Unlimited Fafnir Vol 4 Prologue
Prologue
I—Monon.o.be Yuu—have a secret.
Three years ago, to protect my hometown from being destroyed by "Blue" Hekatonkheir, I made a deal with "Green" Yggdrasil.
Because the knowledge of power that Yggdrasil transmitted to me—data regarding weaponry from a lost civilization—was too vast in volume, I lost memories every time I downloaded.
My younger sister Mitsuki would surely feel sad if she found out about this, hence I kept it secret from her, because I did not want to see suffering on Mitsukis face—
But it was already too late.
I had even forgotten that Mitsuki was not my sister by blood. Even my precious feelings towards her... had been lost.
I am myself. Simply this alone would already hurt Mitsuki. At some point in time, I was already no longer my original self.
And it was actually just now that I finally noticed this myself.
I confessed this secret, which I had kept hidden in my heart until now, never disclosing to anyone at all.
I told the girl who should be the most precious to me currently—Iris Freyja—forcing her to shoulder the heavy burden I could not withstand on my own.
Inside the mildly rocking transport ship, in front of the cabin a.s.signed to me, I embraced Iris tightly as though crying out for help, telling her everything.
I struggled internally, trying my hardest to squeeze out words that sounded like a guilty confession.
Iris silently listened to me.
"Sorry for telling you this kind of thing out of the blue..."
After I finished, I apologized to her with a heavy conscience.
—What am I doing?
Stunned at my own weakness, an intense wave of regret surged in my heart... But time could not turn back.
"Hmm... You told me so much in one go, my mind is totally muddled."
Iris replied to me with a wry smile and wrapped her arms around my back.
Full of chagrin, my heart pounded in response.
"But if theres one thing I definitely felt, its that youre relying on me, Monon.o.be, so dont worry!"
Iris separated from me and looked me in the eye squarely.
"This time, its my turn to help you, Monon.o.be."
Iris declared with clear determination on her face.
There was not the slightest hesitation in her eyes. She simply focused, staring at me.
"Iris..."
"This isnt something to tell everyone, right? In that case, lets go into the cabin to talk. I want to hear more from you, Monon.o.be, to think about what should be done."
Thus, we entered my cabin and sat down side by side on a bed, to continue the conversation.
Specifically, she asked me how I lost my memories and why I could not tell others—
Iris asked with an expression of unparalleled seriousness on her face while I answered all her questions honestly.
Finally, she stopped asking questions and the cabin returned to silence.
I saw Iris silently stare at the ceiling for a while before whispering softly:
"For you, Monon.o.be, falling in love with me... must be the most painful for you."
"No, thats—"
I reflexively tried to deny what she said, but words failed me mid-sentence.
Because Iris was right on target. What made me feel the worst was that I had betrayed my past self—I had betrayed my promise with Mitsuki.
—Even after becoming siblings... I will still love you more than anyone else, Mitsuki, and we will get married when we grow up.
I had apparently made such a vow to Mitsuki during our childhood.
Having forgotten such an important promise, falling in love with Iris, I was no longer the Monon.o.be Yuu whom Mitsuki knew.
Hence, I could no longer bear it. I felt intense guilt for continuing to pretend to be Monon.o.be Yuu, which was why I revealed everything.
"Monon.o.be, you dont need to force yourself to deny it, because even if its true, Im still very glad."
"Glad...?"
Unable to understand Iris, I asked her. Iris leaned herself over and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Yes, only because its the current Monon.o.be, I feel like doing this... The current Monon.o.be loves me—This means that our feelings are mutual, right?"
"Well, I guess youre right..."
"Then its fine. I feel very happy just knowing this alone."
Iris smiled with blushing cheeks, looking up shyly at me.
My guilt-filled heart instantly felt slightly warmer.
"Monon.o.be, now is not the time to agonize or feel lost. Lets think together about the future."
"The future?"
"Yes, we must find a way to get your memories back."
Hearing her say that, my jaw dropped in surprise.
I could not understand. I really could not comprehend how Iris could say this so nonchalantly.
"Are you serious?"
"Eh? Yes, of course Im serious. Do you think itll be very hard, Monon.o.be?"
"No, this isnt an issue of easy or hard... You do realize what it means, right? If by any chance, I retrieve my memories—"
There would be no harsher reality than that, so I was unable to finish my sentence.
But Iris seemed to realize what I wanted to say. She smiled a little sadly.
"I know, then you wont be the current Monon.o.be anymore... But its okay, because Ive decided to help you, Monon.o.be."
Iris was making herself very clear. Even if it might mean losing her current happiness, she would still go ahead.
How could she become so strong?
Thinking back, she was like this already from our first encounter. I was never able to understand Iris style and behavior. Whether in a good sense or a bad sense, she was always beyond my prediction.
Probably because she was so impossible to understand... That was why I fell in love with her.
I stared at Iris face, mesmerized, only to see her slightly averting her gaze shyly.
"Umm... Although I made such a bold promise, I actually havent come up with a specific plan, sorry."
"Dont apologize. Thank you. Its the thought that counts."
Although I did not think there was a way to recover my memories, I still thanked her sincerely.
"Oh, but theres one thing bothering me a lot. Although you dont seem concerned about it, I find it quite surprising..."
"Whats bothering you that much?"
"Monon.o.be, you lost your memories because you entered a contract with Yggdrasil, right?"
"Y-Yeah, but thats the unavoidable price—"
I was just about to tell her how ma.s.sive the information I was forced to download was, but Iris interrupted me. With intense worry, she said:
"Is that really true? I dont think so. Why arent you wary of Yggdrasil, Monon.o.be? That thing is humanitys enemy... A dragon, you know?"