Volume 6 Chapter 15
Volume 6 Chapter 15: At the end of the Climb
Lorie felt herself rushing upward, piercing through splashing water.
…The force pulling us down is immense…!
It felt like sprinting against a relentless current.
Just clinging to Axel’s back allowed her to feel this fierce resistance. Axel himself surely felt it even more strongly—And yet,
「—!」
In mere moments, he touched the second checkpoint and immediately leaped again.
…Not even four seconds have passed…!
His speed was astounding, almost frighteningly so. Even simply reaching out her hand to touch a checkpoint felt terrifying at this speed, but—
…If I show fear here, I’ll let Axel down…!
Driven by that thought, Lorie kept her eyes wide open, facing forward. That was how she saw it coming:
「…!? There’s a tree falling from above—!」
A huge wooden log plummeted towards them, probably washed downstream. It was clearly visible overhead. Axel also noticed immediately:
「Lorie, Daisy—hold tight. We’re going straight through!」
「Alright—!」
「Got it, my friend! Move freely—I’ll keep the princess secure!」
Instantly, the glowing rope binding Lorie to Axel strengthened further as Daisy’s magic reinforced it. Only then did Axel shout out:
「We’re jumping—!」
He launched upward with incredible speed, like a bullet, spinning mid-air—
「—!」
—and kicked the falling log fiercely.
With a loud crack!, Axel’s kick smashed the heavy, soaked log clean in half.
The shockwave jolted Lorie’s body harshly, nearly throwing her off—but thanks to Daisy’s rope and Axel’s firm grip, she remained secure.
And beyond that shattered log was checkpoint number 「3「:
「Lorie! Last one!」
「…!」
She swiftly reached out, touching the glowing orange numeral. The Codex glowed immediately, displaying:
【All checkpoints cleared】
「Great, Axel! Head straight into that swirling light!」
「Got it!」
Axel jumped again, directly entering the luminous vortex.
Surrounded by bright light, Lorie felt the voice of the Codex declare:
【Route submission complete. Transporting three individuals to simplified divine domain.】
In a flash, they vanished, transported upward by the glowing vortex.
〇
Moments later, after leaping into the swirling light above the waterfall—
The first sight Axel saw was—
「A forest and…a spring?」
A quiet spring surrounded by lush green trees.
The deafening roar of the waterfall moments before had vanished completely.
Even the air felt strangely clear and pure.
I stood on solid ground at the edge of a tranquil lake.
In front of him was shallow water—so clear that he could see tiny pebbles beneath.
There was no waterfall, no rushing water, just peaceful silence.
「We did it… This is the Spirit God’s Spring…」
Lorie, who was next to me, said softly.
At some point, she’d gotten off his back and now sat on the ground, tears in her eyes, staring at the spring.
「So, Princess—we really made it here?」
Daisy asked, also standing beside me in her human form.
「Yes.This is definitely the Spirit God’s Spring.」
Lorie replied, clearly overjoyed.
「Thank you, Axel…for bringing me here.」
She turned toward me, and gently grasped my hand. I could feel how genuinely grateful she was.
「Don’t mention it. I’m just glad I fulfilled my duty as a Carrier. Can you stand?」
「Yes…」
I gently helped her rise and seated her comfortably in her magical chair.
Just as I was attending to Lorie,
Hm?
Something unusual caught my eye.
「Hm? Lorie—what’s that armor?」
On the opposite shore stood a large full body armor of dull silvery color.
It was an old-fashioned, knightly plate armor.
However, it was strangely out-of-place amid the natural scenery.
「I have no idea. What could it be…?」
Lorie tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
Looks like she has no idea as well.
「It wasn’t here before?」
「Absolutely not. There’s no record of anything like that being here.」
「If even the Princess doesn’t know, it probably isn’t something someone just forgot. You wouldn’t overlook something that obvious.」
「Yeah, it’s not a place one can enter casually enough to forget something. It’s a divine domain after all.」
Lorie squinted suspiciously at the armor, but soon gave up.
「Well, let’s leave the unknown aside for now and finish what we came for.」
「Well, sure.」
I agreed. After all, their purpose here was healing Lorie.
Quickly finishing that task seemed wisest.
「So—how exactly does the healing work?」
I asked, thinking that being overly optimistic isn’t the best approach, so it might be good to learn the specifics now.
「You submerge your entire body, everything below the head in this spring for at least twenty-four hours. The water’s mana circulates through the body, cleansing impurities.」
「So not just your legs—you immerse completely?」
「Yes. Curses of this sort affect the entire body, though symptoms manifest only in my legs. Without full immersion, it won’t be healed completely.」
「Exactly. It’s similar with alchemy and healing potions—you must consider the whole body, not just visible symptoms.」
Daisy agreed with Lorie. Since my medical knowledge was limited to first aid, I found this specialized insight fascinating.
「So, you just lie down in the shallows here?」
「Yes. If things remain as they were the water temperature shouldn’t be too low, but I’ll test it first.」
Lorie guided her chair closer to the spring’s edge and reached out, fingertips gently touching the water—
Instantly, the spring emitted a sharp, bright glow.
And a voice thundered through the entire area:
「Trial incomplete—【Divine punishment: Immediate expulsion】!」
In response, the water itself suddenly erupted, transforming into a powerful tendril and striking Lorie’s chair, violently knocking her back.
「Kyaa!」
「—!」
So I immediately jumped behind her, catching Lorie along with her chair.
「You okay?」
「Yes, thanks… I guarded with my staff in time.」
Indeed, she’d swiftly defended herself. But Axel’s confusion remained:
「What just happened?」
She said she has to submerge herself in the waters, but it doesn’t seem possible at this state.
So I asked her, but she looked just as bewildered.
「I don’t know. This never happened before.」
「You’ve never been rejected by the spring before?」
「Yes. When I inherited the title, I submerged myself in this spring, but nothing of this sort happened.」
She was half surprised, half in thought, analyzing the situation.
Clearly, this was unexpected for her.
But I also had some other points that caught my attention.
「The voice before, didn’t it mention the trial being incomplete? Perhaps we missed something?」
Lorie agreed immediately:
「Yes, I think so too.」
Otherwise we wouldn’t have heard such a declaration, so it made sense.
「Hey, buddy—I can touch the water just fine.」
But Daisy suddenly interjected.
When I turned around, she was dipping her fingers into the waters of the spring.
「…You weren’t repelled, and we didn’t hear that voice from before either, huh?」
「Yeah. When Lorie touched it earlier, I felt some strange magic activate, so I wondered what would happen if I tried. But I didn’t sense any magic at all.」
「Hm, I see?」
Daisy was fine, while Lorie got repelled. That meant—
「What about me, then?」
I touched the spring’s water as well. The result—
「…」
Nothing happened.
「Same as Daisy, huh?」
I stepped further into the spring, splashing through the water, letting it soak up to my ankles. Even then, nothing changed.
「Yeah, no magic activation or changes in the water at all.」
「Hmm, perhaps companions like you and Daisy are treated separately.」
Indeed, at the beginning, the divine scripture clearly stated Lorie was the main participant. Perhaps that was why this difference occurred, but—
「If that’s the case, I’m curious about that magic reaction when Lorie touched the spring.」
「Yeah, about that—the magic reaction didn’t just come from the spring. I felt something respond from that armor too.」
Daisy nodded, pointing suddenly toward the armor:
「Actually, partner—that armor reacted slightly when Lorie touched the spring.」
Axel turned and saw—the previously distant armor had begun to approach them slowly, methodically, step by mechanical step.
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