Chapter 297 - Chapter 296: The Voice of the Apostle
Royal Castle, Audience Chamber.
Mika looked out at the city through the large hole that had been opened.
Fires were breaking out everywhere, and the sky over the capital was filled with smoke.
While pulling away Limliche and the others who were sobbing and clinging to him, Mika somehow managed to get his clothes on.
But there was a slight problem. In fact, he was just wearing a robe over his bare pants, a perverted look.
Since it was closed in the front, you wouldn't notice at first glance, but if stopped for a police check, you would surely be told, "Could you come to the station for a moment?" That was the state of his attire.
Mika looked at the state of the city and scrunched up his face.
"This won't do if we keep going like this..."
He muttered with a serious expression, but underneath the robe, he was still in his bare pants.
"Should I try again? 'Absorb Wing'."
Mika looked up at the sky and manifested the Divine Miracle [Rainfall].
As Mika poured mana into it, rain clouds formed one after another, and rain began to fall over the entire capital.
"Amazing. As expected of Mika-kun!"
When Mika manifested the highest difficulty Divine Miracle, Limliche, who had been watching from the side, happily cheered innocently.
Mika looked down at such Limliche and patted her head gently.
The problem that had occurred to Mika was this.
He was looking down at Limliche, who should have been almost the same height as him.
That's right. He had grown.
And he had grown quite a bit.
He probably seemed to have grown by about thirty centimeters.
After all, he was looking down at Cleiria, Nerisfeene, and even Kistil.
He must have been somewhere in the mid-to-late seventies centimeters.
A body created by the wishes of the four girls.
Which meant...
"...Those of you who were worried about me being short. Are there any?"
When Mika said that with a squinty look, everyone quickly looked away.
I thought maybe one or two of them were worried, but all of them! They were all worried!
"Y-you've grown, and you look cool now, Mika-kun!"
"Y-yes, yes, you are wonderful, Mika-sama!"
Everyone spoke in unison, covering for each other.
They were all conspiring together.
(I guess everyone was thinking 'If we're making it anyway' or something like that.)
I wanted five more centimeters!
If only I had ten centimeters.
It seemed they had each poured their desires into it.
The result was probably these thirty centimeters.
Because his body had grown so rapidly, he couldn't wear his clothes.
He managed to put on his pants somehow, but even those were quite tight.
It's nice that they made my legs long, though.
Thanks to the fact that they originally made it large, he was able to wear the robe properly and somehow hide his body.
Well, the bare legs sticking out from the robe were full of suspicion!
"When I was worried about my height, you said things like 'I'm not worried'..."
Words that couldn't be determined whether they were complaints or resentful murmurs leaked out.
But now, there was no time to say such things.
"Cleiria."
When Mika called out to Cleiria, Cleiria, who had been acting awkwardly, looked at Mika.
"I'm sorry, but I'm counting on you all. I'll take you to the mansion, so could you protect everyone at the mansion for a while?"
"Of course. ...Although, I hope the mansion is safe."
Cleiria's expression darkened slightly.
That was the problem.
It wasn't certain that the Leventein family's villa had not been damaged.
Mika took two rappelling ropes from his Magic Bag and handed them to Cleiria and Limliche.
"I have to make a report. I'll be back soon, but until then, tie your bodies with this rope. I'll fly and carry you."
Yaroibarov and Ozendorwa had just held on and carried people, but they didn't do that to ordinary people.
Cleiria and Limliche had learned how to tie ropes in their academy classes.
They knew how to tie ropes that could securely fix the body and be easily untied.
"Oh, Limliche. Show me your arm for a moment."
Then, Mika took out a pile of bracelets from his Magic Bag and put them on Limliche's arm.
Limliche looked confused and just let him do it.
"If you wear this, you can withstand even ten times the [Physical Enhancement]."
"...Huh?"
With such an unexpected talk, Limliche seemed unable to follow along.
But Mika continued explaining without caring.
"Your durability will increase, so you'll be able to withstand even if I raise [Physical Enhancement]. I had raised it to forty times with this."
"F-forty...!?"
Cleiria, who had been listening from the side, was speechless.
Kistil and Nerisfeene seemed not to understand what it was about, and they exchanged glances.
Mika looked straight into Limliche's eyes and conveyed his true intention.
"Protect everyone, Limliche."
At Mika's serious voice, Limliche's body trembled slightly.
"Limliche can master it. ...Well, even so, suddenly forty times is impossible, I suppose. So, aim for twenty times first. Just with that, there's no one who can match you anymore."
Limliche looked surprised and gazed intently at the bracelet she had been given.
Ten times or forty times [Physical Enhancement] was a dream for ordinary people.
Even if the durability problem was cleared, doing that would cause mana depletion and knock you out in no time.
Unless you had a cheat skill like Mika's to absorb mana, it would be impossible for anyone other than someone with immense mana like Limliche.
"Protect everyone, Limliche. In my place."
"In place of Mika-kun..."
Limliche muttered repeatedly, and Mika nodded.
Limliche pressed her lips together and nodded back firmly.
"I understand!"
Seeing Limliche nod with eyes that showed strong determination, Mika felt something warm in his chest.
This girl has truly become strong.
Limliche, who had been hugging her knees and crying while hiding from everyone, has now become stronger than anyone else.
Strong enough that Mika could believe Limliche could protect the people important to him.
Mika took off the Holy Sword Namakura-sama he wore at his waist and handed it to Limliche.
"This is a short sword that absolutely cannot be broken. It cannot cut, but it absolutely cannot break. It is a holy sword that knocks everything down."
"Holy sword..."
"I'm not giving this away? I'm just lending it. Because it's my partner."
And so, Mika entrusted the guard duty to Limliche.
He instructed her to fix her body with the rope again, and Mika stepped out of the hole in the Royal Castle.
The courtyard of the Royal Castle was in quite a bit of chaos.
But Mika ignored those guards for now.
As for Mika, he wanted to tell Yaroibarov, Ozendorwa, or the Crown Prince that he had defeated the "Cursed Child".
It seemed the news that King Kerniils had died had already spread.
The Crown Prince was talking with the guards in front of the entrance to the Royal Castle.
"Your Highness."
When Mika flew over, Cranzard looked surprised.
"You... Mika, ah, no. Apostle-sama, is it...? But, your appearance has changed quite a bit..."
At that phrasing, Mika frowned.
Was he confused by his grown appearance?
Well, whatever, he decided not to complain about it.
"The King has passed away. I also defeated the 'Cursed Child'."
"O, oh...! I see."
But Cranzard's expression was somewhat ambiguous.
Even though it had gone wrong, King Kerniils was his father.
He must have had thoughts about that death.
"Y-yes. Apostle-sama, can't you do something about this?"
Saying that, Cranzard pointed to the entrance of the Royal Castle.
But looking at the entrance, there was nothing there.
It was exactly the same entrance when Mika and the others had rushed in.
"...Is something wrong?"
"We cannot enter."
"We can't enter?"
Apparently, whenever they tried to enter, their body strength suddenly drained away, and they became unable to move.
The guards who tried to rush in fell down one after another, and the situation was that they had to crawl back somehow.
I was thinking no one was coming to the Audience Chamber, but it seems this was the reason.
"...Is something done to it?"
When Mika muttered that, he suddenly started nodding to himself alone.
"I understand. For now, make it visible to me as well."
Saying that, Mika's body flashed with light.
"Ggh!?"
"Blinding!?"
Cranzard and the guards turned their faces away from Mika, who suddenly started glowing.
And when the light subsided, a black mist was floating at the entrance.
"What is that!?"
"It's a curse."
Probably, Aquu had rigged it so he wouldn't be disturbed.
A curse does not disappear even if the caster dies.
Just because Aquu is gone, it won't disappear for us.
Mika thrust his hand into the black mist and dispelled it with [Auto-Dispel].
"This should be fine. Ah, yes. Do you know Yaroibarov-san? A big man with a bad face holding a halberd. Dark-skinned."
When Mika asked that, Cranzard twisted his face.
The plan was to go rescue the Crown Prince, but what happened after the rescue was unknown.
"It seems he was removing the iron wall that appeared at the gate..."
"I see."
As Mika was thinking about going around the Royal Castle gate, Cranzard asked Mika.
"Apostle-sama, what are your plans from now on?"
Something about Cranzard's tone felt unpleasant.
Thinking that, there was no time to worry about such things now.
"I intend to do something about the chaos in the capital. Your Highness, seize control of the center as soon as possible. If the country doesn't function, the damage will only expand."
"Yes, I understand. I intend to do that."
At Mika's words, Cranzard nodded.
Mika went around the Royal Castle looking for Yaroibarov.
And so, he found Yaroibarov at the western gate.
When talking with Yaroibarov, something seemed strange.
He didn't know the reason why he had removed the iron wall.
"...Why am I doing something like this?"
"Well, since the job is done, it would be nice if you removed it."
For now, leaving Yaroibarov's mysterious actions aside.
"From now on, I plan to leave Kistil and the others at Marquis Leventein's villa, and then go do something about the chaos in the capital."
"I understand. I'm worried about the small fry too. I'll go back for a bit."
He was asked why Kistil and the others were in the Royal Castle, but detailed reports would come later, so for now, he decided to act on immediate matters.
And so, he returned to the Audience Chamber.
When he arrived at the Audience Chamber, the guards had already arrived.
It seemed Cleiria was explaining something to the guards.
"Sorry, kept you waiting."
"Mika, is it okay now?"
"Apostle-sama!"
When Mika called out, the guards saluted in unison.
"I'm in a hurry, so I'll take you."
"E, eh..."
When Mika received the rappelling rope from Limliche, the guards made strange faces.
They probably found it strange seeing a girl tied up with a rope.
"Then, let's go."
Saying that, Mika slowly lifted Kistil and the others up.
Flying over the first district where it was raining, he headed to the sky above the Leventein family's villa.
As expected, or rather, what can be said, part of the mansion was damaged and burning due to Hildinlander's laser.
Mika landed in the garden for a moment and told Cleiria and the others to go to the entrance.
And so, he went to the damaged part of the mansion himself.
He told the Leventein family knights who were trying to extinguish the fire to step back.
"Well, considering it was bad luck, it's better than most since it was on the edge."
Just looking from the sky, there were many buildings that had been burned right in the middle.
Compared to that, this was still much better.
One room's width at the edge of the building, the first and second floors had disappeared.
A large trail of the laser in the garden.
Part of the wall surrounding the property had disappeared.
To say this is better makes me want to give up.
Mika sent mana into the still burning building.
In the same way he extinguished the textile factory before, he froze the burning parts.
The grass and flowers in the garden seemed to be smoldering, but since it was raining, that would be a matter of time.
"Cleiria. I've put out the fire in the building."
"Thank you, Mika."
Cleiria offered a towel to Mika, but he shook his head.
He would go outside again soon after this.
"Then, I'm counting on you all."
"Yes."
Cleiria looked straight at Mika and bowed respectfully.
"Stay safe. Mika."
"Mika-kun, be careful, okay?"
Kistil stood next to Cleiria and said with a somewhat painful expression.
She probably really wanted to stop him.
But still, she sent him off without saying anything.
"I will definitely come back. Don't worry... I suppose I will. After all."
Telling him not to worry would be unreasonable.
"But I will definitely come back."
"Yeah..."
Mika took off with a feeling of reluctance, looking back.
And so, he headed for the second district.
Southeast Main Street.
Mika went to the shop where he usually bought clothes.
The shop had escaped damage, but it seemed the owner was not there.
"Sorry, it's an emergency."
Making an excuse like that, Mika chose underwear and clothes that fit his size.
It was certainly not a good feeling to remain in that perverted look.
He went into the fitting room and put them on without asking.
It's nice that there are no price tags like in the previous world.
It's actually troublesome to remove those.
He remembered the slightly embarrassing experience of forgetting to remove them, or rather, overlooking them, when he bought a large amount of clothes before.
Putting them on while remembering that, he slipped his arms into the sleeves.
His body was wet, so he struggled a bit to put them on.
But still, he managed to get dressed.
"This is good."
He dressed sharply and checked the fit.
Mika took out three gold coins and put them in the drawer under the counter.
He didn't know if they would notice, but he left more than enough, including an apology for taking them without permission.
He got shoes in the same way, and now he was fully prepared.
"Alright, I'm pumped up!"
When his pants felt cool, he just couldn't help but feel his spirits rise.
Mika slapped his cheeks and jumped out into the rain.
And so, he flew back to directly above the Royal Castle.
He looked around the capital, dyed red by the flames.
The rain had stopped the spread of fire to some extent, but the original damage was still huge.
It was incomparable to the time of the Chimera attack.
"Can't I somehow extinguish all of this at once?"
Mika considered the three elements of fire extinguishing: 'Removal of combustibles', 'Elimination of oxygen', and 'Removal of heat'.
The bottleneck was simply that the area was too wide.
It might be difficult to do something about the entire capital at once, but he wanted to extinguish the fire over as wide an area as possible.
"Fee. Is there any way?"
He called out like that, but there was no answer.
Right now, Fee was residing within Mika's body.
And actually, it was Fee who was moving this body.
Mika, who had become a "High-Energy Thought Form", could not reside in this body.
Maybe there was a way if he practiced, but it wasn't possible right away.
But Fee was the one who solved that for him.
Originally, Fee could reside in objects.
He could also reside in people.
By residing in Kistil's body frequently, he had become used to moving a person's body.
That Fee had now taken residence in the created body of Mika.
And so, he pulled Mika.
The fact that Mika was fixed in this body was, in other words, thanks to Fee.
Mika and Fee were connected by something.
Aquu had named this "Invisibiliter".
Mika had thought of "Invisibiliter" as simply a thing to absorb mana, but it seemed that was different.
The one who noticed that was, in fact, Fee.
He remembered Aquu's words well.
Aquu was a personality separated from the main body.
He was connected to the main body via "Invisibiliter".
When Aquu visualized the curse himself, the main body was visualized along with it.
From such actions and words, he realized it was not just a simple exchange of mana, but something more important.
It was unknown whether Aquu operated the main body or the main body operated Aquu, but he realized there was a connection of considerable importance.
Using that, Fee interfered with Mika, who had become a "High-Energy Thought Form".
Right now, to strengthen the connection further, it seems Fee and Mika, who is a "High-Energy Thought Form", are partially fused.
This allows Fee, the Operating System, to convey the will of the application, Mika, to the hardware, the body.
It seems that is what is happening.
Thanks to partially fusing with the personality of Mika, Fee has also acquired a more solid personality.
Referencing Mika's memories and being influenced by them, Fee has created a personality of his own.
Currently, about seventy percent of what constitutes Mika, the "High-Energy Thought Form", is residing in this body.
So, where is the remaining thirty percent?
Actually, it seems that thirty percent takes the form of an external connection.
Mika's body collapsed due to too much mana.
Perhaps the same thing could happen to this body.
Worried about that, Fee seems to have made a part of it an external connection just in case.
Using "Invisibiliter", just like Aquu.
Two personalities, Mika and Fee, in one body.
Fee, who was originally something like a soulmate, now shares the body as well.
But Fee basically stays withdrawn.
It seems he intends to put Mika forward and stay withdrawn himself.
Fee is originally something like a lump of light.
He doesn't seem to want to come out actively.
And strangely, he is happy that communication with Mika has become easier.
Is this a situation to be happy about?
Well, whatever.
When Mika talks to Fee, he speaks normally, but actually, there is no need to do such a thing.
If he thinks it, it gets conveyed.
But due to past habits, he ends up speaking out loud.
Mika looked around to see if there was any good way to extinguish the fire.
But it didn't come to mind so conveniently.
"...Potestas... Voluntas."
He couldn't see it now, but "Voluntas" was overflowing in this place.
"Potestas" and "Voluntas", which were usually visible when he was a "High-Energy Thought Form", were not visible now.
Still, "Voluntas" should be overflowing here.
The sighs, fear, sorrow, and suffering of the people living in the capital...
"...Both 'Potestas' and 'Voluntas' are pure power..."
Using this energy, the "Cursed Children" were doing something.
"Collecting 'Voluntas'..."
If the "Cursed Children" could do it...
"I can do it too!"
Mika imagined a black cocoon in his palm.
The "Black Cocoon" that collects "Voluntas".
He didn't know how they did it.
But they were actually doing it.
If so, he could do it!
"Come on!"
"Voluntas" gathered in the black cocoon created in Mika's palm.
It wasn't visible.
Still, he understood that it was gathering rapidly.
He could feel it.
"Don't mess around..."
As the gathered "Voluntas" increased, the black cocoon tried to grow larger.
But Mika forcibly suppressed it.
While gathering "Voluntas", Mika thought.
How to use this enormous amount of "Voluntas".
"...Voice."
When he defeated Hildinlander, he heard a voice.
Probably, that was Aquu's voice.
(If it's a voice, it can reach even from afar...?)
Mika hesitated.
He didn't know the detailed reasoning.
Still, with this method, he might be able to extinguish the fire all at once.
"Doing something with a sudden idea is my specialty."
Mika raised the corner of his mouth and smiled boldly.
Whether it was brute force or anything else, this was Mika's style in this world to make it work somehow.
What he imagined was sound waves.
A constant sound that resonated throughout the capital.
Also, a low-frequency sound that did not attenuate.
Since he didn't know which frequency range was correct, he would try a constant frequency range and shift it little by little.
First, a slightly high pitch.
Then, gradually shift the frequency range to lower sounds.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuu......!
A creepy sound resonated throughout the capital.
Mika concentrated all his nerves and tried the frequency range little by little.
And at a certain frequency range, the color of the capital, dyed red, wavered slightly.
"Is it around here...?"
Mika increased the sound pressure and continued to probe by raising and lowering the frequency range a little more.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu......!!!
A creepy sound resonated throughout the capital.
As he continued to try, he found a frequency range where the fire intensity dropped rapidly.
"Here it is!"
Mika fixed it at that frequency range and looked around.
The capital, which had been dyed red until just now, was dyed gray by the rain and smoke.
Fire extinguishing by sound.
It was quite a while ago, but it was an interesting topic he saw on the net.
When he first heard it, he thought "That's ridiculous", but it turned out to be a physical phenomenon with a surprisingly solid logic.
To put it very simply, it vibrates the air to hinder combustion and extinguish the fire.
I think it was something about low-frequency standing waves having an effect or something... I think that was it.
Since I only read it casually a long time ago, I don't remember the detailed logic.
Still, when I read it, I thought it made sense.
If so, it should be reproducible.
Thinking that, I tried to reproduce it.
Mika kept making the sound and flew around the sky over the capital.
And so, he looked around, confirmed that the fire was roughly extinguished, and cut off the sound.
"Phew... I managed to do it."
If he stopped immediately, there might be places where the flames rise again.
Before that happens, he would explain a little.
Mika concentrated again and this time directed his voice.
He called out to everyone in the capital.
"Everyone in the capital, the sound just now was a sound to extinguish the fire."
A man had lost his home in last year's monster attack.
From a temporary housing, he had recently finally moved with his family to a rental house.
A new life had just begun.
Just then, fires broke out throughout the capital again.
He rushed back from his workplace and was relieved that his family was safe, but before long, flames from the neighboring house were approaching.
In the rain, the man stood still before the fire approaching his home, hugging his two clinging daughters.
The town was burning, and due to powerlessness, the man fell into despair.
At that time, a creepy sound resonated throughout the town.
A sound that was indescribable, a groaning sound.
People around him also covered their ears at that sound and were frightened.
But something strange happened.
The fire approaching from the neighboring house disappeared in the blink of an eye.
At that unbelievable sight, the man was just stunned.
'Everyone in the capital, the sound just now was a sound to extinguish the fire.'
At the voice that suddenly appeared, the surroundings buzzed.
That voice was not loud.
And yet, it seemed to be heard by everyone around.
'I think everyone is going through a hard time right now. I think you are going through a painful time.'
"...Apostle-sama?"
The daughter clinging to the man muttered.
Is this the Apostle-sama's voice?
'Many people must be crushed by this calamity. ...I am the same.'
The Apostle-sama's voice seemed to speak to each person individually.
'Why is such a terrible thing happening... I wish I could tell you.'
A heavy sigh that felt like spitting out something stuck in the chest was heard.
'...Still, do not give up.'
A little strength was contained in the Apostle-sama's voice.
'Many people probably think it's no use. They can't stand up anymore.'
Ah, that's right.
I'm already tired...
I've had enough of such grand speeches...
Thinking that, the man hung his head.
'It's okay. You don't have to force yourself to stand up. It's okay to rest. But...'
But contrary to the man's expectation, the Apostle-sama said it was okay to rest.
'I want you to face forward again. There must be someone who will reach out a hand to you. Grab that hand and stand up. There must be someone waiting for you to reach out a hand.'
His wife came next to him and grabbed the man's arm.
He felt his daughter clinging tightly.
His chest hurt sharply.
What would happen to his daughters if he gave up?
What would happen to his wife?
'I was also helped by many people. Because those people were there, because those people exist, I can stand up. I can stand up again and again.'
In the Apostle-sama's words, he could feel a clear and strong will.
It wasn't a strong tone, but it felt very unshakable.
Mika spoke to every person in the capital.
Some might have lost important people.
Some might have lost their families.
Some might have lost their homes.
Some might have given up, thinking it was no use.
Still, he wanted them to rally themselves once more.
He wanted them to do their best.
Thinking that, he pleaded desperately.
'...The sound will resonate again, but that is to suppress the flames. Please, everyone, if there is someone in trouble nearby, lend them a hand. No one can overcome this suffering alone. Please lend a hand to the person next to you.'
And so, Mika took a breath.
"I beg of you."
Mika cut off the magic and exhaled deeply.
"Man, I'm not good at this kind of thing."
He scratched his head.
'If you're going to say that, let Fee do it next time. If you want to, you can do it, right?'
At Fee's rebuttal, he smiled bitterly.
"I understand. Ah, let's collect 'Voluntas' again..."
When he said that, he felt something gathering more and more.
Could it be, this is...
"'Voluntas' is gathering..."
He felt the "Voluntas" directed at Mika by the people living in the capital being taken in one after another.
So this is what having directionality means.
"Not doing anything and naturally feeling it... What's going on?"
It seems that by becoming a "High-Energy Thought Form", his constitution has changed.
A sensation different from mana was flowing in.
"...This is the power of 'Voluntas'... The energy of everyone's will."
Mika licked his lips and grinned.
"Maybe I should provide a little service."
Mika muttered that and shook his shoulders.
It was Fee, who had read Mika's mind, who made the comment.
"They will definitely cheer up. ...Probably?"
Saying that, Mika asked Fee to cooperate.
On this day, the sky over the capital shone for the first time in a year and four months.
With the return of the Day of Light, many people were cheered up and rallied.
Also, it was reported that the groaning sound continued for about two hours on this day as well.