Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (10)
Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (10)
That sight—surely, everyone who witnessed it firsthand in that place would never forget it for the rest of their lives.
Heaven and earth had been connected.
From some noble being high above, a sacred light like spring sunshine shone down upon a single girl.
The Mana that had shot into the sky became clear water and fell, without any meaning. In this place where not a single drop of rain had fallen for hundreds of years, rain was falling.
The clergy forgot to pray, and the Hunters forgot even to fight as they looked up at the sky.
As the falling rain flowed into the lake, the lake began to boil and churn. All of the Magical Creatures born from the lake seethed, then vanished as if evaporating.
At the very surface of the lake, a clear film formed. Purified water was endlessly flowing upward. It looked like a spring welling up from the black earth.
The sandbags sunk below, each of those countless small Sacred Objects, were purifying the lake.
But all of that spectacle ended in a single moment.
Flicker, flicker.
Like a light installed where the power supply was unstable, the light in the sky flickered, then went out in an instant.
The monster being purified did not collapse but held on, and the falling rain became Mana once more.
The clergy drew upon their Holy Power again, so it did not become a major problem—
But somehow, people thought they had heard someone's scream amid that chaos.
*
Ria did not understand what had happened for a moment.
With her exceptional dynamic vision, she had been able to notice in an instant that something dangerous was rushing toward her.
But the speed at which it approached was so fast that even Ria could not react, and she could not dodge it.
Literally, it must have been faster than most bullets.
She had pulled her body back slightly, but that was all.
She had tried to block it with her arm, but it was clear that before her arm could even block it, it would have pierced through Ria's chest.
And yet—
The warm light vanished, and the sky turned gloomy.
Just moments ago, the sky had clearly been so blue it stung the eyes.
No, had Ria's emotions simply shifted like that? Had a shadow merely fallen across the monster's hand, still raised toward the sky?
None of that mattered.
What she could not understand at all was how Anna could have been in front of Ria at that moment, how she could have been pierced by that spear in Ria's place—
"......Anna?"
Anna had surely been up in that sky.
So she should not have been able to get caught up in something like this.
It was piercing through Anna's abdomen. No, not just her abdomen. Just below the diaphragm. A place where any wound would be absolutely fatal. A location where perhaps even part of her lung had been carved away—
"Anna!?"
Ria rushed toward Anna.
"I'm o...kay."
Impaled by the massive spear, unable to sit or collapse, Anna said that.
Now that she looked, the spear was not the only one. As if determined to kill the being there without fail, from all directions.
Only the spot where Ria had been pushed away by Anna could narrowly remain safe. No, unless that was not it.
Red blood flowed from Anna's body.
Like a single drop of water falling onto a heated frying pan, the Mana piercing through Anna's body was being purified. But this time, the purified Mana was not a clear, transparent color but a deep crimson.
"Ah, as expected, changing reality itself—I guess it doesn't work."
"Anna!!"
Anna said it as if a thought had just occurred to her, but none of that mattered to Ria. She rose gripping her sword and swung it like mad. The thing piercing Anna's body was cut away pathetically by Ria's blade.
By something as worthless as this.
Cough.
Anna vomited blood. Deep crimson blood.
As Ria caught Anna falling forward, she felt warmth from Anna's body. But that warmth made Ria's skin crawl. Because that warmth was not simply the warmth of a body, but the warmth of pouring blood.
The surroundings were collapsing. The monster's body would probably collapse too.
"Not yet......."
"No, Anna. Don't say anything."
Seeing Anna speak while vomiting blood, her eyes half-lidded, Ria took Anna's hand. Once again, she felt a chilling sensation. Because unlike the blood, that hand was far too cold.
"I'm o...kay."
"What do you mean, okay!"
Ria shouted.
What should she do? If there were only one wound, she could just stop the bleeding, but blood was flowing from too many places. She tried pressing her hand against one of the wounds on Anna's body, but blood flowed from elsewhere—
"I think, I understand, a little."
"Don't say anything, Anna."
"The reason I came here......."
Ria's vision blurred. With Anna laid across her lap, Ria kept trying and trying to remember. The things she had learned as a child. The first aid Hunters performed when injured. But the things that came to mind immediately were not things she could do—
......One thing came to mind.
Holy Water.
If it was Holy Water,
While Ria was taking something from her pocket, Anna raised her index finger and pointed at the sky.
Following the tip of that finger, the sky slowly opened again. Warm light flowed down onto Anna's face once more.
Anna smiled softly.
"Ah, so that's it."
Different from what she usually saw, a thin, thread-like light touched the tip of Anna's finger. That light, stretching all the way to the edge of the sky, looked unusually ominous today. She had never once thought that before.
She had simply thought that, for Anna, being in the Church was best. Because there was no reason for such a naive, pure child to go out into society.
It was not as if inside the Church was completely safe. There would be power struggles, and there would be intrigue. Anna could be hurt in the midst of that.
She had said she would help from beside her.
She had never planned to stay forever, but after getting settled in her own way, they could just be friends later—
For the first time, she doubted.
If that being called God was watching over Anna, then why? Why now, of all times?
She had thought it was simply because Anna, though in a somewhat unusual way, believed in God far more than others. Because she was someone who could think such pure thoughts, because she was someone who thought that power was 'not her own,' she had thought God was answering her like that.
The chocolate had not melted at all even inside her pocket while she ran about. Rather, it was almost cool. The light emanating from it was like the cold air visible when something was taken out of a freezer.
It could not be used on the wound like this.
Ria put it in her mouth and crunched down on it.
"......I see. So that's how it was......."
At Anna's feeble voice, tears finally fell.
No way, no way.
If, if......
If the being called Anna simply had something she had to bear.
If Anna had simply wanted to run away from that fate.
......If Ria's actions had merely pushed Anna into it.
—I'll believe in you.
"......"
The light that fell from the sky gently enveloped the surroundings.
The monster's body collapsed as if melting. The surroundings were slowly purified by that connected light.
Even within the crumbling monster, the two did not fall. The lake was simply still.
The Sacred Objects poured into its depths had apparently succeeded in doing their work at last. The monster's body slowly collapsed like a sandcastle.
She tried applying the Sacred Object crushed in her mouth to Anna's body, but the bleeding did not stop. The wound did slowly close, but the speed was far too slow.
Anna's hand dropped limply. The strength drained from her body.
"No."
Ria put another piece of chocolate in her mouth.
I don't want to let you go yet.
The fastest way to see the effect of Holy Water is to drink it directly. In emergencies, it could also be poured onto wounds, but that only healed surface injuries.
As things were, pouring it on was not possible. It had never been water in the first place.
Then, there was only one way to properly push this Holy Power into Anna's body.
Anna's expression with her eyes closed was simply peaceful. As if she had done what she needed to do.
......What makes you so comfortable all by yourself?
Who gave you permission.
......You said you believed.
Anna had said she believed Ria would protect her completely. Even when handled a little roughly, even on a battlefield where lives were at stake, Anna had entrusted her body entirely to Ria.
Then entrust it to me this time too.
Ria lifted Anna's chin.
Without even thinking about the act—
Looking back on it later, Ria thought she had been a little out of her right mind then.
A slight softness.
And endless sweetness.
That was the first time.
*
"......."
The sunlight entering my vision was a little dazzling.
I raised my hand and waved it in front of my face. Since it did not disappear, the light falling from the sky was literally sunlight, it seemed.
"Hic...... sob......."
And what I felt was—a hot sensation beyond warmth.
My body was sticky. I was also quite wet. It did not seem to be simply because I was on the lake.
"......Ria?"
When I asked, my view shifted a little.
Ria, who had been holding me in her arms, let go of me slightly with a startled expression.
Tear-soaked red eyes looked at me.
"Anna?"
"Ria."
Seeing Ria's face like that, I called her name once more.
Ria hugged me tightly again.
......Hm.
It seemed I really had almost died.
Before my eyes, the lake spread out.
I was lying down, and even though Ria was sitting, the lake only came up to about her knees.
......Was it because it had been purified? The debris of that collapsed monster?
I did not really know. The people who saw the situation later would explain it themselves.
"......."
There was a lot to think about.
The sweetness of chocolate lingered in my mouth. It must have been the chocolate I had given her out of kindness. Ria had apparently fed it back to me.
.......
Right, I should do some calculating of my own too.
Not about the people who use my power.
......About the one who made me use this power.
I felt like I would have to collect payment from the Being Above someday, all at once.
Later.
For now, well.
For now, let's just rest a little.
Because I, and Ria—and those people running toward us from far away calling our names—all seemed to need a rest for now.