Realization and Seeing Things You Don't Want To

Ragil and the others found themselves gathering yet again.

They'd already finished discussing things the other day, and he'd thought that would buy them time for the moment. And yet—

This time, the one who had called the meeting wasn't Magni, but Narikin.

The topic, he said, was "about the trial".

Most likely, he intended to declare he was already giving up on the trial. Pathetic.

It hadn't even been a full week yet. At the very least, they should investigate for a year before they even considered choosing to give up. If they couldn't manage even that much, then the trial itself had no weight.

When Ragil entered the now-familiar room, Magni and Narikin were already waiting.

Saintess Alka was there as well, along with Narikin's relatives still kept under house arrest.

"Oh, Ragil-dono. Thank you for taking the trouble to come."

Hm. Ragil nodded.

"So. You're already giving up and hoping to move on to the next trial? I suppose I'll have to give you a bit of a sermon."

"Ah, no. I've learned the resurrection magic, [Resurrection], so I'd like to try it at least once whether it succeeds or not."

"… What?"

Narikin said it plainly. It was the morning of the fourth day since the mass instant-death incident at the arena.

Too fast. Far, far too fast.

"… [Resurrection] is that ancient magic used back in the era of the First Saintess, yes? The one recorded as having vanished — its users lost — about four hundred years ago?"

"Oh! As expected of High Priest Ragil-dono, so knowledgable. Yes, that ritual magic."

"Ritual… magic?"

"Yes. It's magic that multiple people cast together due to the sheer amount of mana it consumes. You weren't aware?"

Ritual magic. Ragil certainly knew such magic existed.

And yet, despite this being the Holy Kingdom — the very headquarters of the Church of the Light God — there wasn't a single record stating that the resurrection magic [Resurrection] was performed as ritual magic. The common understanding had always been that it was a normal spell cast by a single individual.

Now that he thought about it, there had been one ancient text in his memory that mentioned "performing a ritual."

But he'd assumed that meant some religious embellishment. Ceremonial trappings, nothing more.

After all, every Pope in history had performed resurrections alone.

… It was almost as if someone had intentionally erased inconvenient documents.

The moment his thoughts reached that point, Ragil began to tremble.

"B-but are you saying you truly learned [Resurrection]!? How!? And where!?"

"Yes. Through a small connection, I obtained a scroll."

A 'small connection,' he says. Obtaining a scroll for a lost spell in a day or two was not "small" by any measure.

"N-no, wait. You just said [Resurrection] is ritual magic, didn't you? If multiple people have to cast it, then what meaning is there in you alone learning it?"

"No problem at all. My wife's family sent several. My relatives have already learned it as well, so we're all set."

"… Hah??"

So the "connection" was his wife's family.

Was he saying they mailed over scrolls for an ancient, lost spell with the same casualness as sending pears from the farm?

"Y-your wife's family, you say? What house are they from!?"

"Oh, that's a secret. My wife has many secrets, you see. But, as the saying goes, a woman with many secrets is a charming one."

"Ah yes… the famous quote of the First Saintess, known for being shrouded in mystery…"

Her achievements were so wide-ranging, and then after living a full hundred years, she had simply vanished one day. That final act.

The prevailing theory was that multiple heroines of that era had been bundled together, later recorded as a single Saintess.

And finally, at that moment, Ragil realized the truth:

This was all a lie from the start.

Right. The claim that it was ritual magic was a lie too. Which meant there was no shadowy figure deleting [Resurrection] from history—no conspiracy at all.

Yes. That must be it.

"… I see. Hah — so that's it. You're planning to use something like [Judgment Ray], aren't you? If you erase the corpse, resurrection becomes impossible. Then you'll have no choice but to give up, and you can move straight on to the next trial — that's the plan."

"Hm? Ah, I suppose that would be a method as well."

"Don't play dumb! Just because you say failure would be acceptable doesn't mean you can intentionally dispose of Ronesky's remains! While my eyes still shine upon this matter, I will never allow it!!"

"Idiot. You can't do something like that because my eyes are shining on it."

Magni cut in at that point.

"But—Magni-baa. This one's surely lying. There's no way he found an ancient spell and learned it in just a day or two—"

"About that. I learned it too. Narikin gave me a scroll… It's the real thing."

"—Hwaaaat!?"

Before Ragil could sputter out What nonsense are you saying?, Magni simply shrugged with a casual, "It's true."

"W-w-wait! Even if, by some miracle, he had the scrolls — why give one to you, Magni-baa!?"

"Hm? I heard Magni-dono used to be a Saintess Candidate and has plenty of mana, so I thought she'd be a good addition to the headcount."

"Surely there were better choices! Rather than a short-lived old woman like her, you should have picked a proper young man!"

"Hey. Don't casually call me an old woman. It's true, but still."

"R-right! Then the Saintess! You should have taught Saintess Alka!"

"Ah, I learned it yesterday as well. As expected of Narikin-sama."

"…!?"

Was he the one who'd gone mad? Why were they handing out scrolls for [Resurrection] — a spell supposedly lost to history — like it was nothing!? Ragil clutched his head.

"Ah. Perhaps you wanted to learn it too, Ragil-dono? My apologies, I've only brought one scroll with me today. If you're willing to wait until another day, I'll share one with you. Ah, but on the condition that you use it immediately, right then and there."

"So it is fruit to you! Does [Resurrection] grow on trees at your wife's family's home!?"

"Ragil-dono. Even if it is my wife's family home, I don't believe scrolls grow on trees."

"I KNOW THAT!!"

The dialect slipped out before he could stop it. He was going to lose his mind; common sense didn't apply here.

… No. Wait. What even was common sense?

Resurrection was a miracle that only the Pope could perform. That was supposed to be "common sense."

But that assumption—

Ah, damn it. If, on top of everything else, the resurrection actually succeeded…

… Then common sense would break. It would shatter completely…