Kays Translations

Chapter 25 – The Cage of Time

Sera immediately understood when she noticed Licia following Ren with her eyes.

Without asking for the details, she began speaking while considering how Licia and Ren normally acted around each other.

“Vayne called me Riohard-sama at first too, and he spoke in honorifics he obviously was not used to.”

“W-When did that change?”

“Do you remember the story about Vayne saving me? It was after that.”

Sera had mentioned it when they reunited in Elendil. As Licia recalled that time, she was surprised by how quickly their relationship had changed.

“Did he suddenly stop speaking that way?”

“It was less that he stopped on his own and more that I told him to.”

The answer shocked Licia into blinking repeatedly with wide eyes.

Sera laughed the moment she saw that expression. Licia was usually so dignified that this unexpectedly adorable reaction made it impossible for Sera to keep from smiling.

Licia, meanwhile, questioned the answer she had just heard.

“W-Was that really all it took?”

“Yes.”

“…I do not believe you.”

“It is true. That is how we ended up as we are now.”

Sera knew her explanation had been rather broad, but that was what had happened, so she had no better way to describe it.

Still, she understood that Licia was sincerely asking for advice.

“Every relationship is different. What I did probably does not matter very much. You are you, Licia, and I think that is enough.”

She was not merely trying to console Licia. Those were her honest feelings.

Sera did not claim her own example was the right one. She only meant that Licia and Ren shared a relationship that belonged to the two of them alone.

She understood Licia’s feelings, but that understanding was precisely why she gave that advice.

“Do you really think so?”

“Why not ask Ren again? You could sit down and talk properly after the Lion King Grand Festival is over.”

“…All right. I will try.”

Licia nodded obediently, and Sera patted her on the head.

Then Sera raised another, more sudden question.

“Roses Caitas came up out of nowhere too, and now this business about how you address each other. Did something happen?”

It went back to the previous stretch of holidays, when Licia had gone into Elendil with Ren.

Licia told her about meeting Nemu Altia and what they had discussed. After hearing the story, Sera pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed.

“Nemu really has not changed at all.”

Then–

“Hmm!? Did somebody call Nemu!?”

Neither of them knew exactly when she had approached, but Nemu was suddenly standing beside them.

“W-When did you get here, Nemu!?”

“A little while ago, Sera.”

“Ding, ding! Correct answer, Licia-chan!”

Sera spun around in surprise at the voice behind her, but Licia did not.

She had at least noticed Nemu approaching.

“So, so, why were you talking about Nemu?”

“We were only saying that the magic tools Nemu makes are amazing.”

“Heh-heh! I see, I see! You were praising Nemu! That makes Nemu happy!”

Nemu then left them as readily as she had appeared. With her hands folded behind her back, she wandered away with light steps. She had not needed anything from them; she had simply noticed the two girls and decided to speak to them.

Once Nemu was gone, Sera looked back at Licia.

“For now, how about talking to Ren after the Lion King Grand Festival?”

It was the same subject they had been discussing before Nemu interrupted.

In truth, asking Ren to change how he addressed her was something Licia could have done at any time. But both of them were busy before the Festival, and after telling Licia to think it over, Sera could hardly insist that she bring it up that very day.

Licia answered simply, “Yes, I will,” and thanked Sera.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ren, Licia, and Fiona were in the academy head’s office.

Chronois had offered to treat the organizing-committee members to lunch. Unfortunately, Radius was absent from the academy on official duties, and Mirei, who accompanied him, was also away.

About thirty minutes after the four of them began their meal, Ren prepared tea for the three girls, and they relaxed in conversation after eating.

Licia brought up what she had discussed with Sera. Naturally, she did not mention that Ren still attached “sama” to her name.

That subject could wait until another time, once she found the right opportunity.

“Chronois-sama, how strong is the seal around Roses Caitas?”

“Huh? Roses Caitas?”

When Licia explained what had prompted the question, Chronois murmured, “Hmm, so that is why.”

Ren and Fiona both nodded when they heard the explanation.

“I am curious too.”

“As am I. Please tell us, if you do not mind.”

“Of course. Let me see…”

Asked by all three of them, Chronois drew a wand from inside her robe. She waved it over the table, creating several spheres of water that quickly merged into one. With another motion of the wand, the water changed shape and formed a mountain.

It resembled a model made from water.

“I will explain it in order, so watch closely.”

A vast hollow formed in the mountain, creating an enormous open space. Countless shapes resembling statues appeared there, along with the mountain path leading toward them.

Chronois’s magic had produced a three-dimensional model of Roses Caitas and the mountain that contained it.

“This place, where the great statues of the gods stand, was the sacred site pilgrims sought in ancient times. But as the three of you know, the Demon King’s army destroyed most of the statues.”

Several of the statues in the watery model crumbled.

At the time, Leomel’s army and the Elfen Church had joined forces against the Demon King’s army. The enemy had advanced close to the Imperial Capital and was extraordinarily powerful. Even Leomel, then the greatest military nation in the world, struggled, and the force it dispatched was nearly annihilated.

The Demon King’s army also suffered devastating losses. The deadly battle ended when Roses Caitas itself was sealed away.

“Like this.”

Chronois waved her wand, and a wall of water rose around the model. Fine ripples moved across its surface, concealing most of Roses Caitas like the dense fog described in the stories.

“According to the records, the Elfen Church led the sealing operation. They prepared a sacred relic containing the power of the Goddess of Time.”

Using the relic to seal Roses Caitas required a great deal of time.

While the magic circle was being established, many members of the Elfen Church were killed, as were many of the Leomel soldiers protecting them.

Their sacrifice allowed the seal surrounding Roses Caitas to be completed.

Most of the Demon King’s army was sealed inside.

“Does that mean the Demon King’s army will return if the seal is broken?”

“I was wondering the same thing. If they are merely trapped inside, it sounds dangerous if the seal ever comes undone.”

Fiona and Licia asked the questions.

They were natural concerns after what Chronois had told them, but she immediately shook her head.

“The Elfen Church says that cannot happen. The seal is called the Cage of Time, I believe. Its effect is so powerful that the Demon King’s forces cannot remain alive inside it.”

As its name implied, the seal separated the inside from the outside even in the flow of time. Within it lay a mysterious space where time had stopped, filled with sacred mana. Because the seal used a relic containing the Goddess of Time’s power, divine power continued to function there without weakening.

Its effect was therefore every bit as overwhelming as Chronois described.

Although time itself had stopped inside, the sacred mana remained active and continued purifying everything enclosed by the seal.

The Demon King’s army could not possibly have any weapons or even bones remaining.

Without exception, everything inside should have been purified by sacred power.

“I wanted to investigate the Roses Caitas seal in greater detail, so I tried various things while I was at the Silver Holy Palace of Nodias.”

“Come to think of it, you were in the Holy Land until last year, Chronois-san.”

“I was! But even after all the work I did for them, they would not let me read a single book from their archives…”

“Was it because the books were especially rare?”

“That was probably part of it, but I think the greater issue was that I am not a member of the Elfen Church. I expected something like that, so I could hardly complain.”

Chronois understood the circumstances of the Holy Land and the Elfen Church without expressing any resentment.

Sacred relics and many invaluable books were kept there, so strict control was only natural.

(She must have had a difficult time.)

Ren remembered Chronois’s expression when she cleaned the organizing-committee room. Thinking about how hard she must have worked, he looked at her with gentle sympathy.

Chronois noticed and spoke with slight confusion.

“Ren-kun? Why are you suddenly looking at me so kindly?”

“I was only thinking that every day seems difficult for you, Chronois-san.”

“Exactly! That is why you cannot imagine how important these chances to talk with all of you are to me!”

Ren refilled the hardworking academy head’s tea, and she smiled happily. With one more wave of her wand, the water on the table turned to mist from the edges inward and vanished in moments.

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