The Paramere Subjugation Battle (1)
The Paramere Subjugation Battle (1)
I finished absorbing every last wraith. It had been a miserable stretch of time. A whole month just for the absorption.
Thanks to that, my condition was at its peak. I turned my body lightly to check, and simply moving my feet carved deep gouges into the ground.
The important part starts now.
"Hoo."
I drew a deep breath and let it out. I pulled a sword from my Pocket and swung it lightly.
I could feel it. The movement of the sword itself. The power of Naga, grown by devouring the wraiths, was writhing as if it might burst at any moment.
To put it simply, my current state was exactly that.
My experience bar had gone past full and completely overflowed the gauge, yet I couldn't level up!
Once the conditions were met, every skill would grow rapidly. Simply grasping the deeper principles of weapon arts alone would let me reach S-rank without much trouble.
But that wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. I'd originally had S-rank skills too, but I hadn't been able to face Aris.
So I had to go beyond even that. Let's start with what I can do.
Stack it up.
If I keep stacking it.
I'll be able to rise again.
"Everyone up."
The elves who'd been lazing around, gobbling up whatever food they were given, sprang to their feet. Flora's eyes sparkled.
"A-are we finally going out?"
"You want to talk nonsense? If we go out now, we all die. Outside is a mess right now. The rotten army is swarming, and on top of that, some bastard named Aris is planted there like a final boss."
"Then how..."
"We've got food. The noisy wraiths have all been cleaned up... There's only one thing left."
I flicked my hand.
"We build up strength. Come at me like you're trying to kill me."
"...Excuse me?"
"B-but how could we do that to our Savior..."
"Even if it's training, that's a bit..."
Right. I hadn't expected them to get this serious about it.
"How about this: once a day, the winner becomes the loser's dog?"
"...Huh?"
"What does that..."
Flora shot to her feet. She was so hasty that spit flew as she spoke.
"I-is that really true?! If I'm your dog, can I make you do anything?!"
"Yeah. You can order me around."
"I'll do it! O-of course, not in some weird way... We need to get stronger through training too...! It's purely innocent! You know that, right?!"
"Just so you know, don't even think about throwing the match on purpose. I have no intention of doing whatever you want."
"Wh-what do you think I'd make you do...!"
"You'd ask me to spank your ass."
"N-n-n-n-n-no I wouldn't?! O-of course, I'm a little... interested... but... I-I'm a proud descendant of elven fairy blood... i-it's purely experimental spirit...!"
"Why's your tongue so long."
[Using Black Scales (B).]
"I told you. If you win, I'll do anything. If you ask for a piggyback ride, I'll give you one. If you ask for food, I'll feed you. Honestly, you've all wanted to put me in my place at least once, haven't you? Right?"
The elves glanced at each other.
They quietly reached for their weapons.
"...No going easy."
"Of course."
"...Um. But."
One elf who hadn't read the room opened their mouth.
"Even if we train like this and build up strength as long as the food lasts... can we really beat the monster outside? According to the diary, it's a monster that's been accumulating power for hundreds of years... How do we beat that?"
"With spite and sheer stubbornness."
"Won't... reinforcements come?"
"They won't."
I'd been marked by Dwayne, and Rosemary had taken a thoroughly unfavorable impression of me.
The Holy See would never be the first to reach out to me.
On top of that, Divine Judge Dimona was a realist. No matter how much affection you built with her in the game, that never changed.
As for anywhere else, well...
There was the Serpent Church. Isabella. But she wouldn't come either. It was uncertain whether word would even reach her, and even if it did, she clearly wouldn't come. We weren't that close.
The same went for Black Steel, located where the church headquarters was. Matier was a smart one. He wouldn't willingly walk into a death trap. The same went for my underlings working under him.
No one had any reason to walk into a death trap. Naturally, because they knew it was directly tied to death.
People are all the same.
They don't prioritize someone else's life over their own. Even if they help out of goodwill, once it exceeds their own capabilities, they won't extend a hand.
"Why would anyone come to what's obviously a death sentence? They might loiter around the outskirts, but once they get burned by the rotten monsters, they won't come into the city."
"...B-but still... we can at least hope, can't we?"
"No one's going to throw away their own life to come looking for me when they don't even know if I'm dead or alive."
As if such a person existed.
"In the end, the only person I can rely on is myself."
"...Do you really think that?"
"Of course. Everything I've built up so far, I did with my own hands."
It had always been that way.
Now, and before.
The only one who ever threw their life away for me was that kid from the orphanage who died when I was young.
I'd never seen another since.
"...Why do you say that with such confidence?"
"Because I know everything."
I'd already been through all of it. I'd experienced it all in the game.
There was no one-in-a-million chance. This place would be the same.
So I didn't get my hopes up.
"Enough talk. Come at me. No idiots are coming here, so we have to do this ourselves."
. . .
The Holy See formally rejected the motion.
Except for Cardinal Arpina, who sat there like a scarecrow, every archbishop voted in favor. The decision was that they would not interfere in the Paramer affair.
The shared opinion was that since the Empire wasn't moving, the Church of Ra had no need to move either. Naturally, Archbishop Dwayne's sneer was mixed in among it all.
"I've heard it's a dreadful place. They say even the Imperial Army can't easily approach the interior of Paramer right now. If someone entered such a place and held out for over a month... they're already..."
At the trailing insinuation, Dimona nearly overturned everything. But in the end, she held back with a shred of patience.
The Holy See's tyranny didn't stop there. They issued a separate warning to Divine Judge Dimona.
"I do hope you won't entertain any strange ideas, Divine Judge Dimona. The Inquisition Office is also a formal fighting force of the church. If you move recklessly, you will have to bear responsibility for it."
"......"
"At worst, you will have to step down from your position, Divine Judge Dimona. If you wish to survive even a little longer, shouldn't you remain in that seat?"
Archbishop Dwayne's words were revolting from start to finish.
But even so, she had no choice but to admit that he was right.
"...What will you do?"
"What do you mean, what will I do? I'll do what I've always done."
Dimona looked down out the window. Only one person among countless inquisitors had disappeared.
"The Fifth Inquisition Office will not move."
Reality.
That was reality.
She couldn't shoulder countless risks to save one person. To keep the Fifth Inquisition Office alive, she had to close her eyes now.
The shining sun.
The church's daily routine flowing like water.
The Fifth Inquisition Office's days wouldn't change just because one person was gone.
...Right.
That would be the correct choice.
Dimona let out a sigh. She had to look to the future. The Fifth Inquisition Office was producing the lowest results among the five inquisition offices.
She couldn't openly make an enemy here. Fighting the Holy See directly... would mean certain defeat.
Not everyone could move.
"Radatok."
But I'm not everyone.
"I'll leave the Fifth Inquisition Office to you."
Divine Judge Dimona gathered her equipment. She glanced back at Radatok.
Why was that? This time, he didn't try to stop her. On the contrary, he was gathering his equipment too.
"......? Didn't you hear what I said?"
"I heard you."
Radatok strapped a heavy greatsword to his waist.
"Hey. Then you should put that sword down first."
"You weren't planning to go alone, were you?"
"....."
"Where a judge goes, an inquisitor must also be. Isn't that something you yourself said, Judge?"
"...You always nagged me normally. Now that it's inconvenient, you pretend to listen to me. This is unlike the always-mature inquisitor I know."
"I am behaving maturely."
Radatok spoke in a blunt voice.
"Repaying what you've received is what adults do."
Dimona let out a hollow laugh. She tried to argue but ultimately gave up.
Come to think of it... wasn't that the very phrase that cut through her own incomprehensible behavior?
"...Right?"
Dimona grabbed her sword. She half-drew it and checked the blade.
Holy Sword Lunatis.
An item she'd received from the previous Divine Judge.
She drew it lightly and swung. It felt good in her hand. Sacred Power grazed across the splitting air and the cut cross-section.
Her skills hadn't rusted, then. She glanced back at Radatok.
"...Shall we go?"
"Let's go."
A fight with no chance of victory.
Both of them felt it. Even if they went, there would be nothing they could do. They might only see Inquisitor Zahard's corpse and return.
At worst, there was a high chance they would lose their lives. Paramer as it was now was rumored to be impenetrable even for the Empire's High Knights.
But even so, they had to go.
Just because there was nothing they could do, they couldn't stay still like this.
"...This doesn't suit me at all."
"No one can always be true to themselves."
Dimona was aware that she was unlike her usual self. The right thing was to make a plan and then move. But when she thought of Zahard, trapped alone in that dreadful city she'd heard about from Rosemary's own lips, her heart moved before her head.
Her heart was heavy. So heavy she couldn't bear it.
So she moved her comparatively lighter feet. Because she thought she had to.
"...I've received too much. Radatok."
"The same goes for me. I've received too much."
"Later, if someone sees me, they'll say I was wrong, won't they?"
"But at least right now, you're not wrong."
Dimona exchanged glances with Radatok and smiled slightly. Without either being first, they spoke at the same time.
"In the name of Ra."
She opened the door. The Fifth Inquisition Office. The long corridor leading to the office.
But even though night had fully fallen, the place wasn't quiet. On the contrary, it was noisy.
People were lined up in the corridor.
Each in traveling clothes.
"...Huh?"
Dimona blinked.
Why were the inquisitors of the Fifth Inquisition Office...?
"I didn't even... call for you...?"
How?
"...We heard from Captain Rosemary."
"You're going to rescue our brother, aren't you?"
"Captain Radatok. I'm disappointed. Leaving us out of something this fun?"
The Group 1 inquisitors grinned.
"Let's go together! We wanted to see our brother, and now we can!"
"They say only monsters live in Paramer, so this is perfect! Time to loosen up!"
"This is what inquisitors do anyway. It's the same as going to work."
"I've been wanting to hear that mouth of his again. Right?"
"Of course. I miss his cooking too. Don't you?"
Dimona blinked.
The Group 2 inquisitors spoke up.
"...We heard the boss is trapped there."
"He said he'd come back in one piece... Who knew he'd end up trapped there."
"It was a first for us. Someone who treated me and my comrades like that."
The ones she'd thought of as nothing but troublemakers raised their heads. They looked forward with confidence.
"You all..."
The person she'd thought had no talent. But Austin, who had ultimately stood shoulder to shoulder with the Group 1 inquisitors, spoke.
"The boss is no different from a benefactor to me. If you ask for my life, I can give it. Take me with you, Judge."
The person blinded by money who hadn't gotten along with others. But Isabel, who now had her talent recognized and helped with the work, spoke.
"He's a difficult man. Piling up a mountain of work and then running off. I'll have to go drag him back. Take me with you, Judge."
The person like a lone protruding rock. But Nord, who had belatedly come to take pride in his axe, spoke.
"He was the first person to acknowledge me. For the boss, even my life isn't too much to give. I'll go even if you try to stop me, Judge."
Change and communication.
The movement of the Fifth Inquisition Office, which had been at a standstill.
...What on earth.
What on earth.
"...Ahaha."
It had only been a few months.
An incredibly short time. If a stranger heard this, they'd think the whole lot of them had gone mad.
"Ahaha!"
Dimona laughed. The laughter burst out of her like a fool.
Just what kind of person was he? Lecherous and foolish, yet how had he earned such popularity?
Ah.
She'd thought she was a good judge of people, but she hadn't understood anything at all. It had never been just the two of them going from the start.
Right.
The fool was me.
"...Don't you know you shouldn't do this?"
"You're the one who shouldn't be doing this, Judge!"
"Come on, don't be stingy between us!"
"This is what happens when you try to leave without saying a word!"
Rosemary stood before them. The person she'd been too exhausted by constant power struggles to even speak with. The woman who growled even at a mere glance from Radatok.
What Rosemary held was an axe. She closed her eyes, then opened them, and spoke slowly, deliberately.
"...Take me with you. Judge."
Fire lit in her eyes.
"I'll grab that bastard by the collar and drag him back."
The sharp cat. Had he even changed her, the one she'd thought no one could change?
Just who are you...
Dimona closed her eyes. How was it that the Fifth Inquisition Office was full of nothing but fools?
But still.
...Even so!
"Everyone who's coming, follow me."
Dimona placed her hand on her sword. She drew a deep breath.
"I can't take responsibility for what comes after. You're on your own."
The assembled inquisitors raised their heads. Flames flickered.
Fire spread through the paladins' movements. The darkness of the corridor was swept away entirely.
"In the name of Ra!!"
Dimona strode forward with confidence.
Radatok moved his heavy feet and followed behind.
Rosemary slung her axe over her back and followed behind.
The Group 1 inquisitors.
The Group 2 inquisitors.
Everyone who had met Zahard followed behind.
Footsteps overlapped. Her trembling body stilled.
Dimona raised her head and looked ahead. She pierced through the empty air and saw something far away.
She didn't know what lay ahead. Death might be lying in wait.
But even so, let's go.
To the battlefield.
"...I'm coming now. Zahard."
To the side of the person she'd received too much from, the person she absolutely had to repay.