Chapter 7
Ignoring the brief interlude, they walked side-by-side to the entrance of the Velvet Room.
The two lolitas hopped down from the door.
“You’ve arrived, Trickster,” the girl with the buns said curtly.
The girl with the braid remained silent.
They both ignored Yu, who stood beside Ren.
As residents of the Velvet Room, even in their altered state, they knew only guests of the Velvet Room could enter. The Velvet Room existed in the seams of one’s heart, invisible to ordinary people.
However, before them stood Yu Narukami, a former guest who had successfully completed his rehabilitation.
Yu asked, puzzled, “What do you mean by ‘Trickster’?”
This time, Caroline and Justine, along with Ren, looked at Yu in surprise, as if they had seen something astonishing.
“You can see us?!”
“No, there can’t be two Tricksters in the cage at once! Who is he?!”
“But he has the key to the Velvet Room.”
After a brief exchange, their surprise subsided. The two lolitas in blue uniforms reverted to their usual demeanor. However, due to Yu’s presence, they refrained from their usual taunts towards Ren, instead inviting them inside.
Ren tugged at his hair.
He was the only one subjected to such treatment…
Stepping into the Velvet Room, Ren found himself, as always, inside the cell, his clothes replaced by prison garb, the chains on his wrists clinking. Igor and the two young wardens stood in their usual places.
Everything was as usual, except for Yu standing outside the cell, a strange look in his eyes.
“This is… the Velvet Room? It looks… unique.” Yu’s tone was laced with doubt.
He then looked at Igor. “Mr. Igor, long time no see?”
Igor looked the same, perhaps even kinder than Yu remembered. At least his sinister appearance wasn’t as terrifying. Yet, strangely, he gave Yu an unsettling feeling, a hidden oddity that made Yu frown slightly.
Because Tokyo had given him the same feeling.
But this was the Velvet Room.
Igor didn’t speak, merely observing Yu with a strange gaze that made him seem even more peculiar. If this weren’t the Velvet Room, Yu would have doubted Igor’s authenticity.
Thinking this, Yu glanced back, meeting Ren’s gaze inside the cell.
Ren: …
Yu: …
What a terrible outfit.
The last time he’d seen such a dreadful outfit was on Kanji Tatsumi in the other world. But Kanji’s had been a mental and emotional trauma, while Ren’s was more of a worldview assault. After all, being dressed in prison garb, chained, and locked in a cell was disturbingly suggestive.
Yu hesitantly asked, “Do the seams of the soul also need to subtly express themselves?”
Ren: …?
No! Wrong! Impossible! He would never express himself in such a way!
Understanding Ren’s unspoken protest, Yu added, “But you are in a cell.”
“Of course, a Trickster belongs in a cell,” one of the blue-clad girls replied. “More importantly, why are you outside?”
Caroline and Justine had incomplete memories. They only knew they were wardens, tasked with assisting their master in rehabilitating the prisoner in the cell. They had never considered the possibility of someone outside the cell. If he wasn’t in the cell, did he need rehabilitation?
With this thought, the two wardens turned to Igor.
Igor finally shifted his position, resting his chin on his hand, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Yu.
“An outsider illegally possessing a Metaverse Navigator and using unconventional means to enter the Velvet Room. What is your purpose?”
Yu paused.
Ren, in his second playthrough, knew this was the false god. This imposter, impersonating Igor, didn’t recognize Yu, so he would reveal more flaws in Yu’s presence. This was why Ren had brought Yu here.
Since he had been given a second chance and a powerful ally, he had to rectify the regrets of his past life, starting with bringing back the real Igor and Lavenza.
Yu’s silence filled the Velvet Room, and Ren, inside the cell, grew tense.
Just as Ren expected Yu to confront the imposter, Yu spoke.
“Your voice,” Yu said. “Mr. Igor, your voice sounds strange.”
Ren: …
That was the first thing he questioned?
Ren, without Morgana as his mouthpiece, finally broke his silence. “Don’t you think he’s acting strange?”
Yu glanced at him, replying calmly, “He is acting strange.”
“After all, Mr. Igor wouldn’t call me an outsider or accuse me of illegally entering the Velvet Room. He gave me the key himself.”
But then Yu’s demeanor shifted, his calmness replaced by naiveté. “But his voice is really strange. Even if he’s a fake and looks exactly the same, why wouldn’t he disguise his voice?”
Ren didn’t know either. Perhaps the imposter assumed he had never met Igor, so he hadn’t bothered to disguise his voice.
‘Igor’ wasn’t foolish. Yu’s arrival in the Velvet Room had alerted him to the anomaly. A former guest, who had left the Velvet Room, had somehow returned and instantly recognized him as a fake.
The game had just begun, the pieces just set in place, and a disruptor had appeared.
‘Igor’ pointed at Yu and ordered the blue-clad wardens, “Expel the outsider.”
Caroline and Justine obeyed, approaching Yu. Yu stepped back, placing himself in front of Ren, a subtle protective gesture. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening in the Velvet Room, but he knew its residents weren’t ordinary.
Last year, he had fought a fierce battle against Margaret, nearly losing even with his max-level Izanagi. Of course, back then, he hadn’t yet obtained Izanagi-no-Okami.
Ren, having also sparred with the wardens, knew they were formidable opponents. He placed his chained hand on Yu’s back, whispering, “That’s a false god. It devoured Igor and took control of the Velvet Room. If we drive it away, Igor will return.”
“I can’t do it yet, but you can. I’m sure of it.”
Yu didn’t question how Ren knew this. He simply spread his arms, shielding Ren.
“Understood.”
The glowing Arcana card shattered in Yu’s hand, and the white Izanagi-no-Okami materialized, momentarily stunning Caroline and Justine.
Izanagi-no-Okami was a “World” Arcana Persona. Every “World” Persona represented miracles and was the ultimate goal of the Velvet Room’s assistance to its guests. Lavenza, despite being split and losing her memories, still retained her subconscious knowledge.
“Eliminate him,” the false god commanded again.
But even Margaret had barely managed to defeat him. Now, with Izanagi-no-Okami, Yu was practically invincible. The fragmented Lavenza was no match for him.
After knocking out the wardens, Yu pointed his blade at ‘Igor,’ who sat calmly at the long table.
“You’re next.”
“The price of disrupting rehabilitation is not one you can afford,” the false god warned Yu. “Think carefully.”
Izanagi-no-Okami’s blade swung in response, thunder and lightning crackling. The false god levitated onto the table, glancing at Yu before choosing not to engage directly.
It sensed the power of rules and the world within Yu’s Persona, a power that could restrain it.
Izanagi-no-Okami possessed the power to slay gods.
The false god, sensing its disadvantage, vanished from the Velvet Room. Yu looked around, unable to pinpoint its location without Rise’s analysis. After a moment of hesitation, he turned and slashed the bars of Ren’s cell.
Ren sighed in relief.
“I thought you forgot about me.”
“How could I possibly forget?” Yu looked Ren up and down, his gaze fixed on his attire. “This outfit is truly awful.”
Ren shrugged, then raised his chained wrists, gesturing for Yu to cut them free.
Once the chains fell away, Ren quickly approached the unconscious Caroline and Justine, placing them on the guillotine platform. Yu watched Ren’s actions, then glanced at the gleaming blade above, hesitating.
“Are you going to silence them?”
“No, it’s an execution,” Ren replied.
Yu: …
Was there a difference?
Yu, accustomed to Igor simply waving his hand to fuse Personas in the Velvet Room, had never witnessed an execution fusion.
“They don’t seem like the false god’s followers. They seem more like they’ve been deceived,” Yu continued.
Ren nodded. “I know.”
So he knew, and he was still going to silence them?
“I’m vengeful. They bullied me, so I’m getting even.” Ren, realizing Yu’s misunderstanding, decided to mislead him further instead of explaining.
Yu hesitated again.
“So this is your way of helping them?”
Ren turned to Yu. “Is that what you think?”
“I don’t think you’re the type to hurt others out of revenge, and you’re more familiar with this strange Velvet Room than I am.” Yu looked around the unsettling room. “A cage, wardens, execution… perhaps many of the normal procedures in my Velvet Room are different here.”
“And there’s no resentment in their eyes.”
Yu then dismissed Izanagi-no-Okami.
He smiled faintly. “So you’re helping them, right?”
Ren: …
He turned back to the guillotine, a strange feeling washing over him.
Rarely did anyone trust him so implicitly.
Ren was quiet but had a mischievous side. Sometimes he even enjoyed watching his own antics unfold, like when he suggested writing an article about “the rumored delinquent transfer student who’s a murderer” for the school newspaper. While Ryuji and Ann didn’t believe he was a killer, they hadn’t trusted him completely at first glance either.
Only Yu, faced with such a disturbing scene, even as he placed the girls on the guillotine, believed he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
And he wasn’t.
“Execution… in your Velvet Room, it’s called Persona fusion,” Ren finally explained.
Yu’s eyes widened in realization, and he nodded seriously. “…Impressive.”
Ren: …
That strange compliment left him speechless once more.
The guillotine blade fell. With a flash of light, the two blue-clad wardens merged, transforming before Yu’s eyes into a single girl in a blue uniform.
The girl clutched a book, glanced at them, then collapsed.
Just as Yu moved to catch her, another woman in a blue uniform appeared, catching her.
“Margaret?” Yu looked at the woman in surprise. “You’re back?”
“Yes, thank you, guest,” Margaret smiled, holding Lavenza. “Thanks to you, I was able to return to the Velvet Room.”
Ren hadn’t expected to see another person in the Velvet Room.
When Yu had mentioned Margaret, he hadn’t believed it, as he had never met anyone named Margaret in his previous life. But then again, he had met Yu in this life, so another Velvet Room resident he didn’t recognize wasn’t that surprising.
“What happened?”
Margaret smiled, carrying Lavenza towards the back of the room. “After helping the guest find Marie, I prepared to return to the Velvet Room, but I couldn’t enter. After investigating, I discovered that our master had been usurped and, to protect us, sealed the entrance to the Velvet Room at the last moment.”
“This is my little sister. She’s still young. She stayed by our master’s side after I left. The false god split her into two and erased her memories.”
Margaret glanced at Ren. “Thank you as well, new guest. If it weren’t for you, Lavenza wouldn’t have returned to her original form.”
Ren shook his head. “She kept reminding me in my dreams.”
Margaret smiled. “No, it’s because you trusted her that her reminders worked. Guest, you deserve our gratitude.”
“Our master will return soon. Now that it’s outside the Velvet Room, it can no longer suppress him.” Margaret placed Lavenza on a long chair, coughed, then smiled. “Now, allow me to say these long-awaited words.”
“Welcome to the Velvet Room.”
“This time, it’s the true Velvet Room.”
