episode_0116

Knock――… …

Again――… …

There was a statue looking up at the sky and praying.

Sunlight streaming down from the ceiling illuminated the statue, and it looked as if it had been carved out of a scene in which God was bestowing grace.

And what the statue was wearing was the same nun uniform worn by the acoustics professor we saw in music class.

Although the decorations on the sleeves and the tiara on her head were much more ornate, the overall appearance was almost identical to that of a nun.

“… … .”

It was giving off a sacred atmosphere created by the rays of sunlight, the posture of praying, and the combination of the two.

Thanks to this, even though the statue was located in an unexpected place like a cave, it made me feel a sense of awe and an unknown comfort rather than a sense of alienation or fear.

“It’ll be okay if I approach you… … ?”

I slowly approached the statue, being careful of the slippery floor due to moss. I don’t know why. However, I walked towards the statue as if I was possessed by something.

As I got closer, I could see the statue’s condition much better. It had been in this spot for so long that something like moss and tree roots were wrapped around the legs of the statue.

But surprisingly, the moss and tree roots did not extend beyond the waist where the sunlight was shining.

The moss and roots were cut off from where the sunlight shined, as if it could not go any further than this point. It was as if it had been cut with a knife, precisely.

” That’s ridiculous… … .”

I sighed and walked closer to the statue. There were about twenty steps left from the statue. Through a gap in the ceiling, sunlight, much stronger than before, fell on the statue.

Softly like a thin silk curtain and vividly like a pouring spotlight, the pure white sunlight falling through the gap in the ceiling falls on the statue’s hand.

A dark cave… … . No, the inside of the main hall, which was wider than the academy auditorium we entered during the entrance ceremony, became bright as if the sun had risen.

“Wow… … .”

An ecstasy that I have never seen before in my life. Feeling a suffocating feeling that was different from when I was floating in the sky, I looked around in a daze.

The light reflected on the ceiling swayed every time the wind blew, giving the feeling of being underwater, and when I looked down a little, I saw colorful paintings that I couldn’t even tell how they were painted, filling the space from ceiling to floor.

“Is the person depicted in that mural the same person as the statue here…? … ?”

Unlike the statue, it was not properly maintained, so the paint was peeling here and there and there were parts that were crushed to the point of being unrecognizable, but the tiara on her head showed that the main character of the painting was a statue.

As I slowly looked around and examined the mural, I got the feeling that the mural contained a story.

The picture that appears to be the beginning of the story was drawn near the entrance I entered. It depicted a woman standing between a knight holding a sword and a commoner holding flowers.

The woman was wearing a tiara, and it seemed like the main character of the statue was royalty.

“I was wooed by two men, something like that… … ?”

The picture immediately to the right depicts a woman looking away and a commoner and a knight with their heads down.

And in the direction she was looking, there were images of people suffering from something.

[That was the beginning]

After seeing the people and citizens suffering, I gave up living for someone else. That’s why I rejected the advances of both men.

Knights and commoners knew this, so they respected me. Thanks to that, I was able to live by helping citizens without being tied down to anyone.

Although I couldn’t make everyone happy, I lived my life hoping that at least those within my reach would not be sad.

[happy]

Even though there was no ‘me’ in my life. Because of that, citizens regained their smiles and peace came to this land. I had enough of that.

[I was complacent]

A great evil that I could not resist appeared before me. And, they tried to take away everything I held dear.

He was the first to bring his army and disrupt the world. Next, I started killing my citizens at random.

And the person who loved me like this… … . Even two men.

[I was in despair]

It was too strong for me to stop it on my own. He was also merciless.

I had a hunch as I watched its legions rush in like a night taking away the light.

That this place will be my last.

[I will stand alone]

I prayed and prayed again. Even when the boiling hellfire engulfed me and the pouring sulfur crushed me, I did not stop praying.

In the end, the starting point of all nightmares stood directly in front of me. It’s entire body was stained red with blood, and it had burning eyes.

‘Give up.’

‘Now you have nothing left.’

‘What good does that get you?’

It wanted me to break on my own.

‘You will die alone, without anyone knowing.’

‘Your death is a dog’s death that leaves nothing behind’

It poured out endless curses to bring despair to me.

‘Look. The things you wanted to protect.’

‘No one expects anything from you.’

‘Your efforts were meaningless.’

It dazzled my eyes and played with my ears.

But I didn’t break down.

Because I knew that the moment I gave up, those behind me would die. I just closed my eyes and prayed in silence.

It doesn’t matter if I die here. Because it’s something I’ve already decided to do.

It’s okay if I have nothing left. If the people I wanted to protect survived, that was enough.

It doesn’t matter even if my death is not known to anyone. Because they won’t mourn my death.

Although I am standing here alone, I am not alone.

[I will overcome]

Did my prayers reach heaven? Light began to fall through the dark clouds.

A bright morning star burned brightly behind my back and began to burn my enemies.

Dawn began to dawn and drive away the night.

‘at last–‘

It satisfies–falls–down–

“Ah.”

The moment when my eyes caught a picture that was only a form, let alone recognized. I trembled as I felt my spirit, which had been sucked somewhere, come back.

I blinked as I felt dizzy, and when I realized I wasn’t breathing, I fell forward and took a deep breath.

“Huh… … !!”

My hands and feet were tingling. It was only for a moment, but I broke into a cold sweat with the creepy feeling that I had lost myself.

“What on earth was that?”

What came to mind clearly was clearly someone’s memory, a part of it. Probably, it’s a memory left behind by that statue behind me.

The jumbled memories cluttered my mind, and I squatted in my seat and held down my pounding head.

As time passed and the light leaking from the ceiling weakened, the bright interior of the main hall became dark, and perhaps because of that, I felt like my headache had eased a little.

“Ah, my head hurts… … .”

I slowly got up from my seat, and although I stumbled for a moment because my head was still pounding, I was soon able to stand upright.

I looked around again in a daze, and blinked as I looked at the wall where darkness had descended and I could not see anything.

“I definitely think I saw something… … .”

A person who prays, a morning star, and. and… … .

What was it?

I’m sure I saw something, but all that remained in my mind were fragmentary memories whose meaning I couldn’t understand.

The more I tried to remember, the more blurred the memory became. I sighed and looked back. There was a praying statue there that I saw earlier.

“Now I see there is no face.”

Is it because of the water falling through the cracks in the ceiling? Or is it just weathering over time? The face of the praying statue was completely unrecognizable.

Since the head was still attached, we can only guess that there was a face there, and where the eyes, nose, and mouth should have been, there were only hollow puddles of water.

After looking at the statue for a while, I didn’t know how much time had passed, but it seemed like a lot of time had passed, so I thought I could go out, and turned around and headed toward the rock crevice I had come in from.

As I approached the crevice in the rock, I stopped for a moment and looked back, thinking that it was thanks to that statue that I was able to hide in this space to avoid the griffon.

“Thank you for watching.”

Of course, there was no answer. There was no such thing as my body becoming lighter or anything.

It was just my voice floating around empty in the great void.

“What did I expect… … .”

I scratched my head, shook my head, and squeezed myself into the crevice of the rock. Just like when I came in, I frowned as I felt my chest being pressed tightly.

“As expected… … . It’s narrow… … !”

As I took one step at a time with difficulty, feeling as if it had somehow become narrower than before, the gap in the rock widened little by little.

This was the part that the griffon had scratched with its claws earlier.

“Scraping and chipping away at a stone with your claws. A monster is a monster… … .”

After finishing my short viewing, I quickly escaped through the gap in the rocks that was wider than before.

“Ugh! I got out!”

I sighed, feeling like I could breathe easier, and stretched, feeling my whole body tingle.

“Ugh――!!”

――!!

Wow, was my voice this high? As I was stretching, I blinked and lowered my arms.

weird. Did you not hear well?

At the same time as I had that thought, I heard ‘that sound’ again.

――!!!

I heard it clearly this time. The sound that came from far above my head was clearly the cry of a griffon.

“Ah.”

It seemed that Gryphon had a much more persistent personality than I thought.