[343] The Protagonist of One's Life (3)
Kangnan took off her glasses and shoved them into her inner pocket. Then, as if imitating a wolf, she raised both fists to her face, stepped her left foot forward, and began to tap out a light rhythm.
Shirone and the others were baffled. Even if Rammui didn't recognize the stance, anyone could guess it was a boxing posture. Against the backdrop of the giant Thousand-Armed Kannon, though, it looked almost comical.
Lyria, unable to bear it, frowned and stepped forward.
"Hey! What are you—!"
At that instant Kangnan's body blurred. A high kick so fast she was nearly invisible whipped up a thread of dust. Her instep struck the Thousand-Armed Kannon's face at a right angle and snapped through it.
The Kannon's expression turned bewildered. Its eyes rolled briefly, then its hand movements slowed. Finally, as if sinking beneath a surface, it was drawn down into the depths of the Okwangbakyo Formation.
"Wha—what was that...?"
The shock Shirone and the others felt was beyond imagining. Even though the Kannon had been trapped in the Formation, the moment its neck was snapped by a kick was so startling it felt like their hearts might leap from their chests.
Shirone lowered his gaze to the thigh that had slipped out from beneath Kangnan's tailored skirt. At the moment of impact, the stocking on her instep had burned away and been pulled down, leaving her right leg fully exposed. Her muscles were carved like sculpture and flexed. Then, as soft subcutaneous tissue settled back, a smooth, elegant curve returned.
Who on earth was she?
He wondered if she might be some government agent. If an envoy from another country had come, some department at home could likely have anticipated this.
"Phew."
Kangnan exhaled in relief. She retrieved her glasses from her pocket and put them back on. Shirone, who had been watching quietly, met his friends' eyes and stepped toward her.
"Um, who are you? Are you with the kingdom— ugh!"
Kangnan abruptly hiked up her skirt, making Shirone's face flush crimson. She rolled the stocking down, pulled out a fresh one, and began changing. Whether she noticed the boys' furtive glances or not, she spoke as she dressed.
"You faced a spirit that dwells beyond Heaven's northern frontier—codename 'The Law.'"
"Heaven?"
Dante cocked his head. Some people really did sound insane. But Shirone and Amy couldn't dismiss the claim. If she knew about Heaven, she wasn't ordinary.
"A Law itself isn't inherently that dangerous. It's like an aurora—a simple phenomenon. But when the environment changes, it becomes a headache. The golden time is seventy-two hours from manifestation. After that it evolves exponentially. You caught it right at the edge."
Kangnan pulled the stocking up to her navel and snapped her skirt back into place to smooth the pleats.
"You judged wisely, so I'll let your reckless behavior slide. If the Law had expanded its activity range, the military would have been deployed. You saved countless lives."
Having said that, Kangnan turned, slipped into her high heels, and adjusted her outfit back to order.
"Could you tell me who you are first?"
Shirone drew back his hood and stepped closer. Kangnan's eyes narrowed slightly as she took in his face.
"She's younger in person. I never expected her to beat a Law..."
Even an early-case awakened Law ranks B in the phenomenon scale set by the Valkyries. Ordinary angels are A-rank, so that was roughly on par with fighting a fallen angel-level threat.
But how had she stopped the Law?
If Shirone had the magic sword Armand that Princess Woorin had gifted him, it might have offered some protection against a Law. Still, Kangnan was certain that by itself it could never be enough to defeat one.
Could it be...
Only one possibility came to mind.
Mental transcendence? No, that couldn't be right. It wasn't a state an ordinary eighteen-year-old ought to reach.
Kangnan had heard that all living things ultimately move toward realizing their true form, but the time required is so long most die before finding it.
Heaven was the exception.
In the realm where Anke Ra determines lifespans, humans could live for centuries and plants for hundreds of thousands of years.
That's why the art of realizing one's true self was called a Heavenly technique.
The time to reach enlightenment varied by species: humans on average 220 years, cats 400, monkeys 600, snakes 700, foxes 1,000.
If Shirone had attained the level of mental transcendence, he would have leapt across roughly two centuries.
"There might not have been any exaggeration in the Association's evaluation," Kangnan thought.
She wasn't an idle person. In the Association, she was one of the most trusted figures.
If it hadn't been for orders from her direct superior Gaold, she wouldn't have come to a magic school student merely for an interview.
Kangnan recalled the conversation at the time.
"Shirone... do you mean Arian Shirone of Alpheas School of Magic?"
"Yes. That brat who happens to attend my loathsome alma mater. I don't know how that school isn't shut down yet."
Gaold joked, but Kangnan read his intent and probed sharply.
"You're not thinking of having him join this project, are you?"
As she'd expected, Gaold fell silent.
"I'm against it. The risk is too great. You can't decide based on Ataraxia alone. Do you intend to throw away twenty years of preparation?"
Gaold, suddenly serious, opened his heavy mouth.
"I hear his growth rate is fast."
Kangnan snorted. No one in the Association knew Shirone better than she did.
"He's certainly one of the kingdom's promising talents. An Unlocker who manipulates light as if granting it mass. If he diligently builds achievements, he'll probably reach Grade 6 around twenty. Every organization always needs capable managers."
Kangnan narrowed her eyes and watched Gaold's reaction. He understood; his mouth tightened.
"Are you kidding? Grade 6 at best. Romi Etelad teaching Shirone, Olipher Shiina—both got certified Grade 6 at twenty as well. But they weren't the youngest. They're just prodigies you find here and there in the kingdom. If you don't plan to wait another ten years, you should give up on Shirone."
"I don't know. Youngest or not, I'm no prodigy."
Gaold leaned back with a cigar in his mouth and looked down at Kangnan.
"But right now, I'm the best, aren't I?"
Kangnan couldn't deny it. By all accounts Gaold hadn't been an outstanding student, but he was indisputably the kingdom's greatest mage now.
"That's an exceptional case..."
Gaold raised a hand to cut her off.
"Ah, forget it. Do as I say. Whether he becomes Grade 6 at twenty or forty doesn't matter."
"No. In reality, scouts judge talent by results over time. If that's not important, then what is?"
Gaold, cigar between his fingers, exhaled useless smoke and fell into thought.
"In the end... what matters is what you accomplish."
Kangnan opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. Gaold was a madman, but sometimes he had a way of leaving her without a ready retort.
"You cur. I reached the pinnacle of magic, you know..."
He thrust his chin up arrogantly. He was the only person who could call the last scion of the Wolf tribe a cur.
"Being the best doesn't mean being first. It means existing completely outside the ranking. Following a well-trod path quickly is talent, sure. But look at the world. Those we call the best are people who kindle light in realms humanity can't reach in a lifetime. It's not about first or second. There isn't even a basis for comparison. That's something entirely different from rapidly following an existing path."
Kangnan mulled Gaold's words over several times.
"Do you think Shirone could become that—truly the best?"
"I can't promise it. But his growth rate shatters common sense, and he can use Ataraxia. If those two factors synchronize at the right moment, he might reach it instantaneously in a specific situation. Then he could create at least one more variable."
The project had been prepared for twenty years and challenged the absolutely impossible. In that context, one variable might be worth any sacrifice.
But Kangnan couldn't accept it. In matters whose stakes equaled the lives of humanity, it was reckless to place faith in an uncertain subject without grounds.
"I understand. But do you know? 'Right moment,' 'specific situation,' 'instantaneously,' 'at least.' Most of what you just said is hypothetical."
Gaold finally relaxed and smiled.
"I know. So meet him. See with your own eyes. If you can raise the success probability even by 0.1 percent, shouldn't we use everything we can?"
Kangnan snapped back to the present and said to Shirone, "I'm Aho Kangnan, Secretary of the Magic Association's Secretariat."
"The... Secretary of the Magic Association's Secretariat?"
Shirone's eyes widened. His friends watching from behind couldn't hide their surprise either. Being the head of the Secretariat effectively made her second in the Association. This was someone few mages ever met face to face.
Shirone hurriedly bowed.
"Ah, hello. I'm..."
Kangnan cut to the chase.
"Shirone, it's a national emergency. Someone wants to meet you. Come with me to the capital."
Shirone froze.
Not only was the phrase "national emergency" shocking, it was also strange that someone would seek out a mere student in such a situation.
"Who is it that wants to meet me?"
Kangnan answered casually.
"Micaea Gaold, President of the Tormia Magic Association."
"Micaea Gaold?"
Shirone's heart raced. It was the name he'd heard most often among people he'd never had the chance to meet.
He wasn't the only one. No one in the Tormia Kingdom who'd touched magic failed to know Micaea Gaold.
Dante, curious, asked, "Why would someone so high up want to see Shirone?"
Shirone wanted to know as well, but a part of him already had an inkling.
"Is it related to the Ice Queen?"
"That's right. The Ice Queen is a being of Heaven. Do you understand what it means for such a being to descend into this world?"
Shirone's eyes snapped open. When he heard a being of Heaven had descended, the Last War was the first thing that came to mind.
"No, surely not—"
"Yes. A fissure has formed in the Maze's fabric."
If a crack had appeared in the only bulwark holding back Heaven's armies, Kangnan's declaration of a national emergency made sense.
Lyria slipped in a question.
"Excuse me. The Maze's fabric—do you mean the Barrier of Law from the prophecies?"
Kangnan looked Lyria over and asked, "The holy shrine?"
"Akeanis."
"I see."
Kangnan nodded and continued.
"For now, it's not immediately critical. It was a small fissure and has already been repaired. But fissures are always the start of collapse, so things can't get any better than they are now. We need to prepare."
"So Miro is now—"
Kangnan raised a hand to cut Shirone off.
"That's all I can tell you. The rest you can hear from my superior himself. Come with me to the capital."
Shirone thought it over with a cautious expression.