[192] 5. Shelter of the Nor (7)
Thirty seconds passed, and a signal appeared indicating the save was complete.
The drone that had scanned both eyes sent a signal to the left eye.
Tess gasped as if her breath had been stolen. The scene the drone saw was superimposed over what she saw with her own eyes.
This ability alone was worth a schema.
Tess removed the drone and clipped it into her gauntlet, nodding rapidly as she listened to the explanation.
Kanya said the drone could decode languages, and if it stored certain brainwaves it could automatically track transmissions and locate targets.
While Shirone and the others were excited about boosting their combat power, Clove's eyes darted with unease.
Even members of the Heresy Division felt the word Nephilim to be potent.
It wasn't the fear provoked by a powerful foe. Nephilim evoked an unknown dread unrelated to mere strength.
Shirone remembered how they had behaved earlier and silently hoped the man wouldn't curse them with something strange.
As if on cue, the man approached.
Contrary to the assumption they'd be helpless, he produced a single yellow elixir and pressed it into Clove's palm.
It was his fee.
After a long moment of inner conflict, Clove slipped it into his pocket.
"Th-thanks. You didn't have to give me so much."
"It's fine. Besides, elixirs can't be split."
"Are you... really a Nephilim?"
"I don't know. I'm just a mage student. Whatever people call me here doesn't change the fact."
"Sorry for being prickly. I thought you were one of the people of the land..."
"Even if you were, you shouldn't treat someone like that."
"Y-yeah. Sorry."
Shirone didn't want to say any more.
Lecturing someone who'd already yielded to fear was pointless. It's like telling a cockroach to bow—you'd get whatever obedience fear forces out of it.
Shirone stopped paying attention to Clove and moved toward where the Nor people had gathered. This place was part of the community too; maybe someone here knew something.
"Um, does anyone know about a woman named Miro?"
The Nor people looked puzzled.
Just as Shirone was about to give up and turn away, an old man leaning on a staff came forward.
"Miro, you say?"
"Yes. Do you know her?"
"I heard the name back when my parents were alive. Could she be a Nephilim?"
"Huh? Ah, yes."
People in this world equated unlockers with Nephilim. They didn't know Miro's exact origins, but since she was an unlocker, answering in the affirmative seemed reasonable.
"She denied Ra's Law," the old man said.
"What... does that mean?"
"I don't know. That's all I heard. But my mother didn't hate her. She was such a devout subject of Ra. It shocked me as a child."
A woman who denied Ra's Law. The fact was simple, but its implications were many when turned over in the mind.
First, Miro had clearly been to Heaven. She must have returned having seen and understood far more about this world than Shirone had.
And she had denied Ra.
When this journey ends, what judgment will Shirone reach? Will he come to understand Miro, or will he reject her?
Lost in thought, Amy came up to him.
"Shirone, the sun's about to set. We decided to sleep here tonight—what do you think?"
"Huh? I'm fine with that. I'm tired from the fights this morning. Let's rest from now on."
"Um..."
Kanya stepped forward to speak. Amy could tell just from Kanya's expression—she'd been following them and was clearly curious about Shirone and Amy's relationship.
"What's up? You got something to say to me?"
"I taught Tess how to use the drone."
"Oh, thanks."
"Rena and I will sleep here too. The guides rest at this hour. We'll probably set out in the morning."
"Oh... I see."
Shirone let the sentence hang.
If Kanya planned to leave in the morning, they'd have to follow then. But nothing had been agreed yet, and that was the issue.
Kanya glanced at Amy for a moment before speaking.
"You said you're going into Heaven, right? If it's okay, could you stop by my house for the night?"
They were headed to Heaven, but staying at Kanya's house was another matter entirely.
Maybe it had to do with a mother whose life was running short. Perhaps Kanya wanted to introduce a Nephilim to devout parents.
In any case, there was no reason to refuse. Shirone appreciated the goodwill and accepted.
Kanya flushed.
Amy didn't like that, but she couldn't scold her timidly, so she snorted and went off to Tess.
While they were finishing up the day's tasks, a commotion rose on the outskirts of Nor's Shelter. A group came running, shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Patrol! Hide! Get down!"
Before anyone could ask what was happening, the Nor people scattered.
Shirone grabbed Kanya's hand and ran toward where Gardrak was. The others seemed to make the same judgment and headed that way.
Hidden in the bushes, Shirone listened as Gardrak explained.
On nights when the moon swells full, angels patrol the edges of Purgatory.
The reason and purpose were unclear, but it was a revelation passed down among the heretics for thousands of years.
A sound rang through the sky. The air around them trembled as if tens of thousands of locusts had descended.
Layer upon layer of sound stacked until the dissonance resolved, and a single melody pierced their ears.
Was it the sound of the most beautiful string instrument in the world?
Shirone was entranced, drifting into a dream.
Gardrak snapped him back.
"Snap out of it! Don't get swept up by the sound! We can stand it because we're mages—other species would already be out cold."
Shirone looked at Tess and Rena. They were on their knees, tears streaming down their faces. They hadn't lost consciousness, but they'd gone somewhere else.
What on earth was that sound? Could a single tone unsettle a person's mind like this?
"Where is the sound coming from?"
"Each angel has its own distinctive vibration. It's a vibration emitted by their very existence."
"A vibration from existence itself? How is that possible?"
"In Heaven, angels are called tuners of the Law. As first individuals of causality, they take precedence over all Laws. The vibration proves the angel's unique domain."
Shirone looked up. Judging by the vibration's frequency, they would soon pass over Nor's Shelter.
They'd cast a veil of light magic, but it did little to calm him.
"Can an angel see us?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"What do you mean? Can they see us or not?"
"Have you ever had your fingerprints checked?"
"No."
"It's similar. If they want, they can project through the light veil however they like. But they don't fly that way across the vastness of Purgatory. As long as they don't act capriciously today, we should be fine."
Someone in the outer bushes shouted, "They're coming!"
Shirone craned his neck. Four silhouettes sped across the sky.
You couldn't even blink.
An angel in a white robe led the formation. It bore wings of light at least ten times the size of its body and held golden metal shards in its hands. Most striking was the glowing orb floating above its head.
Around the angel flew creatures Shirone had never seen before.
The figures flanking it looked human but had red and blue skin.
Behind them trailed a monstrosity that combined all manner of beasts.
Above their heads floated long red triangular lights like horns, one to three in number. Though not cones, they kept the same shape from every angle.
"What's that creature at the back? I could see tentacles and a snake's face..."
"Those are Mara. The second individuals of causality. Another name is the Law's executors."
"The Law's executors?"
"I said angels are tuners of the Law. They're the first causal entities created by God and have the right to freely interpret divine will. Know what that means? They can manipulate the Law as they please. They're on a completely different level from giants. When an angel tunes the Law, the Mara act. That's why they're called the Law's executors."
Shirone realized he was facing this world's highest class.
If God is the Law, angels are its judges.
Then the Mara were probably like aides who carry out the judges' orders.
"What were those things above their heads? The angel had an orb, and the Mara had horn-like..."
"Yes, horns. But they're not real horns; they're thought-forms. The more horns, the higher-ranking the Mara. They're born with innate abilities. The horns are the source of that power."
"And the thing above the angel's head?"
"That's called a sacral luminary. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say an angel's power resides in the sacral luminary. I don't know the principle in detail. Even when I was a subject of Ra, I've only seen angels a handful of times."
Clove clicked his tongue. "I see them more often since I came here," he muttered.
A strange feeling gripped Shirone.
If angels truly existed, were unlockers really Nephilim? Was the power to cross dimensions—Miro's scale magic—akin to an angel's ability?
His head began to throb.
They'd gathered so much since arriving in Heaven that the puzzle had become too large to grasp at once.
Not long after the angels passed, the moon rose.
It was enormous—so huge Shirone felt he could touch it from a mountaintop. It was eerie.
With the angels' patrol over, the day wound down for the Nor people.
Shirone, having rented a twelve-person barracks in the tent village, lay down in a row with his friends.
Soft snores rose here and there. Everyone was tired. He wanted to think more, but his body's functions were failing.
Unconsciously drifting to sleep, Shirone met Miro in his dream. It wasn't a nightmare.
6. The Liquor of Anecdote (1)
Shirone and his party followed Gardrak to the valley of the Vortex Serpents.
Now that the Law had been broken, it could no longer truly be called the Vortex Serpent Valley, but a name kept for tens of thousands of years isn't easily erased.
Gardrak said they would no longer find guides here.
With the Vortex Serpents gone, a new Law might arrive. Whatever Law came, it would not be friendly to them.
"Maybe we'll see it someday. Law is finite, but humans are infinite. Even if Heaven perishes, Nor's Shelter won't disappear," Gardrak said, then vanished.
The claim that humans were infinite struck a chord in Shirone's chest. Humans lived even here, tens of thousands of light-years away.
The party launched three drones into the sky.
After experiencing Kergo's heretic hunt, the need for reconnaissance had become even clearer.
When Shirone asked about Heaven, Kanya explained kindly, unlike when they first met.
"Heaven is divided into seven skies. From the Seventh Heaven, Arabot, down to the First Heaven, Shamain. The subjects live in the First Heaven, Shamain. The Meka, Nor, and Kergo peoples keep the Law and perform assigned roles. If Kergo produces, Meka process, and Nor supply."
"But isn't that unjust? Roles decided from birth."
"We've done it this way for hundreds of thousands of years. We follow Anke Ra's Law."
As far as Shirone knew, civilizations in his original world had existed at most ten thousand years. If Heaven had persisted for hundreds of thousands of years, population saturation should have been an issue beyond social problems.
When Shirone voiced this, Kanya tilted her head.
"Questioning that is blasphemy. Anke Ra governs the world. The population of Shamain has never once increased or decreased. The number of people has always remained the same."
"How is that possible? Some kind of birth control policy?"
"Those who keep and follow the Law gain eternal life. They enter the Third Heaven, Shehakim, and live forever."
"Then does that mean those who don't gain immortality die?"