Last Gun Alchemist

Vera’s plain black eyes quietly met Ezra’s equally plain black eyes.

Neither of them looked away.

The lively applause and murmurs surrounding the ballroom seemed to fade into the distance as they remained locked in that final dance posture, breathing softly after pouring themselves into the performance.

The dance had demanded more stamina than either of them expected.

Their breathing had gradually become uneven, rising and falling with the final rhythm of the music.

For a brief moment...

Neither of them spoke.

Then Vera broke the silence.

"You said you didn’t know how to dance."

Her expression remained as calm as always.

She wasn’t accusing him.

She simply sounded curious, as though she had found something that didn’t quite add up.

Ezra guided her through another gentle step as the melody softened more.

"I learned."

His answer was short and flat.

As if the explanation required nothing more.

Vera quietly watched him for another moment.

She could tell he wasn’t lying.

But somehow...

That simple answer raised even more questions.

No ordinary instructor could have taught someone to dance like this.

At least...

Not in such a short amount of time.

Before she could continue asking...

The music gently shifted.

Selena’s fingers glided across the piano as she subtly increased the tempo of the final passage.

Behind her, the orchestra gradually lowered their volume.

One instrument after another fell silent until only the grand piano remained.

The ballroom naturally quieted.

Every pair of dancers instinctively slowed their movements, allowing Selena’s solo to carry them toward the conclusion.

Within that beautiful silence...

Ezra and Vera seemed to have entered a world of their own.

Nothing outside their dance existed anymore.

The polished marble floor reflected the golden lights above them.

The chandeliers shimmered gently.

The soft melody echoed through the Grand Ballroom.

Everything blended together into one peaceful moment.

Ezra guided Vera into another smooth rotation.

Their joined hands separated slightly.

He released just enough pressure for her body to continue forward.

Vera understood his intention almost instantly.

She gracefully spun away from him.

The black-and-silver layers of her gown bloomed beautifully around her before settling again.

Without breaking the rhythm...

She used the momentum to perform a reverse spin.

Her body returned toward Ezra with perfect timing.

The movement looked so effortless that many spectators forgot to breathe.

As Vera reached him...

Ezra caught her hands once again.

In one fluid motion...

He lowered her gracefully into his arms.

Vera leaned backward without the slightest hesitation.

Complete trust.

That single movement revealed more than words ever could.

Their faces naturally drew closer.

Only a short distance separated them.

The final notes of Selena’s piano gently floated through the ballroom.

At that exact moment...

The ribbon tying Vera’s hair finally loosened.

One strand escaped.

Then another.

Before long...

Her long black hair slipped free completely, cascading downward like flowing silk until the tips nearly brushed the polished floor beneath her.

Several students unconsciously widened their eyes.

The image before them looked almost unreal.

Ezra quietly stared at Vera.

His breathing remained uneven from the dance.

Then...

Something changed.

The ballroom disappeared.

The warm lights vanished.

The music became distant.

It felt as though the entire world had suddenly been swallowed by silence.

He still stood in the same posture.

His arms still supported the girl before him.

Yet...

She wasn’t Vera anymore.

The familiar black hair.

The expressionless eyes.

Everything slowly blurred.

In their place...

Another face appeared.

Claudia.

She rested quietly within his arms, looking at him with the same gentle smile he had buried deep within his memories.

The sight struck his heart without warning.

"Ezra..."

Her voice echoed softly beside his ear.

Gentle.

Warm.

Filled with affection.

It sounded so real that his chest tightened.

His fingers instinctively stiffened for the briefest instant.

Then...

The illusion shattered.

The Grand Ballroom returned.

The golden lights.

The music.

The countless spectators.

Everything returned exactly as it had been.

Ezra looked down once more.

Vera remained in his arms, staring back at him with her usual calm expression.

Not a single emotion escaped onto his face.

Only his breathing revealed that he had just experienced something unexpected.

He slowly steadied himself.

Without speaking...

He gently lifted Vera back onto her feet.

His movements remained smooth, careful not to disturb the ending of the performance.

At almost the same moment...

Selena struck the final note.

The beautiful melody came to its natural conclusion.

Silence spread across the Grand Ballroom.

The Second Core had officially ended.

Ezra and Vera stood side by side.

Neither of them moved immediately.

Before them...

Thousands of students and servants remained completely frozen.

Many still hadn’t recovered from what they had just witnessed.

Several noble ladies covered their mouths.

Young gentlemen stared blankly toward the center of the ballroom.

Even the servants standing near the walls had forgotten the duties in their hands.

No one seemed willing to break the silence.

On the stage...

Selena slowly lowered her hands from the piano.

She drew in a deep breath.

Fine beads of sweat rested across her forehead and cheeks.

The rapid tempo she had maintained near the end had left both her hands slightly numb.

Even now...

A faint ache lingered in her fingers.

Despite that...

A beautiful smile slowly appeared across her face.

She rose gracefully from her seat.

For several seconds...

She simply looked toward Ezra and Vera.

Then...

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Her elegant applause echoed throughout the silent ballroom.

She smiled warmly as she continued clapping.

The thin layer of sweat upon her face somehow made her appear even more radiant beneath the chandelier lights.

The sound finally stirred everyone awake.

A second round of applause suddenly joined hers.

Clap!

Clap!

Students instinctively turned.

Veda stood near the dance floor, clapping with a broad smile filled with genuine pride.

"That was incredible."

He didn’t hide his admiration in the slightest.

Soon after...

Another familiar figure joined in.

Nina enthusiastically clapped harder than anyone else.

The excitement on her face couldn’t be hidden.

"My lady!"

She beamed proudly while continuing to applaud.

One person became ten.

Ten became dozens.

Within moments...

The entire Grand Ballroom erupted into thunderous applause.

The sound rolled through the hall like crashing waves.

Even the servants standing respectfully along the walls couldn’t help smiling as they joined in.

Many maids clapped happily.

Several butlers even allowed themselves faint smiles.

Among those applauding...

Even Diane quietly raised her hands.

Her expression remained composed as always.

Yet her applause never stopped.

Voices quickly rose above the celebration.

"Lady Vera!"

"Ezra!"

"Sir Ezra!"

"That was amazing!"

"I’ve never seen anything like that before!"

"Lady Selena was incredible too!"

"The three of you were absolutely amazing!"

"It felt like watching professionals!"

Praise poured in from every direction.

Some praised Ezra’s graceful lead.

Others admired Vera’s flawless movements.

Many couldn’t stop talking about Selena’s breathtaking performance.

To them...

The three had created something unforgettable.

The applause gradually transformed into excited chatter.

Students immediately began moving toward the center of the ballroom.

Many wanted to congratulate the three personally.

Many simply wanted to speak to them.

As expected...

The young ladies responsible for caring for Selena during every performance reacted first.

They hurried toward the stage before anyone else could reach her.

"Lady Selena!"

One girl quickly unfolded a fresh white hand towel before gently wiping away the sweat resting on Selena’s forehead.

Her movements remained careful, making sure not to disturb Selena’s makeup.

"That was unbelievable!"

Several girls spoke at the same time, unable to hide their excitement.

"It’s my first time seeing you perform like that!"

One of them blurted out.

The moment those words left her mouth...

She immediately realized how they sounded.

Her face turned slightly red.

"N-No... I didn’t mean it like that."

She hurriedly waved both hands.

"You’ve always played beautifully. But...Today’s performance was on a completely different level."

The other girls nodded repeatedly.

"Exactly."

"It was amazing."

Selena let out a small laugh.

Her smile remained gentle despite her obvious exhaustion.

"Thank you."

She answered softly.

"I’m glad everyone enjoyed it."

The girls smiled brightly in return before continuing to help her cool down.

Meanwhile...

Back at the center of the ballroom...

Ezra and Vera found themselves completely surrounded.

Students gathered from every direction until nearly every path leading away from the dance floor had been blocked.

Everyone wanted to speak to the pair who had become the undeniable stars of the Second Core.

No one wanted to miss the opportunity.

"Lady Vera!"

Several noble ladies eagerly pushed through the surrounding crowd, hoping to reach Vera first.

Before any of them could get close...

Nina smoothly stepped forward.

She spread one arm across Vera’s path while maintaining a polite smile.

"Please, everyone. The lady has just finished dancing. Let her catch her breath first."

Her voice remained respectful, but it carried enough authority that the students instinctively stopped where they were.

At that moment...

Nina looked less like a close follower and more like Vera’s personal bodyguard.

No one doubted that she would physically stop anyone who ignored her warning.

Standing beside her...

Zack immediately understood what she intended.

Without saying a word, he stepped to the opposite side and began helping her hold back the growing crowd.

The two worked surprisingly well together.

Whenever one student managed to squeeze through...

The other quietly redirected them.

Meanwhile...

The attention surrounding Ezra only continued to grow.

"Ezra!"

One young non-noble boy hurried over with sparkling eyes.

"You were so cool!"

His excitement couldn’t be hidden.

Another young noble stepped forward immediately afterward.

Unlike the first...

His expression was completely serious.

"Ezra."

He bowed politely.

"Would it be possible for you to introduce me to the dance instructor who taught you those movements? I’ve honestly never seen anything like them before."

The question immediately caught the attention of many nearby young nobles.

"Yes!"

"I’d like to know too."

Several voices quickly agreed.

Many of the boys nodded repeatedly.

None of them cared about gossip at that moment.

What truly interested them was the person capable of teaching ballroom techniques like the ones Ezra had just displayed.

If such an instructor existed...

They wanted to learn from them as well.

The young ladies, however, had an entirely different concern.

"Sir Ezra..."

One noble girl gathered her courage.

"Would you dance with me during the Third Core?"

Before Ezra could answer...

Another girl’s voice interrupted.

"Please dance with me instead!"

"No, with me!"

"Sir Ezra!"

The requests quickly overlapped.

One after another...

More young ladies joined in.

Some blushed while speaking.

Others confidently stepped forward without hesitation.

The lively atmosphere became even more chaotic than before.

Ezra simply remained quiet.

His expression barely changed.

He calmly followed behind Vera while Nina and Zack continued opening a path through the crowd.

Then...

Vera suddenly stopped walking.

Without saying anything...

She reached back and quietly took hold of Ezra’s hand.

Her fingers naturally wrapped around his.

"Follow me."

She spoke in her usual calm tone.

There wasn’t the slightest embarrassment in her voice.

To Vera...

Holding Ezra’s hand simply seemed like the fastest solution.

Ezra lowered his eyes toward their joined hands.

His gaze lingered there for a brief moment before shifting toward Vera’s back.

He didn’t ask any questions.

He simply allowed himself to be led.

Vera quietly observed the moving crowd ahead.

Her expression remained completely composed.

She patiently waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Then...

Her eyes caught a small opening between several students.

Without any warning...

She immediately changed direction.

Still holding Ezra’s hand...

She slipped through the narrow gap with astonishing speed.

Her movements were clean and light.

Almost effortless.

By the time the surrounding students realized what had happened...

The two had already disappeared into another section of the ballroom.

"Huh?"

"Where did Lady Vera go?"

"Wait..."

"Sir Ezra disappeared too!"

Several students hurriedly looked around in confusion.

Some even stood on their toes, trying to locate the pair.

Unfortunately...

They were already gone.

Nina quietly watched the direction Vera had disappeared.

A helpless smile appeared on her face.

"So, she did it again..."

She wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Zack simply let out a small laugh.

Neither of them attempted to chase after the two.

There wasn’t any need.

After all...

This wasn’t the first time Vera had suddenly vanished.

Whether during noble gatherings...

Royal banquets...

Or even family meetings back at the Ashenlocke estate...

Vera had developed an unusual habit.

Whenever crowds became too overwhelming...

She would quietly disappear without anyone noticing.

The Mainline children.

The Highline children.

Even the adults.

Almost everyone who knew her had experienced searching for her at least once.

Slipping through crowds had somehow become one of Vera’s hidden talents.

If she wanted to disappear...

Very few people could actually stop her.

Several moments later...

Ezra finally realized they had left the lively ballroom behind.

The noisy voices gradually faded.

The applause became distant.

Instead...

A peaceful silence welcomed them.

They had arrived at an elevated balcony hidden above one side of the Grand Ballroom.

The location was secluded.

Most students probably didn’t even know it existed.

The room connected to a small open balcony overlooking both the academy grounds and part of the ballroom below.

Ezra slowly looked around.

His blank black eyes quietly observed the surrounding walls, elegant pillars, and polished stone floor.

"How did you find this place?"

He asked in his usual calm voice.

Vera looked around once before answering.

"I found it while we were walking."

Her reply was as dry and straightforward as ever.

There wasn’t any dramatic explanation.

She had simply discovered it by chance.

The two slowly walked toward the stone railing together.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

Above them...

The night sky stretched endlessly.

The moon hung peacefully overhead, bathing the academy in a soft silver glow.

Countless stars sparkled across the heavens.

Their gentle light blended beautifully with the warm glow coming from the academy grounds below.

The courtyard outside the Grand Ballroom remained brightly illuminated.

Rows of elegant street lamps lined the stone pathways.

Their golden light stretched across the gardens, preventing the approaching night from swallowing the academy in darkness.

Looking farther into the distance...

Ezra could also see countless tiny points of light scattered throughout the academy’s central district.

From afar...

The lamps almost resembled another field of stars resting upon the earth.

A cool evening breeze quietly drifted across the balcony.

It brushed against their clothes before gently lifting Vera’s long black hair.

Since her ribbon had come loose during the final dance...

Her silky hair now flowed freely behind her.

The strands danced gently with the wind beneath the moonlight.

For several moments...

Neither of them spoke.

The peaceful silence somehow felt comfortable.

Then Vera quietly turned her head.

She looked at Ezra with her usual calm, unreadable expression.

"I’m honestly surprised by your dance."

Her voice remained soft.

"It didn’t feel like someone who had only recently learned."

She paused briefly.

"It felt... like you were dancing to express something."

Her eyes remained fixed on him.

"As though your movements were carrying feelings you couldn’t put into words."

She rested one elbow upon the stone railing.

Then she lightly supported her cheek with her palm.

Her posture looked completely relaxed.

Yet her sharp eyes never left Ezra.

"It almost felt...like you were longing to tell someone something through that dance."

The breeze quietly passed between them once more.

"I wonder... who could make you feel that way."

Despite the question...

Her tone carried no curiosity for gossip.

Nor was she teasing him.

She simply sounded as though she had calmly reached a conclusion after carefully observing him.

Silence settled over the balcony once again.

Only the distant music and cheerful voices drifting up from the Grand Ballroom accompanied the quiet night.

Ezra didn’t answer immediately.

Instead...

He quietly thought about Vera’s words.

His face remained as expressionless as always.

But deep inside...

He couldn’t deny his surprise.

He hadn’t expected Vera to notice something so close to the feelings hidden within his dance.

Ezra slowly lowered his gaze.

His eyes settled on the hand that had been holding Vera’s moments ago.

The warmth lingering in his palm hadn’t completely disappeared.

For some reason...

That simple sensation stirred a memory buried deep within him.

Claudia.

Her face quietly surfaced in his mind once again.

Fragments of the vision he had experienced during the dance flashed through his thoughts.

Her gentle smile.

Her warm voice calling his name.

The way she had looked at him.

Everything returned with painful clarity.

The peaceful atmosphere on the balcony suddenly felt much heavier.

Ezra remained silent.

His expression barely changed.

Yet beneath that calm exterior...

His thoughts slowly drifted deeper.

Only now did he truly realize something.

His previous self...

Had genuinely loved Claudia.

Not a passing affection.

Not admiration.

But a love so deep that even after death and reincarnation...

The regret had refused to disappear.

It had remained.

Waiting.

Just as the Chains of Regret had always shown him.

Within his mind...

That familiar image quietly appeared again.

A heavy black chain stretched endlessly from the depths of his heart.

The other end remained tightly bound to Claudia’s lifeless body.

No matter how far he walked...

The chain followed.

No matter how much time passed...

It never loosened.

It remained one of the strongest regrets left behind by the man he once was.

"...Ah."

Ezra slowly let out a quiet breath.

The cold night air left his lips as the countless thoughts gradually settled.

The image of the chain slowly faded from his mind.

Even now...

He still didn’t know how he was supposed to break every Chain of Regret left behind by his previous life.

Nor did he know how he would deal with the new regrets he would inevitably create in this one.

There was no answer.

No clear path.

Only uncertainty.

Yet...

One thing had never changed.

No matter what awaited him in the future...

He would continue walking.

He would continue searching for a way to live a long life.

Even if that path forced him to confront every regret again and again...

Even if those painful memories continued following him like shadows...

He wouldn’t stop.

Perhaps...

One day...

He would finally discover the answer.

A way to break every chain binding his heart.

Until then...

He would simply keep moving forward.

The silence lingered between the two of them.

Eventually...

Ezra lifted his head.

His calm eyes met Vera’s once more.

"I wonder... what made you think that."

His voice remained as flat and unreadable as ever.

It was impossible to tell whether he was denying her words or genuinely asking the question.

Vera quietly studied him.

Her expression didn’t change.

She simply looked into his eyes for several seconds before giving a small nod.

"I see..."

She answered in her usual calm tone.

Without saying anything else...

She slowly pushed herself away from the stone railing.

Both arms stretched comfortably above her head.

The movement looked relaxed after the long dance.

When she lowered them again...

She casually brushed a few loose strands of black hair behind her ear.

The evening breeze immediately tried to pull them free again.

"Well...I’m leaving."

She clasped both hands behind her back.

Her posture remained straight as she casually turned away.

She had only taken two steps before stopping again.

"And... Just so you know."

She spoke without looking back immediately.

After a brief pause...

She tilted her head slightly over her shoulder.

"I actually brought you here... because I wanted to ask you that question."

Her tone remained completely matter-of-fact.

As though she were discussing something entirely ordinary.

Then...

She slowly turned around to face him fully.

The moonlight quietly reflected in her dark eyes.

"With the atmosphere being like this..."

She paused for a brief moment.

"I was planning to kiss you when you weren’t paying attention."

She raised one slender finger.

Without the slightest embarrassment...

She gently touched the center of her pale pink lips.

Her face remained completely expressionless.

The shocking words left her mouth with the same calmness she used when talking about the weather.

Then...

She lowered her hand.

"But...I changed my mind."

Her eyes rested on Ezra.

"I’m still annoyed that you called me a kid."

She calmly pointed one finger toward him.

"Yes. I’m petty."

She gave a tiny nod as though confirming an undeniable fact.

"Of course, I’ll be petty."

Taking one small step closer...

She looked directly into Ezra’s eyes.

"Are you disappointed?"

A tiny pause followed.

"Well...Too bad."

There wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt in her voice.

Only her usual dry humor.

She turned around once more.

This time...

She genuinely began walking away.

After taking several steps...

She lightly raised one hand without turning back.

"Bye...Dancer."

She gave a small wave before continuing toward the exit of the hidden balcony.

Ezra quietly watched her leave.

The night breeze gently stirred the ends of Vera’s loosened black hair as she disappeared farther down the corridor.

For several moments...

He simply stood there without moving.

A faint, helpless feeling surfaced deep inside him.

"This girl..."

He muttered quietly to himself.

There was no annoyance in his voice.

Only quiet disbelief at how unpredictable Vera could be.

Just as she was about to disappear from sight...

Ezra finally spoke.

"Vera."

He called her name.

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