#034

It was a halo one would typically only see when the Saintess performed a miracle.

When asked what she had done, Adna replied that she hadn’t used a Blessing, but had simply moved to calm her emotions.

Tertius was so bewildered that he had no choice but to ask back.

“…What emotions?”

“That is….”

Adna stared intently at the [Watched One] before turning her gaze away.

[…It was something I have felt for the first time in my life.]

‘…What did that Watched One do?’

Adna’s emotions were exploding in a color he had never seen before….

[So violent, so intense that I feared I might crush the thing before my eyes….]

‘There’s no trace of a miracle being used… can someone use a type of miracle that goes undetected?’

[Love.]

‘…What?’

Tertius, who had been calmly analyzing the situation, froze for a moment upon hearing the unexpected word.

[Yes. Pure affection.]

‘Now… what?’

[Do you know the feeling of finding someone so lovely you cannot bear it? Sixth.]

“…What?”

He was so stunned that the words came out as a spoken voice rather than a telepathic transmission.

[You once told me. That you do not understand what it means for one person to love another, and that your understanding was merely superficial. I have now realized the meaning of those words. Love is such an overwhelming, intense, and massive emotion that it shakes one’s very values.]

“What did you say?”

[Ah, of course, this love does not refer to Eros. It is purer, more eternal… a devotion that makes me want to protect him even at the cost of my own life. Yes. I wish to devote myself to him. Because he made me realize that I was an incomplete being until now.]

“No….”

Tertius started to say something, but remembering he should use telepathy, he spoke mentally.

[What on earth happened in this short amount of time for you to become like this? Huh? Wait. You weren’t hit by some kind of mental attack, were you?]

[……? You speak foolishly. If there were someone within the Capital Church capable of invading and stirring the mind of an apostle, the Order Sect would have collapsed long ago.]

[No, it’s just that you’re saying things that make no sense otherwise! What exactly happened in that brief moment!]

[…A person can be saved by a single word. It is a pity that you do not know this.]

‘What is she talking about.’

[No…. Seriously, what did you hear?]

[He told me that the apostle is a truly kind person.]

[What? You?]

[Sixth. Come to think of it, you once said this.]

‘Is she really not under a mental attack? Should I call the Saintess?’

[That no one would understand if you spoke in such a manner, and that even you and the Saintess, who can see people’s emotions, would misunderstand—that unless you fixed your way of speaking, you would be hated for the rest of your life.]

‘…She remembered those words.’

[But… you were wrong.]

[What….]

[There was someone who understood me.]

Tertius glanced at the [Watched One].

Fabio’s emotions were flickering with a light signifying extreme anxiety and regret.

[…No, I don’t think he understands. He’s terrified. You’re bad at reading faces, so you might not know.]

[You are the one who does not know. Fabio is not such a person.]

‘How can she say he’s not such a person when they’ve barely met….’

Moreover, did she forget what my ability is?

I can see emotions; how can she think her own assumptions are more accurate than my eyes?

[…Fine. Let’s assume that.]

‘If a miracle was used… what kind of miracle was it?’

Just what part of a person do you touch to make them go crazy like that in such a short time?

[Even if he truly thinks you are kind and warm, that’s only one person who understands; it doesn’t change the fact that everyone else misunderstands you.]

[…Is there a need to be understood by everyone?]

[What?]

[Is it not enough… to be understood by just one person?]

[No, it’s not enough.]

[That is… something you say because you have never met a true understander. I realized today. Even if everyone in this world misunderstands me, if only one person sees me correctly, that is enough.]

[Don’t realize things like that.]

No, seriously, how much time did it take to make her think it’s better to clear up misunderstandings when others have them….

To regress this much in an instant?

This couldn’t be happening.

[So, is your business finished? I would appreciate it if you stopped stealing time from me and Fabio.]

‘Time from her and Fabio….’

Hearing those words, Tertius concluded that the [Watched One] must have done something to Adna’s head.

He couldn’t find evidence, but the fact that Adna had become like this was evidence in itself.

‘The Saintess will probably solve it somehow. It has to be a problem that can be solved….’

[I’m sorry, but that time is over now.]

[……?]

[The Saintess entrusted him to me. She told me to give him some precautions and decide where he will stay.]

[…Why?]

[Why? Because you suddenly had a divine power explosion, you idiot. Go explain the situation to the Saintess yourself.]

[That’s….]

‘If the Saintess let him go, she must have judged there was no danger…. Surely even the Saintess wasn’t hit by something.’

No, that was impossible.

The Saintess was the being with the deepest connection to the Main God, Loclem.

To touch the Saintess’s mind was the same as touching the perception of a god.

Tertius quickly shook off the blasphemous thought.

[So where did you decide his affiliation would be? It seemed the Saintess hadn’t decided yet.]

[I have decided to protect Fabio right by my side.]

[What?]

[Why are you surprised? Since Fabio’s body cannot even receive the Blessing of Healing, it is only logical that he be protected in the safest place so that not even a small scratch occurs.]

[…Is there a need to announce to the whole world that a new ‘Watched One’ has arrived?]

[Even if it becomes widely known and more people target him, does it matter as long as he is under such strict protection that they wouldn’t dare attack?]

[If it were a matter of protecting him for a short while, that would be fine. But I told you the source of a Watched One is different. What, are you going to stick to him and protect him for the rest of your life?]

[Naturally.]

“No, what in the….”

For a moment, Tertius was so bewildered that he forgot to speak via telepathy.

[I have decided. I shall become the guardian who protects him eternally.]

“…What are you deciding on your own.”

Is she insane?

She really seems insane.

Since telepathy still works, the being before him is indeed an apostle, and it is indeed Adna….

[Fabio has also agreed. He promised that if I wish, he will remain by my side unchangingly….]

“No… look, just go to the Saintess for now.”

[…Have I not provided sufficient explanation regarding the sequence of events?]

…Tertius sent a telepathic message to the Saintess.

That Adna’s condition seemed very, very, very serious.

Adna, perhaps having received a summons from the Saintess, merely flickered with a hint of disappointment.

Remembering he had to speak telepathically, Tertius sighed and said: [Stop talking nonsense and just go. And get your mental state checked to see if you’re actually sane.]

[I have never been more clear-headed than I am now.]

[I get it, so just go. Tell the Saintess that too.]

[…It cannot be helped. I shall return quickly. I ask that you ensure nothing happens to Fabio in the meantime.]

“What the… no, fine.”

Tertius couldn’t help but feel genuine shock and horror at Adna’s unprecedented state.

Adna, who was emitting emotions he had never seen before while looking at ‘Fabio’ because she regretted that brief moment…

‘…I feel unpleasant, as if I’ve seen something that shouldn’t exist.’

The emotions of the [Watched One] named ‘Fabio’ were not the same color at all; they were flickering with anxiety, fear, and desperation, making him feel even stranger.

‘…Looking at that attitude, it doesn’t seem like he used anything.’

When he reported to the Saintess earlier, she had told him via telepathy that she would check Adna’s abnormality but that there was no need to suspect Fabio, which only increased Tertius’s anxiety.

‘…If that Fabio didn’t use some miracle, and Adna really became like that on her own.’

What on earth should he do then?

‘First, I need to find out what happened….’

“Hey.”

“Ye- Yes!”

“You… what did you do?”

‘What did he do to make that disaster’s mouth cry out for love….’

“I- I am sorry!”

Hearing Fabio’s urgent apology, Tertius frowned.

What is he afraid of?

What is he apologizing for?

“What do you think you did that makes you say you’re sorry?”

“I do not know. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you could tell me what I have done wrong.”

“No, why do you think you did something wrong in the first place?”

‘Even if he doesn’t know exactly what he did, does he vaguely perceive that he made Adna’s hopeless way of thinking even worse?’

“T- The Sixth Apostle….”

“Me? What about me?”

“…It seemed as though you were in a bad mood because of me. I apologize if I have misjudged.”

“What?”

He was reading my mood?

Tertius was deeply shocked.

‘I naturally thought he had those emotions because he was terrified by Adna’s eccentric behavior.’

For Tertius, who had become the one in charge of cleaning up Adna’s messes since his days as an Apprentice Holy Knight—simply because he was the only person who didn’t give up on talking to her—seeing someone’s emotions fluctuate because of him was a truly unfamiliar experience.

This was because people who spoke with Adna usually fell into shock, thinking, ‘Is this… a Holy Knight of the Order Sect?’, and then felt relieved upon seeing him, thinking, ‘Yes, this is a normal Holy Knight!’

‘Did he see Adna and me… as a package deal?’

Thinking about it, from Fabio’s perspective, since he couldn’t have heard the telepathic conversation, it was understandable that he would misunderstand.

“No… did it look like that?”

Tertius rubbed his face and composed his expression.

“Sorry for making you misunderstand. It’s just… I heard something so absurd just now that I couldn’t control my expression.”

‘Wanting to give one’s life for someone chosen by the Othergod… that’s something an apostle should never say, even as a joke.’

“Um. Apostles can converse with each other without making a sound. So, if you want to be technical, if my expression was strange, it’s Ada… Adna’s fault.”

‘I don’t know what he did to Adna, but I should be careful too.’

“…Was it not a conversation about me?”

As Fabio spoke, his emotions flickered in an anxious color.

‘…True understander, my foot.’

Tertius felt like sighing.

“…You.”

“Yes!”

“I heard you said you would stay by Adna’s side unchangingly for the rest of your life?”

“Pardon…?”

“Did you really say that?”

He asked again, but no answer came from Fabio.

However, he didn’t need an answer to be sure.

‘He’s so flustered and aggrieved that he’s practically jumping out of his skin.’

His emotions were changing colors brilliantly and flashily.

‘I really want to show this color to Adna.’

35 – #035