The Crow Saintess and the Magpie Bridge (2)
Raybi used the excuse of feeling anxious to press her face against Shade's nape and inhale his scent. …It was the fragrance from her memories. A trace so faint that one might overlook it unless holding it close to the skin. He had likely erased his scent for infiltration, but Raybi's keen senses caught it anyway, stirring childhood recollections. A masculine aroma, distinctive enough to awaken a desire to keep breathing it in. Even as a child, she had been held like this when leaving the island, though now he felt taller and broader. Did all men grow this solid and striking?
"Raybi, it's a little ticklish."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I wasn't sure it was really you, Shade…. I just needed a moment to confirm…."
The lie slipped out smoothly. She was the only one who knew better than anyone that the arms holding her belonged to Shade. She was indulging a small greed, unwilling to leave the embrace of the hero who had saved her younger self.
—Kaw, kaw!
Two crows circled Raybi. Why now, of all times?
'Ah, it was nice. They're ruining it….'
Raybi bit her lower lip behind the black veil. Shade probably couldn't see it; the veil usually hid her expressions. She had to do this. Otherwise, her cheeks—burning even without being touched—might give her away.
"Raybi-nim! Are you unharmed! Kaw!"
"Thank goodness, kak."
One crow spoke in a male voice, the other female. Hugin and Munin, her eyes.
If they hadn't appeared, she could have stayed in his arms a little longer.
"Can I put you down now?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
…Disappointing. Wait—disappointing?
Raybi realized the thought that had been lingering on her tongue and covered her mouth in shock. Why was she acting like this? Even after realizing the man who saved her as a child was Shade, not Damian, wasn't this too much of a change?
"……Yes."
Having regained her vision through Hugin and Munin, Raybi could only stay silent as she looked at Shade.
"So…."
What should she say? That she had wanted to see him all this time? Ask where he had gone? Demand to know why she had mistaken him for Damian? Too cliché. Yeah, no matter how she thought about it, there was only one thing to say.
"…Did you get hurt because of me?"
Raybi voiced her worry instead of a reunion greeting. Her breath caught the moment she saw parts of his body transformed into flowers. He was injured. Because of her. Because she had been lacking.
"Yeah, this? It's nothing."
What did he mean by nothing? Raybi's lips twisted slightly at his tone. It was the same attitude as when he rescued her from the cage as a child and helped her become a saintess by sharing holy power. The same 'I'll save you and disappear, so don't worry' attitude. Raybi hated it.
"Does it hurt? Are you in pain?"
Raybi spoke with a trembling voice and grabbed his sleeve. It was an emotion she hadn't recognized in herself. Don't leave like last time. Don't say it's fine. The man who vanished after saving her as a child felt like he would disappear again, and Raybi struggled silently against it.
"Not really. The painkiller's still working."
"That doesn't mean you're not hurt. Why are you always—!"
"Always?"
…Suddenly. Shade closed the distance without warning. He seemed to be regarding her changed attitude with strange eyes.
"Y-you were the same last time. You let Damian-nim support you while moving…."
Ah, she was doomed. Why couldn't she just admit she had seen him as a child? Raybi felt irritation rising at her own words betraying her heart.
"Right. Can you heal this for me? I'm not sure if holy power will work."
"Yes, I understand."
His arm, transformed with flowers and vines. Shade held it out, asking her to fix it.
…Gulp. Were men's arms always this indecent? Her gaze drifted to the veins on the back of his hand and the sculpted, rugged muscles. The realization that he had trained all of it to save her made her face burn.
"Raybi?"
"Ah, yes…!"
This wouldn't do. She bit her tongue. As Elysium's saintess who had healed countless patients and the weak, she was flustered—all because of one man. No, not just any man. He was her benefactor who rescued her from torture in a cage as a child and shared holy power so she could become a saintess. The man who saved her when she was young.
…So the fact that her heart was racing this fast wasn't strange. It absolutely couldn't be that kind of feeling.
* * *
"So, you can't heal it?"
"No. No matter how much holy power I pour in, the parts transformed into flowers aren't reverting…. What should we do?"
Raybi spoke while gently handling my arm with her pure white hands. She didn't actually need to touch me to channel holy power, but she seemed preoccupied with the fact that I had been hurt because of her.
- [Raybi's Favorability: 10%]
If that weren't the case, the favorability that had been in the negatives wouldn't have risen like this.
"This is actually a serious problem…."
It wasn't a joke—it really was. I had jumped underground trusting only in Saintess Raybi's healing power to save her.
"Can't we do something with the holy sword? According to what you said earlier, Shade-nim…. You mentioned it was a god from outer space."
"No reaction. It seems the flower-transformed parts are treated separately…."
"H-how much time is left on the painkiller? Overusing the copy ability like that—aren't you in danger…?!"
Stomp, stomp. Raybi was anxiously tapping her feet while staring at the vines and flowers blooming across my body. Why was she acting like this? Even with her favorability at 10%, it felt excessive.
"Well, I probably won't die from something like this."
…It would hurt like hell, though. I hid that truth behind my mask and shook my head at Raybi as if everything was fine. The perfect copy meant I had to fully endure every bit of damage and shock the clones had taken. Of course, I still wouldn't die. It would just hurt that much.
"…If you were to die, I would revive you by any means necessary, so don't worry, Shade-nim."
Raybi's red eyes blazed as she looked at me. Reviving the dead was impossible in this world, but with that expression, it almost seemed possible. Probably not. No matter how much I had saved her from the cardinal, the drastic shift in her attitude felt awkward.
"Raybi, can you send the crows to find the light-emitting meteor? It should be nearby."
I steered the conversation toward the 'color from space' Damian had mentioned earlier.
The Color Out of Space was the title of a Lovecraft novel where a meteor falling from the sky brought ruin to the protagonist and everything around him. Yeah, just like now. There was a mad cardinal who had created an underground beneath the Holy Kingdom Elysium, called this place R'lyeh, and written scripture made of human skin with his own hands.
"A meteor…? Understood."
Raybi, now obedient, immediately sent one crow flying. She was like a large golden retriever faithfully following her master. Among the female characters, she was the tallest, with sunlight-gold hair.
"Found it. Cough…!"
At that moment, Raybi coughed, likely having inhaled spores left by the cardinal. What now? Using more copies was dangerous. In this pain-free state, increasing the number of masks I wore carried too much risk. These were complex devices commissioned from the resourceful dwarves after plying them with drinks.
Can't be helped.
"…Wear this for now."
"Shade-nim…?"
Thud—. I placed the mask I had been wearing over Raybi's face. It would easily block the spores the cardinal had left behind.
"Ah, no! If I wear this, what will you use for protection…!"
Raybi struggled to remove the mask, but I shook my head, telling her not to.
"I can't feel pain right now anyway. And if it's Damian, he'll definitely know how to fix my body."
The hero who knew the future must have had a reason for sending me underground.
* * *
—Crack!
The meteor emitting an intense radiance like starlight shattered the moment Shade brought down the holy sword. Too futilely, the color from space crumbled into dust as if it were a pre-assembled puzzle under the energy of judgment.
"…Is this the end of Elysium's light?"
Raybi asked while wiping the cold sweat from his forehead after everything had ended.
"Yeah. It wasn't a holy relic left by the first saintess. Elysium could emit light at night because of this meteor."
"……."
"The divinity that emits light by itself isn't sacred…. It was a star."
As Shade said, the lights went out one by one, and the surroundings turned to darkness. The underground city where flowers had bloomed in full glory was withering away, becoming as if it had never existed.
"…□■□■? Is it you?"
In that darkness appeared a woman with white hair and red eyes.
"Shade-nim, come behind me."
Grrr. Raybi, as if such a sound might escape her, instinctively hid Shade behind her. That woman—there was something about her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be looking at Shade with such an affectionate gaze. Anyone could see it was the face of someone in love.
…That was dangerous.
"The first saintess…?"
A woman so beautiful she looked like a painting. Shade uttered unexpected words upon seeing her. The first saintess. She was referring to someone who had died during his childhood. All the characteristics from documents and paintings matched, and she was beautiful, but it didn't feel right.
"Ah, it really was you. Seeing you holding the holy sword, I know. □■□■."
"…Aren't you mistaking me for someone else? No matter how much I think about it, I don't think I'm the person you're thinking of."
"Hey, how could I forget you? It seems like something is protecting you…. Yeah, my most noble hero. Will you hear me if I say it like this?"
What was this atmosphere? It felt like an ex-girlfriend had appeared. It was strangely affectionate for a dead person speaking to the living. Though she had never dated, she had heard of such situations in stories. Naturally, her brows furrowed.
At that moment, Raybi pulled Shade closer to her side. Tightly. She even deliberately pressed his arm against her chest. Embarrassed by the act that made her face feel like it would explode, she immediately lowered her head. Still, he wouldn't think she was a pervert.
…Because he was a good person. Yeah. It was embarrassing enough to disqualify her as a saintess, and it was her first time doing something like this, but.
"First Saintess-nim, I believe there may be some misunderstanding. First of all, Shade-nim's name isn't four characters."
She didn't want to lose him anymore. And because she knew this person better than anyone. She couldn't let him be taken away.