Chapter 2. Encounters and Opportunities (10)
Chapter 2. Encounters and Opportunities (10)
No matter how much the other Saintess Candidates ignore what I say, anyone who has ever been treated by me personally doesn't ignore what I say.
Not that I treated them hoping for that, though.
"It's not entirely without merit, either."
The man Ria calls uncle—Kim Hyeon-gang—said that.
"When the situation gets too serious, everyone except the people who are really good at fighting pulls out. Yes, if that's what you're saying, Sister, then we'll do that. We had a casualty a little while ago anyway, so we were just about to reorganize the team."
At those words, I let out a small breath and relaxed.
That was enough.
The creatures beyond the Gate are just as wary of this world as we are of what lies beyond the Gate. That's even more true because, until you cross over, you can't know what's on the other side. It just looks like a wall made of a thin membrane.
"Do you intend to keep the Gate open?"
"Well, actually, there's been some talk that it might be better to start closing it soon. There's nothing particularly worth getting. As always, some universities seem to want to study the ecosystem on the other side, but with people getting hurt like this, research is difficult too."
I could ask whether it wouldn't be fine to mobilize the military if Hunters are in short supply, but in most countries, the military is a force kept in reserve for war.
No matter how often they get called out here and there for civil support or whatever, it's rare for them to go beyond a Gate, which is a specialist's domain. Unless some grotesque thing comes bursting out from beyond the Gate and they're forming a defensive line, that is.
From a nation's standpoint, high-grade Hunters are important human resources, so they can't just be driven out recklessly either.
The process of closing a Gate was the same as closing one from this side.
Except that the Magic Circle was drawn on the other side of the Gate. As long as a connection through the Gate was possible, the rules of Magic and physics applied identically on both sides.
Just as most Gates appear suddenly, they're also said to occasionally vanish on their own, but if there had been many Gates that vanished on their own in the first place, Hunters wouldn't have even considered going in so readily.
"Preparation will take a few hours. It's actually a job that can take more than ten hours, and depending on the Mana analysis, it can take days. Would it be all right if we asked you to stay here in the meantime?"
"On the condition that no one approaches the room the two of us are staying in."
Before I could answer, Ria said that.
"I'm the only knight on our side."
When I looked at Ria, she shrugged and said that.
Kim Hyeon-gang, who had been watching Ria with an odd look, nodded.
"Fine. We'll do that."
"Then......."
"Yes, while the work is underway, you may stay as you like. It may not look it, but there's plenty of food brought in here. You can't fight if you're hungry, can you?"
"Oh."
That remark tempted me a little too.
There were plenty of other people who could heal the injured in my place. Unless someone truly on the verge of death showed up, I might not even get a chance to step in.
On top of that, I'd already eliminated the possibility of Lee Si-yoon dying while I wasn't looking.
"Always thinking about food."
"What? I haven't said a single word yet."
"You were thinking it, weren't you?"
What is this? Mind reading?
Senses sharpened to the extreme can't be compared to mind reading—is that what this is?
But my senses hadn't developed as much as Ria's, so I couldn't read Ria's thoughts.
That was a little frustrating.
*
But in the end, I didn't get to eat anything.
"You really are consistent, you know that?"
Seeing me pacing around outside the building because I kept thinking about the injured people, Ria said, sounding a bit fed up.
"What are you going to do if someone on the verge of death comes bursting out while you're eating?"
When I snapped back, a little irritated,
"Yeah, yeah, sure you would. They pulled out all the Low-Rank Hunters too, so who's left to get hurt?"
came the question in return.
Well, that was true, but......
"......Someone can collapse at any time."
When I grumbled, Ria shrugged. I could almost hear her voice saying, "Well, I won't deny it," and that made me flare up again.
No, now my brain was just playing voices on its own.
Over the past month or so, we'd apparently learned far too much about each other. Well, we shared a room, so what could you do?
I was grumbling under my breath and fiddling with my bangs when a group of people came walking toward us.
Ria could be a little intimidating when she got angry, but the people approaching us had a far more overwhelming presence.
They were mostly dressed in black, and of course they were taller than Ria. People who were nearly a head and a half to two heads taller than me were approaching in a group, so it was exactly like a wall was moving.
And inside that wall was the nun I'd seen earlier.
Ria's expression hardened as she stepped in front of me. But although they were intimidating, the other side didn't seem to have come to harm us; they stepped aside to the left and right, keeping a little distance.
The Saintess Candidate's appearance became a bit clearer.
She didn't look like me. Her eyes and eyebrows were black, and her facial features were common in this country. She was pretty, but not distinctive.
Her hair was properly wrapped and tightly hidden by her veil. Unlike me, she wore her habit perfectly by the book.
The Saintess Candidate's gaze slowly scanned me from head to toe.
"Sister Anna, is that right?"
"......Yes, that's right."
When I answered in a grumbling tone, the Saintess Candidate's eyes widened slightly, then curved again.
"It's a pleasure. My name is Sophie."
Probably a Baptismal Name. She must have been like me, someone without a secular name.
Judging by her expression earlier, she'd come over to pick a fight with me this time. Did the Cardinal put her up to it?
Well, even if he didn't, if she'd heard the rumors, I'd be a thorn in her eye. To people who sincerely believe in God, someone who insists God doesn't exist is simply a heretic.
"I've often heard about Sister Anna. That you have a somewhat...... unique view of religion."
"Ah, yeah, well."
See? There it is again.
Within our Church, since I go around running my mouth so much, no one bothers to pick a fight with me first anymore, but very, very occasionally, there are people who deliberately come to pick a fight with me at places where volunteer work overlaps.
Or if not that, laypeople who aren't clergy but have fanatical tendencies.
Someone at the level of a Saintess Candidate is clearly certain of God's existence itself. With a person who rejects that truth standing right in front of them, could they just pass by without starting something?
If it were me, and someone claiming the Earth was flat were standing in front of me, I'd want to refute them somehow.
Not that I'm someone who claims the Earth is flat.
Did she not like how utterly unenthusiastic my reaction was? Maybe she thought she'd greeted me warmly enough in her own way.
"It's nothing special, really. As a fellow Saintess Candidate, I wanted to exchange various opinions."
"Opinions."
"Yes. I've heard the rumors. That Sister Anna also clearly possesses proper Holy Power. I didn't see it earlier, but I think you simply didn't have the opportunity."
Hm.
Was she beating around the bush?
I tilted my head.
Well, it's understandable. Unlike this person or the other clergy, I actually hadn't healed anyone since coming here.
The application might be different, but with this kind of 'superpower,' if you didn't demonstrate it directly in front of someone—no, even if you did, doubt was the rational response. There were people who made money claiming magic tricks were superpowers, after all.
Hm, that's actually pretty rational?
I revised my assessment of this Sophie person a little.
It was more rational to judge after looking at the circumstances than to believe blindly.
"If you ever get the chance, I was hoping Sister Anna might also show us her use of the power God gifted—"
"Ah, hold on."
I immediately revised that assessment of her being rational and reasonable.
"Yes?"
"That—the part about God gifting it."
I spoke to Sophie, whose expression had gone a little blank.
"If you really want to split hairs, Holy Power isn't something you receive as a gift; it's closer to a law of nature, isn't it? Like how if you put a magnifying glass under sunlight and adjust it properly, it sets paper on fire."
"......?"
Sophie's expression went a bit vacant.
It might have been my imagination, but somehow the Knight Order members behind her seemed to go a little blank too.
"So that kind of power is just something that exists naturally as a law of nature; calling it a gift is a bit much. Seeing that someone like me can use it, it doesn't seem like someone up there is adjusting it separately."
"What, what is—?"
Ria raised a hand and pressed it to her forehead.
No, I'm right, aren't I?
Ah, well, of course, if you really want to split hairs, there might be an intention on that side to screw me over, so judging it that way might not be unreasonable. It's like how someone could grab your hand while you're walking down the street and put something like dog shit on top of it.
"Well, I understand that it isn't my power to begin with, but even so, calling something someone else forced into my hand a gift or a Blessing is—eek!?"
"Hey, hey."
Before I could finish, Ria poked me in the ribs.
"Do you know the members of that Knight Order over there are Inquisitors?"
"......Ah."
"No, what are you saying in front of the people guarding a Saintess? If those people get angry, won't it be more than just 'troublesome'?"
Would it really end at just 'troublesome'?
No, well, I have heard that in reality they're kind of like bureaucratic police.
"......Sister Anna? What you just said—"
Just as Sophie opened her mouth to react to what I'd said.
Thud.
Something made the ground shake.
Everyone nearby, including me and Ria, whipped their heads toward the sound.
It was from the Gate.
There were people on standby nearby, but there weren't that many—
Through the Gate,
"Aaaah!?"
a person covered in blood came flying in.
The person, already gravely wounded, bounced and rolled across the ground several times before going limp.
Are they even alive—
"Anna!"
But before I could even judge that, I was already running.