Great Warrior Ruel (1)

The moment Riella confirmed the Vice Tower Master's message, she sent a reply.

She waited. She wasn't sure how long.

Then words bloomed before her eyes once more.

Everything had gone according to plan. A smile rose to her lips of its own accord.

I've got a good feeling about this.

Operation: Clitia Image Rehab had finally begun. The Vice Tower Master was a middling mage at best, but that head of theirs was sharp — they had taken a delicate, thankless assignment and carried it off without a hitch.

How to move on to the next stage, then? Riella smiled to herself, turning the question over in her mind.

Sun-bask's advice was always a tremendous help. Forged to assist a Saintess, it had an exceptional knack for reading a room — and every so often, it even stopped me before I could make a bad call. For someone like me, who'd rather charge in headfirst than sit around thinking, it was a useful holy relic.

Which is exactly why I let my guard down.

"You did that on purpose."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play dumb."

It had to have been deliberate. The Hero looking at me with something like goodwill — Sun-bask had steered us straight into this.

"You told me to keep my mouth shut while the two of them talked."

If I had cut in before the Hero and the Vice Tower Master really got going, I could have shut down all that talk about Kbalt and the rest of it at the source.

"I only gave you the best advice I had."

"By your standards?"

"No. This is better for you too, Clitia."

So it had been on purpose. The traitor had been closer than I'd thought.

"Prepare to be punished."

"And what exactly are you going to do?"

The nerve. But when it came down to actually handing out a punishment, I didn't have a decent option. Walking around in different clothes was out — I hated that idea. And it wasn't as if I could take a switch to its palms or calves.

"No talking for a while."

A disciplinary measure, if nothing else. Something to make it reflect.

"I'm sorry! I really did it for your sake!"

"Quiet."

It wasn't much of a sentence, but for a chatterbox like Sun-bask it was torture. And I might get to enjoy a little peace and quiet for a change.

"Senior, what are you doing?"

I was still savoring the justice of it when the Hero sat down beside me.

"Nothing."

"Then would you care to eat with me?"

His manner had gone all gentle. In his head, I was already the former Saintess who had been excommunicated and still burned for revenge.

"I'm fine. You eat."

"Are you certain?"

"My body's packed full of Holy Power."

I could skip meals for months and be fine. It was a side effect of Holy Power accumulating far past capacity — eating actually made me feel bloated. Which was how I'd ended up falling into drink. Alcohol, at least, sat just fine. Maybe I'd get properly drunk for the first time in a while once I got back to the Purple Magic Tower. I hoped Riella still had some of that fine traditional liquor that tasted like flower-petal tea.

"...Then I'll eat alone."

The Hero gave me an unreadable look, then opened his gloved hand. A magic circle was inscribed across ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the palm — a magic tool. With a small flare of light, several pieces of bread and a little bottle of milk popped into existence. Something the Purple Magic Tower had prepared, most likely. It even seemed to regulate temperature; the bread looked properly warm.

"The Corpse Locusts all appear to have destroyed themselves," the Hero said, chewing diligently as he delivered his scouting report. "All thanks to you taking down the leader specimen, Senior."

"...Right."

Liam wasn't completely dead. Somewhere out there, he would have clawed his way back and gone right on working. So what was this situation supposed to be, then? My thoughts tangled over themselves.

"Would you teach me a few holy spells?"

Oblivious to the mess in my head, the Hero made a tentative request.

"Go learn from a Holy Knight. The only spells I know don't suit your fighting style."

"Then I'd like to learn how to handle Holy Power, at least."

"...Fine."

I could teach him. It just wouldn't mean anything anymore. He wasn't going to stand against me now. Was I going to have to give up on fighting the Hero party? The thought sat badly — the Hero and Breny's astonishing talents were far too tempting to let go. I needed a workaround, somehow.

The most plausible solution was, as always, a setup. All I had to do was concoct a situation where they'd have no choice but to come at me with everything they had. If I put my head together with Riella again, something would come of it. She had a richer imagination than I did; she'd find me a lead.

"Senior."

The Hero didn't give me time to sink into thought. He was talking again.

"When I first learned that the Great Warrior was a fairy, I was a little taken aback."

"I bet."

Come to think of it, the Sage was a dragon and the Great Warrior was a fairy. Quite the colorful lineup. He still didn't seem to have figured out what Breny really was, though. An extraordinary mage, he'd be thinking. Nothing more.

"Isn't the Hero party usually composed entirely of humans?"

"Not always. But generally, yes."

Our Hero party hadn't had any other races either. And aside from Erin, the Sage, we'd all been around the same age, which had made us closer. Everyone had a good temperament, too — except for one of them. For some reason, I found myself missing them today.

"What do you suppose the Goddess is thinking?"

I gazed blankly up at the sky.

"She's so far away. How would I know?"

Ordinarily I would have told him there must be a reason for everything, so not to worry. I couldn't say that now. I had no idea. I wasn't even sure She was watching over me at all. The more I tried to grasp the Goddess's will, the more the cracks in my heart spread — the way staring directly at the sun ruins your eyes. I had half given up hope. I didn't want to admit it, but Liam's words were starting to sound more and more convincing.

"Sunlight doesn't shine with a purpose. For all we know, we don't even register in Her eyes."

"That's not true."

A firm voice. The Hero cut my words down in a single stroke.

"The Goddess watches over us."

"How can you be so sure? You can't speak with Her either."

Only a Saintess could converse with the Goddess directly. To everyone else, She delivered Her will through dreams. Even the Hero, Her chosen champion, was no exception — the only difference was that his dreams came through clearer and sharper than most.

"Do you have a reason to believe that?"

"That's a meaningless question."

I lowered my gaze to him. His platinum eyes were shining with a vivid, unclouded light. A familiar look. An atmosphere I knew.

I understood why it had felt so familiar. The Hero reminded me of my former self — of who I had been when I first found myself wrapped in that beautiful sunlight. Of the me who had awakened to the Goddess's grace.

"Are you wavering?"

"...I can't say I'm not. It's embarrassing."

"It isn't. You've been excommunicated, and you're still overflowing with Holy Power. Anyone else would have run dry a long time ago."

I fell silent, turning it over. Holy Power was faith. When the heart that believed and served began to falter, Holy Power dwindled with it. And faith faltered often — even in a world where the gods were real. You couldn't see them. You couldn't speak with them. A trivial thing was enough to bring a belief crashing down. The way mine was crashing down now. The political rot in our church existed for much the same reason.

And yet the Hero had told me that faith was faith precisely because it did not waver.

"Keep entrusting your body and soul to the sun. Someday, She will look your way again."

"...Would She really?"

"Of course."

In the end, nothing had changed. I was still excommunicated, and the Goddess still hadn't said a word.

"Thank you."

But my heart had changed. To be precise, it had returned to the way it used to be. I wanted to savor the gentle sunlight that fell upon the world. I believed in what the Goddess was doing. Liam had been out of his mind — there was no way his words could have been the truth. It was just hatred, born of a furious heart.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you — for not letting yourself be tainted by evil. You've been through a great deal."

The Hero had helped me grow, in his own way. I liked that. I had already liked him, but now even more.

But the closer we got, the further I drifted from the defeat I was after, didn't I? I didn't even know anymore.

"I did it!"

Just then the door of the tree house flew open and Breny came bouncing out, practically vibrating with energy.

"Sage, did you finally succeed?"

"Yep! I pulled the bug out of them!"

I hadn't expected it to be resolved so quickly. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A dragon's gift for magic never disappointed.

"Come on out!"

From behind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thrilled Breny, a fairy crept into the open on timid wings. Their face was haggard, worn from whatever they had endured. They glanced around, spotted me, and dropped flat to the ground.

"Thank you for saving this one! A great debt is owed to you!"

The way they spoke was nothing like what I had expected.

"This humble one is truly grateful! You cannot know the joy of having that agonizing time come to an end!"

"That's enough."

It was too much. I cut them off, and the Great Warrior lifted their head and flew up to my eye level.

"This humble one is called Ruel. What is the name of my benefactor?"

"This humble one" was accurate enough, but I could not get used to the way they talked.

"I'm fine. Go talk to your comrades."

I couldn't go inserting myself as a third wheel when the Hero was reuniting with a companion. I decided to read the room and make myself scarce.

"Senior, where are you going?"

"A walk."

I moved off before he could stop me. I didn't sit down until I'd found a spot with just the right amount of sun.

"Sun-bask."

"Yes! Anything you need!"

It had been bursting to talk. Even the answer came out eager.

"Mental training for the Great Warrior. Think about how we should handle that."

"Understood!"

The plan had gone considerably off the rails, but I still intended to do what needed doing.

"And come up with a setup where I can naturally end up fighting the Hero party."

"I'll use every mental function I have!"

I figured I could afford to wait for a good result. I closed my eyes at my leisure and took a moment to meditate. The weather really was nice — warm and comfortable, as if it were reflecting the state of my heart.

"Clitia. It's ready."

The answer came sooner than I'd expected.

"Let's hear it."

"First up: the plan for a decisive battle with the Hero party!"

I sat quietly and listened to the rest of what Sun-bask had to say.

"...That's actually pretty good."

"Right?"

I shot to my feet. The drive that had nearly flickered out surged back, higher than before.