"Th-that means it's all over, right!"
Upon hearing Jean's explanation, Rin was shocked to learn that her world line might be 'pruned'.
Sakura, on the other hand, was noncommittal; although she lived and went to school like a normal person, the profound sense of detachment brought about by her own experiences meant that, for her, the only thing that made Fuyuki better than other places was simply having a silly older sister.
As for Rin, being a half-baked Magician, she followed the lifestyle of a Magician and kept her relationships with peers at a nodding acquaintance level, but her own heart still could not accept the fact that this world might simply vanish.
"Ultimately, the basis for 'pruning' is whether this world can produce valuable possibilities, right? Has it really reached that point?" Medea raised her question.
Faced with this question, Ai-chan casually pulled over a remnant of a tentacle using the Force, pinched it, and the entire fragment turned into black smoke, accompanied by a mental shockwave comparable to fingernails scratching a chalkboard.
Needless to say, Rin and Sakura were affected, and even Medea clutched her head in pain.
"This kind of thing has already seeped into the Leylines along with the black mud..."
Ai-chan only said half of it, but the rest was self-evident; regardless of whether this world had a future, no one would want it once it was contaminated with such filthy stuff.
At this moment, Jean was also deep in thought; she had promised Medea to leave this place, but what about Rin and Sakura? They were the only ones in this world with whom Jean had formed a bond.
She had originally intended to ask for their opinions, but at this moment, Jean was prepared to use force to take them away if necessary. Although she didn't know the probability of this world line being 'pruned', even if it were only 1%, Jean did not want them to just fade away like that.
The fact that Ai-chan had been constantly instilling the inevitability of 'pruning' was probably because of this; after all, she was usually lazy and wouldn't talk so much so easily.
---
After a moment of contemplation, Jean confirmed her plan: to take the sisters, Rin and Sakura, and leave this place first. If there was a problem with the world line, they could just settle down in the Reincarnation World, and if there wasn't, they could choose whether or not to return.
Just as Jean was about to explain her plan, the surrounding scenery and everyone suddenly vanished, replaced by a pale pink space scattered with cherry blossom petals.
A young girl wearing a kimono of the same cherry-pink color stood before Jean.
"Nice to meet you, traveler from another world. I presume you already know of my existence."
"Ryougi Shiki, or perhaps Root Shiki; at least, that is what we call you."
Indeed, the person before her was one of the two entities directly connected to the Root, so her actions likely represented the will of the entire Type-Moon World itself.
Because of this, Jean used the pronoun 'we', aligning herself with a group to increase her importance and authority.
"In some sense, that is correct, but in reality, it is slightly different. The story of the girl named Ryougi Shiki has reached its conclusion, and that body has headed toward the destination called happiness, following her and his wishes. The personality that was initially connected to the Root has also returned to the Root, becoming a recorded possibility. This form right now is merely the Root recalling that possibility and appearing before you."
"In other words, you are not Root Shiki who connects to the Root, but the will of the Root itself, is that right?"
Facing Jean's understanding, 'Root Shiki' smiled slightly and shook her head:
"The Root is all causes in the world, so its existence is ' '. She who awakened to her Origin does not even exist; in that sense, she and I are fundamentally the same existence."
These circular arguments came back around again, but Jean recalled that in the final story of 215, there was an introduction describing her as 'an invincible big sister who knows everything but will not speak meaningful words, and enjoys meaningless conversations.' This conversation certainly fit her personality.
Thus, Jean gave up on fussing over her relationship with Root Shiki; it was enough to know she was the will of the Root.
"Then, how should I address you?"
"Hmm, let's see. 'Root' does sound a bit strange, so just call me Shiki."
"..." She didn't know why people in the Nasuverse were so obsessed with this pronunciation; Shiki, Shiki, Shiki, and Shiki all shared this sound.
"Alright then, Miss Shiki, what is it you actually want with me?"
Since she had appeared directly before her, it was certainly for the purpose of communication, but they had been talking in circles for so long that she still didn't know this person's purpose.
"And so, Miss Jean." She paused at the address, also using the term 'Miss' as Jean had suggested.
"Just 'Jean' is fine." Jean didn't mind others calling her by her name; after all, her name only had one character.
"Alright, Jean, you can call me Shiki directly." Shiki smiled and continued: "I have come to make a trade with you. You possess an item that cannot be allowed to leave this world."
Hearing this, Jean immediately became tense; her first thought was the disc recording the Third Magic, but that item was a mission objective worth 20,000 points.
But soon, Shiki mentioned an item that surprised Jean.
"That Noble Phantasm, the creation sword EA; it would be quite troublesome if it were lost."
Only then did Jean remember that, at the time, to prevent Gilgamesh from having any hidden tricks, she had directly put the EA into her spatial pouch to prevent him from reclaiming it. As things got busy, she had almost forgotten about it.
"Taking it out is naturally not a problem, but as this is my spoils of war, since you, Shiki, have proposed a trade, surely you won't let me suffer a loss for nothing."
"The administrative rights to this Fuyuki area can be handed over to you. In the near future, this place will open up to the outside of the world, becoming a customs office or a ferry port connecting to the outside world, and the management rights will be granted directly to you. At the same time, because of this, this world line will provide infinite possibilities and naturally will not be 'pruned'."
There was a lot of information in Shiki's words. Although it sounded very impressive, Jean felt deep down that there were some nuances she didn't understand.
However, regarding matters she wasn't clear about, Jean was accustomed to asking others, so she opened the system and tried to @ 'D'.
[I won't call that guy!!!]
The first step of calling someone was blocked by BB, who had already recovered her energy; she even took out a sign with a red X drawn on it to show her protest.
But Jean was not so easily pushed around; using her mental power to mimic the treatment she had received in the dark room, she began to tickle BB.
After a few seconds, BB raised the white flag, then fished out a phone from who knows where, from which the voice of 'D' emerged.
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 50 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon:
patreon.com/MariaLight
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!