Chapter 53

I walked past the hospital reception and made my way toward the ward.

The path that had been so breezy before had been repaired, barely maintaining the form of a hallway. Moving through that unsightly space, I entered the room where Diablo Sith was waiting.

There, I found not just Dia, but a row of unfamiliar faces.

“Dia, do you have guests?”

I called out to Dia, who was sitting on the bed. Then, I turned my eyes toward the three strangers standing in the room.

The three visitors were dressed like priests. Upon using ‘Observation,’ their class was indeed listed as Priest, so there was no mistake. They wore clean, light-colored clothing with patterned stole-like cloths draped down their fronts. Their statuses were only slightly stronger than those of an average person.

“Christ…!? H-hold on a second.”

“Right. Got it.”

I answered calmly and stepped back out into the hallway. My anger still hadn’t vanished, but thanks to that skill ‘???’ earlier, I was grateful that I didn’t have to act flustered.

After killing some time in the hallway, the three priests emerged, bowed to me, and departed. Once I confirmed they were gone, I went back into the room.

“Hey, Dia.”

“Christ… it’s rare for you to visit this early in the morning.”

Dia wore a troubled expression. He probably hadn’t wanted me to see that scene. It seemed Dia had his own complicated circumstances. Given that he was an acquaintance of Lastiara, I had vaguely suspected as much.

Besides, Dia possessed more talent than even Lastiara. It would be stranger if there wasn’t something going on. Having reached that conclusion within myself, I started the conversation.

“Were those priests from Huzya?”

“Ugh… they’re not from Huzya, but I guess it’s something similar.”

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“…No, I’ll tell you. Those guys are priests from my home country. …They’ve been chasing me.”

Dia didn’t try to hide it. He likely felt he couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. Whether that was because I knew he was an acquaintance of Lastiara, or because the Holy Birth Festival was close… I couldn’t guess the reason.

“Chasing you?”

“Sorry for keeping it from you until now. I’m a person of importance in a certain country—a fugitive.”

Dia honestly told me about his background. A person of importance… As I thought, he must be someone with a very special set of circumstances. Otherwise, talent that surpassed a finished artificial product like Lastiara couldn’t be explained.

Dia might have intended to reveal a shocking truth, but for me, I had finally heard a reason that made sense. Seeing Dia speak with such an apologetic face, I answered him gently.

“…I see. But don’t worry about it. No matter what happens, Dia is Dia.”

“Christ…!!”

Dia stared at me, looking deeply moved. He must have been prepared for some kind of condemnation.

However, I had bigger things on my mind. My cold, calculating thoughts—fueled by my underlying rage—immediately moved the topic forward.

“So, Dia, do you have to return to your country right away?”

“No, normally I would, but not immediately. I’ve been made to attend tomorrow’s Holy Birth Festival ritual. I’ve been tasked as a representative for a certain religious faction.”

My heart rate spiked slightly upon learning Dia held a much higher social position than I had imagined. When we first met, he had been in a tattered state, looking like he was about to starve to death, so it couldn’t be helped. I was reminded once again of the importance of first impressions.

I suppressed the urge to ask for details and kept the conversation strictly practical.

“Will you go back after attending? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, of course I’m not going back. I’ve already decided to make my fortune here. Besides, I won’t borrow your hands to persuade those guys. I don’t want to cause you trouble. For now, I’m planning to handle it on my own.”

Dia clearly stated his will. He was worlds apart from a certain someone. I thought that if both she and I had been this honest with our feelings and this decisive, things would have been so much easier.

“Got it. But I want to help however I can. You can count on me if anything happens.”

“Yeah, thanks, Christ.”

The discussion of Dia’s likely problems ended in a matter of seconds. Of course, I didn’t think this was everything Dia was dealing with. However, for now, the issues within my reach were settled. I immediately got to the main point.

“Look, I’m sorry to bother you when you’re busy… but there’s something I need to ask.”

“Something you want to ask?”

Unlike me or Lastiara, Dia wasn’t driven mad by outside influences, nor was he trapped by intense personal feelings like Maria. Plus, there was the bitter reality that Dia was about the only one in this other world I could actually trust.

—I would ask for the opinion of the trustworthy Dia.

That was the purpose of this visit. To that end, I began explaining the relationship between Lastiara and the Holy Birth Festival. Dia listened intently with a solemn expression.

“I see.”

Having finished the general overview, Dia weighed the information he had been given. He wasn’t entirely ignorant of the Huzya Holy Birth Festival, so he accepted the story quite easily. Then, he voiced his thoughts.

“I don’t think it’s just education. I’m sure some kind of mental magic has been cast on her. Something layered on top of itself since she was a child. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be that stubborn.”

Dia pronounced his diagnosis of Lastiara’s poor state. Being well-versed in Holy Magic, it seemed he had a specific spell in mind.

However, I had checked Lastiara’s Status before. As far as I could tell, there were no active magic effects listed as abnormalities. If I had to suspect anything, it was the presence of skills like ‘Base Body’ or ‘Eye of the Pseudo-God.’

“Assuming she is under mental magic, could you dispel it, Dia?”

“No, I don’t think so. If it were a simple spell, I would have dispelled it the moment I met her. It’s likely a magical formula that has saturated her very flesh and blood. The higher-ups in Huzya wouldn’t hesitate to do something like that.”

Dia spoke with a certainty that suggested he had seen such things before.

“Then… I guess we have to give up on dispelling it.”

“However, I think they’ll perform a ‘Purification’ right before the ritual to descend Saint Tiara. I doubt they’d hand over a body to a legendary figure of the past while it’s still under the influence of mental magic that devalues its own life.”

“Before the ritual, huh…”

In that case, the ideal scenario would be to take Lastiara away right after the spell is broken. If that wasn’t possible, I’d have to find a way to get someone who knows the dispelling method to cooperate.

“So, Christ, what do you want to do? I’ll help you. My strength is coming back, too.”

Having finished listening, Dia asked for my desire. He didn’t hesitate to offer his cooperation. Even though he was going through so much himself, he was willing to go all out for a friend. As always, Dia was a good kid.

Unfortunately, the current me didn’t have a confident answer. Or rather, my answer had been stolen by the skill ‘???’.

“…Dia. Can I ask you something strange?”

“U-uh, yeah.”

“If it were you—no, what would a ‘normal’ person do? Is this the part where one goes to save her?”

I asked without dressing it up. I could no longer trust my own judgment. Every decision felt like a result of being manipulated by the skill ‘???’.

“Huh? If it were me…?”

“Yeah. Even if you have other obligations that take priority over everything else… should I still go save Lastiara?”

Dia looked at me as if I were some strange creature. But after a breath, his expression turned serious.

“Well… if it were me, even if I had something else to prioritize, if there was someone irreplaceable to me, I’d go save them. I definitely would… But that’s just me. I don’t know if that’s ‘normal’ or not.”

Dia spoke emphatically, looking at me with heat in his eyes.

Dia would go. But he doesn’t know if it’s normal…

I had more information now, but it still wasn’t enough. Left with no choice, I asked him everything, hiding nothing.

“Then… what if. Just ‘if.’ If I loved Lastiara, should I go save her?”

“Heh…? W-wait a sec… Eh? Christ, do you love Lastiara?”

Dia suddenly panicked, trying to confirm. It was a natural reaction to such a sudden hypothetical. But right now, I needed to know the answer to that assumption.

“No, I don’t… love her. But I want you to answer based on the assumption that I did.”

“I-I see… If. Right. A hypothetical story…”

“Yeah, a hypothetical is fine. Just a hypothetical.”

“In that case… if you loved her, wouldn’t you go save her? I think it’s normal to feel like you absolutely want to save someone you love, no matter what priorities you have… I mean, if you loved her! This is just if you loved her!”

Dia answered without a hint of doubt.

As I thought, if I had loved her, I would have gone to save Lastiara without hesitation. No matter what I lost, I would save her… That’s exactly why the skill ‘???’ erased that emotion.

“…I understand. Then, I’ve decided to save Lastiara.”

Confirming that my original thought aligned with Dia’s opinion, I solidified my resolve.

“Eh…?”

“I’m going to the Great Cathedral of Huzya right now.”

I stood up without hesitation. Perhaps I had known the answer from the start. Even with my shallow life experience, I knew. Abandoning someone you love isn’t normal. Saving the person you love, conquering the Labyrinth, and returning home to your family with your head held high—that is the right way.

It wasn’t “rational,” but thinking rationally, it was the right thing to do as a human being.

“Wait, Christ! Th-this is too sudden! You can’t go now! I just told you the mental magic won’t break until right before the ritual! If you try to force a rescue, there’s a chance Lastiara herself will resist. That’s probably why that Hein person was so conflicted! Even if you save her, if Lastiara changes suddenly due to the magic and insists on attending the ritual, can you do anything about that!?”

He was right. That was why Hein had tried to take her out of the country even if it meant cutting off her legs. As things stood, there was a constant risk of being resisted by Lastiara herself.

Seeing my expression change as I remembered this, Dia let out a sigh. Then, muttering that it couldn’t be helped, he continued.

“I can tell very well that you seriously want to save Lastiara, Christ. …In that case, you just need to wait.”

Dia told me not to move. Then he went on.

“—I will be the one to save Lastiara.”

Dia declared this with a resolve no less intense than my own.

“You, Dia…?”

“I’ll be present right before the ritual is completed. At the moment of completion, when their guard is down, I’ll cause the Great Cathedral to collapse—and in the chaos, I’ll reach Lastiara. There, I’ll ask her for her true feelings once she’s freed from her various shackles. If she has the will to run, the two of us will come straight to you, Christ.”

It was an incredibly bold and reckless plan. However, it was also true that that was the only time Lastiara’s shackles would be loosened.

“If we succeed, Dia and Lastiara will be pursued by Huzya. We’ll immediately flee to the maritime nation of Griad in the south and explore the Labyrinth together again.”

Dia spoke matter-of-factly. He was so calm about it that I almost couldn’t believe it. I didn’t understand why he was willing to go this far. Was the bond between Dia and Lastiara deeper than I thought? But based on their awkwardness the other day, that didn’t seem likely.

Sensing my suspicion regarding his devotion, Dia answered.

“Well, it’s just a side-quest for my own life as a fugitive… besides, someone as capable as Lastiara would be a reliable ally…”

“But saving Lastiara means your enemies will increase. And a massive enemy at that. Do you really have the resolve to save her even if it means making an entire nation your enemy…?”

“Resolve? I have plenty of that. If she’s a comrade you’d go that far to save, then she’s a comrade worth saving for me, too. This much is fine. Don’t worry so much. Our Labyrinth exploration has only just begun, after all.”

Dia answered instantly with a smile. Even though he had his own dream of making a fortune in the Labyrinth, he was willing to help Lastiara knowing full well it would hinder that dream.

Faced with his greatness as a human being, I was forced to recognize my own smallness once again. I was painfully ashamed of my former self, who couldn’t move out of self-preservation.

Dia was radiant. And I felt like I wanted to be like him.

“Thank you, Dia… But you don’t have to do it. I will. Surely, that’s my role.”

“You, Christ?”

“I’ll be the main culprit. I’ll jump in right before the ritual is completed and snatch Lastiara. I can’t let you go that far.”

I pretended to answer with the same hesitation-free confidence as Dia. Hearing this, Dia simply said, “As expected of Christ,” and didn’t show any sign of disagreement. As always, he seemed to have an excessive amount of trust in me.

“—I understand. If that’s what you say, let’s go with that.”

The plan was set.

Afterward, I gathered as much information as possible about the Great Cathedral from Dia. That said, Dia didn’t know the Cathedral in detail. As a guest, he only knew the ritual schedule and the basic layout.

Still, having that information made a world of difference. I now knew the timing and the place to strike. It was many times better than a blind assault.

After exchanging as much information as possible and confirming each other’s plans, I parted ways with Dia and turned my steps alone toward Huzya.