Volume 3 Chapter 39 ACT.74 Leone／Origin (Ⅱ)
There are 3 grand festivals deeply rooted in this country by the Holy Church.
The "Creation Festival" to celebrate the beginning of the new year during the heart of winter, the "Starbirth Festival" to honor the birth of Saint Stella at the end of summer.
And then there's the "Exile Festival" held at the start of spring.
It's the day the Holy Church's main goddess is said to have banished the male god, a fragment of creation, from this world.
"──So, today's a festival because the bad god is gone, right?"
"Hmph."
With the slanting light of the crimson sun at their backs, the two discussed such matters on their way home.
"Abel, you know everything, don't you?"
"Nope, I just saw it in a picture book at home."
Suddenly praised by his sister, Abel shyly hung his head.
He had spent all his pocket money on seeing, eating, and experiencing all sorts of things.
Wrapped in a sense of fulfillment, Leone half-listened to her brother's chatter as she walked beside him.
"Ah, let's take a shortcut, the alleyway!"
"Huh, sis?"
In a whimsical mood, she tugged at his hand and steered him towards the backstreets.
"I found this secret path last time! I'll show you, Abel!"
It was an act of innocent goodwill.
She wanted to share the secret alley she had discovered herself with her little brother, an adorably youthful gesture.
And because of her youth, she still hadn't quite grasped the difference between them.
Clip-clop, she led him through the maze-like, complex alleys.
"Oh, sis!?"
As the red slanting sun gradually grew distant, Abel felt a twinge of fear.
Unperturbed, she continued on.
"Just down this, and we're home in a flash."
Before them lay a narrow staircase.
The space nestled between buildings was a gloomy place where sunlight never reached throughout the day.
The unique stench of dampness and mold wafted into Abel's nostrils.
"C'mon, take it slow?"
The dark, wet steps could be slippery, and the cautious Abel advised his sister to be careful.
"It's fine, it's not that dangerous────"
Leone had walked this path many times before, so was it carelessness, or was she trying to impress her brother, or was it just her mind being light after playtime?
In front of Abel, she slipped.
"Big sis──!"
Startled, she froze, her body about to tumble down the stairs, when she heard her brother's cry.
────────────────, ─────.
When Leone came to, she felt the cold ground against her body.
The damp sensation on her cheek told her she was lying down.
"──Ah, Abel!?"
A beat later, she realized she had fallen down the stairs and scrambled to sit up.
The voice of her brother she heard before she passed out was what stirred her anxiety.
In the dimly lit alleyway, she opened her eyes and searched for him.
"N-No"
She found him right away.
He was lying face down, halfway down the stairs.
...And from his head, a horrifying amount of blood was flowing.
"Nooooooooo!?"
Facing the unbearable truth, Leone screamed.
Her legs gave way, unable to stand at the sight before her, but she crawled towards her brother.
As she lifted him, a large, deep gash on his forehead came into view──even to a young girl like her, it was clearly a fatal wound.
"No, Papa, Mama, help! Someone, please help!"
But no one came to help.
No one knew children were in this maze of alleys.
Leone's cry was lost in the bustle of the festival.
"Someone, help, please, *God*!"
It was the day the Goddess of Hope and Order banished the God of Truth and Chaos.
Perhaps that's why.
At that moment, her desperate plea reached the Gods.
"──Eh?"
──But the one who heard her *was not* the Goddess of Hope and Order.
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