Rest (1)
I stared down at Kalt’s fallen sword.
Then, slowly, I turned my gaze.
I looked down at Noah.
I peered into the face of the smiling Noah.
Her pulse was growing fainter by the second.
Her breath was fading.
The body revealed as the clotted blood fell away… was horrific.
“No… ah…?”
Noah’s body no longer spilled blood.
It was as if there was simply none left to give—utterly still.
I could not bring myself to touch her.
Terrified that the slightest contact might shatter her, I could only watch in silence.
The fading pulse stopped.
The dying breath cut off.
In that instant—
That voice rang through my mind once more.
“Our Noah is amazing, isn’t she?”
“So cool, so admirable, so precious.”
The eight pairs of wings that had unfurled behind my back scattered into motes of light and sank into Noah’s body.
“‘Memories’ are flowing into her.”
“I don’t know what will come after this…”
“But if it’s the Noah we believe in,”
“She’ll stand up again.”
“So… from now on, it’s your turn.”
“Please take good care of the future we’ve changed.”
Twisted limbs righted themselves.
Roughly stitched-together flesh found its proper place.
The shape of bone became clear beneath the skin.
Color began to return.
“Ah, right… hair is important too.”
Even her shortened hair slowly lengthened again.
“Mm… for the rest, try rummaging through Yuria’s pockets.”
“Well then—see you next time?”
The voice—familiar yet one I had never heard—vanished with one last unpleasant little laugh.
“Hey, Rubia… you… how the hell did you do that?”
Charlotte’s startled voice reached me.
“U-Unni? Noah Unni… she’s going to live? Right? R-Right now… everything… everything’s going back to—”
Hepais’s hopeful voice reached me.
“…Priestess.”
Yuria’s voice, steeled with resolve, reached me.
Rummage through Yuria’s pockets…?
I turned my head and looked at her.
In both of her hands were bottles filled with purple liquid.
“Huh? What? Yuria, you had Elixir too?!”
“Waaaaah! This is the one I drank before!! Master, right?!”
“El… ixir?”
A liquid that looked exactly like the Elixir Luci had once given me.
But—
Yuria’s head did not nod.
“It is Elixir… but not a ‘perfect’ Elixir.”
Yuria wet her dry lips and spoke rapidly.
“Given the situation, I’ll keep it brief. This is a Modified Elixir made from a plant called Eliximona. I created it myself… Its effects are nearly identical to a regular Elixir, but it has side effects.”
“Side effects…?”
“Yes. For example… after taking it, one’s strength might weaken, intelligence might drop, social skills might plummet… or the body might shrink, height might decrease… You won’t die, but there are various side effects like—”
If Noah’s strength weakens… I’ll take responsibility.
If her intelligence drops… even lower than now…?
Th-That too—I’ll take responsibility.
Social skills… she’s already scraping the bottom, so that’s fine.
A smaller body… doesn’t matter either.
Even if she gets shorter… mm, it probably won’t make much difference…
“Well… given her current state, taking it is still the absolute right call.”
While I was lost in those thoughts, Yuria finished speaking, stood up abruptly, and walked over to Noah.
Then she gently tilted Noah’s head back and began pouring the Modified Elixir into her mouth.
After emptying both bottles—
I sent divine power into Noah’s body to check her condition.
Internal injuries… I couldn’t feel any.
No other problems either.
“She seems… okay.”
I managed a nod, and sighs of relief burst out around me.
Hepais collapsed beside Noah, wailing and sobbing, while Charlotte stuffed a crumpled mana herb into her mouth and sank heavily to the ground.
“The side effects will probably appear within a month. Needless to say, she should rest as much as possible until then. Well… after something like this, Urusphier will treat her like royalty, so I’m not too worried.”
Yuria continued her explanations while exhaling a stream of mana-herb smoke.
“Damn right. That bastard Kalt’s bounty alone is insane. If they try to brush this off, I’ll wreck every last one of them. On the authority of the Imperial family—I’ll make damn sure of it.”
“What, there’s a bounty too?”
“Of course there is. He slaughtered the entire Imperial Knight Order and ran. And hey—I’m a princess. Rubia’s a priestess. That fucker tried to kill both of us. They should be throwing bounties and rewards at us, right? I’m going straight to Dad about this.”
Charlotte irritably tossed aside her mana herb, pulled out a fresh one, and kept talking.
“Anyway… Rubia. What the hell is Noah?”
“Pardon…?”
I carefully gathered Noah into my arms. Charlotte poked Noah’s cheek with a finger as she spoke.
“No, it’s weird as hell. Me and Yuria are Platinum… barely scraping by, sure, but still Platinum—and we couldn’t land a single hit. And earlier… that… fuck, just thinking about it gives me chills again… the Kalt we saw at the end… none of our attacks touched him, but Noah’s sword went right through.”
“That’s… true.”
I brushed Noah’s messy bangs aside and recalled the scene from moments ago.
Beyond the death that had blanketed the sky—
Noah cutting through Kalt’s body, shrouded in black mist.
I had thought it was the Fragment’s power, but that final strike hadn’t borrowed the Fragment’s strength at all.
She hadn’t even swung her greatsword.
She had simply… cut Kalt down with that old blade.
Even if that old sword was the one that had once cut down Carpeng and cleaved the world itself, that had been Luci’s power—not the sword’s ability.
She had cut him down with pure Noah’s own power.
“I know… I don’t really understand it either.”
I don’t know.
I don’t understand any of it.
Too many things had happened in an instant.
I had felt the overwhelming power of a Master.
I had despaired and broken.
And then I had watched Noah overcome it.
A strange voice had spoken in my head, wings had suddenly unfurled from my back,
and my divine power had gone berserk, growing stronger.
It had moved with a will of its own.
And it had saved Noah.
If that voice had been Lilith’s—
If it had been Lilith who wielded my divine power—
Why only now let me hear her voice?
Why… give me power without taking a price?
And—
Why.
Call Noah.
My Noah.
So familiarly.
Praise her.
Treat her so warmly.
Why… say “our Noah”?
I don’t know.
“But… that isn’t what’s important right now, is it? Let’s just focus on what we know for sure. Hepais found Lady Yuria. Noah defeated Kalt—a Master. And we, including Noah… are alive.”
All thanks to one single girl.
“So… for now, let’s just think about how to repay Noah once she wakes up.”
“…Fine. Haah… I feel good, but… this is still fucked.”
“Yes… I’ll head down and prepare various nutrients and supplements. Hepais, stop crying and get up. Let’s go.”
“Hic… guh— hic… hu, huu… No, ah Unni… sob…”
“Yeah. If you’re that worried, just make Noah’s equipment even sturdier and give it to her. So quit bawling and get up already.”
“Hic…”
“Everyone… you all worked hard. Now, let’s descend the mountain. We can catch up properly once we’re down.”
I rose from my seat with a light smile.
I smiled, but inside I was rotting away.
Right before my eyes stretched a path paved in blood.
We had survived because of Noah’s sacrifice.
We stood here because we had sold Noah’s life.
How could I possibly be fine?
I looked down at Noah, sleeping soundly in my arms.
How much pain had she been in?
How lonely and grueling had that fight been?
I couldn’t even imagine.
I didn’t dare claim I could empathize.
I had thought having Charlotte made us solid.
I had thought Yuria joining as new strength would be enough.
I had thought my own power had grown enough that I could protect Noah.
What a load of complete bullshit.
Protect her? Protect what?
Win? Win what?
I hadn’t done a single thing.
I hadn’t even noticed the first strike and had leaned on Noah,
and right up to the very end I had been useless without her…
My chest burned.
My mouth felt dry and bitter.
My steps were heavy.
From the start, our resolve had been different.
Our determination had been different.
Noah—
had accepted death.
She had sacrificed herself for us.
Because I was weak.
Because I was incompetent.
Because I was frail and pathetic.
Maybe that was the only choice left to her.
I looked up at the sky.
I thought of the Black Sun.
I thought of the End I had seen in the revelation.
I had believed that if I sacrificed myself, everything would be resolved.
That if I just lived as things flowed and then died together with the End, everything would be solved… I had thought that.
I was wrong.
It had been an arrogant, conceited thought.
I hadn’t realized that if the people I cherished all died before the End descended—
if the person I loved died—then none of it would mean anything.
I lowered my gaze again and slowly began to walk.
I have to grow stronger.
Physically and mentally stronger,
so I can stand proudly at Noah’s side.
To do that I need to reach Cartia as soon as possible… but right now Noah needs rest.
First… we’ll go to Urusphier.
And buy jelly.
A ridiculous amount of it.
Buy every last jelly in the city,
and tie her down.
Tie her up in the room and confiscate the greatsword for a bit… no, leave it for repairs.
I will take care of her from beginning to end.
If I don’t, she might get swept up in yet another incident…
Lock her up, tie her down.
And take care of her.
I looked at Noah, sleeping peacefully in my arms.
Her body was clean.
Every scar had vanished.
Potions leave scars.
A priest’s healing leaves no scars.
My healing is the same.
But the fact that there wasn’t a single scar on her body right now…
I forced back the tears that threatened to spill and made a serious resolution.
“Hepais, how long will it take to repair Noah’s equipment?”
“Uh… the light armor has to be completely re-forged, so… two days?”
“Be generous.”
“T-Two wee—”
“Hepais?”
“Ha… one month.”
“And the greatsword?”
“…H-Half a month…”
“I see.”
Until her body is completely healed, I absolutely will not let her go free.
“Hey, Yuria. That crazy bitch… finally lost it.”
“What kind of way is that to talk about the Priestess, you mannerless brat.”
“Oh my? And what kind of way is that to talk to your heavenly Imperial Princess, you rude little shit.”
With Charlotte and Yuria’s bickering as background noise, we continued forward—
when a chill suddenly brushed against us.
I slowly turned and looked back.
The others must have felt it too; every one of them turned to stare at the same spot.
The place where Kalt’s sword had fallen.
The place where the sword had vanished.
The place where only the faintest trace of divine power remained.