Chapter 223: The Garden of Sinners Episode 5: Paradox Spiral! (Part 21)
At that very moment—while the audience was still reeling from the shocking revelation behind Touko's "resurrection"—Tomoe's sudden move completely stunned them all over again.
No one could have imagined it.
A completely ordinary man with no powers whatsoever… actually dared to attack the magus Araya Souren.
"Gotta hand it to the kid—he actually tried to kill Souren."
"Yeah. I mean, both Shiki and Touko have already fallen to him, yet Tomoe still had the guts to make a move. That's… seriously impressive."
"I know I sure wouldn't have the courage."
"Of course not. No sane person would do something this reckless. But if you were truly driven into a corner… well, who knows what you'd do."
"That's true. And Tomoe already knows the truth—that he's nothing more than a puppet. With nowhere left to retreat, there's no telling what he might be capable of."
"Speaking of which… what was Touko thinking, replacing her real body with a puppet? If she keeps on living like this… is she even still the same person?"
"I… don't really know how to answer that…"
…
On the topic of Tomoe, the people of the southern territory could at least find something to say.
But when it came to Touko's self-destructive, almost suicidal method of "reincarnation," they were utterly at a loss.
After all, no ordinary person could even begin to imagine what they'd be like after their own death—let alone wrap their heads around the idea that, once they were gone, a puppet with their exact memories would live on in their place.
Would that still be "you"? Or someone else entirely?
In fact, could such a thing even be called living?
It was no wonder the audience was left completely dumbfounded.
…
The mages of the Imperial Mage Academy fared little better. They managed to stay a bit calmer than the average spectator, but confusion still reigned among them. Touko's circumstances were simply too bizarre—so far beyond the bounds of reason—that even they struggled to find any meaning in her continued existence.
After expressing some quiet sympathy for Tomoe's tragic situation, they turned their attention to Touko's case, exchanging murmurs of thought.
"A puppet, huh… Honestly, if someone knew they were nothing more than an artificial construct, could they really keep thinking like a normal person?"
"Hard to say. After all, magecraft and magic differ in many ways, and while magecraft might fall short of true magic in overall scope, it sometimes surpasses us in the fine details. Take this—recreating a perfect duplicate of yourself. Even the best mage in our ranks couldn't do that."
"If a being identical to you existed, it would create a paradox. That's why, as a rule, one never makes a perfect copy of oneself—your existence must remain unique in the world. But Touko… she bypassed the paradox by killing her original body and letting the puppet take her place. That's not a decision any normal person could make—not even most abnormal people. It's something beyond human."
"Right. Because that choice means suicide. And once you've taken your own life, the puppet left behind—whether factually or philosophically—is no longer you. It's just… something else entirely. A person who would choose that can hardly be called human anymore."
"Magus are inhuman monsters anyway… I think I'm starting to understand Kiritsugu's point of view. The way they think—it's just not normal."
"Magecraft is, at its core, rigid and conservative. With that mindset, the odds of producing someone who thinks like a normal human are already vanishingly small."
"And even among such people, Touko stands out as an outlier among outliers."
"Come to think of it, Tomoe's situation is actually pretty similar to hers. He's also an artificial being, created to replace a dead original. Logically speaking… there's hardly any difference between the two."
"Still, Tomoe is—at the end of the day—a normal human. When he learned he was a puppet, he showed the fear and unease you'd expect from one. Honestly… seeing him react that way was almost comforting. Touko, on the other hand, is just… too strange."
"I think both Touko and Tomoe are actually in better shape than most would be. They at least understand the purpose for which they were created—to replace an original who had already died. If you were just a tool, born without human dignity or any reason to exist… you'd probably break down on the spot."
"True. It all comes down to the intent behind your creation. If you're like Tomoe or Touko—born to take the place of someone gone—then maybe you'd inherit their personality and continue living in this world as their stand-in."
"Yeah, that makes sense. After all, there are examples in magical history, aren't there? Mages who, knowing death was near, stored their memories in their familiars—granting those familiars a near-human personality so they could carry on in their stead."
"Oh, now that you mention it, there was a famous case like that in the magical world… what was the name again?"
"Can't remember. But yeah, there was definitely someone like that."
"In any case, once Tomoe's puppet inherited his original's memories, you can't really treat him as a mere puppet anymore. In a way, he has his own personality now—he is Enjou Tomoe."
"A being like that might just be the one to disrupt Aray's spiral. I wonder what kind of impact it'll have?"
"Guess we'll have to keep watching."
The anticipation among the mages was palpable.
By this point in the recording, it was clear—the story was building toward a tidal wave of a confrontation.
Meanwhile, atop the Alchemy Tower, the Arch Mages had also finished a heated debate over Touko's situation. And yet… they found themselves unable to draw any definitive conclusion.
At their core, mages were researchers—researchers who, for the most part, operated within the bounds of ordinary morality. Even the Arch Mages couldn't align their thinking with the warped logic of magi who had long since shed such constraints.
In the end, they didn't linger on the question. Their attention returned to the images unfolding before them.
On-screen, Enjou Tomoe and Touko's respective stories ran side-by-side, their fates inexorably linked.
And before long… the final outcome of both would be laid bare before every watching eye.
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