Yori frowned. “You’d probably get spotted by their guards and get yourself into a huge mess.”
“Huh? I just have to be careful to not draw attention, like a...what was the word again? A scout? That’s all, right? I was a hunter, so I’m pretty good at that kind of thing. I mean, animals are more sensitive than humans. And if I do get hurt, my wounds will just heal. You and Riyo aren’t able to recover from injuries as quickly as I do, are you?”
“No, we can’t heal as fast as you do, Manato,” Yori admitted. “But we can manipulate prana to elevate our natural healing ability. We actually heal many times faster than an ordinary person.”
“All right,” Haru said, beckoning. “Manato and I will go. You two stay put here.”
†
Manato could walk on his tiptoes and make very little noise, but he couldn’t be completely silent. It might not have been impossible for him to be that quiet, but moving forward even a little without making noise took time. Haru was quiet and fast, deciding where each step would fall so smoothly that Manato found it hard to imagine he was thinking about each one.
Haru and Manato closed in on the keep in no time, and stood with their backs against the wall. Yori and Riyo weren’t visible from where they were. The two of them were hiding behind the small hill. Haru pointed to the east. Once Manato nodded to show he understood, Haru started walking again with Manato trailing behind him.
They followed the wall all the way to a corner. Right after the turn, there was a mound of rubble where the wall had collapsed. Haru held his palm out toward Manato. That sign probably meant he wanted Manato to wait there. Manato nodded.
Haru scaled the mound of rubble. It was only a little taller than Manato, so it didn’t take him long. He poked his head out over the top and didn’t immediately duck back into cover. He was observing the interior. Eventually, he climbed down to where Manato was.
“It’s like I expected. There’re divine soldiers massing in there,” Haru whispered in Manato’s ear. “There’s at least one priest, and dozens of others, maybe over a hundred.”
“Is that a lot?” Manato asked without using his voice, just clearly mouthing the words. He trusted that Haru would be able to understand him.
“There’s upward of several hundred thralls in Damuro. They won’t be able to take it with the numbers they have here alone.”
“You think there’s more of them?”
“Seems likely. Their numbers are already an issue...but if there’s a saint among the converts, we’re in trouble.”
“What’s a saint?”
“You know about priests, right?”
“The ones with their whole bodies covered in that silvery stuff... Re... Recital?”
“Receptor. It’s something given to the converted by Lumiaris’s hexagrammic light cores, but it’s not just some inanimate substance. It’s a kind of life-form.”
“Whoa. Receptor. By the sound of it, it must be pretty complicated, huh?”
“There are converts even stronger than priests who’ve had a part of their receptor transform. They’re called priest captains.”
“Transform...”
“In most cases, a part of their receptor turns into a weapon.”
“So you can tell just by looking at them?”
“Yeah. And saints are even more advanced.”
“Hmm.”
Priests had multiple cores in their bodies, and their receptor was hard. It also boosted their physical abilities. Plus, they could power themselves up by whispering some weird words. Priest captains were even stronger than that. And the saints were stronger still.
“Heh.” Manato nearly burst out laughing, but he knew it would be bad to make that much noise, so he quickly stopped himself.
Haru inclined his head to the side slightly. “What?”
“Nothing,” Manato replied, shaking his head. “I was just thinking that’s scary. And doesn’t it being scary make it kinda fun?”
“Not for me it doesn’t. But I can understand what you’re saying. It’s rare, but some guys find pleasure in taking risks... Y’know, that’s pretty much how Ranta was.”
“That’s Yori and Riyo’s great-grandpa, right?”
“There’s signs of it in the two of them as well. They wouldn’t have crossed the Tenryus otherwise.”
“But you’re not like us, Haru?”
“I’m a coward. Let’s search a little more.”
The two of them kept their heads low as they passed the collapsed part of the wall. There was another intact section beyond it, but after that, the wall had been destroyed so thoroughly that there wasn’t even a mound of rubble left.
Haru leaned out around the edge of the broken wall, only to immediately pull himself back behind it. He casually beckoned to Manato, so Manato drew closer to him.
“Did you see something?”
“They’re nearby. A bunch of divine soldiers sitting around a priest. There were around forty of them.”
“Yikes.”
Haru looked up at the stonework wall they had their backs to. “Looks like we can climb up here,” he said.
It couldn’t have been more than three Harus or Manatos high. There were plenty of potential handholds and footholds in it too. Yeah, it seemed like it would be easy enough to climb. And now that Manato had reached that conclusion, that was exactly what he wanted to do.
“You wait here,” said Haru.
Manato wanted to protest, but he felt hesitant to argue with the man he wanted to repay. It seemed he’d have to comply. He puffed his cheeks up as much as he could in frustration, but gave Haru the thumbs-up.
After a moment’s pause, Haru said, “Stay put until I say otherwise.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do what you say, Haru. Probably. More or less. I’ll do my best. Yeah.”
Haru began clambering up the wall. He was fast. Manato felt like some of the stones probably would have shifted or made noise if someone put their weight on them, but Haru never picked a bad one.
Haru didn’t climb all the way up onto the top of the wall. He clung to the side and poked his head halfway over, staying very still.
“Hm?”
Manato heard something.
“E’Lumiaris, Oss’lumi, Edemm’lumi, E’Lumiaris—”
Was that a voice? Yeah. He was sure of it.
“Lumi na oss’desiz, Lumi na oss’redez—”
It wasn’t alone. There were several of them, not talking, but singing.
“Lumi eua shen qu’aix, Lumi na qu’aix, E’Lumiaris—”
There had been songs in Japan. His parents had sung occasionally, and Manato remembered some of the things they would sing. He’d heard singing in Tsunomiya and Kariza too. His comrades had each had their own songs that they had sung as well.
“Enshen lumi, Miras lumi, Lumi na parri—”
The voices rose. However, it didn’t sound like they were having fun. They were definitely singing in a large group, but not in chorus. It was more like they were all hanging their heads, each mumbling the words at their own speed.
“E’Lumiaris, Me’lumi, E’Lumiaris—”
Each voice was probably not that loud, but the sound of singing gradually intensified. There were divine soldiers all over the keep, and they each began singing not all at once, but individually, and that contributed to the total volume. It was kinda creepy. The voices were all coming from inside the keep, yet it felt like the song had surrounded Haru and Manato.
Haru finally climbed down.
“Let’s head back” was all he said before turning to go. There was something unusual about his behavior, and it seemed like it would be a good idea to do as he said.
They returned to the small hill where Yori and Riyo were crouched down, waiting for them.
“How was it?” Yori asked. Haru let out a small sigh behind his mask.
“I’ve got bad news. There are at least three hundred divine soldiers in the fortress. There was even a saint.”
“A saint?”
Haru gave them the same explanation he’d given Manato.
Yori got a pensive look on her face. “So there’s gonna be a war soon? Do you think the fact that we wiped out all those converts in the ruins of Alterna is going to change anything about how it goes? Well, for as much trouble as it was, it’s a good thing we finished them all off. If even one of them had gotten away, the converts in the keep might have found out about us. Is the Ark going to be okay?”
“It’s never been attacked by either faction,” Haru said.
“Then if worse comes to worst, we can take shelter there. Right, Haruhiro?”
“I suppose...”
Haru sounded noncommittal. Was Manato imagining that? Haru had been acting a bit strange since he’d climbed down from the wall. Was it because of the song? Who could say? Was there anything else it could’ve been?
“Was it the saint?” Manato murmured, and Haru’s masked face turned toward him.
“Was what the saint?” Haru asked.
“Oh, I was just thinking about what you saw back there. Y’know, the, uh, saint, I mean.”
“It was sitting on one of the upper levels of what’s left of the main keep. For a moment, I thought it had noticed me, but it turned out I was worrying for no reason.”
“Um...” Manato slapped one of his own cheeks. Something was bothering him, but he had no idea what it was. “Hrmm. Oh, yeah. Have you ever met a saint before, Haru?”
“A few times, I guess. A century’s not a short amount of time. And there’s more than just one saint. There are several, so...you could say I’ve met them, I guess. Or rather...”
“Did you only see them?”
“No.”
“You fought them?”
“Not properly. I was chased, but I managed to shake them off.”
“Is it a saint you know?” Yori asked.
Oh, so that’s what it is, Manato thought. That’s got to be it. That was what had been bothering him. The feeling that Haruhiro might have known the saint in the keep.
“How should I say this?” Haru said, hanging his head. “The saints weren’t always saints. They were priests and paladins who served Lumiaris. They were human. Skullhell’s thralls include higher-ranked ones called fiends, which are equivalent to Lumiaris’s saints. They’re the same way.”
“Former humans,” Yori murmured.
“The converted don’t die,” Riyo said to herself.
Manato crossed his arms and gazed skyward. “Haru knows that saint. A former human. They don’t die. Which means...you knew them when they were human?”
“That’s right,” Haru said, pressing his hand against his mask. “The one in the keep is Taidael, the Saint of Tremors. I knew him back when he was human. We fought together, shoulder to shoulder...”