Kir couldn't tell how long it was until the Stranger returned.
When she did, he was in the middle of staring into the abyss of his mana gate, pondering what would happen to himself if he stepped through it.
He'd tried, once or twice, but each time he put so much as a finger into the darkness, a sudden and all-consuming dread filled him. And if he tried to put any mental objects into it, the objects simply disintegrated into black dust, which disappeared as soon as it touched anything.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Stranger said as he tried reaching in one more time.
"Why not?" he asked as soon as he recovered from jumping at her sudden presence. "You wouldn't happen to have remembered your name by now?"
"Hmm... You can name me. And as to why not: Sure it'll get you outside, but you'll kind of be stuck there."
"Outside of what? I'm trapped in my own head, and while I think my body is moving, the only candidate for using it is probably Kiryu."
