Chapter 48 - Aedrin - 2

The discrepancy was strangely unsettling.

“There is another problem on top of that. My knightly friend, do you remember the siblings you met before coming here?”

“... The Noir.”

“Yes, that is what your people call those siblings. Well, that is not important... They are after Mother’s essence.”

The pitch of Friede’s soft, wistful voice never changed throughout the explanation.

As far as Renée knew, no one could be so indifferent while speaking of a crisis that directly threatened them. One might say it was because Friede was an elf rather than a human, but Renée felt that this serenity was something fundamentally different.

“Hmm, to share a little of our internal affairs, Mother’s impending extinction is precisely why those siblings ran away from home. They are afraid of their lives ending.”

This was exactly why.

Friede spoke of their own death as though it were nothing at all. There was not the slightest fear of dying.

“Thus, before Mother’s life ends, those siblings intend to take her essence and prolong their own lives. That is why we patrol even beyond the Great Forest—to keep them from approaching Mother.”

Naturally, a question arose in Renée’s mind: why?

Why speak so casually of one’s own death?

And it was not just Friede’s own death. Even while discussing the deaths of Aedrin, whom they called Mother, the other elves around them, and those they called their ‘runaway siblings,’ Friede’s tone was far too serene.

A serenity better described as emotional barrenness.

Unease rose within Renée at this incongruity, leaving her unable to concentrate on the conversation. She fidgeted with her fingers, then flinched when Friede addressed her.

“Saintess?”

“Oh, yes!”

“Do you understand the situation, more or less?”

That wistful resonance. Within it was a mechanical hint of laughter that she could now distinguish clearly.

“Yes, so... Lady Aedrin is in danger, and those siblings called the Noir are after her, correct?”

“Mm, good. It seems I have made myself clear.”

Renée gave an awkward smile at Friede’s words. Seeing it, Friede smiled in return, then continued, bringing up Mari.

“There is only one way to end the present conflict: to obtain Mother’s seed through Mari’s divine powers. But progress has been painfully slow.”

Renée followed the explanation with her own thoughts.

Trebo had told her about the divine powers of abundance during her education in the Holy Empire.

The maximization of vital activity.

These powers temporarily maximized a living organism’s innate vitality, driving all its metabolic processes beyond their limits. According to Trebo, the divine powers of abundance could produce grain from newly planted seeds in just three days.

Only then did Renée understand why Mari had been dispatched here. She also understood why Friede said progress was slow.

“Lady Aedrin’s growth requires that much divine energy, doesn’t it?”

“Excellent. As you say, Saintess, Mari’s divine energy alone is not enough to bring Mother’s growth to completion.”

This time, there was no disputing that even an apostle’s divine energy was insufficient.

It meant resonating with the soul of Aedrin, who had existed since creation. Naturally, the divine energy of Mari, who had not lived even fifty years, could not bear that burden.

“I know something of your divine powers as well, Saintess. What do you think? Could you bring Mother’s growth to completion?”

Listening to Friede, Renée stroked the root of Aedrin on which she sat. She gently infused it with divine energy, gauging whether she could make Aedrin grow with her powers.

“... That would be difficult.”

Her answer was no.

Throughout her time in the Holy Empire, Renée had devoted herself to learning the limits of what she could do. That was how she knew.

She did not have enough divine energy to wield powers on that scale. If she attempted it, her soul would be extinguished on the spot.

“Bringing Lady Aedrin’s growth all the way to completion... is impossible for me.”

During the pursuit on her first journey to the Holy Empire, Renée had risked her life using her divine powers, and all she had achieved was waking Terdan.

Merely waking the sleeping giant had made her collapse unconscious. She could not wield divine powers on a scale that would directly affect the body of an ancient species.

Suddenly, frustration welled up inside her at the recollection.

Despite all the praise she received, she was helpless before the world she had finally ventured into. She felt utterly pathetic.

“Hmm, that is a pity.”

Renée flinched at the mechanical emotion in the voice, then hung her head.

“... I’m sorry.”

“It is all right. Nothing can be done, can it? Well, since things have turned out this way, enjoy a little holiday before you leave. Mm! The last tourist to visit the Great Forest. You will have quite a splendid title, Saintess.”

The words were utterly casual.

Renée’s self-loathing at her helplessness mingled with the dissonance of Friede’s emotionless words, leaving her in complete turmoil.

* * *

After the conversation ended, Bera walked through the Great Forest with Renée, who had asked to take a stroll, and reviewed their discussion.

It had raised far too many questions.

‘Friede was definitely alive ten years from now.’

Not merely alive, but vigorous enough to be counted among the heroes who defeated the Demon King—and to relentlessly pursue Bera and drive him into a corner.

Yet, judging solely by what they had just been told, Friede was certain to die soon.

Bera looked toward Renée.

Her divine powers were the most plausible factor that could allow Friede to survive until then. But in their conversation just now, Renée had unequivocally said she could not save Aedrin.

Bera’s brow furrowed.

‘What is going on?’

Surely the original course of history had not changed.

Mari had begun treating Aedrin before he had even received his sacred mark, and he had had no say in Renée’s coming here. This was certainly not a butterfly effect caused by him.

Renée must have visited the Great Forest in his previous life as well. Something she had accomplished must have allowed the elves to survive until then.

The outcome was clear, but the process was full of gaps.

Bera silently continued thinking, but when no answer came, he approached it from another angle.

‘... What if.’

What if Aedrin had ultimately ceased to exist, and only the elves had survived?

This too was speculation, but not entirely baseless.

Aedrin’s fate had never been discussed in his previous life, so he could not be certain of it. And their recent conversation had mentioned a way for the elves to survive even if Aedrin died.

‘Aedrin’s essence.’

The source of life the Noir sought.

With it, the elves could readily go on living even after Aedrin’s death.

For now, the elves showed no sign of seeking Aedrin’s essence... but who could know what would happen later?

Bera knew. No matter how rational someone was, when death stood before them, they would ultimately put their own life first.

No one could know whether the elves would betray Aedrin once they realized death was truly upon them.

‘What if...’

If this hypothesis was correct, Renée might be in danger. His involvement in this life would surely introduce variables of its own.

He hoped it was merely needless worry, but with nothing certain, it was right to consider as many possibilities as he could.

As Bera sorted through these hypotheses and examined them one by one—

“Bera.”

Renée spoke.

At her voice, Bera put aside all his thoughts and answered.

“Yes?”

“What do you think, Bera? About Lady Aedrin and the elves’ situation.”

“I believe it is fair to call it a crisis. The future of their species is literally at stake.”

“Right? Then why is it...?”

Her words were almost a murmur.

Just as Bera was about to ask what she meant, Renée let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

“No, never mind. I’ll think about that later.”

Bera tilted his head slightly as she continued murmuring, apparently coming to some resolution on her own.

Seemingly finished with her thoughts, Renée raised her face toward him and spoke again.

“Shall we head back now? I think we’ve been walking for quite a while.”

“... Yes.”

As Bera watched her, worry lingered on Renée’s faintly smiling face.

* * *

“Oh, goodness! Where have you two been all this time? Come on over and eat!”

The lively voice belonged to Mari.

Bera flinched at the sight of her cooking over a campfire she had lit in front of Aedrin’s roots.

“... Are you allowed to light a fire there?”

He could not hold back the question. No, with a fire burning right in front of a tree root, it would have been strange not to ask.

Mari blinked at his question, then laughed heartily and waved it away.

“Hm? Oh, a little fire like this won’t set it alight. Never mind that—come sit down!”

While Renée, unable to see what was ahead, puzzled over the exchange, Bera led her toward the campfire, reasoning that someone who had lived here for ten years ought to know what was safe.

Mari thrust bowls of soup at them as they sat down and continued speaking.

“You two should count yourselves lucky. There’s nothing better for you than the medicinal herbs that grow in the Great Forest!”

Soup made with medicinal herbs.

Realizing that the pungent aroma rising from the soup came from herbs, Bera nodded slightly. Then he spotted Hella peeking at him from beyond a distant root and spoke.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“I’m fine, sir. Ate the leftover jerky, so I’m full.”

She answered while subtly averting her eyes.

Bera gave a perfunctory nod, then picked up his spoon and scooped up some soup.

He had gone hungry all day. Surely eating something would be better than nothing.

That complacency led to disaster.

“... Urgh!”

The moment Bera tasted the soup, his body heaved as nausea surged up inside him.

It tasted awful. Not merely bad—it was enough to make him retch.

Bera’s face crumpled as he realized that, in his shock, he had involuntarily swallowed it.

As the soup traveled down his throat, it felt as though it were scraping every inch of the way.

What the hell kind of cooking was this?

A moment later, Bera recalled Hella’s telling behavior and turned toward where she had stood, but the spot was already empty.

She had run away.

There was no doubt. Hella had known what this tasted like.

“A little bitter, isn’t it? Eat it anyway. Bitter things are good for you.”

Mari’s words lodged in his ears. Bera wanted to throw down the bowl and leave that very instant, but he could not bring himself to be so rude. He merely ground his teeth.

“Hm? I think it’s delicious.”

Startled by Renée’s words, Bera turned his head. Her cheeks were flushed, all the gloom she had worn on the way here gone, and she spoke excitedly.

“It’s really good! That little bitter taste is addictive.”

“Is that so? Our Saintess isn’t a picky eater—what a lovely girl!”

“Hehe...”

A succession of remarks he could not comprehend even as he heard them.

For the first time in the three years he had spent with Renée, Bera looked at her with a frown.

Something came back to him.

In his previous life, she had happily eaten the swill she received from begging.

That image overlapped with the sight before him.

‘Could it be...?’

Only after living through an entire lifetime did Bera realize that Renée’s sense of taste was warped.