What Needs to Be Done
What Needs to Be Done
A month had passed. Rosaria's condition had greatly improved, and thanks to Canaria's continual efforts to weave her existence into the Holy Kingdom, the atmosphere was finally ready for Rosaria to return as the Saintess without any awkwardness.
...It was then that Canaria asked Rosaria a question.
"...What name would you like?"
"...Yes. After all, I am no longer the Saintess."
Canaria was asking her to decide a name for her new position. She would soon be stepping down from the role of Saintess, after all. Yet to remain at Rosaria's side, she still needed a position of some standing. Canaria had anticipated that and had already finished drafting her own plans; the only thing left was for Rosaria to give it a name.
"...Let's go with Shadow."
The name Rosaria chose was Shadow.
"...It's the same as before."
"There's no reason for it to change."
Canaria's position in the past had also been Shadow. After all, she had operated behind the scenes of the Holy Kingdom, using her abilities to stain her hands in blood and clean up messes—a sort of assassin working in the dark. It wasn't a position with a particularly pleasant history attached to it... but Canaria didn't dislike the word shadow, something that was always right beside you.
"...What about Holy Sword Corps or Black Knight?"
"...Those are childish."
"...That's a shame."
She'd liked those two. Though Shadow was just as childish, really. Canaria had wanted a name closer to the light if possible. Still, it couldn't sound weak, so she had listed off names that seemed reasonably strong... and those candidly rejected names faded away.
But, well, Rosaria had decided it for her... so Canaria let it go, keeping Holy Sword Corps and Black Knight in her heart—resolving to have others call her those when they addressed her. Soon after, she practiced a salute to Rosaria, who would soon be the Saintess.
"The Shadow of the Holy Kingdom greets the Saintess."
The phrase "the body remembers" fit perfectly. Though she had lived as the Saintess for a considerable time herself, Canaria saluted Rosaria with the exact angle and posture she had used back then, executing a nearly perfect ceremonial form.
"...So when will you hold your coronation?"
Over the course of the month, Rosaria had concentrated on restoring her vessel, channeling divine power every day until she was on the verge of collapse. True, she had suffered strange dreams every day as a side effect... but regardless, through their combined efforts over that time, her vessel had recovered enough to contain roughly half of that divine power.
Even at only half, Rosaria's half was on a wholly different level from any other Saint's half. If the original Saints possessed a force of about 50, then Rosaria in her unweakened past had possessed a force of roughly 300. And half of that power meant 150... even at half, it was a volume of divine power about three times that of the existing Saints.
In truth, Rosaria's vessel had already been capable enough to contain sufficient divine power for her to return as Saintess well before that point. But she hadn't rushed back recklessly. After all, Canaria had now provoked a war... and for a Saint who would reign at the close of a dying era of peace, the current level of safety wasn't enough.
Both Rosaria and Canaria had deemed it safest to make the proclamation only after recovering roughly half, so they had remained silent until now. And now they had recovered half.
"...The day before we depart for the North would be right."
Rosaria wanted to do it at a moment that secured both practical advantage and public justification. And that time, as expected, was the Northern subjugation campaign. She felt it was right to return as the Saintess on the very day she began her divine mission.
...At the same time, she found it strange. The title of Saint was one she had so clearly hated. Because she had thought the divine mission didn't suit her, and it was a crown she had refused so fiercely she had even cursed her fate.
Even so, Rosaria felt a sense of responsibility and a sense of mission—a sensation that predated the knowledge that this divine power was making Canaria ill. In fact, that very feeling was proof that she was someone qualified. After all, the Chief God did not grant the qualifications of a Saint to just anyone. The divine power was given only to those who, even in the face of adversity, would not abandon that mission, would not pass it on to others, and would themselves take responsibility for it.
In the end, Rosaria had been fated to become the Saintess.
But Rosaria didn't yet know that, so she simply felt a slight discomfort.
"...You could stay here, Rosaria."
Canaria tried to dissuade her from heading to the North. After all, she had now handed over most of the Saint's divine power. Having grown a little distant from invincibility herself, she wanted to leave Rosaria safely in the Holy Kingdom, given the unexpected variables that might arise. But Rosaria shook her head, refusing.
"...That's only an excuse I could use when I was powerless."
Sending her alone to the battlefield was an excuse that only worked when one was powerless. Rosaria was not so irresponsible as to accept idly staying in the Holy Kingdom by herself when her life wasn't being held hostage and she hadn't lost all her power. Especially when it came to Canaria, Rosaria grew only more obstinately devoted.
After all, she had once gone as far as dying for her sake. She wasn't afraid of simply going to a battlefield or following her to the North. What she feared was something happening to Canaria when she couldn't be at her side.
"I'm not some broad-minded irresponsible person who can live happily while sending my fiancée off to war alone, Canaria."
Saying that, Rosaria grasped her cane and rose. Since it was her vessel for divine power that had been restored, her physical body alone was still frail.
"...Nor am I so broad-minded and irresponsible as to take a staggering fiancée to the battlefield, Rosaria."
And so Canaria supported her. She had no desire to give that role to anyone else, after all. Being the one to support that side of her was, in Canaria's mind, something that always had to be her.
"...I can fix this much."
"That means you'd be continually leaking divine power, and you know as well as anyone that's unreasonable, Rosaria."
Canaria had become an expert on divine power. After all, she herself possessed talent in handling the Saint's divine power. She couldn't wield it perfectly like Rosaria, but she could manage it well enough to put her name forward to some extent. ...And that, by Canaria's own self-assessment, was also a shortcoming.
With divine power, especially, the presence or absence of usable abilities could be starkly divided. For example, taking the Demon King's authority, Canaria couldn't create the void space that Serena used. Since Canaria's maximum proficiency capped at roughly 80, she couldn't produce the void space that demanded a proficiency of 100.
And in the case of the Saint's divine power, there was surely some ability Canaria could not use—an ability even Rosaria didn't know about, no doubt. Still, the simple fact that such a class of ability existed, and she couldn't handle it, displeased Canaria considerably.
Of course, being able to use nearly eighty percent of those divine powers was formidable in itself... but Canaria tolerated no gaps whatsoever, so she simply disliked her own talent for falling just short of perfectionism's furthest edge.
"...So, I won't complain if you wait here."
Thus, Canaria wanted Rosaria to remain here. She worried that the gap of that twenty percent of divine power she couldn't handle might somehow cause a problem for Rosaria.
But Rosaria did not want that.
"...Canaria, I am not that weak."
Of course, she understood the reason. Even back when she had been stronger than now, Rosaria had died. But that had only been possible because numerous bindings had fettered her. Bad circumstances had overlapped, and she had been caught in a trap.
...And now, wasn't the situation quite different from back then? Canaria and Rosaria were not fettered by any bindings. Thanks to having pushed themselves somewhat recklessly, all those so-called variables had been removed as well. Even the greatest threat, the Hero, was on their side now.
"...So please, don't worry too much."
After all, couldn't she manage to take care of herself? Rosaria was someone who judged herself harshly. Yet even so, she had given herself a passing grade—which was why she made this judgment.
"I will absolutely never leave your side. ...I promise."
Rosaria asked to keep staying beside her. Because she didn't want to be apart from her, whether inside the Holy Kingdom or outside it.
Holding out her finger to Canaria, she asked for a promise.
"...Please, this time, don't break it."
"...I'm sorry for being so untrustworthy."
That remark carried a sting for Rosaria.
But wasn't that the past? Those who are moving forward do not dwell on the past. Not that she intended to deny or forget it... but there was no reason for it to bind her steps forward, nor to become the cause that kept them apart.
She turned away for a moment and prepared to move forward.
In the end, Rosaria extracted a promise to participate in the Northern subjugation together. From that day onward, her rehabilitation grew even more intensive.
And Canaria prepared something else separately. After their conversation ended, she headed for Kal's smithy; there was another matter she had to handle.