Teach her my skills….
It was not something I had never considered.
No, perhaps it might even be the best possible method.
After all, her talent as a Holy Maiden was unrivaled.
She possessed both the capacity to accept my very existence without issue and the genius to wield holy power more perfectly than anyone else.
Perhaps she might be more exceptional than even I was—no, more exceptional than the one who had first been bestowed the name Holy Maiden.
But this child could handle my power far too easily.
If control tilted even slightly toward me, she could use all of my power as a Star without any restrictions.
Then she would face no more hardships, no more worthy opponents, from now on.
All she would have to do was entrust her body to me, and she would be able to unleash all of my power.
But.
Was that truly the right path?
Could it truly be right to let her reach the stars so easily, without hardship or adversity?
When people speak of stars, do they not call them bright lamps hanging in the sky, illuminating the dark night?
Those who lose their way beneath the night sky inevitably rely upon such shining stars to find and follow their path.
Because stars always shine brightly, even amid darkness.
That is why people can look to their light and find their way.
But I do not think the true reason they can depend on and follow them is simply because stars are bright.
Because stars are exceedingly bright.
Yes.
They are exceedingly bright.
Bright enough that one can see nothing else.
Bright enough to make one cast aside one’s own thoughts and judgment, leaving no choice but to depend on them alone.
Bright enough to blind one with their light.
Stars are terribly hot and bright.
That is why stars hang in that unreachable night sky.
So they may offer signposts to those who have lost their way without blinding their eyes with that light.
That is a Star’s own consideration.
Thus, paradoxically, the reason a Star can become someone’s guidepost is because that Star hangs far away in the unreachable “night sky.”
But.
What if that dazzling Star were to descend very close by?
What if, instead of hanging in the night sky and brightly illuminating the way, that Star merely stood beside one human being, pouring its bright light in every direction?
What would happen then?
Would this child, blinded by that light, not eventually lose the path she ought to walk forever?
Dependent on me, casting aside every path she could have taken.
Would she not become intoxicated by the Star?
I am merely anxious.
■ ■■■! ■ ■■■!
Because, intoxicated by that light, I saw someone who threw away every path they could have walked and became like a doll.
Like that person.
I was afraid this child would become the same way.
"Holy Maiden?"
As I agonized over it alone, someone’s voice rang through one corner of my heart.
My vision went dark for a moment, and then Iris, the true owner of this body, appeared before me.
"Miss Iris."
It was not that I had no desire for it.
Who knew when such a miracle might come again? It might never come to me a second time in all my life.
Our story had already ended a very long time ago.
The ink left to spill had long run dry, and not even a blank page remained upon which to write a new story.
We were people long past, who had reached our ending, placed the final period, and been preserved as stars in the cold sky.
That was why we could never set foot upon the earth again, nor should we.
For a story already finished to forcibly tread upon the earth was to awaken from a dream into reality.
It was no more than plunging from an ideal into a miserable reality.
We must never touch the ground again, and we could not.
That was why borrowing someone’s body and setting foot upon this land once more was a miracle beyond miracles.
I could write a story again.
Not merely watch a story from afar, but become a character within it.
To interact fully with the protagonists of that story and write it onward.
To lift a pen with newly replenished ink and write a fresh story upon newly restored blank pages.
As my junior said, I could become a teacher who taught this child my skills.
Like a god from a machine, I could become an all-purpose solver who saw everyone through any crisis that came their way.
But.
It would be written through Iris’s body. It would not be my story.
In the end, it would only be a story written by borrowing Iris’s body.
That would not do.
The protagonist of this story had to be Iris.
It ought to be an entirely new story, not an extra chapter appended to a work that had already ended.
It was regrettable, but this was surely the right path.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Iris."
Even just once had been enough.
Even if this entire miracle was nothing but a bubble-like dream that would vanish emptily the moment I opened my eyes.
It was truly a joy to set foot upon the earth once again with a soul whose story had already ended.
It was truly wonderful to grasp once more that heavy flag, buried away in a faded story, and swing it freely to protect those precious to me….
Though all that brushed against my skin was rough dust, I was so glad to feel wind once again, and to speak with someone in my true voice, even through a borrowed body.
My junior had been rescued safely as well, so surely it was time for an old story to leave the stage.
"What is it? You sound as though you are about to leave somewhere."
I froze briefly at Iris’s sudden, piercing question.
But I soon smiled and shook my head.
"No, I am not leaving anywhere. I am merely going to sleep for a while."
I had some regrets, but I had no remorse.
Having set foot upon the earth even once was enough.
Even if my consciousness could no longer emerge outwardly.
Through your eyes, I would be able to watch this radiant world together with you forever.
"That is a lie."
The moment I tried to gloss it over and go to sleep, her voice struck mercilessly.
"What is a lie?"
"Ede used to make that same expression whenever she lied."
Seeing Iris speak with such a bright smile, the tension that had unknowingly settled over my face melted away.
Was it not right for me to quietly disappear like this?
"Ah, did I make that kind of expression?"
I had steeled myself in my own way, so if she pulled me back like this, it would be terribly embarrassing.
"Setting foot upon the earth is enough. Before I begin to harbor greater desires within myself… it would be better for me to quietly go to sleep like this."
"That is not what I mean, Holy Maiden."
Erasing the bright smile from her face, Iris firmly seized hold of me as she answered.
"Then…"
"I want to become a Holy Maiden like you."
…….
At her words, my mouth slowly fell shut.
■ ■■■! ■ ■■■!
At that moment, the eyes of that person—the one I had kept seeing—dug into my mind.
Was this child the same?
Had she, like that person, been blinded by the Star?
Perhaps she could not help it.
She could wield that kind of power without making any effort at all.
If I had been in her position, I might gladly have made the same choice.
Even so. That could not be allowed.
You have ink of your own.
Your own radiant ink, with which you can write a book that completely surpasses the stories of the past.
My stale old ink, from a story already finished, must not be mixed into it and muddy it.
"…If you are thinking of possessing me so that you can fight comfortably…"
"I do not need that."
Iris firmly shook her head, cutting off the Holy Maiden in the middle of her sentence.
"As Ian said, please teach me."
Teach her?
She placed a fist near the pit of her stomach and spoke again.
"I am weak."
She drew a breath before continuing.
"I have kept receiving Ian’s help, and he has saved my life twice."
Iris’s voice trembled faintly, and hot tears pooled in her sapphire-blue eyes before streaming down her cheeks.
"I have always lived receiving nothing but help from so many people, and even though I do not want to see anyone die before my eyes ever again…"
A sorrow as deep as the sea seeped into her voice.
"I could not stop Ede from throwing herself into danger. Not once, but twice."
"That is not your fault."
I had seen it as well.
When I watched Ian from my place among the stars in the sky.
Miss Haede threw herself at the lion once for Ian’s sake, and then once more against Arghalia just now.
I saw her throw herself into danger twice in total.
Ian wished only that you, Iris, would not grieve over Miss Haede’s death.
I, too, saw Ian clearly as he threw himself into danger to prevent your story from ending in tragedy.
But those were choices they made themselves.
They chose them simply because that was what they wished to do.
You did not push them into it.
So there is no need for you to blame yourself—
"Even so, I do not want to keep living while receiving help from others alone."
Sapphire eyes, clear and shining like the blue sea.
"Please help me become a proper Holy Maiden."
Wiping away her thick tears, Iris looked at me with a bright smile.
"That is the rent you must pay for settling into my mind as you pleased, Holy Maiden."
How bold.
At the sight of her holding out her hand and demanding it confidently, as though it were only natural—
"…Very well. If that is what you want, then I must pay that fair rent."
As though declaring my surrender, a soft chuckle escaped me.
Without realizing it, my lips curved into a smile.
Yes.
Because I was a Star.
I could not live someone else’s life in their stead, but perhaps it would be all right to guide someone, like a signpost illuminating the night road.
The Star might be too close, hot enough to blind her at times, but perhaps this child, with eyes that shone blue as the sea, could endure it nonetheless.
Of course, it might be nothing more than self-justification from one who could not cast aside her lingering attachment.
Thinking so, I held out my hand toward Iris.
"However, I will only teach you. I can no longer step in directly to help you as I did earlier. Is that all right?"
"But you will help me when I am truly in danger, right?"
Her brazen question made my eyes widen for a moment, but then a faint smile spread across my lips.
"Yes, well. If you are truly in danger, I shall step in."
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