Chapter 11
Fufu. Now then, let’s see here—
I had been briefed about this before, but actually seeing it in person strikes a cord.
Tenshouin-senpai!
Ahhh, thank god! Finally, finally someone we know! What is this place, Senpai?! Do you know anything about it?
Oh, now that’s an unexpected response.
Hmm… Wataru is so good at vocal mimicry that I expected him to recognize me immediately even if I just slightly altered my voice.
…?
But Wataru’s state is quite off at present. I’ve been recording your actions up until now, and I’m getting the impression that you really aren’t your usual self.
I suppose this means that what Gatekeeper said is true.
What I don’t understand, though, is why Wataru would propose such a thing.
I can come up with a few hypotheses, but Wataru would never do something so idiotic—
Umm…? What? Tenshouin-senpai, can you even hear me? Hellooo?
Oh, my apologies, Tomoya-kun. I wasn’t trying to ignore you; I was just thinking about something.
But I can’t afford to stand around, can I? I promised Hajime-kun he’d be able to meet up with you.
Hajime…? Is something going on with Hajime, Senpai? Wait, don’t tell me—Are Hajime and Mitsuru and Nii~chan and everyone else lost in some weird town too?
Oh, not at all. I assure you they’re safe and sound. They’re in an ideal world where no evil can enter—a sanctuary built by me.
If you’d like, I can take you there, too. To where Hajime-kun and the others are.
That’s what I was originally planning on doing, anyway. In fact, I’d like to ask you: Why are you two in the Dark Side of all places, especially when it’s still under construction?
Dark side?
Oh, hm… You don’t know anything, do you? I assumed Wataru would explain it to you.
Right! I know it’s crazy but—but it really looks like Hibiki-senpai lost all his memories! He doesn’t even remember me!
That does seem to be the case. I could have guessed that much; it aligns with what Gatekeeper said.
And then he was upfront with me and answered the other questions I had.
Could it be he was showing his sincerity to keep our business? Or perhaps he really doesn’t care about idols in the slightest.
…? Gatekeeper is that scary guy who’s in charge of the SS Administration Committee, right?
Is that how you see him? Well, I can’t imagine you’ve had very much contact with him.
—All right. Yeah, I’ve got the gist of it ♪
Y–yeah, well I sure don’t! Don’t just leave me in the dust here—C’mon, tell me what’s going on if you know!
Hmm, what to do… I am feeling a bit spiteful toward you for stealing Wataru away from me, so I feel like being a little mean to you.
Huh? What? I didn’t steal Hibiki-senpai away from you! I just happened to be the one who had to take care of him after he lost his memories!
Just happened to? When you don’t know where you are, and in a town this big? Hmm…?
That’s not true. You’ve been chosen—as if by fate.
What do you even mean by that…? C’monnn, can’t you talk in a way an idiot like me would get?
In your case, it’s not idiocy, but purity. You’re the same as Nito-kun. And that’s exactly why we need you at SANCTUARY.
No, rather—The sublime experiments being conducted in this SANCTUARY need you.
So then—
Umm. According to Gatekeeper, we’ll need to cast a certain spell in order to return Wataru’s memories to him.
The spell was probably Wataru’s idea. I wonder if he remembers what we talked about so long ago.
Spell? Umm, so it’s gonna… bring back Hibiki-senpai’s memories?
Yes. I’d love to spin a tale where his memories return naturally by simply staying close to him and showering him with love, but—
That would be too slow and tedious. Unlike Wataru, I don’t make it my hobby to pull such theatrical stunts without an audience to witness me.
—“Ah, still delay—thou art so fair!”1
…!
?! Uh, Hibiki-senpai? What’s going on, why’d you suddenly start shaking so violently?!
This is! a line! from Goethe’s Faust! I pulled the translation by Bayard Taylor off of Project Gutenberg if you’d like to read the full monster of this two-part play. So Faust is a classic German tale about a pious man (Faust) who makes a deal with the demon Mephistopheles: that Mephistopheles will do anything Faust desires while he lives, and in exchange, Faust will serve the devil in hell. The line itself is part of a larger response to Mephistopheles’s deal; Faust is confident that nothing Mephistopheles can give him will satisfy him—so he tells the demon that if something satisfies him so thoroughly that he would want to stop time to revel in that moment forever, then he will drop dead instantly. It’s a fairly iconic line in the play, which is likely why it was picked out as the spell.
NOW the important thing here is that in the ! Era Main Story (chapter 123 specifically), Eichi tells Wataru: “You’re just like Mephistopheles. Sometimes, it’s even terrifying to me.” Which is what Eichi is talking about when he speculates that Wataru remembers “what they talked about so long ago.” This allegory positions Eichi as Faust to Wataru’s Mephistopheles, so it’s very significant that Eichi is the one to quote Faust here! you can find my personal, very extended analysis of their relationship with a focus around this line here.