Chapter 232. Path Forward (7)
Enoch, his gaze dim, glanced beyond the waterfall without answering.
"Who knows."
Certainly, accurately seeing through the principles of magic like this couldn't be explained merely by Enoch's knowledge and know-how from the original story.
The fact that such definite knowledge kept surfacing in his mind might be because, as synchronization with Enoch Elsyde continued, the magic-related knowledge the original Enoch possessed was also becoming more vivid.
Just then, the silhouette of a single flying-type magical beast flew by low beside the waterfall's stream, sweeping past in swift flight.
The shockwave from the enormous creature's wingbeat sent a gust of wind rushing in, and the spray of the waterfall splashed inward at them once.
"Hyah, cold!"
Watching the thoroughly drenched Alicia wipe the drops from her eyes beside him, Enoch noticed something and quietly averted his gaze.
Meanwhile, Alicia — having just peeled back the hair plastered to her cheek — glanced over and, with her pure eyes, tilted her head in obvious confusion.
"Hmm? Direct Lineage, why are you avoiding my eyes? Is there something else stuck on my face?"
At her question, Enoch glanced briefly back at her. Then he pointed at her body.
"Ah. That. It's showing through."
Alicia finally looked down at herself — at her thoroughly soaked uniform blouse, see-through from how wet it had become — and let out a short "Eek!" of a scream, wrapping both arms around her chest.
Then she darted her gaze up at him, turned her eyes to the side, and, seeming endlessly embarrassed, flushed red high on her pale cheeks.
"Ah, th, that!? That…!!"
As Enoch kept watching her quietly, Alicia's welling eyes trembled and she turned her face away.
"Th, this happened here last time too, why on earth again…"
Hugging herself and turning her head from him, all of a sudden she seemed to spot something out beyond the waterfall in the sky and turned to look.
Enoch also noticed the change and looked over.
In the sky where darkness was falling, far above, at the boundary between night and day, something was glowing.
A great tree, tens of thousands of mana lines drawing beautiful spirals toward the sky.
Staring blankly at that tree of light, Enoch found himself reviewing the knowledge he held.
Indiviltal — the experimental magical beast and formidable caster — had effectively been the root of that mana tree.
And a tree whose root had been destroyed was bound to wither.
From Indiviltal's direction, a low, muffled boom suddenly erupted, sending an intense white shockwave pulsing outward.
A fierce wind immediately swept along the ground, with even the waterfall's current splashing a little way into the cave. When Enoch covered his eyes, the spray rushed in after it, making his coat flap wildly.
Unconsciously lowering the arm he'd used to shield his eyes, he looked out past the waterfall — and saw an anomaly unfolding in the distant sky.
As though the trunk was gradually withering from its now-vanished root, the tree of light that had soared up as if to pierce the sky was losing its glow from the base upward.
At the same time, the interlocking trunk formed of light began to unravel outward in every direction from the base.
"……"
Enoch watched it without a word.
Because the scale of the magic circle was so inconceivably vast, its dissolution was similarly slow and vivid.
Beneath the horizon-spanning sky where faint darkness was settling. Before long, the mana lines that had formed the enormous tree scattered out in all directions as though flowering outward, fading into the distance in diffuse light.
It was as if watching a huge fireworks show.
"It's beautiful…"
Beside him, Alicia had been drinking in the sight and murmured quietly. Then, her expression slightly flushed, she glanced at Enoch.
"Come to think of it, I've never seen it, but in a certain kingdom in the Eastern Lands, apparently there's an enormous Lantern Festival! If you saw it in person, it'd probably look like this, right?"
"Who knows. I've never seen it in person."
Enoch thought of something and tilted his head.
"Come to think of it, isn't the Outsourcing District's 'Lantern Festival' supposed to have been influenced by those Eastern Lands?"
"Yes! Oh, right, I heard there's a festival here in the Outsourcing District where people release lanterns — the Lantern Festival. I think it's in three days!"
"Three days. Closer than I thought."
"Yes! It probably won't be possible in a time of war, but I'm sure the festival would be as beautiful as this!"
"Maybe so."
Enoch nodded. The Eastern Lands, huh. Listening to Alicia, he suddenly became curious.
A festival where sky lanterns — lanterns carrying wishes up into the night sky — were released did indeed carry a distinctly exotic feel.
But until now, only extremely limited information had come up about the Eastern Lands.
"Depending on the schedule, if we win before the festival, the Lantern Festival might be held without disruption."
"Right? That'd be nice, if things went that smoothly…"
Just as he was wondering what kind of place the Eastern Lands beyond the Empire might be, he felt Alicia's eyes fixed on him.
"Um, well, you see. If you don't mind, Direct Lineage…"
Alicia stopped there and averted her gaze, looking awkward and restless. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she looked up at him with upturned eyes.
"Th, this is just a small wish of mine!"
"……?"
As Enoch tilted his head, Alicia looked a little embarrassed, then — as though she'd resolved herself — clenched her fists tight and leaned her upper body in.
"Wo. Would it be okay if I went to see the Lantern Festival with you, Direct Lineage?"
"Ah? With me?"
At the unexpected words, Enoch was briefly caught off guard. At that moment, in the distant night sky, the dissipation light of the magic circle burst open like a firework with a pang, lighting up Alicia's somewhat pitiful expression brightly.
"Y, you don't want to?"
"No, that's not it."
Enoch tilted his head.
"It's a little unexpected."
"Unexpected?"
"I didn't realize you were so eager to see an Outsourcing District event. I suppose you've been with the Dragoons for so long that you're excited to join in a festival with someone else?"
But Alicia turned her face sharply to the side, her cheeks bright red.
"Ah! Th, that's not it! That's not what I meant!"
"It's not?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, and without caring how her hair tossed in a wave, she cried out,
"It's that I'm excited because it's with you, Direct Lineage!"
"Me?"
A trickle of water from Alicia's damp cheek slid down to bead at her chin. Eyes still shut tight, she whipped her head to the side and whispered in a faint voice.
"Yes! Th, that! That's the sort of thing, be, between a couple going out together…!"
When Enoch kept quietly watching her, Alicia, her body gone stiff, snuck glances at him and pestered, "Th, this is so embarrassing…. Direct Lineage, please just answer quickly. I might die of embarrassment…"
A dizzyingly sweet fragrance drifted from the slightly damp Alicia, and Enoch was briefly startled.
That feminine line flowing from her collarbone to her shoulder and down to her waist — no matter how he looked at it — was beautiful.
Enoch slowly nodded.
He had no intention of refusing in the first place. With her being a Follower Family who would undoubtedly become a valuable asset to him, if she wished it, that much was well within what he could grant.
"Of course, Alicia. If you want it, as much as you like."
"……Ah!!"
Alicia's face lit up brilliantly. She softly clenched her joined fists as though she'd accomplished something, then — as if to drive in the peg — leaned even closer to Enoch where she sat.
"I heard you! We're really going to see it together, right? Promise?"
"Yes. I won't go back on it."
Her eyes widened, then she smiled faintly, as if relieved. She then sat beside Enoch, and they both turned their gaze toward the waterfall in unison.
Looking up at the sky, they saw the light of the magic circle fading brilliantly against the night sky where stars were beginning to come out in earnest.
"…Ahaha, in any case?"
Glancing over, Alicia — in her damp uniform — looked at him and gave him a bashful smile.
"We pulled off this solo mission, didn't we, Direct Lineage!"
BANG, once again the bright light of the dispersing magic circle flared far off in the distance, lighting up her beauty — which hardly suited the circumstances — in brilliant radiance.
Only now did it truly sink in for Enoch. They had succeeded. The long and difficult solo strike mission.
But the real matter, in fact, began now.
***
Remaining in the cave waiting for the enemies to pass had been the best choice, but it wasn't a situation cozy enough to let them feel optimistic.
Behind a waterfall pouring with mad intensity, trapped in this cave with a chill so cold their breath misted, it was about the worst place to remain sane in.
Looking himself over, wounds all over his body had begun bleeding again. They were scratches he'd acquired while fleeing just now — but the pain was definitely chewing away at his mind needlessly.
A small grunt slipped between his lips.
Fortunately, since a forced inheritance wasn't immediately triggering, he was somehow holding out — but it was hardly a good sign.
He'd just swallowed another fatigue-recovery potion a moment ago, but perhaps its effect was running thin already. Sharp pain struck him.
He popped the cap of another Emergency Medical Ampoule.
Forcing it down, he was struck by a strange sentiment. Even in a state like this, I still want to live this stubbornly?
Perhaps from the effect of the memory erosion, his head felt hazy. In that time, various memories passed through Enoch's mind.
In a corner of Enoch's room, stained orange by the setting sun, Sirocco plants her hands on her hips and asks when on earth he's going to have a proper sparring match with her.
As always, when he doesn't really respond, Sirocco plops herself right down on his lap with her bare, plump legs and swings her tail back and forth, back and forth. Then she flicks her ears and puffs out her cheeks, grumbling away.
Beside them, Lien pays it no mind and, with her gloved hands, elegantly brings out the tea in delicate, precise motions.
While Sirocco shoves her head into the room's refrigerator at will and rummages through the fresh food Lien has stocked, Enoch sits on his chair reviewing various documents related to the mission and privately wrestles with his own worries.
It wasn't that distant a memory, but somehow it shimmered sepia-colored like an old reminiscence. His gradually lowering gaze blurred a little.
For some reason, the sight of an unremarkable scene from everyday life felt infinitely precious.
— My lady, my lady!
Suddenly, a voice came, calling him — or rather, calling herself.
No. It wasn't 'me' being called. Yet the voice was unmistakably ringing in his ears.
This was a memory. The echo of some distant memory the Sword Saint of the Waves had once experienced.
The outline was hazy and hard to make out, but gradually, a sharper image was beginning to form in his vision.
A young woman in her mid-twenties, her oval face flushed with health. Dark blonde hair, a warm aura, a bright smile, and the apron that stood out most.
"……Nanny."
The nanny who had been like a mother, caring for the little girl before her coming-of-age ceremony. — The nanny who had boldly declared she'd accompany her all the way to her debut, had, at the most desperate moment, pushed her into the lake to flee.
But Enoch knew what came after.
The nanny never came with her to her social debut venue. The next time the girl met her, she was a pile of bones, her body stuck through with arrows.
For some reason, that moment flashed through his head. He couldn't tell whether it was just his imagination, or whether the Sword Saint of the Waves' memories had already been inherited to that extent.
— My lady.
Once more the nanny calls out to her.
A clear tear traced down Enoch's expressionless cheek. Enoch watched it fall with cool eyes.
This clearly wasn't his emotion.
At some point, the girl who had been the Sword Saint of the Waves was beginning to overlap with his feelings. Her thoughts were rippling clearly across the deep-set water of his heart.
[You said you'd come with me to the banquet. You really said so… liar. I believed you. I really liked you.]
He hadn't expected the erosion to have progressed this far.
He would certainly improve upon recovering, but either way, the realization that Persona's warning had not been wrong was shooting through his whole body.
But then, from amid all those memories of the Sword Saint that had been creeping up on him, a voice as transparently clear as ice, ever the same, rang out.
"……Are you with me?"
He opened his eyes. Through his blurry vision, what he saw, at some point, was no longer the nanny of a girl of the past, but the silver-haired maid.
Gazing at Enoch with her beautiful greenish-blue eyes, she parted her glossy lips.
"You didn't seem well."
Suddenly realizing his whole arm was wrapped in a soft sensation, Enoch quietly looked over.
Lien, as though it were only natural, sat close beside him, arms wrapped around his and her body pressed fully against him.
With her usual composed gaze, the maid-attired girl was looking up at him.
Looking around briefly, Enoch grasped her intention. Most likely, it was a measure to keep his body temperature from dropping due to the waterfall spray.
They couldn't light a fire through the night, lest they be spotted, so there was no proper way to prevent hypothermia.
Having drifted between dream and reality before coming to, Enoch, leaning against her, spoke in a voice even he was surprised to find calm.
"What's going on? Did something happen?"
"It did."
"Where are we?"
Lien glanced around, and confirming that Alicia had not yet returned, she drew her pressed-close body back slightly.
Then she turned her face coolly toward him.
"Still inside the plunge pool. But the atmosphere outside is strange. You should step out for a moment."
With his consciousness hazy as if mud had filled his head, Enoch crouched low and stepped out from the plunge pool area. There, he saw that the ground was gouged by massive footprints, and between the prints were marks of something having dragged along.
Judging from that, Anarchilon moved on multiple legs. And the legs it used for walking seemed to number at least four.
The wind blowing past was cold.
At first, he scanned the surroundings, wary of magical beasts outside. But he soon caught the incongruity Lien had mentioned. It was too quiet.
"There don't seem to be any more experimental magical beasts nearby?"
"Right. It happened while you were unconscious, but yes. The enemies have all vanished."
"Gone? Not even one left?"
"Certain. Just earlier, a Dragoon went to scout the enemy encampment too, and she said it's already empty. She's out on further scouting now."
He felt as though cold water had been dumped over him.
"Gone? Not even one?"
"Yes. It seems Anarchilon's main force has begun moving."
Moving — where? The answer was obvious.
Sure enough, Lien approached his side and looked directly at Enoch as she spoke.
"The stronghold of the freelancer army."