Assassination Thwarted (4)
Chosen One (Communion) has activated.
The lower-tier earth spirit Gnome has taken an interest in your words.
What kept me from collapsing was a massive hand made of earth. I stared at the status window floating in front of me with wide eyes when a young girl’s voice came from ahead.
I barely managed to hold onto my blurring vision and looked forward—no, more precisely, downward. There stood a tiny girl made of earth, barely reaching the middle of my shins, staring up at me with sparkling eyes.
-Hey. Hey. You can see me, right?
“Haa…”
Do spirits fundamentally lack any sense of empathy? I was clearly suffering from dizziness, yet they seemed more interested in satisfying their own curiosity. The spirit kept chattering away while looking me over from every angle.
When I frowned deeply and pressed a hand to my forehead, the spirit called Gnome tilted her head.
-Humans are really weak, huh? Back in the old days…
-Cain is struggling right now! Shut up!
-What the hell is this lizard?
Gnome scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue like she’d seen something disgusting. Kasa stepped right in front of her, growling with clear hostility.
Well, she might not be a guard dog, but a spirit that protects her contractor is worth keeping around. When I looked at Kasa with a proud expression, Gnome seemed displeased. She snapped her fingers, dispelling the earthen hand and sending me crashing onto my backside. Then she grinned.
-Human. Wanna make a contract with me?
“I don’t have a hobby of contracting with rude little bitches.”
I snapped back at her. Gnome looked momentarily flustered before composing herself and speaking again.
-Ahem… Rude little bitch, huh… I’ve lived through countless ages, but that’s the first time I’ve heard that one.
“Haa… You’re standing in front of a sick person, calling them weak and staring like some monkey at the zoo. If that isn’t rude, what the hell is?”
Normally I would have been grinning ear to ear, unable to hide my joy at forming a new contract. But right now, I wasn’t in the mood at all. Every second counted. Contracting another spirit here would only mean one more creature sucking away my life force.
With that thought in mind, I forced myself up and tried to walk past her. She panicked and quickly blocked my path again.
-W-wait, monkey? I-I never did that! Okay, contract! A contract needs give and take, right? Equivalent exchange! How about equivalent exchange?!
“Equivalent… exchange?”
The phrase reminded me of a certain alchemist from my original world, and I suddenly grew interested in what Gnome had to say. Since she’d managed to dredge up memories from my past life, I figured I could at least hear her out.
“Go on.”
-Before we make the contract, I’ll lend you some of my power. If I help you, then you’ll contract with me afterward. Deal?
“Hmm~”
Not a bad offer. I could use a spirit’s power right away without burning through my own life force? Still, why were these guys so obsessed with making contracts? Weren’t they supposed to instinctively hate living beings? Or was it just Silph…?
-Ah! Cain! You’re thinking something bad again!
“I wasn’t thinking anything bad.”
-That’s the exact face you make when you’re about to say something mean to Silph!
“…Hm.”
I guess I’ll have to be nicer to Silph for a while. But seriously, what the hell? This is all Silph’s fault. I’m the victim here!!!
“I’m innocent. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
-Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but anyway, isn’t my offer pretty tempting?
“Mmm…”
-And I know where the human you’re looking for is right now. I’m an earth spirit, after all.
“That’s the right answer, alchemist. Lead the way.”
-Al… what?
If she knew where that bastard was, the situation had changed. It meant I could cut down the time significantly. The only downside was that moving my body still had some restrictions.
When I staggered forward again, Gnome grinned and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, pieces of armor-like earth clung to various parts of my body. Was she telling me to fight with this?
I looked at her in confusion. Gnome rubbed her nose and smiled proudly.
-It’s a kind of exoskeleton I made by gathering natural mana. It’ll support your body.
“Oh, a power suit? You’re actually pretty badass, aren’t you?”
-Power… what? Badass… what?
Gnome stared at me like I was some kind of weirdo spouting nonsense. Seeing her look like she regretted picking the wrong person, I burst out laughing and tested my movements. Sure enough, calling it a power suit wasn’t an exaggeration—there was no discomfort at all.
The power of spirits truly is amazing!
“Alright. I’ll run as fast as I can, so just tell me which way to go. We need to hurry.”
-Ah~ Yeah, we do need to hurry. That guy… he was staring really hard at some female human.
“A girl?”
-Ash-gray hair and pink eyes…
“You should’ve said that first! Fuck! We have to get there as fast as possible!”
Without waiting for the rest of her sentence, I broke into a sprint. Gnome slid across the ground like she was riding a board and followed. Thankfully, she guided me without any issues.
-Right ahead, then turn right! And when I say so, turn left immediately!
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. The weight of the exoskeleton made the ground tremble with every step, but my legs felt completely fine. In the distance, I could see the lights of the commercial district. That meant we were almost at the edge of the forest.
I gritted my teeth and pushed even harder. A familiar girl came into view a little ways ahead. Eve Abraham. She was staring in shock at the man approaching her.
That guy. It was the same bastard we’d lost earlier. Why was Eve here? She wasn’t supposed to be in this place yet. Had something gone wrong with the script?
Shit. This wasn’t the time to think about that.
I reached out toward the son of a bitch and shouted at Gnome.
“Stop that bastard from moving!”
-Uh… If I do that, the exoskeleton will disappear. Are you sure that’s okay?
Gnome spoke as if there were clear limits to her power without a contract. But who the hell cared about that right now?
“I’ll handle my own body. Just do it!”
She let out a sigh and snapped her fingers again.
“Found you, you fucking piece of shit!”
“Kuhuuuugh…!”
A tremendous weight suddenly crushed down on my body. Reality came crashing back. My entire body ached and my vision blurred, but this was no time to worry about my condition.
The man was staring at me in shock. I hadn’t realized it until now, but seeing the knife pressed against Eve’s throat made rage boil up from the pit of my stomach.
You motherfucker. You’re dead.
“Huff… Huff… Academy regulation number two. Anyone who attempts to harm a student shall be punished without consideration for reason or their life or death.”
I don’t remember much after that. I reached out. Silph and Kasa attacked. Gnome tightened her grip on him even harder at my signal… and after Eve whispered something to him, he burned to death from my attack.
In the end, I was once again coughing up blood, barely leaning against a tree trunk.
“C-Cain…? Why… are you here…?”
Eve had approached me at some point and spoke in a trembling voice.
I ended up like this trying to save you, so take better care of yourself. I wanted to say that, but I didn’t even have the energy left.
“I was trying to catch him without you knowing… Haha…”
My legs gave out. The ground suddenly rushed up to meet me. Even from this low height, I could feel the sensation of free fall as my face headed straight for the dirt—until something stopped me.
Warm… and soft… Eve was carefully holding me up. She looked at me with an incredibly complicated expression before gently pulling me into her arms.
The physically soft sensation left me flustered and unsure what to do, but Eve paid no attention and tightened her hold. Her voice, on the verge of tears, reached me.
“Why would you do something like this… Why…?”
“…Because he was going to kill you.”
I barely held onto my consciousness and answered her. I could feel her arms trembling slightly, but there was nothing I could do for her right now.
“Anyway… I’m glad you’re safe…”
“I… I mean, I was just…”
“It looked fun. I thought it wouldn’t be boring… right…?”
Eve’s wide, shocked eyes were pretty amusing. I continued speaking through coughs mixed with blood.
“It’s less boring for me when you’re alive too… So this should be enough of an answer… right…?”
Eve couldn’t say anything. She just kept staring at me.
The earth spirit had come to me on her own, and I was growing stronger in my own way. All things considered, it wasn’t such a bad outcome.
From far away, I could hear the sound of people murmuring. Panzy was probably bringing the professors this way.
“Eve. This hug feels nice and all… but could you heal me a bit?”
“Eh? Ehh? Ah, y-yes! Right, healing!”
I could practically feel Eve’s face burning with embarrassment. A small chuckle slipped out of me.
Since it was clear that Alex was a complete lunatic, I had every intention of protecting the people around me in my own way.
“Haa… I used too much strength. I’m getting sleepy. Just let me… rest a little…”
“Cain? Cain?”
My vision faded. I could no longer stay conscious and closed my eyes.
. . . . . .
“Cain…”
Eve Abraham was pouring holy power into the sleeping Cain. Seeing the lights floating not too far away, it seemed people were gathering after hearing the commotion.
Eve smiled softly and gently stroked the head of Cain, who had fallen asleep on her lap.
“…Is this too part of what Lord Arpa has arranged…?”
Eve casually spoke words that would have earned her a mountain of curses from Cain if he had heard. She believed even this connection was something her god, Arpa, had arranged. Since Arpa was the god of balance and fate, this too must be fate. That was what she believed.
“Cain! Are you oka—… Huh? Eve Abraham?”
“Hehe… You’re here, Panzy.”
Eve gave an awkward smile and stroked Cain’s head one more time. She briefly wondered what to do about tomorrow’s classes, but then remembered, ‘I usually skip when I’m bored anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter~’ Realizing it wasn’t really her problem, she turned her gaze back to Cain.
It had started as curiosity, but before she knew it, Cain had taken up a place in a corner of her heart.