Fellow Sufferers (4)
It was not only the soldiers of the Magic Kingdom who lost their lives in the war. Innocent young men of the Holy Kingdom, too, had been dragged without warning into a conflict that erupted overnight, and they bled for it.
Those who died above the waters of Tatancour were drawn, somehow, by an unknown force, and gathered upon a single island. Their number reached at least several thousand.
A place where the aura of death grew so dense that even migratory birds would not land.
That was how the place called Ghost Island came into being.
"It's the Saintess!"
"Ah— the Goddess has not abandoned us after all."
"But why in a place so wretched as this?"
On the way back, Tirya and the mage encountered the souls of the Holy Kingdom. Roughly several dozen of them had coalesced into one vast mass of spirit. Because they had believed in the Holy Spirit Church, their forms remained pure white.
"Why do you remain here instead of passing on?"
"We cannot ascend of our own will. Some unknown power has bound our souls."
"The grudge is too deep— we simply cannot go up!"
"I had a family to feed, and I was conscripted and died like this. Ahhh! What will become of my old mother and my little siblings now!"
"Be calm, my brothers. The Goddess will look after the families you left behind."
When she pressed her hands together and offered a prayer, the souls that had been pouring out their rage grew quiet for a moment. The divine power Tirya radiated was endlessly soft and warm to the faithful.
"May you all go to a good place. In the next life, let there be only joy and glory."
Ordinarily, the souls of the Holy Kingdom would pass on after that. But the spirits bound to this island seemed to lack something still.
"It's all because of the Magic Kingdom. If they had never started this war…!"
"Please, Saintess! Bring down the Goddess's iron hammer upon the mages!"
"Yes. Of course I will."
"But Saintess— who is that man behind you?"
Tirya's mouth closed.
"Those clothes— isn't that a Magic Kingdom officer's uniform?"
"Don't tell me he's a mage?"
"Yes. He is."
The souls stirred. As the soldiers pressed her for an explanation of how such a thing could be, Tirya soothed them carefully and told them everything that had happened, without omission.
"We ended up shipwrecked, somehow. We're only traveling together for a while so we can find a safe way off the island."
"That's absurd. What mage would ever help the Saintess?"
"He must be harboring some dark design. You must never trust him!"
People see only what they want to see, and hear only what they want to hear. Death did not change that. No matter how hard Tirya tried to tell them about the mage, the souls refused to listen and only grew more furious.
"A magic stone officer— isn't that the kind of man who makes the magic stones that go into drones? I lost my life to one of the Magic Kingdom's unmanned aircraft!"
"So he's the one who builds killing machines. How can something that wears a human face create weapons so cruel and monstrous?"
"Saintess, I died to magic. It was so bitterly unfair. Even if this island weren't holding me, I couldn't pass on— I'm too full of resentment."
"You mustn't. My brothers. You have to go up. The Goddess is calling you."
"Then at the very least, kill that mage right here. We're begging you. Even if it's only you, Saintess, you must return safely."
"If that man turns on you, it'll be too late! Please, kill the mage!"
"Saintess! You must think of your own sacred person first!"
Tirya had been feeling a strange sense of déjà vu for some time. At last she thought she understood what it was.
The Magic Kingdom soldiers she had met at dawn. Hadn't they, too, begged the man to kill her and Rachel, to settle their own grudges?
Ah— a small sigh slipped out.
"I'm sorry. I cannot kill this man."
"Saintess! Why on earth not!"
"Survival. Because of survival. This mage can do things I cannot. Even though I hold the status of a military chaplain, I will not exercise summary execution authority."
The pistol at her hip felt unusually hard. She had not yet shown the man the gun. If she waited for a moment when his guard was down, she could kill him easily enough.
But then what?
This was an island thick with ghosts. Among them were the vengeful spirits of Magic Kingdom soldiers. And the only one who could console those violent souls was, ironically, this man— not her, the Saintess.
"Saintess, please. You're making a terrible mistake. All mages are demons who know nothing of faith…"
That was when the mage stepped forward. He had been watching the situation quietly from behind, and now he moved.
"The mage is about to attack!"
"Everyone, protect the Saintess!"
"We're already dead— how are we supposed to protect anyone!"
"Run! Saintess!"
The man's gaze fixed on the Holy Kingdom souls one after another. His eyes, black as if squeezed from ink, were deep and profound, carrying a force that overwhelmed even the already dead. It was the kind of presence high-ranking mages typically possessed— an air of authority.
But contrary to the impression that he was about to unleash attack magic at any second, the man interlaced his fingers. Then, in calm Ascalian, he spoke a single sentence.
"In the next life, may there be only joy and glory."
His pronunciation was clumsy. But it was unmistakably a prayer— a requiem meant to soothe souls who had died unjustly.
Tirya and the spirits alike fell silent mid-word.
Only one thought remained: How?
"What… what is this?"
"Why is a mage saying a Holy Spirit Church prayer?"
"Was he a believer?"
"But our church treats every mage as an enemy. This doesn't make sense!"
While the flustered souls milled about unable to reach a conclusion, the man continued.
"I do not know what kind of people you were."
"What's he saying?"
"Does anyone here speak Magic Kingdom?"
"Don't even listen. It'll just be garbage anyw—"
"…I do not know what kind of people you were."
The ghosts' attention turned to Tirya. Each time the man finished a sentence, she moved her lips to translate.
"Even so, I know that you were innocent sacrifices in this war. I am in no position to speak for the Magic Kingdom— but as an officer belonging to that nation, I ask your forgiveness. Please… rest in peace."
In that instant, the souls that had been so furiously enraged fell completely still.
The Saintess was having a hard time helping the Holy Kingdom souls pass on. My presence, it seemed, had become a stumbling block in their hearts.
At this rate we would never reach the beach on time. I carefully watched the prayer and posture the Saintess recited, then used the strategy of simply copying her.
The result was a resounding success.
"They're gone."
Having finished the prayer of passage, the Saintess turned around. An orange light like sunset was turning in her eyes.
"Did you know how to speak Ascalian?"
"I only copied what you were doing. Honestly, I don't even really know what I said."
"I see."
The Saintess lifted the corner of her mouth. Her eyes had already shifted to blue. A deep blue— the color that marked emotions like sorrow or pity.
"The souls were surprised. They said they could feel sincerity in your prayer. That some of their bitterness had eased."
"I find that hard to believe."
"It must have been true. They didn't pass on when I prayed alone, did they? There are times like that— when an enemy's genuine apology brings more comfort than a comrade's consolation."
I let out a breath. My head was a tangle of thoughts.
"I never imagined I'd see a soul pass on with my own eyes."
"I know. What on earth could the reason be? Could the Holy Eye have taken root in this man…? No, that's far too much of a leap."
"From what I can tell, something about that lake is involved."
It was the only incident that could reasonably account for the change. Being dragged under by a water spirit while bathing.
At this point, the mysterious man who had told me to wash myself here was starting to look suspicious.
"Anyway, I was surprised. A mage saying a Holy Spirit Church prayer. You keep throwing me into confusion."
"Because I'm a mage, not a magician."
Of course, mages didn't tend to be particularly religious either.
The Saintess smiled faintly.
"Perhaps we're in the same boat."
"What's so new about that?"
We had fallen onto an uninhabited island and been forced to cooperate. That was all.
Out here in the wild, we could only be fellow sufferers.
We returned to camp around sunset. The campfire had gone out completely, so the Saintess summoned the Valkyrie and began to dress her down.
The Valkyrie, who rarely showed any change of emotion, was trembling like a reed. It didn't seem to be because her superior was scolding her.
I approached from behind the Saintess as she quietly needled the Valkyrie.
"That should be enough."
"Hyaaah?! D-don't sneak up from behind like that!"
Strange. I thought I'd made plenty of noise approaching.
I'd been so focused on the Saintess since this morning that I'd completely forgotten the Valkyrie had a trauma with fire. I looked down at the dead campfire and blinked.
When you thought about it, it wasn't a major problem.
"Fire management is a matter of life and death. I assumed of course you'd be handling it properly. Haa… lighting it again is going to take forever…"
"I'll light it again."
"How? With magic?"
"Strictly speaking, yes. I have a magic stone I use as flint."
"Flint?"
"This."
"You should have said you had that!"
I powdered the mushrooms I'd gathered earlier from the rotting wood, then struck a spark and transferred it. Eating wild mushrooms was practically suicide, so using them as tinder like this was far safer.
I cleared away the ash, broke twigs into fine pieces, and set them on top. Feeding the flame carefully with breath, I gradually built the heat until a fairly warm glow began to rise.
"The wood isn't fully dry. The efficiency isn't great."
"Still, this is better than nothing."
The Saintess and I grilled the fish the Valkyrie had caught, along with some herbs. The Valkyrie herself was a short distance away, refining a wooden spear and a fishing rod.
"I forgot to mention it. I heard that girl's house burned down in a fire the mages started, and she lost her parents as well."
"…Ah. So that's why she couldn't manage the fire."
"She couldn't even bring herself to get close. She seems to have an especially severe trauma with flames that leap and surge. Let's be understanding about today."
"I'm curious, though. How did she fight all this time? On the battlefield, fires must have been breaking out everywhere— pure chaos. How did she endure it?"
"It means her anger is greater than her fear, doesn't it? Thinking of it that way, even an enemy is a little pitiable. Ah— there. That should be enough. It's done."
Two pieces of fish, some tree fruit, and vegetables roasted straight from nature. By wilderness standards, this was a feast.
I portioned out one serving into a stone bowl first and stood.
"Here."
The Valkyrie turned her head.
"Don't just keep working on tools. You need to eat and keep your strength up if you're going to do anything."
"Give it to the Colonel first."
"Her first? No. The person who brought the meat eats first."
Meals here didn't go by rank. Whoever brought the meat was king.
Fish especially— if you cooked it well, there was little risk of poisoning or stomach trouble, and herbs made it easy to kill the fishy smell. In this wilderness, it was top-tier food.
"Take it. My arm's going to fall off. Or do you want me to feed you like last time?"
After a moment of hesitation, the Valkyrie took the stone bowl. I waited until she brought the grilled fish to her mouth, then turned away.
"Ha— h-hiiik."
Kid, why can't you just let it cool first?
By the time we finished eating, the sun had sunk about two-thirds of the way below the horizon. Truly not long until nightfall.
In the brief free time, I set to work on mapmaking.
Calling it a map was generous— it was just drawing pictures on a rock with magic. Taking our current position as the zero point, I roughly sketched out the paths we'd already explored.
Once the map was reasonably complete, I planned to gather food and resources and work out our next destination.
Tonight, the Valkyrie and I would take the first watch. The Saintess had burned through so much divine power since dawn that she needed to recharge.
I'd wondered whether a Saintess could really run out of divine power— but it wasn't that. It was a stamina problem. Using power drained her energy too, so she needed proper sleep.
With nothing much to do on watch, I became the Valkyrie's conversation partner.
"Uh… eum… goo' night?"
"Yeah."
Calling it conversation was generous— we were really just trading a few words. The Valkyrie's pronunciation was still so rough it was almost cute. From her perspective, mine was probably about the same.
Most of our talking happened through the body. I would point somewhere and ask what it was, and the Valkyrie would give me the matching word.
"Moon? Sea? Tree? Sand?"
After a few rounds I got the hang of it quickly and started picking up words fast.
"Youu? Mee?"
We learned personal pronouns too.
The slight drawl was a flaw, but it was a passing grade. At least it was understandable.
"Youu, mee. And…"
I could roughly tell what word she wanted to know.
"We."
"We?"
"Yeah. We."
"We. We. We."
"Good."
Pronunciation perfect.
Just babbling basic words over and over like an infant— I let out a sigh. We weren't children. What was this?
Maybe I should swallow my pride and ask the Saintess to teach me Ascalian?
The thought had barely formed when—
"Goo'?"
My mind stopped.
Ah, damn it. She was clearly the enemy. A Valkyrie. The enemy of my comrades.
"Mage, goo'? What does that mean?"
After a brief struggle, I sorted my thoughts.
Right. No need to rush. Learning a little slowly would be fine.