♣May My Faith Be Eternal
♣May My Faith Be Eternal
THE liberated slaves were gathered up in Edesa Kura’s dance hall. They each had names and lives of their own. I felt really bad about referring to them in such a generalized way, but there were just too many of them. So…I kind of had to.
Now then…
“Um, who are you?” I asked a couple of odd guests.
“I’ve beennnnnn ordered by Master Rennnnge to defennnnd this castle,” said a pretty lady with long, verdant hair and silver eyes. “I’m Jiril, a dryad.”
“We are a mirage by the name of Fumia,” said another pretty woman with golden hair and eyes. “We shall…allow you to call us by our name. Hmmm…you are the Holy Woman’s father, are you not?”
“Y-Yes, I’m Marcus. A pleasure to meet you,” I belatedly introduced myself.
They both have legs… Which I guess means that, like Shinsen, they’re disguising their true forms. But they’re definitely Mythicals. It feels weird seeing all these fantastical races just show up like this.
“Innnnncidentally, where is Master Rennnnge?” Jiril the dryad asked, trilling her Ns for some reason.
“Th-That’s right! Hmmmm,” Fumia the mirage looked around. “We were called here by Master Renge. W-We must…greet him properly.”
“Y-Yes, we nnnnneed to greet him. It is important.”
…Yeah, it figures they came here for Renge. Between this and how the fairies in that Mythical inn were buzzing around him, I guess he’s attractive even by Mythical Beasts’ standards. Yeesh… I felt bad for them as they looked around, all fidgety, but…
“S-Sorry,” I said, maybe a bit too quickly. “Renge isn’t here right now. He’s off taking my daughter back to Rofola. I reckon he’s having dinner there, too.”
“Aw…” The two Mythicals looked heartbroken.
Shinsen walked up from behind me and stood by my side. As the two girls dropped their shoulders sadly, he chided them and told them, “You should at least try to hide your motives…”
“Isnnnnn’t it a shame, Miss Mirage?” Jiril asked. “We wennnnt to such lennnngths to pick the right clothes, but he’s nnnnnnot here…”
“Indeed,” Fumia nodded sadly. “We even had to curry favor with a mere human, only for Master Renge to not be here… My…this was a waste of energy if there ever was one!”
I snuck a glance at Shinsen, who simply stared back, as if to say, “Yeah, that’s just how they are.”
“We’ll leave the fort’s defenses to you,” Shinsen told them. “Once the Holy Woman is prepared, she’ll likely stay here for a while. I believe Master Renge will visit this place more often, then.”
“Really?!” the two of them asked as one.
“Yes. Master Renge and Master Revireus will serve as the Holy Woman’s direct guards. But I’m sure there are some things only women will be able to help her with. So, with that in mind…”
Shinsen turned his eyes to the dance hall. It was filled with all the former slaves, and we were there to choose some of them to help out with Rofola Lodge and find a couple of women who could help Tina with private matters. Of course, we’d be asking them what they wanted to do, and anyone who could help me would be welcome to join.
As the intermediary between the Mythical Beasts and the humans, my primary role was negotiating with De Marl. Hopefully, with De Marl’s help, we’d be able to share information with the demi-humans about the Sugula and the Kaguya with a will of its own.
But once the information spreads, it’s only a matter of time before people find out about Tina having the Stella’s power. And there’s a good chance people will try to take advantage of her somehow. After all, Renge and the other Mythicals say that the Stella’s bearer ought to be free to do as she pleases. They respect her freedom, and I know they’re determined to keep her safe.
I want the same thing. Tina should have the right to live as she pleases.
The knights of the different countries wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Tina after witnessing Renge’s power on the Caralius plains. But I could imagine some statesmen not understanding how dangerous he really was and still trying something. They’d probably even think of trying to take advantage of Renge and his entourage along with her, like some kind of package deal.
“Phew…”
That’s why we had to carefully pick people that could help me and take care of Tina, too. It’d prevent other countries from just waltzing on in here with their own people, and everyone in this fort knew just how fearsome Mythicals could be. They wouldn’t try anything stupid. Hopefully…
“Let’s start the interviews, then. Could you line up according to what you’d like to do going forward? We need people to work the fields here at Fort Deshmel, people to help us out personally, and people to help tend to an inn located in Rofola. Please form a separate line if you’d rather not do any of those things.”
“If you wish to help at Fort Deshmel, stannnnd in fronnnt of me,” Jiril said.
“If you want to help with Rofola Lodge, stand here,” Shinsen said.
“And if you want to do anything else, stand in front of us! We’ll hear your preferences!” Fumia said.
I was going to handpick the people who’d help Tina and me out. Just as I wondered how many people would even want to help with our personal matters, I found roughly twenty people lined up in front of me. A respectable number.
“Huh? Wait…you guys?!”
A group of four stood out to me in the line. An adventurer party I’d known for some ten years now. Aaron the young swordsman, the big sisterly ax-user Gina, the half-elf archaeologist Sirius, and Gina’s little sister, the prospective mage Mina…who now carried a spear on her back.
Six months ago, when I went to De Marl for Dirbleu’s funeral, I’d left the Rofola Lodge in their care. Why’re they among the liberated slaves?!
“Oh! Long time no see!”
“You say that, but it hasn’t been that long since we last saw him.”
“Ahahaha!” they laughed.
“Don’t just laugh it off! What’re you four doing here?”
“Well, you see…Mina…” Gina started.
“Yeah. Mina…” Aaron agreed.
“Indeed. Mina…” Sirius sighed.
“Ugh…” Mina hung her head.
“…Don’t tell me. You heard you could find Spherit Stones in Edesa Kuran forts and snuck in here…” I said wryly.
“How did you know?!”
“Really…?” I cradled my head in disbelief.
To use magic, humans need to either master the mana recovery technique or use a Spherit Stone as a substitute for the Spherits. Unlike skills, magic requires a great deal of mana. Only the Spherit Folk can create Spherit Stones, and Edesa Kura had wiped out their forest in Jiera thirteen years ago. This had made the remaining stones’ value skyrocket.
By now, you had to have a king’s fortune to buy one of them. Those who already possessed them refused to sell them off, no matter how pressed they were for coin. Even retired sorcerers preferred to pass it down to their descendants as a family treasure.
“You idiot…” I muttered darkly.
“Aah! But…I mean…!” Mina floundered, trying to defend her honor.
“We…tried to stop her, for what it’s worth?” Gina shrugged, somewhat embarrassed.
“We told her to give up and just settle for being a lance wielder,” Sirius sighed, exasperated.
“But she just wouldn’t hear it…” Aaron said. “In the end, we got captured, and they took our weapons. We were in real trouble back there, so that dragon really saved our hides.”
“Revireus?” I guessed.
I snuck a glance at Shinsen, whose expression remained unchanged. Or rather…I couldn’t really see it. His bangs covered half his face, so I could only see his mouth. Without Renge around, I couldn’t tell what went on in that mind of his.
“But I was surprised! I didn’t think you and Tina would be involved with the Mythicals!” Aaron exclaimed.
“Yeah, well…let’s just say fate works in mysterious ways.”
Renge was the Mythical Beast who’d left Tina with me thirteen years ago. He recently told me that he’d been on the way to Jiera to find a Spherit Folk compatible with the Stella, completely unaware of the fact they were in an all-out war for their very survival. He’d arrived too late. He’d picked Tina up along the way, left her with me, and only realized what’d happened when he finally arrived in Jiera…
Seeing Jiera’s ruins, Renge had thought the Spherit Folk were driven to extinction and had decided to look for a successor to the Stella among the demi-humans. But when the Stella resides within a human or a demi-human, it pollutes their mind and destroys their personality.
At the same time, he was investigating the different countries’ state of affairs, inspecting their leylines, and exterminating monsters… He’d been busy trying to delay the Sugula’s birth for the last thirteen years.
And yet…it’d been born just the same. And when it had been, he’d run into the baby he’d left with me thirteen years ago and realized she was the last surviving Spherit Folk.
“Is that person over there a Mythical in human form?” Sirius asked.
“Indeed. I am Shinsen, an orthrus.”
“My, my! A pleasure to meet you! My name is Sirius,” the half-elf introduced himself.
“Oh, right!” I interjected, suddenly remembering. “Shinsen, Sirius here is the current Elf of the Sun’s father.”
“Wh-Wh-Wh-What?!”
Shinsen stumbled over that three times.
“Hm? Did something happen with Shida?” Sirius asked me.
“Yeah. This is a good chance, actually. We’ve been wanting to ask Shida to help us.”
“You want to ask Shida for help…?” he scoffed. “That one only listens to requests from pretty girls…”
“Ugh…”
“See, this is why I can’t stand elves…” Shinsen whispered, not very softly.
Believe me, I feel the same way! You wouldn’t believe the sleazy things he said to Tina and Nakona!
“N-No, but you see, the world’s at stake here…” I continued, trying to ignore Shida’s rotten personality.
“Hm? What’s this about?” Sirius asked.
“The world is at stake?” Aaron stared at us.
Sirius is Shida’s father, after all. With this in mind, I took them aside and explained the situation. The black dot in the sky—the Sugula. A giant monster capable of growing large enough to swallow up all of Wisty Air. And how the only thing that could stop it was Tina’s new power. The Stella.
I told them everything Renge had told me. But…
“Swallow all of…” Aaron murmured.
“Wisty Air?! That’s absurd!” Mina cried.
“As a matter of fact, it nearly happened two thousand years ago,” Shinsen said bluntly. “Master Renge destroyed the Sugula, but that still wasn’t enough to stop the cataclysm. The Sugula rained down a dangerous material called the Kaguya onto the earth.”
“And that Kaguya thing can swallow up anything and take its shape,” I continued. “That’s why all the old civilizations disappeared and why it took the world a thousand years to rebuild.”
“……”
Sirius looked quite pale. He brought a gloved hand to his chin and patted it a few times, like he was calming himself. Right…he’s an archaeologist.
“It…devoured entire civilizations…?” he muttered, apparently stunned.
“You think it’s true, Sirius?” Aaron asked, a little dumbfounded.
“…I don’t much like to admit it, but it does seem to have some credibility to it,” he said. “There’s a temple dedicated to the Elf of the Sun in Forestria. And a ceiling painting there does depict a black dot in the sky getting bigger and bigger. It then depicts it being burnt by the Sun King and forming the second sun. While I’d imagine there are a few differences between the stories here, I think that was the way the elves passed down the Sugula’s story.”
“No way… So…that thing’s going to get big enough to swallow up the world?” Gina asked in disbelief.
“What’s going to happen to us…?” Mina whispered anxiously.
“We’re trying to stop that from happening,” I told them. “But Edesa Kura’s been taken over by this annoying monster… A Kaguya with a will of its own that’s trying to nurture and raise the Sugula.”
“Seriously?!” the party cried.
I explained how the man called Mephisto Gudil, who Renge had burned away in the Caralus plains, was in fact the one who’d created the Sugula… The Dwarf inside the Bottle. Or rather, a copy of it that’d taken over a human vessel.
Like its name implied, the Dwarf inside the Bottle was small in size—a tiny Kaguya with a mind of its own. No matter how many times it splinters off, it remains small, Renge had explained. It desires limbs of its own, and since it’s so small, it can enter people’s minds and take over them as its vessels.
It can consume and dominate everything.
It’s ironic, really. Edesa Kura, just like their god, claimed to be the master race. And now this happened to them…
“To do something about Edesa Kura,” I concluded, “all the races need to understand exactly what kind of enemy we’re up against. If we don’t, it’ll take advantage of our ignorance.”
“Take advantage of our ignorance?” pondered Sirius. “That sounds awfully dangerous. And you’re talking about this Kaguya with a will of its own, yes?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “That thing uses its words to wheedle its way into your mind to take over your body. Rejecting it is possible, though.”
“Huh? There’s a way to stop it from controlling you?! Tell me!” Gina implored.
“I wanna know too!” Mina nodded enthusiastically.
“It’s simple,” I said. “Simply assert that your body is your own. Doing so will make your soul reject the Kaguya. So long as it stays that small, your soul should be able to guard itself.”
Or so I’ve been told, I reflected. Renge said that the Kaguya that rained down after the Sugula’s destruction was too large to be rejected by sheer force of will. And it was so physically large that it’d crush you to death either way. But the Dwarf inside the Bottle is small, so your soul can protect itself.
A Kaguya is fundamentally a punishment, after all. A sinless soul won’t be punished. The issue is that this thing shakes people’s hearts using their own words and actions to force the punishment of itself on them. And knights like me, who kill people on the battlefield, can be especially susceptible to such a punishment.
And the only ones who have the right to kill me over my actions are the loved ones of the people I’ve killed.
And…
I silently looked down at my right hand and clenched my fingers. The right hand Tina gave me, to repay the favor of having raised her.
I’ve…taken far too many lives. And then I lost my family and the home I thought I belonged in. But Ma and Pa reaccepted me into the nest after I’d already left it. Tina became my new family. Nakona still sees me as her father. And now there’s Renémoné too, even though they’ve only been with us for six months.
Tina, if I hadn’t met you, I’d have been all alone after Ma and Pa died. So having you repay me…? I should be the one thanking you. You gave me so much. And now, I owe you this arm, too.
“Anyway…” I looked at the party, stifling a sniffle, “if we all remember this, it should minimize our future losses.”
By letting Tina heal my arm with the Stella…it felt like I’d been forgiven for my past failings. When that warm light enveloped me, it felt like all my sins were pardoned, and I’d been given some kind of divine redemption.
I will protect Tina. I’ll protect her, Nakona, and Renémoné with my life. And I’ll guard anyone who helps protect them, too. I’m sure that’s why I was given my right arm back.
“We will defeat Edesa Kura and stomp out this evil, strong-willed Kaguya,” I declared.
“So there’s a new war on the horizon?” Gina asked.
“Yeah, but it’ll be different from any other war waged before. All the races need to understand the threat and unite. We’ll be fighting a calamity that could end the world. It’ll devour anyone who lets down their guard and use them to multiply…”
“Indeed,” Shinsen nodded gravely. “It’ll just keep duplicating and expanding itself forever.”
“……”
Aaron and Mina fell silent. Gina’s expression was severe, and Sirius thoughtfully stroked his chin again. That monster can use the slightest opening to appear time and time again. It really is a horror.
“…So that’s the Kaguya with a will of its own…” Sirius said at last. “The Dwarf inside the Bottle… If being aware of its effects is enough to stave off its influence, then we really should tell everyone. However…”
“Huh? There’s more?!” Aaron said, a little whiny. “Why does there always have to be something more, Sirius?!”
“Even if we inform others, they’ll still present an opening to the Kaguya if they don’t truly understand,” the old half-elf said. “And not informing others properly will be meaningless… Yes, this’ll certainly be backbreaking work.”
“Right, and that’s why I need help. From all sorts of people,” I replied.
We don’t know where that thing could strike from. Or how many copies of it are out there. Renge said there was a main body, but the copies would remain even if you destroyed it, since they were already established individuals.
Races with a keen smell could sniff out its nasty odor and find its hiding places. Its scent—or presence, if you like—is quite strong, and most Mythicals can successfully identify it. In that regard, their assistance would be indispensable for us.
But if all races, be they human or demi-human, could be made aware and capable of rejecting it, this free-willed Kaguya would be rendered powerless.
“Everyone has to understand properly… Rumors will only end up spreading misinformation,” Aaron mused.
“Right,” Sirius nodded. “Spreading rumors is easy, but they can easily twist into misinformation. And a good banner for that—as much as I don’t like treating him as one—would certainly be Shida.”
“Hm?”
Sirius closed his eyes. I recognized his expression. It’s the face of a father. I felt a chill build up in the pit of my stomach.
“The problem,” Sirius pondered, “is whether we’ll be able to convince people to discard the gods they believe in.”
“……”
So that’s why I felt that chill. My faith in the Gods of De Marl. Was my faith in them all these years a mistake…? No.
“They…don’t have to discard their faith. They just need to believe in something more,” I concluded.
“Oho! Can they do that, though?” Sirius asked.
“Yes. Same as how I can believe in Tina…and in all of you.”