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The trial was, apparently, located at the top of an absurdly long staircase.
“Hahh... Hahh...”
“What’s wrong, Rekka? You’re out of breath.”
“Of course I’m... out of breath... after hundreds... and hundreds... of steps...”
“Really? I don’t think it’s been all that many.”
I was very sure that most people would give up on the divine trial here on these stairs. I, for one, know I would’ve turned back if I hadn’t had a reason to press forward.
“Hahh... Hahh...”
But eventually, after an hour or so of climbing, we reached the top.
“Hahh... Hahh...”
“Good work, Rekka.”
“This... This wasn’t designed to use up all of your stamina before the trial, right?”
Because I was just about at my limit...
“Don’t worry. The trial is held in the spiritual realm. It won’t actually test you physically.”
“R-Really?”
“That said, your form in the spiritual realm is based on your body in this realm. It’s not like you’ll magically be stronger there or anything.”
“Ah, okay.”
As I nodded, I looked up past the top of the stairs. At the apex of everything was a ridiculously large gate. While the staircase we’d just ascended was clearly constructed with no regard for the laws of physics—being a floating staircase and all—there was something clearly abnormal about the gate. It was so tall that the top of it was obscured by clouds. I couldn’t even tell how something that big even fit on top of the stairs. It was a rather surreal piece of architecture in that sense, but at the same time, it made it very easy to believe that we’d reached an otherworldly place.
“Well, you’re on your own from here.”
“What about you?”
“I told you earlier. Those who are already too strong cannot take the trial. So I won’t be able to accompany you on yours, but I’ll go ahead and wait for you at the end where you’ll find Sith.”
“Hey, if you already know how to get to her, you should just take me with you.”
“No can do. In order to reach the realm of the gods, you must rise through the spiritual realm. That’s what the trial is designed to encourage.”
“Okay, okay. So no cheating allowed. Got it.”
I’d figured as much, but I still had to ask. I was a little bitter after hiking up all those stairs, so I felt like I deserved a shortcut right about now. If cheating was allowed, though, it probably would’ve been the first thing Yuuhi suggested.
“All right. Time to go try this trial thing.”
“Be careful.”
“I will... Wait, how do I open the gate?”
“Just imagine it opening. The gate will respond to those who are qualified.”
“Gotcha.”
The goddess’s automatic door, I see. I approached the gate as instructed, chanting “open sesame” in my head. And, sure enough, the doors swung open with a low rumbling sound.
“Guess I’ll see you later,” I said, turning back to Yuuhi.
“I’ll be waiting on the other side. Make sure you get there.”
“Sure thing.”
I waved to her one last time before stepping through the gate.
“Everything around us is gradually getting brighter.”
“How far can you come along with me anyway, R?”
“I was reprogrammed to overlap your axis of existence as closely as possible in order to fool the world barrier, so I suspect I may be able to follow you through the trial as well.”
“Huh...”
“The price was that my entire physical being had to be reduced. As such, I no longer have a single piece of useful equipment installed. And as I am now, I won’t be able to prevent your assassination.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that anymore.”
Yuuhi was no longer an enemy. And besides...
“This’ll all be over soon.”
“Right,” R said with a shrug rather than a nod.
I too gave a quick shrug before proceeding. As R had said, our surroundings were filling with a bright, white light that gradually made it harder and harder to see.
“I can’t tell what’s in front of me at all.”
“Do you want to hold hands? I can do that much for you.”
“There’s no point if you can’t see anything either.”
“Oh? Passing up the opportunity to hold hands with a girl, are we? How very wasteful of you, Rekka.”
“You joke like that so often that I’m starting to get desensitized, you know?”
“That takes all the fun out of teasing you.”
“Whatever. Considering your age, you’re out of the question anyway.”
“Then how old would a girl have to be for you to consider her a potential romantic target?”
“Well... My age, I guess.”
“I see you haven’t really given this much thought.”
“Shut up.”
“But if you think about it, Lea is tens of thousands of years old. Rosalind and Suzuran are over a century old too, so it doesn’t seem like age is really much of an object for you.”
“Then don’t ask me stupid questions like that in the first place.”
“Let’s decide your type instead. Go ahead and fess up already. Which do you prefer: well-endowed girls or flat-chested ones?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t be like that.”
“Not happening.”
“If you’d like, I can ask the doctor to upgrade my bust to a size of your liking once we return. How about it?”
“Give it a rest.”
“Hmph, how stubborn. What about personality, then?”
“Personality? Well, for starters, I don’t care for anyone who takes pleasure in tormenting people.”
“Oh? Is there someone like that among the heroines? Ah, I guess you must mean Sherlyn.”
“I’m talking about you, R.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
While I was bantering back and forth with R, I’d gone from practically being able to see nothing to literally being able to see nothing. Everything was bright white now, even when I closed my eyes. Was it just that strong a light? It was so blinding that I raised an arm in vain to try and shield my eyes, but the light suddenly vanished. The air suddenly felt colder, too.