429 - Leonardo's Perspective - Camille's Hideout and the Spirits' Voices
As declared, Camille apparently intends to shelter me and Tina. I had thought it would be helpful enough if he could take us to a nearby town, but as the sun began to set, the carriage left the highway and descended to a riverbank. Wondering what business we had in such a place, I found a man who seemed to be a lookout and a boat hidden on the riverbank.
"Are we switching to the boat?"
"No, I always transport it with the carriage onboard."
"The boat looks too small to carry a carriage, though..."
"It may look small, but my boat is quite strong. It has an engine, you see."
"Engine...?"
It should be a word I've never heard before, yet I feel like I've heard it somewhere. As I try to recall where I might have heard it, I realize that whenever unfamiliar words come up around me, they always come from Tina's mouth.
I think the word 'engine' came from Tina when we were on the boat heading to Lagarette.
--Come to think of it, was the power source on the 'engine' side...?
Tina had been excited, saying that the boat hitched to a hippopotamus (Aback) was fast. It seemed to be a boat equipped with propulsion. Tina had been trying to explain that power source, and words like 'engine' and 'motor' had come out of her mouth.
...Why does the same word that came from Tina's previous knowledge come out of Camille's mouth?
I find it suspicious, but I silently watch as the carriage is loaded onto the boat. Rather than questioning things here, I want to get Tina to rest as soon as possible.
The boat carrying the carriage was indeed strong, as Camille had said. A quiet vibration and sound echoed from the bottom of the boat, and it moved upstream against the river's current. Judging by the trees along the river flowing past the window, it was faster than being pulled by a hippopotamus. By the time the moon rose directly overhead, we had reached the end of the upstream journey and arrived at a cave.
"...The lookout soldiers are wearing standard equipment of the Zugall Empire's regular army, aren't they?"
"Ah, they're the real thing. Their wages come from the Zugall Empire."
The lookouts are soldiers of the Zugall Empire. Saying something like that so calmly, yet not capturing me and Tina. Saying he'll shelter us for a while, Camille is confusing. He seems like a kind-hearted old man, but everything surrounding him is too questionable for me and Tina to trust.
"You don't need to be so on guard. They've all become too accustomed to life here to betray me."
"...Are you controlling them with some suspicious medicine?"
"I don't recall ever getting involved with narcotics. In a sense, it's more addictive than drugs, though. You'll be living here until the young lady recovers, so I'll explain later."
First, this way, he said, getting down from the carriage and leading us to a gate built inside the cave. A gate inside a cave. They'd even gone so far as to build a guardhouse for the gatekeeper.
"Gramps Camille, who are those people?"
"I picked them up on the highway. The young lady seemed to be having trouble with poor health, so I brought them along. I invited them to recuperate here for a while."
"Well, that's... lucky or unlucky, hard to say. Once you get used to living here, you won't want to go back outside."
"Make sure you don't get too used to it," said the gatekeeper with a cheerful smile as he sent us inside. So rather than being controlled by suspicious medicine, it seems that simply getting accustomed to life here is the problem. Frowning at what that could possibly mean, I stepped through the gate.
...Hm?
The moment I stepped through the gate, the atmosphere around me changed. The visible world was still the dim cave interior, just as it had been before, but the strange presence and clamor were intense. There weren't that many people around, yet I felt as if I had wandered into a crowd.
--The king.
--The king has come.
--No, that's not right. That's not the king.
--If he's not the king, then who is it?
The words I could pick up were something like this. The fact that they're calling me 'king' might mean they're mistaking me for the Divine King again. Or perhaps, like last night, the Divine King is inside me.
...In other words, this is the voices of spirits.
Once I understood that the clamor was the voices of non-human beings, the rest came quickly. This strange presence was the presence of spirits. For some unknown reason, many spirits must have gathered in this cave. As soon as I reached that tentative understanding, my vision seemed to brighten by a degree. And in that brighter vision, I saw a lizard with bird wings, small imps, and a tiny girl with dragonfly wings.
...What is this?
Apparently, I've finally become able to see spirits. I've never seen anything like this before, so either this place is special, or it's an effect from last night. I wanted to ask Tina if I was the only one seeing these spirits, but Tina showed no signs of waking. I then turned my gaze to Camille to see how he was reacting, but he had already started walking, paying no heed to the spirits.
"The entrance hasn't been modified much, so it's a bit dark, but the inside shouldn't bother you much."
Following as he led the way, I walked down the dim passage until we came to an iron door. I thought about offering to help since it seemed impossible for Camille to open it, but the iron door slid open to the left and right on its own. I was curious about the mechanism, but I was even more surprised by the space beyond the door.
"It's bright."
"Since it's inside a cave, you know. People need a bit more light to live. I made lighting my first priority."
Beyond the iron door, it was strangely bright, even though we were inside a cave. Wondering why it was so bright, I saw that the floor was glowing in many places. The white rock walls must reflect that light, making the whole area appear bright.
"It seems to have been a prison using the cave a long time ago, but now it's my hideout. I think the rock walls give it quite a bit of character, what do you think? The inside is like a maze, so I'll draw you a map later."
"What about this path? The light color seems different on this path..."
On the floor of the passage opposite the one Camille had stepped onto, a line of green light ran. As if inviting me to 'come this way,' the light ran along the passage at regular intervals.
...Rather than that, it's practically calling me.
The green light ran along the passage as if beckoning, but on top of that light was the small imp I'd seen earlier, looking up at my face and smiling broadly while waving its hand. It seemed to want to guide me to the end of that passage.
"This is... strange. How odd? This spirit lamp has never lit up even once before..."
"Spirit lamp? Isn't it a lantern installed on the floor?"
"There are lantern-type lights, but I don't use lanterns here in the cave. I'd be afraid of a fire."
"In any case, it looks like we're being invited down this path..."
"At the end of that path is the guest room. I'll show you later, but for now, this way. Let's treat your shoulder first."
The reason it wasn't following the light's guidance was for my treatment. When Camille said that, the imp that had been waving blinked and lightly scratched its head. Then it trotted on its short legs past me, stood at the entrance of the passage Camille was about to take, and started waving again. In sync with the imp's movement, the green light in the first passage faded, and a similar green light began running along the passage Camille was about to enter.
"...Are you favored by spirits?"
"If anyone is favored by spirits, it's my little sister. She's the Spirit's Favored Child, with a constitution that gets caught up in all sorts of strange things."
The green light running along the passage had switched to accommodate my convenience, and Camille seemed to understand that. Looking up at my face, he tilted his head thoughtfully.
"If being the Spirit's Favored Child alone lit the spirit lamp, it should light up every time I move."
I've never seen a reaction like this, Camille said, frequently eyeing the light at his feet as I followed him down the passage. The green light really did seem to be guiding me, and when I looked back, the light in the passage we'd come through had faded.
"What exactly is a 'spirit lamp'? Is it different from a lantern?"
"To put it simply, lanterns use candles or alcohol to produce light, but spirit lamps borrow the power of spirits to light up, I suppose?"
"Borrow the power of spirits? Is that possible?"
"According to mythology, the Divine King supposedly handled the power of spirits freely, so it should be possible, but..."
Theoretically, it should be complete, but apparently it never normally reacts at all. I'd think it wasn't complete if it doesn't react, but since it's working exactly as Camille intended right now, the 'spirit lamp' must have been complete after all. When I asked how he could claim a spirit lamp that doesn't light up was theoretically complete, it seems that while it doesn't move according to Camille's operation, it would occasionally light up on its own.
...That's just spirits playing tricks, isn't it.
As a device, it's complete, but it can't actually borrow power from the spirits. For some reason, the spirits here seem to welcome me. That's why I think they're trying to entertain me using the facilities here.
"Trying to take down a werewolf with silver bullets, that young lord did something interesting too."
I laid Tina down on the lounge chair in the examination room, then lay down on the examination table myself. After a slight stinging sensation as disinfectant was applied, Camille began removing the foreign object embedded in my shoulder. I could feel the instrument moving around inside my shoulder, but I swallowed my screams. I didn't want to wake Tina with my howling.
"So Jasper gave the gun to the young lord. That's troublesome... If Jasper had sunk to the bottom of the river like that, it would have been fine, but if the Imperial soldiers recover it, that would be a problem."
"...A gun?"
I acknowledged Camille's muttering to distract myself from the pain. If I didn't distract myself somehow, the pain of having my shoulder gouged out would drive me mad.
...And you there, probably spirits. Don't try to add strange effects to the medicine.
Around the jar containing the disinfectant, five beings that looked like tree roots -- or five of them? -- were spinning and dancing. Each time the spirits moved, particles of light appeared above the jar and poured down into the disinfectant. It was hard to imagine that disinfectant in that state was still the same as before.
"Rather than a gun, it might be easier for you to understand if I call it a 'fire-spouting tube'? It's one of the calamities that the reincarnator Camilo brought to this world, and I reproduced it long ago."
Camille continued, saying that he had used the revived 'fire-spouting tube,' or 'gun,' as a gift to ingratiate himself with the emperor two generations ago, and had obtained funding to continue his research as he pleased. This cave, too, was apparently a place prepared by the emperor of that time so that research could be conducted in secret.
"...Did the Empire mass-produce weapons like that?"
"That was Camilo's mistake. Since there's a predecessor who already failed, I don't make the same mistakes."
When I asked if the Zugall Empire had a large number of guns, Camille smiled wryly. Since there was a predecessor named Camilo, he didn't make the same mistakes, he said.
"Of course, I've been told to make guns by Eder and the emperor before him, but I've only made three guns."
One to sell himself to the emperor, one he gave to Jasper, and apparently he kept one for himself. When I asked if that last one hadn't been taken from him, Camille laughed.
"They told me to hand it over, but apparently they said a gun that doesn't fire bullets is useless."
Saying that making the same thing over and over lacked creativity, Camille apparently made the third gun slightly different from the previous ones. Instead of firing silver bullets, it was said to be a gun that draws in the power of surrounding spirits and fires that power as bullets.
"...That's similar to the spirit lamp from earlier, isn't it? Which means..."
"That's right. Just like the spirit lamp, whether the emperor pulled the trigger or I pulled the trigger, nothing came out of the gun."
"Well, the emperor was furious with quite a face that time," Camille laughed, while behind him, spirits were covering their mouths with both hands or covering their ears. Apparently, this was a topic the spirits didn't want discussed.
...Borrow the power of spirits...?
I looked at the spirits with their displeased expressions, mulling over what I'd heard from Camille. Camille had said 'borrowing the power of spirits,' that the mythological Divine King had also done it. Speaking of mythology, there's a story similar to this.
...Could it be that Camille's research might be something that should never be completed?
I understand the story of the Divine King borrowing the power of spirits. The spirits obeyed the Divine King's commands and actively helped him. However, according to mythology, there was a young man who forcibly stole the power of spirits and caused a terrible catastrophe. And at that time, it wasn't just the spirits whose power was taken. Many lives of the land and people were also lost, it is said.
What Camille seemed to be researching resembled the weapon that young man in the myth had wielded.
"Well, since everything seems to be working well today, let's try this too."
What are you planning to try on someone else's body, I thought, protecting my shoulder from which the bullet had been safely extracted. The wound had been stitched up, but Camille seemed to want to conduct some experiment using this shoulder.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt. If it goes well, the injury should heal in no time."
Saying it might itch a little, Camille brought out a tool that looked more like a mitten than a glove, with a metal plate on the palm portion. It seemed I had no right to refuse. I thought I might as well go along with it since I'd be staying here for a while, but then I saw the image of a small old man wearing a crown of grass on Camille's shoulder holding the mitten. Apparently, the spirits were going to lend their power again. Camille's experiment would unfortunately succeed.
"Oh my?"
At the mitten emitting a faint green light, Camille blinked in bewilderment. He probably never imagined it would actually succeed. The tools Camille creates are theoretically complete, but since the crucial spirits have no intention of lending their power, they're as good as junk. But tonight, the spirits were being exceptionally generous with their power, so Camille must be in for a series of surprises.
"...It really healed in an instant."
As Camille had predicted earlier, it was a bit itchy. Like the scabs covering a healing wound become itchy. It wasn't unbearable, but it was seriously itchy. Even if the wound closed with that strange light, if I couldn't endure the itching, I'd end up scratching and leaving scars.
"It's never worked properly before, you know?"
"Then why did you try it on someone else's body?"
"When you have a valuable test subject, you want to try it, don't you?"
Apparently, he had at least enough conscience not to intentionally injure the soldiers serving as his guards and watchmen. He'd conducted experiments on me without asking, but he wouldn't go so far as to deliberately injure someone for an experiment.
...Is he a good person, or just a research fanatic?
As I watched Camille put away the mitten, troubled by how to judge him, he seemed excited by the success of the experiment. Even though he must know he couldn't expect a satisfying response from me, Camille spoke loquaciously.
"My research theme in this life has been the revival of lost spirit arts. Since I was reincarnated into another world after all, I want to use at least one or two spells! Don't you think so?"
"Sorry, but I don't recall being reincarnated into another world..."
I don't recall being reincarnated into another world. I was about to reply that, but then I realized something belatedly.
"...Reincarnated into another world? You're also a reincarnator?"
"Huh? Didn't I mention that? That's right. I'm a reincarnator."
Not from a previous life, but from several lives ago, Camille apparently has memories of living as a German person. Being German means he's also the 'person capable of reading German' that the Sedovara Church seeks. The fact that he ingratiated himself with the emperor two generations ago to obtain research funding means, if not mistaken, he must have existed as a reincarnator even before Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts were lost. If he hadn't been kept by the emperor two generations ago, the loss of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts would not have occurred, and he could have revived the secret arts whose prescriptions had been left in the already-lost German language.
The personnel that the Sedovara Church desperately wanted, more than anything, had been lying dead stock in a place like this.
The timing is bad, but I'm out of time. I think Tina would have commented on things like the engine or lighting from her perspective, but since it's Leonardo, he doesn't really understand and just goes along with it. It's not the kind of engine you'd imagine when you hear the word. It's a fairly primitive, simple mechanism for power.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.