The dining room had finally settled into an uneasy calm.
Only a short while ago, the mansion's garden had been turned into a battlefield.
Tanaka sat at the dining table, still somewhat bewildered by the situation. Across from him sat Emilia, while Roswaal remained nearby, watching him with a smile that was far too difficult to read.
"Thank you for clearing up the misunderstanding... Umm..."
The silver-haired half-elf gave him a gentle smile.
"It's Emilia. Just Emilia."
Her long silver hair fell over her shoulders, framing a delicate face and striking purple-blue eyes. Her pointed ears were impossible to miss, though there was something remarkably soft about her expression despite everything that had happened.
"I was actually quite surprised when all those spirits came to me and asked me to help you."
Her gaze briefly drifted toward the tiny blue lights floating around Tanaka.
Then her expression immediately became stern.
"Roswaal! You can't just attack someone without asking any questions first!"
"Myyyyyyyyy, I offer my sincerest apoooooooologies, Emilia-Sama."
Roswaal placed a hand against his chest and dramatically bowed his head.
"However... I was meeeeeerely concerned for yourrrrrrrr safety."
Tanaka's eyebrow twitched.
"Excuse me, but what exactly made you think I was threatening anyone's safety?"
His irritation was becoming increasingly difficult to hide.
Being suspicious of him was understandable. But there was a considerable difference between being suspicious and immediately trying to kill someone.
"I apologize once again, buuuuuuuuut..."
Roswaal slowly raised his head. "Seeing someone appearing out of nowwwwwhere, accompanied by an entire army of spirits, I indeeeeeeed felt that there was reason for concern."
Emilia then chimed in, "I asked the spirits about Tanaka. They told me that they're his attendants." She looked toward the tiny spirits surrounding Tanaka.
"They're here to guide you and protect you. Apparently, they'll do whatever they can to keep you safe."
Tanaka sighed, "Yeah, that's the gist of it."
Roswaal's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But why soooooo many?"
It was, admittedly, a reasonable question.
There were far more spirits around Tanaka than anyone present ever witnessed.
Tanaka simply shrugged.
"Personal reasons."
Roswaal's smile remained in place.
"And you won't tell us?"
"No."
Roswaal's smile twitched.
Emilia covered her mouth, seemingly trying not to laugh.
Despite the violent misunderstanding that had occurred earlier, she didn't seem frightened of Tanaka.
If anything, the two had begun getting along surprisingly quickly. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that both of them had the gift of being able to communicate with spirits.
"Anyway," Tanaka said, leaning back in his chair. "My name is Tanaka, just Tanaka."
He paused.
"That's all I remember."
Emilia blinked. "That's it?"
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Tanaka picked up another piece of steak.
He popped it into his mouth.
His expression immediately changed.
His eyes widened slightly.
"Wow."
The tension in the room evaporated almost instantly. "This is really good."
He chewed thoughtfully before looking around the table.
"Who made this?"
Emilia smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Rem is the one who prepared it."
Tanaka took another bite.
Roswaal watched him for several seconds before finally speaking.
"Sooooo, Tanaka-Kun..."
Tanaka continued eating.
"How exactly can weeeee help you?"
"Hm?"
Tanaka swallowed. "Well, I don't exactly know, genius."
He gestured toward himself with his fork. "I just told you I can't remember anything."
"Then, Tanaka-San—"
"You can just call me Tanaka."
Emilia blinked. "Oh. Okay. Tanaka, then."
Tanaka smiled. "So, Tanaka, why did you come to this place?"
He looked toward the spirits.
"Honestly?"
He pointed his fork at them.
"I'm trying to figure that out myself."
The tiny blue lights hovered over him.
"I don't remember where I was going. I don't remember why I was going there. I just followed them. They told me to come here."
Emilia turned toward the floating lights.
"Is that true?"
The spirits gathered around her for a moment, their light growing brighter.
Tanaka watched them. "You really can understand them?"
Tanaka rested his cheek against his palm. "I haven't seen anyone else talk to them."
Emilia smiled. "That's my sentence."
"But why did the spirits bring you here?"
Tanaka's expression slowly faded. "I don't remember anything."
He looked down at the table.
"But..."
__
___
____
"This is unbelievable. Can't Roswaal take care of one intruder, I wonder?"
A petite girl with long, pale-blonde hair twisted into twin spiral drills marched down the hallway, her tiny footsteps carrying far more irritation than her stature suggested. Her elaborate pink dress swayed with every step, its layers of frills and white trimmings bouncing around her legs as she moved.
Perched comfortably upon her shoulder was a small creature resembling a house cat. At barely nine centimeters tall, he was small enough to fit within the palm of a human hand, yet his diminutive appearance did little to conceal the concern in his expression.
"Can't be helped, Betty," Puck said, attempting to reason with her. "I know the fight is already over, but I'm still worried about Lia. So let's take a quick look, figure out whether this guy is dangerous or not, and then we can go back and relax."
Beatrice's cheeks puffed slightly as she folded her arms.
"Regardless of whether he's an enemy or not, Betty will punish him for interrupting her precious time with Bubby, I suppose."
Puck could only chuckle at her pout, though Beatrice's irritation was genuine. Her brother had left with the girl he was contracted to protect, leaving Beatrice behind to wait for his return. An entire week had passed since then, and she had finally begun to enjoy her reunion with him. Now, however, some mysterious intruder had appeared and caused enough commotion to make Roswaal start fighting.
Whoever this person was, Beatrice intended to make him regret disturbing her.
She reached the door and wrapped her fingers around the handle, but before she could open it, a voice drifted through the wood.
"I don't remember anything, but they told me to come here."
The voice from inside continued, unaware that she was standing just beyond the door.
"They said there was someone I had to meet, and they told me to say..."
There was a brief pause, followed by words spoken in a quiet, hesitant tone.
"'I'm that person.'"
Beatrice's fingers slowly slipped away from the doorknob and she froze.
Inside the dining room, Tanaka seemed just as confused by the instruction.
"'That person'?" Emilia asked, tilting her head.
"Yes." Tanaka sighed and leaned back in his chair. "That's all they told me. I expected someone here to understand what they meant."
Even now, the words meant nothing to Tanaka. He didn't know who had given him the message, what that person meant, or even who he was supposed to be.
"What... did you just say?"
The dining room fell silent as everyone turned toward the doorway. Beatrice stood there with all the irritation drained from her face, her expression pale and stunned.
Tanaka looked toward her.
The moment their eyes met, something inside him snapped.
He froze, his breath catching in his throat. His mind remained completely empty; he didn't recognize her, didn't know her name, and couldn't remember ever seeing her before.
Yet tears began to fall from his eyes, slowly at first and then in a steady stream.
Tanaka raised a hand to his cheek and stared at the moisture coating his fingers in bewilderment.
"...Huh?"
Emilia immediately stood from her chair.
"Tanaka? What's wrong?"
He didn't answer. His gaze remained fixed on Beatrice as she took one hesitant step into the room, then another.
His chest tightened. He didn't understand why his body had reacted before his mind could, why the sight of this little girl hurt, or why seeing her felt like remembering something he had forgotten. Every instinct inside him screamed that she was important.
"Who..." His voice cracked as he swallowed hard. "Who are you?"
*********************************************************************************************************
The moment Tanaka opened his eyes in this world, there had been only one thing he knew about himself: his name. Tanaka. Nothing more.
His memories were not merely fragmented; they were absent. His childhood, his family, his homeland, his friends, and his past were all gone. Even the simple details that should have formed the foundation of his identity had vanished without a trace.
But his mind itself wasn't empty, and that distinction was important. He still possessed common sense, understood language, and knew how to read and write. He knew that two plus two equaled four, knew how to walk and breathe, and remembered countless pieces of knowledge that had been engraved into his being.
It was as though someone had taken a book and torn out every page describing the person named Tanaka while leaving behind everything that had been etched into his body. His instincts remained, as did his habits and skills. Even his mastery over magic was still intact. He didn't know how he knew how to use it; he simply did. It felt no different from breathing.
That was why the tears had come. His body remembered something his mind didn't. The moment he saw Beatrice, something buried far deeper than memory recognized her.
"Repeat what you just said, I suppose!"
Beatrice hurried toward him, her usual composure completely gone. "Say it again!"
Tanaka rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to stop the tears.
"Why am I crying?" he muttered. "This is ridiculous..."
He looked down at his trembling hand.
"Something's wrong with me."
Beatrice stared at him, but then her expression suddenly changed. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer.
"Wait Betty. Something is strange."
The one who spoke up was none other than Puck. "I can't sense any mana around him."
"It won't work you idiot..." Tanaka barely glanced at the cat as he was busy wiping his tears, "I don't have an Od."
The room fell silent.
"What?!" Beatrice asked.
"I don't have an Od," Tanaka repeated, his voice still uneven. "You can check for yourself."
He placed one hand against his chest and began rotating his palm slowly and carefully. The movement resembled someone turning a valve.
Then the atmosphere changed.
Mana began pouring from his body. It wasn't leaking or simply radiating; it was escaping. An immense current of pure mana erupted from within him, filling the dining room with such an overwhelming presence that everyone instinctively stopped breathing.
The minor spirits surrounding Tanaka brightened as the air grew still. The room felt strangely peaceful and serene, as though the entire world had been washed clean. Emilia's eyes widened, Roswaal's smile disappeared, and Ram and Rem stared at Tanaka in disbelief. Even Puck became completely silent.
Beatrice, however, was frozen. She understood what she was sensing, and she couldn't believe it.
For spirits and spirit users, mana carried more than power. It carried a presence, a sense of self, and an impression that could reveal things about a person that words could not.
Tanaka suddenly reached for Beatrice's hand.
"Eh?"
Before she could react, he placed her palm against his chest.
She tried to pull away, but then she felt it. Her eyes widened, and her fingers began to tremble.
There was no Od, no conventional source from which his mana should have originated, yet the mana pouring from him was immense and impossibly pure.
"...It's true. There's no Od."
She looked up at him.
"How are you alive?"
Tanaka didn't answer because he couldn't. A warm sensation suddenly ran down his face, and a drop of blood landed on Beatrice's hand. Then another followed.
Her eyes slowly traveled upward. Blood was leaking from Tanaka's nose, the corner of his mouth, and the corners of his eyes.
"Stop!" Beatrice shouted. "Stop doing that right now!"
Tanaka blinked.
"Huh?"
"You're killing yourself!"
The mana continued pouring from his body, and his skin had begun to pale as his breathing grew ragged. Whatever mechanism allowed him to exist, without an Od, the mana that was leaking couldn't be replaced.
Tanaka finally seemed to understand.
He reversed the motion of his hand, and the flow of mana abruptly stopped. The overwhelming presence vanished, and the atmosphere returned to normal.
Tanaka staggered.
"Ah..."
He covered his mouth as a violent cough escaped him, staining his palm with blood. Emilia immediately rose from her chair.
"Tanaka!"
"I'm fine."
He tried to straighten himself, but his knees nearly buckled. Emilia caught him before he could fall.
Beatrice didn't listen to their exchange. Her mind was racing.
"I'm that person."
Those were the words she has been waiting for over four hundred years.
No Od, an enormous mana pool, and a body capable of functioning despite lacking the very foundation that should sustain it. Then there was that feeling, the inexplicable familiarity she sensed whenever she looked at him.
She stared at Tanaka for another moment before reaching forward and seizing his hand.
"Roswaal."
Her voice was firm.
"Betty is taking him to the Forbidden Library."
Roswaal blinked.
"Wait a moment. We still don't know anything about—"
"That's precisely why." Beatrice's eyes hardened. "This is a matter that concerns Betty more than anyone else."
"Don't interfere."
There was no room for argument in her voice. She pulled Tanaka toward the door.
"Hey, wait..."
"You're coming with Betty, I suppose."
Tanaka nodded.
"Okay."
The moment they reached the door, the space before them distorted. The wooden entrance twisted like the surface of water, and Beatrice stepped through without hesitation. Tanaka followed her, and just before the distorted doorway closed behind them.