Erchia, City of Water - 02

Belita Bright.

The sole daughter of House Bright, and its Saintess.

She was, in name and in fact, the youngest member of the Hero's party — and she had never received the Saintess Stigma.

Just as House Reinhardt was called a family of Heroes, Belita's House Bright was called a family of Saintesses. They had not thrown themselves into that calling quite as completely as the Reinhardts had, but more often than not, the Saintess was born from House Bright.

This time, she had not been.

The trouble was this: House Bright had failed in several ventures, and debt had begun to pile up. Born into that crisis and hailed as their last hope, Belita could not become a Saintess.

And yet fortune smiled on them. A blessing within the misfortune. Belita Bright had been born with a gift for healing magic.

"Nngh!"

Belita's face twisted before she even realized it.

Life is a succession of choices. But choice itself is a privilege reserved for those granted the right to make one. A little girl had never been given that right, and having lived such a life, Belita Bright had no sense of what it meant to choose for herself.

So she followed.

Anyone would do. She would follow whoever could make proper use of her.

It turned pathological.

She went mad.

It was, without question, not the mind of a sane person. Her heart sickened, her reason slipped, and Belita Bright became a manufactured Saintess.

Even so, she had not committed a crime so grave.

And yet.

Of all people, her secret as a Saintess had been discovered by the one person who must never know. House Bright's circumstances had been exposed. And in the end, she had committed a sin.

Blood had stained her that no amount of clean words could ever wash away.

"Hah, hah...!"

Belita ran.

W-why?! Why here...!! No — I heard they might come, but why is Lord Lois with her too!?

The longer she ran, the harder her breathing became, and the more her thoughts began to fray. True to her role as a Saintess, Belita had never possessed much stamina, nor were her physical abilities particularly high. She had merely pretended to be a Saintess all this time by virtue of her overwhelmingly powerful holy energy.

She had saved countless people. She had heard thank-yous from many of them. But the memory that lingered most was the day she had used that same holy power to betray Olivia Reinhardt.

Those eyes would not leave her. Whenever she dreamed, they appeared — and they always condemned her.

I know. I know I did something unforgivable...! But I can't die. Not in a place like this... Our family... There's no one else. It has to be me.

She would do it.

She had to do it.

She must do it.

No matter what she had to commit, she had to protect the family.

And so—

"BELITAAAAA!!!"

"Eek!"

Trembling, Belita looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back and saw Olivia and Lois charging toward her.

Fast. And the sheer presence they carried was no joke. They wore the faces of people who would catch her this instant and tear her in two.

Terrifying. She was not joking — a monster would have been less frightening. How could a woman in such a wretched, broken state radiate this much force?

"Nngh!"

Belita lifted her body into the air and rose.

"Flight magic, of all things... That's quite an advanced spell..."

"D-don't follow me!"

She had no intention of killing them. If she could just bind their legs for even a moment, that would be enough.

Arrows brimming with light flew toward Olivia, and Olivia's expression grew even sharper.

And then—

THWACK!

"Eh?"

In an instant, a wooden sword had deflected every last arrow of light, snapping them all. They scattered into particles of mana and vanished, and Belita's eyes went wide.

Huh? But she was at death's door...

And then she remembered. Olivia, fighting on a body already dying of its wounds, on that day of betrayal she had so wanted to forget.

Yes. This was the kind of person she was.

"Hey, Belita."

WHOOSH!

Olivia vanished in an instant. Belita's eyes could not follow. She only registered her when Olivia was already right in front of her nose.

"What do you think you're doing, using attack magic inside the city? What if it hits a civilian?"

"Hic!"

WHACK!!

The wooden sword struck the back of her neck with perfect precision. Consciousness fled in an instant, and she plummeted from the sky.

"Oops. I misjudged the force."

SPLASH!!

Those were the last words Belita heard before she hit the canal face-first.

"Her face got scraped up pretty badly."

"She fell on water. Fragile, isn't she."

"Ah — from that height at that speed, honestly, land or water wouldn't have made much difference."

"That so? Anyway, how's her condition?"

There were fractures and some bleeding as well, and with her face scraped raw, we could hardly present her to anyone. This was no joke — without treatment, her condition was as good as critical.

"I'll put a healing spell on her for now."

Even so, we could not simply leave her to die this early.

"So you can use healing magic too, Lois?"

"Who do you think it was that treated you?"

"Now that you mention it."

Of course, I did not possess any particularly remarkable healing magic. What I could manage was little more than treating scrapes, or stopping bleeding. I had judged that if Belita's bleeding was not stopped now, she would be in danger, and so I had staunched the flow.

The thought that if I had been even slightly more capable — if I had gone beyond merely stopping the blood and tried to regenerate flesh, to restore the arm severed by the curse — that curse would have rebounded onto me, sent a chill down my spine.

"How is it?"

"Give me a moment. I still need a little more time."

"The efficiency's terrible."

"I think so too, honestly. I'd call it better than nothing, I suppose."

"Well, I can't use it at all."

Healing magic, like spirit arts, required talent. No matter how badly one wished for it, without the gift, it could not be used. In my case, using healing magic itself was possible, but the talent was truly meager. Still, for daily life this much had never been a real problem, so I could not recall ever feeling particularly disappointed by my lack of gift for it. Besides, I had a Spirit Core of my own, and my regenerative power was considerable.

"Guhah!"

"Oh, she's opened her eyes."

"It huuurts...! My bones...! My face...!!"

"Now that you're awake, you can do it yourself. We'll wait, however long it takes."

"Nngh..."

Self-healing was far faster than treating another person, but even so, wounds like those would take quite some time...

Some time...

Would take...

Shhhk.

"It hurts... It hurts so much... I think the bones in my face are caved in..."

With a low, rushing hum, Belita's wounds were vanishing at a startling speed.

My eyes went wide with astonishment.

I had known Belita's healing magic was excellent, and I had known that self-healing was faster than treating others — but this fast?

Of course. The reason Livia — who had never once received a blessing from her — had never suspected Belita was that overwhelming healing magic. Even if she was not a Saintess, Belita possessed a staggering gift for healing, and having witnessed it at her side, Livia could never have doubted that she was one.

Even people as high-ranking as the Pope himself would not have possessed healing magic of this caliber.

A true genius. A mass of overwhelming talent. And that mass of talent had applied itself with effort besides — that was the result.

A pity she had used it in such an unfortunate direction.

"It's been a while, Belita."

"L-Lady Olivia!!"

"Keep it down. This is a back alley, but if you shout like that and we get found, I'll have no choice but to kill you."

"......"

Belita shut her mouth.

I let out a small sigh.

"I've cast a silence spell. No one around us will hear."

As an extra precaution, I had also put up a barrier. From the outside, it would look as though no one was here at all.

"You've picked up all sorts of magic, Lois. Is that a utility spell too? What do you even use it for?"

"If you narrow the range in a crowded place, you can read in peace no matter how noisy it is around you."

"I see."

"...W-why is Lord Lois here as well?"

Belita asked, trembling, and I leaned back against the wall.

"So you remember me."

Livia had remembered me. Rayna had remembered me. Alex would certainly remember me as well — so it seemed I had possessed more of a presence than I had thought. I had always considered myself the least noticeable member of the Hero's party. There had been nothing about me that stood out, after all.

"I happened to save Livia, you see."

"Livia? ...No, more than that — why? You were banished. You were never treated well..."

"If a person is in that state right in front of you, you save them, unless they're something on the order of your parents' murderer."

"......"

Belita's eyes went wide, as if the words had struck her. Still sitting on the ground, she gripped her staff tightly.

"That's... that's right. Yes, you're exactly right. Those are the words of a saint. I respect that."

"What is a Saintess saying."

"I... nngh, anyway... d-did you come to kill me? After Lady Rayna, now me as well..."

"No, I—"

"Yes, I knew. So it comes to this in the end. Ah — in a way, is this liberation? Can I finally die? Finally... If you're going to, please, my neck in one stroke..."

My gaze sharpened. Whatever her physical condition, her mental state did not look good at all.

"No, that's not—"

"No, it's torture after all, isn't it? The head, the heart, and the arm, wasn't it? Lady Olivia can decide the order. Now that I've been caught, I have no right to refuse."

A cracking sound.

WHACK!!

Olivia kicked Belita in the face.

"Guh!"

"Listen when people talk!"

"I-it hurts... It hurts so much..."

And again, she healed at remarkable speed.

Incredible. The volume of mana, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠healing magic that was practically regeneration. This was no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠joke — she could stand comparison with a real Saintess.

"L-Livia. Let's calm down first."

"Ugh! If you're an adult who has to take responsibility for your own actions, then act like one!"

"Haha..."

"Honestly. And you still managed to join the Hero's party like that."

"Well, I had the ability, so... hm?"

"What?"

"It's nothing..."

I recalled what Livia had just said. A sense of dissonance made me tilt my head.

"Livia... do you happen to know Belita's age?"

"Hm? Huh? I don't. She's younger than me, right?"

"L-Lady Olivia has no interest in anything she doesn't care about... I was outside her concern, then..."

To put it precisely, Livia had simply never been interested in Belita Bright's age. Only her position as Saintess had held any meaning.

I let out a small sigh.

"Belita, how old are you?"

"F-fifteen..."

"......"

Livia's eyes went wide.

"What!? Fifteen!? You're coming of age this year!? You— you! When we set out on our journey, you were...!!"

"Th-thirteen..."

"You were a minor! Why would you join something like a Hero's party, where you put your life on the line!!"

As Olivia snapped at her, Belita fidgeted and mumbled.

"Because I was the Saintess... I had to go... I was House Bright's last hope... and there was no one else who could go..."

More than that, the world was not so safe that being a minor meant you were entirely excluded from danger.

"No, no. Even so, you betrayed me at fifteen. You committed your crime as an adult!"

"That's... that's right..."

"All right, then."

Livia sat down on the ground, meeting the eyes of the still-crouching Belita.

"Talk."

"Pardon?"

"Tell me why you did that to me."

"......"

"Are you mute? Or did they put a Geas on you too?"

"A G-Geas?"

She looked as though she had no idea what that was.

This was... unexpectedly. Could we get information from her? I had not expected much, but this was an unanticipated harvest.

"Livia, let's change locations. Somewhere enclosed, like an inn, would be better. My barrier isn't perfect, after all."

"Fine. Let's do that."

"Uh... I..."

Livia cracked her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knuckles.

"If you don't follow, I'll take that to mean you have nothing to say... and I don't think I need to spell out what comes after that."

"Y-you're not going to kill me?"

"Depending on what you say, I will."

"Yes..."

And with that, on our first day in Erchia, the City of Water, we had succeeded in capturing the Saintess Belita.