The Secret Room (4)
“Hngh!”
Sister Melody’s eyes snap shut at the strange writhing movement inside her forearm.
“Bite down on this. It’ll help.”
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and pressed it between her teeth. It would protect her from biting her tongue or cracking a tooth, and it might muffle any cries she couldn’t hold back. She accepted it without protest, clamping down firmly.
The corrupted Holy Relic hadn’t seized as much of her body as I’d feared.
“You really are strong. To think you’ve been holding back an energy like this with nothing but one arm all this time…”
It must have been agonizing. Now I understood why she had looked so utterly exhausted when she first appeared. The fact that she hadn’t fallen into madness the moment the relic overwhelmed her was nothing short of a miracle. No—only someone like her could have endured it. Was there even a person alive capable of truly mastering this thing?
The reason holy power caused pain when introduced into the body was simple: the foreign energy inside her rejected it violently, attacking anything that tried to enter.
“It’s improving.”
“You mustn’t push too hard.”
Even though the pain must have been enough to make her want to sever the limb entirely, Sister Melody’s first concern was still for the relic.
“Are you worried it might break?”
“…Yes.”
Watching her grit through the pain while worrying about an object instead of her own body filled me with genuine respect. Her mental fortitude was extraordinary.
“Even so, anything less than this won’t be enough to drive the energy out.”
And honestly, I was beginning to question whether this object even deserved to be called a holy relic anymore. Hadn’t it spent three hundred years steeped in the Evil God’s power? Could something like that still function as a sacred artifact? In that much time, it had more than enough opportunity to switch sides completely.
If it breaks, it breaks.
To me, Sister Melody mattered far more than any relic.
“Sir Priest!”
I ignored her protest and kept pouring divine power into her, forcing out the Evil God’s influence.
“This object has carried the Evil God’s energy for three hundred years. At this point, calling it an Evil God’s relic instead of ours wouldn’t be much of a stretch.”
“That isn’t true. Once every trace of that energy is purified, it will return to its original state.”
“To me, you are far more precious than an object whose restoration is uncertain.”
“!!”
“Besides, it’s been missing from the Holy Empire for three centuries anyway.”
The empire had done perfectly fine without it.
“We may have managed without the relic, but if you lost your arm, that would be a devastating loss to the Holy Empire.”
“That’s absurd…”
“Think of all the work you’ve done in secret for the empire over the years. Without you, the Holy Empire would face catastrophe.”
“…It isn’t that serious.”
“From what I’ve seen, it is exactly that serious. I’ve witnessed how much you’ve sacrificed for the empire’s sake.”
I had seen it with my own eyes. What possible importance could this relic hold in comparison? It couldn’t save lives or slay heretics. It was nothing but a symbol. But Sister Melody could do all those things. She killed heretics and saved people. Therefore, she was inevitably more important—more precious—than this dubious object whose very nature had become unclear through corruption.
Crack—
Still. No matter how much I insisted she mattered more, the sight of actual cracks forming across the relic made my chest tighten.
“Perhaps you should stop now?”
She asked carefully, perhaps because of how strongly I had pushed back earlier.
“No. It’s nearly finished. I only need to tidy up the rest.”
Having scraped every last trace of the invading energy from her body, she was no longer clenching her teeth in pain. But the remaining problem was worse than I expected. The relic showed no intention of releasing her arm.
“At this rate the relic will shatter!”
“If I stop now, it will only be suppressed. The moment my power fades, it will try to seize you again. The best solution is to remove the source entirely so it can never begin.”
“I have to take it out completely. Just a little more!”
Crack— Craaack—!
“Ah—!”
Was it really going to break? What kind of punishment would I receive for destroying a holy relic? Then again, this thing had so many flaws it barely qualified as one—perhaps they would be lenient?
Even while focusing on guiding the divine power, I agonized dozens of times over whether I should stop.
If I was going to quit halfway, I never should have started!
Once you begin something like this, you see it through to the end. I kept pouring in divine power until finally the relic could no longer endure. Trying to dominate Sister Melody’s body while simultaneously fighting against my own holy energy couldn’t have been easy.
“Got it!”
Clang—!
The relic finally detached from her arm. I had thought purifying something that had been bound for three hundred years would be impossible, but removing it proved successful.
“It’s done!”
“Whew~”
The relic that had fallen from her arm now lay docile, as if it had never radiated that sinister aura. At first glance it even looked sacred—exactly like a proper holy relic.
“Thank goodness. It only cracked; it didn’t actually break!”
To think it could still appear holy while harboring the Evil God’s ominous power. The sheer audacity of it made me furious.
“I couldn’t purify it completely.”
For now we had only managed to extract it from her arm, but if I continued working on it, perhaps I could eventually cleanse the energies nested inside.
“I will report that the relic was already in this condition when I first discovered it.”
“Pardon?”
I never expected Sister Melody of all people to suggest including a lie in an official report.
“I only said it because I was worried you might be troubled. A relic that fell into the hands of heretics three hundred years ago would naturally be in poor condition. Everyone will simply accept that explanation. So please consider it that way, Sir Priest, and forget what happened today.”
Even I had to admit it was a convincing story. If it had been completely shattered we could have blamed the heretics; a few cracks would be overlooked without question. The weight on my mind lifted slightly.
“Your mind feels lighter now, doesn’t it?”
She spoke as if she had read my thoughts, and I let out a helpless laugh.
“You really have seen straight into my heart.”
“I will never forget what you did for me today.”
“By the way, may I examine your arm once more?”
“Yes.”
Upon closer inspection, her arm was covered in ugly purple bruises. Yet despite the discoloration, everything functioned normally.
“I’ll check each finger. Can you feel this?”
I pressed each finger in turn, confirming sensation had returned, then had her clench and unclench her fist to test her strength. Finally, I used divine power to erase the bruises. The arm returned to its former perfect condition as if nothing had happened.
“Everything seems to have returned.”
“Yes. Isn’t that fortunate?”
“…Yes.”
“It’s a precious arm. Please take good care of it from now on.”
How many lives had this arm saved? I didn’t know the exact number, but it surely exceeded ten. Losing it would have halved her combat effectiveness, and countless people would have suffered as a result.
“I understand. Thank you for cherishing my arm.”
“On another note, it was rather noisy, yet everyone seems to be sleeping soundly. That’s a relief. What do you plan to do with this?”
“For now, I intend to wrap it in cloth and carry it with me.”
“Would it be all right if I held onto it instead?”
“Pardon?”
“You must continue fighting, Sister. Meanwhile, I mostly rest or remain relatively stationary even during battle.”
Since I didn’t move as violently as she did, I could store it far more safely.
“That’s true. Since I already succumbed to its temptation once, it may indeed be safer in your hands, Sir Priest.”
“That wasn’t what I meant at all!”
“No, it was my own short-sighted thinking. While I might not trust others with it, I believe I can entrust it to you without worry, Sir Arthur. It may be a burden, but please take good care of it.”
Even though I was the one who had cracked the relic, Sister Melody willingly handed it over. The reason I insisted on keeping it was so I could attempt to purify it little by little.
It’s too dangerous.
She had already suffered enough. I didn’t want her to be tormented by this thing even during what should have been peaceful rest.
You and I are going to have a proper reckoning before we leave this place.
It would surely be more entertaining for the relic to tangle with someone like me—who had plenty of free time between healing the occasional injured party member—than with a warrior constantly busy with combat. I intended to find out exactly what a three-hundred-year-old entity, whether grandmother or grandfather, was capable of.
“Tsk.”
Had I underestimated the power of a three-hundred-year-old relic? The moment I grabbed the cloth-wrapped object and stood, I felt my entire body sag with exhaustion. I stared hard at the bundle I had hidden away.
Is this because of that thing, or simple aftereffects from using too much divine power? I can’t be certain yet…
Still, I had never felt this sick after using a large amount of divine power before. The unpleasant sensation that hit me the instant I woke up made it far more likely that the relic was to blame.
“…one… because.”
“Haha! Th…at?”
The once-quiet surroundings of the tent at dawn now carried occasional voices from those who had risen early. Normally I would have greeted them cheerfully, but right now everything felt bothersome and heavy.
Good thing I offered to keep it.
She had already suffered so much. The least I could do was shoulder this burden for her.
“If I stay slumped over like this, they’ll get suspicious.”
I truly didn’t want to move, but I forced myself upright.
“Ugh.”
A groan slipped out unbidden. My muscles weren’t cramped, yet my body felt leaden. The moment I stepped outside, the others greeted me warmly as though they had been waiting.
“You’ve finally come out, Sir Priest.”
“Yes. Good morning, everyone. Did you all have pleasant dreams?”
“Oh, don’t even ask. It’s chaos right now.”
“Chaos? What happened?”
“I had a nightmare the moment I woke up today. Turns out everyone else had nightmares too.”
“!!”
Everyone had nightmares?
“My body feels terribly sluggish…”
“Same here. I feel awful.”
The three-hundred-year-old relic had affected our entire party without the slightest difficulty.