Editing Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden:Volume 6 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 2===

The cold passageway returned to silence.

Ymy walked alone on the dim floor which was lit only by a faint night-light within the frozen air.

Floor 22 of the tower.

She did nothing but continue deeper into that floor which was a gigantic general medical facility.

Past the giant lobby was A ward which was for emergency outpatients.

Continuing further past that was B ward which was for treating heavily injured patients that had to be admitted.

Further past that was C ward was for treating those with serious, life-threatening conditions.

“…………Okay.”

In front of the steel doors that filled her vision, Ymy nodded largely with the intention of spurring herself on.

There was something carved on the door which shined dark grey ── a formal carved seal that gave off bluish white light. The last ward, D ward, which was isolated by shinryoku-infused doors lay beyond here.

“…………”

She placed her hand to the sensor at the side of the door.

It happened soon after the faint shinryoku wavelength from her fingertips was read by a specialized device.

“''Confirmation……regular link with the Shinryoku Theory Bureau……comparing……shinryoku waveform match…………confirming……identified as the fifth Priestess, Ymy Ele Soufflenictole.''“

The doors opened in both directions with a stately sound.

…………

…………This is that kind of place.

Ceiling, floor, corridor.

There were formal carved seals applied to all of those. In the past, all the apprentice Priestesses had finished these by carving their shinryoku into the surfaces.

If not for that, it would be impossible to shelter patients contaminated with mateki. At any rate, if a normal person were to touch a patient contaminated with mateki, they would be infected with the same mateki at that moment.

“……Umm.”

She had last come here over half a year ago. Ever since she’d tasted her first setback as the Baptism Priestess, it had become a place she did not wish to visit on her own accord.

“D09, this is it.”

She confirmed the room’s name many times and timidly opened the door.

A pure white room ── the room’s ceiling, floor and walls were painted completely in white. A single boy continued to sleep there while attached to an artificial breathing apparatus. It was a small boy who was not even ten yet.

“Good……morning.”

There was no way a response would come. This boy had not opened his eyes even once since he was trapped in an eternal coma due to powerful mateki.

“……Sorry……the truth is, I wanted to come earlier.”

She might have been able to visit during the breaks between Priestess training. But she couldn’t. It would be miserable……she knew that her heart would only sink if she were to visit when she couldn’t cure him of his mateki.

“? Huh, the vase……”

A vase of azure glass sat by the window side which had its white curtains fluttering. In it was a single flower.

……There was nothing like this the last time I visited.

Civilians were strictly forbidden from entering D ward. Even family were rarely allowed to meet the patient face-to-face. Then who exactly put this flower──

“Does it not suit me?”

“!”

She turned around in a panic at the voice of the person who dropped by without a hint that she was there.

“……Horn-san.”

“I was wondering who would visit other than me.”

The blinder-wearing Sennenshi leaned against the wall with her arms folded.

“What is this? Are you trying to atone?”

“…………”

“If you have no business, then leave. You probably haven’t come to say anything to Tessha.”

…………

…………That’s right, that might be true right now.

Holding her breath, she forced her words of rebuttal back down.

“You look like you want to say something.”

“I won’t speak it.”

Turning her back on Horn, she faced the door.

There’s no meaning in telling her that I know that. That wouldn’t be enough to regain her lost confidence in me, nor would it cause this child to awaken.

“I will convey it to this child with my shinryoku……it will definitely be conveyed.”

 

In that room after the fifth Priestess left.

“…………What a joke.”

Biting down on the corner of her lip, Horn muttered that with disdain.

“……A dream……hope is not something you should put into words so lightly.”

As great as the sadness when hope is crushed and as deep as the despair when a dream is lost. In truth, not a single Priestess had been able to purify the mateki of this boy who continued to sleep.

……That’s right: they can’t.

It was mateki that had beaten her sister Viola and even the first Priestess, Elmeetia.

“──Tessha.”

She placed a hand to the forehead of the boy who continued to have his eyelids shut. She would not be able to touch him either if not for her Guard formal wear.

“Wait for me, I will definitely save you.”

She would find the Yuugenshu that commanded this mateki and subjugate it. She would find it even if it took months or years, and even if she had to traverse from one end of {{furigana|the floating continent|Orbie Clar}} to the other.

“…………It’s time.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall near the ceiling.

“Well then, Tessha, I’ll be going to the orphanage. I’ll make sure to greet everyone on your behalf as well.”

Horn gently held the boy’s hand then left the room.