Heart (3)

"I can't keep screaming and running away forever. I need to be able to pull my own weight too."

Ain said it looking at his companions, and the resolve shining in his eyes made Er speak up.

"Ain, you're already more than pulling your weight—"

"No. Healing and buffs aren't enough. What happens if I get separated on a commission and I'm left on my own?"

And that wasn't even the whole of it. If someone with ill intent came after him, what could he actually do?

"I'd just die. Healing, support — none of it matters if I can't even use it on myself."

"Don't worry, Ain! That's why I watch over you day and night!"

"...That's not watching over me. That's called stalking."

Ain let Jina's words slide right off him and pressed on.

"So let's figure out what I can actually do. Back at the Church, I never had the time for this."

"You never had the time? Why not?"

Er had heard he'd traveled all over following his master, Veronica. It seemed strange that he wouldn't have had a chance to properly understand his own abilities, so she asked.

"Master told me not to use my powers. Not that I listened, of course."

"...She told you not to use them?"

"Yeah. When she first found out about my Divine Power, she told me never to use it. Not ever."

Of course, Ain had never been the type to just obey. He'd gone around showing off his abilities here and there, and word had eventually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reached the high priests of the Prayer Assembly at the top of the Church.

"Those old geezers kept sending people to watch me. Probably wanted to study my powers..."

"Master smashed them to pieces and threw them out every single time. If she hadn't, those old men's lackeys would still be tailing Ain around."

Jina, who knew as much about the temple as Ain did, picked up the thread.

"That's why I know you never got to properly use your Divine Power or anything else. And... I was right there watching when you tried to get that curse off."

"What did he do?"

"He figured if he put himself near death, some new power would awaken, so he did a bunch of crazy stuff."

A distant look came over Jina's eyes as she recalled the Ain of their childhood.

"Jumping off cliffs without a rope. Diving with iron weights strapped all over his body. Smearing himself in honey and getting chased by killer bees..."

"...Just so we're clear, I did not come up with those insane methods. That lunatic of a master made me do all of that."

"But Ain, you looked like you were having fun."

"Is something wrong with your head?"

Unlike Ain, Jina's expression was serious.

"But none of it worked in the end, did it? The curse didn't change at all."

"Even the shamans clicked their tongues and said it was a curse they couldn't break. So what are you going to do about it now?"

"I can't let this thing keep jerking me around forever. Even if I can't attack, there has to be something I can do."

"Something you can do...?"

As he said it, Ain pulled out a pouch. On the way home earlier, he had stopped by a magic tool shop and grabbed everything that looked remotely useful. He laid the items out as he spoke.

"When you get down to it, I just can't attack directly, right?"

"...Huh?"

"Status effects are a support's bread and butter."

Jina's mouth snapped shut as she took in the assortment of tools and equipment packed inside the pouch. Er, looking at the same collection, spoke up.

"...Planning on changing class to Trapper?"

"If that's what it takes."

Ain pulled a length of rope from the pouch.

"All right. Let's get started."

Around that same time, at the Grand Temple in the holy capital of Arcadia.

"VERONICAAAAA!!!!!"

An old man's enraged voice thundered through the halls.

"You call this an incident report? THIS?!!"

"Pipe down, Benere."

The speaker was a woman with silver hair swept neatly up and pale violet eyes. She sat perched on the windowsill, tossing bits of bread crust to the birds outside.

"A man your age getting this worked up is how you kick ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bucket."

"You little— is that supposed to be a joke...!!"

The white-haired old man thrust a thoroughly crumpled sheet of paper at her. His name was Benere, commander of every Holy Knight in the Church — the Grand Holy Knight Commander. A great priest who had once cut down dozens of demons and held the line against them. And yet even a man like him routinely abandoned all dignity and bellowed at the top of his lungs in front of his old friend, whose beauty had remained unchanged for decades.

"'Black mage discovered. Duplicate body eliminated.' You think this is a complete report?!!"

"What else was I supposed to write? There wasn't anything more to put down."

"What the bastard was trying to do! Whether there was anything strange about his behavior! Anything!!"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Y-y-you damned elf...!"

Benere, raging at his utterly irresponsible friend, broke into a violent coughing fit. Veronica looked at him with a hint of pity.

"I keep telling you to be careful. Push that old body of yours too hard and you'll be in real trouble."

"And whose fault do you think this is?!! Do you honestly believe those damned priests in the Prayer Assembly will be satisfied with this report?!"

"Since when have I ever given a damn what those people think?"

"You have! You've given a damn plenty! Ever since you took on those disciples of yours!"

Veronica fell silent at that. Watching her, Benere let out a long, heavy sigh.

"What happened to that crazy woman I used to know? All that's left is this soft-hearted fool."

"I suppose I've gotten old too."

"Don't give me that. You've only gotten stronger..."

Unlike her, he had grown old and frail. The bitterness of that fact settled over him. He let his anger drain away and spoke in a quieter voice.

"Why did you write a report like this?"

"I told you. There was nothing to write."

"Don't give me that nonsense. This has something to do with that disciple of yours, doesn't it?"

"No."

"So it does."

Benere read her in an instant and sighed again.

"It'd be better to just bring the boy back to the temple. I don't understand why you keep being so stubborn about it..."

"There's no need to keep him under me anymore."

"...What?"

Benere's eyes went wide. He didn't understand what she meant. The disciple they were discussing possessed an ability no one else could replace. It already sat poorly with him that the boy was wandering around outside the temple — and on top of that, running around playing mercenary as an adventurer.

"I'll grant you the Prayer Assembly is a pain, but having him close by would be better for him — and for us."

"Benere. There's nothing in this for us."

At some point, Veronica's face had gone still as she looked at her old friend. Her mysterious violet eyes glowed faintly as she spoke to the man who, unlike her, had grown old.

"My role is to protect him until he can stand on his own. To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be a windbreak, so a fragile candle doesn't go out."

"...Until when?"

That child was a candle. A candle that would go out helplessly in a single gust of wind. And so she had become the windbreak. She had waded into the temple politics she so despised, and even buried her own wild nature.

"...Why go that far?"

Benere asked his longtime friend.

"He's just one person, when it comes down to it. No matter how incredible his abilities are — is that really something you should sacrifice yourself for?"

"...You wouldn't understand, Benere."

Veronica turned her head and gazed at the sun beyond the window.

"God is always watching over us."

"...Veronica. This isn't about God, is it?"

"I saw it. The light that child carries... and the path laid out before him."

The sun always shines from its place, illuminating everything. In the sun's warmth, which no darkness can invade, all things grow. Veronica had seen that truth. On a day long past. In a small child who barely came up to her hip.

And so.

"Veronica!"

"When the time comes, Benere, I think you'll understand too. So..."

Veronica simply grinned.

"Just kill me! I should die! Something like me deserves to die!"

"S-stop him! Stop Ain!!"

Jina shrieked in horror as Ain started wrapping the rope he'd brought around his own neck. After the commotion died down, she yanked the rope out of his hands and let out a massive sigh.

"Ain, don't get so down. All that happened is the whip, the spike trap, the poison needles, the paralytic toxin, the wire trap, the boomerang, the sling, the snare, the poison fog, and thirteen other methods didn't work. That's all."

"...Wouldn't it just be better to die? I mean, if I die and come back, the curse might get wiped, right?"

Ain said it with hollow eyes. Hours of effort had come to nothing. There wasn't a single thing he could properly use.

"Nothing I do deals any valid damage. Anything that passes through my hands just... gets the entire concept of 'attack' denied. At this rate..."

"...Is that really true?"

The one who questioned him was Er, who had served as the test subject for his various traps, large and small. Despite having been thoroughly tangled up in Ain's so-called traps alongside Jina, she didn't have so much as a scratch on her.

"There was no damage, but the physical force was still there."

"...What?"

"The wire trap, for instance — it didn't deal any damage, but it still bound me and tripped me up. If it had worked as originally intended, it should have cut my skin."

The wire his hands had touched possessed no lethality whatsoever — but its existence itself hadn't been negated.

"...Instead of focusing so much on offense, let's think about this differently."

"Differently?"

"Something like a binding swamp potion, for instance."

As she said it, Er pulled a glass bottle from deep in her pouch.

"If the goal isn't to inflict wounds in the first place, you should be able to use it just fine, shouldn't you?"

"...So don't try to deal damage. Focus on landing crowd control?"

"I don't know what 'crowd control' is, but just restricting the enemy's movement would make things a lot easier for the rest of us."

That alone would improve the whole party's mobility and let them concentrate their firepower, so Er wasn't wrong.

"I think that should work. You drag me and Jina around all the time, don't you? You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even pick us up."

"Well... yeah?"

"Then let's confirm it."

"How? On you two again? Look, I asked for help, but I do have a little bit of a conscience about casually spraying you with poison and shoving you into traps..."

"I thought you might feel that way. Even if you'd heal us if we got hurt, there's no need to get hurt in the first place. So..."

Er swept the tools scattered across the table into her pouch as she spoke.

"Let's try it in the field. Shall we go hunt some goblins?"