In the darkness, Mikhail stood alone.

Head bowed.

He paid no attention to me as I descended into the basement, instead taking deep, labored breaths while gripping an old sword.

Following the original flow of the novel, that sword should have already been broken, yet here Mikhail stood, holding it in a long, oppressive silence, only reacting to my presence with mute stillness.

“…”

“Misa?”

“…”

There was no response from Mikhail.

I felt a little disappointed by his indifference, especially since we were supposed to be friends. But given the circumstances, I decided to let it slide. After all, …