Joint Combat Training 2 (7)
“―Don’t run. You might get hurt.”
The brothers, who had been playing tag along the pier, halted in their tracks. The makeshift pathway, patched up with shoddy wooden planks, came to an end, and they were just about to step onto the beach.
“There could be rocks hidden, so always watch where you’re stepping.”
The older brother turned his head first to look towards the source of the voice. At the spot where the pier met the shoreline, sitting on a gently sloping breakwater, was a clumsy-looking girl with her knees hugged to her chest.
Her blonde hair damp with the morning dew.
The sun, just starting to rise, illuminated her face with a soft smile.
Though she seemed to be their age, there was a curious maturity about her. The boy stared blankly at the girl’s face for a moment before nodding, then he tightly grabbed his younger sibling’s hand and they both dashed towards the beach.
Despite being peers, the girl couldn’t help but feel a protective instinct, prompting her to utter that warning.
“……”
After a while, the girl――Adel――inhaled the fragrance of a single hyacinth blooming by the sea, then carefully tucked it into her hair.
Then, gazing at the bustling pier in the early dawn, she took another deep breath of the salty morning air.
This was Oldak, the land of merchants.
The empire’s largest trading city, boasting dozens of departures a day, Oldak.
Children from the largest orphanage situated here, the Deldross Orphanage, grew up much faster than their peers.
Without parents to take care of them, they were compelled to quickly become self-sufficient individuals.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Most of them are put to work as soon as they can take care of themselves.
From lugging baskets of water to simple cleaning tasks and wringing out mops to eventually preparing food, laundering clothes, and those skilled with their hands might start woodworking.
Growing up without parents in a brutal society required them to be quickly capable of self-preservation. As harsh as it may seem, there was no choice. This was the policy of Deldross Orphanage.
It was more than just a protective home for children, but a place that prepared them to navigate the dangers of the world on their own.
Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere of Oldak city itself.
Adel, with her naive appearance, considered these thoughts quietly as she sat, facing the sea breeze.
Even in the early hours of dawn, the pier was alive with workers loading ships.
Merchants drummed their abacuses amidst the noisy crowd, captains checked inventory, and workers haggled over transportation contracts and insurance negotiations.
Humans rising before the sun to toil.
In this bustling city of commerce, diligence and industriousness were paramount virtues.
“There you are, Miss Adel.”
Suddenly, she noticed the approach of a man striding with hands clasped behind his back from the opposite end of the breakwater.
His clerical garments, though fitting, bore the grime of hard work. He had the visage of a devout clergyman.
“Have you heard the news?”
“You’re being sent to the capital for a bishopric assessment, I heard.”
Adel swung her legs, seated on the ledge, and grinned broadly.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Congratulations. Woah, you’ll become a very high-ranking person. Bishop Verdio!”
The Deldross Orphanage operated under the support of the Telos denomination, a religious institution.
Particularly as the largest orphanage among those in the empire, someone of at least bishop rank was sent to take charge before becoming an archbishop.
Archbishop Verdio reached Adel’s side, walking along the breakwater.
The girl’s attire shouted poverty: an overworn skirt, a blouse with fraying cuffs, and straw-colored hair tied with an old rag. Despite that, there was a certain grace to Adel. Too young and clothed in tatters with simple jewelry, yet that grace remained inexplicably intact.
“Saint Elnir, who blessed the capital, passed away after seven years of administering baptisms. It has been a story since last year.”
Adel, anticipating what Verdio might say, didn’t respond but listened attentively.
“For a consecrated prayer towards Telos, the legacy of saints must persist. Our current conundrum is finding someone with divine energy comparable to hers, but you, Miss Adel….”
“Bishop Verdio, you think too highly of me. Really….”
She flicked a cosmos flower she held in her other hand as her legs continued to dangle.
“Seeing the future isn’t something I have control over. It’s merely serendipity. Even if it’s by divine energy, how can it be my power if I can’t wield it at will?”
“Miss Adel, that’s of no consequence.”
Verdio stood beside her, hands still clasped, peering at the lively pier, a scenery all too familiar to him.
The high clergy of the capital dispatched him to Oldak for a reason: his work ethic closely mirrored that of merchants. Indeed, Verdio had effortlessly adapted to the culture of Oldak.
“What’s important is… the sheer existence of your extraordinary ability. Seeing the future means bending and twisting the fate of the world created by Telos, particularly the destiny of time. To my knowledge, only celestially powered archmagic can enable such a feat.”
“Archmagic? I don’t know how to do anything so grand.”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“Perhaps it’s an innate manifestation of divine power, even if you weren’t taught it. That alone is quite remarkable.”
Verdio’s red ponytail fluttered in the wind, revealing the back of his head.
“To ascend to sainthood is your destined vessel. It’s a tremendous honor for me to have discovered one ahead of anyone else.”
“……”
“Let us head to the capital together. Once you prove your powers to the Divine Emperor, you will be ordained as the next saint. Miss Adel.”
Adel was not someone to wither away in the corners of an Oldak orphanage. Verdio was certain of that.
Adel lifted her head to look at Verdio, then smiled again. She extracted a lute strapped over her shoulder and cradled it. Nestled in her arms, the lute seemed to fill her embrace, befitting a child.
After plucking the strings awkwardly a few times and nodding her head to the rhythm, she had recently begun learning. Verdio too was well aware of her budding musicianship, but her skill was woefully lacking at the moment.
“Seeing the future is more fleeting than one would think, Archbishop.”
“Nobody thinks so.”
“No~ The course of the future can unexpectedly change with the slightest alteration, and despite many hardships, it often resiliently maintains its path.”
The twang of the naïve lute spread through the rowdy shore.
Adel saw many futures. Without pattern or omen, sudden scenes appeared before her eyes.
Like the future of the orphans gathered around Oldak without parents, she sometimes glimpsed the futures of those who stayed here.
Unaware of their names or traits… the future of these children, as intermittently seen, varied greatly.
A wanderer swordsman traversing the lawless land of Koheleton hunting bounties, a young awe-inspiring mage and merchant who seizes financial power in the colossal Elte enterprise, the unprecedented beast tamer to domesticate high-level monsters.
She saw the shining futures of such children, but even Adel was uncertain if these futures would materialize as seen.
“With countless branches spreading out, seeing just one twig in the flow of time, how valuable can it be? The future can change in unexpected and seemingly insignificant ways.”
“…Is that so?”
“That’s how it goes. There’s still much I don’t understand, ehehe.”
As the girl plucked her lute, looking out to the shore, she spotted the brothers who had run off.
The boys who played tag while running. The older one, after rushing for a while, suddenly stooped to glimpse the ground.
There laid a large rock. Nearly tripping due to his momentum yet narrowly avoiding it, he sprinted off once more.
Without falling, the two brothers ran along the shore, gradually fading into the distance.
“But heading to the capital… I wonder if it’s quieter and more serene than this bustling place….”
Adel watched them while smiling serenely herself, feeling peaceful as she stared at the shimmering sea under the sunlight.
Finally, for the first time, she entertained the possibility of seeing a glimpse of her own future―’Adel’s future.’
* * *
“Sister Clarisse, you look indisposed. Are you alright?”
The murmuring crowd filled the air.
The day of the Joint Combat Training near the entrance of Glockt Tower.
Seated next to Ed with a wooden table between them, Clarisse could not regain her composure for a while. It was only natural.
Amidst this, by caressing Ed’s face, checking his body for injuries, and bursting into tears, she only stirred the murmuring among the students further.
She couldn’t just sit idly by. So when Ed reached out to the Sister to inquire… she seized his arm abruptly.
“…Sister?”
This was a bolt from the blue for Ed. However, Clarisse, as if oblivious to Ed’s reaction or the onlookers’ stares, anxiously pulled him along.
“We have to run away…!”
“Excuse me…?”
“We… let’s run away together…!”
Having weathered too many events in a short span, Clarisse was overloaded.
Yet, the harrowing flashes in her muddled mind were vivid:
The sacred dragon covering the island’s sky, the rain of scales, the falling students. Ed’s knowing reaction, Ophilius Tower collapsing, and the final moments where he met his death sheltering the girl in his arms.
The memories rushed past her like a panorama. Following this Joint Combat Training, a shadow of destruction would fall over Acken Island.
It wasn’t a dream. It was a tangible experience, albeit for reasons unknown, she was sent back to the past.
Before calamity strikes… fleeing as far as possible is the best strategy. A reasonable and justifiable course of action.
“There is nothing we can do… just… we need to escape…!”
Choking back tears, Clarisse dragged Ed by the arm and strode hastily towards the carriage. Everyone around, from Yenica seated beside them to the multitude of students, became statuesque.
To most observers, her abrupt announcement to flee in broad daylight was far from normal. But as mentioned earlier, the Sister’s mental state was anything but normal.
“No, Sister…? Sister…!”
Ed was pulled all the way to the carriage. It wasn’t something he could just shake off.
Clarisse promptly instructed the soldiers to put him in the carriage and, with a shove, Ed found himself aboard the sumptuous vehicle belonging to the Sister.
After boarding herself, she commanded the coachman to immediately head for Maxess Bridge.
“But Sister. You should be heading to Trix Tower shortly to receive the Divine Emperor….”
“I will assume full responsibility… just hurry to Maxess Bridge…!”
If it’s now, before the appearance of the sacred dragon, the bridge wouldn’t be crowded.
The Supreme Pontiff and the Archbishop were foremost in her mind. If they were on Acken Island, it was utterly predictable that they would be caught in the dragon’s wrath.
Yet, at the moment, Clarisse had no knowledge of their whereabouts. Before turning back time, she had long awaited them at Trix Tower, but they never showed.
Every minute and second were precious. To seek them out and have them comprehend the situation, to cancel all arrangements and have them flee the island was unfeasible. Likely before they could be found, the dragon would descend first.
Clarisse’s teeth chattered, beads of sweat forming uncontrollably. As a Sister, she wanted to ensure the Divine Emperor and Archbishop’s safety first… but, ultimately clenching her jaw, she had the carriage set off for Maxess Bridge.
Now… saving those in reach, getting more people out was the right thing to do. It’s impossible to wait around searching for the Supreme Pontiff and the Archbishop, risking squandering this miraculous chance of survival.
At the driver’s bench sat the coachman and knights who had protected the Sister to the end and met their demise in her rescue.
And across from Clarisse… sat Ed Rosetailor, the man who had died protecting the Sister from the rubble at the very end.
Right then, these were the only people Clarisse could reach. She longed to take more people with her from the school, but the carriage could only fit so many.
Therefore… she had no choice but to first save those who mattered to her.
The sensation was like weighting human lives on a scale. The chilling sense of sin crawled up Clarisse’s spine… yet, even so, she couldn’t bring herself to stop the carriage.
That gargantuan dragon was not a foe humanity could contend with. Yielding to guilt and remaining on Acken Island would amount to nothing more than a senseless death.
“Sister, this cannot continue.”
Ed protested in the rocking carriage.
“Sister, you should be heading to Trix Tower. I also have the Joint Combat Training scheduled, if we continue like this both of us….”
“After the Joint Combat Training ends….”
Whether one believes it or not.
Without expecting belief, Clarisse continued speaking.
“A giant dragon will descend upon Acken Island. And then… it will kill us all.”
“…Excuse me?”
Even if she appeared as a madwoman, it mattered not. She just wanted to divulge the truth.
“I was about to die once… but I came back to the past.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know myself…”
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