Rest (End)

"Come in."

The door creaked open, and Hepais stepped inside, her fur coat piled thick with snow.

"Haa... Is Noah Unni... still?"

"Ah, Hepais. Yeah... she's still asleep."

A full week had passed since the equipment was finished.

Noah was still sleeping.

"There's no problem... right?"

"Yeah. No problems at all. That's what makes it even stranger."

Noah had been unconscious for nearly a month, yet her condition was perfectly fine. Her breathing remained steady, her complexion unchanged. There was no sign of weight loss, and none of the Elixir side effects Yuria had warned about had appeared on the surface.

There was only one thing that had changed.

Mana had begun to circulate through Noah's body.

Originally, not a single grain of mana had existed in her. And yet, about a week after she fell asleep, a faint trace of mana had started to drift through her—and by now, far more mana than an ordinary holder possessed was swirling inside her.

For the time being, I figured her body had put her into this sleep so it could adapt to the mana... but I honestly didn't know.

Starting with me, then Yuria, Charlotte, and even the Imperial Capital—we'd scoured every book we could find and sought every expert opinion available, and every one of them said they'd never seen a case like this.

"Have you eaten?"

"I brought food so I could eat with you, Rubia Unni. You haven't had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything since yesterday."

"I... well. I just haven't had an appetite..."

"You still have to eat! If you keep going like that, you're going to collapse too."

Hepais shook the snow from her clothes with a few sharp pats, set down the basket in her hands, and gave a bitter little smile.

"I brought some jelly just in case, too... but I guess I'll have to take it back again today..."

"Heh heh... You don't have to bring any. We've already got that much piled up over there."

"Whoa... is all of that jelly?"

"Yeah. Pretty impressive, right?"

Charlotte and Yuria had been buying jelly every time they came to check on Noah, and it had stacked high enough to block half the window. Half of it was stuff I'd bought myself, though...

"Anyway... it's gotten ridiculously cold. And the snow keeps getting heavier."

"Ugh... tell me about it. Aren't you cold, Unni? I'm freezing even after coming inside..."

"Heh heh... Here, take my hand."

"Huh?"

Hepais hesitated, then held out her hand. I took it and let a little Divine Power flow through—just enough to warm her body.

"O-oh! It's warm!"

"Right? It should last about a day. Take off your coat and get comfortable."

"Okay!"

Hepais tossed her coat aside without a second thought and beamed as she opened the basket.

"Ta-da! Master-special sandwiches!"

"Wow... those look good."

"Yeah. There's a lot of greens, but they're still tasty. She said every single one of these plants is good for you, so you have to eat them, Unni!"

"Pfft... Alright. Guess I'd better eat, then."

I had no appetite... but she'd gone to the trouble of making them for me.

I picked the thinnest one out of the dozen or so sandwiches. Hepais's expression said she was less than satisfied with my choice. Reading the face of a little sister so much younger than me, I took a bite.

"But... Urusphier is going to have a hard time."

"Why the sudden change of subject?"

"Well... you, Master, and Her Highness can all wrap yourselves in mana, so you're fine. But people like me who can't control mana freely have a rough time when it snows this much. It's slippery, and... what's the point of having a blessing if I still can't use mana however I want..."

Hepais smacked her own hands together a few times, stuck her lip out a full handspan, then turned her head back toward the window.

"Pfft... Fair enough. I'd be pretty bitter too."

I nodded and took another bite of sandwich. This one had nut cream in it. It was good.

I washed the sandwich down with coffee and opened my mouth again.

"Still... we should understand a blizzard this bad. It's fallout from sealing the Tyrant."

"Yeah. It's this strong even after being sealed... if it ever got free... ugh! I don't even want to imagine it!"

Hepais shuddered and curled in on herself, as if Carpeng's nightmare had just resurfaced. I patted her shoulder and reached for the next sandwich.

A few more rounds of that, and they were gone in no time.

"That was delicious, Hepais. Tell Lady Yuria I ate well, too..."

"Okay!"

I'd finished them all in the end. After going so long without eating, I'd thought I wouldn't be able to manage much—but every last one had gone down.

"Alright, I should get going too. You get some rest, Unni! You haven't been sleeping, have you? Your dark circles are insane right now. Did you know that?"

"Th-they are...?"

I couldn't feel them with my hands, but I brought my fingers to the skin under my eyes on pure reflex.

"Actually... that was a lie. I was just teasing you. But you really aren't sleeping, huh."

Looking at Hepais's sheepish grin, a warm smile rose to my face. At first, even when she called me Unni, I'd been able to tell she was a little uncomfortable—but none of that was left now. It made me feel a little good.

"You little... whatever. Come on, let's go. I'll walk you back."

"Huh? Nah... it's fine. I'll go alone. You stay with Noah Unni."

Bundled tight in her coat, Hepais gave me a bright smile and opened the door.

Rattle—rattle—

At the same moment, a wind that had grown even fiercer began hammering at the windows.

"I really think I should walk you back."

"...I-I'm fine. I'm not a kid... I can go by myself."

Hepais twisted her mouth into a crooked smile, forced a laugh, and bolted out before I could stop her.

I listened to her footsteps fade, then stood and looked out the window—just to watch her go, even for a little while.

Three hours later.

The blizzard had grown stronger.

It began to rage like something gone mad.

The snow falling from the sky rode the wind and became a fog that crashed over the city. Waves of white thick enough to hide the building right in front of you swallowed everything. Wind that no one could walk through without wrapping themselves in mana shoved bodies aside.

People began to go missing in the city.

And the first victim was Hepais.

Wind so fierce it was hard even to open my eyes howled around me. I raised a thick wall of Divine Power and lifted my head.

"Charlotte!"

That was the third time. I'd called Charlotte's name three times already, and still no answer. My voice was swallowed by the wind and never reached her.

I had no choice. I fired a softened lump of Divine Power into the back of her head. Only then did she stop walking and turn around, and I hurried over to her.

No snow fell around her. With her body wrapped in flame-wreathed mana, the blizzard seemed to part around Charlotte as if avoiding her. I'd heated my Divine Power and wrapped myself in it too, but I couldn't match her results.

"Charlotte! Where's Lady Yuria?"

"How should I know?! She went off alone looking for Hepais! That crazy bitch!"

She clicked her tongue and started walking forward again. I grabbed her arm.

"Charlotte! Can you shoot fire into the sky? My Divine Power gets buried in the blizzard—you can't see it!"

Charlotte tilted her head for a moment, then understood what I meant and immediately blasted fire into the sky—boom, boom, boom. The flames that rose spread in every direction, refusing to be beaten by the blizzard, announcing their presence for all to see.

The intent was a signal: we're searching this side, so don't overlap—go the other way. Someone of Yuria's caliber wouldn't be bothered by a blizzard like this, so we might as well split up and search.

I just hoped she'd understood it properly...

"Alright! Charlotte! I'm going to try a different direction now, so keep shooting every so often!"

"Got it! Be careful!"

I gave Charlotte a small smile, then turned right and pressed on.

All I was doing was wandering around shouting Hepais's name. It felt like six hours had already passed. Roughly thirteen hours left...

There shouldn't be any real trouble. I shook my head and drove the useless thoughts away. She was definitely alive. I'd wrapped her in Divine Power, and she was the kind of kid who'd always managed to dodge the remnants of shadow Kalt had scattered. She would have avoided something like this without breaking a sweat.

I wrapped my Divine Power even thicker and pushed forward.

About half a day later, behind the snow-fog, I saw tree roots surge up into the sky with a thunderous roar. At the same time, flames rose from the same place.

Had they found her?

I changed direction and hurried toward the fire. After about twenty minutes of walking, Charlotte's flames came into view. It was right in front of the hideout where we were staying. I ran almost at a full sprint.

"Charlotte! Did you find Hepai...s...?"

Yuria was sitting on the ground, clutching a stone. Charlotte held a stone too, her expression hollow.

The stone Hepais had treasured. The one Yuria had made for her. The one that was supposed to let them know whether the other was still alive.

That stone was in Charlotte's hand. And in Yuria's hand.

The stone that should have been with Hepais was here.

Yuria's trembling eyes looked at me. Charlotte's lost eyes drifted through empty air. What kind of face was I making right now? What kind of eyes did I have? Was I crying?

I didn't know. But... I couldn't fall apart too.

I steadied my breathing, locked down the trembling in my body, and walked toward them. I spread my Divine Power with everything I had and, for just a moment, held the blizzard at bay. Then I spoke quietly.

"First... let's go inside. We'll regroup... and then go look again."

Charlotte stared at me with vacant eyes. Then she shook her head. I clenched my teeth hard enough to grind them and refused her.

"No. She's alive. Absolutely."

A little light returned to Yuria's eyes.

"Lady Yuria. Please come inside. We'll warm up and head out again. We can find her this time. She's... probably taken shelter in some house nearby. Hepais... a kid like her could absolutely do that."

"Y-yeah... right? That idiot's... dense, but she's got some sense... She's definitely, definitely still alive..."

"Yes. I think so too. Charlotte. You come inside as well. We'll each pick a direction, set a range, and head back out."

I helped Yuria to her feet and pulled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Charlotte along by the arm. We shoved the door open hard, all went inside together, and climbed to the top floor. After leaving Yuria with Charlotte, I headed to my room to check on Noah.

Just in case. If Noah had woken up... we could find Hepais in no time. Relying on someone like that made me a terrible person, but right now—for Hepais's sake—I could be a terrible person as many times as it took.

The moment I opened the door—

"Huh...?"

The view outside the window hit me at once. It was clear. The blizzard that had been raging like mad just moments ago was gone.

No. It hadn't vanished.

It was gathering in one place.

I followed the direction with my eyes. At the summit of Karahan, a magic circle like a painted sky hung in the air, and at its center a small sphere floated. Every flake of snow in Urusphier was pouring into that tiny sphere. It was growing.

The swelling sphere covered the sky.

And then the magic circle inverted.

The sky poured down. It collapsed. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Collapsed and flowed along the mountain range. Flowed and flowed, sending ripples across the peaks. The ripples settled into waves. The waves rose into a tidal surge. And that rising surge became an ocean—and the ocean became a calamity—and it descended upon the world.

An avalanche.

Could human language even begin to describe that disaster? An indescribable white calamity was coming. At this rate, Urusphier would be destroyed for certain. There was no escaping it.

Where was Hepais? Could Yuria, Charlotte, and I stop that thing with our power? What in the world were we supposed to—

No.

First, move.

I shook off the fear and turned my back.

And then—

"Huh...?"

Standing right there—

"Hey, Rubia."

—were those clear red eyes. The person I had waited for so long.

"No...ah...?"

"Yeah. It's been a while."

She was looking straight at me.

"There's a lot I want to say, a lot I want to tell you... and I really want to eat all that jelly piled up over there."

Noah rose from where she had been lying.

"But it looks like we're out of time."

And she walked straight toward the new greatsword Hepais had forged.

"I don't know how things will turn out... but when it's all over."

Straight toward it.

"Want to talk with me for a bit?"

"No...ah, is that really you...?"

"Yeah."

Noah took hold of the greatsword.

"Something... something feels strang—"

"It's alright."

And she smiled.

"Mm, Hepais is... see that blue roof over there? She's shivering inside. So go get her, okay?"

An alien smile.

"And tell her thanks for the greatsword."

Pitiful.

"I'm so glad the first person I 'saw' when I opened my eyes was you, Rubia."

Wistful.

"Alright. I'm going."

A sorrowful smile.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Noah turned her back and went outside. She went out and descended the stairs. Her footsteps faded. Then I couldn't hear them anymore.

I turned my head and looked out the window.

The avalanche that had been about to blot out the sky, bury Karahan, and erase Urusphier—death itself, calamity itself—split apart.