8. Going Home?

The next day, we were to board a carriage and return to Chronowize.

“Unlike how you came, I’m not gonna be able to escort you to the border. I apologize.”

“You’ve got a lot on your plate now that you’re Emperor again. Don’t worry about it.”

While Lord Royz and Lord Glen spoke, an argument was breaking out between Rene the bright red bird and Ele the silver kitten.

«Why won’t you meet with the Proxy?»

«We were never contracted, so I do not know where she is.»

«Now that you mention it, you were forced back to the Spirit World automatically when the Origin Tree began to burn, weren’t you?» Rene said, nodding to herself. «The Proxy had continued living in the manor near the Origin Tree after it turned to ash. She might still be there.»

«Not one person told me that back in the Spirit World!»

«We were all under the impression you knew,» she laughed. «Then you must not know about the barrier raised around the Demonic Forest either, do you?»

«No, I do not. Tell me in detail.»

«I’ve got no choice, have I? Once the Origin Spirit Tree burned, the Proxy said that She would like to live in peace, and asked for a barrier to be raised!» the Spirit said, raising her wings happily. «The Proxy rarely ever asked for anything, so the other three Great Spirits and I fought over who could raise the best one!»

Hearing the Spirit’s conversation, Lord Glen and Lord Royz stopped their own, listening in.

«That’s why you would need to call one of the other Great Spirits to dispel the barrier if you go to see Her.» After saying that, she realized she was being watched, and screamed. «Whatever the case, go see Her and clear up your misunderstanding!»

The bird-form Spirit then flew up high into the sky. Though Ele heaved a great sigh, he didn’t try to follow her.

“What did she mean by ‘misunderstanding’?” I tried asking, but he only shook his head, staying silent.

Once we boarded the carriage and headed out, most of the scenery we passed was dried-up land. It made me feel awful. The miasma would all be absorbed by the Sky Lilies in a few years, but what would happen to the rest of the land?

I looked between the view from the window down to my lap as I worried... After doing that a few times, Lord Glen spoke up from his spot across from me.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking if you don’t put it into words. What’s on your mind, and what do you want to do?”

Hesitating for a moment, I finally said what I’d thought many times since we’d arrived, “I’d like to make some seeds for the people suffering from the famine to use for food...”

He gave me a slightly strained smile before patting me on the head. I could see Miss Micah’s eyes also sparkling beside me.

“What kind of seed would you make~?”

“Pumpkin.”

The moment I said that, her tail started wagging. “Even the skin is edible, and they’re full of nutrients! If you simmer them into a soup, then even little kids can eat them~! That’d be great~!”

“It’s also good how you can even eat the insides of the seeds.”

“They’re delicious when lightly roasted~!”

“Every seed you make sprouts and grows. If the seeds are edible too, the chance of them growing out of control is low. And if it’s a common type of seed, it probably wouldn’t have any great influence. That should be fine.”

With a small smile, I said, “I’d thought you would tell me not to. Thank you.”

After saying that, I made as many pumpkin seeds as I could without tiring myself out. Using my bracelet, I stored the seeds I made in the Spirit World.

We decided to plant them at the rest stops along the way. Though they were used for letting the horses rest now, they had been used as nonaggression grounds in the past, where the beastmen fighting between themselves weren’t allowed to fight. Even today, it was an unspoken rule that battles were forbidden there.

“Before the famine hit, the rest stops had different fruits growing every season~ Since everyone was allowed to eat what grew there, they’d be the best places place to plant the pumpkins~”

A while later, it was decided we’d take a break for the horses. There was a river flowing near the rest stop, but there was absolutely no greenery. Even the trees were dead and leafless.

“The edge of the rest stop is over there~” Miss Micah said, pointing. The three of us walked over to where she’d said.

“Please give me back three pumpkin seeds,” I whispered, just for them to pop back out of storage. I caught them before they fell and gave one each to both Lord Glen and Miss Micah. Lord Glen nodded, while the foxwoman wagged her tail. We all stuck our seeds in cracks in the dry ground.

“Please, let this help the people suffering from the famine...” I grasped my hands together, praying to the earth gods. As I did, the seeds sprouted—vines stretching out around them.

“These are gonna be fully grown pretty fast.”

He was right, because there were full grown pumpkins by the time we left. Miss Micah picked one up before hopping in the carriage.

Afterwards, we planted pumpkins every time we stopped to rest, and Miss Micah showed off the fully grown pumpkin in the inns we stayed at. The next day, people would head to the rest stops and share the pumpkins with each other. I saw it happening a few times.

News of the rest stop pumpkin fields had also reached the capital, according to the letter I got from Rene through my bracelet. She also attached a letter to Lord Glen from Lord Royz.

“He’s officially requesting for the Kingdom of Chronowize to send food to help with the famine. I’ve gotta get back to the royal capital ASAP to tell my brother...” muttered Lord Glen.

＋＋＋

Ten days had passed since we’d left Lord Royz and Rene, and we were another three days from the border when the incident occurred.

We had planted the pumpkin seeds and were chatting with the knights and soldiers who were accompanying us when a man dressed in all black appeared out of nowhere.

But there hadn’t been anyone walking around, had there...? The knights and soldiers must have been thinking the same thing, because they immediately went on the alert.

When I looked at the man suspiciously, our eyes met.

“...I’VE FOUND YOUUUUUUU!” he screeched, as his face morphed into a terrifying smile.

Lord Glen quickly stood up from where he was sitting and moved between the man and I, blocking me from view.

“Ahh... Our Lady, the Proxy! I’ve found the girl that You said You would never forgive! If I get rid of the girl, Your wish will come true! It will, won’t it?!”

Babbling nonsense, the man slammed something onto the ground. Whatever it was split, spitting out smoke.

“Ahh, with this, She will look at me! I don’t care what might happen, as long as She opens Her heart to me! Guhahahahah!!”

«Do not speak of the Proxy like that!» screamed Ele as the man cackled, returning to his Spirit form. His silver hair, long enough to brush the ground, was puffed out, and I could tell how angry he was.

“...Could you be the Spirit who betrayed Her?”

Ele’s eyes widened. “I did not betray her!”

“Yes, silver hair, silver eyes! Long hair, just as Her Lady the Proxy’s attendant said! I’ll have you and the girl disappear!” He screamed again, and the smoke cleared, leaving lots of huge scorpions around us.

I froze, eyes wide open in shock.

“What are monsters doing at the rest stop~!” Miss Micah yelled.

The soldiers and knights all drew their swords, getting ready to fight.

“Those are Sand Scorpions—they’re weak to water. They’ve got venom in their tails, but the rest of them is apparently delicious,” Lord Glen said, using his [Appraisal] Skill to tell us the monster’s traits. I thought I saw the soldier’s eyes flash when Lord Glen had called them ‘delicious.’

“Now! Go, my scorpions!”

At the man’s command, the Sand Scorpions came at us, hissing.

“Come, thunder!” Spirit Ele screamed, raining bolts down onto the scorpions. Thanks to that, their movements slowed. That was when the knights and soldiers started attacking.

“...Barrier.” A scorpion had slipped away from the rest to charge at me, and Lord Glen stopped it with magic.

Next, Miss Micah screamed, pulling cooking knives from her Item Box, “I’m gonna cook you up good!” She started chopping up the scorpions.

More Sand Scorpions appeared and charged at us from the opposite direction, and Lord Glen got them with magic, too. “...Water Bullet,” he cast, summoning small orbs of water to shoot through them.

Each one that fell was then butchered by Miss Micah, while the soldiers quickly set up a wood stove for cooking. The chef pulled a large cauldron from her Item Box, starting to boil the scorpion meat.

A little bit away, the knights had apprehended the man who summoned them, slapping a Mana Sealing Bracelet on his wrist.

“Now that I’m getting a good look at him, that guy is the very same fake fortune teller that tricked Lord Bearsley~” called out Miss Micah, still stirring her cauldron.

Lord Glen’s gaze moved to above the fake fortune teller’s head as he murmured, “Seems like it. Class: Swindler/Worshiper of the Proxy, Driven by Envy. Has a blessing called ‘Ash of the Spirit Tree of Origin.’ Everything matches what Royz told me.”

“What...?! You have Sage-level [Appraisal] too?!” The fake fortune teller’s eyes widened at Lord Glen’s words.

“Ash of the Spirit Tree of Origin’s effect is gaining the ability to teleport and transfer, and protection from the effects of the miasma. But he can’t use any of that now that his mana has been sealed.”

You could just hear the fake fortune teller’s teeth grinding as he listened.

While everyone was discussing what to do with the man, we all heard a loud sound from the sky. Looking up, there was a huge black snake-like thing flying up above.

“It’s Lord Royz~ He’s just a lot bigger than usual,” Miss Micah explained.

The Emperor was a few times larger than he’d been when he carried us in a carriage. When he noticed us, he slowly flew down. He shrunk as he descended, and changed to humanoid form upon landing.

“I rushed out when Rene told me somethin’ was up.”

I nodded at him, and then my bracelet suddenly started shaking before a red bird came flying out.

«Lady Chelsea, are you alright?» Rene asked, spreading her wings and enveloping me with them.

“Why are you here?”

«The Spirits in charge of your storage room told me that you were in danger.»

I looked down at my bracelet to see that it was glimmering. “It looked like you came out of my bracelet...”

«A Great Spirit like me can do that if we get serious. But it seems we weren’t needed,» she muttered, looking around.

While she and I were talking, Lord Royz was getting a detailed report from the soldiers on what happened. His brow furrowed and head tilted a few times as he listened. Once he’d heard everything, he looked over at the fake fortune teller.

“Eeek!” The man shrieked, unable to handle the dragonman’s gaze.

“We should hear the deets straight from the horse’s mouth. Micah, do it.”

“Oh, I gue-ess~”

Leaving the stirring to a nearby soldier, Miss Micah moved in front of the fake fortune teller. The man looked relieved when Lord Royz stepped back.

“Micah will now begin her [Interrogation]. Please answer in detail,” the foxwoman said in a very different tone than usual, staring straight at the fake fortune teller. “Why did you attack us?”

“Because the pink-haired girl is with you,” the man said before looking shocked. “W-Why did I...?” he muttered quietly.

“Why did you want to attack her?”

“Her Lady the Proxy, who we worship, saw her in a magic mirror and whispered ‘Unforgivable,’ so I sought to kill the girl.” The man started shaking.

Lord Royz gave a devilishly bold grin, explaining, “Hahaha... Micah’s got a Sage-level [Interrogation] Skill! When she uses it, the subject has to answer her questions. Hard to take, isn’t it?”

While he cackled, Miss Micah continued asking questions.

“Where is the Proxy?”

“She lives in a large manor at the center of the Demonic Forest with her male attendant and those who worship her.”

“Did she tell you to kill the girl?”

“No...”

“Then why did you try?”

“I thought that if I erased the girl She said She couldn’t forgive, the Proxy would become closer to me than Her attendant. That maybe...she would love me,” the fake fortune teller said, before bursting into tears. “Please, stop... Don’t expose my heart anymore!”

Lord Royz shook his head. Miss Micah heaved a big sigh before continuing her questioning.

“How did you get the Sand Scorpions?”

“The Proxy’s attendant gave them to me. I don’t know where he got them.”

“And how did you tame them?”

“By giving them their favorite food.”

“I end my [Interrogation] here,” Miss Micah said, nearly fainting immediately after.

Lord Royz caught her. “Out of mana, huh. Good job, Micah.”

“I’m not...completely out~” she replied weakly, back to her usual tone.

“Looks like [Interrogation] takes a lot of mana to use,” muttered Lord Glen, looking as if he had mixed feelings on it.

“I can get him to tell me the rest back at the castle.”

Though we still had questions, Lord Royz carried the man off to the imperial castle.

＋＋＋

That night, I thought about what had happened earlier today in my bed at the inn. While I was rolling around trying to sleep, Miss Micah whispered to me from the other bed, “Can you not sleep~?”

“...I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Oh, it’s fine~ Let’s have a bit of a chat, then,” she said, picking up her pillow and moving over to my bed. I’d never slept with anyone before, so I was surprised. “Lemme just wiggle in here~ We’ve gotta talk quietly, since it’s late. My bed is so far away, it’s better to talk like this~”

I nodded. She was right.

“So, what are you worrying about~?” she whispered, facing upwards.

I turned to do the same, and told her what I was thinking. “Back when the fake fortune teller attacked us with monsters, I didn’t do anything. I was just protected...”

Miss Micah nodded, urging me to continue.

“I was upset with myself for not being useful... You were amazing, fighting like that.”

“Oh, I wasn’t ‘fighting.’ Sand Scorpions are edible and delicious, so I just used my [Cooking] Skill to prepare them~”

Now that I thought back to it, she’d looked like she was butchering them more than anything.

“It’s not useful at all if you can’t eat the monster you’re battling. But once the fight is over, I cook something to cheer everyone up~ People behind-the-scenes are important too, you know~?”

I’ve never thought of anyone working behind-the-scenes...

“Is there something even I could do...?” I asked.

“Yep~!” she said, turning to look at me. “You can do anything with that Skill of yours~”

“Huh? With [Seed Creation]?”

“For example~ You could make a seed that creates a barrier only while it’s blooming~”

“That’s true... Since I can make anything I wish for...”

“Other than that, you could make one that flashes when you drop it on the ground, to blind your attacker~”

I turned on my side to look back at her. After that, we chatted for a while about possible seeds. With a single thought, I could make a seed that produces water, or turns into a cup, or even makes a bed. I really could make just about anything.

“We can talk to everyone and think up a blueprint in the morning once we get up~” Miss Micah said, before turning to look up again. “I’ve got a question for you though, Chelsea~”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever met the Proxy~?”

“Never,” I responded immediately.

“Hmmm...” she groaned. “It’s weird how she ‘can’t forgive’ you when she’s never met you before~”

“I really can’t think of why...”

“It’s really bothering me~ Enough that I wanna meet her and ask her directly~!”

In the end, we both fell asleep before we knew it, still not understanding anything about the Proxy.