Chapter 164

“Eye of the storm.”

The next morning.

Yuri, lost in thought, had come up with that idea.

As we were shoving almost saltened canned meat into our mouths, we momentarily halted and stared at Yuri.

“No matter how gigantic the storm is, what’s swirling around it is just the surrounding air. The center is left empty, making the sky look clearer.”

She was suggesting that the same goes for a storm of magic power.

In truth, she probably wasn’t too sure. Magic isn’t air or liquid, so we don’t precisely know how it moves yet.

“There must be demons that brought about the destruction of this world.”

After pondering over Yuri’s words, Glaria finally spoke up.

“Where do you think those demons are?”

“Probably within that storm.”

Mari replied to Glaria’s question.

“I haven’t seen them since the world fell apart. For a while, they were busy smashing things, but at some point, they just vanished. Maybe they got bored of destroying the world.”

“…….”

Watching Mari gloomily shove more meat into her mouth, I turned back to Yuri.

“So, can I continue to hear the rest of the story?”

“Well, it’s not a big deal. It’s just that when we went to the Beastman country last time—”

“Beastman?”

Yuri’s word was abruptly interrupted by a voice. Our gazes shifted back to Mari.

“Ah, sorry. I’ve heard that species mentioned in stories. Oh, I see. Since we can jump between worlds, we’re interacting with beings like that.”

It would be even more surprising if those princesses lived together in the convent I was at.

Especially if they knew about the wild things happening every night.

What would happen after I disappeared?

Paina and Pertia probably thought they owed me a favor. I’m not entirely sure if they truly believe in that ‘god’ we have in our world, but at least they always bowed respectfully whenever they saw me.

Was it gratitude for letting them be with their loved ones?

……What would that world look like after I vanished? Or maybe they still wouldn’t know anything. While Siyoon had spent two weeks in that race, barely a day had passed in our world.

Or perhaps, time twisted in another way and a lot had gone by.

Or it’s possible that during that one day, the demons invaded.

That thought sent shivers down my spine. Doesn’t it imply that the time demons have and the time we have doesn’t align? The demons could potentially amass a colossal army and invade our world at any moment if they set their minds to it.

“Hmm.”

Perhaps realizing she had abruptly jumped in and made the mood awkward, Mari shrugged her shoulders. It seemed to mean “go on.”

Maybe it had been too long since I interacted with anyone. I might be a bit rusty at conversation.

“So, during that time, you couldn’t utilize saint power immediately, right? It was an incredible force, but it’s also true that the magic cloud above obstructed you.”

Ah-ha.

“So you think if I go somewhere without that cloud layer, I might be able to use saint power?”

“Exactly.……Honestly, I don’t know if you can create a gate with saint power. But you never know, right? A miracle might happen.”

We have to do something.

If not, we’d just be stuck in this world forever. That’s why Yuri was suggesting we try something.

“That sounds like a suicide mission.”

Mari stated bluntly.

As we turned our gazes towards Mari, she took a sip of purified water and continued.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to go in there.”

“…….”

There’s no reason to ask why.

She might have left only one person to guard, but still, Mari likely wanted to kill those demons. They turned this world into what it is and made her beloved saint unable to wake up forever.

She might have had a desire for revenge… but that saint, the being called goddess in this world, was a force beyond her reach.

Mari must have lacked the saint power to cut down the demons, let alone even reach that storm.

“Didn’t you all fail even trying to go there?”

Mari remarked.

Yuri and Glaria both lowered their heads slightly. Davi wore a straight face.

Davi, even after resting just for a day, seemed to have fully regained their condition. According to Glaria, they used a spell to prevent the three of them from falling. So it wasn’t the same as breaking the sea, so it was probably alright.

But even with Davi present, they couldn’t completely deal with the horde of monsters. That was the case even when I was around, and even with Siyoon, who could handle magic power just the same.

Not to mention Ria’s holy sword.

“If you’re going to lose your life there, I won’t try to stop you—”

“It’s not that there aren’t any options.”

Yet this time, I interrupted Mari’s words.

Honestly, I didn’t want to hear it too much.

It’s not really Mari’s fault. She did her best in her own way and simply had to kneel to fate.

In fact, to have survived in this ruined world and kept watch over the saint, that kind of mental strength couldn’t be something a common person would have.

Eventually, I too, along with Ria, would come to terms with it after several years.

But still.

I did not want to hear Ria’s face, to hear Ria’s voice saying stuff like that. My Ria would never give up on the future, no matter what happened.

……Right, as I said yesterday, even if it means sacrificing others’ lives.

I placed the small stone I picked up in front of the door yesterday on my palm. While it wasn’t as pretty as a pebble, it could certainly become a ‘holy object.’ I had made sand into a holy object before.

I infused the concrete piece with saint power.

A wave of dizziness quickly hit me. The stone on my palm glimmered faintly.

It wasn’t as bright as I could have managed before, but it should be enough to take down a monster when needed.

I still had to think about how many I could make in a day, though.

“I just need to create as many of these as possible. There’s still time. It hasn’t even been a day in our world yet.”

……Unfortunately, this wouldn’t fix the saint. Ultimately, the saint power I could summon at once was limited, and transferring it into objects would cause some loss.

Perhaps if I kept making stones like this and used them all at once, I might eventually build enough power to heal, but who knows when that would be.

And in that time, our world would probably disappear.

Though I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea, I had some attachments to my existence. Also to how people saw me.

A child that suddenly appeared in the world without parents. That period isn’t too far off from the gate incident, so it would seem reasonable, but for people, I probably appeared as if I was a ‘being sent by the gods.’

No, in fact, that’s how it was. I was sent to that world for such a reason.

The ‘Anna’ of this world has lost trust as the world fell apart. That probably wasn’t Anna’s fault either. But faith ultimately depends on the heart of those who give it.

If I suddenly vanished in an instant, what would the people in my world think?

Wouldn’t they think that the god abandoned them? It would be a disaster if it turned into a lie in the church. People would believe even less.

If the power of the being above vanished, then the protective shield safeguarding the world would truly disappear. That future wouldn’t differ from the one in this world.

“…….”

Mari’s eyes shifted to the stone.

She probably had a similar thought.

If I kept making this stone for years, if I continuously healed while staying in this world… maybe the Anna of this world might still survive.

“……I’ll help.”

So, I said to Mari.

Ria looked at me. She seemed a bit nervous about what I’d say, but I had no intention of sacrificing myself.

That doesn’t mean I’d just leave them be.

“Once the sky clears up, I can probably use a bit more power. If a way to return to our world happens to show up—”

I looked directly at Mari. I made sure to maintain eye contact so she’d trust my words.

It wasn’t even a lie to begin with. If it were the original world, I would definitely have been able to heal.

“Then, I might be able to save your Anna.”

All eyes gathered on Mari.

“……So you’re saying to rush into something whose success is uncertain and pin all hopes on just that tiny wind.”

“I won’t say to try it right this second.”

I said.

“After all, time is on our side. We need to make as many of these as we can.”

I held up the temporary holy object I had just created.

Mari fell into silence.

The gazes of my comrades returned to me.

At least, their stares seemed to say ‘let’s give it a shot,’ which eased my mind a bit.