I've Come to Save You

As if that's anything new.

The battle ended before the sun had fully set.

They were skilled mercenaries, no question, but they were no match for me once I had reached the stage of Wrath. Only their leader managed to cross blades with me for any length of time—and even he did not last long before he crumpled.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes…."

I sheathed my sword and approached. Sena gave a careful little nod.

"But who were they…? Pretending to come rescue me like that…."

"People who wanted you dead, most likely."

They had probably planned to separate me from Sena first, then eliminate her. For men who did not know the true measure of my strength, that would have been the surest and safest approach.

Afterward they would either kill me or pin the Saintess's murder on me.

Plenty of people had already seen me carry Sena off, so framing me would have been almost too easy.

"W-who would do something like that…."

I looked straight at her.

"You really don't know?"

"Pardon?"

"Bishop Ritvel."

Sena's pupils blew wide.

"You already know it yourself. There's no one else who would pull a stunt like this."

She hid her expression behind her long hair and answered in a thin voice.

"B-Bishop Ritvel raised me long before I ever became a Saintess. Even though I'm only his adoptive daughter, he always treated me like his real child."

"I'm sure he did. A mercenary who clawed his way up to bishop needed to clean up his reputation. An orphan girl was the perfect choice for that."

Ritvel was one of those rare cases—a man who had lived as a sellsword and then become a priest. Once a mercenary who chased coin sat in a bishop's chair, the stares he received were never kind.

Sena clenched her skirt tightly and forced herself to glare at me.

"Why… why would you say something like that…! He's been nothing but kind to me…!"

"The affection he showed you might have been genuine. I can't claim to know that far."

I dropped to one knee so our eyes were level.

"But greed makes people kill even their own children. That's just how humans are."

"But he has no reason to kill me…!"

On the surface she was right. Bishop Ritvel had ridden high on the back of the Saint of Prophecy.

"You know far too much about him. About every dirty thing he did using your power."

"……."

"If you ever took those secrets to the Holy See, he wouldn't stay a bishop. He'd fall straight into the ranks of common criminals."

In my previous life, Bishop Ritvel had been dragged before the Holy See on a string of charges not long after the Saint of Prophecy died. The only reason I had never suspected him of being the one who ordered her death was because the Saint of Truth had already verified the truth of the matter.

So Sena really did take her own life.

But why? A girl strong enough to bear even crushing responsibility—why had she chosen that future?

"I'm guessing you've already seen the future where he kills you."

"……!"

A great ripple spread through Sena's eyes. She was still clumsy at hiding things.

"That's why you ran, isn't it? So he wouldn't be caught by the Holy Empire after murdering you. That's why you said the best future was the one where you simply vanished—or took your own life."

I remembered the words she had spoken only a short while ago.

— Disappearing like this is the best future. Or else I have to end my own life….

In the previous life she had probably been caught by the knights and dragged home. Realizing she was out of time and that Ritvel would kill her, she had taken up a dagger herself with tears in her eyes. The agony of death that even saints feared—she had endured every second of it to protect the adoptive father who raised her.

And Bishop Ritvel never even noticed. He still tried to have her killed.

Last time she had moved first, before he could even issue the order, so he had slipped past the Saint of Truth's notice. This time, though, my appearance and our flight had looked like the perfect opening, and he had struck at once. This time he would not escape the charge.

"Is he that precious to you? Precious enough that you'd rather die by your own hand than let him fall?"

Sena's eyes filled with tears. She nodded without a word.

"Even if he's a criminal?"

"Yes…."

She scrubbed roughly at her tears and forced the words out.

"Once a month I used my Stigma to tell the Bishop his future. He used that knowledge to prepare…."

The Saint of Prophecy could see her own fate, but she could also glimpse the futures of others.

"At first I didn't really understand how he changed those futures. But as time passed I realized. He simply erased the cause itself…."

In other words, he killed whoever was going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠become the problem. I had learned that much in my previous life as well.

"So a few months ago I told him we should stop doing bad things. But he said it wasn't bad at all—he was only changing an unhappy future."

"……."

"I still hated it. I couldn't watch innocent people die because of a future I had seen…."

Now I finally understood why Ritvel had decided to kill her. A Saintess who no longer looked into the future was nothing more than a walking liability who knew all his secrets.

"But he kept asking, so in the end…."

"You used the Stigma."

"Yes…."

"And that was when you saw the future where Bishop Ritvel kills you?"

Sena bit her lip hard, holding back a sob, then slowly nodded.

"Inquisitor… are you going to catch the Bishop?"

"Of course. I'm an Inquisitor."

"Can't you just pretend you didn't see? I'll do anything."

She looked up at me with desperate eyes.

I answered without hesitation.

"Impossible."

"Ah…."

"Even if I look the other way, his crimes will surface someday."

In the previous life her sacrifice had been completely meaningless. The darkness surrounding that man was far too vast for a small girl's body to cover.

"I-is there really no other way?"

"You can change the future, but you cannot erase the sins of the past. The only way you can still help him is this."

"What is it…?"

I met her hopeful gaze and spoke quietly.

"Before he dies by my hand, he must confess every crime to the Holy See."

"……."

"The moment that man meets me, he dies. If you don't believe me, check my future yourself."

I held out my hand.

Sena squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head hard. She already knew without looking. I was exactly the kind of bastard who would do it.

Hmm.

At that moment the "Tailwind" I had left drifting picked up a presence. The real search party coming to reclaim Sena, no doubt.

I looked at the girl still hesitating.

"Can't decide?"

"No…. I just want to run away."

"Then we'll run together. Sometimes that's the right choice too."

I scooped her up with one arm.

"But…."

With my free hand I brushed the communication magic tool tucked inside my coat.

"Whether you want it or not, you'll face him again someday."

I kicked off the ground and put distance between us and the approaching presence.

Three days later, Bishop Ritvel's office.

A middle-aged man with a long scar over one eye spoke.

"Apparently the Holy See cannot spare any Holy Knights. Every last one of them is already out on assignment."

The knight answered.

"Then it will take even longer to find the Saintess…. That man was never an ordinary Inquisitor."

The knight bowed deeply.

"I am sorry, Your Excellency. Because I lost the Saintess, this entire situation…."

"It's all right. Sena fled while using her Stigma, and an uninvited guest appeared on top of that."

"Even so…."

"Reprimands can wait. For now we focus on finding Sena."

"Yes…."

Ritvel stroked his chin, deep in thought.

I cannot let this chance slip. My mercenaries have to find her before the knights do.

He had already been planning Sena's death. She had helped him cement his seat as bishop, yet she knew far too much about him.

She won't even use her Stigma for me anymore. She's useless now.

So the kidnapping was a golden opportunity—kill Sena and pin every scrap of blame on the Inquisitor.

I just didn't expect those men to go down so easily.

The mercenaries who had faced the Inquisitor were not the sort who usually lost. Yet the Inquisitor had crushed them without effort and had been shaking off every pursuit while dragging a young girl along with him.

Even if he used the Stigma of Prophecy, he's sharper than any ordinary Inquisitor. I can't even be certain of victory if I face him myself.

Fortunately his goal was not the Inquisitor—it was Sena.

One clean chance will be enough.

He had already ordered the mercenaries not to approach if they found the Inquisitor, but to report to him at once. After that he would handle the rest personally.

The only real problem is that I still don't understand why the Inquisitor kidnapped her in the first place.

The man couldn't know about Ritvel's crimes. And he didn't seem to need the Stigma of Prophecy either.

Ritvel asked,

"Has that deacon said anything useful?"

"No…. He seems surprisingly calm."

The Inquisitor's deacon was currently locked in the underground cells. They had asked why the Saintess had been taken. The answers that came back were these:

— I don't know. I'd like to ask the Inquisitor myself.

— Then any places he might run to?

— No idea. If I knew, I'd already be chasing him.

— ….

— And if you're thinking of catching the Inquisitor, you'd better give up. Unless the Holy Knights comb the whole country like they're hunting fleas, you won't find him.

The deacon had continued while spooning up soup.

— He'll come back on his own once the job's finished. That's just the kind of person he is.

— Hmm….

— By the way, is there any more of this soup? It's good.

— ….

Kidnapping a Saintess was a capital matter, yet even the deacon treated it like nothing. The Inquisitor's true purpose remained a complete mystery.

Tap-tap—

A hawk rapped at the window. A letter from the Holy See.

Ritvel checked its contents.

Even without sending Holy Knights, the Holy See had clearly been tracking the Inquisitor. Of course— the Saintess was vital to the Holy Empire as well.

"A letter from the Holy See?"

At the knight's question, Ritvel slipped the letter into his robe.

"Yes. They say the moment a Holy Knight returns from duty, he will be dispatched at once."

"That's a relief. Judging by the bodies found from that battle, there seem to be others targeting the Saintess besides the Inquisitor."

"Indeed."

Ritvel took a spear down from the wall.

"In any case, I cannot simply sit still either. I will go look for Sena myself."

"Yes. If we discover anything on our end, we will contact you immediately."

"I would appreciate it."

Of course, by then she would already be a corpse.

Ritvel hid a smile and stepped outside.

A man's voice flowed from the communication magic tool. Cardinal Barun.

"Good."

That would have been nostalgic in its own way. Ludian might even have been one of them.

"I planned for exactly that."

"And you did grant it, didn't you?"

I had asked Cardinal Barun to stall the Holy See's response for a while—and to keep Ritvel from learning of it.

"Lucky for me."

"Don't worry. The matter will be settled by today at the latest."

Barun was silent for a moment, then spoke again.

Of course I had explained the full situation to Barun. There was no reason to hide anything so long as Ritvel remained in the dark.

I watched Sena washing her face in the stream and answered.

"I'm an Inquisitor. There are things that still need doing afterward."

"Listening to her sniffle every night is its own kind of torture."

Her eyes were swollen every morning because of it.

"I only want her to realize it herself—that she can't keep running forever."

"Anyway, I'll contact you again."

"Thank you. I'll repay the favor with results."

I tucked the crystal sphere back into my coat and held out a fish I had roasted over the campfire.

"Eat."

"Thank you…."

Sena took small bites, then suddenly spoke.

"It hurts. Like a thorn is stuck in my throat."

"Maybe there really is one."

"Is there…?"

She rubbed her throat, tilted her head, then went back to chewing before opening her mouth again.

"Would dying make it easier?"

"Not easier, exactly. More like you wouldn't feel anything at all."

"That might be fine too…."

"It wouldn't just erase the pain. Every memory that kept you alive would disappear as well."

"Mmm, I don't like that part…."

Sena's face fell. Once she had finished and only the bones remained on the stick, I took it from her.

"As long as I'm beside you, you don't get to die on a whim. Even if you want to die, you have to keep living."

She puffed out her lower lip.

"You're mean."

"As if that's anything new."

I snorted lightly and tossed the stick into the fire. Sena stared up at me for a long moment, then gave a weak little laugh.

She rubbed her eyes and asked,

"Then what should I do?"

"Figure it out yourself. I'll handle things my own way."

"Um…."

"Besides, you won't be able to run any farther after this."

I drew my sword and turned.

In the distance a spear-like sharpened branch, wrapped in blue mana, came hurtling toward us.

An attack I could easily dodge. But if I did, the spear would punch straight through Sena's skull behind me.

Coincidence?

Probably not.

I tightened my grip. Flames flickered along the blade. In that state I swung hard across the spear's trajectory.

KWA-AANG!

Sparks flared in midair for an instant, then the mana shattered and the spear vanished without a trace. A normal spear would have been deflected; this one had been nothing more than a wooden branch.

I fixed my gaze on one point in the trees and spoke.

"Come out."

"……."

"Or turn around and leave."

A moment later a man carrying a spear stepped slowly out of the forest. A long scar ran across ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one eye.

Sena's eyes flew wide.

"B-Bishop Ritvel!"

Ritvel looked at her and said quietly,

"I've come to save you, Sena."

He smiled gently, the picture of a warm and steadfast father.

"You don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to worry anymore. I will—"

The instant I saw his face my body moved on pure instinct. I slammed a foot into the ground and shot forward. In a heartbeat I was right in front of him and brought my sword down without a word.

Ritvel did not panic. He laid his spear across the path of my blade and reacted with surprising speed.

The moment our weapons were about to clash—

Thuk—

I released the sword and drove straight into his arms. His unguarded midsection filled my vision. I clenched my fist tight.

I twisted my torso using the power of my hips; the fist that had been waiting behind my shoulder shot forward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into his ribs.

An attack he had no way of blocking.

KWA-AANG!

"Ghk—!"

A groan reached my ears, and then his body was already flying through the air. He flailed for balance, finally drove the spear into the ground, and barely managed to kill the momentum.

Clutching his ribs, he glared at me.

"You bastard…."

I snuffed the flames still wreathing my fist and gave a cold snort.

"Coming to save her, my ass…."

He had come here to die by my hand.