Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (9)

Just because Ria handles a sword doesn’t mean she can’t use magic at all.

She can’t fly through the sky like some mages, but she can run by kicking off the air.

Moreover,

Crack!

Ice formed under Ria’s feet every time she took a step. This was because Gloria and Han Yu-ri, who were running on either side, were creating ice under Ria’s feet.

…Those two are almost superhuman. Ah, well, hunters in this world are beings that couldn’t exist in the world I lived in.

Even in such a situation, Gloria and Han Yu-ri seemed to be looking at each other, aware of each other’s presence.

Ice also formed on the arm of the giant monster- so huge I don’t know what to call it. It was creating a path for Ria to step on.

Bang!

I shot off the head of one of the monsters sprouting from that arm and removed the magazine from the fixed-slide pistol.

“Your shooting skills have improved a lot.”

“…You’re talking so casually in this situation.”

At this point, I don’t know whether to be impressed or dumbfounded.

I glanced down for a moment, and the surface of the lake was continuously freezing, though not as much as under Gloria, Han Yu-ri, and Ria’s feet.

There are mages among the knights and hunters. Some of them were even setting fires in the middle of the lake to block the monsters rising from below.

Whether the consecrated sand poured in sandbags had an effect, I could see the lake boiling from this high up. Although it quickly turned black, clear water mixed with sand was visible in between.

It’s effective-

As I felt a little relieved, a bright light was visible at the edge of the lake, far away.

Not light falling from the sky like it was doing to me now, but white light rising from the ground towards the sky.

At first, I thought it was Sophie’s power, who was with me, but the person I saw in the distance was a man.

“…Lee Si-yoon?”

Ria also muttered in surprise upon seeing that figure.

“…?”

Chocolate.

Yesterday, I gave Han Yu-ri two. I gave one piece each to the others, that is, the others who would go with me.

As I thought, Han Yu-ri seemed to have given one to Lee Si-yoon as well.

Was the Saint’s power the trigger for his awakening? Indeed, in the novel, it was said that his body received holy power well. I didn’t know exactly what that meant.

“Ria.”

“Ah, yes.”

Grind.

What was frozen and fixed from the shoulder to the arm moved slightly.

Cracks were forming under our feet.

“Remember when we danced?”

Ria smiled at me. One of her hands was still around my waist, but my feet were on the ice, just like Ria’s.

“I’ll lead, so follow me.”

“Yes-!?”

Before I could answer, Ria ran across that arm.

No, if it’s like this, regardless of leading or anything else, I’m just being dragged along…?

However, without even time to voice such a question, Ria walked around, dancing, with me embraced by one arm around my waist.

The monsters that broke through the ice with sounds like shattering glass were lightly trampled by Ria. She lightly kicked them, and those with their upper bodies exposed were lightly struck with her sword as she passed.

The white ice surface became dirty with black liquid. It became messy like dirty snow mixed with dirt from melting, as too many people had stepped on it.

I had long given up on shooting monsters with my gun and decided to focus on praying instead.

Closing my eyes, I entrusted my body to Ria’s hands.

Yes. Regardless of being scared, I trust Ria. Although the strength of Ria’s hand around my waist increased and decreased, she never let me go.

Without my feet slipping, I leaned on Ria.

The sun was hot from the sky, and it was cold under my feet. Moreover, ice shards kept splashing on my face.

However, Ria’s body temperature remained the same amidst it all.

Although it was a little frustrating, just having Ria right next to me calmed me down a little.

“Gulp.”

…I bit my tongue a little because she suddenly jumped up, but oh well.

My vision brightened.

It wasn’t just because of the hot sunlight.

When I opened my eyes, white smoke was flowing from my hands. It looked like very cold ice melting, but the sensation of the crystals in my hands was definitely not cold.

I looked at Ria.

A pair of red eyes were looking directly at me.

As if trusting me. Without wavering.

I turned my head again.

We were flying high in the sky before I knew it.

It must have been quite high from when Ria jumped earlier. Even in such a situation, without touching Ria’s body, I didn’t fall.

How reassuring that fact was.

The large magic sphere- spears had sprouted around the beast’s eye again-

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Gloria, who was far away, shouted loudly. Then, I heard chanting, and a thick ice wall appeared in front of the spears.

Crackle!

Seeing the spears blocked by the ice wall, Gloria glanced sideways with annoyance. Han Yu-ri, who was floating in the sky in the same way, was smiling.

…In the meantime, they’ve become strangely compatible. Well, if I told them directly, they would both get very angry.

Conversely, if those two said something like that looking at me and Ria, what would I answer?

I don’t know.

However, strangely, I don’t think I would get angry.

I might pretend to be angry-

Ria jumped off the air and turned her body. My body rotated slightly to a position where I could swing my arms.

I tightly gripped a crystal of holy power in one hand.

And then, I threw it with all my might towards that eye.

…Ria said I had talent. To me, who could never become the best at anything, no matter how hard I tried.

Perhaps, even this throwing skill is inferior to someone in the church who is a nun.

But, somehow.

I was replaying Ria’s words. Perhaps it was because Ria, of all people, had said something like that to me, offering such comfort.

In any case.

As expected of a heroine.

Crack.

To block what looked like teardrops falling from the sky, the monster moved its arm. While I had my eyes closed, Han Yu-ri had frozen it further, so the outer part of its arm, which looked like nothing but bone and skin, broke and fell off.

However, that did not prevent that single small crystal.

“Anna.”

Seeing the crystal pass through its hand, Ria called me softly.

“You trust me, right?”

“How many times are you going to ask?”

I asked back incredulously.

Ria smiled.

Ah.

Somehow, I think I know what Ria is trying to do.

It’s not because I read it in a novel, nor did we create a signal between us.

Ria’s expression. The way she held her sword, and the strength in her arm supporting my waist. Somehow, seeing those things, I predicted Ria’s next action.

Has my intuition sharpened, or is Ria being so considerate?

Or- is it simply that I’ve come to be able to trust her?

Ria nodded and then threw me forcefully towards the sky.

This time, I didn’t scream.

In the blue sky, there is a being that shines only on me, even though it’s not the sun. Although it was too high to see-

I reached out my hand towards that being.

…Every time I entrust things like this, it does help sometimes.

The being in the high place responded to me by shining its light.

I felt my body float for a brief moment. Even without Ria supporting me, or Gloria or Han Yu-ri using magic, it was entirely by my own strength.

Is this the power of miracles I read about in novels?

I clenched the power gathered at my fingertips.

And then I turned my body and looked down at Ria.

Ria, who had thrown me with all her might, was falling with her sword pointed downwards.

Towards the monster, which had a large hole in its hand and was screaming with half its eye burst out.

I threw the crystal of power in my hand at Ria’s back.

Tok.

The power, which fell as if an arrow had been shot, was fully absorbed by Ria’s body without bouncing off.

Somehow, even just seeing her back, I felt like Ria was smiling.

Just as I trust Ria, Ria must have trusted me.

That we would never hurt each other.

Thwack.

I saw Ria’s sword pierce the monster’s eye.

Bang!

The monster exploded from its head. Black magic spread in all directions. As if it could rain down on this entire area and contaminate everything.

However, that wouldn’t happen.

The already consecrated sword emitted the holy power flowing from Ria’s body, enough to burn and purify all the magic in front of me-

“…Huh?”

However, a very short phrase flashed through my mind, even though everything should have ended cleanly.

-Not yet.

“…Not yet.”

I repeated the words without realizing it.

The image of Ria drawing her sword again and leaping from the monster’s body, which was about to split in half, became clear in my mind. Even though we were so far apart.

What came to mind next was a black spear that deeply pierced Ria’s body.

Even though the magic sphere had burst, the lake remained. That black spear was connected from the depths of the lake. The monster’s body, the magic sphere, were just parts of the lake-

“…Ah.”

But that vision- that foresight disappeared in an instant.

“No.”

I muttered.

The intense light was still falling from the sky. Solely towards me.

-How?

“…How?”

I repeated the words that came to mind without realizing it-

How? Of course, I have to save her.

Yes. I can heal all sorts of wounds. Even people bleeding until they’re about to die. Even people severely poisoned to the point of barely breathing.

However, I can’t do anything about ‘instant death.’

There’s no way to save someone whose heart has completely disappeared.

No matter how much power I have, Ria’s body is just human.

But-

“…It’s not me, is it?”

I know.

I don’t know if the Saint in the original work was like this. But for a long time now, I’ve been thinking that perhaps that doesn’t matter.

Yes.

I was a being who suddenly appeared in this world when I was very young.

I don’t know what actions I took or what words I said in my vague memories. But there must be a reason why that being above placed me there in that form.

It’s unlikely I said nothing at all.

“That’s right. I’m just a being who appeared out of thin air.”

Whether created from nothing, or sent by someone.

I came here with a purpose.

Connected to that being.

-Really?

Is it really okay? That being was asking me. Is it okay like that?

It was a question filled with genuine concern, so I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Really.”

This time too, I said.

“If you ask me to pray, I will pray.”

That much, at least, is sincere.

“Please, let me.”

I trusted Ria.

Ria also trusts me.

“So that I can repay that trust-“

As I fell, I clasped my hands together.

“Please help me.”

And then, the scene before me changed.

Instantly.