3
Library. Archive.
“Looks like everyone is here.”
I gave RuiRui・Maria・Charo-senpai and Leon a seat and started talking while standing.
“What’s gotten into you all of sudden Raika? You even made us skip class.”
“Aren’t we supposed to keep an eye on the inside of the school until the night Osiris made her move?”
Ruirui and Leon enquired respectively.
“Change of plans.”
I get straight to the point and cut them off.
“With the current situation, we can’t rely on Leon’s skills to pursue Osiris. Therefore, we will do the opposite and make her appear before us.”
“How?”
“By finding Osiris’ 「Regalia」.”
Everyone opened their wide upon hearing that.
“Her 「Regalia」 is the thing supporting her perfect strategy. That’s the only thing she will probably try and protect. Let’s hit there.”
“But to go and find it…..do you have any clue as to how? No one has ever seen what Osiris’ 「Regalia」 looks like right?”
Ruirui points out the most important detail.
We have confirmed Osiris’ death and then her revival.
However, no one has seen the 「Regalia」 that revived her.
But.
“Even if we didn’t see it, I got a clue.”
“Oh, and that is?”
“The coffin.”
I declared.
“In mythology, Osiris’ brother Set* held a grand party, trapped Osiris in the casket that he prepared and threw it into the Nile* and drowned. Subsequently, he was resurrected.”
I took a breathe and continued.
“It was deeply involved with Osiris’ own 「death」. When the 「body = mummy」 of the king’s resurrection is achieved, the most important thing to remember in Egyptian Mythology・ Religious view is the 「True Name」― and that’s the coffin.”
“….’
“If her 「Regalia」 is a motif of her resurrection after death, then I can’t think of anything else other than the coffin. Do you have any objection Ruirui?”
“None, besides I’m not familiar with other mythology.”
Ruirui raised and waved her hands.
“If Raika-kun says so, then it have to be true isn’t it?”
“As expected of Raika-san!”
Maria shouted in excitement.
“So where is that coffin?”
Charo-senpai asked with anticipating eyes.
That expectation just made my mouth a little heavier.
However, I opened my mouth.
“Unfortunately I can’t say for certain. As for search itself, we have no choice but to do it single-mindedly.”
“….The entire island?”
“Eh, but there only two days till a full moon.”
Ruirui screamed.
“Erm…..is it possible to ask for help from Ruirui-san’s dead spirits?”
Charo-senpai timidly asked Ruirui.
“That’s impossible. Unlike Brynhildr and I, their spirits were taken down above ground. So their range of activity are limited to the field that displaced the war sprits palace.”
“Ah, so that’s why.”
“But isn’t it impossible for us to search the entire island anyways?”
Ruirui said so and shot a glance at me.
“Yeah, that’s right. So let’s narrow down our range.”
“Narrow it? You mean like around the north dormitory where Osiris lives?”
“No……”
I shook my head.
“I believe in Egypt, the land of the dead is the place where the sun sets. In other words, it’s in the 『west』.”
The land of the dead, namely the underworld.
“The pyramid, which are the royal tombs were all built to the west of the Nile river. In other words, the approximate cardinal direction for the souls of the dead returned to the body and rebirth is to the west of the island. So I suspect it’s at the west district.”
“That’s why Osiris’ coffin should be in the west ward too?”
“Most likely.”
“Hmmm.”
Ruirui was somewhat skeptical at first but nodded for the time being as if she agreed.
TL: Set also known as Seth and Suetekh, was the Egyptian god of war, chaos, and storms, brother of Osiris, Isis, and Horus the Elder, uncle to Horus the Younger, and brother-husband to Nephthys.
“Since the manhunt is a test of strength, I’ll have Charo-senpai switch over with Brynhildr. If you need more manpower, Maria will join the search too. After that……..”
Deciding that the discussion has concluded, I give instructions to everyone.
But at that moment,
“Raika-kun, can I ask you something?”
Leon raised his hand and asked.
“Are we going to look for this coffin from now on?”
“Ah, only two days left. Sorry but you going to have to skip class.”
“Yeah. That’s not a problem. But.”
Leon looked me in my eye.
“While we are finding the coffin, what will Osiris do?”
“….”
I felt my body petrified for a moment.
But I didn’t express it on the surface.
When making a decision, one can’t show discomposure to others.
Master had said so.
I think that he is right.
Especially when there is callousness following such decision-
“I said it before, you can’t defeat Osiris by pursing her directly.”
“But if we left Osiris alone, she will kill as she pleases. We might be able to saved some if we give chase!”
“Nevertheless, we are doing it.”
That’s right.
To go searching for the coffin means to let Osiris run about.
She will probably go around and kill students as she likes.
She will probably kill many.
However,
Osiris needs forty-two sacrifices. Even if we leave her alone, the number of victims won’t change.
“That doesn’t mean we can just let them to die!”
Leon kicks the chair and stood up.
Grabbing my chest, he slammed it against an aluminum shelf filled with books.
“If you die, if you’re killed, that’s it…..”
Leon said it as he was enduring the agony.
He still remembers the Mythical war from ten years ago.
It’s the same with me, but he has anterograde amnesia*.
His memory has stopped ten years ago.
In other words, the ghastly memory of that Mythical war is still a 「yesterday」 incident for him.
Previously……when he was standing by in my room, Leon declined to take a power nap.
Apparently he had a nightmare and woke up screaming.
It’s not hard to imagine that the nightmare was adorned with death and dread.
Perhaps he might be more sensitive towards death than I am.
That’s why he was pissed off with me for saying 「inevitable sacrifices」.
There is no way his 「righteousness」 would accept my proposal.
Nevertheless.
“If Osiris is not stopped and the Judgement of the Death is activated, everyone on this island will die. That must be stop at all cost.”
I grasped Leon’s fist tightly from above.
Stronger and stronger.
“Leon, we are in a situation where we have no enough manpower. We need your strength to not only search for the coffin, but to settle a score with Osiris.”
“…..”
We had a stare down and didn’t move for a while.
Charo-senpai was panicking at the edge of my vision but I still kept my eyes in him.
His expression has changed.
From rage to anguish.
From anguish to pain.
At the end, he gritted his teeth as if he was enduring everything.
“…..Okay.”
He muttered and nodded.
“….”
Sorry.
I didn’t said it out loud, but rather in my heart.
I’m sorry.
To let someone aiming to be a hero of justice to make such decision.
Because I’m inferior to Osiris.
I’m really sorry.
But right now, we have to act.
“Let’s go……to the west district and find Osiris’ coffin.
TL: Nile River flows north from the headwaters in Burundi to the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of 6,650 kilometers making it the longest river in the world. The shape of the Nile River Valley resembles a lotus flower, the ancient Egyptian symbol for the regeneration of life. The long, narrow river valley is the stem, the delta that spreads out in the shape of a triangle is the flower, and Fayyum Region is a bud.
TL: Anterograde amnesia is a condition in which a person is unable to create new memories after an amnesia-inducing event.
Eternal Kifune's Translations 