Maydare Volume 4 Other Side - Airi, What the Savior is.

 

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My name is Airi. Airi, who was the Savior.

For a long time, I believed without a single doubt that Makia was a villainess and did awful things to her.

That was why, in order to see Makia once more, I came to the closing ceremony of Lune Ruschia Magic School. I was going to apologize to her about everything I had done until now.

——At least, that was what was supposed to happen.

“Don’t just stand there! We have to treat the wounded!”

“...Ah.”

As I was flustered in this place called the School Island Labyrinth, not knowing what to do, a familiar-looking female student yelled at me.

Aah, this young lady was…Beatrice Asta.

She was a noble girl who was Gilbert’s ex-fiancee, and a little while ago, I was convinced that she was Makia’s underling.

Beatrice had turned what looked like some kind of pouch into a long, thin cloth and was tending to an injured student. …So magic tools like that existed.

There were many injured people here.

People were injured for various reasons, such as having fragments from the lacrima crystal stuck in their bodies, pushing each other and falling while escaping, running into ogres near the coast, getting dragged into battle, and so on.

Therefore, the upperclassmen of the Healing Magic department and students who were good at healing magic were busy healing the injured. The labyrinth seemed to be equipped with the necessary supplies as a shelter in case of emergency, with plenty of medicines, tools for medical treatment, water, and food. 

The rest of the students all looked gloomy. 

Some of them were telling their stories of how they had encountered ogres on their way to escape. There were also those who became more seized by fear after hearing those stories.

Most of the teachers are outside fighting the ogres, so most of them are not here and there were few students who could lead. The student council and the dorm heads were doing their best, but they couldn’t wipe away the overflowing anxiety of the students, and in short, they were in a state of tremendous confusion. 

“Hey, I can’t find Francis!”

“Where did he go?”

“Maybe he’s still outside…”

Some students were searching for their friends. 

Like Makia just now, there were many students who either failed to escape into the labyrinth or lost sight of their companions in the middle of escaping. 

Everything occurred during the closing ceremonies in Lune Ruschia, but not all the students had attended their ceremony, and many were still left behind in the buildings. 

Seeing kids worried about their friends and crying made me anxious too.

I wondered if Makia…and Thor and Lionel, who were fighting outside, were safe.

What exactly was I doing in a place like this…

“Just as I thought, I can’t get through…”

Gilbert had been trying to get through to the palace with a communication-use magic crystal since earlier. 

However, it seemed that there seemed to be a strong barrier put up to jam communication magic, and no contact could be established.

There was no report from the palace that the magic soldiers or magic knights had arrived. 

To begin with, we don't even know the status of the battle at Lune Ruschia. We could only remain here.   

“Your Highness. Are you in need of help?”

At that moment, Beatrice Asta, who had been tending to the wounded until just a while ago, came to us with her butler.

“If you need a means of communication with the palace, please use my unicorn.”

“Unicorn? Beatrice Asta, what do you mean by that?”

Beatrice placed her hand on her chest and made her suggestion.

“The Asta family has used unicorns as our familiars for generations. The horns of unicorns are sometimes used to communicate with their own kind, and they are immune to any magical interference. The Asta family has trained them to use this characteristic to communicate in any situation.”

“Basically…you can contact other members of the Asta family?”

“Yes. I’m sure that I can contact Grandfather in the Royal Magic Institute.”

If I remembered correctly, Beatrice Asta’s grandfather was Aurelio Asta, the director of the Royal Magic Institute.

I had met him several times.

As long as we could contact the director, the king would receive our message as well. We could tell him what was happening at Lune Ruschia.

“Please, Beatrice.”

Gil asked, and Beatrice nodded, summoning her unicorn to her side. 

It was a beautiful silver-green unicorn. She pressed her forehead to its horn and chanted a spell.

“Bea to riche——Connect. Hunting horn of Asta.”

The unicorn’s horn glowed a pale green, and a popping sound was heard. Then, a ring-shaped magic formula floated on the tip of the horn. 

“This is Beatrice. This is Beatrice. Grandfather, can you hear me? Grandfather?”

Beatrice called out several times. 

“Oh, Beatrice? Are you safe?”

A hoarse old man’s voice came from the horn. 

“Aurelio Asta, I presume. This is Gilbert.”

“What? His Highness Gilbert is safe as well?”

Gilbert reported to the director of the Royal Magic Institute, Aurelio Asta, about the current situation. 

He told him that the school’s magic crystal had been destroyed and a large number of ogres had invaded the school. 

That the students were gathered in the first labyrinth and waiting for help.

That outside, teachers and spirits were fighting. 

And that I, the Savior, was safe. 

The palace had seen the large-scale magic circle, and were able to confirm that ogres were going ashore to Lune Ruschia Magic School.

However, the ogres didn’t invade Miladriede, and the enemy seemed to have set their sights on occupying the magic school.

“Has Hermedes made any demands!?”

“...No. The king is asking Frezier’s queen and general for advice and looking into the situation.”

“Looking into the situation…?”

I could hear the indignation in Gilbert’s voice. 

“Then, rescue from the palace isn’t coming for a while!?”

“...Since the appearance of that large teleportation magic circle, a huge barrier had been set up around Lune Ruschia, so it’s impossible to enter the school island. All the royal magicians are involved in the analysis and destruction of the barrier, but it’s a complex formula we’ve never seen before.”

“...Tch.”

Gilbert clicked his tongue, which was unusual for him.

“So, you’re saying that the palace can’t do anything!?”

The silence lasted for a while.

“Your Highness, I beg you for your patience. I also have a message from His Majesty the King. No matter what the cost, we must protect the Savior, Airi.”

Then, the communication was cut off. 

Gilbert, who looked as if he could not hide his disappointment at the royal court’s inability to do anything, punched a white pillar next to him.

“...Damn it. Is this the fate of our country that’s been sitting on our laurels of peace?”

On the other hand, Beatrice Asta was on her knees, supported by her butler and regulating her breathing. The communication method via unicorns seemed to consume a lot of magic power. 

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I could only maintain this short period of time. After I recover a little, I’ll attempt the communication magic again.”

“No…I must thank you, Beatrice. I was at least able to inform the palace of the current situation.”

“...I did all I could do.”

Gilbert held out his hand, and Beatrice took it and stood up. 

But there was no trace of the fact that they were once engaged to each other.   

They were simply the third prince who was worried about the present state and future of his country and the witch noble lady who would be entrusted with the Royal Magic Institute in the future.

“But, if the palace side is like that, we can’t expect immediate rescue…” Gilbert said.

“There is a lack of information because of how sudden everything happened. If we make a bad move, we will start a war with the Heavenly Empire before we’re ready. Even the palace cannot move easily. …In that case, it seems that we also need to regularly communicate information,” Beatrice said.

“You do have a point. But that will surely cause casualties. And I wonder how long this place will last. At the very least, if we could find out the goal behind the Heavenly Empire’s actions…”

Gilbert furrowed his brow in anguish.

It would be difficult for any prince to check the situation and take steps to break through it while saddled with the baggage of a “Savior” whom he was absolutely expected to protect. 

It was then that the earth shook again. 

“Kyaaaaah!”

High-pitched screams came from all around us. 

Every time the earth shook strongly, something like a piece of white stone fell from the ceiling.  

I lost my footing and crouched down.

An earthquake…? No, it was the sound of something big slamming against the other side of the entrance to the underground labyrinth.

“Where is the enemy trying to get in from…?”

Gilbert covered me, protecting me, but he couldn’t hide the look of impatience on his face. Sweat ran down his cheeks, and he was clenching his teeth…

Huh? Was I a burden?

In the end, did I only exist to be protected and couldn’t do anything?

What was a Savior anyway?

“Ah…”

Sweat began to pour from me.

By now, the screams, the smell of blood, and the fear that filled this place felt incredibly real. 

This scene was not something out of manga, video games, or storybooks. 

There was nothing separating me from them, and everyone was a flesh-and-blood human being. 

I was one of the panicked boys and girls here. This was reality. 

“What should I do, what should I do?”

…Why was I thinking this?

Not so long ago, I didn't care what happened to this world. I wanted war, or whatever, to destroy it. 

What can I do now that I had given up and abandoned my role in the world? 

Nobody expected anything from me. 

“Protect the worried students here, please.”

But Makia’s words earlier pulled my mind out of the whirlpool of confusion. 

Yes. Makia entrusted me with this place. 

And I said I would absolutely protect them. 

“It, it’ll be okay…”

I raised my voice so loudly that I was surprised at myself. 

“It’ll be okay, everyone…!”

The students who were present looked up with expressions of “What’s going on?”

The place became quiet and still. 

When I was convinced that I was the hero of this story, it was nothing to me to be the center of attention like this. I thought it was only natural because I was the main character. 

But now, here, under the gaze of a countless number of people, I broke out in a cold sweat and my hands shook. I got nervous. 

I felt a great deal of pressure from the fearful, suspicious stares of the people who lived in reality. 

“D…don’t be scared of demons! Because I’ll protect everyone!”

Even so, I said it.

I might have become desperate.

However, the promise I made with Makia earlier made me do it.

“Who’s that? What did that girl say?”

“Apparently, she’s the Savior.”

“But didn’t the Savior give up her role?”

“Anyways, why is she here?”

“Don’t fool around at a time like this. We’re not going to be okay at all.”

“What can that girl do? She can’t do anything anyways.”

There were many voices. It was only natural.

I had betrayed the hopes of the people of this country and of the world, and I had tried to escape back to my own world. 

There was another strong tremor, and the stone fragments falling from the ceiling were dangerous and fanned the anxiety of the students here. 

If the ceiling collapsed and the students were buried alive…

If the entrance was breached and the ogres entered…

Everyone was imagining the worst that could happen. 

I felt their fear keenly.

Even though I never gave a single thought to the feelings of the people in this world until now.

“...!”

Even so, I raised my golden dagger, still in its sheath, high over my head.

This golden dagger would hide my form if I pulled it out, but it also served as the bed of my spirit dragon, Eve.

“Ishi su iris——Appear, Eve!”

As I cast the spell, a magic circle appeared above my head, radiating pure white light. 

The light gathered and took the form of a dragon. 

Eve, the spirit dragon, covered the ceiling and manifested. 

“Kyaaah!”

“It’s a spirit dragon!”

The students shouted in shock. 

The four translucent wings were multi-colored, exactly what one would expect of spirit wings.

While spreading them out, Eve lifted her long neck and sang in a high-pitched voice that sounded like several voices overlapping each other. 

The four wings spread out like a curtain, creating a spirit barrier over the entire labyrinth. 

“I did it…!”

Although I had learned this spell from Ulysses, this was the first time I was actually using it.

It covered a far wider area than a magical wall. It was a protective magic with high defensive power that could only be used by light attribute spirits. The inside of the curtain was warm, and sparkling silver light poured down, calming the students whose minds were frozen with fear. 

Everyone gazed at the lights as they continued to fall like snow. 

“How beautiful…”

“It’s warm…”

The students gradually regained their composure inside the light, which also blocked out the earth tremors and the occasional stone chips that fell from overhead. 

I, on the other hand, was trembling, clutching my dagger. 

To be honest, I was scared.  

I realized all over again how difficult–magically, physically, and mentally–it was continually deploy Eve in combat while being nervous.

“If the Savior is here…”

“It might be all right. We might be able to manage somehow.”

“She’ll surely protect us.”

Everyone was counting on me. 

I was surprised at how heavy these expectations really were. 

——But that was what the Savior was. 

Until now, I had never understood any of it, even though I thought I did. 

I was always self-centered in everything I did, trying to save something or someone because I wanted to be praised or appreciated. I didn’t even try to learn the inside of someone’s heart or their background.

That wasn’t a Savior.

A Savior was…

“The Savior is…”

I thought of Makia at the summer ball where she fought to save me and Thor.

And then, I thought of a girl named Oda-san who lived in another world who reached out her hand to the lonely me.

“Maybe, you’re the true Savior…Makia.”

Just like how Oda-san was the savior to the old me, and her savior was Saitou-kun.

Round and round, round and round.

Our “story of salvation” was going around and around.

Maydare, the world of salvation.

Surely, this was a world where someone found and picked up the sign calling for help.

It was a world where Oda-san gave me, who kept making mistakes and running away from reality, another chance.

Then, I’ll show it here.

I will protect everyone.

Keep my feet on the ground, stand firm, keep encouraging myself that it would be okay, keep deploying Eve, and endure until Makia and the others come back. 

I would face reality. If that was the role of the Savior——

“Airi, are you alright!? You’re crying, isn’t it painful to keep using magic!?”

“...Eh? Aah, I’m sorry, Gil. I’m fine.”

I raised my head.

Believing that even someone like me could save someone.

I was like a baby breathing in the air of this world for the first time.

Feeling like I had been reborn, I gritted my teeth and cried.

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