The Sun's Priestess (2)
“Divine illness....” Yes, this was divine illness. Those who wielded the power of the stars were fundamentally mediums. They were beings who summoned the abilities of the constellations they served into their bodies and manifested them in the world. If the body could not sufficiently control the constellation’s power, it could fall into divine illness and collapse, just like this. And if Eclipse was in this state....
‘She still hasn’t properly accepted even the first power. Or perhaps... she never even received Hawk’s baptism. Simply realizing the truth of her own bloodline might have triggered this. That’s what it means to be a medium.’
Eternal Eclipse was a game with a peculiar structure. While its latter half was riddled with shallow, rushed developments, the early and middle sections boasted an impressive narrative, richly illuminating the fates of the characters clashing within the academy. In short, it was a game that perfectly embodied the phrase “dragon’s head, snake’s tail.”
Even so, the fact that the first half was the dragon’s head remained unchanged. As I accumulated knowledge through repeated playthroughs, I naturally came to consider certain possibilities. ‘If meeting the Aligners makes you stronger, then why not twist things around and meet them first? Wouldn’t that be an easy win?’
Of course, the protagonist Eclipse would meet the Aligners. Each time she received their baptism, she would reach a new, vastly superior stage of power. If one wanted to make the game easier, they could use the freedom of the early and middle sections to locate the Aligners as quickly as possible and perhaps unlock that power early to sweep through everything. But the developers would never allow such a thing. They had implemented a system to block that method, and that system manifested as the very “divine illness” I was witnessing now.
It was complicated to explain, but in simple terms, it was a level restriction. If one met an Aligner at an inappropriate time, the body unable to fully accept the sun’s power would waste away and die. Eclipse had clearly fallen victim to that system. Setting everything else aside, seeing this left me deeply unsettled.
‘...I was careless. I thought it was about time to help her unlock the first power, so I brought Hawk along.’
Of course, that judgment itself wasn’t wrong. If this were the original story after the field training ended, Hawk—furious over Hilken’s death—would have stirred up trouble everywhere, forcing a meeting. After hearing about the world from him, she would receive the baptism at the standard timing. So unless someone played in an excessively arrogant manner, the divine illness event from this first leap almost never occurred. After all, this was the unlocking of the first power. If the hurdle was too high at that point, all the new players who had just started would suddenly die mysterious deaths, wiped out without understanding why. No sane developer would design it that way.
Still, relying on my veteran’s animal instincts, I had thought this timing would be safe for the two of them to meet. Reality proved slightly different. Eclipse was currently so weak that she couldn’t even accept that much. And this was probably... my responsibility.
Think about it. On the stage where she should have shone, I had unintentionally slaughtered all the enemies. During the period when she needed to focus on training, I had provided entertaining activities, letting her enjoy the delightful countryside-girl life after coming up to the capital. I had been running so frantically that I never looked back. Looking at it that way, there was no way she could have grown physically through such a process.
Upon closer inspection, there had been signs. After receiving Solaris from me, during her spar with Gorgo, she had been unable to control that power and looked as though she were being devoured by it. I should have guided her then at the very least. Instead, I failed to account for the risk of things turning out this way and brought Hawk to the academy simply because I thought the time had come. Perhaps that had been nothing more than my own selfish desire to handle matters in an orderly fashion, acting like a lone wolf.
Thus, I couldn’t suppress the surge of moral responsibility. ‘Damn it. This is why I didn’t want to get attached. If I had left her alone, she would have managed fine on her own. I should have cut her off the moment she tried to approach us.’
But now that things had come to this, leaving her be would mean her death. To prevent that, I had to do something. Hawk had no idea this would happen and was probably somewhere flirting with his little sister. The only person who could resolve this now was me.
So I began examining Eclipse, who looked as though her soul had left her body after hearing the word “death.” ...Even if she ended up discovering the truth I had been hiding all this time, there was nothing I could do about it.
“The situation is serious, so I’ll ask without beating around the bush, Eclipse. Have you... received any kind of baptism from Hawk?”
“Ah, I haven’t received anything yet....”
When I heard her answer, my expression hardened even further. This meant she had fallen into this state without receiving any baptism, purely from learning the truth tied to her bloodline. But before I could offer any solution, Eclipse asked me a question—simple and direct, as expected.
“But, Yohan—.”
“Speak.”
“...How did you know I talked to that person?”
“........”
As expected, one couldn’t underestimate the protagonist’s intuition. All of this was predicated on the assumption that I knew everything, and to her, that must have seemed highly unrealistic. Then, without a trace of her usual shy, flustered tone, she spoke calmly despite the pain twisting her face.
“I don’t doubt the intentions of someone as great as you, Yohan. You must have... come to help someone as small and weak as me.”
She looked up at me with unsteady breaths but unwavering eyes. Seeing that gaze, I found myself kneeling beside the bed to match her eye level without realizing it. Sensing that the moment had come, she continued with the thoughts she had been hiding.
“But isn’t it strange? How everything turns out exactly as expected, without a single mistake....”
“Expected? What kind of expectation?”
“When I started feeling sick without any idea why, and I was struggling because I couldn’t find a solution... somehow, I had this feeling that you would know how to fix it and that you’d come to check on me before anyone else.”
“...Why would you reach that conclusion?”
She answered immediately.
“It’s simple. From everything I’ve seen of you so far... you’ve always been someone who knows things.”
When I gave no reply, she simply continued unraveling her thoughts.
“So, even if it might be completely unrealistic, I’ve always thought... maybe you know everything about this world.”
“...Is that so.”
“Yeah. It’s been that way since our very first meeting, hasn’t it? Your methods were rough, but you helped me when I was hesitating because I couldn’t bring myself to harm anyone, and you got me into the academy.... The way you seemed to know about the Aligner was the same.”
That had indeed been the case. Back then, I had deliberately kept my distance and avoided getting close because I feared she would end up living according to her original fate. Bringing up the Aligner in the first place had also been a way to navigate the situation. If Eclipse hadn’t approached Karalin in an attempt to get closer to me as the protagonist would, I would probably have remained cold toward her without losing that resolve.
“...Hehe. You probably don’t know how surprised I’ve always been by that side of you, Yohan.”
“...Maybe I do. I would have been surprised too, in your place.”
“And that’s only the beginning. I was really shocked when that person died, but even that was all part of the plan, wasn’t it? Who could have known the crown prince was such a bad person? But you saw through his identity in advance, tricked him, and exposed all his usual misdeeds to the world.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And that wasn’t the end. You took care of the evil Sixth Swords who kill people, brought Gorgo back, replaced the director, and even now, you somehow sensed I was sick and came running to tell me something.”
“........”
“So I thought about it. One or two things might be coincidence, but all of this... I don’t know if it makes sense for it to be just momentary intuition.”
What she presented was a reasonable suspicion.
“Even the fact that meeting an Aligner would make me this sick—you knew that, which is why you came. If you had just gone along with what I said during our first meeting, you wouldn’t have been able to find me like this.”
“So, what did you conclude?”
“Yohan.”
“...Yeah.”
“The you I respect... did you perhaps come from the future?”
And what I felt upon hearing those words was neither confusion nor fear.
“I-I’m sorry for saying something so strange! But the only explanation for how you can do all this is that you’ve seen the future. Time travel is unrealistic, but future magic might be possible...? Ehehe—”
It was the strange detachment and relief that came from thinking, ‘So it’s finally come.’ It was astonishing. This assumption hadn’t come from Karalin, who had known me the longest, nor from the sharp-minded Cryan. It had come from her.
‘Probably because I knew about the Aligners... That’s practically a hidden secret of the world.’
So, now that she had reached this conclusion, it seemed there was no longer any way to deny it. But before I could say anything, Eclipse spoke.
“It must be inconvenient for you. So you don’t have to answer. I read in some novel somewhere that if you’re a time traveler, just speaking about it can create contradictions....”
“Contradictions....”
“Yeah, contradictions. If that happens, you’d be in trouble, so I don’t need the truth. No matter what, even if that fact exists, nothing changes....”
She looked at me with half-lidded eyes.
“If something like that really happened, you might become even more amazing! If that’s the case, you’re exactly the kind of hero I think you are....”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If I knew the future, I’d probably use that knowledge to make money first and live comfortably by myself. But you devoted your life to one person. That’s not easy. Really, really, really!”
A hero for one person. It was a phrase with a nice ring to it. Kind-hearted Eclipse had apparently already reached a tentative conclusion in her heart but didn’t seem to expect an answer, perhaps worried it would make me uncomfortable. However, from my position—someone who had resolved never to tell anyone because revealing it might deny my very existence—having this girl affirm my existence so honestly... honestly, it made me happy.
So I asked, “What if it’s a little different from coming from the future? What would you think then?”
“Well, I’d think you’re an amazing person who knows things I don’t. So my impression of you wouldn’t change at all from how it’s been until now. You’re just you.”
“Would the young lady think the same?”
“Absolutely!”
At that characteristically Eclipse-like, straightforward and cheerful answer, I found myself smiling without realizing it.
“Thank you. Once you overcome this divine illness with my help and get out of bed, and when everything is finally over....”
“Over...?”
“When that time comes, I’ll definitely tell everyone the truth. Right now, my priority is taking responsibility and saving you.”
And to make sure something like this never happened again, I needed to properly guide her. As I said those words, I renewed my resolve in my heart. I would never again be negligent toward those who tried to enter my circle.