The Endless Rain
Looking back on it…
It had been an absurd story from the very start.
Methods for simply reshaping a body existed in abundance. But a method that didn't stop at mere physical alteration — one that completely rewrote both sex and species? That couldn't possibly exist.
It's impossible.
Even I, a complete novice when it came to magic, understood just how unreasonable a request that was.
What you're asking me to do is reverse the flow, tracing it back step by step until the original form is restored. But there is no flow to reverse in the first place.
That was what a mage had said — some self-proclaimed expert in restoration magic that Violet had dragged in, famous across the continent. Where, exactly, was there any trace of the man I used to be left in this body?
From that day until now, I had made every excuse I could think of, desperately denying the one hypothesis that kept rising to the surface.
A change in appetite? Well, of course that could happen when your body changed. Agreeing to travel with strangers without complaint? Because I needed to reclaim my body as soon as possible. Entrusting myself to Huey? Because the fewer people who saw me in that humiliating state, the better.
And everything else — every single action the old me would never have taken — I had rationalized with reasons like, I can't hold a sword anymore.
All while knowing better than anyone that it couldn't be true.
If this body had belonged to someone else from the beginning. If it wasn't that my body had changed, but that my mind had taken root in another person's flesh… then every transformation I had undergone until now would suddenly make sense.
And if, as time passed, my mind was slowly being assimilated into this body…?
A chill ran through me at the thought that I might simply disappear.
Of course, it was still only a hypothesis. But if — just if — I never reclaimed my original body, and this flesh completely claimed me… what remained then could still be called me? A being whose way of thinking and principles of action were entirely different, who merely carried the memories of a man named Ren — could I truly acknowledge that as myself?
"Damn it."
I shook off the thoughts that kept chaining themselves together, multiplying without end, and looked up at the dark clouds slowly staining the sky black.
"…Looks like rain."
Dwelling on it any longer would only make me more miserable.
"Ugh."
I decided to stop fretting over something that wasn't even certain yet, and pushed myself up from where I'd been lying on the roof of the Adventurers' Guild.
Tap. Tip-tap.
Raindrops had already begun to fall, so I figured I might as well get inside before I got soaked for no reason.
"Ah, you're back."
"Violet was right."
The moment I opened the door, Huey and Lucy waved at me.
"Where's the captain?"
"He said he'd go find us a carriage in our place."
He had clearly said something unnecessary and then fled. There was no other explanation for that lazy man volunteering for something as tedious as arranging a carriage.
"More importantly — are you all right, Ren?"
I was still grumbling about the captain who'd run off when Lucy called my name, her face full of concern.
"Hm? Out of nowhere?"
Huey wore a similar expression, so I asked again, wondering if something looked off about me.
"Your face is pale."
"If you're not feeling well, why don't we rest here a while before we go?"
Even Huey, who had been sitting, stood up and came over, fretting over me now.
I tilted my head at that and quietly took stock of myself.
"…Ah."
Only then did I notice it — a chill sharper than usual, and the tips of my wings trembling.
"I'm fine."
I forced a smile as I said it. Truthfully, sitting still under the pretense of resting would only make things worse.
"Really. I mean it."
"…Nngh."
"You look about as far from fine as a person can get…"
I was still arguing with the two of them, who refused to believe me and kept insisting I rest, when—
"Oh, you're here."
"Ah. Captain."
The rain must have picked up in the meantime. Violet came back looking thoroughly soaked.
"What's with that face?"
"…What do you think? It's because you said something weird, old man."
"If you've got time to talk nonsense, get ready to leave. I already got us a carriage."
He'd even paid the coachman extra to take a job he'd refused, he said, yawning as he walked over to Huey.
"As you just heard, I've arranged a carriage that goes straight to Swinford."
"That was fast."
"I plan to move the moment the area nearby is confirmed safe myself."
Besides, if it wasn't today, he wouldn't have time to look after us anyway. Violet relayed this to Huey in that languid voice of his, then picked up the spear he'd left propped in a corner.
"When you're ready to leave, look for a coachman named Philip on that side. Well then — I'm off."
And with that, he walked out.
"…That felt like it blew past in an instant."
"It really did."
"Our captain gets like that when he's busy."
Anyway.
"Since it's come to this, we're leaving right away, right?"
"I'd like to rest a little, if I'm being honest…"
"Nothing to be done about it, Master. You'll just have to settle for resting in the carriage."
And so we decided to set our feet moving again, after that brief pause.
Without the slightest idea of what we were about to face.
Four days had already passed since we left Ennis in the carriage Violet had arranged for us.
Whoooosh—
Thanks to the torrential rain that had poured without pause for all four days, a landslide must have hit somewhere. After sending back the carriage that could go no farther — the road buried under debris — we were climbing a small hill on foot toward Swinford, staring with exhausted faces at the water now flowing like rivers through every low place.
"Ugh, this rain is endless. Seriously."
"I know. It was like this last time we came through, too. Why does it rain so much around here?"
"Even a rain-warding artifact can't keep out the damp. I'm soaked through."
We kept moving, and then—
"Doesn't something feel off, though?"
"Huh? What does?"
"It does, actually. Something's strange."
The two of them nodded at each other with grave faces and started talking seriously among themselves, without a word of explanation to me.
"Let me in on it too, you bastards."
"You can't tell just by looking at this?"
Annoyed at being left out of their whispering, I spoke up — and Lucy pointed at the stream running past our feet as if I were an idiot for not noticing.
"No, what about it?"
It was a bit fierce, sure, but otherwise just an ordinary stream of water. I couldn't make sense of it and was about to open my mouth again when—
"Ren. Once we clear that rise, Swinford is right ahead."
"…Huh?"
Huey pointed toward the end of the short remaining climb, his expression deadly serious.
"Wait — hang on. Then what the hell is all this water?"
Until now I'd assumed some river up ahead had overflowed. But if what lay beyond wasn't a river — if it was a city?
"You'll see when we get there."
We quickened our pace and reached the crest of the hill. And just as Huey had said, Swinford came into view in the distance.
Or rather—
"What… is that…?"
"…You're kidding."
"What on earth…"
A city, completely shattered and submerged. Buildings smashed to pieces beyond any hope of recognizing their original shapes. Corpses floating here and there — people who hadn't managed to evacuate in time. Some of the bodies were so bloated they were barely recognizable as human.
"At least three days, by the look of it. Survivors… there can't be any."
I said this to Huey, who was turning his face away from the grotesquely damaged corpses — it seemed to be his first time seeing drowning victims — then continued.
"Frederica seems to be over that way, at least. What do you want to do?"
I traced the faint presence of Frederica I could sense from far off, and shrugged out of the robe I was wearing to hand it to Lucy.
"…Let's go together."
"There's enough space inside to move around a little. Please just take us that far."
Given how long the city had clearly been in this state, the fact that Frederica was still here only made me more uneasy.
"All right. Then…"
Fwoosh!
Her aura already felt far weaker than usual, which had been bothering me.
Flap!
I spread a burst of flame to scatter the raindrops around us, then set Lucy down first inside the flooded city.
"…Gulp."
"What's wrong?"
"N-nothing. Hold on!"
I beat my wings back toward where Huey waited, steeling myself.
Don't think about it. Absolutely do not think about it.
Grab.
"Hyeek—! Hup!"
I barely managed to suppress the jolt that ran through me at the sensation of his hands locking firmly around both my legs, then flapped my wings again and carried Huey to where Lucy was waiting.
"It looks even worse from the inside."
"The places we can even move through are limited. What in the world happened here?"
The flooding itself could be blamed on the rain of the past few days. But the city being completely destroyed — that had to have another cause.
And so, as we slowly searched through the submerged ruins, I came upon a sight I could not believe.
"…Huh?"
"Ren?"
"Did you find something?"
Far ahead, where the half-collapsed lord's castle still stood precariously—
"Isn't that… Osmon?"
"What? Why would Osmon be here…"
"Both of you. You should look at what's next to him as well."
Atop an enormous serpent that seemed to be made of transparent water sat Osmon, the bandages over his eyes somehow undone — and beside him—
"…Frederica?"
—Frederica, trapped inside a sphere of water, twitching weakly.