Natsume and Elima went inside the tent. Although it looked a bit small from the outside, it had enough space for a table and two chairs, a hammock, a chest to store clothing as some little shelves with food.

-Sit down- said Elima to Natsume. -Let me prepare something. I’m sure you’re hungry after that fight.

Natsume sat down in silence as Elima prepared some tea and pastries and put them on the table. The commander handed a cup of tea to the girl, who stared at it with her usual sad eyes before sipping a bit. Then, Elima picked up a scroll and a weird-looking pen.

-OK then, as I said, I need to fill this form for your registration. It won’t take long- explained Elima. -Please, give me true answers, understood? I know your name already, Natsume Kumojima, right?

Natsume nodded and Elima wrote the name down on the paper.

-Age?- asked Elima.

-Sixteen… Still a few months away from seventeen- answered Natsume. Elima did some calculations while moving her fingers and noted it down as well.

-Great. Pronouns?- asked Elima.

-Pro- pronouns?- asked Natsume back with confused look.

-You know, are you a boy, a girl, any other recognized gender in your world?- asked Elima.

-Oh, I’m a girl- answered Natsume. She still didn’t understand the question, but Elima murmured “she/her” as she wrote it down.

-Occupation?- asked Elima.

-I’m not working yet, I’m a student- answered Natsume. Elima looked at the girl, as if inquiring some explanation. -You know, I’m underage, I can’t have a full-time job so I study at a school…

-Ooooh, now I get it- replied Elima.

The “conversation” kept going for a while. The commander asked different kinds of questions including her health condition, skills, hobbies and so on. Some of those questions seemed pointless to Natsume, but she answered them all. After a while…

-OK, this is the last question. What is your wish?- asked Elima.

That question shocked Natsume, opening her eyes as wide as possible.

-My… my wish?- repeated Natsume.

-Yeah, I need to know your wish- explained Elima. -Remember that Blitz told you about certain rules for wishes? I need to make sure that your wish meets the conditions. It would be pointless to win everything and not getting your wish, don’t you think?

Natsume lowered her head. She could feel her heat beating faster, much before than during their battle. She took a deep breath to calm down.

-My wish is… to become a professional soccer player in the future- answered Natsume.

The girl expected Elima to write that down as well, but the commander remained frozen for a bit. Elima closed her eyes, sighed and left the paper and pen on the table.

-What a shame- said Elima. -Everything was going so smoothly, you almost got it. You’ve been honest all this time. Why did you have to lie to me at the very end?

Natsume was shocked. Shaking a bit, she looked at Elima, who had a slight smile on her face.

-I… I didn’t lie- answered Natsume.

-Yes, you did- said Elima firmly. -So why don’t we try it again, OK? I make a question and you give me an honest answer. Now, what is your wish?

The girl stuttered a bit, but the woman waited patiently.

-Well, I… I want to get a scholarship for a college with a good soccer team- said Natsume.

-Sorry, I’m not buying that. Try again- instantly replied Elima.

Every time Natsume said something, Elima rejected it with the same happy face. After a while, the girl was nervous.

-OK, enough!- exclaimed Natsume. -All you say is “lie, lie, lie”, but you can’t know I’m lying, right?

Elima looked at the girl as she panted. She got a bit serious.

-I’m sorry, maybe I was a bit cold- apologized Elima. -You see, everyone in this world have some kind of power or several of them. You can’t become a commander like me without having a few tricks under your sleeve. In my case, well… someone helped me learn a very useful power that earned me a few awards. You see… my eyes can see when someone is telling me the truth or not. Some people nicknamed me “The Living Lie Detector”.

Natsume didn’t say anything, but her face was quite revealing. As she lowered her head, she knew it was futile to keep lying.

-You understand now. You can keep making lies all you want, but I will see through them all- explained Elima. -This is not a reason for disqualification, but… well, the registration time ends tomorrow and I can’t do it without filling this form. We can be here all the time you want, but time is running out. If that wish is that important for you, you should tell me. Nobody else will know.

Natsume remained silent for a while, looking down to her knees. As she grabbed the end of her shorts with her hands anxiously, she took a deep breath.

-Is that… is that really the last question?- asked Natsume. -If I tell you the truth, there won’t be any other questions, right?

-That’s right. Answer this and we are finished. No more questions after this one- explained Elima.

-Do you promise?- asked Natsume insisting.

-I give you my word as a knight: no more questions for the day… or night, it’s already quite late- answered Elima.

Natsume sighed and raised her head to look at Elima.

-All right… I’ll tell you. My wish is… to erase my mind- answered Natsume.

Silence filled the ambient. Elima remained still, without writing anything, but for a different reason this time. In her head, the commander believed she misheard.

-Sorry, can you repeat that?- asked Elima. -I think I got distracted and heard something different.

-My wish is to erase my mind- repeated Natsume insisting in every word.

No, Elima didn’t misheard and her eyes knew it was not a lie, but still couldn’t believe what she heard. She took her right hand to her head.

-Sorry, but what do you exactly mean by that? You mean relearning something, maybe forgetting a memory or...- said Elima trying to find a meaning.

-I want to erase everything in me- answered Natsume. -My memories, my feelings, my consciousness, my will, my self-awareness… Just everything. I just want to become an… empty husk so to say.

Slowly, Elima’s face changed from confusion to sadness. She was speechless, staring at that girl with sad look who moved her eyes again to the ground.

-Well, let me say… I mean...- stuttered Elima nervously. -You know, some of those things come from your heart, so you probably want that too… No, what am I saying? What I mean is… are you sure? If you do that… do you understand what that means? You won’t be able to… I don’t know, move around, interact with others, do stuff… You’ll probably keep breathing, that’s automatic but… I mean, it’s not even like becoming vegetative, it’s like… being dead alive!

Elima exclaimed that last part as she stood up, putting her hands on the table. The more she looked at the sad girl, the more nervous she got.

-I mean… why? Why such a young girl as you would want such a… horrible and painful wish?- asked Elima.

-I… I already answered your question. I don’t have to say anything more- murmured Natsume with sad voice.

Those words took Elima aback, making her fall back on her seat.

-You said no more questions about this. You gave your word- insisted Natsume. -So… I don’t want to say it.

Elima panted a bit. For a moment, she doubted if the girl already planned that situation. How could she know the commander would keep her word? Still, she promised it, and for her, a knight always fulfilled their promises. Putting all her effort to put her frustration at one side, she smiled again and looked at Natsume.

-You’re… you’re right. A promise is a promise. Let me just… write it here- said Elima as she grabbed the paper and the pen and wrote down “Erasing her mind”. -Well, everything’s in order so… we’re done. Tomorrow at sunrise, we’ll walk towards the capital and I’ll register you. It’s still a few hours away so why don’t you sleep here? I’ll stand watch just in case.

Natsume nodded and went towards the hammock. She lied on it and closed her eyes. Silently, the commander put aside the cups of tea and walked outside. Deep inside, she was frustrated. She didn’t want to leave things like that, but she couldn’t do anything at that moment. The woman sighed and from inside her armor, she took a small pendant. She opened it and looked inside it with sadness.

-Ah… What would you do? Is this the same as… I’m not sure- said Elima like talking to someone else. -I can’t just let her do that, right?

Knowing she wouldn’t get any answer, Elima closed the pendant and stored it inside her armor again. Then, she looked at the sky.

-Well, there’s always the chance… that she loses- said Elima to herself. -Her power hasn’t awakened yet, and without it, there’s no way she can go through the preliminaries. Maybe I don’t need to do anything to stop her… I’ll… I’ll wait and see what happens.