Elena Ru
“An otherworld? Is this not the inside of a Gate?”
The holy knight had golden hair and blue eyes.
Golden hair and blue eyes… my dream type.
She was beautiful.
Even without the golden hair and blue eyes, she would have been beautiful. A face on par with Keira’s, maybe. Were all otherworlders like this?
“You could call it the inside of a Gate… but it isn’t yours. It’s mine.”
“How is that possible? My God has never once…”
The holy knight looked at me, bewildered. From the way she spoke, she didn’t seem to be a Keeper either. Of course — no Keeper would casually touch a Gate that wasn’t their own. Only a non-Keeper could mistake the Gate that had appeared before them for their own.
“I know it’s confusing, but that’s the truth. For now, just take it as fact. I’ll explain the rest as we go.”
“Wait. If this is an otherworld, what becomes of me? Why does my God not answer?”
Her questions kept coming, but there was no time to answer them.
The wail of sirens reached my ears. The ambulance was coming. I hurriedly threw Keira’s clothes back on her. Listening carefully as I dressed her, I found her breathing still steady. I could take my time. The holy knight was here, too.
“Garam, are you on your way?”
"Yeah. What happened?"
“The enemy’s gone, for now. I’m alive.”
"Thank God. How did something like that even happen?"
“I need to take my companion to the hospital by ambulance. Does the crew have a hospital it’s connected to?”
I’d considered not bringing Keira to a hospital at all, but the risk was too high. If the holy knight still had energy to spare, maybe — but she was already struggling. The way she looked, she was about to turn transparent any minute. That was why I was asking about a crew-affiliated hospital. If we went there, we could at least keep Keira’s existence somewhat under wraps.
"There is one. You’re heading there?"
“Yes. Send me the address. And Garam — could you come here and clean up the area? Investigate while you’re at it.”
"Of course. Don’t worry about a thing — just stay at the hospital. I’ll handle it."
“Thank you. The enemy might still be around, so be careful. They’re strong.”
"Don’t worry about that. I’m coming with Nayeon."
Kim Nayeon?
So she hadn’t just been rotting away in her room after all. Her condition couldn’t be great, but if Kim Nayeon was with him, I could rest easy. She was one of only a hundred A-class Keepers in all of Korea.
“Then I have nothing to worry about. I’ll leave it to you. I will repay this debt.”
"Crewmates help each other out. I’ll head to the hospital once I’m done."
Joining the crew really had been the right call. I never knew how reassuring it could feel to have people to lean on.
Finally, I handed Keira’s robe to the holy knight.
“Put this on. It’s a robe enchanted with recognition-dampening magic. We’re about to move, and that outfit of yours will cause problems.”
“Without even an explanation—”
“I know it’s hard to take orders from someone whose life you just saved, but please trust me just this once. I’ll explain everything later — as much as you want.”
“…Understood.”
Thankfully, the holy knight was someone you could reason with. Once she put on the robe, she looked like a hulking man. Her shield and sword stuck out a little from under the fabric, but that would be fine. This was the age of Keepers, after all.
“Where’s the patient? What’s their condition!”
The paramedics burst into the studio apartment. Arriving in a real three minutes — people like that deserved a medal.
“Over here.”
I showed them Keira.
The ER doctor pressed a stethoscope to Keira’s chest, then looked up.
“A healing Keeper treated her, you said?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I answered quickly, watching the doctor’s face. He examined the wound on her chest, then stood.
“No seizures or shock on the way here? Vitals?”
“Stable the whole time.”
“Then she just needs rest and time to recover naturally.”
“What? That’s enough? She had a hole in her chest. She was shot. There was blood everywhere.”
The holy knight’s healing had looked incredible, but it had still been a terrible wound. She’d nearly died.
“Hmm… shall we run some tests? From what I can see, there’s no problem. For a wound like that to look this clean… you should thank that Keeper.”
I glanced involuntarily at the holy knight standing behind me. She wouldn’t understand a word of this. The translation magic was only rendering our private conversation.
“If that’s your professional opinion, I don’t think we need the tests.”
If tests wouldn’t change anything, better not to take them. The fewer people Keira was exposed to, the better.
“You said she lost a lot of blood — I’ll put her on an IV. Shall we move her to a room?”
The doctor already knew we were from GGC Crew and that we preferred to keep things quiet — word had been passed along. That was why we were being treated behind a curtain in a corner of the ER.
“Yes, that would be best.”
“Then let’s get you a private room.”
The doctor left, and we were transferred to a private room right away. Fortunately, neither the ER nor the hospital was crowded. Even so, I could feel every passerby staring at Keira. Blue hair that already drew the eye, paired with a face that drew it twice as hard.
…Or maybe they were just walking past. Maybe me thinking they were looking this way was pure paranoia. But how could anyone not look? Keira was that pretty. Being hurt made her look twice as beautiful.
“If anything comes up, use this to call us.”
The nurse pointed at the room phone and stepped out.
“Haa…”
As I sank onto the private room’s sofa, the tension finally drained out of me. We’d made it. Barely. Luck stacked on top of luck.
“What is this place?”
Ah. It wasn’t over yet. This was only the beginning.
“What was that carriage we rode in, and why is this building so tall? No — not just this building…”
The holy knight’s questions looked ready to go on forever. She seemed to come from roughly the same era as Keira — of course she was stunned. Anyone would be.
“As I said earlier, this is Earth. An otherworld.”
“An otherworld… is there no God here? No god would ever permit such characterless buildings.”
I didn’t know what buildings had to do with gods, but I agreed they were characterless.
“As far as anyone knows, there are no gods.”
“I feared as much… a world without gods…”
The holy knight dropped to her knees and clasped her hands. The classic prayer pose. Apparently that one was universal across dimensions.
A world without gods… I wasn’t sure it deserved that much shock. I’d never really thought about it. Wasn’t the existence of gods the stranger thing?
“You know… we never even introduced ourselves. I’m Lee Jungmin.”
“…I am Elena Ru. The Thirteenth Sword of Ru.”
The Thirteenth Sword? That had the ring of someone important. No wonder her healing ability had been anything but ordinary.
“The god you serve — is Ru the name?”
“Yes. The God of Compassion and Love.”
“I see. Could you tell me how to offer thanks to Lord Ru? I’d like to express my gratitude to the one who sent you to us in our moment of need.”
I meant it. Without Elena, Keira would have died. A hundred thank-yous to Elena wouldn’t be enough — and gratitude toward Ru was rising in me of its own accord.
“Thanks to Lord Ru? A fine thought. Lord Ru is one who should always receive gratitude. Through Him, we learn what love is.”
A moment ago she’d seemed like a country girl who didn’t know the world. The second she spoke of her god, the priestess in her came flooding out.
“You do it like this.”
Elena removed the robe and took a stance: right index and middle fingers extended, pressed to the center of her forehead. She remained on her knees, left hand clenched in a fist against the center of her chest.
I’d seen that somewhere before. It didn’t come to me right away. But the moment I mirrored her pose, I realized where.
“Dragon Ball!”
“…Pardon?”
It was almost identical to the teleportation pose from that manga. The only difference was the kneeling — the right hand was a perfect match. Thinking of it that way, Elena suddenly looked a little ridiculous.
…And so did I, probably.
“Ahem. Nothing. Is this correct?”
“Yes. Offering words of thanks to Lord Ru in this posture is our basic form of prayer.”
“Understood.”
I closed my eyes and imagined a Ru I had never seen, and offered my thanks. Truly, thank you. I will return your Sword safely.
I kept my eyes shut for about ten seconds, then opened them. Elena was right in front of me, wearing a satisfied smile. She looked pleased that her missionary work had succeeded.
“Then shall we talk about what comes next?”
“Gladly. Why am I here?”
“I summoned you — but it should be seen as Lord Ru’s guidance. Isn’t everything His will?”
“That is so. My arrival here cannot be chance. It must be the will of merciful Lord Ru, to save that woman.”
I felt a little like I was conning a zealot, but I was about seventy percent sincere. A holy knight with healing powers, of all things, emerging from a Summoning Gate where anything could appear? That couldn’t be coincidence. Only some kind of intervention could deliver exactly the right person at exactly the right moment. And if a divine being existed, that level of meddling didn’t seem out of reach.
“Once more, my thanks to Lord Ru — and to you, Elena.”
“All things follow the love of merciful Ru.”
Elena performed the prayer pose again, this time standing. Doing it on her feet made the teleportation gag even funnier, but it was a solemn moment, so I held it in.
“Keira — that friend’s name is Keira. Since you saved her, I’ll send you home if you wish. However…”
The return Gate’s cooldown was one week again.
“The Gate back won’t open for another week. I’m sorry.”
“A whole week? Is there no other way?”
“There isn’t. I’m sorry.”
“…It can’t be helped. A week…”
Elena’s expression darkened. I didn’t want to put that look on the face of the person who’d saved our lives — but there really was no other way. And the next problem was waiting right behind it.
“And to remain here for that week, you’ll need to form a contract with me.”
“A contract?”
“It’s called an Otherworld Residence Contract. Without it, you’ll vanish from this world.”
“…What do you mean?”
“It’ll be easier if you see for yourself.”
I opened the cabinet in the hospital room. Sure enough, there was a mirror. I pointed to it, and she stepped in front of it.
Already, the area around her chin was fading.
“What is this? Why?”
Elena hurriedly stripped off her gauntlets. Her hands were already half-transparent.
“My God… Lord Ru, what is this…”
“We’re out of time. Will you form the contract? There are no particular restrictions. I swear it on Lord Ru’s name.”
“…You must not take Lord Ru’s name lightly.”
Even now, fretting over Ru — she was a true believer, no question.
“I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with those customs. Anyway — we really don’t have time.”
“Very well. I will form the contract. What must I do?”
“That’s…”
How was I supposed to explain this one…
I chose my next words carefully.