Chapter 56. Leira
A pure white chamber.
On the wall hung an ornament shaped after light, the symbol of the Luas Church, and warm sunlight streaming through the window filled the room.
In this place overflowing with divinity, there was no trace of darkness.
...Srrk.
Leira quietly opened her eyes and raised her body.
She stared blankly at the light for a while, then stepped down from the bed.
A pure white mask lay on the table.
It was something she wore in daily life to conceal her face. After all, walking around the city all day in full armor and helmet would attract too much attention.
Well, this mask drew stares as well, but the attention it invited was certainly less.
'And it's more comfortable, too.'
Leira covered her face with the mask.
Wearing clothes of noble design, white as the base, she left the chamber.
This was the Church of Lorian.
As she walked through the corridor, she passed by other chambers. Among them was the room where Bardel, the warrior they had rescued a few days ago in the Forest of Demons, was sleeping soundly.
He had lost much of his life force to the Soul Tree, so he needed to rest and recover, or so she had heard. Perhaps he was taking advantage of that excuse to finally get some proper rest.
While staying at the church, food, clothing, and shelter were all provided, and just like Leira, Bardel had donated no small amount of money to the church, so there was no need for him to feel self-conscious.
At that moment, she happened to meet Bina, a trainee priest, walking quickly down the hall.
"Ah, Lady Leira! Hello! Good morning… no, good afternoon!"
"Good afternoon, Bina."
It had already been several months since Leira had stayed in Lorian.
During that time, she had lived at the church, and so she had grown familiar with its people. Because Leira always wore a mask, most people found her intimidating, but Bina was different.
The young priestess was pure and innocent with everyone.
The two naturally sat on a bench and began to converse.
"Today's lunch is grilled fish! I don't like it because of the bones, but the priest told me if I only eat what I want and always choose the easy things, I'll become very lazy. Then I wouldn't become a proper priest… So, I'm going to endure and eat it even if it's uncomfortable! If I do that, Lord Luas will be pleased, right?"
"Most certainly He will."
Leira gently stroked Bina's head.
Long-lost purity, and dreams. Looking at the young priestess, Leira recalled her past. Moments of happiness that could never return, for the dead do not come back.
As they passed the time together, Bina tilted her head as she looked outside.
"Huh? Lady Leira, who is that person?"
Leira followed Bina's gaze.
'That person is....'
Verden.
The mage who had played a decisive role in subjugating the Soul Tree.
Through the window, his figure came into view.
Dressed simply, he carried both hands full of food packages, though clearly not just for one person. Feeling eyes upon him, Verden turned his head to the side.
"..."
"..."
Through the mask, Leira's gaze met his.
***
Verden donated most of the food he had received from the citizens to the church.
Since the doctrine of the Luas Church did not prohibit any particular food, the priests gladly accepted it. It just so happened that they were preparing for a meal.
Of course, they could not blindly trust food from an outsider, so with Verden's permission, they performed simple tests for poison and freshness.
'Still....'
Cutting into his steak, Verden glanced forward.
Leira was sitting across from him, eating her meal.
How had it come to this?
The church, expressing gratitude, had urged him to eat before leaving, and he had no real reason to refuse. But eating high-quality steak alone in the midst of priests hardly seemed right.
So here they were, Verden and Leira, spending lunchtime together in the same chamber.
Leira twirled her pasta, lifted her mask slightly, and slipped it into her mouth.
Sensing his gaze, she froze for a moment. Setting down her fork, she spoke softly.
"...I'll pay you back later for the food."
"That won't be necessary. I didn't buy it."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"The mask looks uncomfortable, that's all."
A familiar response.
Leira shrugged her shoulders as she replied.
"It is a little uncomfortable, yes. But I don't have a choice. Without it, I'd draw too much attention."
"Attention?"
"Because I'm too beautiful."
...Silence fell.
As the atmosphere grew colder, Leira quickly added,
"I was joking."
"I see."
"I only tried to lighten the mood, but I guess it had the opposite effect."
Indeed.
Honestly, he had no idea how to respond, and it left him troubled.
Before things grew more awkward, Leira changed the subject.
"Now that I think about it, was this your first time overcoming a trial?"
"Yes."
"Really? That's unusual. Usually the first trial is relatively easy, but for it to start with the Soul Tree..."
Leira studied Verden closely.
Being a candidate for the Ark was already proof that he was special, but this mage before her seemed different.
Magic power vast beyond his apparent age, powerful spells, and a mind strong enough not to waver even before the Soul Tree's mental destruction.
'And yet, I've never heard of him.'
Not even a description of his looks.
At the very least, he hadn't been active anywhere near the surrounding duchies.
He must have been a mage the Listener had recruited from a distant land.
'Perhaps....'
"Asher, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you enter the Ark?"
At Leira's question, Verden fell into thought for a moment.
'I've never entered the Ark, though.'
But that didn't mean he was completely unrelated to it either.
After all, at the Listener's request, he had challenged the trial called the Soul Tree, and he had even confronted Gluttony, who stood against the Ark.
Seen from that perspective, it was understandable that Leira might mistake him for a candidate of the Ark.
'...Well, it doesn't really matter.'
From the moment he went through the trial with Leira, the Listener must have fully expected such a misunderstanding to arise.
If it were something to be avoided, a warning would have been given. Yet there had been no mention of it at all, which was as good as tacit permission for Verden to be associated with the Ark.
Perhaps it was even part of the favor the Listener had mentioned.
Either way, there was no reason to clear up the misunderstanding himself.
If Leira were to think she had been deceived, she might turn hostile, and stirring up unnecessary trouble would be foolish.
Verden answered simply.
"Because it benefits me."
It wasn't a lie.
The Mandrake extract the Listener had given him would be of great help to his growth.
"Does that answer suffice?"
"Yes, enough."
Leira nodded as though she understood.
"I'm the same as you. The ideals and grand vision that the Ark pursues, I don't care much for that. What I want is a way to rid myself of the... 'curse' behind this mask."
Curse.
It was divided into two types.
The first, classified as black magic, was a type of necromancy.
Most of it consisted of debuffing spells, scattering the opponent's mind, weakening physical ability or dulling senses, the opposite effects of imbue magic.
And the second, the curse of Demons, one of the abnormal species.
This stood in direct opposition to the blessings of the Luas Church, permanently rotting the flesh, or slowly draining life force, the stronger the Demon, the more dangerous the curse it carried.
Leira's case was the latter.
"I even went to see a cardinal of the Luas Church, but they said there's no way to lift it as of now. All they can do is let me receive blessings periodically to suppress the curse's effects. That's the reason I've been staying in the church."
"So you became a candidate of the Ark for that? To break the curse?"
"As you know, the Ark is a secretive order unknown to the world, possessing immeasurable power and information. So when they offered me candidacy, I thought maybe, through the Ark, I could find the Demon that killed my family... and left this curse upon me. When I asked, the Listener told me this, that if I overcame the trials, one after another, eventually I'd be able to lift the curse laid upon me."
"The Listener said that?"
Leira nodded.
She didn't trust the Ark completely, but she held some degree of faith. After all, the reason she had become this strong this quickly was because she had overcome trial after trial.
Without the Ark's guidance, it would have been impossible.
'So, it's acceptable to enter the Ark even for personal reasons.'
The purpose of the Ark was to raise the 'Captain' who would lead mankind.
But from what Leira said, it didn't seem like a place that demanded unconditional sacrifice. Verden felt he was beginning to understand, vaguely, what they meant by the title of Captain.
'...But why is she telling me all this?'
They had indeed subdued the Soul Tree together, but he didn't recall being close enough to share personal stories.
As he wondered, Leira spoke.
"I'm not telling you this to earn pity. It's to gain clues about the Demon I haven't yet found."
The mage from a faraway land, Asher.
Perhaps he might hold the knowledge she sought.
"Asher, do you have any knowledge about Demons?"
"I know a bit about necromancy... but honestly, not much about Demons. The field I studied had nothing to do with them."
The power that Demons wielded was phenomena not clearly defined by magic.
Of course, the magic tower had attempted research, but useful results were almost nonexistent. For many reasons, but foremost because the Luas Church strongly opposed the accumulation of knowledge about Demons.
If one ignored them and pressed forward, there was a risk of being mistaken for a Demon worshipper, and that would bring great trouble.
"I see..."
Leira's voice was tinged with disappointment.
She had hoped for even a small clue, but of course it wasn't so easy. Something she had sought for so long wouldn't just fall into her hands.
Then, the next best thing.
"Asher, would you like to make a deal with me?"
"A deal?"
"The chances are slim... but if you ever happen to find information about Demons, please send it through the Adventurer's Guild. It doesn't matter if it's trivial, as long as it's not something already common knowledge. If you do that, I'll pay you a fair price, money or otherwise."
Like Leira, he too would travel far and wide.
All she could do was slightly raise the chances of gaining even a fragment of a clue. At worst, she would lose nothing.
At the sudden proposal, Verden considered.
'Nothing bad about it.'
She wasn't asking him to find it immediately, only to pass it on if he happened to come across it.
After weighing the profit and loss, Verden nodded.
"Alright. I won't be at a loss in doing so."
"Good. I'll judge the value of the information, but I won't cut down the price unfairly, so you needn't worry about that."
That settled her business.
And the meal had just ended as well.
"The attendants will come to clear the dishes, so you can leave them. Then, I'll be going. It was a useful time, Asher."
Leira rose from her seat.
As she was stepping toward the door, Verden stopped her.
"Before you go, may I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"When does the next trial come?"
"Ah, since it's your first, you wouldn't know. There's no fixed time. It always comes suddenly, with a message about the trial. Then we decide, will we challenge it, or give up? The Ark never forces us. The choice is always ours, and so is the result."
Having given her answer, Leira left the chamber.
Just before closing the door, she looked back at Verden.
"I enjoyed the meal."
Click.
The door shut, and her footsteps slowly faded away.
Thus ended the conversation between Verden and Leira.
And as time passed, the Adventurer's Guild completed the calculation of the reward for the Soul Tree's subjugation.