273 270. The last deception.txt (2/2)

Essentially, a dead soul dissolves into the world. However, if a soul of the same quality is nearby, it will be absorbed before it dissolves. It was explained to me that this was one of the 'essence of magic' that Tiara-san discovered after repeated magical development a thousand years ago, but to be honest, I didn't understand half of what he said.

It seems to be the same as the ”number that cannot be expressed in numbers,” a vague phenomenon that we cannot explain clearly even though we are convinced of its existence based on our experience a thousand years ago.

What I managed to understand is that because Rastiara and Tiara-san are now far apart in soul form - if two souls enter one body, they will conflict with each other and one of them will disappear.

On the contrary, Christ's companion, the former slave girl and The One Who Steals the Reason of Fire, have very similar soul shapes - that the two souls are able to merge beautifully in one body.

I finished listening to the story about 'Affinity' on the way back to the Helvilleshain house, and then I parted from Tiara-san once in front of the main gate of the mansion.

''Well then, I'm going to sneak in from the garden,''

What, you're going in the house?

'Yeah, because I want to hear the two examples of what you two are talking about, too. I'll hide in the shadows again and listen in secret.

After saying that, Tiara-san, who thought she was going back to the cathedral, disappeared into the garden of the mansion.

Although a servant regularly patrols the garden, Tiara-san with that good intuition would not be caught.

Without worrying about my mentor, I walked into the mansion.

Immediately, one of the maidservants rushes down to me and informs me of our guest's arrival.

It seems that Sera is waiting for me in the guest room, just as Rastiara had said.

On the way, I move quickly so as not to keep my seniors waiting, despite the glares of my family members who despise me.

Even though we're talking about being my guest, the other party is a knight of the noble Raydiant family, a nobleman of high rank. Even in the mansion, a high-class guest room had been assigned to me.

I opened the door to that room with great vigor and entered.

Inside, as expected, three people were waiting for me.

Sera-san, the knight, Al and Emily, the searcher. First of all, Sera-san speaks to me on behalf of the others.

'You're interrupting me. From the looks of it, I'm sure the young lady has told you about it.

'Sorry I'm late. I had some free time and was swinging my sword on the outskirts of the city.

”Ho. It's an impressive way to spend the holidays. Our young knights are so flabby these days.

They lightly raise their hands to each other and exchange greetings.

The two explorers at the back had their heads down in a huff, so I smiled and responded that there was no need for that and ended the greeting.

'But your sister is still awesome ....... I got a bunch of questions while I was waiting for you .......

'My sister is ....... Oh, you mean Christ?

''Yeah. He should have had it up his sleeve at the 'dance competition', but he still seemed to be obsessed. It was hard to fake it, you know.

One sleeve won't stop you, sister.

Sera frowns and reports back to me on her interactions with my sister. From her expression, I can clearly see that she suffered the same thing I did. If I look closely, I can see that the two people behind me had similar expressions. My sister seems to be gathering information without regard to anyone else.

I'm afraid that one day I'll be able to get to Christ on my own.

'Well, let's put your sister aside and get down to business. I'm done negotiating with the two men you brought with you, and I'm about to finish preparing for the ceremony. The young lady said she would perform the ritual tomorrow morning, are you ready?

Yes. Sure, you can go whenever you want.

Good answer. I'm really glad you're here.

For me, it was an obvious response, but Sera was truly relieved to hear that I was joining in.

Following that main point, the two people who were waiting behind me come forward.

Al, who bowed deeply again, thanks me.

'Thank you so much, Ryner-san. Thanks to you, I think we're going to be cured of our illness.

'Oh, it looks like Rustyala will be able to fix you up. That's good. I've said before I don't think you're going to have to thank me.　I'm just doing my job.

Still, I can't help but thank you for all the hard work you've done to date.

Emily bowed her head in time with Al.

They're really polite to each other.

''By the way, I'll be outside the cathedral during the ceremony. If something happens, I'll be slowed down if it's me. ...... If Emily is held hostage by the enemy, I'm sure I'll put her before you all.

And he tells me where the day of the ceremony is.

I thought I could accompany Emily, who would be heartbroken, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Emily, of course, strongly agreed.

'Yeah. If you're held hostage (・・・・・・・・・), you're going to be in so much trouble, so you need to hide outside ....... We'll do our best to get rid of the anxiety. I'll be fine on my own, so don't worry about it, Al.

I'm not worried about it. Mr. Reiner's there for me.

The two of them had made a bit of a tumultuous prediction.

It was as if they were promised an attack by someone on the day of the ritual.

'Mr. Serra, ....... Perhaps you could go to .......

Let's get something straight. On the day of the ceremony, that Feydert guy is going to do something to me.

'I'll cut to the chase. May I ask why?

Serra explained, indignantly, but with an awful serious face.

'They have blatantly manipulated me behind the scenes to pull me away from the cathedral. Because of that, I must leave this place now. There is a full boatload of people from the mainland outside the mansion. The only reason I'm here now is because I've managed to buy some time under the guise of handing over business to you, the knight.

That Mr. Serra is leaving for one of Rastiara's big events: ......?

I don't know how Feydert got around to it, but it was done well.

'There was an accident with former President Quager, who was on his way to the mainland. I have to go to the mainland to make up for it.

”Mr. Quager had an accident ......?

”I don't know if it was Feydert who caused the accident. But there is no doubt that he has successfully negotiated with the Senate and assigned me a replacement knight. Now that he's gotten me away from them and reduced the security of the ritual, he'll surely move on.

If you know that much, why don't you just ignore those orders: ......?

'If you ignore me, you will put yourself in a bad position, not me, young lady. The fight isn't just for today. We need to stand our ground and not leave any openings. ...... Above all, the Lady is ordering you to go.

I'm sure Sera doesn't mean it either. She bites her lip and announces her non-participation in tomorrow's ritual - but looks me in the eye, saying she's not worried about it at all.

'...... me and your daughter have faith in you. It's a good thing that you're not the only one who's interested in this. I believe that as long as we have that trump card in you, we will not be defeated.

Eye to eye, he says that the trump card is me, not Sera.

I gulp down the fact that I'm about to look away.

It's very conscience-wrenching: .......

I'm a less than trash knight who doesn't think anything of betrayal .......

”Don't look at me like that. Of course, it's not like we didn't do anything about it. I'm going to have someone I can rely on to guard me on the day of the event instead.

It seems that Sera-san has conveniently interpreted that guilt twisted face for me.

She promised to reinforce me, a younger subordinate, to dispel my fears.

I had an idea for that reinforcement.

'You must be Lagune-san, right?'

'Yeah, one of them is Ragne. I'm calling for another one ...... and that one probably won't make it. I hope the two of you can split up tomorrow and escort them well.

They say there's a third one, but it's uncertain, so they don't want it to count.

Tomorrow they want two people - just two - to pull off a ceremony that was guarded by over a thousand people a year ago. That's what Sera asks me to do, with encouragement.

'I trust that with the two of you, we won't be late, even if we have to face all the knights in the cathedral.

All the knights are against me - indeed, even if all of them (・・・・・・・・・), including Ragne (・・・・・・・), I should be able to do it on my own.

Wind magic is excellent against many.

Worst case scenario, I can just use the wind cocoon to envelop Rastiara or the temple. With my training to date, I've got enough power to sustain that magic for several hours.

As long as a guardian class enemy doesn't appear, we can definitely do it.

There aren't many enemies of that class. It's almost certainly safe to say that we'll be fine.

''Leave it to me. I will definitely protect Rastiara. I swear on this sword.

By rumbling the knight's oath, I'll remove Sera's fears.

To be honest, I can't guarantee that Rustyala's wishes will be met.

But I'll keep Rastiara's life intact. Even if it's at the cost of this life.

Satisfied with those words, you are about to leave the room with an appearance of no time left.

Mm. I'll leave it to you.

Sera left me strongly, as if she were saying goodbye to this life.

I guess we're going to leave the Confederation like this. Without saying anything else, Sera-san left the room. Following that, Al and Emily also thanked me again before leaving.

I was the only one left in the guest room.

This is the end of my appointment with Rastiara.

I'm not going to be able to get to know you better.

'Did you hear that?'

I will. Be careful tomorrow. Somehow, I'm sure there will be an attack.

Tiara opened the window of the room from the outside and entered the room with the dexterity of a monkey. She must have been sticking to the wall outside the whole time and listening to the stories inside.

Then he made a 'prediction' that was contradictory but 'somehow' and 'must'.

It would be better to move on, thinking that the situation that Sera-san feared would happen.

''Then I'll have to go to the cathedral right away and escort Rastiara to .......

'I need to get back to the crypt too. Because at the end of the ritual preparations, we'll probably move this body to the temple.

We all get ready to head to the cathedral.

On the way, Tiara calls out to me in a slightly amused manner.

It's finally here. It's not an exaggeration to say that tomorrow, the results of your training up to today will be put to the test: ......!

'Yes, ....... I just don't feel like I'm getting much stronger, to be honest. ......

There's no point in lying, so I answer honestly.

'Yeah. To be honest, I don't feel like I've been taught well either.

Hey.

To that, Tiara, her teacher, replied honestly.

''Haha. Well, I can't say it's perfect, but I think I was taught reasonably well.

...... I'll work out the rest on my own. I'm grateful to you.

It's always been the case.

Basically, the greats of a thousand years ago don't have time for this. Hence, with Mr. Loewen, Ayde, and Titi - the policy was to only teach them the bare bones of the skills they were good at, and to perfect them on their own.

I'm not going to complain about that now. I'm just grateful.

We joke around with each other as we leave the Helvirshain house and walk down the wide streets of Hoozeyers, passing through the usual 'eleventh crossroads' and arriving at the cathedral.

As usual, the fortress-like cathedral is surrounded by a fence and a river. A line of knights are lined up on the bridge leading to the main gate.

I can walk through the main gate with dignity, but Tiara-san can't.

''Well then, I'm going in from the garden again, so this is bye-bye, right?

As a matter of course, Tiara seems to be planning to sneak in through the back. She must have crossed the fence and the river when she came out. Just like in the mansion, I see her off without any worries at all.

''See you tomorrow.''

Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow.

I'll finish up today's farewell for the last time in my life tomorrow.

Then I go through the main gate while greeting the security knights, and Tiara-san runs off towards the back of the cathedral.

We walk through the large grounds.

Along the way, there are large flower beds and stairs that are uselessly large, and it's a struggle just to reach the building. As I come to the door of the cathedral, I sense the difference in the air around me.

I felt a sense of discomfort in the knights passing by.

It's really just a minor discomfort - a knight with a face that you don't see often at this time of day is walking out, their expressions are slightly stiff, and the noise filling the garden is a little louder.

But the sensations that have been sharpened over the past few days have given me a certain confidence.

Tomorrow, I'll be facing my fellow knights.

There will be some familiar faces lined up, such as my classmates at the academy - but even so, I'll make up my mind to cut them down without any hesitation at all.

Once I've made up my mind, I move on.

The magical wards of the cathedral, which are always on, caress my body. Ignoring that feeling, I head to the temple at the far end of the building.

Apparently the planned location for the ceremony is the same as it was a year ago.

I head straight for it, expecting to find Lord Rastiara there.

When I came to the big door in front of the temple, I heard women talking to each other. Even without having to listen in, I knew the owner of the voice and the content of the conversation.

''-- I can finally meet you ......!　To that legendary Lady Tiara: ......!　Ragné-chan, it's, um, that tiara-sama!

Yes, it's Ms. Tiara, isn't it?　I wonder what kind of person he is. I've heard he's the greatest person in the history of not only this country, but the world, so he must be the real, real 'best'. I'm looking forward to it!

'I'm looking forward to it too. I wonder what we'll talk about when we meet. I think it's best to listen carefully to the part of the story that's being snatched up. Oh, I'm really looking forward to it.

With a giggling sound, the doors of the temple were opened.

At first glance, the first thing I thought was that it was empty.

There were only two people in the too large room. Rustyala Fuzzyaz and Ragne Kaikwola.

The last time I had come to the temple, it had been decorated with gleaming furnishings and a large number of fine chairs. All of those things have been removed, so there is really nothing to see.

There was just a beautiful marble floor spread out and stained glass at the top of the platform.

On the floor of that platform, Ragne and Rustyala were working together to write a magic circle on the floor.

With an old parchment in hand, they were chatting away.

According to what I heard beforehand, once that magic square is completed, Rastiara will sit there from the night before and unify his mind. Presumably, he will continue to pour the magic power into it and activate a large scale magic ceremony.

I don't know the details of the ritual, but I have a rough idea of what to expect.

I approach the two people on the platform, beating the inside of the temple into my head for my escort.

'Rustyala, I've been talking to Sera. Is there anything I can do to help you over here?

Welcome home. But I don't think there's anything special about it. This post will be over soon, and that doesn't mean I'm tired enough to need to be vigilant: ......

Rustyala tilts his head to find out what I can do to help.

But after all, I will be needed from tomorrow morning.

I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. And if the enemy is going to poke him, it will definitely be there. A year ago, at the ritual, that's when Christ poked me.

Okay. All right, I'll just take a nap in the corner. You guys enjoy the ride and get ready to go.

'Right. Shall Ragné be on guard this evening and Ryner in the morning?

Immediately I move to the temple wall and begin to rest, letting my body rest. It's a little chilly, but it's enough to allow me to sleep.

I boldly decide to sleep soundly and close my eyelids.

In the darkness behind my eyelids, I hear Ragne's voice.

'I'll leave you to it while you're able to move, young lady. On the other hand, tomorrow is going to be tough, so I'll ask you to take care of her then.

To be clear, if Rastiara is in a good enough state to move like she is now, she doesn't need an escort.

She said that she couldn't get a handful of guardians (guardians) in front of Christ, but that doesn't make her any weaker. She is still a bundle of violence, and she is still a present-day god who is not suitable for a bunch of knights.

Hence, I'll be on guard from early tomorrow morning--

Rastiara begins praying in front of the stained glass windows early in the morning, when the sun is not even up.

The prayers are like magic building, consuming magic power and requiring a great deal of concentration.

And by the time the sun rises, her strength and magic power are empty.

--there.

Until then, let's take our time to rest.

Too much tension and too much urgency can lead to failure.

You need to focus on being in the best condition possible.

It's a hunch - and I think that's the best way to go about it.

I can hear the innocent voices of Rastiara and Ragnet talking from afar. In order to rest my body, which has been exhausted by Tiara's practice, I force my consciousness to sink to the depths of the darkness and shut out the light and noise from the outside world.

Then, the last night before the ritual is over.

Even as he sleeps, he has a sense of time.

I sensed in my dream that we had entered the day of Tiara's scheduled death date.

Today, when the sun fully rises, Tiara will be completely annihilated and all of her powers will be passed on.

Not Las Tiara, not Feydert, not anyone in the Hoosiers - I will be the heir to the legend of the Hoosiers.

That historic anniversary. The day of the true ceremony, which was not fulfilled a year ago, is now - the day of the true ceremony.