Understanding. (1)
Understanding. (1)
The continent's only ice-free port, Ikail.
The western empire did have a harbor governed by House Crafen, but in the cold of winter it couldn't function as a port.
That made Ikail the largest port on the continent, and the busiest.
"W-Wave coming! Wave coming!"
"Shit! Get the sails open!"
- ...Too many people here.
It was April. The season when the glaciers drifting across the sea melted, and the merchants began moving in force.
When that time came, one particular workload always spiked.
Because, as now, it was the season when pirates grew active.
Esti surveyed the pirate ships from atop a colossal wave, her gaze devoid of warmth.
Five medium-sized sailboats. If a single pirate band, not even a merchant guild, could field this much force, they must have made quite a name for themselves in the region.
But that was all.
"Faster! I said squeeze every last knot of speed out of her!"
The pirate ships unfurled every sail they possessed and raced across the open sea.
"Fire the cannons! Load them now!"
At the order of the man who appeared to be the captain, the crew frantically swiveled the gun barrels.
"Fire!"
KWAAAAAA!
Gunshots thundered in every direction, accompanied by the acrid stench of gunpowder.
Each shell carried enough mana to capsize a sailboat in a single blow.
But the moment they touched the wave, the shells lost all force and sank to the sea floor. The wave drew a little closer than before.
'...Damnation.'
A normal wave would have lost its shape and collapsed from that barrage.
The fact that it hadn't meant...
A wave that fed on mana.
It was her.
The captain, in sudden desperation, wrenched open the wheelhouse door.
"Gods damn it! Navigator, you worthless son of a bitch! What in the hell were you thinking, entering the Wave Catcher's waters?!"
The captain seized the first navigator by the collar and shook him.
"You think I wanted this?! The current changed!"
"Fuck, you expect me to believe that?"
"Then don't believe it, you bastard! We're all about to die, you think that matters? If you want to live, let go of me and—."
The ship lurched as though it were about to capsize. Thick timbers screamed. The navigator lunged for the helm, but it was a pointless struggle.
CRRRRACK!
The sound of the sails tearing apart. The screams of the crew flung into the sea were buried beneath the roar of the waves in an instant.
"Grrrrrghh!"
The captain bellowed and clung to a pillar. Veins bulged across his thick muscles.
'I'll survive. I will survive!'
Even if the ship split in two, he was confident he would live. He'd spent decades in this trade. Whatever else he lacked, he had absolute confidence in his swimming.
But in the next moment, he sensed his death.
A pitch-black floor appeared before his eyes. The sea had split in two.
"You've got to be shitting—!"
Those were his last words.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The moment the sailboat slammed into the seabed, a staggering volume of seawater swept over them.
Kugu...
The only thing that rose to the surface was bubbles.
"..."
Esti stared at the surface of the sea with vacant eyes. She watched from atop the high wave for a long while, but nothing else floated up.
Into her ears came the sound of the distant ocean.
- Hahahahah! Take everything!
Another pirate band seemed to be plundering a merchant fleet. Screams of agony reached her even here.
But Esti did not move. That place was not her "jurisdiction."
Esti turned her head. Beyond the horizon lay the direction of Ikail.
'...The Saintess, and the Archmage.'
They were strong. If she left her post, Ikail could not withstand them. Therefore they were unequivocally "threat elements." The one-month grace period would end the next day, so she had to deliver the notification that day.
- Guard.
The "voice" spoke.
Instead of replying, Esti studied the flow of the current. Then, without hesitation, she entrusted her body to it.
*****
The moment the notification window appeared, Olivia acted on instinct.
'S-Spectator!'
[Switching to Spectator Mode.]
- Remaining uses: 4
Her vision shot upward with a sensation of buoyancy.
In the next instant, someone wrenched the door open and came in.
"You two. Leave Ikail."
Eyes of blue-green, like crystal, glared at 'Olivia' and Rebekah in turn.
'At least... I didn't get hit with a penalty?'
Olivia sighed in relief. It seemed that switching to Spectator the instant the notification appeared allowed her to bypass the penalty.
'What happens if I cancel Spectator right now?'
[Spectator Mode cannot currently be deactivated!]
The notification window settled her curiosity for her.
"I won't say it twice. Leave Ikail. Permitting you to stay for a month was already more than generous."
Esti was implacable. Though Olivia was well aware that this was Esti's own version of "courtesy."
If Esti truly meant to expel Rebekah, she wouldn't be using words like this—she would have swept them away with a tidal wave.
That was how implacable a person Esti was.
'...Right. This was how they were in the original, wasn't it.'
Because of Rebekah, she'd briefly forgotten.
What sort of people the "regressors" originally were.
"By sunrise tomorrow. If you haven't left Ikail by then, in the future no ships of the Empire or the Holy Kingdom will be permitted to enter this port."
Just as Esti, business concluded, was about to leave, Rebekah caught hold of her.
"J-Just a moment!"
Olivia's face registered faint surprise.
Seizing another person by the hand was definitely classified as "rude" in Rebekah's book.
People did things they normally wouldn't when they were desperate.
And Rebekah was desperate enough.
"...What is the meaning of this?"
Esti's voice carried a distilled anger.
At the fiercer reaction than expected, Rebekah stepped back half a pace.
But she had at least achieved her immediate objective: getting Esti to talk.
"We'll leave. We will leave, so just talk with me for a short while. Truly, a very short while."
"I have no time for that."
Esti's gaze remained expressionless. But Rebekah didn't give up.
She had no intention of letting slip an opportunity that had taken a month to appear.
'...I didn't want to resort to this.'
Rebekah spoke.
"Three years ago. Do you remember meeting me?"
"I remember."
"Do you also remember what we spoke of then?"
"..."
Esti's brow furrowed. She had instinctively realized that she had been caught.
- To celebrate the harmony between the Empire and the Eastern Coalition, what do you think of fully opening the port of Ikail?
- Should we not also hear the opinion of the Wave Catcher?
- Is there truly any need for that? What purpose is there in dragging in some rootless wench?
Three years ago, the Eastern Coalition had tucked its tail in its power struggle with the Empire.
Every nation belonging to the Eastern Coalition had to pay the price for having offended the Empire, and the kingdom of Canis was no exception.
The person who had served as mediator at that time was none other than the Saintess Rebekah.
- I understand that the kingdom of Canis has no separate navy. Is that correct?
- It is correct... but why do you bring that up so suddenly, Saintess?
- I will ask only one thing. Without the Wave Catcher's aid, could you protect Ikail?
- ...
- If not, then I think it only proper that we also seek her opinion.
She did not like admitting it, but she owed the Saintess a debt.
Had they fully opened Ikail's port back then, her workload would have tripled from what it was now.
And a debt incurred must be repaid.
"...What do you want?"
Rebekah glanced briefly in 'Olivia's' direction.
Because what she was about to say was something she wished Olivia didn't know.
"Could the two of us speak somewhere quiet?"
*****
"No one can hear us here. And for the record, I am not idle. I have to be out at sea any moment now."
The place where Esti stopped was a location familiar to Rebekah as well.
The lighthouse.
At the summit of Ikail's tallest lighthouse, Rebekah slowly began to speak.
That she wanted to understand her. How one could lose one's will yet continue to live. And that among her own acquaintances was someone in circumstances similar to Esti's.
That in order to help that person, she needed Esti's help...
She brought out everything she could say.
"..."
Esti remained silent for a moment. Hers was not the face of a human moved by sentiment.
Rather, she seemed entirely unmoved... was more accurate.
Enough so that even now, her gaze was fixed upon the sea.
"There is one thing I do not understand."
"Yes, please speak."
"Why do you not simply ask that acquaintance directly?"
"..."
Rebekah's lips parted slightly.
Because Esti had struck the heart of it.
Of course, it was not that she had never thought of that. But she could not carry out that approach.
Because...
'Big Sis would accept me even if I couldn't understand her.'
Because Olivia was the kind of person who, even if the other person couldn't help her, would sincerely be grateful for the "help."
She didn't want to see that.
Even if Olivia accepted it, she herself could not.
Rebekah resolved to change the subject.
"So, can you help me?"
There was one thing Rebekah did not know.
That someone was eavesdropping on their conversation.
[You are currently spectating the Saintess Rebekah.]
'...So it comes to this after all.'
This was why she had tried to restrain any mention of "Regression" as much as possible.
Looking only at the time before the Genocide, 'Olivia' had been their one and only friend, their disciple, their family.
Naturally, someone like Rebekah would attempt to save 'Olivia.'
That much was fine.
But if Rebekah actually managed to discover a way to vanquish 'Asmodeus'...
'Then, well... I'd be screwed.'
Because she couldn't shift the blame for the Genocide onto a demon.
The method was certain in effect, but it was a high-risk move in several respects.
'How much should I interfere?'
Olivia was in the middle of such calculations.
- I am sorry.
With an expressionless face, Esti looked at Rebekah.
- I have no intention of helping you.