I must have lost consciousness for a moment.
As soon as I came to, I tried to push myself up off the ground. The scenery before me had completely changed. As I dropped into a defensive stance, I could see I’d been thrown far away by the force of the explosion.
“The rock I was using as a vantage point was blown up,” I muttered. “That was careless of me.”
Normally, evading a blast of this scale would be no issue for me, but I’d been too focused on shielding myself to react in time.
“I have to stand up…” I cried out. “My leg!”
Oh dear. I must have been injured by another explosion while I was unconscious, because blood was pouring out of my right leg. If I didn’t treat it quickly, I could end up in trouble.
“Heal!”
Ideally, I would have used Saint Heal, but focusing on recovery, even for a moment, would leave me vulnerable to another explosion. I didn’t want to diminish my magic reserves, either.
The main downside of the Saint Heal spell was the amount of magic energy it consumed. To counteract this, I generally used ancient rituals to absorb mana. That was why I hadn’t thought twice about using it to cure Mia’s drunkenness. All I needed to do was absorb some mana, and my reserves were replenished.
Now that I couldn’t absorb mana, however, I needed to expend as little magic energy as possible.
“As important as restricting my magic expenditure is,” I reflected, “I don’t see how I can make it back to Mia with this leg.”
My only hope was to reach the meeting point, reunite with Mia, and flee to a safe zone. There was a flaw in that plan, however. The explosion had thrown me some distance, so I was likely to run out of magic before I made it back. And what’s more…
“My leg is taking longer than I expected to heal. At this rate, I won’t make it.”
If my magic ran out, I’d be completely vulnerable to the explosions.
Despite the mortal danger, I managed to keep my cool. I wasn’t sure if that was thanks to my training or because the reality of the situation had yet to sink in, but it was most likely the latter.
I don’t want to die.
I dreamed of marrying Sir Osvalt and building a happy life with him. That goal was almost within reach. Despite this, I’d ignored his and Mother’s advice, disregarded Prince Reichardt’s warning, and ruined everything with my selfish quest. The epithet “the greatest saint of all time” and the title of “archsaint” now felt utterly absurd.
When it mattered the most, my arrogance had gotten the better of me. My overconfidence led me to believe I could fulfill my late father’s dream. I brought this upon myself.
No. It was too early for regrets. I couldn’t abandon all hope.
I focused my mind and scanned my surroundings. There had to be a way to overcome this hopeless situation…
“Philia!”
Was I hearing things?
I heard an unfamiliar man’s voice. I automatically turned toward the source, only to find a beam of light piercing through the clouds and shining toward a patch on the ground. For some strange reason, I couldn’t sense any explosions coming from that spot.
Dragging my injured leg, I started limping toward it. It was as if the light was pulling me in.
It was like a dream.
Illuminated by the light were Moontear Flowers, the elusive medicinal plant, emitting a silvery glow. As soon as I saw them, their captivating beauty stopped me in my tracks.
All light seemed concentrated on the bed of glowing flowers basking in the beam from above. The mystical scene before me was more breathtaking than anything I had ever encountered, but there was something ethereal and fragile about it as well.
I’ve found it, Mother—the plant you searched for, hoping to save my father’s life. It’s right there.
“Gyah!”
My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion beneath my feet, blasting me away from the flowerbed. I’d been so entranced by the otherworldly sight, I let my guard down for a moment. I’d been too slow to defend myself.
I needed to hurry up and administer emergency treatment. As long as I could heal my injuries, there was still hope.
“Heal!” I glanced down at my injured leg in disbelief. “I-I don’t have enough magic…”
I never thought I’d end up so trapped. I didn’t have enough magic to cast Heal, and I’d injured my leg again.
My situation had worsened dramatically.
“I have to keep going… If I give up now, I’ll be too ashamed to face Sir Osvalt…”
I had to keep going, even if I had to crawl. I’d finally found the ingredient my father had searched so long for. There was no way I was going to lie down and wait to die!
I didn’t want this beautiful scene to be the final stroke of good luck I’d ever experience.
“What?! Another explosion?”
I expended the last remnants of my magic to shield myself as I crawled toward the Moontear Flowers.
Was I being punished for acting out of self-interest, instead of for the benefit of my country? I was a saint, after all.
“I’m sorry, Sir Osvalt, Mia, Mother…and the people of Parnacorta, who have been so good to me.”
The next explosion, or the one after that, was going to kill me. It seemed I was going to have to make peace with that.
Although I had my regrets, there was no fighting God’s judgment…
“Philia!”
“What?”
“Philia! Hold out your hand! I’m right here!”
In that moment, I heard Mia shouting at me. When I turned in the direction of her voice, I spotted her in the bed of Moontear Flowers. My eyes widened with shock at this unexpected sight.
“You don’t have time to gawk!” Mia extended a chain of light before me. I mustered all my remaining strength and reached out for it.
As I grabbed hold of the chain, Mia called out my name again. Her face was set in grim determination.
This girl was something else.
“You’ve become an incredible saint, Mia…”
This was something I’d felt for a long time. I had a feeling that one day she’d become the kind of saint that not even I could hold a candle to.
“Philia! I’m so glad you’re safe!”
At that moment, I knew I was correct. Perhaps I was overly biased, but by the time I reached Mia and found myself enveloped in her embrace, I was shaking with pride.
“Thank you, Mia. You saved me.”
“It’s no big deal. Just look at how many Moontear Flowers we found!”
Surrounded by the fantastical radiance of Moontear Flowers, I hugged my sister in gratitude. I was so proud of her.
Once we’d picked the Moontear Flowers we needed, Mia leaned in and whispered to me. “After the big explosion, I heard what sounded like a whole mountain crumbling. That was when I saw you getting blown away. I was shocked, but I knew I had to do something. I’ve never had to think so hard in my life.”
After seeing the height I’d fallen from, Mia managed to guess where I might have fallen and came to rescue me.
“I wasn’t sure whether you were injured or how seriously you were hurt, so I was desperate to get to you as quickly as possible.”
“And while you were searching for me, you found the Moontear Flowers.”
“Yup. As you predicted, there was a stable flow of mana in the explosion-free areas. I figured that as long as I managed to pull you toward me, we could use Saint Heal to replenish our stores of magic energy.”
Defending against explosions required precise manipulation of magic energy, but Mia had done it with astonishing speed. Not for nothing did she have a reputation as the fastest spell-caster on the continent. She’d used her superior instincts to take rapid action, rescuing me in record time.
No praise could do her achievement justice.
“I’m glad I made it in time. Right, Philia?”
“Yes. You saved my life. I can’t thank you enough—”
“You don’t need to say anything else. I was just returning the favor. Besides, it’s only natural for a little sister to help her big sister in a time of need.”
Mia put a finger to her lips and winked at me with a contented smile. She seemed so much more mature than before, almost like a different person.
“I won’t thank you, then, Mia. But let me say this one thing. Your growth has astounded me. You are the greatest saint there is.”
With a sweet smile on her face, Mia grabbed me by the hand. “What are you talking about, Philia? You’re the greatest saint. You always will be.”
“Oh?” She spent all her time watching me from behind, trying to chase after me. “If you insist, I’ll try as hard as I can to make you proud.”
“You already have. You’re so odd, Philia.”
Mia smiled as she absorbed mana, filling her body with magic energy.
I had fully recovered my magic powers as well. I used Saint Heal to fully repair my battered right leg, so moving wasn’t going to be an issue.
“We need to stay alert on our way back, too.”
“Yes. I know, Philia.”
Our return journey was risky as well, but somehow, we managed to escape the Volcanic Miasma Zone and keep our Moontear Flowers safe.
This time, we had a clear idea of which route to take back. We warned each other of the dangers and handled any explosions in our path, so the return trip was much smoother.