The Ritual

"It seems a soul will dissipate if you don't resurrect it quickly. That is why we must act at once… though, in truth, there's a high chance it's already too late."

Having heard that explanation, we immediately moved to perform the ritual magic [Resurrection]. The location was the arena as well — as close to where he died as possible, they said.

They drew the ritual magic circle, laid out the late Ronesky's body at its center, surrounded it, and began chanting.

"■■■… ■■■■■■, ■■■, ■, ■■"

"… ■■■, ■■■■■■. ■■■…"

"………… ■■, ■■■■………… ■■■"

"■■■■■■■■■, ■■■■■■■■■■, ■■■"

"■■■. ■■■. ■■■."

Narikin, Saintess Alka, Magni, and Narikin's two wives layered their voices over one another as they chanted.

Magni struggled the most with the chant. By contrast, Narikin's wives rattled it off with ease. Saintess Alka was somewhere in between. Narikin himself seemed to chant even more smoothly than Alka did.

"… ■■■■■■. ■"

"………… ■■, ■■■…"

They were "conversing" with glances, but Magni clearly couldn't keep up.

Was it something like vitality that mattered? Or were those two wives' mana reserves truly greater than Magni, a High Priest, and even Saintess Alka?

Even if a Saintess is chosen for overall capability, that would make them at least Saintess-candidate level.

"…………"

"… ■■…………"

"■■…… ■■……"

"…………"

"…………"

Then, when the (supposedly) slowest Magni nodded, the five matched their timing.

—[Resurrection].

Their voices synchronized, and the magic circle shone.

For a moment, it almost looked like color returned to the late Ronesky's corpse… but there was no response. Even after the light faded, there was no sign of movement.

"… Did it fail?"

When I voiced the question, Magni dropped to her knees. Saintess Alka also let her shoulders fall.

"… No reaction."

Narikin sighed.

"It appears resurrecting the late Ronesky-sama is impossible… What shall we do, Narikin-sama?"

"Ghk—s-sorry. Maybe I dragged us down…"

"No. His soul was likely already gone. It is not your fault, Magni-dono."

Narikin shook his head with a weary, good grief.

"Now then, Ragil-dono. As you can see, resurrecting the late Ronesky-shi has failed. It is likely impossible by human hands."

"… Ah—uh, y-yeah. R-right."

And yet, I felt strangely relieved.

In other words, the previous Pope truly had performed a genuine miracle, something even Narikin and his group couldn't replicate.

"Very well. I did not wish to use this method… but shall we at least hear his last words?"

"Hah?"

Last words? What did he mean by that?

"I have heard the body — specifically, the brain — retains memories. By implanting a temporary soul, one can read the dead's memories. It is possible, for example, to ask whether there were any last wishes or a will weighing on their mind."

"A t-temporary soul!? What are you talking about!?"

"Er… it is a technique akin to necromancy, allowing one to lodge a soul within a corpse. However, it is not the person themselves. At best, it is an imitation."

That—

I swallowed. My throat felt bone-dry.

… There had been cases of people reviving with their memories lost. No — most were not majorly impaired. But in the details, there were documented cases: old pre-death habits gone, routines erased, someone suddenly unable to do their paperwork the way they used to.

"P-please, isn't it better not to do that?"

"Oh? Since we have the chance, wouldn't it be better to ask for the safe combination or something? Ronesky will need a funeral too, won't he?"

"Magni-baa! N-necromancy is not a technique the Church of the Light God should be using!"

Magni's surprisingly positive reaction only made me wave my hands harder, trying to stop this.

Why was I trying to stop it?

I didn't know. But I had a strong feeling that doing this, actually going through with it, would be bad. Very bad.

"Ah, no, Ragil-dono. It is akin to necromancy, yes, but it is not necromancy. If anything, perhaps it should be called alchemy… since we are creating a temporary soul."

"Creating a soul…!? Is that even alchemy!? That's the work of the gods!!"

"Not to that extent. It is only temporary, so it will not last long. Though, goodness… if only I could tame a Ghost, it would be a different story."

Narikin shrugged as he said it.

Tame a Ghost…? For what — no, was he saying he'd put it into the corpse? Huh?

"A-a Ghost? If you lodge a Ghost inside, w-what happens?"

"If it is a Ghost, it would not be a temporary soul, but a different soul entirely. It could live for a long time… perhaps as long as the body's original lifespan? But in the end, it would be a different person. With memories, they could perhaps put on an act to replace the original person, but…"

"…"

I understood.

That was very close to the previous Pope's miracle.

"In any case, taming Ghosts is more a necromancer's skill than a tamer's," Narikin added.

"Ah… yeah…"

"Shall we try it, then? Magni-dono seems eager."

"… … … … Yeah."

I nodded weakly.

"—False Soul Generation… set. Ah, it seems [Resurrection] is still active; we can save ourselves the trouble of chanting again."

The moment Narikin said it, Ronesky's corpse snapped its eyes open.

Ronesky slowly sat up… no, the thing that had been Ronesky. The late Ronesky.

"…"

"I see. So it really is someone else. Does it truly have his memories?" Magni asked.

"Let us ask something. What did you eat right before you died?"

At Narikin's question, the late Ronesky slowly opened his mouth.

"… I do not remember."

Magni and Alka glanced at Narikin.

"Hey. Are you sure it has memories? … It has Ronesky's voice and it's moving, but—"

"I-it is only natural that he cannot recall what the original did not remember—"

"Well, Ronesky-sama was elderly; he might forget what he ate for breakfast sometimes."

Saintess Alka said gently.

Narikin was about to ask something else when the late Ronesky spoke again.

"No. For the last seven days, I have consumed nothing but water."

At that, Magni pressed him.

"What did you just say? That changes things. Explain yourself."

"… … … … It seems it was unnecessary."

"Unnecessary? What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying Ronesky wasn't human?"

"That appears to be the case. He was Undead."

Undead.

At that word, I, who had been watching blankly with mind elsewhere, jerked back to myself and rushed forward.

"W-what!? Undead!? Ronesky was Undead!?"

"Yes. He was Undead. A Ghost was moving his body."

"A Ghost!? Impossible—impossible impossible impossible!! Since when!? Seven days ago!? That has to be it, right!?"

"… Decades ago. Since the first resurrection."

"No… then the Ronesky I knew… wasn't he just a puppet being controlled by a Ghost!?"

I raised my head—

—and slammed it into the ground. Once. Twice. Several times. Then I stopped.

What must I have been feeling?

The tower of common sense I'd built and trusted into old age had been constructed from bricks handed to me by a con man. A life-shaking impact. The tower collapsed. The con man's bricks failed every standard for withstanding such a quake and crumbled. A massive hole opened in the tower, right in its load-bearing core.

There was no path left but collapse.

I let out a sound that wasn't quite a voice — gwu — and tears fell to the ground.

"… Ah… Was there anything like a will? Any regrets?"

Magni asked softly.

"Yes. These are the Ghost's memories, however… 'Narikin-dono is fit to be Pope; with this, the Church of the Light God will be secure.' And: he wished to support a bard by the name of Coronet. His death was sudden, so there was little else."

"Hmph. A secret child or something? … No, fine. I'll make arrangements."

"If it were him, he would have said thank you."

After that, Magni asked two or three more questions, and the miracle of resurrection by temporary soul came to an end.

As Ronesky fell asleep once more, Magni and Alka offered a quiet bow.

Narikin and the others followed suit, seeing the dead off in silence.