A Millennium's Promise
The lady of the lake blinked at me in bewilderment at my request.
"...You want me to take you down there?"
"Yes."
"Why? And more importantly, how does a human even know about the beings below?"
"Didn't you just say yourself that you have a lot of work down there?"
"Ah..."
She's got a surprisingly airheaded side. Or maybe she's just so flustered her brain isn't working right?
She groaned to herself for a long while, pondering, before finally shaking her head vigorously.
"No, that won't work. A normal human couldn't handle it anyway."
"You mean I need a blessing, right?"
"...Yeah. No idea how you know that, though."
If she asked how I knew, I wouldn't have much to say. It's all from the original story, after all.
Wait a second. On second thought, couldn't I just get a blessing from the Goddess?
I glanced down at my staff, and she responded immediately.
No. I haven't recovered enough power to grant a blessing yet.
"Hmm. Guess there's no helping it, then."
Truth be told, I hadn't been expecting much—it was just a casual suggestion.
To achieve my real goal, I didn't even need to go down there myself.
Before getting into the main request, I pulled the trumpet from my pocket and showed it to her.
"Eek!"
"Oh? Do you know what this is?"
"Of course I do! Why the hell is that here!?"
The more we talked, the more her initial ethereal image crumbled. Though honestly, this more human side might suit her better.
Anyway, my request was simple and straightforward.
"Could you hold onto this for me?"
"Absolutely not!!"
Vivian. The conversation isn't even over yet—aren't you being a bit too aggressive?
"S-Sorry about that... But this is really no good! Even you have to admit that, right, Goddess...?"
Hmm.
I never expected even the ever-carefree Goddess to hold her tongue instead of denying it outright.
Then again, considering the scale of the catastrophe this trumpet would unleash later, her reaction wasn't all that strange.
To put it simply, it was the key that triggered the prophecy from the Book of Revelation. Even someone uninterested in religion has probably heard of Armageddon.
A near world-ending event.
No matter how much of a lake spirit she was, she'd naturally want nothing to do with something so ominous.
After a brief pause, the Goddess replied in her usual light tone.
It's just storing one trumpet—what's the big deal? It won't get tangled up with the other keys anyway.
"I thought there was no way it'd get tangled up with the Angel's Trumpet until just a bit ago..."
Think positive. As long as you're holding the trumpet, Armageddon won't happen. Who would dare enter the Paradise of Healing without your permission?
Paradise of Healing. Just the name alone gave off an extraordinary aura.
That was the secret space beneath the lake where Vivian and the other spirits resided.
As the Goddess said, no one could enter the Paradise of Healing at will. Without permission from the lake's mistress—the owner of the land—finding the entrance was impossible, and even then, a divine blessing was required to qualify.
The perfect place to hide something.
Even Drakan couldn't find it. In fact, especially Drakan.
What god would bless those lunatics?
But Vivian showed no sign of relief.
"That's not the point! If it goes off, it'll all be my responsibility...!"
Her reaction was perfectly normal and understandable.
How many people could casually bring home a small nuke that might never detonate? The key was that if it did go off, everything around it would vanish.
"Where the hell did you even get that trumpet from!?"
Oh, right—I forgot to mention. There are people trying to use it to trigger Armageddon.
"What?!"
Vivian looked like she might faint from shock.
Feels a bit bad dragging an innocent bystander into this and tormenting her.
But what can you do? It's the truth.
We're not doing this for fun—it's all to protect the world.
"It's an organization called Drakan."
"Drakan...? Never heard of them."
Probably. They'd been lurking in the shadows, biding their time until they made their big move.
"So you're trying to hide it so Drakan can't use the trumpet?"
"Exactly."
"Got it. Storing it isn't a huge deal on its own."
She crossed her arms and stared at me intently. There was an otherworldly pressure in her gaze, even though she was just looking.
"But I can't hold onto it forever. You get that, right?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Then give me a guarantee that you'll come back for it."
I could feel her unyielding resolve—she wouldn't budge on this.
Even the Goddess, who'd been subtly pressuring her with their power gap, had gone quiet to observe.
I nodded and replied.
"Once I take down Drakan, I'll come get it."
"For real?"
"Yes. I swear it on the Goddess's honor."
...Huh? Hold on.
Before the Goddess could say anything, Vivian nodded and sealed the deal.
"Fine. That's a solid enough guarantee. I'll hold onto the Angel's Trumpet until you take down this Drakan group."
"Thank you."
Don't ignore me! Kro? Who said you could swear on my honor!?
"Thanks as always, Goddess."
Ugh...
Vivian, who'd been listening quietly, murmured in admiration.
"To think that Goddess acts like that with a little human kid..."
Hey. Kid? Sure, my body hasn't hit adulthood yet, but that's no reason to call me a kid.
"Ahem!"
Vivian cleared her throat to refocus the chaotic atmosphere, then spoke in a serious tone again.
"Still, you might not be able to keep the promise. Say, if you're weaker than Drakan and lose."
"...Ouch, that cuts deep."
"That's why we need a time limit."
Ugh. This could be a headache.
Drakan would naturally fall to the protagonist's party as the original story progressed, so I'd planned to just wait it out.
The problem? That happens pretty late in the story.
A time limit meant I might have to take them down myself.
"Hmm. About 1,000 years?"
"...Pardon?"
"Too short? Make it 2,000, then?"
1,000 years sounds neat and sufficient.
"Got it. Exactly 1,000 years, then! Come take it back after crushing Drakan before that. Understand?"
That's when I realized how differently transcendent beings viewed time compared to us short-lived humans.
Thinking about it, the legend of the Lady of the Lake giving Excalibur at the lakeside was thousands of years old.
To her—who lived dozens or hundreds of times longer than our 100-year lifespans—1,000 years was just a somewhat long wait.
Realizing that, I smiled brightly and handed over the trumpet.
Even if the original story twisted and Drakan didn't fall, no problem.
By the time the trumpet left the lake, I'd be dust anyway.
Someone else would handle it then. Let's trust our proud descendants.
And so, under the Goddess's excellent mediation, we struck a dramatic compromise.
The trumpet would stay hidden beneath the lake with the spirits until Drakan was gone or 1,000 years passed.
A most satisfying outcome.
My plan had finally passed the midpoint and reached the endgame.
It had taken ages and no small amount of hardship, but the finish line was in sight.
Thanks to that, I got to return home and crash into a deep, worry-free sleep for once.
And the next day.
As expected, the plan proceeded smoothly.
"Haa..."
"Why do you keep sighing like that?"
"None of your business. What do you care if I sigh or not?"
Rachel spat the words without even looking my way, but oddly, her tone was much softer than usual.
Come to think of it, she'd been like that when we parted yesterday too.
More precisely, ever since she'd snapped out of the hypnosis with Henry's crying.
Normally, the conversation would end there, but today I deliberately kept it going.
"What's up? If you've got worries, spill. I'll listen."
"You...? Hmph. As if."
See? Her reaction's way milder than before.
She hadn't even called me a loser once.
Definitely a change of heart.
And it was surely because...
Drakan had halted their plan.
Like getting suddenly fired from a part-time gig—huge shock.
Plus the lingering effects of breaking free from the hypnosis.
Just then, voices from nearby.
Yulia, heading our way, got roped into chit-chat by someone else.
She's still so popular. Lately it feels like she only hangs with us, but nope—she's friendly with everyone.
As I gazed absently at Yulia for a moment.
Rachel suddenly spoke up from beside me.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Not there. Look here."
I turned, wondering what she meant, and found her pouting with her eyes averted.
"...You said you'd listen to my worries."