“Y-You’re… you’re alive?!”
That remark about how it seemed the Vermilion Bird would have to die, combined with the fact that—unlike the Adventurer—it had failed to return before the rift closed…
Naturally, they had assumed it was dead.
With no other apparent method available, they had simply concluded that it had burned away its entire body to stop the wolf.
[You really… don’t know much about “me,” do you?]
“I-I’m sorry…….”
[There’s no need to apologize.]
But to think it had actually survived.
The Inquisitor stared at the tiny, flickering Vermilion Bird and unconsciously extended a finger.
The sparrow-sized Vermilion Bird promptly perched on it, using her finger as a stand.
A strangely out-of-place sense of pride and faint emotion tugged at the corners of the Inquisitor’s lips.
[There are too many epithets for me to count… but among them is one especially straightforward name. Phoenix. The Undying Bird.]
“Undying…….”
[Of course, it doesn’t mean I literally can’t die. It’s just that as long as the essence of me… the ember of my flame remains, I can come back at any time. My range of regeneration is simply far greater than most others.]
“So what… as long as even a piece of your body remains, you can resurrect?”
In the meantime, Deathbringer—who had believed, because Daniel had told him so, that the Vermilion Bird had sacrificed itself—regained his composure and asked the question.
It was something the Inquisitor had wanted to ask as well.
[That’s roughly how you can think of it.]
“I-I see. But why are you talking differently……?”
[Ah… this…