The Stranger Eluke (1)

"Nice view, isn't it?"

"It is indeed."

I let my eyes wander across the endless plain unfolding before us. A horizon drawn in a single, razor-clean line. Grasslands stretching on and on, lush and vividly green. It was a magnificent sight — and yet something about it sat wrong. Perhaps because this landscape had never been born of nature at all.

This was a trial space provided by the dungeon. Woven from mana like a hallucination, yet a shade closer to the real world than any mere illusion. That was why shattering it with Aura Stage 3 demanded a colossal reserve of mana — which was precisely why Pope Clitia and I had ended up sitting here, staring blankly at the scenery.

"When do you suppose we might leave?"

"Haven't gathered enough yet."

"How terribly dull."

We kept staring at the plain. There was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing else to do — nothing except the slow, grinding work of drawing in enough mana to unleash Aura properly.

"Think this is some kind of bug?"

"If one were to use that analogy, I suppose so."

Nobody had surrendered a life. They had ended up coexisting instead — all because the Connector had shattered in the middle of the wager. Getting off the plain was doable enough. The real problem started after that.

"I told you it wouldn't go the way you planned if a variable got mixed in."

"Shut up."

The plan to stack extra lives so the Hero's party could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slay her had fallen apart. A heavy sigh escaped on its own.

"I would dearly love to swear right now, but the auto-correct will not even permit it."

In the end, all I had left was another version of myself whose speech had been sanded down into perfect politeness.

"How's the body, anyway?"

"As you can see, I have recovered completely."

The hole that had been punched through her side was gone without a trace. Holy Power worthy of a Pope, no question. Her vestments, though, lacked the repair function of the Sun-bask — so she was sitting there half-undressed.

"It is rather strange. It would not have been surprising if I had died on the spot."

She was frowning, unsettled by the fact that she had survived at all.

"I would rather simply die than become the Demon King."

Both of us were thoroughly, miserably stuck. How were we supposed to fix any of this? The question had no answer, so I threw my gaze out past the horizon and left it there.

"Want me to kill you now?"

I floated the suggestion carefully. It was the solution I had turned over in my head after a long stretch of thinking.

"No. Now that things have come to this, I shall find another way."

"Guess I should too."

"Shall we put our heads together?"

"Works for me."

There was no taking any of it back. The only thing left was to think it through again, properly, and find a way out.

"I'm glad you're here, at least."

"I feel the same."

Two heads were better than one. And these weren't just any two heads — they were two of me. The situation was bleak, but there was still hope of clawing through it. Pool enough strength and some kind of method had to present itself.

"First, let us settle on what to call each other. We may both be 'me,' but we are distinctly separate beings."

"I'll be Clitia. You'll be Eluke. How's that?"

"Very well. This is the world you have been living in, after all."

I gave her the surname and claimed the given name for myself. She accepted it without a fuss, so at least we were spared the wasted energy of a petty standoff.

"Why were you trying to increase your lives, if I may ask?"

"So the kids in the Hero's party could take me down."

"…Am I supposed to laugh?"

"No."

Before we got down to planning, I told her my story. Everything I had been through since becoming Clitia. I unwound the memories slowly — they had not been gentle ones.

Eluke listened with nothing more than the occasional quiet nod. She only spoke once I had closed my mouth.

"I have heard you."

A calmer reaction than I had expected.

"You're not weirded out?"

She did not light up at the prospect of defeat. That was the clearest line between us.

"I figured you'd be as speechless as everyone else."

"I have done things you would find equally strange."

When I asked what, she wore a smile I could not quite read.

"Your account ran parallel to mine for a long while. It diverged sharply from the moment Liam awakened."

"And that means what?"

"Besides alcohol, what does Liam love most?"

It sounded like a non sequitur at first. I sat with it, and then I understood.

"You didn't."

"I did tell you I had given up a great many things."

The meaning behind that unreadable smile finally landed in my chest.

"How far did you go?"

"All the way."

"You're insane."

"I did not expect it to turn out this way either. He is not a bad man, as it happens."

My head was spinning. The distance I suddenly felt made it impossible to press for details.

"We can discuss matters of inclination later. For now, let us consider the future."

"Yeah."

Small talk over, I wrung every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drop of knowledge I had about Apolis Tales and started hunting for a solution.

"Are you familiar with forbidden magic?"

"Vaguely. You remember the Dimension Administrator?"

"I believe I saw that in a strategy guide."

We held the same knowledge. The amnesia had simply eaten different pieces of it. Together we dusted off what had settled in our heads and kept talking.

"I'd forgotten a lot."

"We were rather close to being veterans ourselves."

The road ahead, which had been nothing but fog, was growing sharper by the minute. It was still only an outline — but the direction we needed to walk was suddenly, unmistakably clear.

"It is decided. Let us proceed this way."

"Then the urgent problems come down to two."

Stopping Eluke's demonification. Keeping myself alive. Those were the two things that had to come first.

"We'll figure out how to get you back to your world later."

"That is quite all right. I trust my companions to deal with the forces threatening the Goddess."

Another difference between us. Eluke had comrades she could actually lean on.

"Were you the only one who got cursed?"

"I took it with my own body. Liam rather lost his mind over it — weeping and carrying on."

A faint smile touched her face, as if the memory had drifted back. What she saw in that disaster of a man, I could not begin to guess. I did not understand it — but she liked him, so I kept my mouth shut.

"We've got the gist. Ready to get out of here?"

"Gladly."

I gathered every scrap of mana I had been stacking, bit by bit, and poured it into a single point. Aura Stage 3, scraped together from the very bottom of the well.

"Stay back."

I swung my fist — not at a target, but at space itself. The arm stopped dead in midair, locked in the void, and from that frozen point the air cracked and twisted. The mana holding the trial space together came undone. The foundation of that little world shuddered. And then the vast plain shattered, and the grotesque treasure vault revealed itself once more.

"You're finally ba—"

The Deputy Tower Master, already stepping forward to welcome me, froze. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two of me.

How was I supposed to explain this? I was still turning it over when Eluke raised a hand and waved at him.

"If it isn't the Deputy Tower Master! You are still alive in this world, then?"

"……"

A greeting purpose-built to maximize confusion.

The Tower Master's office.

Riella was buried in paperwork. She had poured so much attention into the western territories that the rest of her work had piled into a mountain, and now she was grinding through it day and night. She had at least gotten the hang of it. Before long she had cleared roughly half the stack, and she straightened her back.

The perfect moment for a break. She steeped a cup of flower-petal tea and took a sip. The fragrance soothed her worn-down nerves. Was this what peace felt like? Coming in the middle of brutal work, it almost swelled into something like happiness.

Writing bloomed in front of her eyes just as she was savoring the quiet. Breny's return notice. A little thrill of anticipation slipped into the stillness she had only just found. She would not get many more chances to see that face, so she needed to stack up as many memories as she could this time. She even found herself wondering whether she ought to throw a feast worth remembering.

Clitia will be coming back too, won't she?

The friend who had occupied her thoughts ever since their reunion would be returning soon as well.

I can't believe she actually did it.

The one who had wiped out the Public Enemy known as the Nightmare of the West. Riella still did not know how the subjugation had been carried out, but it was an astonishing achievement all the same. She had already sent the victory report racing across the entire Empire — framed as the work of the hero who had saved humanity.

Of course, public opinion did not turn so easily. A Public Enemy had merely disposed of another Public Enemy. That cold reading still held the majority.

This is only the beginning. It's fine.

Every so often, though, a kinder take surfaced. She had taken a single step. For a first step, this much counted as a success. And the Hero himself had taken a liking to Clitia. The goal of washing that Public Enemy infamy clean was not nearly as far away as it had once seemed.

"Tower Master. I have returned."

A voice cut through her thoughts. The Deputy Tower Master opened the door and came in, looking every bit as exhausted as the work had earned him.

"You really have been through a lot."

A father in all but name — the man who had stepped into the place her parents had left too early. She always felt a twinge of guilt whenever she sent him to do something.

"Go and rest. Please."

But the Deputy Tower Master only hesitated, saying nothing. That was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look he wore when something had gone wrong.

"What is it?"

"Well… you had best see for yourself."

A moment later, two figures entered the office with their robes pulled down to the hoods.

"And you are?"

"It's me."

One of them pushed back her hood. Clitia.

"You're back? Then who's that next to you?"

At that, the remaining figure pushed back her hood as well.

"It is I."

Also Clitia.

"……"

Riella let out a hollow laugh and drained her flower-petal tea in one long swallow. This time, peace did not come.

"Sorry."

"……"

Riella ignored me with a sour face, her eyes locked on the person sitting beside me.

"This is excellent."

Eluke paid the staring no mind at all and savored her flower-petal tea.

"It has a deeper fragrance than the Forest Labyrinth I usually drink."

She closed her eyes, breathed in the aroma, and sipped with unhurried little sounds. Apparently tea was a hobby of hers.

"Clitia."

Riella crooked a finger at me. I was at a disadvantage in every direction that mattered, so I went over quietly.

"I have far too many questions for you."

"I bet."

"Be quiet. How did you know our Tower had a treasure vault?"

I had seen that one coming. Played right, I might even flip the whole conversation.

"You even knew it had turned into a dungeon, from what I hear."

"The Goddess told me a while back. There's a holy relic of our church in there too, isn't there?"

"……"

The Goddess excuse. It never failed. The ugly mood in the room eased by a full degree.

"Letting this one go would be better for both of us, don't you think?"

"Fine. I'll even forgive you for selling me out to get into that vault."

One hurdle down.

"So what is she, then?"

A different problem entirely.

"Just think of her as another me."

"What kind of insane thing did you do this time?"

"Tried to use an ancient holy relic to stack extra lives. It went wrong."

Maybe that had been too honest. The Riella who had just been softening scrunched her face all over again.

"Extra lives? What for?"

Too late to invent a different excuse. I decided to just say all of it, nothing held back.

"I was trying to get the Hero's party to kill me."

"Clitia!"

A full-throated shout, and eyes that caught fire. Riella finally let the anger she had been holding slam loose.

"Why would you just decide to do something like that on your own?! Do you love losing that much?"

"There's no other way to beat the Demon King."

"Did you even think about the people who'd be devastated if you died?"

"That's why I was trying to get more lives."

The argument had a strangely familiar shape to it.

"The Riella of this world is rather sharp-tongued, I see."

Meanwhile Eluke was still sipping tea, perfectly at ease, as if none of this had anything to do with her.

"You said you're a Clitia from another world?"

"Eluke will suffice."

"Fine. Why are you so calm about all this?"

"When I am truly backed into a corner, I actually become calmer."

A temperament nothing like mine. The kind of difference that belonged in a paper on how environment shapes personality.

"And we have already prepared a countermeasure, so please do not worry overmuch."

Eluke picked up the cup that had been poured for me and kept going.

"To start, I would like you to study my body."

"Why?"

"I have been cursed."

She said it, then took another sip. It was getting close to an addiction.

"A curse is dark magic, after all. And dark magic is ultimately just a variant of magic, is it not?"

"I follow you. I can analyze it — but breaking it is another matter."

A curse laid by the Demon King himself. Most people would be lucky to even touch it.

"We'll ask someone else to break it."

I cut in, having listened from the side.

"Who?"

"The Lich. Remiraen."

A dark mage who outstripped even the Demon King when it came to dark magic. The specialist for the job.

"…And you think he'll just do as he's asked?"

"If we can find out where he is, we'll manage."

I had every reason to be sure of that.

"Do you know the first thing I did after becoming Pope?"

Eluke took even Riella's teacup into her hand and smiled.

Even a Lich who stood as a Public Enemy had been helpless before sacred violence.