Chapter 6: The Value of Resurrection Magic

A week had passed since Shishiroka had collapsed.

The reason for her collapse was, unsurprisingly, the Seed of Banna.

Shishiroka had always been physically weak due to the Seed of Banna.

The Seed of Banna was eating away at her body faster than expected, to the point where even a teenager’s physique couldn’t withstand it.

Shishiroka had to stay in bed.

Her legs couldn’t walk properly and kept collapsing.

Raphael took care of Shishiroka for several days.

But even her Holy Magic couldn’t help Shishiroka.

Eventually, Shishiroka became unable to rise from her sickbed.

Inside the room filled with sunlight.

Shishiroka was gazing blankly out the window.

Two sparrows were sitting on a branch at the place she was looking at.

The sparrows were chirping busily, as if they were having fun.

,Shishiroka-senpai.”

,Ah, Harua-hubae.”

At my call, Shishiroka turned to look at me.

In just one week, she had become even thinner than before.

Her arms were emaciated, and her legs were even worse.

In just a week, her condition had deteriorated rapidly.

Perhaps she had been pushed to her limit for a long time.

She was just pretending to be as calm as possible.

Her body had been breaking down and dying for a long time.

A book was placed next to Shishiroka.

It was a theoretical book on Holy Magic.

Shishiroka still hadn’t given up on Holy Magic and was trying to master it.

Whether it was fruitful or not, she remained the same.

,You know, today Raphael-sensei was bothering me again.”

I cheerfully recounted the events of the day in front of Shishiroka.

This was one of my daily routines.

Shishiroka listened to my stories with pleasure and sometimes even laughed.

Recently, when I had no stories to tell, I would tell her stories about Earth.

Each story seemed new and fascinating to Shishiroka, and her eyes would often sparkle.

,When you get up again, let’s go together someday.”

I didn’t forget to give her strength at the end.

,Yes, that would be really fun.”

Shishiroka never said she would go with me.

Before I knew it, another month had passed.

My Holy Magic was beginning to show results in earnest.

It wasn’t a lie that Raphael said I had talent.

On the other hand, Shishiroka was getting thinner and thinner.

Her arms and legs were close to bone, and so was her body.

Her chest was sunken in, showing her ribs, and her cheeks were hollow.

Recently, she had even lost consciousness, and Raphael had to rush over in the middle of the night.

The Holy Magic book was still next to Shishiroka.

Shishiroka’s sleeping periods increased.

When she woke up, she would smile slightly when I greeted her.

These days, I told her slightly exaggerated stories.

I used to enjoy reading books when I was young, so I had a lot of stories to tell.

Shishiroka often laughed at my exaggerated expressions.

She still had a lot of laughter.

Another month passed.

My seed was very hard, as Raphael had said.

It didn’t crack easily and didn’t seem to want to sprout.

It seems that becoming a great Holy Magic user is not an easy task.

Shishiroka was awake for less than 2 hours a day.

She spent most of her time sleeping.

When she woke up, she couldn’t even tell if reality was a dream or not.

I talked to Shishiroka as usual.

Her laughter was less than before.

So I acted more exaggeratedly.

Then she laughed a little.

A week passed.

In the meantime, Shishiroka had slept for two days straight.

Raphael stayed by her side for about a day, as her physical condition was at its end.

,Harua-hubae.”

As I was talking to her after she woke up after a long time, she called me.

,If Shishiroka had talent like Harua-hubae, would she have been able to live longer?”

Talent as a Holy Magic user.

I haven’t even bloomed that talent yet.

But Shishiroka envied my talent.

Because if I had her talent, there would have been a chance for her to live a little longer.

,Shishiroka had a lot of things she wanted to do. She wanted to go to the 2nd World, go on adventures, and later get married and have children.”

Something that anyone can dream of.

Shishiroka also dreamed of such things.

,But, it seems like it was too much greed for Shishiroka.”

Shishiroka smiled weakly.

Before I knew it, I was holding Shishiroka’s hand.

,Why is that too much greed?”

Shishiroka’s gaze reached me.

,Everyone can dream of things, so why is that too much greed?”

Everyone dreams.

If dreaming such dreams is pointed out as greed, then that world is doomed.

,Shishiroka, you’ve done your best. There’s no one anywhere who would call you greedy.”

Before I knew it, I was calling Shishiroka comfortably.

I no longer used honorifics and didn’t put up a wall.

Shishiroka stared blankly up at me.

Then she slowly raised the corners of her mouth.

,I see. Shishiroka worked hard, right?”

,Yes, you really worked hard.”

I know well that she studied Holy Magic every night until she fell asleep, as I had been with her all this time.

She no longer looked at the Holy Magic theory book.

She had memorized all the theory books, so now she practiced Holy Magic every day when she woke up.

I’ve seen it myself.

Who would belittle her and say she didn’t work hard?

,Then, that’s a relief.”

Shishiroka slowly closed her eyelids.

,Shishiroka was a strong person who didn’t give up until the end.”

,Shishiroka.”

I called her name.

I felt it instinctively.

The moment she closes her eyelids today, she will never wake up again.

This is the end.

What should I say to her at the end?

After a brief hesitation, my lips opened.

,I, my ability is Resurrection Magic.”

I held Shishiroka’s hand tightly.

If you ask me if I had a deep affection for Shishiroka, I don’t know.

It had only been a few months since she and I had met.

Even then, she collapsed and we didn’t do much together.

But she struggled so much to live.

She struggled with efforts that made her cough up blood instead of fear in the face of death.

She was the most hardworking person I had seen among the uncivilized people of this other world.

I didn’t want to hide even my ability from her in front of her.

,If it’s me, I can save you again. I’ll definitely save you.”

Shishiroka’s eyelids faintly opened.

,You said you wanted to go to the sea. I’ll go get a carriage from somewhere. Let’s go.

I’ll quickly become a great Holy Magic user and go to the 2nd World, and finally even go to Earth. There’s a lot to do.”

I will save her and take her with me.

I declared that.

She looked at me and my hand that she was holding.

Then she smiled weakly.

,Really? That would be fun.”

And today too.

She didn’t say she would go with me.

,Really, that would be fun.”

Shishiroka’s voice cuts off.

The strength in her hand disappeared.

Her collapsed body fell onto the bed.

There is still warmth in her hand.

But that warmth was about to disappear.

Light leaked from my grasp.

It was the first time I had used Resurrection Magic since Bulldog Ajussi to save Shishiroka.

The light spread through the window.

My light permeated Shishiroka’s body.

The white light fades.

Before I knew it, only silence remained in the room.

But Shishiroka didn’t get up.

She didn’t move at all, with her eyes closed gently.

,Shishiroka.”

In fact, I knew it vaguely.

Resurrection Magic is definitely a magic that revives people.

But that’s only to restore the person to the state they were in just before they died.

If Holy Magic could extend lifespan in the first place, there would be no deaths due to aging in this world.

If that were the case, Raphael would have solved Shishiroka’s body a long time ago.

Even if you save someone whose lifespan has ended, they will die because their lifespan has ended.

Even Holy Magic couldn’t do anything about a body that had reached its physical limit.

The only possibility that Resurrection Magic cannot save.

I had always kept this possibility in mind.

That’s why until the very end.

I hesitated to tell Shishiroka this fact.

And in the end, I gave Shishiroka only false hope and let her go.

No.

Shishiroka herself probably knew it too.

She had studied the theory of Holy Magic more than anyone else.

She probably knew that she couldn’t be saved from the moment she heard what I said.

That’s why she accepted death.

The warmth remaining in Shishiroka’s hand fades away.

It was a small hand with calluses from turning the pages of books every day.

,Shishiroka.”

Even if I called her name, she wouldn’t wake up anymore.

A person who couldn’t be saved even with Resurrection Magic has left.

,Fuck.”

For some reason, a curse word came out.

I already knew that Resurrection Magic was not omnipotent.

I knew it myself because I used Resurrection Magic.

But I guess I believed until the end that I could save Shishiroka.

,Fuck.”

I pressed my face after cursing once again.

I’m incompetent.

I hate my fucking incompetent self so much.

I don’t have deep feelings for Shishiroka.

It’s only been a few months.

There’s no way I could have deep feelings in this time.

I just hated the fact that I, who declared that I would hide Resurrection Magic, tried to save a girl even while breaking that declaration, but couldn’t do anything.

What’s Resurrection Magic, and what’s the talent for Holy Magic?

What kind of talent is this if I can’t even save a dying child?

No.

Even so, I survived because I had Resurrection Magic.

It’s just one otherworlder who died.

There’s no problem at all.

As planned, Raphael will take care of me more actively.

It’s a good thing because there’s no need to waste any more time.

Let’s think positively.

The good is good.

,Shishiroka.”

But there was me, calling out, hoping that Shishiroka would open her eyes.

I hate this fucking other world so much.

I really hate it like crazy.

I hated this irrational situation and the fact that I couldn’t save a girl even though I had abandoned what I had decided.

Eudeuk-

So I didn’t want to live weakly enough to accept this irrationality.

I raised my hand and took a strand of Shishiroka’s hair.

With my current level, it takes too much magic to revive her with just a strand of hair.

It was the same that I couldn’t revive her now.

But I promised her.

It was a promise to save her with Resurrection Magic.

The first promise I made after falling into this world.

I wanted to live as truthfully as I could in a world full of lies.

So someday I will find a way to solve the Seed of Banna that is eating away at her.

I will become a great Holy Magic user superior to Raphael and find that method.

The day I can solve the Seed of Banna and extend her lifespan.

I will keep the promise I made with her today.

,Wait, you’re sleeping.”

Is it because the world sees it as pathetic?

Rainwater flows down my cheeks.

The weather was clear today.