234 – Crossing (1)
#1
Familiar….
This is an unfamiliar ceiling.
“… ….”
The spirit has awakened. When you open your eyes in an unfamiliar place, the first thing you notice is alertness. As soon as I opened my eyes, I lifted my head and looked left and right.
A room that is neither too big nor too small. One side of the window is entirely filled with colored glass. Colorful light penetrating through the glass window pours down.
If you see a stone statue on a shelf or a decorative rosary hanging on a wall… I think you know roughly where it is.
“You are awake.”
Oh, I’m surprised.
“Oh, yes.”
The voice came from behind me. Is that why you didn’t see it? A priest in a white robe was sitting on a wooden chair.
“Do you have any discomfort?”
“…… Yes, not at all.”
“I’m glad.”
The priest smiled softly.
It’s not that it’s not, it was really light. I feel like I’ve been lying in bed for a week. According to my last memory before coming to my senses here… Yes, that happened. There wasn’t a single place in my body that was intact, but my limbs were as if they were like that.
“I’m sorry, but there is one person who wants to meet you. If it’s not too much trouble, would it be all right if I see you now?”
“…… Who are you?”
“This is someone you know well.”
“So, who….”
Drreuk-
A man suddenly appeared from the open door. He was a very tall and burly man. Perhaps because of that, when he entered the room, he walked with his upper body bent. Perhaps because of the thick armor, only one additional person was added, but the room felt very small.
“I heard a voice and came in. Did it happen?”
A man I thought not too long ago would have no contact with, Gileon Astabelle.
“Could you step aside for a minute?”
“Of course. I then….”
When the priest left the room, only the two of us, Gileon and I, were left in this narrow room.
Thump, boom.
Gileon came over to the side of the bed I was lying on. Then, he sat down on the wooden chair where the priest had just sat,
Kwajik.
“Oops.”
The chair was crushed under the overwhelming weight. Looking at the chair that had turned into pieces of wooden planks, Gileon’s face suddenly became distraught. I can’t help but stand tall and look down at me.
“I’m glad you seem to be healthy.”
“Because I’m a bit strong.”
“Um.”
It’s not just sturdy, though.
“I have a few questions for you.”
“…… Is that the point?”
“Yes. ‘Cause I’ve been waiting for you to wake up You must return immediately after the investigation is over.”
I don’t know how long it’s been, but I’m getting a little hungry.
“… Okay. I will do my best to cooperate, but I hope it doesn’t take too long.”
I can’t help it. Let’s eat rice later. I wasn’t even hungry to death.
“It’s nice that you talk quickly.”
Gil Leon nodded his head calmly.
“First of all, I will express my gratitude and apology to you as the temporary guardian captain of this festival. You have done a great job as a student. Without you, the incident would have led to an even bigger catastrophe. Don’t apologize to him It was my, the SS’s mistake that lack of prevention and response.”
“No, okay, okay. Raise your head. What did i do….”
Gil Leon is the head of the Imperial Guard under direct control of the Imperial Family, and he was a person who could be said to represent the Sun Imperial Family this year. It was never easy for such a person to bow his head in apologizing to me, a mere student.
Honestly, it was burdensome. That was the biggest
However, despite my persuasion, Gileon didn’t raise his head and continued his words steadfastly.
“I didn’t trust you. Dingo… Even after hearing what Honorable High Priestess Elena Crymore said, she wasn’t very happy with it. Combat is not a joke, it’s a real fight. Just because they’re young doesn’t mean they don’t have combat experience, but in a battle where life and death come and go, seasoned experience is essential. That’s why I wanted to entrust you only with the search. We thought the rest was up to us.”
In fact, I have to say that I couldn’t even properly complete the mission entrusted to me. As a result, it failed to find the main body, and it was possible to enter the stronghold only through the portal that Rubia opened.
… Yes, portal. That portal wasn’t actually Rubia’s ball either. An existence of a higher dimension… It naturally led me there. I was being swayed from the start. To someone unknown.
“However, it was you who killed the demons, not us. Although the process is questionable, the fact never changes. Bringing you into this job turned out to be a good choice. It just wasn’t the right choice. Because you are a student.”
Gilleon seemed to feel a great sense of skepticism over the current situation, where he was entrusted with entrusting me with the destruction of the demons as well as transferring me, a student, to the punitive force. I think I know roughly how you feel.
I tried to keep my mouth shut, but finally said something.
“At the same time as a student, I am also an incarnation.”
“… ….”
“You wouldn’t say you don’t know, would you?”
In my first meeting with Gil Leon, Gil Leon glanced at me and he said something like that.
I hope you never have to use my power.
It was after I finished figuring out my identity to some extent.
“… Even so, the fact that you are a young student remains unchanged.”
“You are young. That’s enough for an adult. I am already seventeen.”
Besides, when it comes to mental age… No, that’s not it I’m not sure if I can count those years as my age.
“… You are also very calm. How many times have you faced the devil and trembled. Have you had a strong phlegm since you were born?”
“As you said, isn’t it because we met several times? As if you get used to it every time you look at it.”
“Huh.”
Gilleon seemed to be laughing innocently.
“A fearless warrior is always a good example. I’m even more sorry for ignoring you.”
“Still, creepy things and ghosts are still scary. Especially arthropods. To be honest, centipedes with multiple legs are better than devils….”
“Okay, so stop joking. Now is the time to really get to the point.”
Gileon’s expression completely changed.
“Do you remember what you said? What I said right before I fainted.”
“… ….”
My complexion hardened at the same time.
“I said there was a traitor.”
“…… Yes.”
“Why did you say that?”
I took a moment to choose my words. It was not easy to summarize and condense. So, I decided to just say whatever came to my mind.
Gilleon listened to all I had to say while standing.
“…… Well.”
In deep thought, I just stood motionless like a man-shaped stone.
“That doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s a plausible story, but it lacks evidence. But if what you say is true… That traitor is likely to be at least someone comparable to an archmage.”
When I cross-checked Gilleon’s and my statements, it seemed that the devil was using people to store his power and descend his main body. In other words, the main body never showed up in front of us from the beginning. In the first place, he was recuperating with almost losing his power.
In the meantime, he must have planned to invade the frontier for some purpose, absorb people’s desires and shadows, and use them as the source of his power – after regaining the true power of the great devil, he would turn the frontier into hell from then on. .
If the treatment was delayed there, all the people who became the host of the shadow would have fallen into a state of suspended animation.
Gileon borrowed Elena’s words, that the host that absorbed all the shadows would become a puppet no different from an empty corpse….
Once again, I feel that something really big almost happened. You might have had to shoot all over the continent from next year, losing your student status.
… By the way, how are your friends? Among the purposes I tried to kill the demons was to protect my friends. That would never happen, but if even one person is on the verge of death….
“… That.”
“Call me Sir Gileon.”
“Yes, Sir Gileon…. How many lives are there?”
“No.”
Gileon replied like a knife.
“There are no deaths. There are so many wounded that the medical staff is full, but none of them are very serious. If you’re worried about the people around you, let me tell you in advance that you don’t have to worry.”
“…… Ah.”
I swept my chest.
I’m glad.
Really.
“You look happy.”
“… Absolutely. What did I suffer for?”
“Hmm. Right. You saved it.”
Gil Leon crossed his arms and nodded.
“It is very rewarding to protect something with your own strength. You can be proud of it.”
“… I see.”
I was feeling good until just now, but for some reason, I felt a pleasant sense of exhaustion, and my body was drained of strength.
In the end, the festival is stopped, the work gets bigger, and it’s not an incident that can be ignored, so the aftermath will last even longer.
With this, I can go back.
For a while… You can live in peace
Of course, it could be nothing more than a façade of peace. Starting from this incident, I got a little closer to the darkness of the frontier. It is true that I am even more worried about the future, thinking that maybe it is someone’s plan to invade the frontier one after another.
If it’s real, I won’t be able to use any power. My strength is strongest when dealing with demons. It is not the power to kill and defeat the same human beings.
Although it is said that I am doing my own training as well… Well, even if I compare myself with Gileon right in front of me, the decision will be made within one to three sums. And your hair will split in two.
If the mysterious traitor had aimed his spear at me, not at the devil, I would have been pierced to death without any resistance.
“… That should be enough.”
Gileon cast his gaze toward the outside of the door.
“You, besides me, will have to be investigated for several days. I hope you will cooperate without any trouble.”
Ah, that stifling newspaper hour. I know. Because I’ve been through this before.
As I nodded, Gil Leon showed me his back and was about to leave the room.
“Wait a minute, Sir Gileon.”
“… ?”
Actually, I thought Elena would come before Gileon. It just felt like that. Because it was the senior who accepted me first before I lost my mind. After hearing my words, I thought you might have a lot of questions….
“Senior Elena, where are you now?”
I wondered if they would answer even if I asked. It was because she didn’t seem to know.
Still, you should ask first. Due to your personality, you must have had a hard time waking up. He thought it was time to share some of his speculations….
“… ….”
At my question, Gileon closed his mouth for a moment.
She made a rare troubled face.
“Should I know?”
“… ….”
When I opened the door, the air rushed in quickly, and the hot heat hit me.
It wasn’t particularly locked. It was even slightly open as if it hadn’t been properly closed when I went out and came in. So I just opened it.
I know that it can be a nuisance, and I know that it is an act of polite manners, but I have no choice but to open the door unless it is locked.
“Ugh-.”
My eyebrows narrowed. Crumpled her nose smell. A bitter, dizzying smell suddenly occupied my bronchial tubes. I covered her mouth with my hand and whimpered as if to expel heat. I grabbed her nose and looked ahead with narrow eyes.
“… ? Ugh, kk. Come on… ?”
I noticed a glass bottle rolling on the floor. One, two, three, four… No, how many bottles did you drink?
“Oh, oh oh. Oh sound. You….”
His head is tilted. The finger that vibrated 15 times a second pointed at me. Pointing with his index finger, he bit his lip and groaned. The high priest of honor steeped in alcohol barely spoke.
“Tobacco-.”
“… Yes?”
“Cigarette, one cigarette. Joe Bar.”
For some reason, he said there was no smoke. After seeing those white things piled up in the ashtray, I was dizzy. Did you come here for nothing Should I just go back? No, I think it’s right to go back. Humans and animals cannot communicate by nature.
Senior Elena, who became a beast, opened her mouth wide and laughed as she left her room.
“Joke! Joke. Mmm ha ha! Well… Gulp, puha! Whoa!”
Then he brought the bottle back to her mouth. She took a few sips and sprayed a little into her mouth. It was a colorful fountain show as if a rainbow would rise. I’m going crazy.
“… Seniors.”
I wonder if he recognizes me. When I called out to Elena with her sigh, Elena, who had also taken off her clothes roughly, stared at her in black underwear.
And she grinned.
“Oh, oops! … Moya, baby why did you come-? Oops!”
Our great sunbae-nim has been drinking her alcohol for two days already.
I felt so many emotions when I took off the blindfold and looked at that face that was red with alcohol.
By and large….
“That’s right, you fucking bitch. Here it is, gup! I know where… Don’t you go out? … No. Hey dudeぅ…. Sit down and see have a drink too Well!”
Deep depression, same thing.