The Bird Beyond Reach
The path to the pioneer village in the frontier was beyond reach. It was far too distant. No matter how desperately she stretched out her hand, it remained just out of grasp. No amount of effort could close the gap. In the end, tears came. The knowledge that longing alone could never bring the wind into one's palm always brought sorrow. She sank to the ground. Drowning in her own tears, she continued to sink deeper. That was why, when she was suddenly pulled upward, she could not breathe properly.
Celine looked up at the one who had lifted her from her sorrow. 'Celine, why do you weep so bitterly?'
'Hic…! Hic…! The baby…! The baby…!'
'Oh dear, the little bird has fallen from its nest.'
'I tried to put it back…! But I couldn't reach it…! I stretched my arms again and again, but it was still too high…! I stood on my tiptoes with all my strength! But I still couldn't reach it…….'
'I see. That is why you are crying.'
'I couldn't help at all……. Even though I must spread the grace I received from the Lord across the world and offer aid……!'
'Now, now, Celine. That is not so.'
'But I…! I……!'
'Look. Because you wrapped the baby bird in your hands, it could stay warm instead of shivering in the cold, could it not?'
'Hic…! Hic…! Truly…?'
'It is so. Without you, the little bird would likely have succumbed to the cold and perished. Celine, spreading the Lord's grace to the world and offering help is important, of course. But what matters more is giving the help that you yourself can give.'
'The help that I can give……?'
'Yes. Suppose you tried to help someone in need at the far end of the Holy Kingdom from here. Would that be possible?'
—Shake, shake!
'Correct. Attempting it would be noble in intent, yet in the end it would mean craving help that you cannot give, help that is not yours to offer. Celine, what did we learn to call this?'
'Desire!'
'You remember well, Celine. As expected, you are clever. Yes, desire. And what happens when one recklessly craves desire?'
'One gets devoured by it!'
'Precisely. Yes, devoured by desire. To be devoured by desire is like sinking into an endless swamp—it pulls not only yourself but others down with you. And the swamp of desire, once fed, grows larger still and devours yet more. Most who fall into sin belong to this sort. Celine, do you now understand why I said you must give the help that you can give?'
—Nod, nod!
'Well done, Celine. Our Celine will surely grow into a splendid nun.'
'Ehehe…! Of course! I will definitely become a splendid nun when I grow up! Your Holiness the Pope!'
The Pope slowly extended his hand toward Celine. His large hand gently stroked her small head. Callused and rough, that hand carried the sturdy strength of a muscular forearm. Celine liked that muscular arm very much. Leaning against it seemed to fill her with a sense of security all on its own. She lifted her head slightly and looked at the Pope's face—his bushy beard and the hair that fell messily across it.
……?
Bushy beard and hair……?
"Of course, Celine! You will surely become a splendid nun!"
"Nyaaat?!"
Her entire body trembling, Sister Celine awoke from her dream. The moment she opened her eyes, she noticed something strange. Namely, that she was moving even though she clearly had not been walking, and that the cheek she was resting against was something extremely firm yet strangely reassuring.
Blinking her large golden eyes, Sister Celine soon felt her face flush bright red. It was a perfectly natural physiological reaction. Any grown maiden would feel the same if she found herself carried on the bare back of a man, especially if her mouth had been hanging open and drooling.
"U-uh? Huh? Uh-uh-uh? Wh-wh-wh-what is this?"
"Hm! So you are awake, Sister Celine!"
The booming resonance of his voice made her body tremble once more. That voice, like sound echoing through a cavern, made her situation painfully clear. She was not merely being carried by Harnok—she was being carried along a mountain path.
"You would not wake no matter how I called, so I decided to carry you!"
"Th-that much I understand! Ah, no! Th-thank you? Uh, uh-uh-uh?"
In her fluster, Sister Celine let out a shrill cry, then quickly covered her mouth before offering a proper, nun-like expression of gratitude for being carried. Yet another part of her—the part that remembered she was a grown maiden—realized how bizarre her words must have sounded. The realization made her cheeks burn so hot that dizziness washed over her.
"Hweee……?"
Her vision spun lightly from the sudden rush of blood, and she collapsed face-first onto the very firm and stable natural pillow before her. A pillow so stable, in fact, that it helped her regain her senses.
Celine jerked her head up as if repelled.
"Hwaaaah?!"
The cry was entirely unbecoming of both a grown maiden and a nun.
—Swoooosh……
When she lifted her head from Harnok's 'natural back-muscle pillow,' a cool breeze brushed against the nun's cheeks. The wind's touch, gently carrying away the heat from her body, felt pleasant. While she was enjoying the breeze, the cavernous voice spoke from ahead.
"Hm? So you will not sleep any longer, Sister? I thought you meant to rest again when you laid your face down."
Sister Celine pressed down the embarrassment rising to her forehead and managed a single reply.
"……I am not sleeping."
She could not, however, suppress the pout that followed.
"Ahem! Th-then, wh-where exactly are we headed right now?"
"The pioneer village! The place to which you and I have been assigned!"
'Pioneer village…….'
Sister Celine's eyes widened. Already round, they grew even rounder. She had heard that people gathered in the western frontier. Yet because it was both a pioneer land and a border region, most who came were those who had fled poverty-stricken slums in search of a new life. They arrived carrying the hope of a fresh start in a place whose foundations were not yet laid.
……But the lack of foundations also meant a lack of security and law, which in turn explained why criminals fleeing the Paladin Order's judgment flocked there day after day. She herself had nearly been captured by bandits while walking the mountain path alone. The thought of what might have happened had Harnok not arrived in time made Celine's body tremble slightly.
Then another thought struck her, and she tilted her head.
"Huh…? Wait…? How did you know I was coming here? I left alone, so there should have been no one to inform you……?"
"A message arrived! A white dove brought a note tied to its leg. It was only a brief message—'Sister Celine is en route'—since it was a telegram, but how could I not go to greet the first person to arrive since I came here? While I was on my way to meet you, a villager who had gone outside the village told me a nun was being abducted by bandits, so I set out to find you at once!"
Celine felt a wave of disbelief at his words—specifically, at the mention of sending a telegram.
'Those old men in the Senate…… They only did the bare minimum to cover themselves……!'
Normally, when the Holy Kingdom dispatched someone to another region, they did not rely on telegrams. The individual traveled with several escorts, and the official documents had to be delivered in person to the administrator of the diocese. Sending only a telegram was nothing more than a token gesture to claim, 'We informed them, so we bear no responsibility.'
Given Harnok's previous behavior and the fact that he had been living here alone as a paladin—though that, too, differed greatly from what she knew—his ignorance was only natural. Harnok continued without the slightest doubt.
And the next words struck Sister Celine like a hammer to the head.
"It has been years since anyone last came! Let me see…… Ah, yes! I am twenty-three this year, and since I was knighted at fifteen and assigned here, that makes eight years……"
……?
"……Pardon? Wh-what did you just say……?"
"Hm? Eight years since I arrived……"
"N-no! Before that?"
"I was knighted at fifteen……"
"B-b-before that……?"
"I am twenty-three this year……"
"We are the same age—?!"
Fortunately, Sister Celine managed not to faint. It was a feat of superhuman endurance.