Published: August 3, 2025
“Ferdinand! Stop that immediately!”
At Sylvester’s angry shout, the high priest shouted back instantly, “Impossible!”
“Impossible?! If we’re attacked with that amount of mana, do you realize how much damage will be caused around us?! If they cross the boundary, that’s a declaration of war! At least buy us enough time to strengthen the boundary’s barrier!”
“It’s impossible to stop it, but I can redirect it.”
The high priest quietly said this as he steered the lion toward the Celestial Horse and looked at me.
“Myne! If you want to protect Fran and the others, pray to the wind!”
Hearing the high priest’s words, an image of the goddess of wind that Wilma had drawn appeared in my mind. At the same time, the notes I had compiled about the goddesses flashed through my head.
The goddess of wind, Shutzelia, is the goddess of autumn. She is the younger sister goddess of the goddess of earth and protects her from the goddess of life, who is chased away by the goddesses of spring and returns stronger. Until the harvest of life is complete, she continuously defends the earth goddess from the goddess of life, who comes with snow and ice, using the wind shield. Unlike the goddess of water, who blows away snow and ice, Shutzelia specializes in defense and protection.
...I absolutely must protect Fran and the others!
I glared fiercely at the line of carriages shrouded in black mist below and took a deep breath.
“Goddess of wind, Shutzelia, who governs protection, and the twelve goddess retainers who serve by your side—”
By praying to the goddess and calling her name, the mana swelling inside me gained direction. Instead of attacking, the power to protect precious things flowed from my entire body into my left arm and began to whirl.
“Myne, make sure you wrap it again over the god of darkness’s barrier so the mana isn’t consumed!”
Hearing Sylvester’s voice, I focused on the black mist below and nodded slightly. Thanks to the memorized prayers I had been made to learn for rituals, the words smoothly came out of my mouth.
“Hear my prayer, grant me your holy power, keep those with ill intentions away, wind shield—into my hand.”
Among the stones in the bracelet I borrowed from the high priest, the yellow mana stone, which is Shutzelia’s noble color, shone especially brightly. The mana surged out as a bright light and flew straight toward the carriages.
Following Sylvester’s instructions, I imagined the wind shield as a large dome-shaped bowl covering the mist without touching the black barrier. The mana moved just as I pictured inside my mind.
With a sharp, high-pitched sound, a round dome formed. From above, it looked as if the carriage was trapped within a dome carved like a large amber shield divine relic, along with the black mist.
“Uoooooh!”
The men rushing forward with weapons in hand didn’t seem to notice the new barrier formed before them, or perhaps their momentum was too strong to stop—they charged straight in with loud shouts.
The moment the front touched the barrier, a fierce gust of wind blew the men away all at once.
“Whoa!?”
“What’s that? What’s going on?!”
Some fell like dominoes, others were blown several meters away. They stared confused at the wind shield, clearly not understanding what had just happened.
“...Impressive.”
Karlstedt, who had his eyes slightly wide open, looked at the scene below and said so. His feelings toward the divine shield protecting Fran and Rosina were the same as mine.
“Right?! Karlstedt-sama, you think so too, don’t you? As expected of Shutzelia’s shield! Let us pray to the god who protected Fran and Rosina!”
“You don’t need to pray any further!”
Just as I got excited by the shield’s unexpected power and raised my hand enthusiastically, Sylvester scolded me.
...But since I borrowed power from the gods, isn’t prayer and gratitude necessary?
I closed my mouth and looked down. I saw the men readying their weapons and charging once more. The same strong wind blew fiercely again, blowing them away and scattering those nearby. After several gusts, no one dared to charge anymore.