The Black Charm
“Apprentice!” Damuel, a panicked expression on his face, took out his shining wand and stood between the count and me. As he protected my right side with a red light, I continued pouring mana into the High Bishop’s stone as his face twisted with smug assurance in his own victory.
“You waste your time,” he said, barking a laugh.
But a second later the black feystone made a popping sound, and a sliver of yellow light started to shine through it. A crack ran across the feystone’s smooth surface, then another.
“...What?” the High Bishop murmured in shock. I ignored him, glaring intently at the feystone as I continued to pour mana into it. The black feystone was turning yellow before my eyes. “...What’s going on?!”
The black faded, and for a brief moment combined with the yellow inside the feystone to make it look gold. A dazzlingly bright flash shone through the many thin cracks, and then the feystone began to crumble like sand. The High Bishop watched the golden dust slip through his fingers, his lips trembling and his eyes wider than ever before as he struggled to believe what he had just witnessed. Meanwhile, I continued Crushing him with mana.
“Myne, what in the world are y— Nguh!” The High Bishop glared at me with bloodshot eyes, then immediately clutched his chest and started coughing blood as my Crushing hit him head on. I started to pile on more mana, but then heard Damuel grunt in pain.
I spun toward him and saw that he was kneeling on the ground, having been hit hard by one of Bindewald’s balls of mana. He must have lost even the strength to grip his shining wand as it fell from his hand and disappeared into thin air. Damuel slowly bent forward, as if following it down, then collapsed onto the ground.
“Sir Damuel?!” I raced over to him. His breathing was ragged and he had fallen unconscious. Not even calling out his name woke him up—all he did was groan.
“Hmph. What kind of pathetic knight can’t even withstand a mana strike of that size?” the toad sneered, letting out a snort.
Damuel was defenseless while he was unconscious. I looked around for help, and saw that of the three Devouring soldiers on the High Bishop’s side, only one was still standing—and even he was just barely staying upright. But this third man was quickly taken care of as Dad grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground like he was dunking a basketball, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell unconscious. Dad then sped my way, guarding his limp left arm.
“Myne!”
“Dad...”
Fran had been injured during the fight, and was gasping for air while slumped against the door leading to the Noble’s Gate; the High Bishop was kneeling on the ground and coughing up more blood as his attendant gray shrine maidens skittered around nervously; and Delia was hugging the limp Dirk, frozen in place. The only ones still standing largely unhurt were the count and me.
All of a sudden, in the midst of all the chaos, the door to the High Priest’s room opened. Out stepped the High Priest, despite the fact that he was said to have been absent. His eyes widened at the disaster area in the hallway.
“What in the world happened here?!” Anyone would have been surprised to leave their room to find a bunch of injured people sprawled out on the ground, some of them looking like corpses. But the biggest question I had was why he hadn’t noticed us sooner given all of the noise we had been making right outside his door. That was the most confusing thing about the whole situation.
“High Priest, I am certain that Arno said you were absent! Why are you here?!” the High Bishop demanded, his voice almost a shriek. The High Priest looked at him, completely unfazed.
“I believe that should be self-evident: I told Arno to inform any visitors that I was absent. Since I was in fact not in my room proper, that was not a lie.” That no doubt meant he had been hunkered down in his lecture room. It was completely sealed off from the outside room using mana, which explained why he hadn’t heard us.
The High Priest scanned the hallway, taking in all that he saw. He narrowed his eyes a bit when I met his gaze, so I hid behind Dad. It was probably obvious that I had let my mana run loose.
As I swallowed hard, trembling in fear of being tied to a chair and lectured about the terrors of boiling skin, the High Priest rubbed his temple and turned to the High Bishop. “That is enough about me, High Bishop. I would like you to explain what has happened here. We seem to have a visitor who I’ve never seen before, and I have to ask who he is exactly.”
The High Bishop made no attempt to answer the High Priest’s question, and instead just pressed his lips together and glared back at him. The shining wand had already disappeared from Bindewald’s hand, and he looked at the High Priest with the arrogant expression of a noble.
“Is there any need for me to give my name to a priest? I am here on proper authorization.”
“I would like to see your permit.”
“And why would I bother wasting my time dealing with the likes of a mere High Priest?”
I had thought that the High Priest was a fairly high-status noble from his dealings with the Knight’s Order, but Bindewald was from another duchy and saw him as just another temple priest—High Priest or not. His arrogance was coming out in full force and, seemingly influenced by that, the High Bishop regained his own smug confidence. He stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth, his face contorting each time he coughed.
“High Priest, this is a noble from Ahrensbach. Don’t tell me that you intend to cause a diplomatic incident while the archduke is gone.”
“I believe you are the one who has caused a diplomatic incident. The archduke is absent for the Archduke Conference, which means he is not available to sign any permits for outsider nobles,” the High Priest coldly replied.
The High Bishop faltered and looked around. When his eyes fell on me, his lips curled into a nasty grin.
“H-He was given the permit far ahead of time. Therefore, this incident is not my responsibility. Myne is the one who disturbed the peace of the temple and attacked a noble. If anyone is responsible for this, it is her. Arrest her at once under the charge of defying the nobility.” The High Bishop pointed a hateful finger at me as he attempted to shift the blame, then coughed up more blood. He looked between his hand and the splatter of blood on the floor. “J-Just look at this. She has attacked me not once, but twice. That is not something she would do without malice. She should bear full responsibility for this,” he snarled, spit flying out of his mouth.
Bindewald, nodding in agreement, backed the High Bishop up. “Indeed, and she attacked me as well. A mere commoner clad in blue robes beyond her means launched mana at me, a noble. Out of anyone, this child deserves punishment the most.” Bindewald pointed at me as well, then let out his disgusting croaky laugh. It was the same noble logic that Shikza had used: no commoner should ever, ever defy a noble.
“Now then, High Priest. Capture Myne. Ensure that she cannot use her mana,” the High Bishop demanded.
The High Priest gave a sigh before walking toward me. Dad squeezed my hand tightly as we watched him slowly approach, and I squeezed his back.
“I see that you let your mana rampage again, Myne.”
“There were extenuating circumstances.”
“So it seems,” the High Priest murmured as he looked down at me, his eyes sad and full of sympathy. More than anything, that showed that he wouldn’t be able to protect me.
“...High Priest, will I be punished for this?”
“You did attack the High Bishop and an outsider noble, after all. I imagine that you, your family, and all of your attendants will be executed.”
“I’m sorry, Dad...” I said while looking up at him.
Dad let out a short laugh. “I was prepared to die back when you first joined the temple, and I’m prepared to die now. Don’t sweat it.” But I couldn’t help but panic.
“If only I had gone all-out with my mana and killed both the High Bishop and that toad before the High Priest had come out. That would have gotten rid of all of the evidence,” I said jokingly with a shrug.
The High Priest nodded, a brief flash of pain on his face. “Unfortunately, since you are both incompetent and incapable of properly finishing a job, it is too late for you to hide evidence now.”
The High Priest was the most reliable of all the nobles I knew, and even he said he couldn’t save me. It was hard to think of anybody else who would be able to help.
“In the end, Brother Sylvester’s charm didn’t help at all. I guess you can never trust a man who says he’ll help you,” I sighed as I pulled out the chained necklace charm from behind my robes. There was still a golden fire swaying within the black stone, but that was all. Just like Bindewald and the High Bishop had said, I would be executed for defying nobles as a mere commoner.
Brother Sylvester, you liar, I thought to myself while looking at the necklace.
The High Priest bent down to look at it. He stared at the stone for a solid second, then widened his eyes in disbelief. “Myne, where did you get this?”
“Brother Sylvester gave it to me as thanks for letting him go on a fun hunting trip in the lower city’s forest. He said it’s a charm.”
“I see. That is quite the charm, I must say. It will make things a lot easier,” the High Priest said, his flat expression now replaced with a slight smile. Apparently the charm was so powerful that the High Priest was confident he would be able to send both the High Bishop and Bindewald packing.
I’m sorry for doubting you and calling you a liar, Brother Sylvester.
As I internally thanked Sylvester, the High Priest slowly looked between Dad and I. “However, it will only be of use if you are prepared to steel your resolve.”
I looked up at him. If there was a way to save my family and attendants, all those who had supported me up until now, then I was willing to do whatever it took.
“Steel my resolve for what?”
“...Being adopted.”
“By Lord Karstedt? If so, I’ve already...”
Before I could finish my sentence, the High Priest shook his head to interrupt me. “Not Karstedt. Sylvester.”
My future adoptive father wouldn’t be the reliable Karstedt, but the unpredictable man-child Sylvester? The thought was so surprising that all I could do was look at the High Priest, my eyes wide and jaw dropped. For a second I thought he was joking, but his golden eyes were deadly serious.
...Sylvester’s adopted daughter? He was the kind of person to start poking my cheek on our first meeting and demand I chirp “pooey,” but I had met him enough times to know that he wasn’t a bad person. Not to mention, Sylvester had given me this charm because he wanted to protect me. If he actually could save both my family and my attendants, I wouldn’t mind becoming his adopted daughter.
“...I’m ready. If it means saving everyone, I’ll do it right away.”
“Myne!” Dad yelled with widened eyes, but I just shook my head.
“Sorry, Dad, but I want to protect everyone. I hope you can forgive me.”
“That is all I needed to hear,” the High Priest said, dropping a ring with a yellow stone slotted into it onto my palm. The stone was much larger and more transparent than the feystone of the evidence ring that had just broken; I could tell at a glance that it was much higher in quality.
“Myne, pray to Wind for protection. Pray to protect what you care about from my mana.”
“From your mana, High Priest?” I asked while looking up, and he flashed me an evil grin unlike any I had ever seen him make before.
“Yes. If that door over there is opened and mana spills out everywhere, it will be quite a pain to fix everything. Make a shield of wind around the door to stop that from happening. We now have justice on our side, Myne. It is best we use this opportunity to eliminate those who oppose us.”
Apparently the High Priest had been extremely frustrated with the situation the High Bishop and the toad had put him in. I didn’t know what exactly had put justice on our side, but either way, he turned his back to me with an amused grin on his face before walking toward the both of them.
“High Priest, have you sealed Myne’s mana?” the High Bishop asked while peering my way.
“I gave her a magic tool,” the High Priest replied smoothly. The magic tool he had given me was for wielding mana, not sealing it, but the High Bishop interpreted that reply in the way that favored him the most. The tension drained from his Crushed body and he gave a cocky grin.
“Very good. I believe it is best that we entrust this dangerous criminal to Ahrensbach and allow them to remove her from this duchy.”
The High Priest summoned his wand with a sly smile, as if mocking the High Bishop for acting like his usual arrogant self. He then aimed his wand at him. It was a clear threat.
“Wh-What are you...?”
The High Priest chanted something as he swung his wand, which made beams of light shoot out from its tip and wrap around the High Bishop. He fell to the ground like a lifeless doll, then began gnashing his teeth.
“High Priest! What is the meaning of this?!”
“It would be inconvenient for you to die here. That is all.”
“...Die?” replied the High Bishop, stunned by the sudden violent word. The High Priest turned his back on him and faced Bindewald, who was pointing at the High Priest’s shining wand with clear panic in his eyes.
“Why does a mere priest have one of those?!”
“Because I am a noble who graduated from the Royal Academy, of course.” Apparently the shining wand was proof of having graduated from the Academy—something that a priest who had been raised in the temple would never be expected to have. It wasn’t something that nobles from other duchies would know, but the High Priest hadn’t been raised in the temple; he was a noble of high enough status that, when outside of the temple, the commander of the Knight’s Order would bend the knee to him.
“Shall we duel, Count Bindewald?”
“Why do you know my name...?”
“How could I forget the name of the outsider noble who tried entering the city without the archduke’s permission, only to be stopped by the Knight’s Order?” The High Priest knew everything about the incident, including Bindewald’s name and circumstances. As always, I couldn’t help but be impressed by his diligence. It was good to have him as an ally.
“You may think that you will be safe as long as you can escape this duchy, but we now have justice on our side. I will not be letting you get away so easily.”
“Justice, you say?”
I could feel the High Priest pouring his mana into his wand. Bindewald must have as well, since he stopped staring and hurriedly readied his own.
The High Priest was pouring such an immense amount of mana into his wand that I couldn’t help but gasp. It dwarfed the pittance of mana that the toad had been using before.
“Dad, hurry and carry Sir Damuel to the door where Fran is!” I shouted, then dashed over to Fran myself. He winced and tried to stand up as I got closer. “Don’t move, just sit still!” I hadn’t been able to tell from afar, but Fran was covered in tiny cuts and bruises. “I’m sorry, Fran. Are you okay?”
“I am the one who should apologize—I was barely able to help you at all.” There was no way that a gray priest untrained in battle and taught from birth that violence was wrong would be used to situations like this. It was my fault for getting him wrapped up in this in the first place.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You managed to get a few cuts in without getting in my way. You’ve got good eyes on you; with some proper training, you’d make a good fighter,” Dad assured Fran as he carried Damuel to the door.
I stepped forward protectively so that they would all be behind me, then began praying while I poured mana into my ring. “O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, protector of all. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side...” I envisioned a shield surrounding both us and the door as I continued. “Please hear my prayer and lend me your divine strength. Grant me your shield of wind, so that I might blow away those who mean to cause harm.”
With a sharp, metallic sound, a shield of wind appeared in the air.
“Myne...” Dad murmured, having never seen me use magic before. I kept my back to him and continued pouring mana into the wind shield.
I will protect them, no matter what!
The High Priest and Bindewald were still just pouring mana into their wands without firing any shots, but that alone was enough to cause sparks to fly in the air all around them. One hit the wind shield and popped in a tiny explosion.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you all.”
Their swelling mana was in effect Crushing everything around them, and with no protection the High Bishop and his attendants lay on the ground trembling as sparks flew around them. In the midst of all that, Delia frantically began looking around for safety, Dirk held tightly in her arms. Upon seeing my wind shield, she stood up on wavering legs.
“Please, Sister Myne! Help! Please save Dirk!” she screamed in desperation. But I had my hands completely full pouring mana into my ring’s feystone to maintain the wind shield and hold back the immense amount of mana radiating from the High Priest and Bindewald. Protecting Dad, Fran, and the unconscious Damuel was my priority; I didn’t have the leeway to go and help Delia and Dirk.
“Come into the shield yourself if you want to be safe. I can’t move.”
Delia leaned forward to protect Dirk from the flying sparks, desperately dodging the Crushing waves as she made her way over. Her footsteps were heavy as though she was being pushed toward the ground.
“Sister Myne, you are going to help Delia?” Fran asked reproachfully.
I shook my head. “I don’t have the leeway to help her. But if she wants to get inside the shield herself, she’s free to do so.”
“But...” Fran continued before trailing off, dissatisfied.
I lowered my eyes. I could understand his disapproval, and I did remember that he had told me to cut Delia off entirely, but I didn’t think it was right to leave them to face the mana out there and let them die together. Dirk in particular was already on the verge of death, having been forced into a contract and then forcibly drained of mana. He wasn’t at fault here.
Once I explained this to Fran he swallowed his reproach, but there was still a pained look on his face. All he did was whisper, “Please don’t let her exploit you.”
Delia inched her way into the shield, then collapsed in exhaustion. But not even that was enough for her to let go of Dirk. As she sat with him in her arms, she looked up at me, her crimson hair fluttering behind her. “Thank you ever so much, Sister Myne.”
“Delia, I will allow you inside the shield because I do not wish for either of you to die. But that does not mean I have forgotten what you did. Please be aware of that.”
“...Of course.”
The High Bishop’s attendants saw that and seemed to think that even if I wouldn’t forgive them, I would at least spare their lives. “Sister Myne, may we please enter as well?” they said, each trudging over and wanting to enter the shield too.
“If you can enter, then certainly.”
“We thank you.”
But of the three who tried to enter the wind shield, only one was successful. The other two were blown back by the wind.
“Kyaah?!”
“Noo!”
Delia and the shrine maiden inside the shield both blinked as they watched the other two get blown away.
“But why...?”
“Those with ill intent can’t pass the shield.”
It wasn’t my fault they had been blown away; the shield fundamentally wouldn’t allow passage to anyone who meant harm to those within it. Those two shrine maidens had intended to harm either me, for hitting the High Bishop with mana; Dad, for hitting their fellow shrine maiden Jenni; or Delia and Dirk, possibly for entering the shield first. I wasn’t enough of a saint to try to save people who meant me or those close to me harm, nor did I have the time to care.
“It’s a shame they couldn’t enter, but that’s all there is to it,” I murmured right as the High Priest spoke some words, his mana swelling immensely. Just as everything was about to explode, the door behind us creaked open.
“Kept ya waiting, huh Myne?” Sylvester said with a grin as he and Karstedt stepped out, just as mana shot out of the High Priest’s and Bindewald’s wands. “Wh-What the heck is going on?!” he yelped.
“Both of you, get inside the shield! And please shut the door!” I yelled as I watched two enormous beams of mana collide in front of my eyes.
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