Mavis gazed quietly out at the sea, a long-lost sense of peace welling up in her heart as her thoughts gradually drifted back to the previous evening.
Mavis was sitting on a nearby stone, her eyes fixed on August with a look of deep anticipation and care. August sat opposite her, recounting past events in a gentle voice.
August had told her many things: about his birth, his meeting with Zeref, the origin of his name, and his experiences over the years in the Alvarez Empire. Finally, he spoke of his journey to the Kingdom of Fiore to see the guild Mavis had created, his encounter with Layla, and the year and more they had spent together.
August made no mention of the days after he had been abandoned by Precht, but Mavis knew well in her heart that those times had not been easy either.
Yet, in the end, August could not help but tell Mavis the reason he had come here: Layla. Noticing something unusual in August's words, Mavis had turned serious, and August had explained the whole sequence of events to her.
This time, August had been preparing to leave, but Layla had been full of concerns and somewhat anxious. That book seemed almost to have come to tell August certain things, and offhand remarks had intentionally or unintentionally reminded him of them. August had known that Mavis was still alive, but he had never imagined that Mavis would have a thought projection on this island; had Layla not spoken up, August would never have gone there.
Of course, August had his suspicions for several reasons.
First, under the influence of her confused memories at the time, Layla had been somewhat sensitive to August's name. Although Layla had covered it up, August had noticed, which caused him to pay a certain amount of attention to him.
Second, when August invited Layla to travel together, Layla's reaction had a calmness unfitting for his age. For a child with confused memories to still possess such good self-control and decisiveness was perhaps also born of a sliver of trust resulting from August saving him.
Third, from spending so much time together, Layla would sometimes reveal a mature side. Most importantly, along the way, when they went to see a doctor for treatment, Layla was not particularly concerned about being unable to recover his memories.
Fourth, regarding Layla's memory issues, he knew quite a bit of common knowledge about magic. When August was imparting magical knowledge to him back then, Layla was able to absorb it very well, yet he knew next to nothing about the continent, the countries, or other wizard guilds, having only the vaguest concept of them.
Amnesiac, yet knowledgeable about magic; seeming to have heard of August's name; his body and soul in conflict; and exhibiting a somewhat mature demeanor—all these points pointed to one conclusion: Layla's soul was very likely that of an outsider. However, August had been unable to detect how a soul had somehow ended up in Layla's body, nor why Layla was so unfamiliar with the common knowledge of this world.
The only remaining possibility was that one: Layla was not from this world. Mavis had also heard rumors of the existence of other parallel worlds, though she did not have much detailed information about them—including Edolas—and thus could not be certain of Layla's world.
Based on this possibility, the most convincing explanation for Mavis was that the version of him in Layla's world was an ordinary person—perhaps a parallel world devoid of magic, or one where Mages were exceedingly rare, such that Layla had never encountered them. As for why he was so clear on the relationship between Mavis and August, it might be that the versions of them in that parallel world had already recognized each other, and Layla simply knew of it. Of course, this was merely one possibility; given the diversity of parallel worlds, might there also be a possibility that Layla's world had a faster historical progression than this one, making him a future visitor from a different world?
Having arrived at this conclusion, with the full agreement of both Mavis and August, the matter of Layla was laid to rest by the two of them and never brought up again. After all, judging by Layla's current actions and behavior, there was no danger whatsoever; for the two of them, the mere fact that Layla had brought them back together was quite enough. Afterward, August sealed and encrypted those memories within both of their minds.
Yet had Layla known of Mavis and August's speculation, he would certainly have marveled at the boundless imagination of their theories. Unfortunately, people often overlook—or simply cannot imagine—higher-dimensional issues. And rightly so; after all, none of us would ever deny our own true existence and imagine that we merely live inside the pages of a book.
Through her interactions with Layla over this period, Mavis had also gradually understood and confirmed certain things. That hypothesis actually carried a very high probability!
"Layla, you truly are a good child," Mavis said, turning her head toward him.
"Ah, First Master, what are you saying?" Layla said, hurriedly packing away his things and rubbing his head with an embarrassed smile.
"Thank you for accompanying me on the shopping trip."
"Hehe, you're too polite, First Master. As long as you had a good time."
"Let's head back, then. I still want to go back and read." At the very mention of reading, a brilliant light would always ignite in Mavis's eyes.
"Alright."
Layla followed in Mavis's footsteps. Mavis walked leisurely ahead, while behind her, Layla cautiously spoke to Jerry, who was hiding in the breast pocket of Layla's jacket. Seeing Jerry stick out a thumb in a gesture of affirmation, Layla felt thoroughly satisfied, and the next moment Jerry's figure vanished.
Upon returning to the inn, Mavis bid Layla goodnight, told him to get a good rest, and eagerly hurried back to her own room to read.
With a soft acknowledgment, Layla went back to his room and walked over to the desk. Opening his backpack, he took out his diary and camera. Opening the diary, he recorded the events of the day, and then took out a stack of photographs. Among them were pictures of August and Mavis together; though August had seemed rather decisive when he left, who would have thought he would use telepathy to tell Layla to make sure to give him a copy of the photos later?
The remaining photos were pictures of Layla and Mavis shopping today. Layla selected several to paste into his diary, including candid shots he had snapped of Mavis: one of her bargaining with a magic shopkeeper, another of her eating, and others looking at roadside stalls on the street. Afterward, he carefully set two particular photos aside to be stored away properly.
Those two photos were: one of Mavis and August embracing, and one of Mavis's silhouette leaning against the railing and looking out at the sea in the evening. Layla planned to go out tomorrow to buy frames and mount them both.
In the adjacent room, Mavis's bedroom was illuminated by the soft glow of the bedside lamp, casting a cozy atmosphere. Mavis lay in bed in her pajamas, a soft quilt draped over her body. An open book lay beside her pillow, suggesting she had drifted off to sleep unawares while reading. The room was quiet and serene, broken only by the gentle sound of Mavis's breathing and the rustle of the night breeze brushing against the leaves outside the window.
In the quiet night, as Layla lay in bed, he thought back to the moment August had thanked him. In truth, Layla knew very well that despite having lived across two lifetimes, he was still only a man in his early twenties; ever since he had agreed to travel with August, those little slips were bound to show.
Because of his deep admiration for August, Layla invariably viewed them through the lens of that fictional perspective. Knowing their history and their character, trust naturally took root in Layla's heart—and it was precisely this unconscious trust that had caused him to let down his guard.