But I couldn't push her away.
All I wanted was for her not to follow my path.
And then...
I cast everything aside.
Perhaps, someday far in the future, someone might reach out and stop me.
That was the hope I left behind.
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