Read Novel Full Vol 4 Chapter 1 Part 5
Vol 4 Chapter 1 Part 5
ReadNovelFull.com
Enjoy~
Part 5
“…It is a ritual to stop the eruption of Mount Aurea. I am the sacrifice.”
“Wha…!?”
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to reveal it… I just wanted Lexia-san and the others to leave with fond memories of the island…”
Giselle smiles at Lexia and the others, who are absolutely mortified.
“There is a legend that Mount Aurea erupts every few hundred years when there are seven evil stars in the sky. When it erupts, the world is plunged into darkness and destroyed.”
“T-the world will be destroyed?”
“Yes. In order to prevent this, when the eruption of Mount Aurea approaches, people who are imbued with spirit arts will be born on this island… The people who live on Halwa Island offer sacrifices to Mount Aurea that are imbued with spirit art to suppress the eruption and prevent the destruction of the world.”
“This means… Giselle-san will be the sacrifice to suppress the eruption of Mount Aurea?”
“I see, in order to fulfill this role, those who possess the spirit arts are forbidden to leave the island…”
Lexia snapped indignantly.
“Do the people on this island really believe that sacrifices can stop an eruption? Eruptions are a natural phenomenon, aren’t they? There’s no way they could stop them that way!”
“No, but if you look at Giselle’s special ability to manipulate nature─her spirit art─it makes sense that she would use that power to suppress natural phenomena…”
“Yes. The tradition of sacrifice has been around since time immemorial. And right now, Mount Aurea is about to erupt.”
Giselle looked up into the evening sky.
Her slender fingers pointed to two stars shining above Mount Aurea.
“Those are the evil stars. It is said that the number of evil stars increases every night, and when all seven are present, Mount Aurea will erupt. That’s why sacrifices are supposed to be made to Mount Aurea on the evening of the day when all seven evil stars are aligned… but this time it seems to be a little early.”
“No way… no matter how much you want to stop the eruption, this is just too much…!”
Giselle shook her head as Lexia’s voice rose.
“It’s okay. I knew this day would come. From the moment I was born with the spirit art in my body… my destiny was set. I am so blessed to be able to protect the world with my life.”
Giselle smiled softly.
The sea breeze ruffled her emerald hair, and her big eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
“I had so much fun today! We talked a lot, swam and played as much as we could…! I’ve been treated so special by the islanders that I’ve never had any friends to play with… and I was sad that even if I made friends, I’d have to leave them one day… But I really wanted to have fun with such friends. Thanks to Lexia-san and the others, my dream came true. Now I have no regrets. Thank you for making my dream come true.”
But Lexia stood up vigorously.
She clenched her fists and shouted as if she wanted to slam them down.
“This is not right!”
“…Lexia-san…”
Giselle looked up at her in surprise, and Lexia strained her voice to hold back tears.
“How can you say that just once? There is no such thing as no regrets! There are so many more fun things waiting for Giselle in the future, and there are so many more sights I want to show you! I won’t let Giselle be a sacrifice, I won’t let this be the last time I see you! So let me hear what you really have to say!”
“…But…”
Giselle stammered, turning her head down.
The hand clasped tightly around her chest told that her heart was filled with many emotions.
Lexia silently twists her words as she looks at Giselle.
“…You see, I am a princess.”
“Eh…?
“My name is Lexia──Lexia von Arcelia. I am the rightful First Princess of the Kingdom of Arcelia.”
“Lexia-san is… a princess…?”
Giselle’s eyes widened.
Lexia looked across the sea to her homeland in the distance.
“If things were normal, I would have spent most of my life in the castle, protected by many people… but I didn’t want to live my life as if someone else dictated it to me. I wanted to make my own destiny, to know the world on my own feet, to be worthy of the people I love──to save those in need, so I left the castle.”
“We’re not just travelers, you know.”
Luna continued quietly.
“Before we came to this island, we saved the Kingdom of Sahar, the Romel Empire, and the Lianxi Empire. When it comes to saving people, we know a thing or two.”
“There were many trials and tribulations that made me think I couldn’t do it anymore! But each time I grew and overcame them, and here I am! So you can count on me!”
Tito also raised her voice with tears in her eyes.
“Luna-san, Tito-san…”
Giselle lost her voice, and Lexia held her hand.
“Don’t worry, we are the strongest and the sweetest! We will save Giselle from the fate of sacrifice! If you want to see it, I’ll take you to the desert or the snowfield──I’ll show you the future! So please, let me hear your true voice!”
“…..”
Giselle looks up at Lexia with clear eyes.
Her emerald eyes are filled with tears.
“I don’t want to die…”
A muffled voice falls from her trembling lips.
A clear drop of water trickles down her wheat-colored cheeks.
“I don’t want to be a sacrifice… I want to live like a normal girl… I want to laugh and see more beautiful scenery with Lexia-san and the others…! I still want to live.”
The words she had kept in the depths of her heart and had not been able to say to anyone for a long time overflowed with tears.
It was the first heartfelt cry from a girl who had accepted her fate to be sacrificed.
“Please… help me…!”
Lexia received this cry as if wrung from her life with a dazzling smile.
She proudly puffed out her chest and brushed her silky blonde hair.
“Leave it to us! Let’s stop the eruption together and save the world!”
“….!”
Luna smiled as she patted Giselle’s back without a trace of fear.
“Once that’s decided, we need to start looking for clues right away.”
“Exactly, there must be another way! We’ll find it, no matter what it takes!”
“I-I will send a letter to my master! My master studies minerals and geology, so she might know a lot about volcanoes!”
Luna nodded her head, remembering Tito’s master──the Claw Saint Gloria.
“Come to think of it, Gloria-sama gave me a special mineral when we first met.”
“That’s very reassuring!”
Tito immediately wrote a letter to Gloria.
Giselle blew her finger whistle and called a small bird.
“Let’s ask this little one to deliver the letter. She’s good at finding people and will find them wherever they are.”
“Please take care of it!”
“Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”
Tying the letter to its leg, the little bird chirped sharply and flew away.
“Let’s go this way, too. If it’s literature about this mountain, it must be somewhere on this island…”
Luna thought, and Giselle shook her head helplessly.
“The chief and the others searched the island desperately for a way to avoid sacrificing me, but they couldn’t find anything that would lead to that. But…”
“But?”
Giselle’s eyes wandered to the dense jungle on the west side of Mount Aurea.
“There was talk that there might be clues in the ruins of that jungle that could stop the eruption, but it’s just too dangerous there…”
Hearing this, Lexia’s eyes lit up.
“There it is! There must be a key to unlock the secret of the eruption in those ruins!”
“You… You’re talking out of your head again.”
“Because that’s the only place I can think of that no one has ever touched!”
Lexia brags about her victory, but Giselle is in a hurry to open her mouth.
“W-wait, this jungle is really dangerous! It used to be a mystical forest that was revered, but since then it has been inhabited by very vicious monsters. And at the top of those monsters is a terrifying monster called the King of the Jungle… who has done so much damage in the past that no one can even get close to it.”
“Don’t worry, we can do it! After all, we have Luna and Tito!”
Hearing this, Giselle looked at Luna and Tito.
“I remember you two doing some amazing moves in the sea… and saving three countries… who in the world are you?”
Luna shrugged calmly.
“I can’t say it out loud, but I’m a well-known assassin with a bit of a reputation in the underworld.”
“A-an assassin?”
“Yes. But now I’m Lexia’s babysitter… helper… no, I’m her bodyguard. When it comes to fighting monsters, I’m pretty good at it.”
“Luna is really amazing. Even the most powerful monsters can be sliced and diced with her favorite string!”
Next to Lexia, who was puffing out her chest, Tito clenched her fist.
“I will also do my best as a disciple of the Claw Saint!”
“S-Saint! Are you talking about the Claw Saint who appears in fairy tales and is one of the most powerful Holy in the world?”
“Yes, that’s right! They’re not a fairy tale, they’re real, and Tito is the disciple! She’s very strong!”
“I’m still inexperienced, but I will do my best to protect Giselle-san! Don’t worry!”
The fact that the two were revealed one after the other made Giselle feel dizzy.
“A-amazing… so the three of you really saved three countries with just the three of you…?”
“Yes! In the Kingdom of Sahar, we defeated the legendary Chimera to stop the Prime Minister’s ambition to overthrow the country, and in the Romel Empire, we defeated a terrifying ice spirit that wielded a cursed blizzard! In the Lianxi Empire, together with the princess, we defeated the Tiger of the Seven Deadly Sins!”
“Eeeeehhhhhhh? I-it’s too amazing… at this rate, all three of you will become living legends…?”
While Giselle’s eyes glazed over, Lexia’s face cleared, and her chest heaved with relief.
“Phew, I feel so much better now that I’ve said it all!”
“You wanted to tell me so much?”
“I was uncomfortable because I felt like I was keeping a secret from Giselle all this time.”
“Fufu, that’s very typical of Lexia-san.”
Giselle looked around in shock at Lexia and the others.
“A princess, an amazing assassin, and a disciple of the Claw Saint…! I knew you all were no ordinary girls, but I had no idea you were such an amazing person…!”
She pressed her trembling hands together and nodded her head as if she was prepared for anything.
“I have never used the spirit arts to fight before, but… I’ll do my best to help you in any way I can! Thank you again for your help!”
“That is very reassuring! I look forward to working with you as well!”
Lexia stood up and pointed to the jungle in the distance in the dark of the night.
“Alright, tomorrow we will go to the ruins in the jungle to look for clues to stop the eruption! So── tonight we’ll have a girl talk until morning!”
“Why?”
“Why don’t we just rest and get ready for tomorrow?”
“Well, it’s a sleepover. A sleepover always involves girl talk. Right, Giselle?”
“T-that’s right! I’ve never had a sleepover with friends like this before…”
“Well, let’s make it even more memorable! Let’s talk a lot tonight!”
So, the four of them spent a lively night together.
＊＊＊
After the four of them had enjoyed the food provided by the villagers and had finished bathing, they gathered in front of the big bed.
“Then we will all sleep together! Yeeyy!”
“Kyaaa!”
Lexia jumped into bed with Giselle in her arms.
“Well, the best part of girl talk is talking about love, right?”
“Hah. Lexia, don’t you want to get ready for tomorrow? Let’s not stay up late and go to bed early.”
“Ara, I can talk about Yuuya-sama’s charms all night long, but Luna doesn’t have to join in?”
“Kuh…? I-I can also talk about Yuuya all night long…!”
“Hehehe, I’m so glad I get to sleep with Giselle-san!”
“Me too. I’ve been sleeping alone for so long, it’s kind of weird.”
The four of them cuddled up and talked about all sorts of things.
Giselle’s eyes closed as she felt the warmth of Lexia and the others.
“I feel like it’s all a lie. Ever since I was little, I lived my life thinking that it was my destiny to be sacrificed one day… and I never thought of resisting my fate. But being with Lexia-san and the others gives me courage.”
“They say that all the time! There’s nothing to be afraid of with us!”
“Well, when it comes to fearlessness, Lexia is up there with the best.”
“What, Luna, are you calling me fearless?”
“Yes, you are.”
“Really?”
“Don’t worry, Giselle-san! I’m going to blow all your worries away, don’t worry!”
Giselle sighed and closed her eyes.
“It’s strange. I haven’t slept much lately, but… I think I’ll sleep better tonight.”
“Yes… good night, Giselle.”
The sea breeze was warm as it streamed in through the open window, and the moonlight reflected off the shimmering surface of the water.
With the soft sound of the waves as a lullaby, the four of them spent the night.