The Trigger (3)
"Mister, are you sick?"
"Huh?"
Nasha's bleary-eyed answer was not what Raksha had hoped for. It was true he had been watching her conversation with Miria with a warm, satisfied gaze. It was also an undeniable fact that he had shared a story filled with genuine feeling, wanting to hear exactly that kind of response from her.
This isn't it.
Nasha was busy checking different parts of his body, genuinely worried he might be hurt somewhere. Raksha heard her mutter Is the average lifespan short in this world? but deliberately ignored it.
To Raksha, who had never married, Nasha was no different from a daughter. That was why he secretly envied the casual affection she sometimes showed Miria. He had seen her behave that way with Helen and Miria, but she was especially sparing with such expressions toward men. It was fortunate she didn't do it with other men either, yet for Raksha it remained a small disappointment.
After some thought, he decided to be content with how sincerely she worried about his health.
"I'm perfectly fine. It'll be a long time before I die."
"You scared me."
My heart's pounding for so many reasons.
Nasha's heart had endured several shocks in a short span. At first she had thought the story would be lighthearted since he began it with a smile, but the increasingly urgent content made her chest tighten. And then those final words.
That expression.
The look on Raksha's face when she asked if he was in pain—flustered, unable to hide his disappointment. There was no way she didn't understand what he wanted. After all, he was the same man who would jokingly ask her to say she liked him or loved him, just once.
Just as Nasha was like a daughter to Raksha, Raksha was like a father to her. It seemed he wanted daughterly cuteness from her, but...
That's still a bit difficult for me.
For Nasha, expressing affection had never been simple. It was true that Miria's influence had increased her willingness to show it, and the words sometimes slipped out unexpectedly. But when the other person was a man, her instincts slammed on the brakes. Affection toward parents was something she had never managed in her previous life, and expressing it to a man as a woman carried an even heavier psychological burden. Asking if he was in pain had been the best compromise her instincts could offer.
"You look happy, at least."
Having wrapped up the awkward conversation, Raksha turned to Miria. She was smiling at him with a triumphant, victorious expression.
"As if."
"At least try to hide it on your face."
A trigger, huh.
After leaving the building and stretching, Nasha gazed up at the sky. The overcast heavens were thick with clouds. Even the dark masses rolling in from beyond the sea seemed to mirror her own feelings as her deadline drew closer day by day.
"Considering your current situation, praying might not be the wisest choice."
After hearing the full story, Raksha offered his opinion.
"Then should I do volunteer work? Or fight monsters?"
"Is your thinking really that simple?"
Was he telling her to fight? When she glared at him with that thought, Miria stepped in to soothe her while Raksha avoided her eyes.
"Just bear with it. Director, please get to the point."
Unable to withstand Miria's glare as well, Raksha straightened up and continued.
"Now that I think about it, even during my time as knight commander there were those who awakened their divine power in special ways. Do you know what they all had in common?"
He hadn't expected an answer and provided it himself.
"A trigger. The moment they desperately wished for something amid crisis. In that instant, divine power descended upon the one who wished."
"So in the end it still means it happened while fighting monsters, right?"
The silence was confirmation enough. Miria, who had clearly been hoping for more, didn't bother hiding her disappointment.
"No, it's not only that. Remember that fellow named Dean? He was beating up a senior paladin when suddenly a burst of light—"
Leaving Raksha's rather pitiful explanation behind, Nasha and Miria rose from their seats to help with the children's morning studies.
Even after they left, Nasha kept wondering if she might not be that sort of case. But such things didn't happen suddenly.
If monsters reach this far, the empire is already finished.
This was the southeastern tip of the continent—a remote countryside containing nothing but Pison Village and Goheng Peak, the holy site the first Saintess had created through a miracle. There was no chance for the special trigger Raksha described to occur here.
They really don't tire out.
Despite the gloomy weather that should have dampened their spirits, the children who had sat at their desks studying all morning showed no signs of minding it.
"Kids, gather round!"
A large tree stood atop the hill—the only one rising between the wide fields and meadows. Nasha walked toward it, calling the children together.
"Are you playing with us today?"
"Of course."
"What are we playing?"
Alt and Arsen reached her first. Nasha vigorously ruffled their hair while scanning for Arni.
"Hide and seek."
"Really?"
"What are the rules?"
With her index finger resting on her chin in thought, Nasha pointed behind the children.
"No lying face-down in the field. If you get your clothes dirty again, Miria won't let it slide."
"Okay."
Before Nasha even finished speaking, Arni dashed off. The girl was far more competitive and hated losing than she appeared. It seemed she had already spotted a good hiding place while claiming she wanted to play.
"Who's it?"
"I'll be it."
When she looked up, the sky had grown even darker. The storm clouds sweeping in from the sea were moving faster.
"It looks like rain is coming soon, so don't go too far. If I shout that I can't find you, don't stay hidden—come out right away. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll count to sixty, so go hide!"
As she pressed her face to the tree and began counting, laughter and the sound of running feet echoed behind her.
"Sixty."
When she lifted her head, the children had vanished completely.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Hide-and-seek without boundaries might sound difficult, but in practice it was different. A field of wild weeds swaying in the wind, a barren field after harvest, and the only structures being the large tree, the church, and the orphanage. There weren't many hiding spots, and the children's short legs limited where they could reach in sixty seconds.
The only real variables were the boys who sometimes hid in perfect prone positions that reminded her of her past life. But by forbidding them from lying down with the excuse that their clothes would get dirty, even those variables disappeared. She felt no guilt. This was both play and a contest, and getting scolded by Miria was a very real consequence.
They'll get scolded for getting soaked in the rain too, so I'd better find them quickly.
Nasha climbed the tree to confirm the children's approximate positions, then ran off.
Easier than I expected.
Fear of Miria's anger must have driven them. Every child except Ceres seemed to have hidden inside the buildings. For Nasha, who had spent far more time at the orphanage than they had, locating their likely spots was child's play.
It didn't take long to realize she had misjudged.
I just need to find Arni.
Miria, who had handed Ceres the last cup, asked, "Have you seen Arni?"
The children holding cocoa all shook their heads at once.
They had searched the building thoroughly. Could she be outside? Though night hadn't fully fallen, the sky was dark as evening and the wind was picking up fiercely. Nasha glanced out the window and pulled her coat tighter.
"The director went to the village, so he'll be back soon to help."
"Two people are better than one."
"I'll be right back."
Once in the field, Nasha scanned the area again. Since Arni had left while they were discussing the rules, perhaps she was lying flat somewhere. She crouched low and swept the ground, but found nothing. Was the girl still hiding, unaware the game had ended? Nasha shouted Arni's name until her throat hurt against the strengthening wind, but received no answer.
After leaving the children with Manny, Miria came outside. They still couldn't find Arni.
Rumble.Plop.
An ominous sound preceded raindrops striking the leaves. The scattered drops quickly became a downpour.
"Nasha, stay calm."
Miria's hand tightened on her shoulder. Nasha didn't know what expression she wore, but Miria's reaction told her everything.
"First, let's grab more clothes since it's raining and come back out."
As Miria led her back, Nasha kept thinking. What had gone wrong? Playing hide-and-seek as Arni wanted? Not warning them more firmly?
The cold rain stung her cheeks. She remembered Arni running off without a coat. The image of the girl growing colder flashed through her mind and refused to leave.
Anger, worry, anxiety—every emotion churned inside her, all born from the single desperate wish to find Arni.
"Nasha?"
Miria turned when Nasha suddenly stopped. The lack of response was clearly abnormal.
Remember. Think. Tell me. Anything. Please, I'm begging you.
A directionless lament, a silent scream. It was an earnestness Nasha had never felt once since opening her eyes in this world.
Miria gripped Nasha's shoulder. At the same moment, Nasha turned her head.
"Nasha?"
"It's over there."
Miria followed her gaze. Goheng Peak. A place with poor paths that even adults rarely visited.
When Nasha shook off her hand and started walking, Miria hurriedly caught her again.
"Are you sure?"
"I heard her."
"It's dangerous. Wait for the director. At least put on more clothes—"
"Sorry."
Cutting her off, Nasha brushed the hand away once more. Before Miria could stop her, Nasha was already running toward Goheng Peak.
Golden fragments scattered where she had stood.
Miria picked up what had fallen in that spot. The pieces scattering across her palm were unmistakably golden divine power. And it was clearly not her own.