Episode 43

A tremor that seemed to shake space itself and the sound of explosions echoing across the earth rang out.

The two battlefronts were reaching their end at the same time.

“Van! Are you okay!?”

Sunburst, the high-tier fire-attribute spell Van had unleashed from point-blank range. Normally, it was a spell that could be called the very symbol of destruction, dropping a raging blast of fire over the enemy’s head and detonating it. But there was no way Van, who was bad at magic, could control an advanced spell.

So he charged it to the absolute limit before manifestation and fired it right in front of Feluart’s face. Struck full-on by the explosion and blast wave, the two of them were blown off in different directions.

“Y-yeah…… I’m somehow still alive.”

Van lay on his back. Between the damage from fighting Feluart and the self-inflicted blast from earlier, his injuries were severe. He could not be called unharmed, but his life was not in immediate danger either. Relieved, Eris began treating Van with healing magic.

“What happened…… to Feluart?”

“……He’s over there, charred black. Serves him right.”

Unlike Van, Feluart was not moving. He did not seem dead, but further battle was close to impossible.

Their battle over the attack on the royal capital had reached its conclusion.

“Are you both unharmed?”

A shadow approached the two of them. Glanz and the others had finished their battle and regrouped with them. There was no doubt their side had been a fierce fight as well, but none of the four looked injured.

“W-we somehow…… won.”

“What do you mean, ‘somehow’!? You’re seriously injured!”

Van shrank back under the force of Ciel’s tone. He tried to move his body to show he was fine, but was scolded instead and told not to move, leaving him dejected.

By the sacred arts Ciel wove, Van and Eris’s injuries healed in an instant. Burns, bruises, fractures—everything was treated.

The two stared wide-eyed at the divine miracle that could not be reproduced by recovery magic or healing magic.

“So this is sacred arts. Amazing……”

“The Silver Saintess. Just as the rumors said…… no, even more than that.”

Van got up from lying on his back and checked his body. It had been wrecked all over, but now he felt no abnormalities at all.

It felt almost unreal.

“……This is about all I can do.”

Ciel had perfectly healed everyone’s wounds.

And yet, somehow, she seemed sad.

“About all? What are you talking about?”

“――Huh?”

“The best I can do for Van’s injuries is first aid. I’m sure Glanz-san has his limits too. The strategy we used only worked because Ciel was here. Van was able to go all out because you were here, because he trusted you. ……Otherwise I would’ve stopped him too.”

Eris tossed those words toward Ciel, looking slightly embarrassed.

Van gave a thumbs-up.

“Ciel. I told you, didn’t I? There’s no one here who denies you. No one regrets anything.”

“Selen…… everyone, thank you so much.”

Selen gently stayed by Ciel’s side as she smiled brightly with tears in her eyes.

“Hey…… by the way, what’s with this atmosphere?”

“……Van is still just a child. Go eat a sword or something.”

“I’m not eating one!”

Van and the others were wrapped in smiles. Though they had only just met not long ago, a single party had already been formed.

“Well then, everyone. Let’s sort out the situation.”

Glanz, the one who kept the party together and its eldest member, took control of the scene. They began sharing the information each of them had.

“I see…… very interesting. In that case——that being calling itself Pariaach……”

“Yes. If it can stay alive even after having its heart pierced, it’ll probably show up again.”

From the information provided by Selen and Ciel, who had fought Pariaach before, Glanz predicted that they would encounter it again. Hearing that it was immortal left Van and Eris stunned.

“Then is Feluart immortal too?”

“I doubt that. However——about now.”

A sudden change appeared in the collapsed Feluart. A magic circle-like formula similar to the spell Pariaach had used enveloped him.

“I’m not letting that happen. He’s trying to escape.”

Selen fired a bullet from her magic gun, but it never reached Feluart and was deflected away. From within the severed space, Feluart spoke.

“You…… did this…… to me, Van.”

Even while covered in burns all over his body, Feluart glared at Van.

There was clear murderous intent in his eyes.

“I’ll remember this…… this pain. Van and Eris. Next time, I’ll definitely……”

Kill you.

With that one word, Feluart vanished.

Only Van and the others remained behind.

“A delayed-activation teleportation formula. One that functions regardless of whether the target is alive or dead——would that be it?”

“If you knew that, then why did you let him get away?”

“There are things more important than that. There is much we should discuss, but…… for now, let us hurry on.”

At Glanz’s words, the look in Van and the others’ eyes changed. Their goal was not battle, but saving Masfelt.

“Ciel…… can you still use sacred arts?”

“Leave it to me. That is exactly what sacred arts are for.”

Ciel nodded firmly.

Van and the others boarded the carriage and headed for Masfelt’s house.

“Van-san! Stop the carriage!”

“!? Oh! What’s wrong, Ciel?”

The carriage came to a sudden stop at Ciel’s instruction. Climbing down, Ciel dashed into the darkness and cried out.

“There are injured people by the roadside! They’re still breathing!”

Ciel began treating them with sacred arts. The wounded people, who had been breathing roughly, gradually calmed down and soon stabilized.

“!?…… Uncle Tret.”

“What did you say!?”

Reacting to Atri’s words, Van ran over. People collapsed on the road, a broken carriage, scattered merchandise. For Van and Atri, these were deeply familiar people—people they could call family. It was a reunion with the members of the Freak Trading Company.

“O-ow…… is that you, Van? And Atri too?”

“Don’t ‘o-ow’ me!? Are you okay, Uncle?”

The middle-aged man Van called uncle. He was a longtime member of the Freak Trading Company and had known Van since he was little. He was also close to Atri, who had been taken in by the company, and for the two of them, he was the sort of reliable adult they could depend on.

“I’m glad everyone’s safe. But what happened?”

“……I don’t know. We were traveling by carriage when we were suddenly attacked.”

Masfelt the Sword Saint, who was also deeply connected to the Freak Trading Company. It was the members of the company who regularly took care of him. Tret and the others said they had been suddenly attacked while heading to Masfelt’s home.

“It was someone wearing a hood. We couldn’t make out their face in the dark……”

“Were they after our stuff? Bastards.”

“……Everyone’s safe. That alone is enough.”

Everyone felt relieved. ——Except for Glanz alone, who quietly stared at the carriage.

As if he sensed something off about it.

“Van. You can punish that thief later, but aren’t we in a hurry?”

“That’s right! Uncle, actually……”

Van quickly explained what had happened so far. At times, the other members added details as they shared information. Understanding the situation, Tret urged Van and the others on.

“We’ll be fine. The Silver Saintess healed us, after all. ——Go on, Van. Save the Sword Saint, no matter what.”

“Yeah! Leave it to me. I’ll definitely repay you for this!”

Van and the others’ carriage sped off.

To fulfill their wish of saving Masfelt.

“How truly ironic. ……Van, can you…… can you really change it? This world.”

As Zeke and Elzen continued their fierce battle, a small shadow stepped between them.

“So I thought something was off…… so that’s what this is.”

“……What are you doing? What about stalling them?”

Something not human, with the appearance of a child. A being outside the laws of this world. Pariaach descended beside Elzen, shaking its head in exasperation.

“I think I did the bare minimum, didn’t I? As for your side…… well, I guess you managed the bare minimum too.”

Masfelt lay collapsed behind Zeke. He still seemed to be breathing, but only barely. Whatever the result, Pariaach confirmed that the process had gone according to plan.

In that case, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

“The Sword Saint is beyond saving now. It’s only a matter of time. We’re pulling back.”

“There is a being more troublesome than that Sword Saint standing right in front of us. Do you really think you can leave him alone and still see your great wish fulfilled?”

The two spoke while keeping their eyes fixed on Zeke.

Zeke, perhaps watching their movements, did not move.

“Then are we supposed to keep fighting like this? Even my power has its limits. To be honest——that one is not normal.”

Pariaach, usually so flippant, now wore a serious expression.

It was openly showing genuine wariness toward the existence before it, toward a human it normally looked down upon.

“――We revise the plan. Do it.”

“A wise decision.”

An unknown formula covered Elzen and Pariaach. With a teleportation-type spell Zeke had seen before, the two were about to leap through space.

“Zeke Lagias. We will meet again.”

“Hmph, I have no such intention. Don’t show your face to me again.”

“――You really are an interesting brat.”

With a brief smile, Elzen vanished.

After confirming that Elzen and the others’ presence had completely disappeared, Zeke turned and started walking.

Toward the collapsed Masfelt behind him.

“…………”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I have no interest in what happens to you.”

The throat and severed arm cut down by Elzen’s special sword still had an eerie black darkness writhing over them.

It looked extremely similar to the black magic formula that had been healing Elzen’s mortal wounds.

“Do you have any last words? I’ll grant you the special favor of hearing them…… though you can hardly talk properly, I suppose.”

There was no way to know whether the words reached Masfelt.

But as if entrusting something, Masfelt mustered the last of his strength and thrust his remaining arm toward Zeke. In that hand, he gripped a sword still sheathed.

“Are you telling me to pass it on to your grandson or something?”

Masfelt gave a slight shake of his head. Somehow, despite the fact that he should not have been able to speak, Zeke felt as though Masfelt had said: I entrust this sword to you.

“Hmph. I’m not particular about weapons. If I feel like it, I’ll use it.”

Zeke took the sheathed sword and hung it at his belt. In one hand, he still held his bloodstained blade.

After battle upon battle, Zeke let out a small breath. His fight against Elzen, a swordsman whose skill rivaled the Sword Saint’s, had not allowed him a single moment of carelessness. ——Perhaps that was why.

Because his guard slipped, he failed to notice the presence approaching him. At that moment, if he had paid even a little more attention to his surroundings and acted appropriately, perhaps the outcome might have changed.

“Grandpa!”

Van’s desperate voice reached Zeke’s ears. When he checked the presence, he sensed not only Van, but the other main characters as well.

The protagonist’s party and Zeke. That composition was one deeply ingrained in Hiroto’s mind. A relationship where those opposed to one another fought with their lives on the line. Zeke’s body naturally sprang back, widening the distance between himself and them.

“Grandpa! What the hell is this!?”

Van lost all composure at the sight of the dying Masfelt. The others also arrived and turned pale.

“Ciel! Hurry and help Grandpa!”

“――Return of Saint!”

Silver radiance broke into particles of light and poured down over Masfelt. A divine miracle that overwrote everlasting darkness with silver light. Ciel treated Masfelt with a highest-class sacred art that called back a soul trying to proceed to the underworld and returned it to the mortal world.

In all of Ciel’s experience as the Silver Saintess, there had not been a single person she could not heal with her sacred arts. This time too, surely he would live. ——Believing that, she kept pouring in mana.

“Grandpa! Who did this to you!? Who did something like this……!”

Masfelt slowly opened his eyes. The color was steadily fading from them. Van kept calling out to him, but there was almost no response. ——The sacred arts showed no sign of taking effect.

“Why…… why isn’t my power…… why aren’t my sacred arts working?”

“Ciel! Aren’t you a sacred-arts user!? Aren’t you the Silver Saintess who saves everyone!? Hurry and save Grandpa! Otherwise…… otherwise……”

Atri held back the frantic Van. Huge tears had gathered in Atri’s eyes as well. It was not just Van. Atri, too, had memories of the time she spent with Masfelt.

A black shadow covered Masfelt’s throat and arm. The writhing mass of darkness gradually grew smaller.

As though synchronized with Masfelt’s life.

“Stop. Sacred arts won’t work on him. It’s a waste of time and mana.”

Van’s feelings and Ciel’s efforts came to nothing. Masfelt’s breath of life had completely vanished. His breathing stopped, and the circulation of mana came to a halt. The black haze disappeared as though scattered away by the wind.

“――I can no longer feel life from Mr. Masfelt.”

“No…… Grandpa…… How…… why…… did it come to this……”

Van, who had been crying quietly as if holding himself together, could no longer suppress his emotions and gradually began sobbing aloud. Atri, too, began crying along with him. Glanz quietly closed his eyes, and Selen stayed beside Ciel. Eris simply stared at Zeke.

“……Zeke, tell me. How did you know Ciel’s sacred arts would have no effect?”

“There is no need for you to know that.”

Zeke treated Selen’s question curtly, as if he had no intention of answering properly.

“……Then let me change the question. That sword you have—why is there blood on it? And why is the area around us so heavily destroyed?”

“The reason there’s blood on my sword? Looking at this devastation, can’t you understand anything at all?”

“Answer seriously! You know better than anyone how the Knight Order might judge this situation! What kind of treatment you, as a Lagias, would receive……”

A chuckle escaped Zeke’s lips. For some reason, with the full moon floating in the sky behind him, he let out a strange laugh.

“You say odd things. Was there ever even once that any of you trusted what I said as a Lagias?”

“Zeke, what are you sayi—”

“No, that’s enough. Selen.”

Van cut into the conversation. His eyes swollen red, Van looked at Zeke through tears and asked him:

“Zeke. Tell me. Where did you get that sword at your waist?”

At Van’s words, everyone’s eyes turned to Zeke. The sword Zeke wore at his waist. It was obviously a masterwork, and engraved upon it was the crest granted by the King of Time—the proof of the Sword Saint.

“The proof of the strongest swordsman of an age. A sword only those acknowledged by the king are allowed to possess——why do you have it?”

“How should I know? If you’re curious, ask that Sword Saint over there. ……No, I suppose that’s impossible. Sacred arts can never bring back the dead, no matter what. Never.”

“――I really hated you. But you still had the kindness to save people…… that’s what I thought. I believed in you!”

“So you blindly put your faith in me and now want to act like a victim because you were betrayed? You really are pathetic.”

Van gripped the hilt and drew his sword with force. As though anger had lodged itself in the blade, it gave a fierce tremor.

“A mage left behind by the times, a cast-off bastard on the verge of being thrown away, a clueless brat clinging to the Sword Saint, and a stupid noble trapped by a curse. Every last one of you is nothing but unbearable trash.”

Van stepped forward hard. That single step gouged deeply into the earth. He closed the distance to Zeke in an instant and raised his sword, but every strike was dodged, and he was knocked back instead.

“Kh……”

“You’re in the way. Disappear.”

“You’re Grandpa’s killer. You alone——I’ll kill with my own sword!”

“Your sword will never reach me. I am more special than anything else in this world.”

Van could not back down.

Those trapped by a fate that forced choices upon them.

And then——the one cast outside it.

An ending that had changed greatly from the future they desired. A great divide born from one misfastened button. They were swallowed against their will by a flow they could not resist. ——What they had truly wanted. What the best answer had been.

There was not a single person who knew the answer.

——Clang.

“――Huh?”

The sound of metal reached his ears.

The slender sword Luke carried at all times, whether on assignment, in training, or even off duty. It was not flashy, but anyone with an eye for such things could tell it was a masterpiece made by a renowned smith. That sword had been cleanly broken from the base.

It was back when he had only just started as an adventurer. A story from four or five years ago now. One thing Zeke had said to him when Luke had tagged along on Zeke’s adventurer work without permission.

“What’s with that dull blade? Don’t disgrace yourself near me.”

Along with those rough words, a sword had been thrust into his hands. A fine blade, clearly a masterwork, sized to fit the small Luke of that time.

He had been forced to grip it.

“I can’t accept a sword this expensive!”

“Are you an idiot? ——Then become a knight worthy of it. Though I doubt you ever will.”

Luke had been coldly brushed aside. The words had been merciless, yet somehow they had not made him sad.

For some reason, it felt as though Zeke had been pushing him forward.

As Luke grew, the sword no longer matched his size. Even so, Luke had clung to it because it was a precious sword given to him by his best friend, but one day Zeke took that sword away.

“Give it back. It’s mine.”

Luke had only smiled bitterly then, thinking Zeke was being forceful as always, but a few days later, Zeke handed him a sword again.

A longsword suited to his current height. Its blade shone in the light, a masterpiece forged of the legendary metal orichalcum.

“Hmph. Just some dull blade I happened to pick up. I’ll give it to you.”

Luke had almost pointed out how impossible that story was, but stopped himself when he saw the hilt. The familiar hilt had belonged to the sword Zeke had given him before, the one that now felt too short. Its hilt had been reused. Zeke had known it was a sword Luke had treasured and held special feelings for.

“This is strange after all. Something is wrong……”

Looking at the broken sword, Luke was overcome by an indescribable sense of dread.

Luke had fought as an adventurer and as a knight. He had experienced instincts that could not be put into words many times before, but this felt different from all of those. A sign that something was about to happen. As if something precious would disappear and be lost, going somewhere far away. He could not shake that feeling.

As Luke stared at the sword, his fellow candidate Skinny called out to him in a flustered voice.

“This is bad, Luke!”

“……What a coincidence. Me too. A precious sword of mine has broken.”

“Seriously!? No, not that! Something even worse is happening!”

I was just about to say that, from my point of view, this was a major incident, but Skinny was so shaken that I decided to hear him out first.

“Listen and stay calm. The Sword Saint…… Masfelt Freak, apparently died. Not from illness or old age. ——He was killed.”

“……Killed? The Sword Saint?”

The strongest being any who walked the path of the sword admired. Luke had never met him, but he knew of Masfelt’s many feats.

“The Sword Saint, yeah. ……What I’m about to tell you next isn’t confirmed yet. It’s only as of right now. ……Don’t lose it, okay?”

Skinny’s expression grew more serious than ever. Luke straightened unconsciously as well.

“They’re saying the one who killed the Sword Saint was――――Zeke Lagias.”

Time stopped. All sound vanished from Luke’s world.