Vol 3: Chapter 55
** Anastasia **
Anastasia witnessed two miracles.
The first miracle was a slash that cut through even the heavens, released by a girl who was standing on the “Queen of the Night”.
The second miracle was the magic released by Reiji, a boy known to Anastasia.
Everyone on board was resolved that the falling speed of “Sky Harvest” was fast and that the hull would be considerably impacted. It was quite possible that their bodies would be thrown up and slammed into the ceiling. There was no safe place on board without the concept of a seatbelt, and Anastasia had no choice but to grab the railings and prepare for the imminent impact.
(That magic is Reiji-san’s!)
Although the hull squeaked jarringly, the fall of the “Sky Harvest” slowed down as if a sudden brake had been applied, and at the end it successfully crash landed with minimal impact.
「M-Miracle! It’s a miracle!」
The commander cried and cheered. And as the normal lights returned, the entire control room broke into cheers. The ministers who were gathered to protect the Emperor also happily hugged each other.
「—Where did Anastasia go?」
The ministers were surprised to hear the Emperor’s words. Anastasia should have been right there, grabbing the railing, but they didn’t see what happened to her because everyone was huddled together to protect the Emperor.
The wooden railing was burnt with a burnt odor in the air.
**
(Hah, hah, hah!)
Anastasia was running at that time.
If she raises her voice even while running,【Fire Magic】will be activated, so she has to be careful.
But she was lucky to have no problem running, as she was wearing a culottes skirt and long boots today instead of her usual dress.
(It’s right ahead of here. And– Eh? The door is closed?)
Anastasia ran through a narrow passage and reached the entrance of the aircraft, which she used while boarding. But it was shut tight, of course. Whilst breathing heavily, Anastasia was completely at a loss. She didn’t know how to open it.
There was no such thing as a doorknob on the iron door, and a steel plate was affixed at the position where a doorknob should be originally located. When she looked to the side, “Emergency Escape” was written on the wall. It further read “Only allowed to be used in an emergency. Open the cover, pull the lever, and cut off the steel wire that will appear. However, if used outside of an emergency, you will be punished”. Anastastia opened the cover with zero hesitation.
Reiji was out there. Reiji who saved this aircraft. Moreover, she saw him about to faint after using the maximum magic twice. What do you call this if not an emergency?
When Anastasia pulled the lever, the steel plate attached to the doorknob position slid and a steel wire appeared–but it was thicker than expected, about 5 mm in diameter. She tried to cut it with the knife she carried on her person for self-defense, but her slender arms failed her.
Then Anastasia glanced through the narrow passage, and after confirming that no one was coming, she put away the knife and touched the wire with the index finger of her right hand.
Her left hand rubbed the bandage on her throat, but the sorcery cast on it had already disappeared.
「Cut off.」
She felt like she could pull it off. It was all thanks to Reiji’s【Mana Control】. A bright white flame appeared at the tip of her index fingerーthe ultra-high temperature melted the wire.
「Tsu!」
The wire snapped as if exploding, and cut Anastasia’s finger. Blood dripped down her finger.
In front of her, the door seemed to be unlocking as a few metallic sounds were heard inside. It then opened a few centimeters outside, so Anastasia tried to push it open with both hands. And just as she was about to–
「!?」
The door opened fully and she fell out of the door. Falling from a height of about 2 meters above the ground, Anastasia fell to the ground ungracefully.
She hit her elbows and butt from the fall. It hurt. Her voice leaked out as she coughed out the dust, causing will-o-wisps-like flames flickering into existence around her and disappearing.
(More importantly, Reiji-san!)
Anastasia disregarded her pain and stood up. As she glanced around the surroundings, she was quite taken aback.
A mountain of debris should have been piled up in this place. It was also where a number of buildings collapsed. However, the area was completely vacant.
(Extremely powerful【Wind Magic】!)
She knew Reiji was no ordinary person, but she never imagined he would be a powerful mage of this caliber.
A number of pillars came out from below the “Sky Harvest” and supported the huge body brilliantly. If the pillars were only erected to break the fall of the airship, and the ground was still full of debris and the fall of the ship was still extremely fast, the airship would have crashed and been lying on its side.
Even then, it would have been much better than having the airship being completely destroyed from the crash, and the number of deaths could have still been suppressed—of course, the death toll would not be zero, and there would have been dozens of serious and minor injuries.
Reiji’s magic saved the “Sky Harvest”ーthe lives of many crew members and Anastasia as well.
「!」
Anastasia found Reiji lying on his back at a distance and she broke into a sprint. She had been running so hard and was tired, but she didn’t think it was a big deal compared to Reiji’s hard work.
(Reiji-san, Reiji-san, Reiji-san!)
As Anastasia ran towards him, she was confused by the emotions that swelled up in her heart.
“Gratitude” was the strongest emotion. Of course, there was also “respect” and “affection”. On the other hand, she had a strong feeling of “interest” ーit was “interest” about how such a person was born and arrived at this place.
「————」
She understood as she approached closer. His clothes were frayed and smeared with dirt. Reiji had become a mess as he had been running around all over, saving people before he came here. Anastasia, of course, didn’t know that. But she naturally understood that “This person must have been helping people.”
Reiji, with his eyes closed, seemed to be asleep. His face looked happy.
Anastasia knelt down and lifted his upper body. She held his head in her arms and brushed his hair from his eyes.
(Reiji-san…)
Warm feelings that seemed to make her head go crazy sprang up from the core of her body.
Thinking back on it, everything was as dramatic as a play.
A boy appeared to save one of her very few friends, Lulusha.
He read her intentions and, far beyond her expectations, he captured the labyrinth.
Not only that, she was so surprised that her heart almost stopped beating when she saw details of her constitution written on the paper he gave her.
When he came to see her secretly at night, her heart was throbbing so much that it felt like it was going to burst.
He gave her the hope to live. And he just saved her life not so long ago.
(I already know…)
Anastasia had already known the true nature of the emotions that were born in her heart.
(I… fell in love with you.)
