Ascension Ritual
No matter how cold a person was, it was hard to remain cold toward someone who had done them a kindness.
And if it wasn’t even for themselves, but for a child they cherished so dearly they couldn’t bear to live without her, then unless they were a mother devoid of even a shred of maternal instinct, they would never be able to stay indifferent.
There was more to it than that, too.
According to what Atisha and Yustina had said, the demonfolk who had crossed over to the Ardeena Continent had simply left Laxia in order to survive.
It didn’t seem as though they had clashed much with the other demon clans in the process.
They’d left behind a home they loved to build a new nest elsewhere, so it would have been strange if there had been no friction at all—but since they hadn’t bothered to mention any serious conflict, it must have been minor at most.
So of course they would look kindly on us for saving their kin in a foreign land.
“So.”
Yustina began in a noticeably softer voice.
“Why did you come all this way to cause such a disturbance? You clearly wanted something, or you would not have done such a thing.”
“If I tell you, will you hear me out?”
“I shall think on it as positively as I can.”
“I didn’t ask you to think positively. I asked whether you’d listen.”
“Yes, yes, I said I would think positively, did I not?”
“You could just say, ‘If it is something this body can do, I shall gladly hear you out.’”
“Are you imitating this body? You are rather adept at such cute tricks.”
“...Enough with the useless chatter.”
Because of you, Daeun had started up again.
I clamped a hand over my mouth and pretended not to see Daeun’s sparkling eyes.
“Do you know? The same words carry different weight depending on who says them. A person in a position above others speaks with a weight heavier than gold, so how could one speak carelessly?”
“Ah, yes.”
She wasn’t wrong.
A normal person could say whatever they liked and bear the consequences and damage all by themselves.
But when you weren’t the only one who’d be hurt, when you were the one in charge, and you talked without thinking, blurting out whatever came to mind—how could anyone trust you enough to follow you?
Even back when I was commander, I’d grit my teeth and hold back whenever I wanted to act however I pleased.
If someone who knew me from those days—someone like Aaron—had just heard that remark, he’d probably have said, “That was holding back?”
But I stood by it.
A king doing something stupid, a prince making a nuisance of himself, a duke nitpicking over nonsense…
There had been plenty more I disliked besides that, but I hadn’t gone on a rampage every time.
I’d been remarkably rational, all things considered.
In that sense, wasn’t Yustina lucky to have someone who understood her like I did?
“And I didn’t cause a disturbance.”
“...Huh?”
Yustina let out a baffled sound, as if she’d just heard something absurd.
“That was, um... yes. It was just a knock.”
If we were assigning blame, then the fault lay with you for not building a door.
I lifted my chin proudly, and a fierce glint flashed through Yustina’s eyes for an instant.
“We never intended for people to enter in the first place, so of course there is no door. And if you meant to knock, there were far more proper ways to do it...”
“But it was quick, wasn’t it?”
“Efficiency is not the same as correctness. If you still do not understand after hearing that, I am prepared to lock you in the prison again.”
“Hmm, I’ll pass. I’m more the type to do the locking than the locked-up part.”
Besides, so the reason there was no entrance was because it had been made without intending for anyone to go in or out?
Then how did they get food supplies? What happened if someone wanted to go outside?
And what about people who failed the Ascension Ritual—how were they supposed to get out-
“—Enough, enough.”
Yustina waved a hand.
“Once your business is finished, I shall have someone guide you around the village, so could we return to the original topic? For someone who could not bear to wait patiently and kept pounding on the door, you seem quite leisurely.”
“Ah, right.”
I’d gotten carried away without realizing it because it was fun watching her bristle in that old-fashioned manner every time I prodded her.
I’d wasted enough time, so I should get straight to the point.
“We came for the Ascension Ritual.”
“...The Ascension Ritual, you say?”
“Yeah.”
“Come to think of it, a human ought not to know about the Ascension Ritual, and yet even after hearing my story you did not seem puzzled.”
It was this body’s failing, then...
I shrugged at Yustina, who was muttering to herself like that.
“Isn’t that proof of how much you care about Atisha?”
“...Ahem!”
Yustina coughed awkwardly at my words.
She looked thoroughly embarrassed, but not as though she disliked hearing it.
“Did Atisha tell you?”
“No. I heard it from Edel, too, and from a man I met a few days ago.”
“A man? ...Ah, so that happened.”
I’d only said “a man,” but Yustina seemed to have figured out who I meant.
Well, she’d have to be dense not to.
“Yes. I understand.”
“Oh? You’re agreeing more easily than I expected.”
“You came all the way here already knowing the danger, so even if I told you to go back, you would not listen. And if it was spoken to you personally by Lady Edel, then it could not be for any ill intent, so I have no reason to refuse.”
“I thought I’d have to talk you into it at length, so I’m glad I don’t.”
“Then let us begin at once.”
“No. That will not do.”
“...Why not?”
Hadn’t she just been acting like she was going to allow it?
I looked at Yustina with obvious displeasure as she coolly poured herself more tea, utterly unbothered by the fact that she’d just thrown cold water on what had been a smooth conversation.
“Even if you look at me that way, what cannot be done cannot be done.”
“That’s not what I asked. I asked why it can’t be done. Don’t tell me you’re going to ask me to go catch a dragon for you instead?”
“Not a bad idea. Could you bring me one?”
“If that’s all you need, I can hand you one right now.”
-....
I glanced toward Grasid’s blessing as I spoke.
He was surely listening, and yet he was pretending to sleep without saying a word, which was infuriating beyond belief.
He always did this at moments like this—never said a thing.
“You are quite the boastful child.”
Yustina dismissed my sincerity as bragging.
“I fear you may be misunderstanding me, so I shall explain once more. I said it cannot be done now because it is impossible at present. Do you think the Ascension Ritual is something one can simply do whenever one feels like it?”
“...Isn’t it?”
“No, it is not. If it were so easy, do you think such a mad undertaking as forcibly elevating one’s rank and burning through one’s own soul would be possible?”
“Well, when you put it like that...”
So she knew it was a mad undertaking.
“As you know, the Ascension Ritual is the forced injection of an unbearable quantity of Magi. In other words, a sufficient amount of Magi must first gather.”
“I understand what you mean. You’re saying you used up the Magi a few days ago with the ritual, so it hasn’t had time to accumulate again.”
“Despite your poor habit of speaking, you are quick to understand, which is convenient.”
“Thanks for the compliment. But is this amount of Magi still not enough?”
Even as we spoke, the Magi still pressed down on me like a heavy weight.
The pressure was far stronger than anywhere else, but for a place where all polluted mana gathered, I’d thought it was surprisingly weak.
Was that because the ritual had already neutralized some of the Magi, making it feel that way?
Yustina shook her head.
“It is hopelessly insufficient.”
“Then how long do we have to wait until the Magi builds back up?”
“Hmm...”
After a moment’s thought, Yustina spread her fingers wide.
“This long should do it.”
With one hand held open, she flexed the other as though testing her resolve, then lifted it toward me.
That is, she showed me a hand with all five fingers spread open.
“Five days? That’s not too bad.”
“What are you talking about?”
“...Huh?”
“Naturally, I mean five months.”
“...Huh?”
“Even that is the bare minimum. This is an act traded for a single life, so of course it must take such time, must it not?”
“...Huh?”
“...Have you broken?”
“How am I supposed to not break after hearing that...?”
“Kana. When speaking to a person, you do not say they have broken. You say they are ruined.”
“That’s weird too. ...No, that’s not the important part right now.”
She’d said this long should do it, so of course I’d assumed she meant five days. I never imagined she meant five months.
There was no way we could endure that much time in Laxia.
Putting aside how miserable it would be, there was a real chance we’d become addicted to the Magi and waste away to death.
I asked if there was any other way, but Yustina’s head did not nod.
Of course, it wasn’t as if rushing Yustina would accomplish anything, either...
“This has become complicated.”
That’s a problem.
On paper, the simplest solution was to return to Ardeena and come back in five months.
But the situation wasn’t so leisurely that we could just wait around for Magi to accumulate.
It wasn’t exactly a race against the clock, but the sooner we acted, the better.
Clap!
As I fretted over it in silence, Yustina, who had been watching me, suddenly clapped her hands.
“You must be tired from coming all this way, so why don’t you rest today and discuss the rest tomorrow?”
“I think it would be best to do as Lady Yustina says. You haven’t slept properly for days, after all. You may seem fine for now, but your health could still suffer.”
“Oh, then could we look around the village? I’m curious!”
“...Haaah.”
No sooner had Yustina spoken than Celine and Daeun immediately agreed and jumped in.
I could understand Daeun wanting to play around—that was normal enough—but I never expected Celine to go along with it too.
And because she happened to bring up my health, I couldn’t even complain.
“Fine. We’ll do that.”
In the end, I gave in to the majority vote.