EP.160 Lost Lamb (08)
Ding!
Singularity.
A term that collectively refers to humans with similar characteristics to mine.
In fact, it’s said that even that title was arbitrarily assigned by the Sister.
They are uniquely sensitive to divine power, capable of containing an absurd amount of holy power without undergoing the process of becoming vessels for the divine, and can unconsciously absorb holy power from others.
It’s not like humans with such bizarre traits are common enough to describe precedence, so it wasn’t surprising that the Sister had a tough time gathering data.
Even with her extensive network of knowledge regarding clergy across the system, she could only pinpoint about a dozen.
And out of those, the only one considered to be in a decent state was me. You could say singularities are rare treasures without needing further explanation.
Presence of basic divine power.
White hair that had turned pale from absorbing surrounding holy energy.
Memories of another dimension resurfacing periodically in my mind.
When I realized all these traits manifested solely in singularities, I was at a loss for words for a while.
All along, the memories of my past life floating in my mind weren’t entirely mine.
Even now, as I somewhat gathered my thoughts, I couldn’t honestly say I’ve accepted that whole series of events.
The reason behind why those peculiar phenomena follow singularities remained unknown.
Dawna, knowledgeable as she is, suggested that it might be because my body was easily influenced by the divine dimension, thus making my soul responsive to another version of myself in a parallel world. But without concrete evidence, it was merely speculative.
My mind was troubled.
If Dawna’s hypothesis holds true, then what I’ve firmly believed to be my past life’s memories might just be the memories of another me from a parallel world.
Well, thinking back on it, it did seem quite strange.
I could easily recall pointless things like manga or anime, yet couldn’t remember anything specific about my original name or family ties.
Huff…
I exhaled, shaking off all the jumbled thoughts clouding my heart.
Who am I, anyway? Right now, what does that even matter?
A Saint watching over someone in need. A saint looking after lives.
Those words alone were enough to define me at this moment.
“Then let’s start the healing now.”
“R-Really!? C-Can you heal me right now!?”
The moment I subtly hinted, Davi’s eyes popped wide open, and she started fidgeting.
The previously calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen, as panic shone through her actions.
Now that I think about it, she did mention being tormented by some rather nasty faux-clergy until now.
It seemed she had been doubting whether I truly had the ability to heal her father until this very moment.
Frankly, that doubt made sense.
If her father was suffering from a common mental illness and not a singularity, even as a high-level clergy like me, there wouldn’t be much I could do.
“Can you just loosen one of your father’s hands? It’s necessary for the treatment.”
“Uh? O-Okay! I’ll do it!”
As soon as I finished speaking, Davi rushed over to her father’s bed and slowly untied one of his bound hands.
His emaciated hand looked like a dried-out mummy.
Carefully, I placed both of my hands on top of his.
“May the divine smile upon you…”
My solemn prayer drifted through the dilapidated shack, mixing with the eerie silence for a while.
Perhaps unable to endure the ominous atmosphere that followed my prayer, Davi, creeping closer, attempted to whisper something to me.
“Uh, um… what exactly are you…?”
Just then.
Rather than a living being, he sounded more like a doll with a pulse, as a loud breath escaped from the man.
“Huff!”
“D-Dad!?”
I swiftly blocked Davi, who was about to dash toward her father with one arm.
I completely understood her concern seeing her father, who had been utterly unresponsive, suddenly twitching as I placed my hands over his.
But I couldn’t let Davi have contact with her father, who couldn’t be assured to have returned to his senses yet.
“Is this okay!? Is it really okay!? What if something goes wrong!?”
“Things are healing smoothly. Please remain still for just a moment.”
I sternly admonished Davi, who was questioning me with a rough tone, while keeping my right hand still over the man’s hand.
Honestly, I wasn’t doing anything at all.
I wasn’t even mumbling a prayer, nor was I showing any signs of drawing out divine power.
I was simply resting my hands.
But that was enough.
The appropriate action for this man wasn’t to impose divine power; it was to withdraw it.
“Uh…?”
Davi’s voice, which had been trembling with tension and anxiety, suddenly grew muffled.
The reason behind this was none other than the fact.
Like a well that had run dry, the man’s once pale white hair was gradually regaining its original color, starting from the tips, as it turned back to black.
Even though they were both singularities, individual differences were profound, as confirmed by the Sister’s documents.
And I was well aware that compared to others, I had an enormous capacity for storing holy power.
Despite being exposed to levels of divine power that could easily lead ordinary people to become incapacitated, I have never lost my sense of self—even once.
Moreover, such folk remedies were a normalized routine between me and the Saintess, so I felt absolutely no reluctance in absorbing his holy power.
I had heard the mocking phrase “an empty human” many times, but I never expected that this emptiness of mine would someday serve as help.
A chuckle almost escaped, but with someone teetering between life and death before me, I couldn’t laugh out loud.
I struggled to keep a serene expression that befitted the Saint watching over a patient.
“Huff. It’s done… With this, he should soon regain his senses…”
“Dad!”
Since I had withdrawn all the holy power within him, there was nothing else I could do.
Maybe it was thanks to the days I unconsciously absorbed the Saintess’s holy power.
I was able to sense how much power had dwelled within him.
More so, I felt anew just how ludicrous the amount of holy power possessed by the Saintess was.
If the holy power within this man’s soul was the size of a small swimming pool, the Saintess’s power was a vast ocean, filled with an endless seafloor.
And even that had decreased slightly because of the time spent with me.
How long would it take for the Saintess to fully restore her own self?
The future was filled with worry.
“Dad! Wake up! Are you ok? Can you hear me? Do you recognize me!?”
“Ugh… D-Davi…?”
“A-Are you calling my name!?”
I momentarily considered stopping Davi out of concern for the patient, but I didn’t want to ruin this dramatic reunion, so I decided to pretend not to notice.
How much time had passed since then?
After waiting for the moment when she found a foothold in her emotions after miraculously reclaiming her father, I gently spoke up.
“Now that I’ve thoroughly treated your father, it’s your turn to fulfill my request. Is that right?”
“Y-Yeah… That must be it… Don’t worry. I’ll definitely keep my promise…”
With her hand over her heart, she took a moment to steady her ragged breath and suddenly fixed her gaze on me.
“Where is the Holy Sword…?”
“It’s right here, isn’t it?”
“─!?”
At my poignant remark, the life immediately drained from her face.
In truth, there were plenty of clues.
The capital of the system. A small city nearby. Ishik.
This was a sacred sanctuary with a history of the Holy Sword manifesting.
Moreover, even though Davi’s father was a singularity capable of containing holy power more than usual, he ended up incapacitated due to an excessive amount of it.
And the strong holy power that permeated this room.
The conclusion deduced from these clues was very straightforward.
This father-daughter pair had attempted to seize the Holy Sword before the Hero Party, and they had indeed succeeded, but ultimately fell into this predicament due to being unable to manage the divine power contained within the sword.
Taking the Holy Sword.
That was an act so heinous it bordered on a grave crime in this world where the fate of the world rested in the hands of heroes.
“Haha. You’re way sharper than I thought…?”
My mouth smiled, but the gloom plastered on my face was dark and heavy.
“Davi, I have a proposal for you…”
Crash!
Just at that moment, an unusual flash broke through the window and zipped into the room.
Recognizing its danger from the instinct and experience imprinted in my body across countless life-threatening situations, I reflexively shouted.
“Bong! Dotsum!”
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