By the time I returned after spending some time alone with Ariel—
“Oh my, how horrible…”
“Oh, you’re back? That was quick. You could’ve stayed a bit longer, you know.”
“It wasn’t exactly the right environment for that.”
Lobelia’s group could be seen burning a mountain of corpses.
Was this the Cradle’s version of a campfire?
Of course, it was better than leaving the bodies to rot, but seeing them piled up and set ablaze still made me feel uneasy.
Maybe this just proves I still have some humanity left in me?
“Your Highness, now that I think about it…where is Yuna?”
“Johan? Why are you asking about her?”
As soon as I brought up Yuna, Ariel who had been smiling with her arm linked through mine suddenly turned cold.
“…It’s a natural question to ask when someone goes missing in a dangerous area like this, isn’t it?”
“Ah… Right.”
That’s intense. Really intense.
I felt like I couldn’t say anything around her.
Just a moment ago, things had felt like they were going well. Why am I getting chills again?
“If it’s Yuna you’re wondering about, she said she had something to take care of and left early. She was carrying what looked suspiciously like a sack with a person inside.”
“I see.”
There’s a 100% chance there was a person in that sack.
Was she off to conduct an interrogation somewhere?
If it’s Yuna doing the questioning, with the cold-blooded assassin that she is, it’ll probably be something no one else could bear to watch. Best not to dwell on it.
I don’t have the stomach for it…
“Then, shall we head back too?”
“I suppose we should. Well then, see you tomorrow, Headmistress.”
“No need to come tomorrow. Thanks to today, I’ve had plenty of rest. So please, focus on your field training.”
“If it’s not too boring, I’ll do just that.”
Lobelia answered nonchalantly, and Olga Hermod shook her head with a wry smile.
Whatever consideration the two of them had for each other, I had already decided not to come tomorrow. Regardless of what happened.
Honestly, was there even any need for me to be there? I didn’t do anything, after all.
***
Once we returned to the training grounds, we had to immediately start preparing for the night raid drill.
“Ah! I forgot this was happening!”
Come to think of it, this was the only scheduled program for this field training.
Damn it. Why did Lobelia have to go help Olga Hermod on the very day this was happening…?
All I wanted was a bit of rest, but thanks to her, I had to jump straight into training.
I wanted to feign illness or something, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“Wowww…”
Helena who ended up on my team was bouncing with excitement.
Even if I wasn’t in the mood, I couldn’t just pour cold water on a kid who was looking forward to it so much. So, feeling drained, I took part in the drill.
The drill itself wasn’t anything special.
First, two teams were selected and split into defense and attack units.
The defense team would transport cargo along a designated route through the forest, while the attack team’s job was to steal or destroy it.
It was meant to simulate real wartime conditions. Since the defense team had to operate outside the Cradle’s controlled environment, they needed to be extra cautious of their surroundings.
On the flip side, the attack team had to find hiding spots and set up within a limited time frame before beginning the mission.
And all of it took place at night.
Considering that teams with similar combat levels were matched up, the outcome would likely come down to how each side made their decisions within the time limit.
So which team were we?
“When will they come? Do you think they’ll fall into our traps?”
We were the attack team. Of course.
It would’ve been a bit much to put Helena in a situation where she was the one being attacked.
If she got startled and fainted or something, it’d be a disaster.
That’s why we ended up being the ones doing the ambushing. Well, it was practically a scripted scenario.
So, right in front of Helena, we set up traps and waited for the defense team to arrive.
Even that boring stretch of time seemed like a fresh experience to Helena. She couldn’t stop smiling.
Then, finally, the defense team we were supposed to face came into view.
“Take this!”
With a spirited shout, Helena triggered the trap, and the cautious defense team promptly fell straight down into it.
A pitfall trap. One of the most basic of obstruction tactics. The defense team students probably knew all about it.
Still, knowing Helena was on this side, they must have willingly let themselves fall in.
In fact, the ones who didn’t fall due to the trap’s timing actually looked uneasy.
Wait… did you guys want to fall?
You wanted to make Helena smile, didn’t you?
“Amazing, Helena. Thanks to you, we’ve managed to hold up three of them. Great timing, too.”
Lobelia praised Helena first. Well, looking purely at the results, it wasn’t a bad situation. Even if they let it happen on purpose.
“From here on, it’s our turn. Shall we take care of the rest, Johan?”
“How about you and Dietrich go? I’ll sit this one out as non-combat personnel.”
“Dietrich needs to protect Helena. Don’t be clueless.”
“…I’ll just buy time.”
“Wasn’t expecting much anyway, so don’t worry.”
In the end, I drew my sword and stepped down in front of the students hesitating near the trap.
Only then did their expressions brighten.
“Hey, you idiots! Can’t you act properly? If you blow the cover, you’re taking the fall!”
“Ah… s-sorry. Oh no, he’s here! Guys! We’ll buy you time, so get out of the pit!”
Some unknown student shouted dramatically for everyone to hear. Honestly, it’d be better if that guy just kept his mouth shut.
“No need for words. Let’s begin.”
A situation where saying anything more would blow the cover.
I cut off the conversation entirely, drew my sword, and charged in.
Then I started getting mercilessly pummeled by the startled opponent.
“Ugh!”
Damn it, you bastard. Flustered as you are, you’re not even holding back, huh?
Can you ease up a bit? At this rate, my wrist’s going to snap, you jerk.
Just as I was getting overwhelmed by the one-sided beating—
“That’s enough.”
“Guh!”
Lobelia, having already taken care of her opponent earlier, jumped in late and took mine down with a single blow.
A clear gap in skill.
Makes you wonder if I was ever needed in the first place.
“It was all thanks to our teamwork.”
“Yaaay!”
“……”
Helena cheered at Lobelia’s words.
I’m not sure what kind of teamwork she saw from me who just got beat up or from Kult, who just stood there doing nothing.
Still, we somehow managed to finish this training session.
“Hey!”
Helena called out with a bright smile.
“Today was…”
A smile as warm as sunlight.
Just looking at her made you feel at peace.
“Rea… lly…”
She slowly collapsed.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, she crumpled to the ground without strength.
Silence fell, as if even her breathing had stopped.
“Helena?”
Kult who was standing next to her murmured.
Helena’s small hand which had been tightly holding his hand slipped from his grasp.
“Huh…?”
A single word filled with confusion.
A girl pale as a corpse, and a boy who had gone just as pale while staring at her.
The prophet Kult Hereticus slowly sank to his knees, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
In that moment, he no longer looked like an apostle representing the eyes and ears of God. But just an ordinary boy, trembling in despair.
And as I watched it all unfold—
So you’re the one who acted on your own and brought this disaster upon us.
Only then did I realize why the Oracle had appeared today.
What I’d done, the words I’d spoken—
The chain of events that followed, the things I had dismissed without a second thought—
“How could this happen…?”
The boy blames himself.
He clenches both hands tightly while trembling, almost like he’s praying.
His face looks on the verge of tears. The pure, white boy begins to waver.
“This doesn’t make any sense…”
Kult Hereticus. The final boss.
This was the moment the very first button of that story was fastened.
***
Kult Hereticus immediately abandoned the training session and returned to the mansion with Helena in his arms.
Dietrich stayed by his side all the way back to the Marquisate, but in the end, he was stopped at the door.
Though Dietrich had always been like family, he was still an outsider.
Unable to go any further, he had no choice but to sit in front of the mansion gates and wait for news of Kult and Helena.
Kult, meanwhile, laid Helena on her bed and then faced the Marquis.
“…What on earth happened here?”
The Marquis Hereticus was Kult’s greatest benefactor—
But that support had only come in exchange for curing Helena’s illness.
And now, seeing Helena collapsed like this, the Marquis couldn’t help but harbor doubts toward Kult.
“Y-You can heal her, can’t you? If you still have your miracle…”
In the end, though, he could only place his hope in Kult.
Kult couldn’t say a word.
Because Helena’s illness….had indeed been cured.
Even if she was weaker and more fragile than others, there was no way Helena should have collapsed so completely, so helplessly.
There had to be some external factor involved.
That’s why Kult first needed to assess her condition.
“Ha…!”
Her heart wasn’t beating.
She wasn’t breathing.
And yet blood was flowing. All her organs were functioning.
It was as if her body was moving on its own, with a will of its own.
Kult could vaguely sense what was fueling that will.
“She’ll be all right.”
“……”
“She’ll wake up soon.”
Kult spoke calmly.
It wasn’t a lie. Helena wasn’t dead; she was changing.
But Kult, who could feel the power coursing through her blood and flesh, couldn’t bring himself to smile.
“Our God is watching over her.”
Divine power.
Her blood and flesh were infused with divine power.
Divine power wasn’t something one could simply possess. It was drawn from outside and tied directly to faith.
And to contain that power within oneself… one had to be chosen and marked by God, to serve as the eyes and ears through which God sees the world. For example a prophet like Kult or…
“The hand of God has touched this child.”
A sacred relic. That was the only other possibility.
Ignoring Marquis Erethicus’s concern, Kult rose to his feet.
“I must have worn myself out from the rush back. I’ll return to my room. Please stay with Helena, Sir Marquis. She’ll awaken soon.”
“Ah….yes, of course!”
Like a man submerged in deep water, Kult swayed slightly as he walked back to his room.
Kult entered the room alone and pulled off the blindfold that had been covering his eyes before he turned to face the mirror.
“Hah…”
A sacred relic possessed a will of its own.
One day, it would reveal itself by its own will.
Those were the words of Johan Damus.
And they weren’t a lie. The relic had revealed itself.
No. More precisely, it had been near him all along. He had simply failed to notice until now.
Helena. Or rather, her heart which was the sacred relic of Elysium.
The relic Kult needed to bring God down to this world.
“I’ve always believed You weren’t omnipotent… even dared to speak of You with contempt…”
God did not act. He barely even showed interest in humankind.
All He did was listen to Kult’s words. He never lifted a hand Himself.
Kult stared at his reflection in the mirror.
Pure-white hair touched by divinity, eyes as blue as the sky.
Everything about him resembled Helena.
Some had even said the two looked like true siblings.
And they were right.
From the very beginning, Helena had been placed on Kult’s path.
The mysterious illness she suffered from, Kult’s vow to heal her—
“You knew everything. You knew… all along…”
It was all God’s plan.
He knew how lacking Kult’s view of the world was, knew his struggles, and knew the suffering in the world.
And still, He gave no answer to Kult’s pleas.
Instead, He asked Kult in return.
Leaving signs along the way, He forced Kult to choose for himself.
“Is this truly Your will?”
Was this blind faith really unshakable?
Was it truly worth sacrificing everything to change this world?
The choice belonged to Kult.
But the process of making that choice was anything but simple.
To achieve his goal, he would have to give up everything.
Power, allies, even family.
He would have to cast aside everything he loved and cherished—
Shove it all into the mud and willingly descend to the very bottom himself.
To fulfill his purpose, he would have to kill Helena with his own hands.
“To forsake everything for the sake of just one thing…”
That was the trial given to Kult.
God’s question to the prophet: “Is this world truly beyond redemption?”
At the crossroads of decision,
The prophet stood still. And he hesitated for a moment.
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