[221] 1. Memories of Galliant (1)
Kergo Autonomous District.
The room where Shirone and his group had stayed was neatly tidied.
In the hush-filled space, a black orb was born. It looked like a two-dimensional hole, and five people were spat out of it.
Amy, who had rolled on the floor, crawled toward the portal and called for Shirone. She couldn't believe he hadn't come back.
Tess and Arin grabbed her as she tried to leap into the portal.
Amy hated them for stopping her. They shouldn't have left Shirone behind.
"Let go! Get out of the way! I'm going to save Shirone!"
"Amy! If you go in, you won't be able to come back! We have to wait!"
"Wait for what? You left Shirone to die!"
"No! Peope—!"
Arin stopped speaking and stared at the portal. Shirone was spinning and flying out from the other side.
Tears welled in Amy's eyes.
She spread her arms and caught Shirone; he rolled across the floor from the force of the vortex. She was so happy she couldn't even feel the pain.
Arin watched the Metagate portal disappear and thought of the one fairy left in Heaven.
'Thank you, Peope.'
The portal had opened in the room the Kergo chieftain had provided.
Heaven was far away, but since they'd used Geffin's Gate there was no relativistic time difference. By the solar calendar it seemed about three days had passed.
"Rian! Rian…."
Tess's tears fell on Rian's face. He'd come back alive, but she wasn't happy. The boy who always vowed he'd become the world's greatest swordsman had lost an arm.
Rian's right arm was reduced to bone. He tried to draw his greatsword, but his fingers wouldn't extend.
Tess was stunned. There was no muscle, ligaments were torn and dangling—how could he possibly be holding a sword?
At that moment the door burst open and Kergonians came in.
They stood dumbfounded at the women holding their partners and watching with wary eyes. Then one of them ran toward the exit and shouted.
"They're back! They've returned!"
Arin read hostility in the Kergonian's urgent tone. Amy, sensing they should stop crying and move, asked.
"Arin, what's going on?"
"I don't know. But we should get out fast. It wasn't a friendly feeling."
Amy's group took the wounded and left the room. The cave network was complex, but no one had forgotten the exits.
The problem was it was one-way.
Footsteps surged from deeper in the cavern and dozens of warriors blocked the exit.
"Where do you think you're running off to, you traitors!"
Arin interpreted the words through mental resonance.
"The offense of defiling Kergo cannot be repaid by death alone! We'll skin you alive for three days and nights and dry you to death under the sun!"
Even through translation it was chilling.
Amy couldn't make sense of it. They had failed Kadum's request, but it had never been a binding contract.
Among the warriors stood a familiar old man. His face was deeply wrinkled and sagging flesh still hung from him.
"You… it can't be?"
"You bastards!"
It was the voice of Kergo's chieftain, Kadum.
Was it possible to age so much in just a few days? Perhaps decades had passed while he was in Heaven.
"How dare you attempt to destroy Kergo! Return my lifespan!"
"We don't know anything! What happened to you?"
"Nonsense! If you hadn't meddled, why would my lifespan have decreased? I could have lived another sixty years!"
Arin suddenly realized.
'Canis…'
Even if every man had the chance to adjust their lifespan, the one who would make a choice like this would only be Canis.
He would approve of such a choice. Compared to what Kadum had done to his people, it was almost a bargain.
But Canis probably hadn't expected it to turn out like this.
As the warriors advanced, radiating a powerful aura, Amy instinctively slipped into the Spirit Zone.
She searched for Mahatu but couldn't find him.
If the anti-angel faction had been purged, this place was now hostile ground. There was no one to help them.
"Seize them alive! Give those bastards a horrific death!"
Kergo's warriors raised spears and advanced. Each man's strength was great, but the group's battle fervor made the air hard to breathe.
'What do we do? Create a fire wall to block the path? But that would be dangerous in a cave.'
Just as five giants hefted their spears and charged, a commotion came from the exit.
Kadum, terrified, turned and shouted.
"What's going on! What's going on?!"
His mind seemed broken along with his aging body.
Soon the warriors guarding the rear began to topple, collapsing toward Amy's group.
"Are you all right?"
Amy went blank.
Mahatu stood there—he hadn't been captured after all. More surprising were the people he'd brought.
Jis, who had parted after the translation, stood under the escort of the Angmu Mercenary Company, and their captain Marsha and deputy Freeman were with him.
"Jis? What are you doing here?"
"No time! Get over here!"
Before Jis finished, the Kergo warriors charged.
From their perspective they had to capture Shirone's group.
Civil war had already broken out in Kergo's autonomous district.
The populace had sided with the anti-angel faction, and if things continued the angel faction would be crushed.
"Freeman! Go get the kids!"
Marsha kicked Freeman in the backside.
Freeman, who hadn't invested in the Reverse Technique tree, boasted incredible swiftness.
The warriors' spears couldn't so much as nick a hair on him. He'd sacrificed regeneration to maximize speed—the gunner's schema.
Tuka! Tuka! Tuka!
Freeman darted straight into the enemy, spraying shots in every direction. Each time, warriors slammed into the cave walls. When the dust settled, only Freeman remained, the air thick with the smoke of explosive rounds.
Amy could hardly believe this was the same man she'd faced before. Changing schema had completely altered his combat style.
"Let's go. We can't hold out long."
"Ah, yes!"
Amy's group followed the Angmu Mercenary Company away.
Kadum's warriors pursued, but not in force enough to be truly threatening.
The dictator who had ruled Kergo for centuries had lost all his strength along with his body.
"No! Don't go! I don't want to die like this! Please return my lifespan!"
Kadum's wail echoed through the cave.
@
As they left Mount Toa, Shirone's group heard Mahatu explain what had happened.
When Kadum's body aged, the priests declared martial law and imprisoned the anti-angel faction.
It was Jis who rescued them.
Arriving at the district to settle a debt with Falcoa, he sensed the tense air and began investigating.
He then realized Mahatu had been imprisoned and led the Angmu band to the area.
"Thank you, Jis. We wouldn't have survived without you."
Jis flushed at Amy's praise.
"It's nothing. Compared to what you did for us before, this is nothing. But are you all right? Why did only the men end up like this?"
Amy checked Shirone's condition. There was still no sign he'd wake.
"That's how it turned out. Can we find a physician on the island? Or should we go to the Magic Guild?"
Marsha looked over the wounded. Even if Shirone and Canis were merely unconscious, Rian's state was serious.
All the flesh below his shoulder had been peeled away. With wounds like that he should have died of exsanguination, but for some reason no blood flowed.
"What's happened to Rian? More importantly, how do you treat something like this? Is he really going to be okay?"
Tess sobbed.
"I don't know. They ate a giant's arm, so maybe it has something to do with that. As long as he's alive, we'll find a way to fix him."
"A giant? Ate an arm? What on earth are you talking about?"
Tess only shook her head.
At the entrance to Mount Toa, the Angmu band's cart waited.
Mahatu bowed with a guilty look.
"Because of the chieftain's immorality, messengers of the gods were endangered. Please forgive me."
The anti-angel faction had been formed to oppose those who used God's name for selfish gain.
From Heaven's viewpoint it was heresy and a mindset that could spark a final war, but Amy couldn't blame Mahatu.
"Maybe one of our fellows had finally had enough of Kadum. We're sorry for the trouble. We're lucky things turned out as they did—there could've been many casualties."
"It was bound to happen eventually. If Kadum had been strong, toppling the regime would have required far greater sacrifice. Thank you."
Amy waited for more from Mahatu.
But he asked nothing of those who had been to Heaven. He chose to stand on his own.
Amy climbed into the cart. As the tribe's welfare came first to Mahatu, so did her friends' safety come first to her.
Mahatu didn't move until Amy's group disappeared beyond the horizon.
@
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Marsha had searched Galiant Island and found one physician and four recovery mages, who crowded into Jis's house.
The physician who checked Rian's condition was horrified.
He prayed the boy hadn't been conscious during the torture.
"This, this—"
Tess clung to him, wailing.
"Doctor! Please fix him! You can fix him, right?"
The physician closed his mouth like a mute. What was he supposed to do? To heal is to restore what is broken. You can't remake what has entirely vanished.
"It can't be helped. I'm no exceptional physician, but anyone would say the same. If we don't amputate, he might die."
"Amputate? This child is a swordsman! He wanted to be the world's greatest swordsman!"
"We have to cut below the shoulder. Unless you want the world's greatest corpse."
Tess fell to her knees, helpless. The physician was right. No one would remain sane seeing an arm reduced to bone. There was no blood now, but it could start again at any moment.
"Ugh! This… this isn't a joke."
The recovery mages worked in pairs, casting restoration magic on Shirone and Canis.
They channeled healing to raise vital functions and Purify to clear the mind, but it felt like pouring water into a bucket with a hole.
"How did this happen? Who are these kids? In my life I've never had someone fail to regain consciousness after so long of treatment."
"They're Magic Academy students; it's harder than with others."
"Kuh! If it lasts more than ten minutes, we need an hour's rest. They've already exceeded the limit!"
"Please, hold on for just ten more minutes! We'll pay anything."
"At my age, I don't need money—take me on a date instead. You know, they look exactly like my first love."
Amy widened her eyes and quickly nodded.
"Yes? Okay! I'll do it, so please try a bit harder."
"…Don't make an old man's wit disgusting. Anyway, they must be precious to you. We'll do what we can."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
As Amy offered repeated thanks, the mage casting Purify clicked his tongue and scolded his companion.
"Don't make such crude jokes."
"You knew this would happen?"
"No, but I clearly remember your first love was the ugliest of the ugly."
The two old men chuckled. As unofficial ninth-rank mages they'd never seen the limelight, but their blood was stirred at last.
"Shall we go full power after so long?"
They amplified the recovery magic and Shirone's body shone brightly.
The mages on Canis's side, spurred by rivalry, strengthened their spells in response.
The physician, having finished surgical prep, gave Tess instructions.
"Lay him over here. He'll bleed a lot, so prepare plenty of towels."
Tess, eyes streaming, moved Rian to the center of the bed. The physician pulled a bone saw from his bag, casting a grim shadow over the room.
He didn't even need to anesthetize; the boy was unconscious. Even if he were awake, local anesthesia wouldn't make the pain bearable.