A Song Between Heaven and Hell
Me?
Bella’s hymn was clearly no song. It was an unnatural sonic assault.
But all I needed was a sub-deacon who could sing the hymns.
Of course, if that were all, it would have been better to find someone else.
Yet the Bella I had seen today possessed a grit and quick wit that set her apart from those who merely sat in cloistered rooms reading scripture. Even in danger she did not panic; she looked for what needed doing. On top of that she was thoroughly prepared—I would never have to bother with the little chores myself.
And more than anything…
The vast mana she carried.
When she had knocked the Vocal Cord Plunderer unconscious with a single shout during the trial earlier, I had dismissed it as coincidence. Looking at the scene before me now, however, it was plain that Bella possessed far greater mana than most. The monsters charging us collapsed the moment they heard her hymn.
She must be releasing mana unconsciously whenever she sings.
That was something ordinary people simply could not do. Purely in terms of quantity, her mana was nearly a match for my current holy power.
Still… she is an atrocious singer.
I recalled our earlier conversation.
“What’s your specialty?”
“Um… cleaning, cooking, singing?”
Ah. So that was what she had meant by leading heretics to hell with song.
I had badly misunderstood her, and common decency demanded an apology. Yet listening to her sing now, any such impulse ascended straight to heaven and vanished.
Just as I was wondering how much longer I would have to endure the noise—
“Cough, cough!”
Bella broke off and began coughing. Continuous high notes laced with mana would do that to anyone’s throat.
Kyaak!
A dog-like monster lunged, jaws wide, straight for her. Bella saw it coming, yet she could only clutch at her throat, unable to move. Those sharp fangs were about to tear into her flesh.
Ta-at!
I kicked off the ground and split the beast’s body with my sword. After shaking the blood from the blade I turned; Bella was staring at me with enormous eyes.
“Are you all right?”
I asked, then hardened my expression.
“For the record, I am not.”
“Y-Young… I mean, Inquisitor? How did you…?”
Her speaking voice was beautiful. I felt a deep scholarly urge to research how that tone could produce such a song.
“I was lying in the cathedral when I heard a demon’s howling. I came looking and found these monsters.”
“I-I see. Thank you for saving me.”
Bella bowed deeply. Her massive pack slid forward and completely hid the back of her head.
“Never mind that. Why are you even here? Weren’t you supposed to have gone back with the others?”
There was no reason for Bella to be in this forest. At first I had even suspected she might be with the Evil Book Society, but during the earlier attack she had been the one who knocked out the Vocal Cord Plunderer.
“Ah… on the way to the testing grounds I spotted some medicinal herbs we needed. I thought it would be good to take them back.”
“And nearly got eaten by monsters for it.”
“Th-That…!”
She rushed to explain.
“Cardinal Barun clearly said no monsters appear around here. But then suddenly…”
Barun had no reason to lie. The monsters had probably been drawn by the enormous mana Bella carried. Monsters grew by devouring mana, after all.
“Did no one tell you that remnants of today’s attackers might still be nearby?”
“They did. They said the chance of another attack was small, but it would still be dangerous…”
“Then why walk into the forest? Is your life that cheap?”
“But there were herbs the sick children at the orphanage needed…”
Once again I had nothing to say.
“And for some reason the monsters faint whenever they hear my hymn.”
Of course they do. Not only the monsters, either.
“Could this be the power of the hymn itself?”
As if.
I almost snapped a firm denial, then caught myself and answered instead,
“It might be.”
“Ah, so it is?!”
Bella’s eyes went huge.
“But people keep telling me I can’t sing. They say it feels like someone scraping their eardrums with a fingernail.”
An accurate assessment. Still, I took hold of both her shoulders and spoke with grave seriousness.
“Don’t lose heart now. When we first met you confidently said singing was your specialty, didn’t you? Every talent the Goddess bestows has a reason.”
“Really?”
Her eyes shone in the moonlight.
“Then let me sing you one—”
“Shut up!!!”
“Wh-What?”
I sighed and scrubbed a hand down my face. Encouraging words truly did not suit me. Worse, if this sort of praise continued it would only create bigger problems for her later.
“I’ll tell you the truth.”
I looked her straight in the eye.
“Monsters don’t fall just because someone sings a hymn. They fall because your mana pours out when you sing.”
“Mana?”
“Yes. And the others are right—you don’t sing well. My thro—”
“Thro?”
“Never mind. Even if I sang completely at random I would still sound better than you. You won’t want to admit it, but that is reality.”
“Ah…”
Bella’s head drooped. Her expression was somehow identical to Aren’s pitiful look; a faint guilt rose in me. Still, I could not let her walk a darkened path.
“It’s not fair.”
Moisture had already gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“It sounds perfectly fine to me. Why does everyone keep saying I can’t sing? I believe in myself—why should I have to accept what they say?”
Tears like dawn dew fell one by one onto the grass. I tilted my head and crossed my arms.
Something’s off.
I had not known her long, yet Bella did not seem the type to dig her heels in over something absurd. Of course, overturning a lifelong belief in an instant is never easy. Even so, her conviction was as solid as a mountain; no outsider could shatter it. That kind of faith could only exist if she truly believed she sang well.
“Is that true?”
She lifted her tear-streaked face.
“…What is?”
“That it really sounds fine to you.”
Bella roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded without a word.
“Hmm. Is that so…”
I tapped my forearm, thinking.
Whenever Bella sang, the mana inside her body released naturally. That power had stunned a Vocal Cord Plunderer, toppled monsters, and even woken me from a deep sleep some distance away.
Then is the mana itself the problem?
For example…
What if the enormous mana distorted her voice so that everyone else heard only a warped noise? Then only Bella, who felt the vibration of her own voice directly, would believe she sang beautifully. That would explain everything.
Well, I can just check.
I looked at her.
“If you truly believe that, then I’ll believe it once as well. But if you’re wrong, I will waste no more of my time on you.”
I had no intention of traveling with someone who could not even face reality. My guess might be wrong, yet I saw no reason to invent another method for her sake.
“Inquisitor, do you have a way to check?”
“I do.”
“All right! I’m confident—go ahead!”
Something that barely filled one of my fists looked up at me with absolute certainty.
“I hope my time is not wasted.”
I gave a short laugh and placed my palm against Bella’s throat.
“Huh?”
“Don’t move. From now on I will pour in holy power and suppress the mana trying to escape. All you have to do is sing like this.”
If my theory was correct, her real voice would finally come through.
“Understood.”
When she nodded I spoke in a solemn tone.
“Bella.”
“Yes, Inquisitor.”
I flooded her throat with holy power, sealing the rising mana.
“Go easy. I still have a great deal left to do.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll just warm up.”
Bella steadied her breathing.
“Here I go.”
I nodded.
The moment her lips parted—
Kugugu!!
Mana surged upward like a breached dam. Its crushing pressure transmitted through my holy power. I poured more force in, holding it down.
And then—
Aaa───
A tone that seemed to hold sunlight itself rode the night wind and filled the forest. A pure, crystalline voice I had never once heard before. Until now I had known only screams of despair and the wails of the dying; her song was a shock vast enough to make even my darkness forget itself for an instant.
Kwagwagwagwa!!
The suppressed mana suddenly thrashed as though it would explode. I could have forced more holy power in and held it, but Bella’s body would not have withstood the strain; the condensed mana would have detonated. So I yanked my hand away and hurriedly shielded my hearing with holy power.
“Aaaaaaah!!!!”
Mana erupted from Bella’s mouth like a waterspout. Have you ever crossed from heaven to hell in a single breath? That was exactly how I felt. The only reason I escaped hell was because Bella saw my face twisted into something monstrous and stopped singing.
“A-Are you all right?”
My ears…
My ears…
In the split second I covered them, a demon’s echo had already burrowed inside.
“I’m sorry… So I really am wrong after all…?”
I shook my head once, clearing it.
“No. You were right. You didn’t notice, but for a moment I heard your true song.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. The mana released with your voice was the problem. Your belief was not mistaken.”
Joy and long-held grievance warred across Bella’s face. The way she bit her lip hard suggested she was fighting back tears.
“Thank you, Inquisitor.”
Yet she only gave a shy little smile. I could roughly picture how she had lived until now.
“Then if I learn to control my mana at will, does that mean other people can finally hear my real singing?”
“Exactly. You’re sharper than you look.”
“But how do I control mana? I want to clear up this misunderstanding with the sisters, too.”
“I can help with that.”
“What? I’m grateful, of course, but why would you go that far for me…?”
Suspicion and wariness mixed in her eyes. I rather liked that attitude.
“I am looking for a sub-deacon who can sing the hymns. Without one I cannot freely act as an Inquisitor.”
“So… I just need to become your sub-deacon?”
“Yes. After that, if you learn from me you will be able to control your mana freely.”
I had experienced the volume of her mana firsthand. Raised properly she would become a formidable asset rather than a hindrance.
“Hmm…”
When Bella hesitated I tilted my head.
“What exactly is there to think about?”
“Well… I wouldn’t be able to look after the orphanage as much.”
“You came here wanting to become an Inquisitor in the first place, didn’t you?”
“That’s true, but… after everything that happened today I feel like I took it too lightly.”
This one would not be easy.
I had no choice. I fitted the blade of Joy to my tongue and swung.
“Oh? So you intend to keep treating people to that abominable singing of yours?”
“Th-That’s…”
“The day you finally can’t hold it in and start singing, the sister listening will say, ‘Please be quiet, Sister!’”
“Our sisters would never say that!”
“And the little kid lying next to her will ask, ‘Bella unnie, my herbs…?’”
“Aaaagh!”
Bella clutched her head, but I had no intention of stopping.
“After that keeps happening, the orphanage director will quietly summon you. ‘Miss Bella, your hymn is excessively blasphemous…’”
“I-I get it! I’ll do it! I’ll just do it!”
At last she lowered her tail. I snorted.
“You were going to do it anyway—why the dithering?”
“Urgh… This feels like half blackmail…”
“If you dislike it that much, forget it. I have no desire to drag along someone without the will, either.”
She offered many advantages, which was why I wanted her, but without resolve I would rather decline.
“No. It’s not that I dislike it.”
Bella looked up at me with resolute eyes.
“I actually want to. As long as I can be of help to you, Inquisitor.”
So her desire to walk this path had been entirely her own will after all. She had only fretted over having to leave the people she cherished.
“Then make sure you become useful. You have the talent for it.”
How many humans her age possessed mana like hers? I would wager she ranked among the top ten on the continent. Considering she had never trained her martial prowess, it was absurd.
As for me, I would grow explosively from now on anyway.
“Hehe, thank you. But if I ever become useless, feel free to abandon me!”
“I have no such hobby. Working you until you become useful is another matter.”
Bella’s face filled with laughter.
“Inquisitor.”
“What.”
“I think you’re actually a kind person.”
I tilted my head.
“Me?”
“Yes. Your words and actions are rough, but in the end it’s all so you can help someone, isn’t it? Thanks to that I was able to pull myself together.”
“You’re just mistaking utility for kindness.”
“No, I’m not!”
“Hmm.”
It was the first time I had ever heard such a thing. Not even as empty flattery.
“So please take care of me from now on, Inquisitor.”
Bella bowed. Once again the shell of her pack slid down over the back of her head.
Well, it did me no harm if she thought well of me.
“Fine, Turtle.”
She lifted her head and answered with a sour look.
“…It’s Bella, not Turtle.”
“The little details don’t matter. We’ll rest at the cathedral tonight and leave for Divinar Parish tomorrow.”
I turned toward the cathedral. Bella hurried after me.
“What? Why there?”
“To investigate.”
Roughly one month from now the Divinar Parish office would burn to the ground at someone’s hands. I knew this because every time I met Ludian in my previous life he kept asking whether I was the culprit. The timing had overlapped with the fall of my family and my own disappearance, so of course he had suspected me.
Even if only to clear that injustice, I need to find out who it was.
Of course I had no intention of camping out there for an entire month. Ludian had said there was an attack in Divinar territory before the parish office incident; the two were probably connected. Keep an eye on that attack and the arsonist would reveal himself.
My name was cleared the moment I heard that story. By then I had already been kidnapped—long before the parish office burned.
Still, being suspected for so long had irked me, so after knocking Ludian out I once tossed him into some ruins. Somehow he crawled out alive and came chasing me again.
Damn stalker bastard…
While I was frowning, Bella spoke up.
“Really? My orphanage is there, too—how convenient.”
“Your orphanage?”
“Yes.”
The place that had been attacked back then was an orphanage. There could not have been many orphanages in the territory, so it might well have been Bella’s. Still, there was no need to plant unnecessary worry in her, so I answered lightly.
“What a coincidence.”
“I know, right?”
Bella nodded and then asked,
“But Inquisitor, don’t you need to contact your family? They’d be happy to hear you’ve become an Inquisitor.”
My family, happy that I had become an Inquisitor?
I thought it over carefully, then tilted my head.
“Probably not.”
Horror, maybe.
Two nights later.
“I apologize for the late hour, Baron Luminara. I am Cardinal Barun.”
Cardinal Barun had come in person to the Luminara territory.
This is…
Even at a glance the situation was far from ordinary. Benedict Luminara had no choice but to swallow dryly.