kscans

Chapter 184 - Episode 3: Part Two, Beyond Those Hands...

We were on the bed, our eyes reflecting each other.

"Uh, so about that..."

"Y-Yes."

gokuri. The sound of a reflexive gulp echoed through my body, reaching my eardrums.

"M-My..."

"My?"

"It's about how to address me. Is it not allowed? To call me Alfina, that is..."

"How to address you... Oh, right."

That's right, that's what we were talking about from the start. It was a small request, one where only the location, atmosphere, and distance were a bit off. Yet, I found myself unable to speak, gazing into Alfina's eyes.

Her large, moist eyes, her flushed cheeks. Her slightly parted, fresh lips. In a room lit only by a lamp, I was drawn to the girl beside me with a vividness that felt almost too real. She wore an alluring sensuality, like perfume, over her usual delicate and pure beauty.

I felt my rationality melt away as these two seemingly contradictory charms intertwined.

Unconsciously, my right hand reached out.

"Alfina."

My mouth uttered the girl's name, calling her without an honorific, of its own accord.

"Yes. ...Oh."

Alfina's face instantly lit up. I had answered her wish. But my hand did not stop, and I touched Alfina's cheek. What was I doing? The mission was already over. Anything more meant game over.

Alfina's cheek, touched by my hand, felt as smooth and soft as a marshmallow, making me think it looked sweet and delicious. No, this was wrong. Even a child could pass the marshmallow test. I needed to divert my cognitive abilities away from the girl in front of me.

I desperately reined in my reason, trying to withdraw the hand that was touching her skin, which felt as if it could draw me in. At that moment, Alfina's hand rested on top of mine, which was still on her cheek.

"Alfina."

"Yes..."

I called her name once more. My vision blurred. It was as if this bed was the entire world, and only Alfina and I existed. The world seemed to close in around my perception. All the self-preservation issues that would arise if I continued down this path vanished, as if they belonged to some other world.

"Um, I, too, Ricardo... Eh?"

The sound of a gulp echoed loudly. And with that gulp, it felt as though many of the pretenses, banished to the outside world, had vanished.

My free left hand pressed against Alfina's shoulder. Her blue-silver hair spread across the white sheets. And then, as if following it, I leaned over Alfina's body.

A dimly lit room behind a sacred sanctuary. The holy princess watched me, wide-eyed, beneath me.

haa, haa...

I was breathing heavily.

My reason sounded an alarm, asking what I was doing. Even if, for argument's sake, she held affection for me, my current actions were skipping two or three steps. From Alfina's perspective, this had to be a situation where she was being attacked by a man who had suddenly changed. I should be grateful that she wasn't even screaming.

I should quickly pull away and apologize. My right hand tightly gripped the seal, as if to endure. Using that as a starting point, I desperately gathered what little reason I had left, trying to rebalance the scales of my heart.

Yet, Alfina closed her eyes. I could feel a slight release of tension from her trembling body. With that, the balance tipped once more.

...!

My still-free left hand caressed Alfina's neck. It continued to move downwards, past her collarbone, heading towards the place I had involuntarily touched once in the dark library. My pinky, ring finger, and then middle finger, one by one, ventured into the thick priestess robes.

!

Alfina flinched, trembling. I could see her eyelids, still closed, tighten with effort.

The other emotion, which was overpowering my rising guilt, was far stronger.

At the same time, my pinky brushed against a sensation that was neither skin nor cloth. Instinctively, I touched it with the pad of my finger. It was something thin, long, rectangular, and hard. Instinctively, I grasped it and pulled it out. Wondering what the obstruction was, I opened my hand.

"Ah..."

There, I found a bookmark with a bent corner. On its surface was a small flower.

It was the first gift I had ever given Alfina. She had kept it close to her, hanging it around her neck. The contrast between the emotions I was directing towards Alfina and this simple gift struck me like a physical blow.

"............Ricardo-kun. I-I'm sorry."

Alfina's voice came out as if squeezed from her throat. And for the first time, she turned her face away from me.

"N-No, I am completely to blame..."

Once again, I was forced to recognize my current state: forcefully overpowering a girl. Still, I managed to lift my unwilling body just a little. At that moment, a warning-like red light caught my eye.

From the edge of the bed canopy, I could see a gap in the door to the next room. Alfina's gaze was also directed there.

"...I will return to my duties."

Alfina stood up. I remained seated on the bed, dumbfounded.

If I hadn't noticed that bookmark just now, I likely wouldn't have stopped even in that situation. I was stunned by the intensity of the desire for Alfina that had been hidden within me, and at the same time, a feeling of 'just a little more' swirled inside me.

"Ricardo-kun. Please."

Alfina's voice came from next door. I looked, and she was already sitting in front of the crystal. I sprang to my feet as if startled.

When I stood before the crystal, Alfina had her eyes closed. There was no longer any trace of the delicate girl who had been in my arms just moments ago. Seeing her like that, my feelings finally shifted. In any case, now I would do what I was originally supposed to do.

I rushed over to Iris 1 and looked at the magic-sensing paper I had set up. A white band had appeared on the black paper. I hurriedly closed the slit. Inside Iris 1, I opened the box containing the magic-sensing plates.

When the crystal's light changed from red to deep violet, Alfina's condition altered. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and the hand she extended towards the crystal was trembling.

"Alfina-sama!"

"I-It's alright. It will subside soon. It's only while I'm synchronizing."

"Is it always like this?"

"This time, it's a bit difficult. ...I must look terrible, so please don't look too closely. More importantly, the measurement..."

Alfina said this, her stray hairs plastered to her forehead with sweat.

"That's right. Iris 1 is..."

I hurriedly looked at the magic spectrum analyzer.

"Hurry, hurry."

The tasks had been decided through discussions with the magic research team. I hurriedly replaced the magic-sensing plate with a new one. I stared intently at the plate. Even with the slit narrowed to its fullest, a thin white band appeared on the magic-sensing plate within seconds. I quickly closed the slit and placed the magic-sensing plate into a box coated with magic inhibitor.

I took out the next plate. I collected the crystal's light while changing directions, east, west, north, and south. Gradually, I shifted the magic-sensing plate upwards, completing measurements in all directions.

"Alfina-sama!"

As I turned around, my eyes caught sight of Alfina, holding her hand out to the crystal in a posture that looked as if she might collapse.

"I'm alright. Ricardo-kun, please continue the measurements..."

Alfina told me, without even brushing away the bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat. I rushed back to the next room, retrieved the cloth, and then laid it out alongside the previous magic crystal measurement results.

! It's far beyond the crimson one, isn't it!

There was only a single band. I compared the removed magic-sensing plate with the previous measurement results. A much thinner band appeared much further out than that crimson magic crystal. When I flipped the magic-sensing plate over, unbelievably, the sorcery silver backing plate of the light-sensitive area was discolored. I hesitantly traced it with my finger. The complete absence of heat was, conversely, eerie.

Magic power does not interact with ordinary matter. Therefore, it is harmless to me. The layers are different. But individuals with aptitude, like Alfina, also overlap with the layer where magic power exists. This means Alfina is being exposed to this high-energy magic power.

"Alfina-sama. Move away from the crystal immediately."

"No, the image... I'm almost there..."

Alfina pressed her head, looking at the crystal. Her face was like wax. In contrast, deep violet light writhed within the crystal, swirling like a vortex.

"This place... but it's different again. A place I've seen before? Where, nothing... The river..."

Alfina murmured as if delirious. Just as I was about to forcibly pull Alfina away from the crystal, its light suddenly extinguished. A moment later, Alfina's body swayed. I supported her. Her body, drenched in sweat, collapsed into my arms.

"...It was no good. I was so close to seeing it."

Alfina, with an utterly exhausted face, bravely tried to smile.

"Please, rest your body first."

I gently picked up Alfina. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself. I carried Alfina to the bed and laid her down. She must have been incredibly tired, for Alfina immediately began to breathe softly in her sleep.

Alfina's sweet and slightly sour scent clung to my body. Naturally, I had no room to feel anything about it.

Luiza should be outside. Should I call her? No, before that...

I went back to the crystal room once more.

The prophecy receiver, which until recently had held deep violet light, now sat silently on the altar, stripped of its glow. Slowly, I reached out my hand towards it.

............

Noticing the distortion of my own face reflected in the crystal, my hand stopped. It was irritating that I stopped more easily than when I reached out to Alfina just moments ago, but thanks to that, I became calm.

I slowly took a deep breath.

I had to think only of the facts: Alfina's suffering just now, and the magic power spectrum from the crystal.

I needed to free Alfina from the crystal. However, destroying it was a last resort.

At the very least, it was not a simple enough problem to make such a judgment, not to deny the ugliness of the feelings I had directed towards Alfina, nor to convince myself that I was purely worried about her.

I returned to the next room and slowly knocked on the door I had first entered. Immediately, I heard Luiza's footsteps.