434 - Leonardo's Perspective: Tina's Whereabouts and the Great Tree
...Last time, she was back to her usual self in three days, but not this time.
She was no longer like a doll with no reactions, but even after five days, Tina's state had not changed much from when she first woke up. She was a good girl, obedient and following instructions, but she lacked that Tina-ness. She did not tug at me when I missed a spot shaving my beard, and even though she only talked to the spirits, she did not kick my shins.
...Being called Leo makes me happy, though.
Originally, Tina had deliberately called me "Leonardo Big Brother" because she knew I wanted to be called that. Being called "Big Brother" by Tina must have been something that would not come out unless she was consciously aware of it. The address that came from the current Tina's mouth was always "Leo." A nickname like that made me happy in its own way, but not being called Big Brother made me just a little lonely.
--Her inside is hiding.
--Her inside is hiding somewhere absolutely safe.
When I asked the spirits about Tina's condition, this strange answer came back. That Tina's inside (her heart) was hiding in a place that living humans could not touch.
"Where is this safe place? If Tina is waiting there, I have to go get her."
--Won't tell.
--Can't tell.
--It's a safe place, so won't tell.
They said they could not tell me even in exchange for my name, so I had no choice but to back down quietly. The spirits, who were so fixated on my name, said even trading for the name was no good. Thinking about it the other way, if it was a place the spirits were guarding this strongly, it probably really was a safe place.
"She really is in a safe place, right?"
--She's safe.
--A place living things can't reach.
--A place even we can't reach, if you're alive.
From the spirits' words, I felt like I could work some things out. If it was a place even the spirits could not reach while alive, then it could also be considered a place you could reach if you were dead. The spirits were aware of it, and only Tina's inside was there. Tina's inside (her heart) might have gone all the way to the land of the dead looking for Kalisa. The land of the dead was, quite literally, the country of the dead. It was probably a place the living normally could not enter.
"...So what I got back was only Tina's body. How do I get Tina back?"
--Who knows?
--Once she knows it's safe, won't she come back on her own?
--If that one finds her, maybe she might get chased back here?
"That one?"
--That one is that one.
I asked who "that one" was, but no proper answer came back from the spirits. It seemed the spirits rather disliked this being called "that one." They would not answer who it was, but if I gathered up the complaints that started spilling out, it turned out to be a character from fairy tales.
He was called the "Guardian Spirit of Children." He traveled through a world that existed overlapping with this one, watching over the processions of the dead walking to the land of the dead. Sometimes, living human children wandered into such places. Most of those children were ones who had lost family members that year, or were on the verge of dying by the roadside right now. They were unhappy children who did not seem likely to find happiness even if they kept on living.
The Guardian Spirit of Children would find children who had gotten mixed into the procession of the dead, and show them the way back to the world of the living. Whether to return to the original world and keep on living, or to join the procession of the dead while searching for beloved family members... that was up to the children.
...A character from fairy tales, huh. When it came to spirits, they became real spirits.
But thinking about it, the Divine King that I and Tina met was also a character from mythology. If people and spirits I had thought were only in stories actually existed, it might be strange to be surprised by it now.
...This really was going to take a long time, was not it.
Hoping for Tina's full recovery would probably be better after we returned to Grenore. For now, I should focus on having her regain her strength bit by bit, building up enough stamina to endure a long journey. Once she had a bit more strength, we would move to the Augun territory, and I wanted to build up Tina's stamina more there. Being sheltered in this cave was probably safe, but the fact that there were only men here bothered me. The spirits had made Tina's underwear, so that was taken care of, but Tina probably would not want her own brother sewing her panties either. To take care of Tina, we really needed a woman's help.
...I could not increase the amount of food she ate, so maybe I would increase the frequency instead.
If I increased how much she ate even a little, Tina would throw up, so I could not increase the amount at one time. So instead, I tried having her eat smaller meals more frequently. In just five days there was no visible effect, but I think I reduced the number of times I made her throw up. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like Tina had gotten a little bit of her energy back.
"Let's go look for Kalisa."
The old Tina had not wanted to go outside even when I invited her, but the current Tina actively wanted to go out for walks. Her main purpose was "to look for Kalisa." When looking for Kalisa, Tina would try to walk as far as any path would take her, but this was actually a little convenient for me too. I had wanted to investigate this place, but I was also worried about leaving Tina alone in the room to go out, so Tina herself suggesting she wanted to walk outside was extremely helpful.
...The door really was not locked, was it.
Whenever soldiers came to bring meals to the room, I never heard the sound of a key being unlocked from outside. The only time this room was locked was from the inside during sleep. Camille had said "feel free to go anywhere you like," and it seemed he had been serious. They did not seem to intend to lock me and Tina in.
"She is not here either, is she, Kalisa? Where could she have gone?"
When looking for Kalisa, Tina was a little more proactive. As soon as she saw a soldier, she would hide behind my back, but otherwise she would pull my hand and walk ahead.
...Sorry, Tina, but I will keep quiet about Kalisa for a little longer.
It was questionable whether the current Tina could understand Kalisa's death, but the main goal was building up Tina's stamina. It seemed Giselle had also used this method, but walking around searching for Kalisa was good exercise for Tina, whose physical and mental strength had completely bottomed out. Moving around made her hungry too, so it also helped increase the number of times Tina ate.
...Kalisa and Aurelia... I really am indebted to them.
Aurelia's bobbin lace helped find Tina, and Kalisa was contributing to building up stamina for our escape. What those two had given to Tina was not limited to this, but no matter how much gratitude I felt, it was not enough.
...Next, I would like to let her get some sunlight every now and then, too.
Thinking that might be too much to ask, I looked at Tina and consulted the man who had taken a cream-filled bread from his pocket. He seemed to be trying to bribe Tina with sweets and feed her, but I had no intention of letting anyone feed my little sister right in front of her guardian. Before the man could say anything, I asked if there was a place where we could get some sunlight. By the way, Tina had pressed herself against my back while I was putting my body between her and the man.
"I would like to let my sister get some sunlight once in a while..."
"...There is a place I would recommend for sunbathing. It is a bit far, though."
The man handed me his jacket to take for Tina, and explained the route using a map Camille had drawn. It seemed there was an area even the soldiers recognized as a good spot for sunbathing. When I asked what the jacket was for, he showed some mysterious consideration, saying it would be a shame if Tina got cold. It was summer now, and inside the cave it was neither hot nor cold, but apparently the area where you could sunbathe was cold.
"It seems a bit far. What do you think?"
"That is fine. We were going to go look for Kalisa anyway."
"...I see."
The soldier kindly used the map to explain the route, but it did not matter much to me. Once I conveyed the map and destination to the imp at my feet, the spirit light at my feet lit up the correct path on its own.
...This really was a bit of a distance.
Tina, who had been wandering the cave while resting and searching for Kalisa, ran out of what little stamina she had before we even reached the area where we could sunbathe. At first she had put up a brave front, saying she could still walk on her own, but now she was limp, her back resting against my chest. The jacket the soldier had given me was under Tina's bottom, so in a sense, the jacket's owner's wish had been granted.
"Is this it? But it is just empty space...?"
We came out into a space so deep in the cave it could be called the innermost chamber, and I looked around. The structure of the room was the same as the others. It was a man-made cave carved out of rock, only wider than the other rooms and with a higher ceiling.
--Stairs, that way.
--But this way. This way is faster.
The imp beckoned me, and I walked forward to a wall where the spirit light extended. From a distance it had looked like just a wall, but up close I could see there was a door.
--A convenient staircase.
--One jump.
When the imp touched the door, it opened on its own, just like the iron door at the cave entrance. Inside was a small room. The imp was saying there were stairs here, but there was nothing resembling them.
--Go inside.
--One jump.
Though suspicious, I was led by the imp into the small room. Tina seemed to notice something, and asked me to put her down.
"It is an elevator, is not it? What floor?"
She had found a glowing panel near the door, and Tina asked me. It seemed Tina knew what this room was for.
"It sounds like we come out from some stairs, so the top floor?"
"The top floor, I understand."
Saying something like "pop goes the weasel," Tina pushed the glowing panel. It seemed to be similar to a light switch. This glowing panel was probably also there to operate some kind of mechanism.
...Hm?
I was hit by the illusion that my body had gotten heavy for a moment, but it quickly passed. Tina did not seem to feel anything, looking at the glowing panel while swaying her body a little happily.
"What is this...?"
Just as I heard a high-pitched sound like striking a bell, the door we had entered through opened. The scenery beyond the door was completely different from when we had come in.
"Outside! It is outside, it is snow!"
Tina burst out of the room with a flash, took three steps, and tripped in the snow, falling flat on her face. She had fallen spectacularly face-first, but she immediately started laughing while shouting "It is cold!" so the snow must have been thick enough that it did not hurt.
...A place with thick snow remaining, in this season?
There was only one such place on this continent. Only the summit of the Erath Mountain Range, towering in the center of the continent.
"I have heard the summit is always in a blizzard, but..."
It was perfectly clear. I could see the whole snowy landscape, and I saw green spreading at the foot of the mountain and a frozen lake nearby. This frozen lake seemed to be the one called the Twin Lakes, almost the same size as the frozen lake near the Imperial capital Tralbach. As evidence, the Imperial Palace that should be visible from the frozen lake near Tralbach was nowhere to be seen.
"So this is the 'Tower of Dawn.'"
Sensing a strange presence, I turned around, and a bizarre sight spread before me. I could see a stone tower in the back, but something translucent was layered over it in multiple folds, hiding the tower. Wondering what on earth this was, I followed the translucent thing up into the sky, and saw a single giant tree.
A translucent great tree stood at the summit of the Erath Mountain Range, as if swallowing the stone tower that seemed to be the "Tower of Dawn."
"...Is it breathing?"
The translucent wall occasionally swelled and then contracted. Watching that movement, the word that naturally came to mind was "breathing." The great tree was breathing peaceful sleeping breaths. That was the impression.
...I had thought this was a strange place with a lot of spirits.
Right in front of me was something that looked like it could only involve spirits. The spirits were probably drawn to this great tree, gathering in this place.
...The fact that they had been able to drive foundations into the frozen ground recently... was that some invention of Camille's or something?
Considering the location of the cave and the position of the "Tower of Dawn," there was no way Camille was not involved in this. As I started wondering what exactly they intended to do, I heard a small sneeze. Even if it was summer, there was snow everywhere, and there was no way Tina's body was not getting cold.
"Come here, Tina. Let us head back inside."
"Yes."
I could not bring myself to make her wear the jacket the soldier had given her on the way, so I picked Tina up and hurried back through the door we had come out of. As I was brushing the snow off Tina's head and shoulders, the imp pushed the glowing panel instead of Tina this time.
If you can not approach from the surface because of the blizzard, just approach from underground. (Wrong)
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. I lost my battle with the Seasonal Change Youkai. I will be taking a 2-3 day break from updates.