Chapter 78 - Akizuki Uta and Her Companion in Slumber
Back at the church, we followed the priest down to the tomb of the hero from a hundred years ago, located deep in the basement. Our group consisted of the priest leading the way with a lantern, every member of Levante, Karpana, Hyakka, and Chihiro.
The underground was not completely dark. Small, glowing stones were embedded in the corridor walls at regular intervals, casting a faint, eerie light that only amplified the unsettling atmosphere.
The hero's tomb was apparently on the lowest level, with the church having been built directly on top of it.
I walked up alongside Karpana.
"So, what did you think of Chihiro?" I whispered to her.
"Yes. I think he is a wonderful person. However, he seems a little too young for me."
Picky, aren't we, I thought, but I didn't say it out loud.
"I see. There are only six people left who were summoned by the Five Pillars of Genesis. I wonder how many of them are men…"
Personally, I was hoping they'd all be beautiful girls.
"Mash-sama. I have come to think that I would like you to be my first. How would you feel about bestowing me upon another after I have conceived your child?"
"What kind of person do you think I am? I'm not that important, nobody would be happy about that, and both of us would just end up being resented."
"Is that so? I believe there would be many who would rejoice at having a child who carries Mash-sama's blood," she replied. It seemed she was serious, but I had to wonder if she was sane.
"Besides, once would be the end of it. I would never hand you over to another man."
"I-Is that so…? But you have entered into relationships with many people in the mere month or so you have been in this world. If you continue to increase your lovers at this pace, will it not become quite problematic?"
She had a point; I had gotten a bit carried away. I remembered Mizuki asking if she and Fam weren't enough for me.
"You don't love me yet, do you?"
"To be honest, I cannot forget what you did for me, nor the act between you and Racshell-sama. I, too, wish to be pierced by you, Mash-sama."
Karpana let out a deep sigh.
"…At that point, isn't it fine to just say you're in love with me?"
"That is what I thought, but the more I think about it, the more confused I become. But I have learned that a person's charm and being in love with that person are two entirely different things."
So her feelings of not being in love with me hadn't changed. And yet she was saying she wanted me to sleep with her. She was a strange one, but considering she carried the burden of the Wandering People and the nightmarish clan customs that awaited her, maybe it couldn't be helped.
"In any case, you should have just kept that wish to yourself. It's impossible unless Fam agrees. She'll see right through you."
"I cannot be insincere with you, Mash-sama. …But she is truly loved, is she not?" Karpana murmured.
We reached the lowest level. Before us stood a door that looked just like one you'd find leading to an area guardian's room in a dungeon. The priest opened it, and we filed inside.
The room beyond was, as expected, a dome-shaped space identical to an area guardian's chamber. It was illuminated by an unseen source, making the lantern unnecessary. I could see another door at the far end. There was no six-person limit, and the door didn't swing shut behind us.
In the center of the room was a dais made of marble, upon which rested a coffin, also of marble. It was a heavy, imposing structure. The surface of the coffin was adorned with intricate carvings of flowers and plants.
"Linaria," Mizuki said, recognizing the carvings. It was the name of the flower that had bloomed in abundance in the fields before we reached the city.
I looked around, but there were no other burial goods to be seen.
"The hero from a hundred years ago… she led an army, invaded the Demon Kingdom, and defeated the Demon Lord, right?"
Aidan had told me he'd served in that army. They had won the battle, but the Demon Kingdom later launched a counter-offensive, and the Old Empire's capital, located even farther east than Migul, had fallen.
In the distant past, the Old Empire had ruled over all the lands. As time went on, it fractured. The Demon Kingdom rose in the east, the current Empire in the west, and a kingdom even farther west. The Old Empire's domain was reduced to a sliver of land between the new Empire and the Demon Kingdom. The city that fell was the last bastion of the once-glorious Old Empire.
"Yes. We call it the Holy War," the priest confirmed.
"What happened after that? Why is her tomb here?"
"The Hero-sama married and settled in this land, Nielen. She then founded this church and gifted it to the city. The current Governor is a descendant of the Hero-sama."
It was the priest who answered my question. So the city's Governor was using his heroic bloodline as a source of authority, ruling like a king.
The priest touched the lid of the coffin. The name Akizuki Uta was inscribed upon it.
"This is Akizuki Uta-sama," he said, his voice filled with a deep reverence for the one resting within.
"I would like to look inside, if that's permissible."
"You are the hero sent by Racshell-sama. I only ask that you do not forget your respect for Uta-sama."
The priest stepped back. I gave a nod, then asked Chihiro to help me move the stone lid, but it didn't budge an inch. I felt a slight twinge in my back.
"…"
The women, who had been watching, silently stepped forward to help.
Inside the sarcophagus, a woman lay on a bed of silk-like, lustrous cloth, clutching a sword to her chest. I looked at Maira in confusion.
"I just assumed the hero was a man."
"As did I," she said, equally surprised.
"When she was commanding the Holy War as the hero, her silver hair was not long as it is now. She kept it short and presented herself as a man," the priest explained. Even so, I had expected to find bones or a mummy. Instead, Uta looked as if she were still alive, merely sleeping.
"There should have been others transferred to this world along with her…"
"I do not know of any such person. I believe she was likely alone."
Hearing the priest's words, I glanced at Maira.
"I agree. All that has been passed down is about him… I mean, her."
I nodded at Maira's words. Something must have happened to her transferred partner before the Holy War began.
"So this is the hero Racshell transferred a hundred years ago…"
"How do you know it was Racshell who summoned her?" Mizuki asked as I gazed at Uta's face.
"Just a hunch. She looks like you, Mizuki. An incredible beauty. It might be her type…"
Uta looked like an adult version of Mizuki. Perhaps when Racshell searched for people to transfer, she first found a woman of her preference and then assigned a suitable partner. Looking at Uta's peaceful face gave me that impression. She was dressed in a pure white peplos, making it difficult to discern her figure, but she seemed more curvaceous than Mizuki. Her stomach, in particular, seemed slightly rounded.
As I was lost in these thoughts, I noticed Mizuki staring at me, her face bright red.
"What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing!"
Mizuki averted her gaze.
The priest, who had peered into the coffin, now wore a puzzled expression.
"There should have been a mirror and a sword placed within as her burial goods."
The priest searched, but the only items in the coffin were the sword she held and what was likely her smartphone. Besides those, there was only a silver necklace and a pair of small diamond earrings.
"Could it be the mirror Racshell-sama spoke of?" Karpana wondered.
"That might have been what Mii and his group were after," I mused. There was nothing else of obvious value.
"May I remove the burial goods for a closer look?" Maira asked. The priest nodded his assent.
She carefully lifted the sword from Uta's embrace. I picked up the smartphone. Mizuki immediately snatched it from my hand.
"I'll check it!"
"…"
She glared at me. It's not like I was going to check a dead person's search history. Still, I was curious what a beauty like her looked up.
Mizuki tried pressing the power button, but there was no response. As expected, a smartphone left untouched for a hundred years was useless.
"I'll try charging it."
She stored the phone in her own storage.
Maira was examining the sword, having drawn it from its sheath. It was a double-edged blade. A one-handed sword, perhaps? It was an ambiguous size for a two-handed one. The blade was flawless, without a single spot of rust, and shone with a beautiful luster. It, too, showed no signs of the passage of a hundred years. It was likely a magic-infused sword, just like the one Aidan had made for me.
There seemed to be characters inscribed on the blade.
"Sorekami wa, yuiitsu ni shite mikata nashi. Kyo ni shite rei ari," Maira read aloud.
"What does that mean?"
"My interpretation might be wrong, but: 'God is one, shapeless, yet possessing spirit.' I believe that's the opening of the Inari Great Secret Scripture."
"From an Inari shrine?" Mizuki, Hyakka, and Chihiro all looked shocked.
"What is so surprising?" Maira asked.
"Most of the shrines where we're from—churches, in this world's terms—are dedicated to a specific god among the 'eight million gods' that has a connection to that land. In other words, it's a polytheistic system, just like this world. But this scripture seems to deny the eight million gods and claims that God is one and only," I explained.
"How d'you know all that?" Hyakka asked, looking at me suspiciously.
"Well, I visited a grand shrine once on a trip, got curious, and looked it up. It's said that shrine was established about thirteen hundred years ago by a clan of foreign origin. They claimed to be descendants of an emperor who once ruled the continent and apparently worshipped a single god. The name of the temple where they worshipped that god on the continent became the name of the place where they lived in Japan. Uzumasa," I said, choosing not to mention the minor difference in the kanji for 'Ta' and 'Dai'.
"…Well, that's a surprise, but what's the point of this story? Are ya just showin' off?"
"It's corroboration, mostly."
I told them about how the Ark of the Covenant, from a monotheistic religion in the East, had been brought to this world and was called the Ark. I explained how mana had spilled from a jar within it, allowing magic to be used in this world. Furthermore, I added that the clan who brought the Ark to Japan were the very same ones who had established that grand shrine, and that individuals with their bloodline were being summoned to this world. I also explained that the transferrees summoned by gods other than the Five Pillars of Genesis had been told by their god that their wish would be granted by the Ark's power if they defeated us.
It was all my own theory. I didn't know how Uta had obtained this sword. But since she, too, seemed to have been investigating this, I figured it was safe to proceed with this as my premise.
"So what's the deal, then?!"
"I don't know for sure yet. But Racshell told Karpana to find a mirror. The Ark and the items that were inside it. I think it's certain that someone is trying to do something using them. Of those items, the jar is broken, but the Ark is in the Imperial Capital, and the Emperor has the staff."
"Got it. So ya wanna secure anything we can get our hands on," Hyakka concluded.
"As for the remaining mirrors—there should be two—Fam has one of them."
"Eh? You're awfully well-prepared…" Hyakka's expression turned suspicious.
"The special skill Fam acquired is likely one of those mirrors."
"We didn't know where the other one was, but it seems Uta had it."
"So someone stole it… This is tough without any leads," Hyakka muttered.
"The staff the Emperor holds is likely a substitute. The real one was held by the emperor of the Old Empire," the priest added.
"Which means it's in the Demon Kingdom now, eh?"
"There is no definitive proof," the priest said to Hyakka, but he nodded with an air of confidence.
Thank you for reading. To everyone who has liked, bookmarked, or rated this story, thank you very much. It encourages me to keep going. I'll do my best. Your typo corrections have been a great help.