Even in the Radiant Realm of Gods, Night Falls (2)
“Here it is, Brother.”
“Thank you.”
“May you find your final rest with the All-Gods.”
“Yes.”
The priest clasped my shoulder, offered a brief prayer, and turned away.
Well then. Time to go in.
Click. Whether it had been carefully maintained or simply well-made, the hinge swung open without a single creak, smooth as silk.
The saint must have taken my comfort into account; the room I had been guided to was papered in ordinary navy blue rather than blinding white. Staring at white walls for too long made the eyes ache, so the courtesy was a welcome one.
30 minutes remaining. Prepare yourself.
“Alright.”
I shrugged out of my cumbersome outer coat, left myself in a plain T-shirt, and stretched out on the bed. Soft, yielding, almost luxurious. Sleep came whispering at the edges of my mind.
Swaaah—
Pretty well off, aren’t you, child.
“I finally realized fretting doesn’t change a damn thing.”
Black hair threaded with a crimson sheen rarely seen in the Empire, black eyes to match. Sharp gaze, arrogant set to the mouth. Tall for a woman, proportions that made honorifics rise unbidden to the tongue—she stood over the bed and looked down at me.
Bind
Clatter-clink. The instant the word left her lips, black chains erupted from beneath the bed and lashed my limbs tight. I poured mana into them and heaved with everything I had; the links did not so much as twitch.
“Thanks. Really. For this, too.”
I simply have no desire to watch you thrash about.
“Heh… that first time was new, that’s all.”
The Authority of Life.
It erased whatever damage I had taken as though it had never happened, and paid back mana in proportion to that damage on the spot. That should have been the end of it. But after Lellasion, disappointed in humanity, reclaimed Life, she laid a single restriction upon it.
No longer unconditional nullification and recovery. Now I had to name a duration, and the power answered only in measure with that span.
The fifteen minutes I used against the clown-monster earlier? Enough for severed tendons to knit and vessels to regenerate. The three hours spent hauling Violet this far? Enough to claw back roughly half the mana I had burned dry.
If that were all—if I could simply set any length I pleased and receive proportional power—then I would simply declare years and be done. The reason I could not was simple: for every second I named, the seal I had bound over my war wounds came undone.
Half my strength spent holding back the scars of war.
Blood boiled like acid through my nerves. The screams and clawing nails of the dead crushed my mind. An unnameable force ground my organs to pulp.
Pain no will could master. I had once shaken and smashed my forehead into the dirt and begged the gods to make it stop.
1… It starts now.
“Grrraaahhh!!! Ngh…!! Aaaargh!!!”
“…You’ll shatter your teeth. Bite this.”
“Aaaargh!! Ngh!! Grrrk…!!”
Every nerve in my body burned at once. The screams shattered a mind already softened by agony. An alien force locked my mana so I could not even twitch it. The three-part symphony of the Authority tore through me without mercy.
“…No matter how many times I see it, I never grow used to this sight.”
Thud— thud—!
I wanted to crack my skull against the wall and black out, but this was a soft bed. Slamming my head only sank me deeper into the mattress. Besides, if I lost consciousness, the timer would not count down.
“Hrrk…!! Nngh!!! Aaaargh!!”
I clenched so hard the capillaries in my eyes burst; bloody tears ran down my face.
How long has it been? How long…
…
Life knew exactly three minutes had passed, and chose not to say a word.
“Hrrk… cough… haah… haah…”
…You have done well. ‘Release.’
“Ugh… blaaargh!!”
The chains vanished. The instant they did, scalding things surged up my throat; I vomited them into the wastebasket beside the bed. Dark, almost black clots of blood, still hot.
“Ugh… haah…”
No matter how many times I endured it, I never grew used to it. If anything, it hurt worse. Honestly, it felt worse than being thrown into a volcano and burned alive in lava.
“Ugh… disgusting. I need a wash.”
The sheets were soaked through with tears and blood.
At least you did not wet yourself this time. How fortunate.
“…I already told you that was the first time.”
I ignored the sword—her—who kept dredging up the day I first used the Authority of Life, and stepped into the bathroom. T-shirt, trousers, even underwear: I stripped them all and flung them out the door, then took up the water-enchanted rod and fed it mana.
Shaaaa—
“Haah…”
Warm water cascaded over skin gone cold and slowly coaxed the heat back into me.
…Maybe I’ll just take a proper bath.
The bathroom attached to what was clearly a guest suite held a tub large enough for three grown men. After carving my way here through all manner of unclean things, a soak with bath salts sounded even better.
Shaaaa—!
I filled the tub myself with water magic in a single surge, scooped bath salts from the array of toiletries, dissolved them, and sank in.
“Huuuh…”
My whole body felt as though it were melting. After the day I had endured, the sensation was pure bliss.
“…Violet…”
I had been pretending otherwise, but every second I wanted to run to her side and see her with my own eyes. The image of Violet, a dagger buried in her chest, trying to speak my name, still burned behind my eyelids. Going to her now would only make her condition worse, so I forced myself to stay put. It would be a week at least before she woke and I could visit. Until then I had plenty of other matters to settle—calling Father even though the Prime Minister had already contacted him, arranging payment for the saint who had treated both of us, and the rest.
“Haah… how did it come to this.”
An engagement ceremony where the fiancée lay unconscious. Truly a twisted fate. The thought crossed my mind that someone who disliked the match might have arranged it, but I discarded the idea at once. Who in the Empire would resent my engagement to Violet? Most of the realm would only offer congratulations. Truly, there was no understanding it.
Thump-thump—!
Enough. Come out already. This lady wishes to bathe as well.
“You’re a sword. What do you need to wash for? Shove yourself back in the scabbard and you’re clean. Get lost.”
…Even this lady, in human form, sometimes longs for warm water.
“Wash tomorrow. I had a hard day. Leave me alone.”
That damned sword always dug in its heels over the strangest things. Last time on the battlefield it had insisted on eating food it did not need, stolen my combat rations, and then thrown them all away.
This lady will do it today, so you will yield.
“Why does a sword keep calling itself ‘this lady’ anyway?”
…..Silence.
“Ugh… seriously. Get out. I’m exhausted.”
I had wanted a quiet soak to sort through the mess with Andrea, yet she kept interrupting. Still, my words seemed to have pricked her pride; the presence outside the bathroom door suddenly seized the handle.
“…Huh?”
Rattle—
Upon reflection, bathing together solves everything.
“Do whatever you want.”
…Hmph.
She had clearly expected me to fluster at the sight of her bare body. Unfortunately for her, I was not the sort of man who felt lust toward a sword, so the moment fell flat.
This lady currently wears a beautiful female form, you know?
“So? Are you a woman? You’re not.”
I am capable of everything a woman can do…
“I asked if you are a woman. You’re not. Keep talking and go wait outside like a good girl.”
Leaving was apparently worse than death; she edged toward the tub with a towel clutched over her vital areas, looking thoroughly awkward. Not that the towel hid much—those two were far too assertive to be covered so easily.
Splash—!
“You’re in. Now shut up.”
Do not give me orders. I shall do as I please.
The tub was spacious, yet still only meant for three. Our legs inevitably brushed; our eyes inevitably met.
…Should I just cut those legs off…?
They were only an image, after all—no pain, and she could regrow them at will. A temporary trim for the duration of the bath, restored on the way out. Perfect.
Cease that blasphemous thought at once.
“Why? They’re in the way.”
Must you stretch your legs out so far?
“I was here first. If you don’t like it, leave.”
Haa… Why is it that you are polite and sensible with everyone else, yet the moment you stand before me you become a child… Is this better?
“Yeah. That’s a little more comfortable.”
Still seated in the tub, she spread her own legs to make room. The tub had a double tier of steps, so my legs never actually touched anything indecent. The result was an odd tableau: me lounging with legs extended on the lower step, Life perched on the upper step with both thighs open.
“Huu…”
…
Thirty minutes drifted by like that. The scalding water had begun to lose its charm. In times like these, an Eastern steam bath was just the thing.