“…… Since I was a child, I have been interested in death.

Perhaps because from a very young age, I knew that I was hated by the vast majority of people around me.

"Except for my father, my mother, and my neighbors, it was hard to hide their disgusting look when they saw me, and whoever they saw me, it was as if they were seeing something dirty. So, from a very young age, I have understood that I am an 'unallowed' being, a wrong life.

"I later learned that I had a birthmark on my face at birth, because the birthmark covered the face so much that I couldn't even have surgery. While other children were born with blessings, I was born in the eyes of the nurses and doctors in the operating room, as if looking at the eyes of 'evil spirits'.

“…… My mother was the same, so she accepted that I was a 'Heavenly Evil Girl' with almost no resistance. ”

The cold and empty voice echoed in the bookstore, and for the first time, Mio Ito took off all disguises and revealed the 'self' hidden in her heart to others.

"The world has always been unequal.

"Some people are naturally smart; Some people are born beautiful; Some people have a strong athletic talent; But there are also people who are born with a collection of mistakes. I...... That's how it should be.

"From kindergarten onwards, I've learned that if I do the same thing as other children, they will be complimented, but the teacher will avoid me. When I got home, other children could get their mother's smiling face, but my own mother would just look at me with a frown.

"The proportion of life is so disparity, I am alive, and in the world of 'life', I hit walls everywhere.

"However, death is not the same.

"I was fascinated by the fact that after death, the body would gradually decay and melt in the same way until it became a very similar white bone.

“…… Death from illness, burning, natural death, death by falling, death by suffocation. There are many ways to die, but there is only one result that ultimately leads, and it is as pure as crystal. In an instant, it went from warm to cold; From active to quiet. The human body is extremely fragile, and even a small part of the body, perhaps only a few centimeters in size, can lead to the passage of life and the arrival of death.

"- Everyone is the same, no one is any different. I have no place in the world of the living, but in the world of death, I can feel the warmth of discrimination.

"At that time, because my father was a police officer, I was able to enter and leave his study, so I saw a lot of books in his room - "Criminological Research", "The Secret of the Corpse", "General Investigation", ...... My father thought I was interested in his work as a police officer, so he let it go, but he didn't expect that I was actually interested in prisoners and the dead. They are like pianoists and orchestra in a concerto, combining with each other to create the concept of 'death' that fascinates me.

At the same time, through contact with death, the essence of life seems to be revealed in it. Life and death are like twin brothers, born together. Whenever I think of the overlap between death and life, my heart becomes extremely stable, as if I am in the far reaches of space, in a world where no one can see me, and I cannot see anyone.

“…… So, not long after I started elementary school, I killed the first 'life' with my own hands, which was the rabbit.

"However, at that time, I just picked a time when there was no one for the convenience of doing it, in fact, at the beginning, I didn't think about shirking responsibility."

Speaking of which, Mio Ito paused slightly.

Xi Gu stared at her, did not speak, but his eyes seemed to ask:

"In that case, why did it change again?"

Mio Ito met his gaze.

“…… Because of the father.

"Just as I was about to be transferred, my father stepped up.

"At that time, he stood in front of me, like a wall, blocking all my vision. He always believed that I was not a murderer, and that he was the one who always believed that I was the right person among all those who thought I was a 'mistake'.

"His trust hit me inside. So...... It was at that time that I chose to hide my true nature, in order not to disappoint him. ”

Mio Ito's lips were dyed with a trance smile, and her mind was already immersed in memories.

So, I conducted a covert survey in my class and got the timetables of all my classmates.

"Thanks to the criminal investigation knowledge I learned in my father's study, I came up with a plan and chose Mia Mineyama, using her outdoor shoes to create footprints on the hill to bury the murder weapon during the time when she had no witnesses, and at the same time arranged a series of false clues around it...... In the end, the suspicion was successfully transferred to her.

“…… Later, I told the truth to Miya Mineyama and apologized to her...... However, her hatred has continued to this day, and she has never forgiven me. ”

Mio Ito smiled softly, but her gaze became a little distracted.

"In general. After a psychopathic kills a living creature, the means of killing will escalate - rabbits, cats, dogs...... Even humans, did you ever kill any other living creatures later? ”

Mio Ito shook her head.

“…… That rabbit was the first – and last living creature I killed. Because......

"About a month after the incident, one night, when I got home, my father looked very old, and he sat on the couch and looked at me in silence.

Then, my father took me to the Japanese-style room, and the two of us sat opposite each other.

"He sat in front of me, bowed his head deeply, I couldn't see his expression clearly, I could only hear him say to me in a complex tone that I had never heard before: 'Mio...... I want you, at all times, not to hurt others. ’”

"Did he know it from the beginning?"

“…… Maybe so.

Since then, my father has been able to come home significantly less often, and he has been more attentive to his work. And more than a year later, I heard about his death. That conversation in the room became the longest time I had ever met him alone.

"However, the words left by my father became a precept fixed in my heart. can't hurt others', even though for me, death is the only thing that makes me happy. I can't kill anyone either.

"Because, if I do this, it seems that the figure standing in front of me at that time will also lose its last, if only camouflaged, meaning."

The trance smile on Mio Ito's face became fading more and more, and her consciousness seemed to sink into the boundless depths of the sea.

"However, while I can't hurt others, I don't say I can't hurt myself.

"The accumulation of physical pain is a comfort for me, because it brings me closer to 'death'...... Eternal and equal death, absolute peaceful death.

“…… Actually, I'm hiding this very well. So far, apart from Your Excellency, the only person who has seen through it is Miya Mineyama. When she found that no amount of pain could break me, but could only bring me closer to a peaceful 'death', she herself fell into mental exhaustion and faintly became desperate......

“…… In fact, that night, the night Manami rescued me, Mia Mineyama seemed to have become crazy because she was so desperate that she was determined to break me off, to really destroy me, and to kill me directly at the expense of her rich and stable life...... But what she didn't expect was that a young girl interrupted all this.

“…… For her, this world should be full of regrets and unwillingness. So I do believe that she won't be heavy-handed with Manami, because for her, maybe Manami is a tool that can be used against me. ”

Mio Ito muttered.

There was hesitation in her voice, and there was a faint sadness that she had not noticed.

"So, what about you? Are there regrets and unwillingness? ”

The field of vision in front of me gradually darkened.

Xiya's voice seemed to come from an incomparably distant place, and it plunged Mio Ito's brain into a wonderful situation, as if it were a hallucination, and it was also like reality.

"Regret...... Unwilling......

“…… Maybe there is.

"Actually...... My attachment to death comes from despair of myself...... When I was disgusted by everyone, even I had to be disgusted with myself.

“…… But I'm still alive after all.

“…… So, I had to live with this self-loathing all the time.

“…… And death is the place of absolute tranquility that can contain everything and dissolve this disgust.

“…… However, my father's words have become a 'precept' in my heart, so ...... Maybe only when I die will I be liberated. ”

The horizon has gone completely dark.

Mio Ito felt as if her consciousness had floated up to the clouds.

It was a place of silence and emptiness.

It's true...... Are you going to die?

I don't know why, at this moment, there is only a joy in her heart.

"Actually...... You don't have to die to be liberated. ”

A familiar voice rang out.

However, in the next moment, in the dark vision, a light suddenly appeared-

A tree, as if the supreme tree that stood up to the heavens and the earth and covered the whole world, appeared in her consciousness!

Surprise and shock rose in my heart.

At the same time, the revelation of the gods flickered in her heart:

“…… Pierce your heart, dig into your soul, and give all your obsessions—

"Change reality and realize the power you desire...... It's in your hands! ”