An Angel's Wings Are the Source of His Power

"…I'm truly sorry…!"

Vihal was still holding the hand, apologizing with a serious face, and the angel seemed to be overawed by it—he wrenched his hand away all at once and said,

"Next time… if you fail again, I'm taking a feather off your back!"

An angel's wings are the source of his power.

An angel's feather, it is said, brings good fortune to the one who receives it, and lowers the luck and the life-force of the one who gives it away.

Unless something extraordinary happens, a feather does not simply fall out; and to pluck one deliberately is said to hurt so much that it knocks the angel out cold, and to strain the body badly besides.

"Th—that's… not something I can decide on my own…"

Long ago, it seemed, there had been a High Angel who gave away too many feathers and vanished; and those who governed the angels, taking that affair seriously, had laid down a rule: *the private transfer of feathers is forbidden.*

"I'll put it up in the Division room! That way, if you go and fail at something again, at least our lot will suffer a little less for it…!"

"…!…"

When Vihal understood that the angel had said this not only for his own sake but for his colleagues', he could not find anything to say.

And then—

"Whaaat are you doing over here! Transfers of feathers are forbidden, you know—openly, at least?"

Behind Vihal, past the crowd where the Planning Division lot were gathered, Edwin came walking in, his own work finished.

"Out of the way, out of the way! We've got another shift to get to, haven't we, Vihal!"

Edwin shouldered his way through the crowd without apology and came running up delighted—but when he saw Vihal soaked through, his expression darkened.

"Did you… did they throw water on you…?"

Vihal lowered his eyes once and nodded faintly—but at once he looked Edwin in the eye and said,

"…It's the same as if I'd poured it on myself!

If I hadn't failed like that, they wouldn't have done this, would they?

So this is water I brought on myself…!"

At those words, everyone standing there looked at Vihal with wide eyes.

"You…"

*Honestly, what am I going to do with you…* Edwin muttered under his breath, then glanced at the Planning Division lot.

"You lot too—the water here in Heaven is sacred water. Down on the earth it's precious, hardly ever to be had. Don't waste it on something like this."

And then he snapped the fingers of his right hand—and a wind came from somewhere and wrapped itself around Vihal in a spiral.

It was like a spring wind, soft and light and sweet-scented… and when the wind had passed, what remained was Vihal, entirely dry, smelling faintly of flowers.

"…That's amazing…! That's a Mid Angel's power, isn't it…?!

Edwin, when did you learn to do that…?"

"It's thanks to everyone. They relied on me and left the finishing to me, and by helping finish so many skies, my rank came up."

He said it with a wry smile, then turned on his heel toward the Planning Division crowd and said,

"Well, here it is. You all know I was a disaster my first year, don't you? So give him a little more time, would you? I'll guarantee him.

This one's going to be better than me!"

*Well, if Edwin says so*—and with that, the Planning Division angels went off to get their lunch or to their seats, one after another.

"Phew… Honestly, I wish those lot would look at things with a bit more patience. Their division and ours do different work, and we practice and study in different ways. And the pace of growth differs from person to person besides."

He put both hands on his hips and said it with a touch of exasperation.

"Anyway, are you done eating? If you like, have some dessert with me! It's on me.

We've got to top up on sugar properly and get ready for the afternoon shift!"

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