Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (6)

They called it a research institute, but in practice it was little more than a storage vault crammed with materials from beyond the Gates.

Presumably they were keeping everything there because research was actually underway, but some of it was even alive.

That is to say...... alive in a "cellular" sense. There was supposedly a hospital in the United States that kept culturing cancer cells taken from a patient without permission, and in that same sense, quite a lot of cells were being cultured here. Some of them might even be bacteria, for all I knew.

I could see why this place was located so far from the city center, and why the surrounding security was so tight it might as well have been a military base.

"Still, it does seem a little ambiguous for storing a Sacred Object."

I spoke quietly to the professor.

"If it's cells from a Magical Creature, they could vanish the moment Holy Power touches them."

"Of course."

The professor smiled and nodded at my words.

"But even so, the institute is spacious. Besides, when it comes to simply blocking 'light,' there are various methods. After all, you yourself, Saintess Candidate, covered the light with a handkerchief when you brought it here."

Hmm...... "Sister Anna" had become "Saintess Candidate" at some point.

Well, in the professor's eyes, I must have genuinely looked like a Saintess. No one who possessed a Sacred Object from the Church would willingly hand it over. Even if someone simply wanted to see it and conduct light ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠research, most would be refused.

From the Church's perspective, trying to unravel that sanctity through science would look like sacrilege.

But even so, a phenomenon was a phenomenon. If it were merely a story passed down by word of mouth, scientists wouldn't have shown any interest. But since it possessed the power to heal people and annihilate Mana, it was only natural that they'd be dying to study it.

". . . Please store the Sacred Object as quietly as possible. In particular, letting word get out would be a problem."

I said that just in case.

"Of course."

The professor's expression hardened in an instant.

"I have no desire to have this item taken away by the Church, either."

The Sacred Object itself wasn't all that rare. At the level of a Saintess Candidate, one could produce them readily enough, even if not quite to the degree that I could. Consecrated weapons or armor, that sort of thing. Even Holy Water alone was something quite close to a Sacred Object.

But even so, the Church saw things differently. Holy Power was Holy Power because it was sacred. If they thought a Sacred Object made with that Holy Power had slipped out of their control, they would probably be furious.

Though I wasn't sure how they'd react if they found out I was the one who'd made it.

"Which is why I'm asking—would it be possible to see how the Sacred Object will be stored? I'm a little worried, you see."

"Hmm, is that so . . ."

Only then did the professor tilt his head.

Naturally enough, neither I nor Ria had told this man that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this place was about to be robbed.

No matter how religious this world was, people who had "heard a Prophecy" were rare.

And unlike Holy Power, which "didn't show up on digital recordings" yet still actually operated, Prophecy was...... how should I put it—impossible to prove.

Even if it later came true, how could anyone know whether it was coincidence or not? Unless someone believed in the existence of God so deeply that they thought even that was possible, they would probably never be able to believe it.

I was the same way.

A Prophecy—good grief. Even if someone appeared before my eyes who could wield Holy Power far more intense than mine and said such things with a halo behind their head, I was confident I wouldn't believe a single speck of it.

. . . Well, in a sense, my current actions might be following a predetermined future . . . but this was a little different from that.

It was different, right?

Well, in any case, if I didn't tell anyone, no one would ever know.

"Understood. Certainly, you wouldn't feel at ease without seeing the facility yourself. Above all, the famous items inside this facility are already widely known to the public anyway."

At those words, I clenched my fist slightly.

Then I turned toward Ria.

Ria, who had been following us while carefully scanning the surroundings as I'd asked, met my eyes and shook her head as if in disbelief.

Oh, come on—she was the one who believed me.

.......

Ria believed whatever I said. I still didn't quite understand the foundation of that belief. I didn't think it was simply a matter of faith, but . . .

So deceiving her like this with talk of Prophecy and whatnot made me feel a little sorry.

"At any rate, it's good to see you again, Saintess Candidate."

"Pardon?"

I quickly turned my head back toward the professor and asked.

"Those with deeper piety almost never contact us first saying they want to research Holy Power, you see."

"There have been some who promised cooperation . . . but usually they changed their minds partway through. Perhaps because they were pressured from above. So I'm actually grateful that you approached us first like this, Saintess Candidate."

"......."

This . . . pricked my conscience in a different way.

Of course, that had been the excuse.

Not everyone with Holy Power was a cleric, but most people with enough Holy Power to be worth studying were clergy.

Even if someone wasn't clergy, few people volunteered to become guinea pigs.

I was the same. I had no intention of becoming a guinea pig myself.

Making that Sacred Object and bringing it here hadn't actually been for research, after all.

For reference, the Church had granted permission the moment I said it was a revelation from the Being Above. Without even reporting it up the chain.

. . . It was all lies.

I might end up being punished later.

As I was thinking that to myself, my field of vision brightened slightly.

I waved my hand lightly and scattered the Holy Power.

By the time the professor tilted his head and looked back, it had already been dispersed, so he didn't seem to notice anything in particular.

"......."

Still, Ria, walking beside me, had seen it.

*

The storage vault in the deepest part of the institute was far tidier than I'd expected.

Well, the novel had said it gave off more of a museum impression than a warehouse.

Each item stored inside was enclosed in its own large glass case. I couldn't tell what they'd originally been made to hold, but every single case was large enough for a person to stand inside.

The cases themselves seemed to have been bulk-ordered in a uniform size, so whether the item inside was large or small, they were all the same dimensions.

Some held small stones, others what looked like beast fangs. There were reptile scales with colors as beautiful as opal, the skull of a creature with a single large eye socket, and even the mounted head of some creature that might have been a dinosaur or just a giant lizard.

But even within this storage vault where things occupied their places without any particular classification, one item stood out.

I hadn't seen it myself. The web novel didn't have illustrations for every single item, after all.

But even from the vague description that surfaced in my memory, there was something that seized my gaze.

I walked straight toward it.

"Ah, as expected. You have a good eye. If you asked everyone in this institute to pick the single most valuable item stored here, they would all choose this one. It might even be more important than everything else combined . . . Ah, of course, excluding the Sacred Object you've given us, Saintess Candidate!"

I wasn't going to take it back even if he didn't say that.

"What is this? There didn't seem to be any separate explanation outside."

When I asked with an innocent expression, the professor quickly collected himself and cleared his throat with a small cough.

"This is . . . an item a Hunter brought back at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠risk of their life from beyond a Gate that is now closed. We can't even begin to guess how much Condensed Mana is contained within this single object."

That was a lie.

Ah, well, the explanation about it—that the amount of Condensed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mana was beyond estimation—was true.

Without this thick glass, it probably would have affected even us to some degree.

But the claim that a Hunter had risked their life to bring it back from beyond a closed Gate was wrong.

This was a masterpiece created by Gnomish civilization. And it was also an item the Dwarves claimed as "theirs."

The pinnacle of Mana Stone Processing.

The ones who had stolen this item had probably wanted the Mana contained within it.

I turned toward Ria.

Ria met my eyes and nodded.

I couldn't know how those people would come to retrieve this. But at the very least, Ria and I believed that fact.

I intended to inform the government of the Prophecy itself, but there was no telling how they would respond.

In my opinion, we would probably have to act ourselves in the end.

Wasn't that the fate of a Transmigrator?

The professor placed the Sacred Object I had made into one of the empty glass cases.

The case closed, but since he didn't set any kind of passcode, it seemed to lock automatically.

I cast another glance at Ria. Unlike her usual self, she nodded with a serious expression.