Ch.26Birds of a Feather (3)

# 1 Second

It took one second for the water, which had been up to my waist, to rise above my head.

Opening my eyes underwater wasn’t something I was used to. Still, I had to do it. Thinking I might die if I stayed still like this, my eyelids forced themselves open.

Through my blurry vision, I could see something.

Smoke?

Whether it was smoke or fog, a whitish fluid was wrapping around my ankles. The water made it impossible to see its exact outline, but it seemed like a monster. One of the ghost variety.

What could it be?

What could it really be? I definitely couldn’t see ghosts until yesterday.

[“Mana, give me mana.”]

What are you saying?

[“If you trade mana, you can do anything. Lead yourself to salvation. Hurry.”]

I tried kicking at the smoke. It just passed through weakly.

Of course, there was a reason the Warning Stone couldn’t detect it. How could something detect what has no physical form?

Since physical force doesn’t work, it’s not human. Since it’s using Incantation, it’s likely a monster.

But wait, do we normally classify things with unclear forms as monsters?

[“I said give me your mana right now.”]

My breath was rising to the tip of my chin. It wasn’t simply because I was underwater.

This pressure. This coldness.

And the threatening attitude, constantly demanding mana.

Damn it.

This thing is a demon.

I quickly closed my eyes and covered my ears. I emptied my mind of complex thoughts. Only instinct remained. I struggled desperately to reach the surface.

It was a meaningless effort.

The pulling force was much stronger than my swimming strength. Even though I was clearly trying to go up, my body was moving farther and farther from the surface.

[“Mana. Mana.”]

I can’t breathe. My lungs feel like they’re going to tear.

[“Quickly give me your mana. Then I’ll spare your life.”]

A sweet whisper.

I recalled the Pledge of the Mage.

No matter what happens, never make deals with demons.

As a Mage, there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed. I shouldn’t give in to temptation just to guarantee a moment’s oxygen.

[“If you don’t pay the price, I’ll take your life instead.”]

The creature reveals its true colors. Since simple persuasion isn’t working, it’s now threatening my life.

[“Will you sell your soul for mana? Or will you give up your worthless life and meet a death worse than a street dog?”]

It was a hellish dilemma. With each passing second, the need to breathe became more desperate, causing an explosive urge to choose the former.

Still, I mustn’t do it.

Just yesterday, I had urged the spirits of the Magic Kingdom to uphold their pledges. What would it mean if the very person who said those words tried to make a contract with a demon? Even if I survived, it wouldn’t be living.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t want to live. How many humans truly wish for their own death?

But for someone who sells their soul to a demon, only terrible things await even if they survive.

[“Stubborn one.”]

The pulling speed increased. The bottom was so dim that I couldn’t see the floor. Even though I was clearly in a lake, it felt like being in the middle of an ocean.

Terror overwhelmed me, and my limit approached. I tried a few spells against the demon, but it was like giving water to a fish.

This is bad. There’s no answer.

Am I going to die like this?

It was a short but good… no, to be honest, a shitty life. That saying about 70% luck and 30% effort is nonsense. In reality, it seems like luck is 90% and effort isn’t even 10%. This will be my final lesson. I closed my eyes.

Just as everything was about to be dyed in despair, it happened.

“—————!!”

Don’t give up.

From above, I thought I heard the voice of a goddess.

***

The man was sinking rapidly. It was exactly the same situation that Tiria and Rachel had experienced yesterday afternoon.

Even a magician was ultimately human. Being suddenly dragged underwater, there seemed to be nothing he could do. Magic didn’t appear to be working either.

Although he was an enemy, she had to help him. She owed him a debt.

Leaving all judgment to her conscience, Tiria pulled out the goddess’s staff and descended at full speed. As a senior officer and a saint, her response based on countless experiences was very quick.

Boom!

Holy flames fell on the water ghost’s head.

Tiria’s holy magic deals great damage to souls. The more the opponent leans toward spirit and evil tendencies, the more its power multiplies.

Since it’s more powerful against monsters than living people, more powerful against vengeful spirits than monsters, and more powerful against demons than vengeful spirits, it was a truly fatal attack against a being with a raw, evil soul.

[“Aaaaargh!”]

The ghost screamed and scattered. Tiria didn’t stop. To deliver the goddess’s wrath, she uttered a spell to drive away the demon.

“———.”

Sephiron spread out in a spherical shape. The water ghost turned white under the overwhelming divine power.

[“Aaaah.”]

Finally, the water ghost vanished without a trace.

Tiria swam toward the man. She grabbed his arm and put her arm under his armpit to support him firmly. She could feel the man’s firm muscles and clear warmth directly.

Embarrassment aside, saving a life came first. Tiria ascended, cutting through the water that had become more than twice as heavy with just her two legs and one hand.

“Puhaaa!”

She finally made it to shore. Her lungs were tingling.

“Mage! Mage? Are you okay?”

“Cough, cough!”

The man coughed violently.

“…I, I almost died.”

“Yes. It’s fortunate I was nearby and could respond quickly. If you had been alone, you wouldn’t be in this world anymore.”

Tiria added.

“Does this repay the debt from dawn?”

“Of course it does. By the way…”

Regardless of how it happened, it was clear that the man had no direct connection to the secrets of this island. The man hadn’t even noticed Tiria’s approach, being absorbed in his bath.

Now it was truly time to worry about survival. They needed to gather drinking water and food, and catch worms to use as fishing bait before returning. As Tiria was thinking about various things…

“Shouldn’t we put on our clothes first?”

“…Huh? Ahgkyaaak?!”

***

After finishing our bath, the saint and I filled our water containers and went deeper into the forest. Our goal was hunting, gathering, and reconnaissance.

Since it was an island of considerable size, we hadn’t given up hope that people might be living somewhere. We also planned to look for that man while we were at it.

Quite some time passed like that.

I marked an X on a nearby tree and turned around.

“Let’s stop here for today and head back.”

“……”

I hadn’t been able to exchange a single word with the saint since earlier. To be precise, I kept trying to talk to her, but she wouldn’t respond. Her eyes had been pink the entire time.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know why she was acting this way. Rather, I knew all too well, which made my face burn with embarrassment.

I scratched the back of my neck vigorously as I spoke.

“Ms. Kasten, I just realized I forgot to tell you this. Thank you for saving me earlier.”

The saint raised her head.

“When I was being dragged away by the water ghost, you immediately jumped in to save me without caring that your barely dried robes would get wet again. If you had been even a little late, I would have died at the hands of the demon.”

“…!”

“I’ve only had negative perceptions about the Holy Spirit Church until now, but meeting you has changed my thinking a bit.”

The saint seemed to understand my meaning right away. The color of her irises changed constantly before finally settling on yellow.

Lumina’s yellow eyes signify positive emotions in general. Joy, gratitude, relief. It was the first time I had seen that color in front of me.

“…No. It was for my own sake. If we’re going to survive and leave this island, I need your skills too. We don’t need to worry about each other.”

That’s right. Our strategy was simply this:

Can we pretend it never happened?

It was an unexpected situation, and human life needed to be saved. As a saint, she had no choice.

It was similar to when I had to embrace a Valkyrie while wearing only underwear. It wasn’t intentional, but it was necessary for survival.

Eventually, the saint seemed to have sorted out her emotions. Evidence of this was that her eyes returned to neutral black.

“You said that water ghost from earlier was actually a demon?”

“Seeing how pathologically it demanded mana, I’m certain.”

“Why would a demon be on this island, and at the bottom of that lake?”

“It’s probably a newly born lesser demon.”

The principles of demon birth are still unknown, but their growth process has been somewhat revealed through research.

“Lesser demons feed on the surrounding environment or their host’s mana to grow. When the time comes, they begin to molt and achieve remarkable growth. Demons that have completed molting twice become higher demons and become very cunning.”

“Do mages fall victim to them? To higher demons?”

“I’m afraid so. They sweet-talk you. Simply put, they’re like opium. Even mages who were initially firm gradually reach a point where they’re tempted, which is why we’re told not to listen to anything demons say.”

“And you almost died to such a lesser demon?”

“This was my first time being attacked by a demon. I found I had no means to respond.”

“You’re a First-Class Mage.”

“Do you think National Mage qualification is like some old adventurer rank?”

“Still.”

“Type disadvantage.”

Pfft, the saint laughed.

As we walked, exchanging trivial chatter, we gradually forgot about what happened at the lakeside. The saint and I found plenty of berries in the bushes and put them in our basket, and we collected larvae from tree bark and put them in another container.

Why aren’t we catching animals?

“The forest is strange. I can’t hear any bird calls.”

In the end, the spear I had brought to try to catch even a squirrel was only being used as a walking stick. Still, we were able to find various herbs like Feredi leaves and Sakeconil, a type of stonecrop, which we picked.

Wooooo.

“…Did you hear that sound just now?”

I immediately took a defensive stance. The sun hadn’t set yet, but we didn’t know what might be nearby. There was no rule that monsters only appear at night.

The sound was coming from over there, from the deep bushes. My eyes narrowed. A whitish smoke in the shape of a person was there.

“It’s a soul.”

The saint said.

What, so I can suddenly see ghosts now?

“It’s a soldier from the Holy Spirit Kingdom. He says he died in the Tatangkur naval battle. Hmm.”

The saint, who had been talking with the soul, sighed.

“I’m sorry. I can’t kill this man.”