Part Three, Section Three: “Words of the Dead”
Chapter Ninety-eight
“The manipulation of divine magic power is quite difficult after all.”
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I couldn’t help but feel the unprecedented difficulty of learning this skill. Amplifying magic power, an ancient sorcery technique, was something I was accustomed to, but I was now practicing the concentration of magic power, a technique of exorcism that was new to me.
“Ms. Alice and Ms. Elsa taught me some tips, but it’s not as straightforward as I thought. Ah!”
With a loud snap, the magic power focused on my fingertips exploded. I was wearing a Robe of Light for practice, so it protected me from the explosion; just my fingertips suffered the consequences.
Mastering divine magic power and using it throughout my whole body seemed like it would be backbreaking.
“Miss Philia! What was that sound just now? It was a loud bang!”
Hearing the explosive sound, Prince Oswald hurriedly rushed over to me.
Did I startle him? And made him worry too.
Prince Oswald looked at me with a troubled expression, seeming like he wanted to say something.
“It was just a small failure. As I told you the other day, wearing this Robe of Light while training protects me from injuries from magical explosions. It minimizes the risks.”
From my research, I found almost all cases of being fatally wounded while trying to learn to handle divine magic power were due to magic outbursts. Therefore, I thought if I covered myself with the Robe of Light and protected myself while training, I could deal with any blasts. Just as expected, my magic power exploded right after I started training, but I avoided injury.
“Hmm. Don’t push yourself too hard. If it’s impossible, we can think of another method.”
“No, it’s not impossible. I’m confident. Please wait, I’ll definitely be able to handle the divine magic power and master the Divine Spells.”
“Because I’ve never heard you say something is impossible, I’m worried.”
Is that so? Come to think of it, because there have been many times when things worked out after I put in effort, maybe I never showed weakness to the prince.
But there were many things I was poor at. It was no exaggeration to say cooking and telling funny stories were beyond me.
“Amplify the magic power at my fingertips. Then, compress it into a single point. And convert it into divine magic power.”
“Whoa!? What is this light!? It’s so bright! Like the sun!”
Emitting a dazzling light, the magic power at my fingertips transformed into divine magic power.
The light gradually faded and began to shimmer in seven colors. Control was still difficult, but I succeeded.
To use the Divine Spells, I needed to spread this power throughout my whole body, but this was the first step to success.
“Phew… I’m a little tired.”
“Oops. You seem more tired than when we went mountain climbing before. You should take a break. Getting too enthusiastic could lead to trouble later on.”
Prince Oswald caught me as I staggered on my feet.
A break? I understood his reasoning.
Losing concentration lowered efficiency, and practicing something dangerous with low efficiency was asking for trouble.
The old me might have stubbornly continued training.
“I’ll take a break as you suggest, Your Highness.”
“Yeah. That’s probably best. What do you think? Want to go for a walk in the park Mister Klaus showed us the other day to change your mood?”
I obediently followed Prince Oswald’s advice, and he invited me on a walk.
It was a nice day today without a single cloud, and the wind was refreshingly cool too.
The idea of taking a break didn’t occur to me when I first arrived in Parnacota. I remember causing Lina and Leonardo a lot of worry.
Thanks to the Spartan training I received to become an exemplary saint, I was confident in my physical strength, but I realized relying on that was dangerous. I had had lost my liberty without realizing it. That was probably why I forgot to laugh and express emotions.
“That’s a good idea. I’d love to join you.”
“Alright, I’ll have a carriage prepared then.”
Taking Prince Oswald’s hand with his usual brighter-than-anything smile, I got into the carriage. In my opinion, Dalbhat was also a wonderful country. The spacious memorial park allowed people to casually enjoy their time, and there were many smiling faces in town. But precisely because of this, I hoped Alice who had protected the smiles of this country could continue her duties as its saint.
“We must return quickly. The other day, Mister Mammon took Miss Alice to Parnacota. Thanks to her help, there’s one less thing to worry about now.”
Concerned about the Grand Anti-Evil Magic Circle’s effects wearing off, I asked Mammon to temporarily return me, but that was not permitted. When we were troubled, Alice proposed that she temporarily take over as Parnacota’s saint in my place. With no one else to rely on, I promised her that I would definitely return and entrusted Parnacota to her.
‘I always wanted to repay you, Ms. Philia. Please don’t worry. I believe in you,’ she said with a smile as she disappeared into the gate opened by Mammon.
Seeing Alice off, I swore to live up to her expectations.
No matter how many times I firmed up my resolve, I felt like it was never enough. However, it was okay, I would manage.
“Don’t rush it. Miss Alice wouldn’t want you to ruin your health by rushing.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t seem to be resting or changing my mood.”
“I love that unique way of speaking of yours, but it would be best if you got used to relaxing sooner.”
“D-Do I speak uniquely?”
Apparently, my way of speaking sounded somewhat peculiar to Prince Oswald. I speak normally, so it surprised me when he said things like that.
“No, my bad. I like that part of you, so stay as you are.”
“So what exactly do you mean by unique?”
“Your charming seriousness. Didn’t I mention it before?”
“Huh?”
I don’t understand. I do vaguely recall him saying something similar before, but he also proposed to me then, so I remember I couldn’t ask for clarification in that mood.
I thought being serious and charming were complete opposites, that was why the prince’s preferences seemed strange to me.
“Well, if it’s time you should rest, I can invite you. On second thought, I can look forward to inviting you, so that’s even better.”
“Hehe, then I can look forward to being invited more too.”
“Yeah. That’s right. You are fine as you are, Miss Philia. Hahaha.”
It was comforting to have someone who covered my weaknesses. Relying on someone you could trust was never something to be ashamed of. I understood that now. That was why I had learned to lean on the kindness of Prince Oswald and feel happiness.
“Look, we’ve arrived at the park. Watch your step.”
“Thank you very much.”
Taking Prince Oswald’s hand, I got out of the carriage. The fountain was reflecting the dazzling sunlight in a beautiful rainbow bridge. I unconsciously gazed at it, and Prince Oswald also quietly came to my side to take in the same sight.
"It really is nice. Maybe I’ll build a fountain in Parnacota too.”
“If so, I can draft a blueprint for one.”
“As part of your duties as the saint?”
“No, part of me wants to be healed with you like this too. I couldn’t call it my duties.”
While having such a conversation, Prince Oswald and I walked through the park together. There seemed to be more people today compared to when we came last time. Some were dressed in clothes I was not familiar with.
"Tourists from outside the continent must be coming too. Dalbhat has exchanges with distant countries after all.”
"It seems they’ve established shipbuilding technology robust enough to withstand dangerous sea voyages. I heard they’re also considering sending students abroad on large ships they build.”
Since there were also demons in the sea, a system was needed to maintain a barrier on the ship continuously during the voyage. There was talk of accompanying a saint on a journey to the open sea, but the only one who actually put that into practice was Great Saint Fiana.
No country allowed to send out its valuable saint to the seas.
It seemed the countries overseas had some system to enable something close to that, but it was treated as top secret and hadn’t been passed on to us.
"This Lady Fiana was amazing. She traveled the world.”
“I’ve seen fragments of her memories, she really was incredible. She drove away demons in countries across the world over many years.”
While looking at the bronze statue of Great Saint Fiana, I tell about her heroic legend.
Not just this continent, but the entire world was in crisis due to Asmodeus and the other devils. Fiana undertook a great adventure to save countries outside the continent as well.
"It’s enviable she traveled the world. I aspired to do that as a kid.”
“One of Lady Fiana’s companions was someone like you, Your Highness, with a strong sense of justice and an honest, straightforward personality. He also dreamed of going out to sea.”
“I see, that may be the case. My brother had a period like that too.”
“His Highness Reinhardt did!?”
I was surprised. To think the tranquil Prince Reinhardt once said he wanted to go on adventures. I became curious about what the young Prince Oswald and Prince Reinhardt were like as brothers.
“Brother was more of a troublemaker than me before he underwent training to become king. Oh, this story is just between us, okay?”
“Yes, I won’t tell anyone.”
“He also became close with Miss Elizabeth since they were children. She was often sickly but was drawn to my reckless brother and they fell in love. By the time they were engaged, he had become a model student though.”
“I see.”
People had all kinds of pasts.
Prince Oswald and I had only known each other for less than a year, so our shared history was short in the context of our lives. We might not have enough episodes to share memories.
Whether this time with the prince became a cherished memories to look back on depended on what the future holds.
“While I’m curious about His Highness Reinhardt, I’m more interested in your childhood, Your Highness.”
I want to know more about you. Just monopolizing your time from now on doesn’t satisfy me anymore, I’ve become so captivated by you. I greedily wish to share our past and future and be able to talk about memories.
“I’ll tell you as much as you want. After that, tell me about when you were little too.”
Sitting on the bench in front of Fiana’s statue, we shared stories of our childhoods. I didn’t know learning about your loved one could be so fulfilling.
“Being with you, Miss Philia, seeing your face and talking with you like this is the greatest happiness.”
“Hehe, I was just about to say that first, Your Highness Oswald. I’m a little vexed you beat me to it.”
“Whoops, sorry about that. If Brother knew I neglected a lady first, he’d scold me again. Hahaha.”
Laughing together. We both wanted to make such times last as long as possible.
Gazing at each other, sharing emotions, spending the same moments together. I wanted to eternally feel such instants with my loved one. I felt I could overcome anything with that wish.
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