People often express that a miracle has occurred when something good happens for reasons they do not understand at all.
It is said that something incredible happened through an incomprehensible power… However, Dannes thought that it was impossible for a great miracle to occur without any cost.
For a man who had to rely solely on his own strength his entire life, the word miracle was likely one that did not apply to him, at least when it came to himself.
Even if a miracle were to happen, he was certain that a great miracle would surely come with a price.
“Ah…”
It can be seen.
The once dark world, a world where only a part was visible, is now fully clear.
His heavy body, which felt like it was about to collapse, was as light as if it had wings, and his flesh, which had been so crushed that he could not feel pain, had returned to its original state.
Dannes clenched his hands tightly in disbelief.
There were no wounds.
The wounds that could not be healed even with a low-grade potion, the wounds that were so desperate he had already given up and was waiting for death, were gone.
But even amidst this situation, he understood.
This situation was abnormal.
A miracle happened? No.
This is…
Dannes turned his head as if entranced.
Clearly, the Dannes who was on the verge of death came back to life.
It should be so, it must be so.
Everyone’s gaze was directed toward one side.
There, a girl lay on the ground.
“Aria…”
The girl’s body was already cold.
Despite having suffered painfully, and though her face was pale and she had coughed up blood, the girl wore a happy smile, as if it was enough just to have saved someone.
A novice nun could never restore a vanished body or revive someone on the brink of death.
Everyone thought that such a thing was impossible unless a miracle happened.
However, the girl confidently brought forth a miracle, as if to show them.
And the price was…
Dap, dap.
Dannes approached the fallen girl and knelt down.
Dannes knew.
In front of him lay this small girl to whom he owed his miraculous salvation of life.
He had extended the adventure of a man that should have long since ended.
However, no one here felt joy.
Curt turned his head away.
Mirna was deeply bowing her hat.
Melina, who had been more protective of the girl than anyone else, was…
“Ugh… Huh… Ugh…”
Regretting her actions, she was hitting the ground.
Dannes reached out carefully with trembling hands toward the already cold body of the girl.
Worried that he might hurt her, though he did not really have to care about such things, Dannes exerted all his focus to carefully lift the girl by supporting her back.
“Get up…”
Dannes’s words did not return but lingered in the air.
Yet he did not stop.
Dannes continued to speak as though conversing with a wall.
To get up, not to joke around…
He was sorry all along.
His voice lost strength as he spoke.
Finally, with a voice that seemed to be squeezed out, he muttered a small word.
“Aria…”
The more he spoke, the more he felt the cold, harsh reality that the girl’s heart, which should clearly be beating, had stopped.
There was no pulse that should have been felt from the hand supporting her back.
Aria was dead.
For someone who was utterly unknown to her, just a rough man who fought to survive as an adventurer without anything exceptional…
“Ah, aa…”
With his shoulders trembling, Dannes embraced Aria.
Why.
Why on earth.
He understood well how hard it was to live a life where one could neither see nor hear, even if one eye were to be blind.
Let alone this girl, who had always walked with her eyes closed.
He might not know what it was like to not be able to hear, but he understood how difficult it must be to not hear sound at all.
Aria always communicated in a mysterious way through thoughts.
Under the protection of the gods, as a being who had become a servant of the gods, while others enjoyed it, the girl could enjoy nothing at all.
If it were him, even with just one of two disabilities, would he have been able to avoid resenting this world?
No.
He could be certain.
He would have resented this world, blaming the gods for having placed such a disability upon him.
But…!
“Why on earth did you do that?”
He was not a fool.
The abnormal level of divine power that had gathered at that moment, the way the girl had been dying, as if it was extracting all her strength.
And…
‘[I promised, didn’t I…?]’
Dannes brought his hand to his left eye, which he had thought would never return.
The left eye, which had had to sacrifice itself for the sake of life, had perfectly returned to its place, showing him the world once again.
‘[I would fix that eye…]’
Yes, she had indeed said so.
Not long in the past, shortly after they had first met…
Knowing well how inconvenient and hard it was not to see, she had said she wanted to someday fix his obscured eye.
At that time, Dannes had laughed it off, thinking it was just the naive confidence of a novice nun.
If he had known it would turn out like this…
‘[I’m sorry.]’
You…
Could you give your life for someone you had just met?
Why had she not valued her life more, sacrificing herself for someone like him?
Dannes lowered his head deeply.
“Curt.”
“…”
“Please.”
Having fought for his life all his life and seen countless deaths, he thought he would have no more tears to shed for death.
Yet, his voice was filled with moisture.
Curt looked at his comrade with a complex expression and sighed.
It was sad.
It was a noble sacrifice.
Yet, they could not afford to mourn freely.
The girl, Aria, had sacrificed herself for Dannes of her own choosing.
And with a face free of regrets, had she not departed to the side of the gods?
To mourn further here would be an insult to the girl.
Even if it was sad, he could no longer show sadness.
Curt approached Aria’s corpse with a heavy heart.
It was then.
Saaa…
“This light is…”
A faint light was descending from the sky.
An abnormal light that could not be described as ordinary sunlight, a warm, gentle light that illuminated Aria.
And then…
“This is… what’s happening…?”
“Are the plants… coming back to life…?”
Withered flowers began to bloom one by one, and trees and plants that had died due to the battle were coming back to life.
Everyone present stood frozen in place, looking around and naturally gazing at Aria, who was at the center of this light.
Around Aria, countless flowers bloomed, creating a crown.
In a place where there should have been nothing, animals of unknown origins began to appear one by one, wandering around.
Squirrels, birds, deer, and many other animals appeared, roaming around the forest where divine power was spreading.
Mirna broke out in a cold sweat.
“Could it be… divine power…?”
Was all of this divine power?
If not, the way the surrounding plants were coming back to life, this intense aura of life and warmth could not be felt.
“Is it coming back to life…?”
Her pale complexion returned to its original state, the once crimson nun’s robe turned pure white, and all the blood the girl had spilled vanished.
A wind of life filled with divine power surged, and before anyone realized, the girl lay peacefully on the crown with no wounds left.
“What is… this…”
From the body of the girl lying down, a divine power like no other began to awaken, a tremendous aura of life as if the deity of life were descending.
Mirna moved her magic power to check the girl’s life signs.
“She’s… alive…”
She had come back to life.
The heart that should have stopped was beating.
“This is unbelievable…”
They were adventurers who did not believe in gods.
Of course, they knew gods existed.
Otherwise, there would be no religion, and miracles that they saw while believing in gods would not exist.
However, as adventurers, most of them did not believe in gods due to various personal circumstances.
Yet today, they witnessed two miracles with their own eyes.
One was the massive miracle brought forth by a small, pitiful little girl who sacrificed herself, and…
“A saint…”
The birth of a saint.
