170 - Recollection Festival as Seen by the Spirit's Favored Child
Though I still was not back to full strength, even with Teo gone from my surroundings, the days passed unchanged. As Leonardo suggested, I started stopping by Mirshe's house on my way back from Menhishumi Church, and I think Mirshe's cheek has stopped being swollen. As I thought, the fact that everything filters through my eyes straight to the Fortress Lord does seem to have some deterrent effect.
Between going to Menhishumi Church and having my Recollection Festival costume made, I grew accustomed to this slightly quieter daily life. My clinginess also settled down, and I managed to pull away from Leonardo before Hermine got mad at me. Even after that infuriating betrayal, my unconscious reliance still turns to Leonardo first at times like this, so acknowledging it is extremely irritating, but I suppose it means I trust him as family.
...But I am not going to tell Leonardo-san that.
If I did, he might go back to how he was before, and that would be a problem. I want him to learn to accommodate me a little more, so I will keep being distant for a while longer. Sometimes I accidentally call him by the nickname "Leo," but when that happens, I immediately correct myself to "Leonardo-san." Then Leonardo's face, which had been looking faintly happy, stiffens, but lately I have started to find that a little amusing. I wonder if this is how boys feel when they tease a girl they like. I never thought a day would come when I would understand something like that.
...And today is the Recollection Festival itself.
Since I would need to change clothes again after breakfast, I slipped into a simple one-piece dress this morning for easy removal. Last year I thought it was a day for apologizing for mischief, so I recalled how I had charged into Leonardo's room first thing in the morning. Feeling a bit nostalgic, a question suddenly arose.
...Leonardo-san, he is not sleeping naked again, is he?
On the morning of last year's Recollection Festival, Leonardo was in his bed wearing not a single thing. When I asked why, he gave the extremely simple answer that it was hot, but as a guardian of a little girl, I have to wonder. Moreover, even when I leaped onto his bed, he did not flinch, and he even had the composure to flip up the covers as if to confirm whether he was wearing underwear.
...Well, sure, with a body that trained, maybe he would not be embarrassed to be seen, but still!
I want him to have some consideration for this maiden (me), some sense of modesty. As the guardian of a female child, at the bare minimum.
Since I was scheduled to participate in the Recollection Festival from the morning, breakfast was earlier than usual. Because he himself was to take part in the nighttime rites, Leonardo takes every year off from the morning portion of the Recollection Festival. This year, he seemed to intend to accompany me, who had received a duty for the first time. He could have slept in, but he got up to match my schedule and ate breakfast with me.
"...Leonardo-san, I know this might be presumptuous, but."
It was summer now. When I asked him outright whether he might be sleeping naked again, he answered that this year, since there were two young women of age in the residence, he was exercising proper restraint.
"Two? ...Is that not one short?"
When I counted on my fingers, Hermine, Kalisa, and me, Leonardo unfolded one of my folded fingers and said, "Tina does not count." Leonardo's claim was that even though I had turned ten, I was still a child.
...That is a little irritating, but I will let it slide for today.
Hermine, who was older than Leonardo, was not at an age that could generally be called a "young woman of age" by societal standards. Nevertheless, Leonardo had properly counted Hermine as a woman. That alone was worthy of praise. For Leonardo, who was often insensitive toward women, I thought it was a good judgment.
After the meal, I returned to my room and changed into the festival clothes. The role of the Spirit's Favored Child in the Recollection Festival was explained to me as being the eyes and ears of the spirits, and observing whether humans were properly reflecting on their actions. I found it a relief that unlike performing in the play held in the square or reciting ritual prayers like Leonardo, this role required no practice or preparation.
...Spending the whole day outside watching a festival does seem like it would be tiring, though.
Still, I had been told in advance that chairs and sunshades would be prepared, so I was not too worried. This year, since it was my first time participating in a duty, Nils would also be with me for the whole day. There had been talk of splitting the hours between the two Spirits' Favored Children so we could take turns resting, but since this was my first year, it was decided that Nils would accompany me for the full day.
...It is cute and lovely, but have I seen something like this before?
While checking the Recollection Festival costume I had been dressed in via the mirror, I tilted my head at a sense of deja vu. The old-fashioned style of garment was a sleeveless long robe with many layers of fabric, similar to the costume Leonardo had worn last year. Though there was a lot of fabric, all the material used was thin so as not to be too hot. As a "spirit costume," a mantle modeled after dragonfly wings was attached to my back, and its edges connected to ornaments on my wrists. When I spread both arms, it looked like I was spreading wings, but before I could think the costume was pretty, something caught in my memory, and I could not fully appreciate it.
...Ah, I get it. I saw this in my previous life. It is a costume from an old singer.
It resembled that distinctive costume that appeared in nearly every nostalgic music show from my past life. That costume had a rod embedded in it, I think, so it was not exactly the same, but the impression was definitely that.
Now that I understood the source of the deja vu, my head felt a little clearer as Kalisa braided my hair into an old-fashioned style to match the costume. Leonardo had said I could cut it however I liked, but I had postponed cutting it for today. I planned to cut it after the Recollection Festival, but since autumn was coming soon, I did not intend to cut it very short.
When I finished preparing and went downstairs, the pickup from Menhishumi Church had just arrived. Since the spirits were "guests" at the Recollection Festival, I basically just needed to be treated as such. Nils, who usually worked at Menhishumi Church, was also on the receiving end of such treatment today, being the Spirit's Favored Child. Nils, clad in his own spirit costume, looked different from usual and felt fresh. Perhaps because he was a boy, Nils, wearing a short-length costume, did not have wings on his back. Instead, he had goat ears and horns on his head, and a tail on his rear. It was a spirit costume, but with Nils, I felt it was not much different from winter.
As if to say the spirits did not even need to walk, our transportation today was primarily by carriage. Leonardo, who planned to accompany me for the whole day, was not accompanying as a Spirit's Favored Child, so he would travel on a separate horse. Feeling a bit apologetic, I told him he did not have to force himself, but he rejected that with a strange reason. The Recollection Festival he would spend with me at age ten was only today. I understood that in his own way he was trying to spend time together as family, so I decided to let myself rely on him.
In the morning, at the Itsurateru Church, a rite was held where the priest offered the year's repentance. The Itsurateru Church, from my impression, fell into a rare category in this world. It was a religious church. Since churches bearing the names of other gods served as hospitals or government offices, a purely religious facility felt strangely rare.
The goddess of justice, Itsurateru, was a compassionate goddess who, when the gods left the earth, worried about the earth and the immature humans until the very end, remaining on earth longer than the others.
...She would be the perfect recipient for humans to regret and reflect on their deeds, would she not.
Since Itsurateru's most famous aspect was as the goddess of justice, she would be the best goddess to "show" repentance to. However, having studied a little about Itsurateru at Menhishumi Church, I thought that if the repentance was merely a facade put on for the festival, it would be better not to offer it at all. The goddess of justice Itsurateru was also the younger sister of the war god Herkeles. She was the younger sister of Herkeles, who in another aspect was feared as the male god of devastation of war. In military matters, she sometimes even surpassed Herkeles, and when punishing evil, she had an aspect of casting aside all mercy. Even from just a little study of mythology, it was clear. She was a goddess who must never be angered. In this era, where the events that gave rise to the Recollection Festival were nothing but the distant past, sincere repentance could not be offered either. If that was the case, perhaps it would be better not to offer a reformation that was only a facade.
I took my seat prepared on the second floor of the open atrium-style chapel and watched over the rite being conducted at the altar on the first floor. Since my duty was to observe the entire rite, the seat was positioned so I could watch over both the central goddess statue at the altar and the believers attending the ceremony. Because there were now two Spirits' Favored Children starting this year, Nils and I sat on opposite sides of the goddess statue. I could not talk to Nils even though I was bored.
...Really, it really is just a rite of praying to the goddess statue, huh.
There was an offering of a ritual prayer by the priest as a signal for the start of the ceremony, but after that, it seemed the believers simply offered their own prayers and repentances each on their own. The ways of praying were diverse. Some confessed to priests or monks, some quietly offered prayers toward the goddess statue, some crouched at her feet pressing their foreheads to the floor, truly each in their own style.
...A festival of reformation and repentance, huh.
The Recollection Festival was a festival for regretting mistakes and reforming. If there was no strict rule on how to pray, then offering my own prayer from this place would not be wrong as a way of participating.
...I said too much to Teo. I am sorry. I could not apologize, Goddess.
Instead of apologizing to Teo, I offered a prayer to the goddess Itsurateru. This was a world with mysterious phenomena like spirits snatching people away. Perhaps the goddess existed too. If so, by praying to the goddess, she might convey my "I am sorry" to Teo as well.
After offering my reformation to the goddess for a while, I lifted my face feeling a bit refreshed. As I looked down at the ceremony again, a man caught my eye strangely.
...Who is that?
My eyes were somehow drawn to him, and I followed the figure of the man in the chapel. His hair was black, and despite it being a ritual setting, his clothes were slightly dirty traveling gear.
...Maybe my eyes are drawn to him because of his black hair?
Leonardo, my current guardian, had black hair, and Teo, who had been on my mind until recently, also had black hair. I started to think my eyes were simply drawn to the common trait of black hair, but I quickly realized that was wrong. People with black hair were not uncommon in this country. Bertrand and Jemian also had black hair, and in the chapel itself, the most common color was probably black hair. It was a color not rare at all. I could not believe I would notice a man just because of black hair.
...Ah, I get it. It is not his hair color. It is because his behavior is different from everyone else's.
Most people in the chapel had come to offer their repentance to the goddess statue, so their basic movement was "offering prayers." In contrast, the man's movements did not even glance at the goddess statue. Instead, he was checking the faces of the people around him, as if searching for someone. His behavior was out of place, which was why he caught my eye.
"You seemed to be praying earnestly. What were you praying about?"
"Eh?"
Suddenly spoken to from the side, I blinked. When I turned my face toward the voice, Leonardo was standing there. I quickly returned my gaze to the chapel, but the man who had looked like he was searching for someone was already gone.
...Huh?
That is strange, I tilted my head, but to Leonardo, my behavior must have seemed unnatural. He spoke to me, I turned my face toward him, then without answering I looked away again, so it was only natural he found it strange.
"Tina? Is something wrong?"
"Hmm?"
Now then, how should I answer, I thought for a moment. Deciding it was nothing I needed to hide, I realized the obvious and honestly answered that I had prayed to the goddess about Teo. When I said I had prayed, "Goddess, please tell him I am sorry," because I could not properly apologize to Teo, Leonardo said, "I see," and smiled sadly, patting my head. As for the man in the chapel who had caught my eye, I swallowed down the report, deciding it was not worth mentioning.
When it got close to noon, we left Itsurateru Church and moved to the square where the main street and central street intersected. The seat prepared for the Spirit's Favored Child in the square was a balcony overlooking the stage built in the square. It was a bit of a distance from the stage, but since the seat was built using the roof of the floor below, the view was good. It was a seat where, even though I was a short child, there was no way the audience's heads would block my view of the stage.
"This might be a little tough for you, Miss Tina."
Moving my chair to the back of the sunshade tent, Nils looked between the sunlight and my face. There was a tent, so the sunlight did not feel that strong, but certainly, considering I would be spending the whole day here, it might be physically tough.
...But compared to a Japanese summer, I feel like I can manage.
I thought it was due to the difference in humidity, but at least in this country, summer did not feel as hot as in Japan. I never imagined in my past life that just the absence of muggy heat could make summer so easy. Of course, this was just my personal sensation that it was "easy," so there were others who were suffering from the summer heat. The black dog (Oscar) still came to me every day, but summer seemed tough even for him. His black fur absorbed the sunlight, so being outdoors must be hard for him.
"Oscar, come under the table."
Though it was in the shade, I called the black dog, who was standing a little apart, perhaps on guard. After looking like he was hesitating for a moment, the black dog moved to the spot under the tent farthest from the sunlight.
At noon, Kalisa brought me egg sandwiches, which I devoured. She had also bought a cold drink along the way, it seemed, and when I showed my delight with full enthusiasm, Leonardo developed a competitive spirit. He said he would buy me something I would be happy about, so I gratefully requested the sweet and spicy skewered dumplings from the Three Crows Tavern. Since I was scheduled to participate in the festival events all day as the Spirit's Favored Child, I had thought I would not get to eat them this year, so I was a little happy.
After lunch, the play in the square, which I had missed last year, began. Since I had been going to Menhishumi Church this year, I was well-prepared with advance knowledge.
A certain young man became jealous of the Divine King, who was loved by the gods, and raised a rebellion against him. Believing himself more worthy of the throne, he desired the king's seat and sought power to kill the Divine King and claim it for himself. The Divine King was chosen by the gods, but he was still human. Living among people, he was inevitably exposed to such jealousy. The young man trained himself and sought a strong weapon. The spirits, who were still close to humans back then, advised him not to raise arms against the Divine King, but he turned a deaf ear. He killed a friend who admonished him, saying it was defying the gods' decree, and eventually no one remained around the young man. Even in such a state, the young man could not stop himself, and ultimately stole a single sword from the gods. It was an act born of the belief that there were limits to what humans could create. That sword was one that even the god who created it could not master, and it had been sealed as a taboo. There was no way a human could handle a sword that even a god could not wield, and the taboo sword began to rampage, resulting in the lives of many spirits and humans being taken, and the land itself being drained of its life force. The land stripped of its life force became a desert, giving birth to the great Viroup Desert in the southeastern part of the continent. The gods were enraged at the young man who, out of jealousy, stole a divine sword and took many lives, and finally the compassionate goddess delivered the hammer of justice. The young man, whose hands and feet were cut off by the goddess of justice Itsurateru, had also incurred the wrath of the death god Uaksu, so he was not permitted to become a citizen of the land of the dead and was doomed to wander the earth forever. But the Divine King, who possessed the most gentle nature and was loved by gods and spirits, wept at the young man's sin, took pity on him, and begged the gods for forgiveness on the young man's behalf. In response to the plea from the Divine King himself, who had been the target of the assassination attempt, the gods sheathed their spears of wrath, and the young man was granted death, finally expiring.
...This is the part I cannot understand, you know?
The play entered its final act. The Divine King, holding the young man's body, collapsed in tears and left words of lament for humanity, spirits, and the land. It was because of an existence like himself that the young man had strayed from the path. Lamenting that this sad event had occurred because of him, he concealed himself from the world.
The Divine King's appearance in mythology ended here. From this event onward, the Divine King vanished from history.
...In this story, where is the point where the Divine King should feel responsible?
It was mythology, so there might be some contradictions and questionable points in the story, but the Divine King's thought process was so abruptly out of nowhere that I could not understand it. There should also be parts simplified for children, so perhaps that was why I could not understand it.
...Really, what even happened?
Come to think of it, Arabella, who had brought the request for me to participate in the Recollection Festival as the Spirit's Favored Child, had been researching folklore, I recalled. If I asked Arabella, I might be able to hear a version not simplified for children.
...So the young man Leonardo-san plays every year in the nighttime rites was a really bad person, huh.
I wondered why the Fortress Lord had to play such an evil role, but in a sense, the hardworking young man never neglected to train himself. Perhaps for that reason, it might have come to be that the strongest person in the city played the role.
...Would you call him a man who challenged the gods, in this case.
The play ended, and the actors returned to the wings. As I watched them absently, a large hand patted my head.
"Leo...?"
Prompted by the motion of the hand stroking my head, I looked up behind me. What I saw when I looked up was the face of a man with black hair and blue eyes.
[Author's Note]
There are contradictions in the mythology, but please just gloss over that as "well, it is mythology." The truth, the common view, the children's version, and several other versions exist.
It is not like he is Tina's relative (preemptive strike). I just like black hair and blue eyes combinations (honest).
Will fix typos and errors another day. I have corrected the typos and errors I found.