"
At
"Impossible?! If something with that much Magic Power attacks, who knows how much collateral damage there'll be across the surroundings! If they cross the border, it's an act of war! At the very least, buy enough time for me to reinforce the barrier at the boundary!"
"I can't stop it, but I can give it direction."
The Chief Priest said this calmly as he brought his lion closer to the Highbeast and looked at me.
"Mine! If you want to protect
At the Chief Priest's words, the image of the Wind Goddess that
The Wind Goddess
...I will absolutely protect Fran and the others!
Glaring hard at the line of carriages wrapped in black haze below, I took a deep breath.
"Oh, Goddess of Wind who governs protection, Schutzaria! You twelve goddesses who serve at her side!"
By praying to the goddess and calling her name, the Magic Power that had been swelling inside me gained direction. Not an offensive force, but a power to protect what was precious—it flowed from my entire body toward my left arm, where it began to swirl.
"Mine! Don't let the Darkness God's barrier devour your Magic Power—wrap around it from above!"
Hearing Sylvester's voice, I stared down at the black haze below and nodded slightly. Thanks to several prayers I'd been made to memorize for ceremonies, the words came flowing smoothly from my mouth.
"Hear my prayer and grant me sacred power. Keep those of ill intent at bay. Shield of wind, be in my hands!"
Inside the stone of the bracelet borrowed from the Chief Priest, the yellow magic stone—Schutzaria's signature color—blazed brilliantly. The Magic Power burst forth as bright light and shot straight toward the carriages.
Just as Sylvester had instructed, when I visualized the wind shield as a dome enveloping the carriages like a large bowl placed over them without touching the black barrier, the Magic Power moved exactly as I pictured in my mind.
With a sharp, ringing sound, a round dome took shape. From above, it looked as though the carriages and the black haze were trapped inside a dome carved from a giant piece of amber, like a shield made by the gods.
"Uwooooooh!"
The men who had been charging forward with weapons in hand either didn't notice the second barrier that had suddenly appeared before them, or they were moving too fast to stop—they plunged in with a roar.
The instant the frontmost man touched the barrier, a powerful gust of wind blew them all away in unison.
"Wha—?!"
"What the—?! What is that?!"
Some fell over each other like dominoes, while others were genuinely blown back several meters. They stared at the wind shield with confused expressions, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
"...Impressive."
"Right?! Lord Karstedt thinks so too, doesn't he? As expected of the shield of the Wind Goddess Schutzaria! Let us pray to the goddess who protected Fran and Rosina!"
"You don't need to pray anymore!"
The moment I got excited by the shield's power beyond all expectations and raised my hand enthusiastically, Sylvester scolded me.
...But I borrowed the goddess's power, so shouldn't I at least offer prayers and thanks?
As I fell silent and peered downward, I could see the men who had repositioned their weapons charging again in another attempt. Just like before, fierce winds roared and blew them away, sending them tumbling into the people nearby. After being hit by several rounds of powerful gusts, no one else dared to charge.
"There's a Magic Power reaction in the forest."
At
A Magic Power reaction meant someone was there—someone who had tried to interfere with the wind shield using Magic Power, or had tried to block the raging wind with Magic Power.
Those with excessively large Magic Power reserves reportedly had difficulty sensing faint Magic Power. While Damuel, a lower-ranking member of the Nobility, could detect it, no one else could sense the reaction in the forest.
Everyone's expressions grew tense, and the Chief Priest surveyed the group before issuing orders.
"We will head into the forest to search. Damuel, stay here and protect Mine from above!"
"Yes, sir!"
The moment Damuel nodded vigorously in response to the Chief Priest's instruction, Sylvester shook his head. "No good!"
"Damuel, come closer!"
The words had barely left Sylvester's mouth when he stood up on the Chief Priest's lion. Then, with unnaturally light movements, he leaped onto the wide-spread wing of Damuel's Highbeast—the same one I was riding on.
"Gyah?! What are you doing?!"
"That's dangerous!"
Perhaps because it was made of stone, the Highbeast didn't budge at all under Sylvester's weight. Sylvester approached nimbly with light, quick steps while balancing with both arms spread wide.
"You're in the way."
Saying that, Sylvester slid his arms under mine, lifted me up high with a grunt, and then began to swing me back and forth in wide arcs.
Dangling like a pendulum, I could do nothing but blink, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"Ferdinand, catch!"
The moment after Sylvester spoke, I was flung forcefully into empty air.
"...Huh?"
With no preparation whatsoever, I was suddenly hurled into the sky. Unable to grasp what was happening, I stared blankly with wide eyes. Reaching out my arms, there was nothing to hold on to. Only a vast blue sky stretched out before me.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice?!"
Damuel's eyes went wide in disbelief as he reached out for me, and in slow motion, I saw Sylvester hop lightly over Damuel's head—vaulting over it like a horse jump—and land in the seat behind.
In the brief moment I was tossed into the air, my body floated weightlessly for an instant before gravity seized me and I began to fall.
My body sliced through the air with a whistle as I plummeted, my hair whipping against my cheeks. Jolted back to my senses by the stinging pain, I gasped at the terror of this bungee jump with no cord, no safety measures, and no preparation.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"There..."
The Chief Priest, as if he had predicted both Sylvester's actions and my landing point, moved his lion into position and caught me firmly.
In reality, I probably hadn't fallen even a meter. But to me, it felt like an impossibly long distance. The terror of being thrown into the air with no control over myself was immense, and now that I had something to hold on to, my hands gripped the Chief Priest's robes in a death grip. Having been caught, I was now fully aware of how helpless I'd been during the fall, and my teeth chattered.
"I-I was so... scared."
"That's only natural."
The Chief Priest patted my shoulder several times—I was clinging to him in a side-saddle position, gripping his robes tightly—to try to calm me down. But then Sylvester's voice, the very source of my terror, rang out, and my entire body shrank in on itself.
"Ferdinand, you stay here! The other side might be a decoy for all we know!"
"Understood."
"We're close to the border. Let's capture them before they can escape. Come, Karstedt!"
"Yes, sir!"
With that, the two mounted beasts flew off toward the forest. The Chief Priest, watching them go, let out a quiet breath.
"He may be rough in his methods, but this outcome was the result of prioritizing your safety and rationality above all else, so please forgive him."
"Huh?"
"The Magic Power user in the forest has roughly the same level as Damuel. Having Damuel accompany us is the most effective way to detect them. Furthermore, if that Magic Power user happens to be a decoy, leaving only Damuel and you behind would be dangerous."
The Chief Priest furrowed his brow, scanning the surroundings vigilantly.
I realized through instinct that this was a genuinely dangerous situation, and that I had no time to be trembling over being tossed through the air.
"Mine, would you pray for their victory alongside me?"
"Yes."
Presented with something I could do while being protected up here, I nodded firmly. Doing something was better than being scared.
The Chief Priest taught me a prayer, and we recited it together.
"By the grace of Anglivé, God of Valor, divine servant of the God of Fire, Liedenschaft—grant them your blessing!"
Both my bracelet and the Chief Priest's bracelet began to glow blue. The light that burst from the blue magic stones spiraled and crossed over each other as it flew straight toward them.
Above the forest, Sylvester swung his glowing baton in a wide, powerful arc, releasing a large red bird. As I watched, thinking it looked like a phoenix, the bird spread its wings wide and then vanished, melting away. Where its wings had been spread, a translucent red wall rose up.
Then, a similarly large yellow bird burst forth, circling around the surroundings before dissolving into glowing powder that rained down across the area.
Almost simultaneously with the red bird becoming a wall, Karstedt transformed his glowing baton into a great two-handed sword.
"Uwooooooh!"
Wielding the rainbow-hued great sword high above his head, Karstedt let out a tremendous cry as he swung it down with tremendous force.
A blinding flash of light shot from the sword and plunged straight into the forest.
"Waaah?!"
As if a meteorite had struck, a deafening sound rang out that numbed my ears, and at the same time the ground shook as though an earthquake had hit.
Immediately after, a massive explosion tore through part of the forest, blasting it away.
"He's gone too far..."
At the Chief Priest's words, I snapped back to attention and looked up at him.
"The carriages—are the carriages all right?!"
"They're protected by a double barrier of Darkness and Wind, so there should be no problem at all."
"Th-thank goodness."
I clutched my chest and let out a sigh of relief at the Chief Priest's words. Moments later, a dizzy spell hit me.
"What's wrong, Mine?"
"It seems like my body went limp once I knew everyone was safe. I've started to feel a little cold."
I described the sensation of my body growing chilled as strength drained from me. The Chief Priest furrowed his brow and placed one hand against the side of my neck.
"You've gone quite cold. Could it be that you've overused your Magic Power?"
"...Huh? Ah, that might be true."
Come to think of it, something similar had happened the first time I performed a dedication ceremony. Back then, I'd eaten something sweet and slowly circulated the Magic Power in my deeper reserves, and I'd recovered quickly. But right now, I didn't have enough Magic Power inside me to circulate through my whole body.
"Chief Priest, I don't have any Magic Power. I truly don't have enough to circulate through my entire body."
I had always been suppressing my excess Magic Power, but running out and falling short was a first for me—I had no idea what to do.
"The medicine is generally kept in the carriage. We can't return until safety is confirmed. ...For now, drink this. It's an emergency measure, but it's better than nothing."
The Chief Priest detached a slender gold ornament shaped like a test tube from his belt and pressed a small round stone. The top portion popped open with a click.
I sniffed the object handed to me, but it didn't smell like bitter herbs. Tilting it back, I took a sip, and a thick, sweet liquid spread through my mouth. It was similar to the medicine I'd been given when using Magical Tools to explore my memories—richer, perhaps, but the same general type.
"Now close your eyes and go to sleep. When you wake up, expect bitter medicine and a lecture."
I nodded and closed my eyes.
"
"...Rosina."
I noticed Rosina peering at my face to check on me, and slowly sat up. Immediately, my head spun as if from anemia, and it flopped back onto the pillow with a thump.
"You mustn't move so suddenly. You went to quite some lengths to protect the carriages from the attack, didn't you? The Chief Priest and the others were quite exasperated."
"I was warned there'd be a lecture before I passed out, so I've steeled myself. More importantly—are Rosina, Fran, and the others, everyone, all right? Was anyone hurt or in pain?"
Had I really protected everyone? If I'd collapsed from Magic Power overuse, only to face bitter medicine and a lecture for nothing, that would be too cruel.
"Yes. Including myself, there were no injuries among the party, and nothing was damaged or stolen, it seems."
"Good. I'm so glad."
Rosina gently laid me back down as she told me what had happened in the carriage.
She described her shock at the sudden stop when the carriages were trapped in black darkness, and how she'd looked out the window to see armed peasants emerging from the forest. After that, bracing for a direct assault, she'd been surprised when something sent the attackers flying.
The sky had suddenly lit up with a great roar and an explosion, but since the carriage hadn't experienced so much as a gust of wind from inside, she had no idea what was happening. Only afterward did she learn that the Chief Priest and the others had arrived to protect them.
"The person who suffered the most was Lady Myne. She was the only one who lost consciousness and was trembling with a cold body."
Listening to Rosina's account like a bedtime story, my consciousness faded away.
"...When weighing peasants against gray priests, the priority goes to the peasants who grow crops and pay taxes. Thanks to Lady Myne, all of us were saved. I am truly grateful."
When I next woke, the Chief Priest had come to visit—and had brought along the most horribly bitter and foul-tasting medicine. He thrust a small green bottle right in front of me.
"Drink this."
"Hyuu..."
Even when I tried to recoil, I was sitting up in bed with nowhere to flee.
Seeing me hesitate despite knowing I had no choice, the Chief Priest shot me a sharp glare.
"Has your Magic Power recovered at all?"
"...Not yet."
"As I thought. We can't stay here forever. Would you rather I pinch your nose and force it down?"
If my Magic Power didn't recover, we couldn't depart. If I was told I was inconveniencing everyone, I'd have no choice but to drink the medicine no matter how bitter it tasted.
I picked up the medicine the Chief Priest held out and, with every trembling hand I could muster, poured it into my mouth.
"Mmmgh...!"
The taste was so awful and bitter that tears welled up. I clutched my mouth and writhed on the bed. The Chief Priest looked down at me with a satisfied expression and nodded.
"While the medicine takes effect, sit there holding your mouth and listen."
With that preamble, the Chief Priest revealed a shocking truth: they still had no idea who had placed the Darkness God's barrier on the carriage, or who was behind it.
Apparently, Karstedt's attack had obliterated the enemies so completely that they couldn't investigate who was pulling the strings, and it was now impossible to determine whether Viscount
What they did know was this: from what Damuel had sensed, the people who had actually carried out the attack didn't have particularly powerful Magic Power, and there had been two of them. Based on their Magic Power levels alone, they couldn't possibly have erected a Darkness God's barrier—meaning there was undoubtedly a noble above them.
And it was suspected that this noble might be from outside the territory.
"How did you determine that?"
"Because more than half of the people who attacked the carriage weren't territory residents."
He wouldn't tell me exactly how they'd figured that out, but it was suspected that the noble who could cast the Darkness God's barrier was also from outside the territory and had fled beyond the borders before Karstedt's attack landed.
"...Wasn't the goal to capture the culprit?"
"Apparently, everything was supposed to go as usual, but the attack ended up with unexpected force."
It seemed that even Karstedt himself was surprised by the power of his own strike.
The Chief Priest averted his gaze awkwardly, and I realized what had caused it.
"...Could it be that our blessings were... unnecessary?"
"Perhaps. Keep quiet about it until someone asks."
"Understood."
Meanwhile, it seemed Sylvester and Karstedt had already returned to the city. Since this incident required an urgent investigation, they'd flown back on their mounted beasts for reporting and processing.
"Normally, it would be unthinkable for a carriage carrying priests to be attacked, right? So this means the Lord needs to be informed and a proper investigation conducted?"
"...Yes, that about sums it up."
The Chief Priest nodded once, then tightened his expression. He looked at me as I clumsily settled back onto the bed.
"Mine, do you truly not wish to be separated from your family?"
"Of course."
"Then why did you let your Magic Power run rampant back there?"
At the Chief Priest's words, I swallowed hard.
"When I thought Fran and Rosina were in danger, I just lost my temper..."
"That time, it happened to work out because your rampaging Magic Power formed a strong defense. But you've done too many things that could make you a target. Above all, this time you had a Magical Tool, so you were able to pray to the goddess and activate a spell. Without it, the rampaging Magic Power would have killed you."
To release Magic Power, a Magical Tool was generally required. That was precisely why Self-Eating individuals, who lacked Magical Tools, were gradually consumed by their ever-expanding Magic Power and died.
I managed to keep myself alive by dedicating my Magic Power at the
"Do you know what happens to those who die from rampant Magic Power?"
The Chief Priest described in meticulous, fine detail how nobles who had lost control of their Magic Power died. His matter-of-fact tone made it all the more terrifying.
"Magic Power begins to leak from the body, and when it continues, all the Magic Power inside gushes out at once. Once that happens, the body—the vessel meant to contain Magic Power—can no longer hold together. The skin bubbles up and swells, just like when you're boiling water. And the moment the skin can't take it anymore, it pops with a crack, and the flesh..."
"Gyaaah! Gyaaah! Gyaaah! I can't hear you! I don't want to hear! Nooooooo!"
I clapped my hands over my ears and dove under the covers, but the Chief Priest yanked the blanket away and pried my hands from my ears.
"Now, now, Mine. I'm not finished."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I absolutely won't let my Magic Power run rampant, so please forgive me! I hate pain! I hate scary things! Stop, pleeeease!"
On the bed, I prostrated myself and cried for real. The Chief Priest gave a light "hmm" of acknowledgment.
"Then the next time you cause a rampage, I'll strap you to a chair so you can't cover your ears or run away, and I'll narrate the whole thing to you in detail right beside your ear."
Imagining myself tied to a chair, listening endlessly to painful and terrifying stories, I shook my head frantically, desperately trying to shake off the image.
"I'll never do it again! I really won't!"
The Chief Priest wore a truly magnificent smile at my earnest repentance and murmured something utterly terrifying: "This seems like it'll be useful in the future."