Chapter 104 - Chapter 7: The Decoration Ceremony
I was so nervous about the decoration ceremony that my memory is like it's been skipped, and I don't remember it well.
While in the waiting room, Beatrix and I consulted on various scenarios and how to answer, but it was of no use.
There were several others besides Lord Roberts and us who were targets for decoration, but the waiting rooms were all separate. It was luxurious, if you could call it that, but I couldn't gauge the state of the other people, so I became even more nervous.
Paul-san was ordering wine and drinking it, saying it was to cheer himself up, but I was in no mood for that.
"Your turn has come, so please prepare."
Told so by the guide, we lined up in front of the door in the order of Marcelo-san, Paul-san, myself, and Beatrix.
Beyond the door are the King and the others...
Oh no, my knees are shaking. It'll be terrible if I trip.
In any case, I must avoid the blunder of my hands and feet moving at the same time.
"Everyone from the Marcelo Company. Thank you for waiting."
The guide said in a low voice.
As I was taking a deep breath, I heard our names being called from beyond the door.
Using that as a signal, the doors in front of us opened wide to the left and right, and I managed to follow along without falling behind.
However, the moment I entered the Audience Chamber, I was distracted by the King and Queen sitting on the throne and the rows of important people lined up on the left and right.
My memory from around there is extremely unreliable.
Lady Gladys, Hanna-san, Lyudmila, and Mary must have been in the crowd around the entrance, but I had no leeway to look left or right.
Following the guide, the four of us, with Marcelo-san at the lead, lined up in front of the King and Queen, but I was so busy worrying about the order of my left and right hands and feet that I almost bumped into Paul-san when I had to stop.
The ceremony itself was extremely simple.
The King and Queen, taking the medals from the tray held by the attendant, pinned them to the chests of us who were lined up in a row.
"You have done well. I count on you from now on as well."
The King said, and
"Thank you very much."
The recipient said in return; it was apparently a ritualized exchange.
There was almost no conversation beyond that.
Before the ceremony, the guide had said that as long as we said our thanks, it would be fine, and I understood the reason well.
It was designed so that even recipients like us, who came from the countryside and were walking on air, would be fine.
I only calmed down after the decoration was over and I had joined the line of observers.
I was so nervous I was half-crying, but Mary and Lyudmila took turns hugging me.
With that, I could finally catch my breath.
Now, belatedly, I stare at the King and Queen.
I confirmed that the King had a beard that covered his mustache and chin and hair that reached his shoulders, and that the Queen had quite vivid blonde hair, and I remembered that it was indeed the Queen who had pinned the medal on me.
The Queen hugged me gently after pinning the medal. I almost fainted. As I was somehow managing to endure, she whispered in my ear, "It will be over in just a bit more."
It seemed she had seen through everything.
The last one called was Lord Roberts, and there was applause at the same time as his decoration. I felt like there hadn't been any for mine, but Mary told me, "There was applause just like that for you too." I was too nervous to hear it.
"That was tiring, wasn't it?"
What Beatrix said after we returned to the waiting room made the biggest impression.
Until the banquet, we were taken by the guide to tour the Royal Palace and the gardens. There is apparently a limit on the number of people, but on holidays it's open to the general public, and they apparently sightsee while listening to the guide's explanation.
I understood from being guided, but the Royal Palace had a two-tier structure, so to speak, divided into the old building where the royalty lived and the Audience Chamber and the new building for guests located a bit away.
The old building was built by the first King during his reign, and he apparently left a will that that part and the gardens must always be left as they are.
He said that if it became cramped, it should just be made into the previous King's retirement quarters, and an extension should be built in a different place.
The first King might have been fine with just the compact central part, but he probably predicted that as the country developed, it wouldn't stay that way. He had even prepared the place to build the extension. The new building was what was built there.
In the end, the original building was kept as it was with only interior repairs, and it is still used as a private place for the royalty today.
Perhaps because of that, it was surrounded by a grove of trees like a forest, and the building itself wasn't very visible.
At a quick glance, you couldn't tell which was the center.
There was a pond in the garden, and there was a bronze statue on the shore. It was a statue of a woman with a good figure, looking just like Dune. Like when she chants magic, she has her right hand with the index finger raised slightly to her chest.
"Um, this bronze statue is..."
I tried asking the guide. On the plate at the feet, 'Maiden of the Lake' was carved.
Next to it was a rock, and "To quench one's thirst, clean water is necessary" was carved on it.
"This is a bronze statue of the spirit of the lake who is said to have been encountered by the first King in his youth. The first King was a person loved by various spirits. As for where he met her, he apparently didn't tell anyone except his family and very close associates. However, since many mysterious things happened around him, everyone at the time apparently believed it."
It must be about Dune.
"This pond shore was a place the first King was particularly fond of. It is said that when he had worries or things to think about, he often spent time alone by this bronze statue."
Being a King, he must have had many difficult problems. He probably stayed here with the intention of consulting Dune.
"By the way, the characters on this rock were also left by the first King. There are several in the garden, and they are said to be things like life lessons."
Looking at the bronze statue, I noticed something strange about it.
Dune, the water spirit, isn't looking at the lake. When Dune uses magic, she always points at the water.
Considering the position of the sun, she is facing southeast.
In the direction of her gaze, I could see a hill a bit away.
Several trees were growing on the summit.
"Excuse me. That hill is..."
"The hill? Ah, that's outside the Royal Palace. It's a hill that was originally there, and it's a place where people who come for sightseeing go for a picnic after their tour of the Royal Palace."
Apparently, you can look over the gardens from the hill. It seems to be a standard to finish the garden tour in the morning, then climb the hill and spread out a lunch box in the shade of the trees while looking over the entire garden.
Anticipating that, there are apparently lunch box stalls at the foot of the hill.
"Is there some kind of bronze statue standing on that hill?"
"No, there's just one rock with characters carved by the first King. Other than that, trees were just planted to create shade."
"I see."
"Is there anything else?"
"No, thank you."
"Then, let's move on."
The guide then showed us the adjacent rose garden.
When we returned to the waiting room, Beatrix and the others followed the staff for the banquet dressing.
Only the three of us were left in the room.
"Paul-san. Do you have a moment?"
"What is it? Did you think of something?"
"No, it's not like that, but..."
When I said that there was a hill to the southeast, the direction the Maiden of the Lake statue was looking, he asked what about it.
"It's the Hand-holding Song. If that statue is Dune, then that lake is the Northern Gate, right? Southeast, the Eastern Gate, is the gate where one is blown away—in other words, I think it's the wind of the Four Great Spirits..."
"Hmm," Paul-san grunted, crossing his arms.
"It is indeed said that the wind spirit lives on high mountains where strong winds blow. If that pond is modeled after Nakanohara Lake, then the hill is the mountain where the wind spirit lives—the Eastern Gate."
"Yes," I nodded.
"If so, there must be something to the west and south as well."
Marcelo-san also joined in.
"West is earth, and south is fire."
The garden is to the north of the Royal Palace. Considering the distance to the hill, the Western Gate would be outside the Royal Palace, but the Fire Gate might be inside.
"If the earth of the west is a hole like a cave, what is the fire of the south?"
"It might be the sacred fire of a shrine. It is also said that the fire spirit Salamander lives within sacred flames."
Come to think of it, we were also guided to a shrine during the Royal Palace tour.
It was a shrine housing a statue of the Goddess, apparently built independently of the church. The entrance to the Royal Palace is to the southwest, so those entering the entrance will see the shrine on their right.
"If so, the old Royal Palace would be halfway between the north and south."
"He might have created a barrier of the Four Great Spirits."
I see. So that's how it is.
"According to the guide earlier, the first King was loved by spirits. Setting aside the hill, he might have gone out of his way to make the other things."
"If so, the gates in the Hand-holding Song might actually be in those directions. Since Nakanohara Lake is the northernmost point, high mountains, caves, and fire to the south of it..."
Paul-san slapped his knees with both hands. He seemed to have thought of something.
"Speaking of high mountains to the west of Nakanohara, there was a high mountain in Medioland."
I've heard of it. In the border region between Engrio and Medioland, there is apparently a particularly high mountain called 'The Mountain.'
However, it's not so high that it has perennial snow; apparently, you can climb near its pointed summit in the summer.
"If it's a similar distance, the west is the mining region of Regnentes. There would be plenty of caves. However, there are no volcanoes to the south."
"There are no volcanoes, but there were hot springs in Engrio, right?"
"That's it! That must be it."
It seems they've gotten a general idea.
"However, if that's the case, the center would be the forest on the border with Engrio."
"If you connect the mountain in Medioland, the mining region in Regnentes, and the hot spring area in Engrio, doesn't it form a slightly tilted rectangle?"
"In other words, it's shifted to the southwest?"
"Yes. If it shifts a bit to the west, there's the temple in the Ruined Town."
"Hmm," Paul-san grunted, crossing his arms.
"Setting aside the others, it might be better not to pursue that part too deeply."
When I looked at Marcelo-san, he was nodding with a solemn expression.
There's the matter of Albert-san. It's better not to get involved with the Ruined Town.
"Hmm. The mountain in Medioland is famous as a sacred peak even on this island. You should ask Lady Gladys if there's anything at the summit. Leave out the talk of spirits and just talk about mountain climbing."
"If I suddenly talk about mountain climbing and she asks to climb together, what should I do?"
"Then you climb."
"That's impossible."
Forget Paul-san, I was dragged along, panting, south of the mountain stream where Bonnie and Lyudmila walked without even losing their breath. If I climbed a mountain treated as a sacred peak on the island, I'd die.
"How about going up in the bowl? A record for the highest altitude reached will be born."
"That's good. By all means, let's set a record. You'll be a hero if you fly over one high mountain."
As expected of Marcelo-san. He brought up a story Paul-san would likely bite on.
"Well, fine. I was thinking of training Jeanne and Beatrix if I had the chance, but the highest altitude isn't bad either. Shall I do Marcelo a favor here?"
He was smirking.
That was close. I didn't think the question to Lady Gladys itself was a trap. Truly, one can't let one's guard down.
"It's a bit cold now, so if we go, summer would be good. Even if it's on the border, it's a sacred peak, so if you say you're going to pay your respects, you can enter the mountain."
"Then, shall we try going around the time the summer bear hunt ends?"
"If it's as an attendant for the highest altitude record, I'll gladly go."
Somehow, death by distress during mountain climbing seems avoidable. If we go in the bowl, Beatrix won't complain either.
"Come to think of it, that mountain should have had a Fire Dragon's nest around the eighth station. When you climb higher than the temple halfway up the mountain, be careful not to be targeted."
Eh?
I can hear the sound of the blood draining from my head.
Inadvertently, I said 'highest altitude record' and such...
"It was apparently exterminated a long time ago, but even now, the site of the legendary decisive battle has no end of tourists, and pickpockets are rampant. If you're not careful, your wallet will be targeted."
He got me...
Marcelo-san was smiling mischievously.
"Let's make sure to tie our wallets tightly to our bodies."
Paul-san laughed loudly, "Ka-ka-ka!"