MHHC Chapter 45

Possibility

"This is a magic stone."

He pointed to the turquoise gem embedded in the hilt and answered readily.

Adelheid forgot her resolution not to show admiration at anything he presented—her breath caught slightly in her throat. A magic stone was the heart of a monster.

Unless extracted and refined at the precise moment of death, it would dissolve into smoke and ash. A stone this sizeable commanded whatever price its bearer dared name.

"It's rare. If you keep carrying that around—"

"If you carry a magic stone, it maximizes the divine power a person possesses. I know. I also know that the bluer the color and the larger the size, the higher the quality of the stone."

Adelheid looked at the stone with wonder in her eyes, then lifted her head sharply.

"But why are you giving this to me?"

"Why, you ask?"

"You may not know this, but my divine power was born so scarce it's nearly absent. My healing arts are wretched. For me to possess something like this—it would mean no more than a blade beaten out of raw metal with a hammer. I see no reason why you'd give me this."

"It's different. Magic stones have the effect of filling the 'vessel.'"

Valentin shook his head.

"What humans call 'divine power' is Morig's power. Conversely, what's called 'magic power' is... the power of monsters."

His words rang true. Only monsters could wield magic power.

Ancient records did mention that chosen humans once wielded magic power and cast terrible spells with it.

But those records had ceased, humans born with magic power had vanished, and the prevailing opinion was that those histories had been exaggerated as they passed down through generations.

"I can see it. The power Adele's vessel contains is magic power. The vessel is already filled, so there's simply no room for Morig's power to accumulate."

Adelheid's eyes widened at Valentin's words. All humans possessed divine power.

That was why the Reichenau household had regarded her as an unsettling creature, why she had kindled false hope in the count year after year.

Because Adele's divine power was so exceedingly rare it bordered on absence.

"But I don't completely lack divine power. If what you're saying is true, there should be no room at all for divine power to accumulate."

"You were baptized."

"Please speak precisely. This is a very important matter to me."

"I—"

"Please, Valentin."

The desperation written across Adelheid's face made Valentin close his mouth.

His expression appeared impassive, but the slight trembling of his fingertips suggested fierce internal conflict.

This time, when he extended both hands, Adelheid didn't flinch. Instead, she moved actively toward his grasp.

As his forehead touched hers, a massive energy surged into her mind like a tidal wave.

[Baptism is the act of carving a name.]

Powerful force swept through her like a raging torrent.

Her legs buckled, her lower back trembled violently.

Even though she'd thought herself fully prepared, standing upright proved difficult.

Valentin stroked her upper lip as if guiding her to breathe deeply.

She blinked slowly, her sparse lashes wet with tears. After carefully examining Adelheid's complexion, he finally continued.

[Just because Morig carved his name on the vessel's surface doesn't mean the power contained within disappears. Even so, Morig's power has touched it, which is why divine power can be felt.]

"Are you saying I was born with magic power from the beginning? Even though I'm human?"

[Humans can be born with magic power. However, ordinary humans are born with empty vessels. In that case, they make a choice about which power to accept. Generally, they accept whichever feels more familiar.]

"Familiar, you mean..."

[Doesn't Morig place newborn infants on his altar?]

Adelheid let out an exclamation of realization. Placing newborn infants on the altar referred to the baptism ceremony.

In Denburg, a firmly rooted belief held that if a child didn't receive a priest's blessing within two weeks of birth, monsters would steal the child's soul.

The greater the nobility, the more elaborate the baptism ceremony; commoners received abbreviated priestly blessings at minimum.

In that process, everyone was exposed to Morig's divinity, so naturally accepting divine power first made complete sense.

Except for one thing.

"Why was my vessel filled from birth?"

[...]

"I was told I received the high priest's blessing immediately after birth. I heard a priest kept watch at my bedside, so I don't understand how I could have been exposed to magic power first."

[...]

His selective silence made anger flare within her. She stared at him reproachfully with wide eyes.

"Silence is a cowardly choice."

[...Choose a different question. I'll answer anything else.]

Though his expression clouded with difficulty, he didn't bend his stubbornness.

Adelheid bit down hard on her lip, then changed her question to something even more uncomfortable for him to answer.

"Fine. Why did you attack me last time?"

[I don't... want to make you afraid.]

Through the connection, Valentin's melancholy and anxious emotions transmitted without filter.

Adelheid wanted to cry out that she wasn't afraid of anything he might say, but she couldn't be certain her attitude toward him wouldn't change even after learning every truth laid bare.

Hadn't she felt terror of imminent death just from Valentin gripping her throat? If the truth behind that series of events was something she couldn't bear, stubbornly insisting on hearing it would be foolish.

Valentin seemed to perceive everything from her expression.

He continued with a bitter face.

[You're not ready yet. It's better you don't know for now.]

"...Will you tell me someday? If I become 'ready'?"

[Yes. Someday.]

When he spoke this way, she couldn't insist further.

[Will that do?]

At his prompting, Adelheid barely managed to nod. Valentin smiled faintly as if relieved, then lightly stroked Adelheid's cheek with his thumb. He released her with evident reluctance.

Then he wrapped his palm around the back of Adelheid's hand where it loosely gripped the sword. He held it firmly.

"Even so, don't doubt this. I won't harm you."

Valentin's inner thoughts remained unknowable, and suspicious matters numbered more than one or two.

But she decided to trust the desperation she'd felt from Valentin when the 'connection' had flooded in.

She pulled her hand slightly, still caught in his grasp, trying to change the subject.

"Then do I just need to keep this sword with me? Since you said my vessel is already full, I'm worried the magic stone's amplifying effect might not work particularly well for me..."

"First, you need to practice channeling magic power into it."

"Channel magic power? Into the magic stone? But... how?"

At the flood of questions, Valentin smiled faintly. He released her hand and spoke.

"Grip it again. With the magic stone facing upward."

Adelheid did as he instructed.

"Just like that, try to feel the magic power flowing through your heart and blood vessels. Feel the energy circulating through your entire body gathering in one place."

"E-energy?"

"Something warm. Something alive and breathing. Something writhing."

She concentrated quietly, struggling to feel the energy he described.

But her interior felt empty—nothing registered. Could he have been mistaken?

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a long, deep breath. But no matter how many times she tried, nothing changed.

Adelheid tried to focus, but the more she did, the more she only recalled her past self struggling desperately to feel divine power at the Reichenau estate.

"...I don't really know."

She opened her eyes again and mumbled glumly.

As she tried to set the dagger quietly on the table, Valentin caught her hand and stopped her.

Valentin bit the fingertips of his glove between his teeth to remove it, then quickly brought his fingers to the back of her hand.

In that instant, Adelheid felt excruciating pain.

She thought scalding water or lava had touched the back of her hand.

She thought her skin was blistering, peeling away in a horrible burn. She tried to scream and push him away.

But as if her lips were sealed shut, she couldn't make any sound.

As she writhed and trembled violently, Valentin held her tightly in an embrace.

"Shh, Adele. Focus on me."

"Ah, ahh..."

He met her eyes with relentless persistence.

Even so, he still didn't remove his hand from hers. It was strange.

At some point, she felt no pain at all from the back of her hand where he held it.

The energy that had surged roughly like lava had somehow transformed into something gentle and refreshing.

Like soup warming her belly, it bolstered her energy and flowed ticklishly through her blood vessels, awakening them.

Adelheid tried to concentrate as he'd instructed.

Gradually, she felt something like clear energy rising from below her navel.

It was as if a giant that had been crouching tightly was finally stretching. That's when it happened.

"Ah...!"

Intense blue light surged from the magic stone embedded in the dagger.

The brilliant light, bright enough to hurt her eyes, filled every corner of the room before overflowing through the windows and door cracks.

She was gradually overwhelmed by this tremendous power.

Divine power was white, Morig's symbol, and healing arts were closer to green.

Therefore, this energy like the deep blue night sky, this energy that seemed to have golden stars densely mixed throughout—this was undeniably magic power.

But to think it could be this warm.

That the energy used only by monsters, far from feeling wicked, could be this beautiful...