Ch.108Discovery (3)

# *

In the past, there was a great mage named Malice.

A legendary figure in history who was the first to receive the surname “Staff,” which was said to be bestowed only upon the greatest mage of the era, and who also bore the nickname “the Sage.”

According to what the Green Lady said, his true identity was that of a spirit mage like me.

The story of how he built a massive castle in a single night.

Now I could somewhat understand how that might have been possible.

The handcuffs that Miss Silvia had made by bending blades to restrain me.

If I had been my usual self, my magic would have been too weak and my aim too imprecise to break those handcuffs.

But with Pia’s help, my Wind Cutter had noticeably changed in both power and accuracy.

“Wind again this time?”

Pia asked me.

I nodded.

“Wind Blaster. I’ll fire it the moment the two of them collide.”

“A bigger wind?”

“Yes, a bigger wind.”

Even while talking with me, Pia was frantically turning her head and gaze in all directions.

She could clearly track the two people’s fight with her eyes.

“Can you aim for the moment when the two of them come together?”

“…?”

Pia tilted her head, seemingly not understanding what I meant.

“Can you blow them both away?”

“Yeah… um, I’ll try.”

Pia answered quietly, as if lacking confidence.

I could fully understand my little spirit’s feelings.

Even I wasn’t confident.

I knew well that if I tried to get between those two, I’d be nothing more than a shrimp caught between fighting whales.

The thunderous sounds echoing from all directions.

It was obvious that if I clumsily intervened in that exchange of attacks, which far exceeded the level of ordinary humans, I’d only end up getting myself hurt.

But the reason I could attempt this near-suicidal act was because I was certain that neither of them wanted to hurt me.

Neither Sister Silvia nor Sister Alice would want me dead.

If my feeble magic proved useless, I planned to throw my frail body between them.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

A long, slow sigh followed, as if squeezing all the air from my lungs.

“Now.”

At Pia’s signal, I chanted the spell.

Wind Blaster.

It was a simple spell mainly used to push away approaching enemies, making them fall off cliffs, or to create distance in surprise attacks.

I don’t want to remember it, but… that day when I killed five people under the curse, I had used this spell to blow a strong man onto a sharp branch, impaling him to death.

I had already learned from that experience I’d rather not imagine that no matter how strong the opponent, once lifted into the air, they would inevitably be pushed away.

As the spell was completed, Pia’s body turned into a large vortex and dispersed into the air.

Simultaneously, I heard a heavy impact sound, as if something large and soft had been thrust into the ground.

“Ugh,”

“Kuh!”

Turning toward the groaning sounds, I saw Sister Alice and Miss Silvia falling from the air.

The two of them tumbled several times as they fell onto the sandy riverbank.

I hurriedly ran toward the space between them before they could regain their posture.

As the dust raised by the impact on the sandy depression slowly settled, I could see Miss Silvia already standing up.

I noticed the tendons in her hand tightening as she gripped her sword.

I changed direction and ran toward Sister Alice, who was still lying down.

“Stop!”

I shouted as I covered Sister Alice with my body.

I felt the sharp sensation of a sword poking my side.

“Ash…?”

Fortunately, Miss Silvia’s sword didn’t pierce my skin enough to wound me.

No, she must have stopped her sword the moment she saw it touch me.

Miss Silvia dropped her sword with trembling hands, seemingly realizing she had almost stabbed me.

The slowly falling sword embedded itself more than 10 centimeters into the sand with a loud noise.

“Why… WHY! No, are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt… More importantly…”

I looked at Sister Alice who had collapsed beneath me.

With her entire body covered in cuts, not to mention her constantly melting chest, she coughed up blood, unable to even lift her head as she gasped for breath.

“…Sister?”

She was trembling, unable to answer.

My heart sank as it seemed she might die at any moment.

“…Sister Alice, get… get up.”

I whispered softly as I slipped my trembling fingertips under her head to lift it slightly.

We had only just met, and there was still so much to talk about.

“Ash, don’t worry…”

“…”

I glared at Sister Silvia in silence.

She flinched in surprise, closed her mouth, and slowly brought her hand to cover her lips.

I turned back to Sister Alice and pleaded.

“Sister… please,”

“Argh,”

“Sister!”

Thankfully, Sister Alice’s unfocused pupils quickly regained their light.

Her face, which was contorted in pain as she groaned softly and slowly looked at me, appeared quite fierce, but still retained some of the youthful features I remembered.

Though she had changed a lot, her face still evoked a vague nostalgia. As I slowly shifted my gaze from her face, I could see the wounds that had covered her body slowly closing and disappearing.

Torn flesh, a shattered shoulder, a broken ankle, and the grotesquely open left abdomen.

It was strange yet mystical to see injuries that would normally require a long hospital stay healing on their own, emitting a faint white light.

However, the numerous holes from her collarbone down between her breasts to her solar plexus kept melting from the inside, forming holes, then slowly healing, only to repeat the process.

I thought I glimpsed some kind of mechanical device working noisily through the holes.

As I was about to examine that machine more closely, I suddenly realized I was staring intently at Sister Alice’s bare chest. I took off the outermost layer of my many clothes and covered her with it.

Sister Alice, who had somehow become completely fine, slowly raised her arm to place her hand on my cheek and called my name.

“Ash…”

“Sister, are you okay?”

Sister Alice smiled weakly and said.

“…What about you?”

Even in such a terrible state, Sister Alice was worried about me.

Since Sister Alice had recovered and Sister Silvia appeared unharmed, I thought this was an opportunity to clear up the misunderstandings between them.

I could feel Miss Silvia’s discomfort without even turning around.

Fearing that Miss Silvia might draw her sword again, I gently removed Sister Alice’s hand from my cheek, held it, and nodded slightly as I spoke.

“I’m fine… Sister, listen to me carefully. Miss Silvia… Sister didn’t force me to stay with her. She didn’t threaten or intimidate me… and it’s not because of brainwashing either.”

“…”

“The companion I mentioned back at the cabin was Sister Silvia. I’m really with her because I want to be.”

“…That’s not true.”

“Huh?”

Sister Alice tried to say something while tightly gripping my hand.

However, Miss Silvia, seemingly unable to bear the sight any longer, wedged herself between us and separated us.

“Don’t touch my man so casually.”

“Sister Silvia…”

“Ash, come here. Now.”

Miss Silvia slowly reached out her hand to me.

Her burning gaze was filled with a fierce whirlwind of jealousy and obsession.

Fortunately, the fighting had stopped for now, but a tense atmosphere hung in the air, like walking on thin ice that could break at any moment.

To avoid provoking Miss Silvia, I took her hand as she requested.

“Hmph,”

Miss Silvia yanked my hand hard.

Then she pulled me in and held me tightly in her arms.

“You saw it clearly, didn’t you? You heard it clearly, didn’t you? That Ash chose me of his own free will.”

“Sister Silvia…”

“Ash, be quiet.”

Sister Alice slowly rose to her feet and smiled, twisting her lips.

“I saw how difficult it is for Ash, having to go along with your coercive attitude.”

“Ha, have your eyes melted from holy power?”

“The one with strange eyes is you. What’s with those filthy red eyes?”

“They’re the same color as Ash’s. Jealous?”

“You should know that only you are crazy enough to be jealous of having the same plague, you wicked woman.”

“Both of you, please stop…”

“No, Ash.”

Sister Alice shook her head.

“I’m going to kill her.”

“Sister, please… we can talk this through…”

“Ash. Did you see what that woman was doing to me?”

I closed my mouth.

Honestly, I hadn’t seen everything clearly.

All I had witnessed was her holding Sister Alice’s severed head.

But I had definitely seen the mass of flesh writhing behind Sister Silvia’s back as she stammered in surprise at seeing me, gradually forming into Sister Alice’s body and standing up.

That alone was enough for me to guess what Miss Silvia had done to Sister Alice.

“…That,”

“Every night I was torn apart and crushed until my form was completely mangled, and she even gathered my flesh and submerged it in water… My body regenerated in a distorted way to fit the narrow metal frame, and while constantly drowning, I barely clung to life with holy power… Then she would come at night and completely destroy my body again.”

“…”

Sister Alice’s description was so horrific with anger dripping from every word that I looked up at Miss Silvia with trembling eyes.

Sister Silvia shook her head and said.

“N-No…”

“The Hero dares to lie before the Church’s Inquisitor,”

Sister Alice slowly stood up and looked down at Miss Silvia, who was holding me tightly.

An enormous holy power seemingly flowing from the machine inside her chest.

Though Sister Alice demonstrated formidable regenerative abilities with that power, judging from the earlier battle, Miss Silvia seemed to have a slight upper hand in combat between the two.

It could have been the difference in weapons.

Miss Silvia was using her custom sword, while Sister Alice had no proper weapon.

If another fight broke out now, Miss Silvia would clearly have the advantage.

But for some reason, Miss Silvia was trembling and avoiding Sister Alice’s gaze as if terrified.

Sister Alice slowly opened her mouth.

“You left Maria to die,”

“Stop… stop it.”

“Transferred the curse to Ash and trapped him in this forest,”

“No, Ash… don’t listen.”

“And attacked me when I came to save Ash,”

“No… that’s,”

Miss Silvia covered my ears, crying out in a terrified voice.

It seemed what she feared most was me.

She was afraid that if I heard about the crimes she had committed, I might lose all affection for her.

That was the situation Miss Silvia feared most.

“Please, Ash, don’t listen.”

Miss Silvia pleaded tearfully, pressing her palms against my ears.

Her trembling lips and wildly moving eyes filled my vision.

Of course, covering my ears with her hands couldn’t completely block all sound.

Through Miss Silvia’s palms, I could hear Sister Alice’s muffled voice.

“Now I see… Ash, what’s that wound on your wrist?”

“Ah…”

Miss Silvia flinched noticeably.

Her hands gripping my face tightened progressively.

“This is… from earlier…”

“Ash… it’s a misunderstanding, it was only… no, that’s…”

Miss Silvia interrupted me with a pleading voice.

Sister Alice narrowed her eyes and said.

“It’s a cut from a sharp blade. Judging by how it wraps around your wrist, you must have been wearing something like sharp handcuffs?”

“Ah… they weren’t handcuffs…”

“Then what were they?”

I closed my mouth.

How could I possibly say “Actually, Sister Silvia restrained me with sharp blades, and I cut my wrist on those blades while trying to escape” in front of Miss Silvia, who was terrified that I might resent her?

If I did that, Sister Alice would surely condemn Miss Silvia even more harshly.

Of course, what happened to Sister Alice was terrible, but at least regarding what happened to me, I had forgiven Miss Silvia.

No, I hadn’t even resented her in the first place.

The curse on me was my own fault for ignoring her warning and spying on her, and Sister Maria’s death was the fault of the evil Demon King, not Sister Silvia.

Of course, I was quite shocked to wake up today and find myself imprisoned, but I could understand even that.

She must have had her reasons.

So there was no way I could hate Sister Silvia for such reasons now.

Rather, Miss Silvia’s tearful eyes, anxiously watching me for signs of resentment, seemed almost cute.

I smiled gently, softly grasped Sister Silvia’s hands, and slowly nodded.

Sister Silvia’s eyes widened.

“Sister Alice.”

I removed Miss Silvia’s hands from my ears.

Miss Silvia didn’t resist.

Sister Alice looked down at me, calmly waiting for me to speak.

I stood up and slowly approached Sister Alice.

Miss Silvia watched me with wavering eyes, but I smiled at her reassuringly before addressing Sister Alice.

“Ash.”

“Sister… we have so much to talk about, don’t we?”

“…Yes. It’s been… such a long time.”

“I have so many things I want to talk about with you too. I… missed you so much. The Count and his wife too…”

“…Ash.”

I slowly bowed my head and waist before Sister Alice.

“Please forgive Sister Silvia.”