“Ugh…”
What just happened…?
The wyvern’s icy breath that it shot at me… And to block it, I unleashed my sword energy with all my might to hunt down the wyvern, and as a result, I half-lost consciousness, so I have no idea how things turned out.
Moreover, I can’t muster any strength in my body, maybe because I poured almost all my energy into that last strike.
Still, I somehow managed to rise and open my eyes, which had been momentarily clouded by the flash, and looked around.
“This place is…”
A mansion…?
“Are you awake?”
That voice is…
“Ugh… Ah, Principal Arhen…?!”
Principal Arhen, and… Stella?
‘If these two are here…’
Could it be that we were rescued from that place…?
It wouldn’t make sense otherwise for us to be here…
‘That means…’
Only after thinking that did I properly take in my surroundings.
“What the…?”
However, it felt a bit strange for it to be described as a mansion.
There were numerous relief supplies, and the bed was so simple that it was hard to believe it belonged in a mansion… More than anything, the very appearance of the place was too cramped to be called a room in a mansion.
It was as if… it looked like we had taken refuge somewhere.
I looked around with a blank expression and then asked Principal Arhen.
“What happened…?”
“I think it would be better for you to rest a bit for now… But if that’s your wish, I will tell you how things turned out.”
As he said that, Principal Arhen pointed to the woman right beside him.
“Stella?”
“Ah, hello…”
Stella…?
Is it true that she’s the one who came to help me by saying she knows what happened?
“This girl saved you.”
“Ah, no! If you weren’t there, Principal Arhen, I wouldn’t have been able to find you even if I knew your location…”
“What are you saying? If it weren’t for your magic, it would have been even harder to find out where you were. More than anything…”
Principal Arhen turned his head to look at one side.
“That girl… well, she would have died once again.”
“…”
I also turned to look where Principal Arhen was gazing.
“Aria…”
There was Aria.
However, her face was even paler than the last time I saw her, and there were signs of frostbite all over her body.
“She almost froze alive from that wyvern’s last icy breath.”
“…”
“What…”
Principal Arhen turned back to look at me.
– Arhen! Don’t say anything to Evan! It was unavoidable!
“I know. The fusion of the dark stone with your body and, more than anything, the fact that divine power isn’t felt indicates that you entrusted everything to the hero.”
…
That’s right, the dark stone!
“Is the dark stone removable?”
“Well, it’s only borrowing power, after all.”
As Arhen said that, he turned to look at Esther.
– It feels like changing clothes, you know~
“… But it seems like your personality has changed a lot…?”
– Like I said before, the divine power is rough, so it can’t be helped. If you remove it, you’ll return to normal.
Is that so.
Fortunately, the explanation that it was merely like changing clothes turned out to be true; the sacred sword flickered for a moment, and at the moment it returned to the sacred sword I knew, the dark stone fell to the ground.
And it fell in the same form as the necklace.
Picking it up, Principal Arhen approached the spot where Aria was and placed the necklace down.
“What happened to the wyvern?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. It was definitely killed by your attack.”
“…”
Did we win…?
No, we definitely won, but I couldn’t say that we had firmly won just from my own strength.
If those two hadn’t come to rescue me, I would have surely fallen to my death after slaying the wyvern, and Aria would have met the same fate.
Moreover, there was likely a monster about to awaken below, so it could be said we were lucky.
“It was really dangerous…”
“Be thankful to Stella. As I said earlier, it’s thanks to the magic she developed.”
At that, I looked over at Stella.
She seemed to be quite embarrassed by the principal’s words and couldn’t muster the words, bowing her head deeply.
I didn’t know what kind of magic it was, but seeing how she had followed us to our previous location, could it be a type of magic that allows her to pinpoint locations?
I didn’t know much about magic, so I just thought, “Is that so?”
More than that, it didn’t seem like the time to be concerned about that.
I needed to figure out where we were and how the situation was unfolding.
“Where is this…?”
At my question, Principal Arhen suddenly let out a deep sigh and extended his hand to me.
“I think it would take too long to explain in words, so let me show you with this.”
…
The great magician is truly amazing.
I felt that anew.
*
I thought I was going to die cold and alone…
‘What a waste…’
I thought I’d die right there, but it seems I didn’t.
I’m not exactly sure, but considering the feeling I had of my body freezing in real time, it seems that wyvern fired its icy breath.
However, before my body could completely freeze due to that breath, someone seemed to have appeared to help and moved us elsewhere.
I didn’t see who moved us, but with how fast and precise the teleportation was, I could think of only one person.
‘Could it be Arhen?’
Not only did he find my and Evan’s locations, but did he also riskily save us through teleportation? The only one capable of finding us was Arhen.
It seems my divine power hasn’t recovered yet, so I don’t know how things are going around us or where we are.
However, one thing is certain: it feels like the monster beneath us has surely awakened.
‘This doesn’t feel good.’
Although I can’t use a lot of divine power for things like sensing thoughts or understanding the surrounding space, as a saint, I’m quite sensitive even with a lack of divine power when it comes to magic.
Even being this far away, even if it’s probably inside the mansion somewhere, if I can feel magic like this, then there’s only one conclusion.
The monsters have awakened…
‘It’s not a good thing that they’re waking up right now, but… for the time being, it should be okay.’
For now, they won’t attack.
I don’t know why, but that’s how it was in the game.
It could be a gameplay allowance, so I shouldn’t be too sure, but if I’m just lying in bed without anything big happening yet, I can be confident that the beasts growing fierce doesn’t mean the awakened beasts of doom are attacking.
‘Phew… my physical condition isn’t that great…’
I wondered what dying of frostbite would feel like, and while it’s certainly a different feeling from dying in agony, it doesn’t feel good.
Comparatively, dying from excessive bleeding feels more like approaching death, while dying from cold feels more like falling into an eternal slumber.
Moreover, my frozen body still lacks sensations…
If one enjoys a death similar to a sleep, it wouldn’t be a bad feeling, it could even be pleasant, but unfortunately, I lean more towards feelings of pain and find it disappointing.
‘Hmm, reflecting on death doesn’t seem right…?’
So far, no one knows anyway, and since it feels good, I just went along with it, but thinking about how to die more pleasantly and one by one evaluating these methods seems truly crazy.
It seems that right now, my body is immortal, and even if I feel pain, it’s not torturous, but just joyful, so I find myself having all sorts of strange thoughts.
For now, I have to focus on recovering my divine power, so I have no choice but to lie still in bed without doing anything, which only exacerbates my boredom.
…
‘Wait a moment…’
Thinking about it, isn’t now a golden opportunity?
If I suddenly know the monster’s weaknesses and strategies, it would be strange, but if I don’t say anything, many people would get hurt, so I can’t keep silent.
However, now is the perfect time as I have entrusted everything to Evan, and I’m lying there having consumed all my divine power, everyone must be thinking I’m unconscious, so when I wake up, I could say I received a revelation from the deity and roughly explain it.
‘That’s it!’
To explain without any suspicion, this is the only way.
Then what’s left is to find a way to explain it as naturally as possible, feeling like a saint who has received a revelation.
Hmm, for now, I think I’ll think about it until my divine power recovers.
So I’ve decided to lie still in bed and start thinking.
How should I say it?
