The Requiem That Never Ceases

Front Table of Contents

Sojuro Nuebi has never known defeat.
Since he began being called the "Divine Rhyme Detective" in the Imperial Capital, he has rushed through countless situations where magic, bullets, and blades flew about; while there have been draws or interruptions, he has never been defeated.
That said, it is not as if he had not considered the possibility of losing consciousness due to some attack.
Among the spirit charms he kept hidden in his breast, the one blessed by Takemikazuchi was excited in response to the decline in its owner's vital signs.
An electric current of appropriate |Amperage| and |Voltage| pierced Sojuro's heart and lungs, resetting his arrhythmia.
He snapped his eyes open. Foam spilled from his mouth.
He immediately kicked the water and poked his face above the lake's surface.

"...Gah!"

He coughed desperately, spitting water from his lungs.
For a while, he writhed between the urge to breathe and the urge to expel water, gagging and vomiting.
Tears spilled out due to a physical reflex.

"Gu... u..."

He finally finished spitting out the water, and his breathing began to settle.
And then—he was stunned.

"What a... disgrace."

It was an unsightly state that shattered his quiet pride into smithereens.
That he, of all people, would nearly drown, vomit, and shed tears.
He was panicked by the very fact that his own body had reacted in such a way.
This was impossible.I should never have to experience something like this.
He had believed this without any basis. It was an absolute premise.
The "Divine Rhyme Detective" who fights for people's smiles with an elegant smile. That is what was expected of him, and what he had imposed upon himself. That had never crumbled even once.
But—calmly thinking about it, it was a strange story.
It should be impossible for this body, which is not divine, to remain invincible forever. Why had he accepted such a thing uncritically until now?
It was a suspension of thought unthinkable for the brilliant-minded Sojuro Nuebi.

"Is there... something? Was some kind of effect working on this body that is of a completely different dimension from the protection of the eight million gods...?"

Had it ceased to be a battle against the <Jester>?
Had he been protected by something intentional and absurd all this time?
A strange chill.
But he shook his head. Right now, what happened above was more important.
He had evacuated the elves, including Her Majesty Sharau, the moment it was discovered that Gideon was above the royal capital. That was not an issue.
The problem was why Gideon and the <Jester> had appeared at the royal castle.
And above all—

"! Finn!"

He had left him all alone in front of the enemy. A fierce sense of crisis.
When he threw a charm from his breast and stuck it to the space, he activated a wind-raising spell and jumped onto it.
He had to get back up quickly. The situation was a matter of life and death.
At that moment.
There was a figure falling headlong down the side of the royal castle, some distance away.
He let out a cry without thinking. It was the very boy he had been worried about.
He immediately whipped both arms like lashes and threw numerous charms. He sprinted at lightning speed across the footholds formed in an instant.
He leaped to where Finn was falling and caught him in mid-air. While releasing a cursed wind downward, he landed on the charms.

"Finn! Are you alright!"

In his arms, the young boy had his eyes closed.
His limbs were limp and relaxed, yet his face was trembling strangely.
Eyes closed, mouth pressed shut, and on his cheeks.
Tears.
He opened his eyes wide. He had sensed over the past month that the boy never intended to cry.
Was it a code as a soldier? Or a vow to his late father?
Such a boy, Finn, was crying.
The fact that he shed tears should have been a positive change. He had felt inwardly pained by the state of Finn, who had never once acted like a child or complained.
But—

"...h... u..."

Is this... |alright|?
Are these tears that a ten-year-old boy should be shedding?
Are they not the kind of tears that spill from the corners of closed eyes when a person on the verge of death is confronted with the meaninglessness of what they have done and is crushed as they pass away?
Tears of despair, chillingly cold, as if his soul were melting and flowing out.

"Finn...?"

He was stunned. Had he not decided to fight so that he would not have to make him wear such a face?
Never once had he made a child he was involved with wear such a face. They had cried often, but in the end, they had shown him smiles. That was Sojuro's pride. For the sake of the children's smiles, he had not been afraid of anything, no matter who he made his enemy.
But, now.
For the first time in his life, Sojuro was stunned by an emotion that filled his chest.
A sense of powerlessness.
Is there nothing more that can be done? Is there no way to save him? Will the earnest, lonely, and shy Finn Impetus never return? Will he never see that innocent and pure smile again?

[To be continued]