Lifespan
by Afuhfuihgs
,The expression of someone who’s gained hope isn’t bad after all.”
I snapped back to reality at the Saintess’s words. She said that delivering hope to me was the promise that the other world’s me made with the Saintess. If that’s the case, then Ross had read the flow up to this point. He certainly seems like a Ross worthy of the title of Sage.
Suddenly, the Saintess held out her hand to me. Unlike before, it was an empty hand. I stared at her palm for a moment, unable to grasp her intention, and cautiously tried to raise my hand, but the Saintess frowned, pulled her hand back, and said.
,Not your hand, the ring.”
,Ring?”
,Give me the Ring of Covenant on your finger.”
I was taken aback by the Saintess’s demand. Was she perhaps demanding a price from me in exchange for keeping the promise she made with the Ross of another world? As I was thinking that, the Saintess said in a curt tone.
,…I’m asking for it for your sake. It’s an extension of the promise.”
,Then, to make it believable, why don’t you explain why you’re asking for the Ring of Covenant?”
At those words, the Saintess’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
,…Believe it or not.”
Seeing the Saintess turn her head away like that, I could somehow sense that she was sulking at my actions. The Saintess didn’t intentionally show it, but I could somehow just tell.
I pondered for a moment what to do. I had already received help from the Saintess. It seemed like I could trust her words that it was an extension of the promise. On the other hand, I also speculated that the Saintess wouldn’t be demanding the Ring of Covenant without any reason.
I took the Ring of Covenant off my finger and handed it to the Saintess. The Saintess examined the ring for a moment, then put it on her finger and looked up at the empty air. It seemed like she was checking the message on the ring.
The Saintess, who had been silently reading something for a moment, tilted her head slightly as if my figure was blocking the message, and looked at me. Thanks to that, I noticed the Saintess’s silver hair flowing beautifully down her shoulders.
,Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Don’t rely on tools’?”
At those words, I shifted my gaze from her silver hair to the Saintess’s blue eyes.
,…That’s what people who haven’t obtained useful tools say. Tools are literally there to help people. It depends on how you use them.”
I answered defensively, as the Saintess’s question sounded like she was telling me not to rely on the Ring of Covenant. But the Saintess replied with an expression as if she didn’t want to hear such excuses.
,I’m saying that as a warning to be careful of people who become useless without tools.”
With those words, the Saintess reached out and wrapped her hand around my neck as if it were natural. I could feel the soft and warm touch of her hand. I stared at her in disbelief at her natural action, and when our eyes met, the Saintess slightly twitched the corners of her lips and slowly closed her eyes.
Was she trying to check my pulse? I closed my mouth for a moment and observed the Saintess, waiting for the results of her unknown actions. She looked exactly like she did in the illustrations I remembered.
Even without her jewel-like beautiful blue eyes, the Saintess was very beautiful with her eyes closed. She was exuding a noble atmosphere that I couldn’t usually feel, as if she was trying to show me what holiness was through her appearance.
Her long eyelashes quietly opened. The Saintess’s gaze wandered for a moment, then settled on my two eyes. It was a strange gaze, as if she was looking at something behind my eyes. Without breaking the tangled gaze, we stared blankly at each other for a while, then the Saintess sighed, letting out a ,hyuu’ sound.
,You have two months left.”
,…Of what?”
,The time you have left.”
My face stiffened at those contextless words. A tense atmosphere was instantly created between us. But I didn’t think the Saintess was deceiving me. Although there was no setting like Roel’s that allowed her to convey her true feelings to others, the Saintess was someone who believed in the power of sincerity.
She was the naive type who thought that if you treated someone with sincerity, they would treat you with sincerity as well. She was the complete opposite of a liar like me.
I asked with a sigh.
,…Are you suddenly saying that I only have two months left to live?”
,Yeah.”
,Like I said before, could you add some explanation to the conversation so I can believe you?”
The Saintess, who had taken her hand off my neck, took off the Ring of Covenant from her finger and said.
,Because you overused divine power with a human body.”
To think that her explanation required speculation, it seemed like the Saintess wasn’t a good conversationalist. Still, I could quickly understand what the Saintess was saying. There was no mistaking it for anything else. Among the things I obtained with the power of Geass, there was only one that belonged to divine power.
,Did Combat Continuation eat away at my lifespan?”
The Saintess nodded, her blue eyes shining.
,That’s right. You can think of it as a reaction to using a powerful divine power that allows you to escape the brink of death.”
Even with the Saintess’s explanation, I couldn’t easily accept it. That’s because Combat Continuation had a separate penalty. The message also mentioned that picking up orbs was the penalty for Combat Continuation. Was that not the entirety of the penalty?
When I asked about that, the Saintess sighed and said.
,They were orbs divided into black and white, right?”
A strange sense of unease tickled my chest at the Saintess’s question.
,…Yeah.”
,The price you directly paid into your pocket as a price for using divine power was exactly that. The black orbs represent lifespan, and the white orbs represent time.”
With the Saintess’s explanation, I could now fully understand. What I thought were simply orbs were the price I was paying. I had known for a long time that the Ring of Covenant was a double-edged sword for the user.
But I have no regrets. If it weren’t for Combat Continuation, I wouldn’t even be standing here. Combat Continuation, which had saved my life many times, was now just stabbing me.
,So, I really only have two months left?”
,Yeah.”
I felt a bitter emotion at the Saintess’s answer. Rather than the fear of death approaching, it was the bitterness of not being able to keep my promise with Luna to spend all the seasons together in the future. I sighed and ran a hand over my face once.
,…Can I save the world in two months?”
As I muttered to myself and pondered, the Saintess suddenly brought her face close to mine.
,Are you thinking of saving the world with your remaining lifespan?”
,Then should I go on a trip before I die?”
,I thought you would do that.”
,….”
If I hadn’t received hope from the other world’s me, I would have given up on everything. It’s impossible to solve the problems of Roel and the Order within two months. I would have looked for a way to be with Luna as much as possible.
But it’s different now. Even if I die, the world doesn’t end. I have to do something before I die so that the people I care about can continue to live. Even though I’m far from the hero I dreamed of, I’m not a crazy bastard who’s afraid of a lonely death and tries to bury the world with himself.
Suddenly, I wondered if there should be something wrong with my body if I only had two months left to live. There was nothing wrong with my body. I was as healthy as usual, and unlike before, I hadn’t lost any strength or felt any unknown fatigue.
,…I seem to be fine for someone who only has two months left.”
As I was thinking that, I lowered my head at the blatant gaze that I could no longer ignore. I saw the Saintess’s face looking up at me because of the height difference. She somehow had a smile on her lips.
,…What are you staring at so intently?”
,You seem stupid.”
Those words were closer to a lover’s playful answer than sincerity. Strangely, the sense of distance between us was different. Unlike me, who was awkward in front of a strange beauty, the Saintess’s attitude, as if she was treating a friend, felt somehow natural. Swept away by the soft atmosphere created by the Saintess, I also threw out a joke.
,Is the Saintess calling a man who’s full of self-sacrificing spirit to live his remaining life for others stupid right now?”
,No, that’s amazing. The reason I installed a safety device on you was because I wanted to see that side of you.”
,Then what’s stupid?”
I stubbornly clung to her words and sent her a look that said, ,Try to explain yourself,’ and the Saintess’s eyes were somehow filled with pity. I stared at the Saintess, not wanting to lose to her gaze that seemed to be looking at a real idiot.
,The reason your lifespan has been shortened isn’t a problem with your body. Your body has been completely restored with the divine power of Combat Continuation. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with your body. There won’t be anything wrong with your body until your lifespan runs out.”
Was I going to die suddenly without feeling any pain? I was thinking that was at least fortunate when the Saintess suddenly smacked my forehead with a ,tchak-‘ sound. I, who had been struck by an unexpected blow, stared at the Saintess with a dumbfounded look.
,That’s the punishment for presumptuously mistaking the Saintess’s help as just telling you how much lifespan you have left.”
,…Then?”
,I’m going to use the power of God to reverse the reason why your lifespan has been drastically shortened than expected.”
The Saintess showed me the Ring of Covenant that she had taken off and added.
,By destroying this thing that’s binding you.”
0 Comments