v2 Chapter 16: Fallen Lives

“Oh, goddess.”

Shouko shot Linus an exasperated look as soon as he said that upon showing his face back at the church.

“Linus-san, how many times are you going to say the same thing?”

“But Shouko, Haru has recovered so well...”

“Shopping perks women up, you know.”

“Yes, well, I couldn't accompany her shopping myself, and what makes one happy, makes one happy.”

“Well, if you're happy, I guess it's fine.”

Linus really was kind, after all.

After everyone finished a peaceful meal together, it was decided they would hold a debriefing session about the day's events.

“Haru, what do you want to do? You can rest if you're tired.”

“I'll participate.”

“Okay.”

Everyone somehow knew about the afternoon's events and worried about how painful it might be to discuss them again, but Haru said she was fine. If that was the case, then it should be alright.

“It seems there was a bit of a commotion today. Could you tell us about that first?” The High Priest said, leaning back comfortably in his chair.

“If you'd like, Haru, you can come sit on my lap.”

“Ehh?” Haru flinched.

“Honestly, let's just talk properly first, Sain-sama,” Shouko said with exasperation.

“So you'll come onto my lap afterward?”

“Sain-sama.”

The trouble was, he wasn't joking.

“Well, while we were shopping today...” Shouko began speaking. With things like this, it was best just to ignore them. Because if the High Priest put Haru on his lap, Leon would complain it was unfair and want Haru on his lap, and seeing that, Falco would want Shouko on his lap, and they wouldn't get anywhere with the discussion. Linus-san was fidgeting too. Honestly. She wished Lyla would say something instead of just snickering.

In the end, she ended up explaining in detail how a young man named Terry, soon to be a full magician, had approached them and started making accusations. She kept glancing at Haru as she spoke. It was okay; Haru was listening intently, her head held high.

“So, they're using someone with high magic capacity—and one who isn't even an adult—as a decoy instead of Haru? And she got injured... Foolishness.” The High Priest repeated what he'd heard, his expression showing understanding but not acceptance. “And because he didn't want his own lover injured, he used a 13-year-old girl as a substitute... What has become of things...”

“Forgive me, High Priest. What has truly happened to our country?” Linus looked dejected too.

“The townspeople said that young man wasn't like that before,” Shouko added. “Everyone in town was sympathetic towards Haru; not a single person sided with the young man. They also said magicians have been selfish lately.”

“Hmm. My rounds of the churches finished without any major issues. Magicians still don't come to the church, that hasn't changed, but...” The High Priest put a hand to his chin and said, “I did hear something concerning. There are people with high magic capacity who don't go to the Magic Academy and just work normally. Among them, it seems some have indeed become quick-tempered.”

“But if we're talking about high magic capacity, that includes me, and Dred too, right?”

Shouko's magic capacity was said to be high enough that she could become either a healer or a magician. Dred was a first-rate magician; his was even higher. Everyone looked toward Dred.

“If you ask if I've changed,” Dred reflected, “the only thing is that the Lakes became unsatisfying, so I started going to the Deep Forest or Iwadou. In other words...” Dred closed his eyes as if peering inside himself and continued, “I feel like... my motivation increased, I became more energetic. As for being quick-tempered... no, I don't think so.” He analyzed.

“It started around the year Haru and Shouko arrived,” Sain added.

Shouko met Haru's eyes. This was probably the time to say it.

“Um...” Haru spoke up. “About when I was dropped into this country... I've spoken about it at the Magic Academy. So it's not really a secret or anything anymore, but...” Haru checked with Shouko with her eyes, asking if it was okay to speak. “We didn't come from the Plains. We came from a place called Japan, in a world called Earth.”

“Chikyuu? Nihon?” the High Priest repeated. “Not the central mountain region?”

“A goddess hunted our lives there,” Haru explained. “Twelve train cars worth, she said, to use as raw material for souls.”

“Hunted your lives? And 'densha'? Twelve cars worth?”

“Estimating conservatively, maybe 30 people per car, so around 360 people,” Shouko answered the High Priest's question.

“Because of that, people at the Magic Academy called me a liar,” Haru answered quietly. “You might not believe it. But it's the truth.”

“So 360 people were dropped here?” Sain connected the dots. “No, that's wrong. Shouko said only three were dropped. What happened to the rest?”

Shouko answered the High Priest's question clearly. “I believe they were likely replenished into living creatures as energy.”

“Is that why you asked back then if slimes have souls?” Sain recalled. “You didn't want to harm your own kind...”

“Yes.”

The High Priest understood what Shouko meant in an instant. He remembered what she had said back then remarkably well.

“So the goddess suddenly added too much energy, and motivation is running rampant...” Sain hypothesized.

“But hey,” Leon questioned, “Dred is using it to improve his skills. It doesn't seem like it's all bad.”

“If it accelerates one's desires,” Sain explained, “then Dred was merely faithful to his desire to become stronger. If that desire is to achieve results, then some might head in the direction of exploiting others.”

Hearing it put that way, they could understand it clearly.

“I don't doubt Haru,” Linus said sincerely, “but there are no records of the goddess ever having done such a thing before. It is difficult to believe immediately.”

“I feel like I understand, Linus,” Sain disagreed gently.

“High Priest.”

“Birth rates have been declining slightly recently. To the extent that we might face a gradual decline in several decades. But to add energy from the outside like this... And sacrificing lives from another world to do it...”

“Shouko.” Falco said, his voice trembling slightly. “You... You died once?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why did you come back to life?”

“She said it was because I was 'neither poison nor medicine'.”

“That's...”

“It was probably just the goddess's whim. I don't understand it either.”

Falco stood up, came before Shouko, knelt down, and firmly grasped both her hands.

“I'm grateful for the goddess's whim. Thank you for coming to me.”

“Falco...”

“Ahem, ahem.” Beside the two gazing at each other, the High Priest cleared his throat.

“High Priest, read the room,” Leon teased.

“You're the one who should read the room, Falco. I'm envious.”

“Eh?”

“No, I just mean this isn't the time for that.”

With the High Priest resetting the mood, Falco stood up, swiftly lifted Shouko, and sat down with her on his lap.

“The truth or falsehood doesn't matter,” Sain concluded. “But if it is fact, the logic holds. In that case, we must use this as a basis to think about the future.”

“Well, no use dwelling on the past. It's about what comes next,” Leon agreed pragmatically.

“Yeah,” Falco added.

The true spirit of Deep Forest hunters. Endlessly straightforward and cheerful. If that's fine, then it's fine, I guess, Shouko thought. But there's really no need to put me on his lap.