Chapter 85

Riber stood by the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Libel was a companion from his childhood.

Zeta was the same.

In our childhood, we were a group of four who helped each other, and Zeta was the only girl among us.

She was an intellectual, quick-witted, and a girl who seemed destined to become a beauty.

Even so, we young children back then didn't understand the meaning of gender, and we treated her just as a friend, a comrade who worked together to survive.

The relationship broke down during the blessing ceremony.

The priest's judgment revealed that I was the only one without a skill, while the other three had useful skills. The three were immediately taken to the church, and I was left behind.

After many twists and turns, I returned to this orphanage.

"Zeta being here too...?"

"..."

"Why...!?"

As I approached, Zeta only lowered her eyes as if to avoid meeting my gaze, as if she couldn't face me.

"Why won't you answer me!? We were together... Gihii!?"

This time, a shock ran through my back!?

When I turned around, there was a child!?

With their fingers interlocked, only the index fingers were extended.

The shape of the hand was...?

"K, Kanchou...!?"

"Don't torment Mother, you villain!!"

This child...! With the golden target attack just now, they managed to deal damage to me, who is at level eight million...!

Is that even possible...!?

'Gworiaaa! What insolence to do to my Lord Gagya-sama!?!'

"Whoa, a ghost, run for it!?"

The child, who seemed to be having fun, ran away from the enraged Abinion.

That overflowing energy, this place, the orphanage.

It reminded me of my former self.

"I'm sorry... Are you okay!?"

Despite the deep damage to my buttocks, only Zeta came to my aid.

In her nun's attire.

"I'm sorry! ...Please forgive that child! She's just being nervous. A lot has been happening at the orphanage recently..."

"It's just a child's prank. I understand. Libel and I were like that at that age too."

"..."

"You remember that, don't you?"

Zeta, whom I hadn't seen in five years.

Back then, her body hadn't fully developed, and it was hard to tell if she was a boy or a girl. More than anything, I myself lacked the experience to distinguish between the sexes.

But now, with our mutual growth, the figure of my former friend appeared as a very alluring woman.

Even in her modest nun's attire, the tension of her mature body couldn't be hidden.

"I never thought we'd meet again in a place like this. You are..."

Yes, at the same time as the others, you and I parted ways and took different paths.

"I thought you had become important in the church and were living there..."

Because Libel had become just like that.

The three of us who parted ways that day included Zeta, who is now in front of me.

Even while living a comfortable life, I wondered if that comfort had warped her personality.

I had to be prepared for when we met.

"Hey, Zeta...!?"

"First..."

Zeta's demeanor, as she tried to regain her composure, was damp and reminiscent of a woman whose tryst had been seen.

"...Can't we finish your business first?"

"Huh?"

"If you were surprised to see me, you didn't know I was here, right? Then you didn't come to visit me. You must have some other business, right?"

"Oh...?"

I looked at the bucket under my arm.

Right, today it's for this guy...

"Can't you listen to my story after you're done with what you need to do? Besides, you might not want to hear anything about me at all."

"No way!"

I said, pressing forward.

"I can't help but be concerned about you! Tell me! What happened to you after you went to the church!? How did you end up here!?"

Sister Zeta, in her nun's attire, blushed and averted her eyes as I pressed so close that our bodies almost touched.

She looked like a village girl being courted.

"What's with that old man? Pushing Mother like that."

'Our Lord is a lecher, you know. You must live a serious life and not become like him, boy.'

The boy and Abinion were standing side by side, watching us.

When did you two become such good friends?

◆

I entrusted Zeta, the person in charge, with the matter at hand.

I wanted to properly bury Libel, who had come to me as just a head.

Zeta said nothing and led me to the back of the orphanage.

There was a mound with no inscriptions.

A mound where children who had lived too short and unfulfilled lives were gathered to rest.

"There is one condition."

Zeta said.

"I can't just bury it as is. There's a risk of spreading disease with a burial, so we need to burn it first and only bury the bones..."

I followed all the instructions and placed Libel's head on a platform made of dry branches.

It seemed to be glaring at me.

"No matter how much you glare, I can't kill you."

"...This is what Libel looked like. His appearance might have changed after death, but..."

Before I knew it, Sister Zeta was standing beside me.

"...It's better not to look."

"I want to remember. I want to remember what happens to someone who gets swallowed by the church. Libel looks terrible. He was more lively and handsome when we ran through the slums together..."

I feel the same way...

Somehow, when Zeta says this, a vague feeling wells up in my chest...

"I might have ended up the same way. When I think about it, you know?"

"..."

I didn't pursue it further and set fire to the dry branches.

It was a clear day with dry air, so it burned well. Libel's head was enveloped in flames, and I thought I would never see that face in this world again.

◆

After burning it thoroughly and watching it naturally extinguish, I collected the bone fragments from the ashes.

"I thought the skull would remain intact, but it doesn't work that way."

"Nothing ever goes as planned... Nothing at all."

"..."

After confirming that we had collected as much as we could with Zeta, I wrapped them in a hemp cloth and buried them under the mound.

"Our Father in heaven, receive the wandering soul into Your presence..."

Zeta's praying figure, in her nun's attire, was even more impressive.

Silent prayer.

A moment of silence followed.

This was a simple but completed memorial for Libel.

The procedure to erase you from this world is now complete. May it be without delay.

"...What a fool Libel was..."

Zeta was the one who broke the silence.

"Even with the best skills, you should have known that if you stayed in the church, you would end up like this... Did you just want to keep basking in the superiority and omnipotence that the title of hero gave you? Once you taste it, it's a hard pleasure to give up."

"Zeta... You..."

"You probably guessed. I dropped out. From the church's intense competition. In that place, only those with truly exceptional skills can survive. The quality of the skill you are born with, the technique to handle it. Everything has to be perfect. Only perfection is acceptable there."

"But Zeta..."

Didn't you have a rare skill?

That's why the church praised you so much and took you with everyone else...?

"My rarity was different from the others. Dual skills. I have two skills, which are supposed to be one per person. That was my rarity."

I remember you saying something like that...

It's been five years, so my memory is a bit hazy...

"The skills I was given were 'Holy Wave' and 'Healing Hand.' But both are just common, ordinary skills. Both are ranked B. Having two of them doesn't match up to one A-ranked skill."

I realized this when Zeta had been in the church's training program for less than three months.

"No matter how skillfully I used the two skills, they were always overpowered by a single powerful skill. By the time I realized this, I was among the lowest-ranked trainees. My ranking was near the bottom."

In the church's training institution, the treatment of the lowest-ranked trainees is akin to that of slaves.

While the top-ranked trainees received royal treatment, the lowest-ranked were given less than the scraps.

Although Zeta had grown up in the slums, the worst humiliation of her life was during her time as a trainee.

"Soon, I was faced with a choice. Leave the church or stay. To stay, I couldn't remain a trainee; I had to be hired as a laborer. If that happened, I would have to endure harsh physical labor and all kinds of humiliation. In some cases, even sexual services for the top performers..."

Unable to bear that humiliation, Zeta fled from the church.