Chapter 159 - 159. The Legacy of Okita Souji, and His Successor
After dinner, we returned to our room. Claire had expected Avera to pick her up, but today she said she would stay over in our room. She was fluttering her wings—probably nervous flapping. She usually restrained herself in front of merchants and customers, but around me, she’d started trying to “talk” by flapping her wings. I took it as affection, though it was disappointing that they all looked the same.
We said our goodbyes to Shizuka and Lini there.
I always wonder why Lini is so attached to Shizuka. Now that I think about it, her mother was a prostitute, wasn’t she? Maybe she sees something of her mother in her.
I bet she feels lonely. But I can’t think of the right words to say to her.
Still thinking about Lini, Fam murmured next to me, "Lord, may I stay by your side?"
"Like I said before, we'll always be together. No matter what."
"...Yes."
I took Fam’s hand.
"Let's hear about what happened to Fam," Cecily said with her arms crossed.
She explained that her village had been attacked by the Crimson Brigade, a group of mercenaries and bandits. She had been sold into slavery and ended up being bought by me on the road to Migul.
"How much did you pay for her?"
That was a tough question. Fam nodded at me.
"Five magic crystals."
"Doesn’t that seem low?"
"What do you mean?"
"Realistically, given her looks, she wouldn't go unsold. Even without you, Mash, someone would have bought her for a much higher price, right?"
"She was sick. When Mash met her in Richelle, she was skinny and on the verge of death. Without Mash, no one would have paid money for her, let alone bought her. He certainly didn’t have any ulterior motives back then."
Aira answered Cecily. I wanted her to stop being so prickly with her words. I realized she’d been the angriest of all.
"Being honest, I was scared that Fam would leave. If that was the case, I thought it would be better if Mash ran away with Fam so we could stay together. It was a spur-of-the-moment impulse, no planning at all!"
"I hate that you'd even think of running off somewhere!"
"I get it. Next time, I’ll definitely invite Aira too. If it won’t cause trouble, I’ll invite everyone."
When I nodded, she nodded back. Having Aira around was useful because she taught me about society.
"So, you met Chitch today, right?"
She finally got to the point.
"Yes. Chitch wants to rebuild the village. He asked for our help."
"He said that before. So?"
Cecily’s tone turned colder.
"I told him I would serve my lord."
"Seeing as Fam is looking for the villagers, why don’t other people join Mash instead? Like, say, a Black Panther warrior or something? There are tons of them, right?"
"...I don’t want that."
"Why not?"
"I don’t want to answer."
"Who said they would tell us everything they talked about after meeting Chitch?"
At Cecily’s words, Fam took a deep breath.
"Because... I love my lord very much. I don't want to leave your side."
"I see. Then I guess it can't be helped. So, did you tell Chitch who Mash is?"
"No, but he seemed to know. He also seemed to know about Mash's divine task."
"Meaning?"
"Apparently, it will be to liberate the former imperial capital from the Demon Kingdom. Since it's a dangerous task, he said he wants to cooperate when Mash invades. He also said to secretly reach out to dog-eared warriors."
"...Is that something Mash has to do? I have no intention of doing that."
I had no intention of sticking my neck into the conflict between nations. Using war to resolve a war between the Empire and the Demon Kingdom was insane. I couldn’t risk the lives of my party members.
"Besides, weren't the dog-eared race discriminated against by the Empire and forced to retreat to the mountains? There's no obligation to fight for the Empire!"
Whatever justice there was, there was no such thing. They could hate them if they wanted. And yet, both Fam and Chitch served humans as masters and fought alongside them. They wanted to increase their numbers to help them. They were being too soft-hearted.
"Regarding that, I spoke to the bishop of Heilong. May I explain?"
No surprise there. I nodded.
"This goes back to the later years of the Old Empire’s reign over this world. Due to repeated internal conflicts and changes in emperors, frequent famines, and incursions from border tribes that couldn't be suppressed, the empire began to crumble. In the east, the rise of the Demon Kingdom was also expanding its power."
"Sounds like an epic tale."
Still, it sounded similar to something I’d heard before. Our world also had an empire that met a similar fate.
"Forgive me for simplifying the story. Amidst these circumstances, the Old Empire split east and west. The ruler at the time was human. Both rulers acted in ways that benefited their own races. Especially the western ruler, who tried to transform into a human-dominated nation and began expelling other races from political circles. Many races were driven out of the western world."
"The current Empire is the remnant of the western Old Empire, isn’t it?"
"No. Afterward, the northeast was invaded by other tribes, leading to its collapse. This led to the unification of several smaller states, leading to the Western Kingdom and the current Empire."
"I see."
"Returning to the story of the Old Empire splitting east and west. The one who led the persecuted dog-eared race was Okita Souji."
"A hero summoned from another world, right?"
"His origin is unknown, but he is believed to have had three Divine Blessings."
"The Sacred Mirror, the Sword of the Gathering Clouds, and the Jeweled Divine String, huh?"
"That's correct..."
Maira widened her eyes in surprise and nodded. She’d also asked the bishop of Heilong about the three special skills that even the heroes summoned by Racshell didn’t have. She now knew that Mash and Mizuki were lacking in terms of qualifications. But that could wait.
"And so, there are various legends about what led up to that point, but I will skip over them. He created a city in the current location of Migul. Many other races that were driven out of the Empire also gathered there. That would have been the end of the story if it weren’t for what happened next."
Maira paused for a moment.
"When he discovered that iron ore could be mined in the eastern mountainous region, the eastern and western Old Empires sent their armies there. Somehow the city was able to defend itself, but the imperial army then invaded the mountainous region to directly control the mining area. At that time, hundreds of dog-eared people were inside the mountain for an investigation."
"Doesn't quite match what I imagined..."
The God of the End hadn’t appeared yet, and it was a dark story.
"Okita Souji went to the mountainous region to save them. However, he couldn't abandon the defense of the city. So, he entrusted his sword to his wife and went alone to the mountains."
"Wife?"
"Yes, she seems to have been living in the area where the city was founded."
"...Sounds like something I’ve heard before."
Mizuki said. I had something to compare it to as well, but I decided to listen to the rest of the story.
"The imperial soldiers were driven back by Okita Souji and the dog-eared people. But then, a powerful monster appeared. The dog-eared people believed that it was the God of the End. Okita Souji was defeated in battle against the monster. His attacks didn't work. What’s more, he was afflicted by the monster's curse. While he managed to descend from the mountain, he was never able to return to the city..."
"So, he lost even with his special skills? What happened to the monster?"
"Yes, according to the legend. After defeating Okita Souji, the monster disappeared without a trace."
"Was the monster a white boar?"
Mizuki interrupted.
"That's right."
Maira looked surprised and nodded.
"Then it really is a god? I think it’s the guardian god who cursed Fam."
"Do you think?"
"Probably. But I can't be sure."
I said to Maira, but in this world, a Cerberus might appear as a monster. It might have been inspired by my original world.
"'Migul is a kingdom of paradise'... Did he turn into a swan and fly away? Then, it's not Okita Souji but..."
Mizuki said. She was thinking the same thing as me.
"What do you mean?"
Fam asked Mizuki.
"It's nothing. There’s a poem about the country of Yamato. ‘Yamato is a kingdom of vastness, hills covered in row upon row of bamboo, a land with layered mountains.’"
Hills covered in row upon row of bamboo, a land with layered mountains—could that be replaced with a mix of many races? Though the poet was different, I felt that Okita Souji's ideal of creating a salad bowl of races was embedded within it.
"Apparently, the city of Migul was founded by his descendants as a city-state. The royal family is gone, but there is indeed a swan on the city's coat of arms."
I suddenly thought that it wasn't Migul but Okita's city, but there must have been twists and turns. Mash and Mizuki looked at each other. The otherworlder wanted to be Okita Souji, but all he managed to achieve was something similar to a certain hero.
"Thus, not all dog-eared people hate humans. And since Okita Souji was a hero summoned by Racshell, Racshell is a special god to them as well."
If that was the case, the city of Migul itself probably had deep faith in Racshell.
"The stories passed down among dog-eared people are a little different, but they are mostly the same," Fam nodded in agreement with Maira's account.
"So, what happened to the mine?"
"It wasn’t much to begin with. It dried up quickly."
Even so, the remaining dog-eared people stayed there. It was because it was a place Okita Souji protected. And Fam seemed to be a descendant of him.
"...I've gotten thoroughly confused, but so what about Chitch and Fam’s conversation?"
Cecily changed the subject for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yes. Chitch will now seriously search for the villagers. I will rejoin him after my lord fulfills his divine task."
"You want to rebuild the village too, huh?"
Fam nodded.
"Alright. Like I said before, we might gather information along the way. If we do, let's investigate together."
"Lord——"
"Please wait,"
Claire spoke up.
"Mash is gathering information on the Crimson Brigade, but does he plan to fight them?"
"...Yeah. Besides, I now have a goal. If we’re rebuilding the village, we need to make it a safe place to live. We need to wiped them out and make it clear to other thieves that raiding isn’t worth the cost."
"Lord, I don’t want that."
"No can do. I can’t let it go. But I can’t involve any of you. I’ll do it alone."
"That’s not allowed. I see the way Fam looked when he was carried to the church. And please don’t forget that I am one of your companions. Our anger, joy, and sorrow belong to all of us."
Maira said.
"If Mash feels that way, then..."
Mizuki muttered. But I knew she had a strong aversion to killing. It would be better not to take her, even if she got mad at me later.
"I’m going to magic school. But when the time comes, I’ll help. It’s unforgivable that the Crimson Brigade gets away with what they’ve done. But it’s not worth you getting hurt."
Cecily said. Aira nodded in agreement with her.
"That’s a problem. I can’t forgive the Crimson Brigade. But it’s not worth any of you getting hurt for it. If anyone is going to get hurt, I’ll forget my hatred."
"Fam, if we let them be, they’ll attack someone else. We have to stop them."
It was easy to say, but I just couldn’t forgive them.
"Once we arrive in Migul, we'll be able to get detailed information on the Crimson Brigade. Let's talk about it again then."
I said I’d talk about it again, but my mind was made up.
And the next problem was Cecily and Aira.
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