The End of Childhood (5)
"Can someone explain what's going on?"
I had casually thought it would be nice to absorb the holy power contained within the Divine Stone, and it actually got absorbed. The Divine Stone had turned into a plain old 'stone.' I asked Venica and the people from Entat Parish about the situation. After all, they probably knew more about Divine Stones than I did.
But everyone was just frozen with dumbfounded expressions, offering no answers.
"D-did you just absorb the holy power inside the Divine Stone?"
Venica, the first to snap out of it, spoke up—but it was a question rather than an answer.
"As you can see?"
"This... this is impossible. Absorbing the holy power stored in a Divine Stone..."
"But I did it, didn't I?"
Since no one could give a proper explanation, it seemed like this was an unprecedented event... But were there any side effects? Was it really safely absorbed?
I briefly examined my body and found no issues. Not only was there no adverse reaction, but the total amount of holy power had definitely increased.
Let me say it again: my body rejects other people's holy power. More precisely, it's impossible for others to directly influence my body with holy spells. Things like physical enhancement or healing, for example.
Yet the holy power from the Divine Stone was absorbed without any problem... Just what is the identity of this body I reincarnated into? Is it the hidden power of the Divine Stone? You know how there are things like that—where it transfers its power to a suitable person who meets certain conditions...
"Huh? Protected? What?"
"Pardon?"
"Didn't someone just say something about protecting? It was a man's voice... Not Grandpa... Was it Jacob?"
"Lady Levia? You said I protected...? I didn't say anything."
"No, someone definitely spoke. They said something about protecting and mentioned Ludvia..."
"Lud...via? Not Levia?"
The man's voice rang out again. Listening more carefully, the difference was clear. It wasn't Jacob's voice. Then where was it coming from?
"Who is whose what...?"
Following the man's voice came a woman's. They seemed to be talking to each other... Or was I really hearing this?
"Levia, are you all right?"
"Lady Levia. Your complexion..."
Grandpa and Cheska must have sensed something strange in my behavior, because they started worrying.
Right. So only I can hear it again. It was echoing inside my head, not through my ears. Was the Clown pulling something nearby? No, if it were him, it would have come with that unpleasant feeling. This wasn't unpleasant... It felt somehow comforting... And who were these two, the man and woman?
I had to remember... Remember? Yes, this was... a memory. It seemed to be a fragment of my memories from before I regained my past-life recollections.
"Lady Levia? Lady Levia! Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere? Lady Levia!"
Now Cheska had started shaking my body. ...Huh? Was that really Cheska? My vision was blurring. Come to think of it, ever since the voices started, my head had felt fuzzy... Oh. I was dizzy too.
....Haha. Of course. There was no way something like this would come without consequences. Mom always told me not to pick up and eat random things off the street. I just never thought it would be on a dimensional scale.
I felt my consciousness gradually drifting away.
With the man's voice that had been echoing in my head as the last thing I heard... I lost consciousness.
Yeah, I don't know who you are, but I hope we meet again.
* * *
"My report ends here."
In the quiet afternoon, a man had finished his report to a woman seated at a tea table and chair arranged on the balcony, savoring her tea.
"So Levia's seal has been released. And Benedict didn't even report this fact to me, the Pope."
"Isn't that one of his bad habits? This is the first I've heard that a seal was placed on that child."
The man asked the Pope in return, as if curious what the seal meant.
"Levia Leviathan. That child's body held a vast amount of holy power in a sealed state. It has now been released."
"Forgive my presumption, but it seems Your Holiness did not wish for Levia's seal to be broken."
Dominic gave a bitter smile. It was thanks to Levia being able to use holy power that his daughter had been saved. Yet Benedict and the Pope had apparently hoped the child wouldn't be able to use it.
"Because it's beginning."
"What do you mean by beginning?"
"That child's harsh fate is about to start."
At the Pope's words, Dominic could only nod in agreement. Levia had become entangled with the Chaos Sect. The Chaos Sect would never leave alone someone like Levia, who could detect and annihilate the Seed of Sin. Whether she liked it or not, they would inevitably clash again someday.
However, the harsh fate the Pope spoke of carried a broader meaning.
"The path of a Saintess is one of cruel fate. To protect more people, she will witness many deaths and sometimes have to send off those dear to her."
"Is Your Holiness certain that Levia will become the Saintess?"
The Pope nodded and asked Dominic a question in return.
"Dominic, you saw Levia fight with your own eyes."
"It went beyond awe—it felt like witnessing a miracle. Not only did she use holy spells without prayer, but she compressed and overlapped her holy power multiple times."
It was a method of handling holy power never seen or heard of before. Using holy spells without prayer was possible to a limited extent if certain conditions were met. Though it was a loophole and debatable whether it could truly be called a holy spell, the former Archbishop Carlo—who had been known for his Divine Fist—was one such example.
But compressing and overlapping holy power was a combat technique only Levia could perform.
"As expected... I see."
"Did Your Holiness already know?"
"Benedict must know as well. That child will only grow stronger and hold even more holy power from now on."
Dominic didn't bother arguing with the statement that Levia would come to hold more holy power. It was common knowledge among clergy that one could only hold more holy power with divine permission, but Levia was a child who shattered common sense, so she would surely find some extraordinary way to contain even more.
'That child would be more than capable of it.'
"And only with that child can we find it."
"Find what?"
"Not an object. A person. Levia will fulfill Eliac's long-cherished wish—a desire that boasts an immeasurably long history."
There was only one long-cherished wish of Eliac that Dominic knew of.
"By long-cherished wish... do you mean finding the first Saintess?"
"Yes. That child is the only clue we have."
* * *
It was a pure white space I'd never seen before. Even though it was clearly a space I'd never laid eyes on, I knew exactly where I was. I'd been here once before.
Deep within my consciousness. The place where my holy power had been sealed.
What was different from before was that the space had turned pure white, and instead of the orb that had sealed the holy power, a young child who looked exactly like me was there to greet me.
Back then, when I'd asked if gaining power in a moment of crisis was some kind of awakening, the child had answered that I already knew. What a load of bull.
As expected, the child read my inner thoughts and answered.
"It is bull. You said it wasn't an awakening but a seal."
The child who looked exactly like me came right up to my face and spoke again.
Now that I looked closely, there was a difference between us. I had odd eyes—one emerald, one ruby—but the child before me had green eyes on both sides.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right about everything. So why am I here?"
"Then what about those memories?"
"Why don't you know?"
"Idiot."
"You know that's like spitting while lying down, right?"
What was this feeling of losing an argument in a childish war of words? Was this what fighting yourself felt like?
"..."
Anyway, how did I get out of here? Last time, the seal breaking had automatically sent me out.
Wait, if this was another me, why was she acting so childish? My mind was that of an adult.
"When did I—"
"So what do you want to do?"
She told me not to leave right after arriving, so it seemed like she wanted to do something with me.
"Then why did you call me a jerk for trying to leave?"
"..."
Was my personality always this bad?
Hmm. I had nothing to say to that. Even though she was another me, she had been sealed away. Feeling a sudden pang of sympathy, I reached out and stroked her head.
"You've been through a lot."
Look at her getting all embarrassed. Seeing someone with the same peerlessly beautiful face as me blush was incredibly cute. Was this what narcissism felt like?
"Okay, okay, I'll stop."
What? Was this really me? Did I have this cute side to me? I needed to be careful. If anyone saw this, men and women alike would definitely come running.
After letting me stroke her head for a while, my other self suddenly spoke up.
"Huh? Readjustment?"
It's my body. Does it make sense that I don't need to know about it?
Why was she suddenly being so nice? Did she like having her head stroked?
"What? You just said you didn't know."
Nice act canceled. This little—
"Then tell me what this readjustment is."
"Bad? What could possibly be bad?"
N-no way...!
Gasp!! I had to get back right now! I needed to leave!
The moment I thought I had to leave—my eyes snapped open.
What I saw the instant I opened my eyes was a familiar ceiling and a familiar bed. It was my bedroom in Entat Parish.
Ten years? Are you kidding me? I'd been lying here for ten years! I'd have more than muscle loss—I'd have divine muscle loss. I needed to call someone. I had to find out what happened during those ten years! Cheska, Cheska was my escort knight, so if I called her, wouldn't she come right away? But after ten years, was she still my escort knight?
"Cheska!!! Is Cheska there?!"
"Lady Levia?! You're finally awake!"
She came running the moment I called. So she was still my escort knight. Thank goodness.
"You were unconscious for two weeks. I was so worried!"
"Sorry. I was in my consciousness talking with my other self... Huh?"
Wait, what?
"Two weeks...? Not ten years?"
"Pardon? Ten years? Did you have a nightmare or something...?"
"..."
I'd been tricked. By my other self.
For some reason, I felt like I could hear a voice from deep within my consciousness.
The next time we meet, I'm definitely giving her a knuckle on the head.