"It's finally gotten a bit quieter."
"Meow."
"...What was that sound just now?"
I'm sure it sounded like someone said they could bring Mr. Krandel back to life.
That must have been my imagination.
"Magic that brings people back to life doesn't exist in this world."
"Meow—"
Squeeze—
Cecilia pulled BlackMeow into her arms.
Since Mr. Krandel had left, most of her daily routine consisted of hugging BlackMeow.
If she didn't hold the cat, she couldn't bear the emptiness.
"Come to think of it, BlackMeow. It's time to eat. Luna must have prepared something again."
"Meow—"
"...Are you hungry, BlackMeow?"
BlackMeow nodded as if understanding Cecilia's words.
Cecilia had no choice but to get up from the bed with BlackMeow in her arms.
Though she had given up on studying magic entirely and spent every day lying in bed, she couldn't let BlackMeow starve, so she moved.
But standing before the door, Cecilia couldn't rashly open it.
"..."
"Meow—"
"...Wait, BlackMeow. I need to prepare. It's still hard to face it."
Haa— Haa—
Cecilia's breathing became difficult as she exhaled roughly.
Imagining what the outside world without Mr. Krandel would be like made it impossible to breathe.
From her perspective, the outside was nothing but a colorless gray.
"Meow— Meow—"
"...Thank you for worrying. I'll rest for a moment."
Cecilia held BlackMeow in her arms like that, catching her breath for a while.
The gift Mr. Krandel had left behind.
A living, breathing creature—a cat.
After Mr. Krandel disappeared, Cecilia had unconsciously been depending on BlackMeow.
Because letting go felt like returning to those days when she couldn't feel emotions again.
"...I've calmed down a bit now."
Gulp—
Cecilia swallowed and turned the doorknob with firm resolve.
The door opened to reveal the peaceful scenery of the house.
Unable to look at it any longer, she lowered her gaze and checked the items Juliana had left.
"Books and food..."
Cecilia quickly shoved the items into her room and tried to close the door again.
But at that moment.
"Wait."
A slender hand appeared between the closing door.
"...You're too late, shut-in mage. I have a hard time waiting, you know?"
Juliana, whose patience had reached its limit after two hours, trespassed into Cecilia's room and sat on the bed.
She expressed her anxiety by shaking her leg as she spoke.
"...Let's talk quickly. Cecilia."
"What would we have to talk about...?"
"About defeating the Demon Kings."
"..."
Cecilia had become much more timid.
She hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"...I'll talk as long as it's not about going outside. The outside without Mr. Krandel is scary."
A hikikomori.
Cecilia, who had always been confident, had become a shut-in who hated going outside.
Juliana, experiencing cognitive dissonance at the sight, couldn't help but feel even more anxious.
Hugging the cat tightly in her arms, Cecilia answered in a suspicious tone.
"...If we kill all the Demon Kings, we can bring Mr. Krandel back to life?"
"According to Luna, the Goddess can grant our wish. We can use the wish to revive Mr. Krandel."
"I see."
Juliana couldn't understand Cecilia's indifferent reaction.
Why would she react like that to the news that they could bring Mr. Krandel back?
Am I the only one who wants to revive Mr. Krandel?
Do these heartless kids prefer Mr. Krandel to stay dead?
From Juliana's perspective, she couldn't understand why they weren't reaching for hope.
"...Why are you reacting like that? Don't you want to bring Mr. Krandel back?"
"No, I want to bring Mr. Krandel back too. I'd sacrifice people if it meant bringing him back. But it doesn't make sense with the knowledge I have."
"What doesn't make sense...?"
"The act of bringing someone back to life. In magic, that's supposed to be absolutely impossible."
Cecilia pulled a book from the bookshelf.
There was a book about Non-elemental Magic, one of Mr. Krandel's belongings.
Cecilia opened the book and began reading a passage aloud.
"'Nothingness is the absence of existence. The dead return to a state of nothingness. What does not exist cannot be brought back into the world. This is an unchanging truth.'"
"...So you're saying the Goddess's claim that we can revive Mr. Krandel is a lie? Th-then—"
Does that mean we can't bring Mr. Krandel back?
Toward Juliana, whose hands were trembling as she was about to explode, Cecilia spoke urgently.
She was afraid her room, full of Mr. Krandel's belongings, would be destroyed.
"I don't know about that. It's the Goddess's power, after all. Mr. Krandel might come back to life."
"...Then you also agree with killing all the Demon Kings, right?"
"I'm in favor... I suppose."
Cecilia couldn't answer with certainty.
In her current state, could she leave BlackMeow behind, leave this room, and go to subjugate the Demon Kings?
She couldn't be sure.
"I'm in favor, but I haven't decided yet..."
"Then I'll give you time to decide. One day."
"O-one day is too short."
"Fine, until I convince Estia. I'll give you until then."
"..."
*I don't feel like anything's changed...*
Cecilia felt a bit betrayed, but she couldn't resist Juliana's urgent behavior.
She didn't have the composure or energy to respond calmly.
After Juliana left, Cecilia lay back on the bed, lost in thought.
"Can I... go out into a world without Mr. Krandel...?"
Facing that world without light feels like my heart would collapse.
Can I really go outside?
Cecilia, who had found her reason for existence through Mr. Krandel.
She opened the book containing Mr. Krandel's last words that Juliana had left behind.
Looking repeatedly at the pages filled with dense text, Cecilia began to ponder what she should do.
"As I thought, I miss Mr. Krandel..."
Gulp—
Luna swallowed her dry saliva and gathered courage to knock on the door.
Knock knock—
"Estia... are you sleeping...?"
"..."
No answer.
Could Estia be sleeping?
Luna knocked on the door once more.
Knock knock—
"Estia, can we talk for a bit?"
"..."
Still no answer.
Luna was starting to worry about Estia's condition.
*She hasn't been eating properly, and now she's not even answering...*
Could she have died like this?
The Saint was an important figure for eliminating the Demon Kings.
As a bad thought flashed through her mind, Luna made a decision.
A very strong decision.
"E-Estia! I'm coming in!"
CRASH—!!
Luna broke down the door and invaded Estia's room.
Through the rising dust, she could see Estia lying on the bed.
Luna rushed over frantically to assess her condition.
"E-Estia!"
"Uh... ueh... uh...?"
"Y-you drank Holy Water, didn't you!"
On the shelf beside the bed was a cup.
Luna didn't know how much Holy Water Estia had consumed, but
judging by Estia's current state, it seemed like an overdose.
Her body was cold as ice, and she seemed to have lost her language function.
"Uh, uhhh..."
"At this rate she'll die! Wh-what do I do?!"
I need to think.
But her mind wasn't working properly, so Luna asked the Holy Sword.
"Holy Sword! Estia's condition isn't good! What should I do?!"
—*The Saint's body has a special constitution. The nature of her Divine Power is unique. But she overdosed on that Divine Power in a short time. Her condition won't be good. She'll become quite dependent.*
"Th-then what do I do?!"
—*Make her depend on you instead of the Saint. When Divine Power has a target to depend on, its effects weaken.*
"Why?!"
—*Those who believe in gods are people with no one to depend on. Naturally, if they don't depend on the god, the effects diminish.*
Luna nodded at the Holy Sword's words.
She didn't fully understand, but anyway, she needed to make Estia dependent on her.
*How do I make her depend on me?!*
To reduce the effects of the Holy Water.
A way to make her depend on me.
No good method came to mind, but Luna recalled what Mr. Krandel used to do.
*Mr. Krandel... when Estia wasn't feeling well, he would hold her.*
After getting caught peeking, he didn't show it anymore, but
Mr. Krandel definitely hugged Estia when she drank Holy Water.
Could that act of hugging have weakened the Holy Water's effects?
Luna immediately put her thought into action.
"E-Estia! I'll hug you!"
"Uh, ueh... eh uh..."
Estia's condition seemed poor as she drooled.
With Mr. Krandel gone, there were many empty spaces in her heart, so she had tried to fill them through Holy Water.
As Luna held Estia for a while, Estia showed a faint smile as if the pain had disappeared.
"Ah uh... sshi..."
"...Is she dreaming?"
"Heh, hehe... ah... uh... sshi..."
Whatever dream she was having,
Estia seemed to be wandering through a dream, constantly calling for Mr. Krandel.
Seeing this, Luna felt both pity and a bit of resentment toward Mr. Krandel.
"Everyone's having such a hard time without Mr. Krandel, so why did he leave us, really..."
If you were in that much pain,
you could have at least told us...
"...No, Mr. Krandel had no reason to tell me. Because he couldn't trust me."
Falling into such small thoughts, Luna's conclusion ultimately turned into an arrow aimed at herself.
"If I had done better... I could have eased Mr. Krandel's pain a bit..."
Luna, who ultimately turned to regret about herself.
The Hero Luna could only hold Estia until she woke up.
Mr. Krandel's absence was far too vast for the Hero Party.