[524] A New Contract (3)
"Shirone. Of course I know."
Miro felt a chill from Uorin's gentle gaze as it brushed past her.
Biologically, a mother's tenderness shows up because she believes the child is hers.
Uorin's look was the ultimate possessiveness—beyond desire.
She steered the conversation smoothly to hide that emotion.
"I mean the fact he's become incapacitated."
The intelligence Cage Team B had gathered was already leaking bit by bit around the world under the name of espionage.
And the first place that information would reach was none other than the cathedral.
Miro slapped Shirone's forehead.
"As you can see, he's out cold. Completely gone. I thought maybe you could wake him now that you're back."
Uorin crossed her legs with obvious reluctance.
"Why should I? Once you returned, Shirone's role was finished. He's hardly someone worth the trouble of bringing back."
Miro lifted a corner of her mouth.
"What, are you kidding? Even if Shirone's role is over, he's still 'Ra,' isn't he? You'll need Shirone's power."
"Needing something and handing it over are different. If I want Shirone, I can take him whenever I please."
"Is that so? Even you couldn't just undo Armand's binding easily, could you? That won't come off."
Armand wouldn't be separated from Shirone until the full cost of the Valhalla Action had been paid.
Only when Miro answered confidently did Uorin, seeing room for negotiation, relent.
"Fine. What's the problem? If it's nothing important I'll drop it. All I really need is to claim Shirone eventually."
"Indulge your whims, Your Majesty. For now, Shirone is paying the price for the Valhalla Action."
"Valhalla Action?"
Miro explained Shirone's situation based on what she'd heard from Gaold and the others.
It was fortunate that Flue knew the Valhalla Action's mechanics in detail.
After hearing it, Uorin nodded.
"Bold, indeed. Angelic power. So Shirone can use two abilities?"
"Valhalla Action is installed on Armand. Since Armand is fused with Shirone, that's irrelevant for him—but it means something different for you."
Armand had been given to Shirone not only to clear debts but as part of a scheme to let Shirone grow a bit and inherit that power all at once.
Which made it regrettable that an angelic ability—ranked among the top even for Valkyries—was merely attached to a weapon.
Putting aside any lingering attachment, Uorin asked,
"All right. Exactly how big a price must be paid?"
Arius said, "From the dive I did, it looks like about 127 years."
"That far beyond the average human lifespan."
Shirone was nineteen now, so that meant he wouldn't wake until he was one hundred forty-six.
"Right. By then everything will probably be over. But Ikael said that might be the hint to bring Shirone back."
Miro watched Uorin's reaction after saying that.
If Uorin thought the same thing Miro did, she'd certainly remember something.
"Hmm, is that so."
Uorin leaned back and held up three fingers.
"There are basically three ways to bring Shirone back."
"Oho?"
More options than expected.
"If the Valhalla Action has been triggered, causality has been established. But Shirone paid far more than the allowable limit. That's the key point."
Arius cut in, "You mean something that shouldn't have been payable was paid."
"Exactly. Since it's not a normal occurrence, we can infer things. I think the Valhalla Action included something of Shirone's as collateral in the causality calculation."
"Collateral?"
"The first thing that occurred to me when I heard the Valhalla Action explained was: this is unfair. Of course they'd add interest for future uncertainty, but lending the result of 127 years without collateral makes no sense. So I think it's not about lifespan."
Arius: "Then it's time-related."
"Right. You can't extend human life. But if the collateral is about time, that's different. Like—"
Uorin pointed at Miro.
"Someone like you."
Miro curled her lips.
"Twenty years ago… well, nineteen, actually. You haven't aged at all since. Why is that?"
"Maybe I'm just blessed with youth?"
She joked, but Uorin's thoughts weren't in jest.
From Ikael's hint, one possibility had been circling in Uorin's head, and she now voiced it.
"Sure, wanderers like you can slow biological activity through mental discipline. But you spent twenty years at the dimensional wall without eating or sleeping. How could that be possible?"
Because she knew that's how it would be.
But the problem was that nobody else in the world knew how she knew.
"McClain Geffin," Uorin said.
"Before you, Miro, the dimensional wall existed. It held back Heaven's forces. After that the Geffin vanished and you were chosen. You're Geffin's successor. Erased from memory, unable to recall, but you must have met Geffin."
Miro's gaze shifted to Shirone.
"And something Geffin passed to me was also passed to Shirone?"
Uorin looked up and remembered.
"When the Third Reset—the Great Purification—began, I had a question. Why did Ikael teach Ataraxia to Shirone? Why did Shirone's incarnation that manifested in Heaven have angel wings? And finally…"
Uorin glared at Arius.
"Why was Geffin's security mechanism embedded in Shirone's maternal psychology?"
"How could you know that…?"
Arius was the only one who had entered Shirone's depths.
And he'd never told anyone else—except his follower Miro.
Miro frowned slightly. "You found out after the reset."
"Yes. After surviving the Great Purification I met Arius and Kazra again. Arius, having failed to dig up Ataraxia, was chased by Walkers and escaped to Apotosis. I secretly extracted information then. Remember? The sleep magic you used to put Shirone under."
Masters of sleep magic can cut through a subject's consciousness cleanly and link memories so the target sleeps without realizing it.
Arius swallowed, as if a supposition formed from that memory.
If Uorin had observed the scene where the door was installed in Shirone, there was probably nothing she didn't know.
Miro stared drowsily at Uorin.
This annoyed her—Teraje.
Miro and Shirone were among the very few cases in the world connected to Geffin's name.
But the problem was Uorin likely was, too.
If anyone could have déjà vu of Geffin from living through humanity's history three times, it would be Teraje—Uorin.
She might even be the only person who could remember Geffin's appearance among humans.
Still.
She would never tell.
That was a secret only Teraje knew. Until she opened her mouth, no one could drag the truth out of her.
Miro gave up and turned back to Shirone's problem.
"Enough preamble. Tell me the three ways to bring Shirone back."
"The first way is very simple and easy."
Uorin raised one finger.
"Kill Shirone."
"Hmm."
Miro nodded as if she understood.
"If you're sure there's collateral, killing Shirone is the easiest solution. Whatever happens will happen. If you're lucky, he might die and come back."
Miro, who'd been propping her chin on her hand, looked up in surprise.
"That's happened?"
"About three times in human history."
"Extremely unlikely."
"But it's the simplest method. Even if he dies, it's not a huge loss. I'd be sorry, but compared to the trouble of reawakening him, it wouldn't be a great regret."
"That's true."
Since it'd be the fastest solution, killing Shirone and waiting for the outcome was a valid option.
"Now for the second. We can decide which to use later."
"The second is to make Shirone repay the debt himself. That's related to the collateral too."
"Indeed. But how could he choose anything in that moratorium state?"
"You'd need a method for that. But if the second were possible, the third would be preferable."
"The third?"
"Have someone else repay the debt."
"Oho…"
"The Valhalla Action's causality clearly belongs to Shirone. But the collateral linking that causality isn't Shirone's. Therefore that collateral can be—"
The two women said in unison, "Transferred to someone else."
Uorin rested her chin on her hand and looked at the wall.
"Extra-regulatory classification—'Objet.' Maybe both will be needed. A way to bypass the moratorium. A way to extract magic and transfer it. If you get those two functions, you could awaken Shirone."
Miro pursed her lips, thinking of someone.
"Hmm… an extra-regulatory classification, huh."
"You seem to have someone in mind."
"Can't you just look into it for me?"
"I'll help, but don't expect miracles. Besides, you're House Adrias—you shouldn't be far."
Uorin's sly question made Miro realize she already knew everything; Miro licked her lips.
"How stingy."
"Extract the collateral. I'll find someone to take the transfer."
"127 years though. Can it be cleared?"
"If about ten archmages split it, they could repay it in under a year. If not, hire twenty."
Miro snorted.
"You're devoted, aren't you? You said killing was the simplest way not long ago."
"It still is. Hiring twenty archmages would be one thing, but it'd mean throwing away their abilities. No matter how much I want Shirone, I don't think he's worth that much."
"Is that so? Why not?"
Uorin shrugged as if it were nothing.
"He's cute. I like this type."
Miro's eyes curved with mock sincerity.
Liar.
She guessed why Uorin preferred the third method over the easy one: to find out what collateral Shirone had.
If that collateral was connected to Geffin, even twenty archmages would be cheap.
"A sealed treasure chest, then."
Having pieced that together, Miro stood.
Arius hurriedly wrapped Shirone in black cloth and slung him over her back.
There was no time to waste.
"Then I'll take extraction. You prepare the transfer."
"Contact me if you need anything. If it's under contract, I'll help with whatever's required."
"Mm. I'll gladly accept."
Miro waved cheerfully and left the room, Arius carrying Shirone behind her.
Outside the door, the leader of the guard glanced into the chamber, checked on his lord's safety, and carefully closed the door.
At that same moment, the smile on Uorin's face froze cold.
"The more debts you can erase, the better."