Chapter 227 Information Sharing
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Mmm…”
In my blurry field of vision, I regain consciousness.
(…Huh, when did I lie down?)
It seems like this is my bedroom, but I can’t remember what happened before I lay down.
My body feels unusually heavy, and I immediately gave up trying to sit up. When I looked out the window, it was pitch black outside, so I realized it was still night. But I didn’t feel like I hadn’t slept enough at all. Rather, this weariness my body was complaining about was what I felt when I overslept.
(Nap and stayed like this? No, if that were the case, Lucena-san would have come to wake me up… Oh no, my head is all over the place when I just woke up)
As I thought with my dizzy head, I noticed Diana lying on the bed, holding my right hand with both of hers.
Why is Diana sleeping in a chair like this?
I still don’t have a clear head, but I knew that asking Diana would be the quickest way to find out.
”Diana, wake up.”
”Mm…”
”Hey.”
Since my right hand was held and couldn’t move, I poked Diana’s cheek with my left hand to stimulate her, and Diana slowly opened her eyes.
”…Neil-sama?”
”Good morning, Diana. Why are you sleeping in a place like this――”
”Neil-sama!!”
”Oh!”
Interrupting my words, an overwhelmed Diana jumped into my chest.
”I’m glad you’ve woken up. It’s been 3 days, and you might not wake up again.”
”Three days…? Wait, did I sleep for 3 days? Why did that happen?”
”Don’t you remember?”
”I have no memory… Maybe I overslept, so I’m still a little fuzzy. What happened? Can you explain?”
When I asked, Diana looked a little troubled.
”Well… do you remember what happened when the monsters attacked?”
”Monsters attacking… right! What about the settlement!? What happened to everyone!?”
”Please calm down. There were several serious injuries, but no one died, and the damage to the settlement is minimal.”
”Oh, really? I heard someone report that a huge number of monsters attacked. So――”
As I spoke, recalling what had happened at that time, I remembered why I had lost consciousness.
”What happened to Momoka?”
”She injured her right arm, but she’s okay.”
”Really? No other injuries?”
”No, there may be scars or lingering effects on her right arm, but otherwise she’s fine.”
I had been worried that something terrible had happened to Momoka when I saw her just before I lost consciousness. But seeing Diana answer so smoothly, it seemed that Momoka hadn’t suffered any major injuries other than her right arm.
However, to have injuries that could leave scars or lingering effects despite having healing magic, she must have done something really reckless.
”Are there others who suffered serious injuries that could have lingering effects?”
”Five people in total. Three, including Momoka, can still go about their daily lives, but the remaining 2 will have difficulty.”
”I see… Then let all the people with lingering effects know that if they want treatment with healing magic, I’ll cover the cost.”
”Cover the cost? Neil-sama, you don’t need to go to such lengths――”
”I don’t need to, but it’s the right thing to do. If they put their bodies on the line to protect the settlement, I want to repay them. Please.”
As I bowed my head, Diana panicked.
”Please raise your head! The property of the settlement belongs to Neil-sama! You don’t need my permission…”
”But if I do something unbecoming of a noble, you always oppose it, right?”
”That’s――!”
Diana tried to say something, but immediately fell silent and hung her head.
”Diana?”
”…I’m still inexperienced compared to the head of the household.”
”Huh? What’s with the sudden change?”
”You’ve just woken up and must be tired, so you’ll hear the details tomorrow. You probably have things to discuss with Momoka, so I’ll gather everyone involved tomorrow. Now, please get some rest.”
As I was bewildered by the sudden change in atmosphere, Diana hastily told me something and left the room without even glancing at my face.
I didn’t even have a chance to respond, and I was left alone in the room, staring blankly at the door Diana had just exited through. After that, I lay down on the bed again.
What’s gotten into Diana lately? No matter how I think about it, her behavior has been weird since Lucena-san arrived.
Even I, who didn’t notice until Lucena-san pointed it out, can see that Diana’s attitude has softened.
But what’s really bothering me now is Momoka’s situation.
Momoka, who absorbed Crimson and protected the settlement, how did she manage to do that?
Just how much does Momoka know about Crimson and Origin?
As I thought about the answers to these endless questions, my consciousness gradually sank back into the darkness.
The next morning, after a light breakfast, I headed to the reception room with Diana, Lewya, and Lucena.
There were already people gathered in the reception room, including Niya-san, Iko-san, Mio-san, Moona-san, and the 5 of them were waiting for us.
Momoka was sitting alone on the sofa, and I sat down on the empty sofa across from her, my gaze fixed on her right arm, which was secured with splints.
”Your right arm, didn’t Moona-san heal it for you?”
”…Yeah.”
I thought Moona-san would have forcefully healed Momoka’s arm, even if Momoka herself opposed it, but Moona-san seemed to have noticed my questioning gaze and opened her mouth to speak.
”I did try to heal her right arm at first, but…”
”I stopped her.”
Niya-san continued the conversation, picking up where Moona-san left off.
”We’re no longer a group of 5 bound by a shared fate. And now, Moona has a new family that needs her support. We can’t burden her body any further.”
Moona-san’s new family, I assumed, referred to the women who worked at Moona-san’s shop.
If Moona-san were to use her abilities and harm her body, it wouldn’t just be Moona-san who suffers.
That’s why Niya-san persuaded Moona-san not to use her abilities, and Moona-san agreed to that.
”What’s most important is that it’s a warning to Momoka. If she overdoes it, she’ll hurt her body, and if she hurts her body, she won’t be able to fight even if she wants to. If she wants to fight for everyone’s sake in the long run, then don’t overdo it… that’s the warning.”
”Is that so? I understand.”
”There are still things I want to ask Neil-sama, but may I ask a question first?”
”Yes, what is it?”
”What is the power ‘Crimson’ that Momoka took from Neil-sama?”
I knew that question would come.
Ever since I heard that Momoka used the power she took from me to protect the settlement, I thought it was inevitable that I’d be asked about Crimson.
”I asked Momoka about it, but she doesn’t seem to know anything about the power. So what is that, Neil-sama?”
”Was that so, Niya-san?”
”Yeah… Snow explained it to her, but she didn’t understand it well.”
”Snow-san? Did Momoka learn about my power from Snow-san?”
”Yeah, but she doesn’t understand the power itself. She only taught her how to use it.”
”She taught her how to use it!?”
I thought I’d have to repeat the experiments and investigate thoroughly, but it turns out Momoka learned how to use Origin from Snow-san.
”Neil-sama, can you answer my question before we proceed? We’ve already heard from Momoka, but we don’t understand the power itself.”
”Ah, yeah… it’s difficult to proceed without understanding.”
I was a bit troubled, but I thought it would be hard to keep quiet about it now, so I shared the story about “Origin” and its “color” that I heard from Snow-san with everyone present.
”――That’s all the information I know about ‘Origin’ and ‘Crimson’.”
After finishing my story, I looked at everyone’s faces, but most of them had skeptical expressions, as if they couldn’t believe the unexpected story.
Well, it’s a strange story to be told all of a sudden, and it’s funny to think that anyone could swallow it right away.
If I hadn’t had the experience of being brought to this world by God and talking to the divine tree, I probably wouldn’t have believed Snow-san’s story.
While most people had difficult expressions on their faces, Niya-san opened her mouth.
”Can I ask a question? If this power called Origin is establishing a universal existence, wouldn’t it be quite dangerous for Neil-sama to consume that Origin he possesses?”
”!?”
At Niya-san’s question, Momoka flinched and her expression turned pale.
Momoka probably thought that by taking Origin from me, she might have made me disappear from this world with one wrong step.
To dispel Momoka’s anxiety, I answered Niya-san’s question.
”I think it’s probably okay. Snow-san said something like ‘the Origin necessary for existence is supplied from the world.’ In other words, what keeps my existence tied to this world is the ‘blue’ of this world, and even if my ‘Crimson’ is consumed, my existence won’t disappear.”
If not, when Momoka took my Crimson, I would have lost my consciousness, not my physical body.
It’s hard to say that there were no problems at all, given that I fell into a coma for 3 days, but at least it should be okay as long as I don’t use it up.
”Did Neil-sama know about Origin before?”
”I only knew about existence when I visited the elven village and was told by the divine tree. But I only recently found out the details of what it actually is.”
”Oh, that time! I wondered what you were talking about with the divine tree, but was it about that?”
”Sorry for keeping quiet, Lewya. I didn’t know what to do when I was suddenly told such a story, and it was such an unexpected story that I didn’t know what to do.”
”Hmm? I knew Neil-sama had a connection to the elves, but was Lewya also with you in the elven village?”
””Ah!””
At Iko-san’s question, Lewya and I reflexively covered our mouths with our hands.
Damn, I just realized I haven’t told Iko-san and the others about Lewya’s true identity yet.
”Hey, did I just overhear something I shouldn’t have?”
”No, it’s okay, Iko-san. It’s just that it’s a very important secret, so I’ve been careful not to share it with anyone I don’t trust.”
”Wouldn’t it be better to tell everyone about Lewya to move the conversation forward, Neil?”
”Huh? Your tone just now, do you know something, Niya?”
”Yeah, Iko.”
Since Niya-san is my confidant, I had already told her about Lewya’s true identity.
As Niya-san said, it’s probably better to reveal Lewya’s true identity here.
”To be honest, Lewya is an elf.”
”Really? Elves are creatures you can’t tell by looking at them, right…?”
”That’s because they use magic to disguise their ear shape, you know.”
”Wow, their ears are long! So, it’s true that elves are always depicted as beautiful men and women with long ears?”
”More importantly… what’s the deal with the Spirit Tree we were talking about earlier?”
”It’s a giant tree that used to be at the center of this world. Now it’s divided and managed by each clan, but the Spirit Tree has the power to create spirits and govern the world with that power.”
”A power that governs the world… that’s amazing. Neil-sama is…”
It’s only natural, but I think the Spirit Tree has more credibility with everyone than Snow-san, whose true nature is unknown.
I was half-doubtful about the Origin, but the fact that the Spirit Tree was concerned about me made me lean towards believing it.
”Anyway, I think that’s all the necessary explanations. Now, can you tell me about your story, Momoka? What did you learn from Snow-san?”
When I asked Momoka, who was silently looking down, she began to mutter to herself like she was talking to herself.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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