The Wrong Button
A few hours before Cosmic Jack and Ririran fought, at dawn.
I revealed the existence of resurrection magic for the first time since coming to this world.
Ririran wore a surprised expression.
Resurrection magic was a spell that even the famous Saintess couldn't use.
It was natural for her to be surprised.
However, she calmed down faster than expected.
Ririran was someone who had even experienced war.
Since I'm a transmigrator, it's understandable, but according to Aranseol, she was treated as a war hero.
As such, she must have seen various kinds of transmigrators.
In particular, she knew well how abnormal the unique abilities of No-Named were.
"So that's how it is. That's why."
Moreover, Ririran seemed to have something in mind.
"I thought all presences except Cosmic Jack had disappeared from the forest, but I was puzzled when you suddenly reappeared."
Someone of Ririran's level could even sense presences to that extent.
As expected, I should be careful about abusing resurrection magic.
And it reinforced my thought that Cosmic Jack must be eliminated.
Cosmic Jack still hadn't figured out how Aranseol and I had come back alive.
But what if, really.
What if he happened to learn about resurrection magic by chance.
Nine times out of ten, he would connect what happened this time to resurrection magic.
And depending on the circumstances, there was a possibility that the Great Sinner would target me.
To prevent that, the best thing was to eliminate Cosmic Jack.
"So how are you planning to revive me? Cosmic Jack will notice something's up."
I had already thought about what was needed.
"Just one joint of your pinky finger. Give me that."
Asking her to cut off one joint of her pinky finger.
It was an extremely absurd request.
Swish-
But Ririran unhesitatingly severed part of her own pinky finger with space magic.
Then she threw it to me.
It was a small pinky finger, fitting its small stature.
I hadn't expected her to cut it off without any hesitation.
Even if it was just a pinky joint, it was part of the body.
There would be cutting pain as well as psychological repulsion.
"A life is at stake, so what's one pinky finger?"
Ririran saw through my thoughts and smiled.
"What if I lied about the resurrection magic?"
"Either way, the situation is the same. I'm risking my life, so I have to try something."
Her mindset was different.
Was this what experience did to a person?
"Or do you have a hobby of collecting fingers?"
"I don't have such a gruesome hobby."
"I hope you never do."
I tightly gripped her pinky finger.
From the moment I used resurrection magic, I instinctively knew I could revive even a single pinky finger.
Other transmigrators would be the same.
All transmigrators instinctively knew the limits of their unique abilities.
A unique ability was like a part of the body.
Just as one naturally used their own body, they could naturally use their unique ability.
"I'll be back. That guy doesn't have much patience, so I need to go before he does something worse."
The airship search party would move as soon as dawn broke.
So Ririran immediately began to act.
She moved so that others wouldn't suffer any damage because of her.
Ririran disappeared, leaving behind a quiet space.
To use resurrection magic, I had moved away from the house where Aranseol was sleeping and the fairy village.
Then I quietly sat next to a tree bark and killed time.
Around the time when the morning sun rose and the blue dawn began to settle in.
I began to act.
Holding my breath, I gripped the finger and activated resurrection magic.
A pure white light spread through my palm.
Along with it, I felt a large amount of mana remaining in my body draining away.
Changes began at the tip of the small finger.
Bones sprouted, internal organs formed, and flesh grew.
Although it was a small body, it contained everything it should.
Round breasts rose above the pure white skin.
Resurrection magic couldn't restore clothes.
So her naked body was revealed as is.
Ririran's body gradually took shape.
Finally, the moment the fairy wings sprouted.
"Uh, hoo."
Ririran slowly opened her eyes with furrowed brows.
In her field of vision, I came into view.
Ririran stared at me for a moment before opening her lips.
"You really came back to life."
With a face that seemed like she couldn't believe it, she opened and closed her hand.
Her left finger, which had been severed, had also returned to normal.
Even though she had come back to life, she was calmer than expected.
Usually, right after resurrection magic was used, one would fall into a state of confusion.
As expected, she wasn't ordinary.
"Ririran-nim, what happened to Cosmic Jack?"
At my question, Ririran slowly raised the corner of her mouth.
"He was screaming my name as he was buried at the bottom of the deep sea."
The bottom of the deep sea.
Instant death.
He should have lived nicely.
It was a death befitting a Great Sinner.
It was unpleasant to meet him, and let's never meet again even in the afterlife.
Ririran slowly flew up, covering her body with her wings.
"Mm, I should have left the pipe behind. It was something a younger sibling I know gave me. I lost something good."
Her belongings were now all sunk at the bottom of the deep sea.
Perhaps because of that, Ririran showed her regret.
"At the point where my life was saved, I shouldn't say this, but thank you. I owe you a debt."
"Yes, a big debt. I hope you don't forget it and keep it well, and repay it when I need it."
Perhaps because of my bold words, Ririran smiled brightly.
"Of course. That's why we made the deal, isn't it?"
Fortunately, she didn't demand repayment right after saving someone from drowning.
"And please keep it a secret as much as possible."
"Of course. It's an ability that wouldn't do any good if known."
It was fortunate that she understood.
Even to Ririran, resurrection magic had too many risks.
"So how's your body condition?"
Body condition?
I stared at Ririran.
Was there something that hadn't fully recovered?
Pure white skin and long limbs.
A slender figure slightly revealed between her wings.
Nothing seemed missing.
Then, under my gaze, Ririran shrank her body and coughed awkwardly.
"Even if I'm an old woman, it's embarrassing to be stared at like that."
"Ah, I was wondering if there was something that hadn't recovered."
"It's not my body, boy, it's yours."
My body?
I wondered what problem there could be with me, who had been fine in the fairy village.
"You revived starting from the pinky finger. Although I'm a fairy so it's small, a large amount of holy mana must have been consumed.
Are you really okay? For example, any pain in the heart."
Heart disease.
A symptom commonly seen in holy mages.
Unlike regular mana, holy mana was mainly converted around the heart.
Therefore, frequent use of holy mana put strain on the heart, and sometimes led to illness.
However, this became meaningless once one grew enough to have self-regeneration ability like Lapiel.
Even if the heart was damaged, the body would heal itself.
I had talent but wasn't a holy mage of that level.
I could resurrect, but my body didn't heal itself.
But I didn't feel tired just from using resurrection magic a bit.
I was just a little tired from not sleeping.
"Hmm, do you have a lot of mana?"
"Wouldn't it be that I'm a crazy talent freak?"
"I don't know what 'talent freak' means, but since you possess such holy magic, you do have excellent talent for learning other holy magic."
Ririran-certified talent.
That was me.
"Then I should go return the essence of the Breath Tree now. It's been too long since the essence left the Breath Tree."
"Yes, I need to get some sleep too."
"See you later."
Ririran flapped her wings and left.
She had clearly fought a fierce battle with Cosmic Jack, but she seemed calmer than expected.
It meant she was accustomed to life-or-death battles to that extent.
Would I become like that someday? It was scary to think about.
I had to take care of my body as much as possible and survive somehow.
After Ririran left, I trudged back to the assigned house.
As I told Ririran, I planned to lie down and rest now.
"Harua."
And there was one unexpected problem left.
When I entered the house, Aranseol was sitting on the chair at the entrance.
From her expression, it seemed she hadn't slept at all.
"Where have you been?"
"Morning training."
"From night until now?"
As expected, she hadn't slept.
She had noticed my movements and pretended to sleep.
There was a brief staring contest between Aranseol and me.
I didn't particularly trust Aranseol.
From the beginning, I had never trusted anyone since coming to this world.
I only moved based on people's character and benefit relationships.
I couldn't deny that I was somewhat moody.
With Aranseol, it was like that.
I thought we had built a decent relationship.
Even if the first button was fastened wrong, the buttons after that were fine in their own way.
But that was all.
Building a relationship of trust with her was a different story.
As if she knew that fact, Aranseol didn't ask further and stood up from her seat.
"I injured my left hand to the point where I couldn't properly grip my sword in the battle with Cosmic Jack."
So that's why she kept clenching and unclenching her left hand.
For a very brief moment, I hesitated.
Aranseol's injured left hand had recovered when I opened my eyes.
My recovery magic could heal shallow wounds.
But only to that extent.
It was still insufficient to heal bones and muscles.
Aranseol knew my skill level.
For a while, our training times overlapped, so we repeated training together.
But when I opened my eyes, her left hand had completely recovered.
Not only that, but the minor wounds as well.
If Cosmic Jack had just knocked us out and left, the wounds should have remained as they were.
It was natural for Aranseol to have doubts about this point.
Above all, Cosmic Jack's reaction when we met again.
That reaction was clearly 'Why are you alive?'
Aranseol must have known that too.
And today, I went out without a word.
In reality, even if an ordinary holy mage went out, they couldn't do anything, but I did.
It was natural for suspicion to arise.
"I just wanted to say thank you, whatever it was."
But even with the previous information, she couldn't guess that I possessed resurrection magic.
Resurrection magic was treated as a legend even in this world.
"If there's something you want to hide from me, you don't have to say it. It's just that I wanted to thank you for treating me even while bearing that burden."
Aranseol smiled faintly and turned her body.
"Thank you. You worked hard. Sleep well."
With that, Aranseol returned to her room.
I stood at the entrance in silence.
Sunlight rising through the window at the entrance seeped in.
Aranseol didn't wonder what I had.
She just wanted to say thank you, whatever it was.
She hated and despised transmigrators.
However, she wanted to change not only her own life but also the lives of others.
That's why she waited here alone today.
She waited, wondering if something might happen to me.
Yet she deliberately showed consideration for me hiding something.
The fact that she didn't come looking for me until morning was proof of that.
I had been nervous alone, trying to gauge her intentions.
My gaze reached the window.
The first button that was fastened wrong.
I must have fastened the button wrong from the moment I came to this world.
And it was probably a button I would never fasten properly in my lifetime.
While bitterly recognizing that fact, perhaps it was human nature to long for the day when I could unfasten the button again.