The pipes could no longer draw any more water. The Fount of Light, the filters at the source, everything was gone. It wasn’t just the water either. The spheres connected to the pipes, as well as the relics contained within — none of it was left behind.

Eugene glanced back at Kristina. She was being supported by the wind but was still unconscious. But Eugene felt that it was for the better. The things he didn’t want her to see disappeared neatly, but Eugene preferred that she didn’t even see the old pipes left behind.

“What?” said Eugene. He had placed his hand inside his cape with the intention of doing a clean sweep, but Mer had grabbed his finger as if she had been waiting. She accompanied the Moonlight Sword out of his cloak, riding on his finger.

“You bastard,” said Mer.

“What?”

“You…. You are…. Sir Eugene, you are a bastard,” repeated Mer while pointing her quivering fingers at Eugene. “How, how… shameless! How could you do something so shameless? Right in front of me, to boot!” she shouted.

“No…. Well…. If you think about it, it wasn’t technically….” Eugene hastily gave his excuse, but Mer wasn’t willing to listen.

“Lies! Sir Eugene, you are a liar! You could have avoided it if you wanted to! But! You didn’t! No, it was far from avoiding it. Y-your… lips! The lips touched, and, and… t-tongue. You stayed still even when the tongue slid in!” exclaimed Mer.

Eugene continued, “Well…. That’s…. Uh…. Mer. Listen, when a human is faced with a situation that’s completely out of their expectations and incomprehensible, their body stiffens, and they lose control. You stop thinking and freeze on the spot. And because of the aftermath of Ignition, my body was….”

“Lies! You’re moving just fine now!” Mer shouted.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not me that’s moving right now, but Tempest’s wind that’s….”

“Argh!” screeched Mer. “Whatever the case! Sir Eugene, you were being so sloppy that even...