445 - Leonardo's Perspective The Fog and the Spirit Guide
My little sister (Tina) is cute.
I think she is cute even including her slightly tomboyish, contrary, mischievous personality, but according to Alfred, that is just a brother's biased eye. To others, Tina is a mysterious, spirit-like beautiful girl, and her insides apparently do not match her appearance. She is a weird girl. In that sense, my opinion and Alfred's do not align, but there is one opinion we share. Our evaluations of her insides differ, but Tina's appearance is lovely.
And sometimes, Tina's lovely appearance brings harm to her.
...When I noticed there were horses chasing us, I thought for sure we had been found by pursuers.
Cody's wagon carrying Tina was surrounded by five horses and the men on their backs. I poked my head out, wondering if it was mercenary work. The men seemed to flinch at my face emerging from the wagon, but when they saw Tina's face peeking out attached to me, they exchanged looks with each other. Eavesdropping on their whispered conversation, it seemed the men wanted to stop Tina. Apparently, wherever they saw Tina's face, their employer took a liking to it and wanted to have a little talk with her.
...There is no way that is just a "let us talk a little" situation.
If they really just wanted to talk a little, they could have called out to her openly when they saw Tina. Tina would have hidden behind my back being shy, but that would have left a better impression than sending people to snatch her. Going through the trouble of using people to approach her on the highway where there are fewer witnesses than in town, they clearly knew what they were doing. This was a crime targeting a good-looking child.
Unfortunately, when I politely asked them to leave, they resorted to force, so I responded with force in return. The moment they drew their weapons, the option of letting them live disappeared. Since they came at us intending to kill, there is no need for us to let them return alive, is there.
In the blink of an eye, the men stopped talking. The horses still had use, so I took them. The question was what to do with the corpses and how this would affect the journey.
"What do you think?"
"In the Zugall Empire, it is nobles or wealthy merchants who pull stunts like this. Which means..."
"There is a possibility they have greased the wheels at the border too, huh."
In the Zugall Empire, bribing soldiers gets you priority treatment at border queues and intentionally lax cargo inspections. If you paid off the border soldiers, it would not be impossible to separate a good-looking child from their guardian and transport them straight to the buyer. Going straight to the border fortress with Tina would be more than a little dangerous. We had planned to have Tina cross the border hidden in the luggage, but considering this, it would be wise to assume the wagon's description might have been passed along too.
"...Well, I suppose I will just think of it as good thing we got horses."
One horse would be enough for me and Tina to ride, so the remaining four needed to be disposed of. At the nearest village, I left the four horses as a gift and asked them to handle the corpses on the highway. Before the border, Cody and I split up. Cody would pass through the border fortress as an ordinary traveling merchant, while Tina and I planned to cross the border secretly by horse.
"...The fog is rolling in."
We were taking mountain paths to avoid being seen, when suddenly fog closed in. I did not think the temperature or weather could produce fog, but it was really sudden. The sunlight was blocked by the fog, and the surroundings grew even darker. I could not see my footing or the trees that might be obstacles, so I signaled to stop the horse once, but the horse did not stop.
...Hmm?
If I could not see the surroundings, the horse should be unable to see too. Bumping into a tree would be one thing, but if we unknowingly walked along a cliff edge and slipped off, it would not be a laughing matter. Even if I fell off a cliff this time, the Divine King would not come to save me.
...The Divine King did not come, but a spirit did.
A spirit carrying a bow and quiver on its back was sitting on the horse's head. I had no idea when it had gotten there. The spirit was gripping the horse's perked ears, occasionally giving directions. The horse seemed to be advancing through the fog, where even a few steps ahead were invisible, guided by the spirit's instructions.
...Come to think of it, did the area around Waiyack Valley always have fog too?
I wondered if that was also the spirits' doing, and it strangely made sense. That fog appeared to protect Waiyack Valley, also known as the "Herb Garden of the God of Medicine Arts, Sedovara." It was a mysterious fog that prevented entry by those without permission or those bearing ill intent toward the valley itself or its inhabitants.
"Tina?"
Tina, who should have been looking around with an anxious face, suddenly leaned her weight against my chest. When I peered at her face to see what was wrong, Tina was sleeping soundly with peaceful breathing. Since I had her seated in front of me in a hugging position, she did not fall off the horse, but sleeping on horseback is extremely dangerous. If she had shown signs of being sleepy beforehand, I could have reacted in time, but it was so sudden this time that I was startled.
"Tina, if you are going to sleep, at least tell me first. It is dangerous."
I adjusted the hold on Tina's body that had collapsed into my chest and poked her rounder cheek with my finger. Usually, when I do this, Tina wakes up for a moment looking annoyed and bites my finger, but today she did not.
...Something is strange, is it not?
I thought it was strange, but there were no other abnormalities besides her sleeping. Her chest was rising and falling regularly, and I put my hand to her forehead to check for fever, but it was normal.
"Do you know the direction?"
I felt like asking the spirit, which had not shown itself since we left the cave, why it had suddenly appeared now, but I held back. Even if I asked the spirit a question, I would only get a vague answer anyway. It is faster to just accept the mystery as a mystery.
...This spirit has a slightly different feel from the one in the cave.
The spirit turned back to me once at my call, then faced forward again. This spirit did not seem to be the chatty type.
...Well, with this visibility, I have no choice but to leave it to the spirit.
The horse would not listen to me, and the spirit seemed to be heading somewhere, so I decided to trust its guidance for now. I could not afford to take a wrong path, but the view was blocked by fog. I had no choice but to entrust the lead to the spirit, which seemed to have a destination.
...Are there others too?
Besides the spirit acting as guide, there were more spirits in the fog? Thinking that, I strained my ears and occasionally caught small voices and felt gazes. Apparently, there were spirits lurking in this fog. At this rate, it seemed I would be able to see spirits even if I were wrapped in the fog of Waiyack Valley now.
...The sound of a bell?
I caught the solemn sound of a bell in the depths of my ears. I turned my head, wondering where the bell sound was coming from, and the fog-obscured view cleared in an instant.
We should have been climbing a mountain path covered in dense trees to secretly cross the border, but there were no mountains or forests. What appeared before me was a path paved with white stone, flowers blooming in full glory despite the season being the end of autumn. And then, a temple shining silver-white in the sunlight.
"I at least know there is no way a temple like this is near the border."
I tried asking the spirit on the horse's head where it had brought us, but it was the same as before. It glanced back at me, but did not give me anything resembling an answer. I tried signaling the horse to listen to me now, but it was unchanged from the fog. It listened to the spirit's instructions, but completely ignored mine.
Wondering how far it planned to take us, I left the guiding to the spirit and observed my surroundings. The area around the temple was entirely water, probably a lake. The temple was on a lake. That might be the more accurate way to put it.
...For a lake big enough to fit an entire temple, I can only think of Lake Montpere.
Lake Montpere, the largest lake in the Divine Kingdom Quebia, lies east of Restone, the capital located almost in the center of Quebia's territory. It is certainly not near the border to the north of the Zugall Empire, which is the southern edge of the Divine Kingdom Quebia.
...Really, when spirits get involved, travel time goes completely haywire.
If I was going to travel such a ridiculous distance anyway, I wish they had dropped me off at Waiyack Valley. There, mysterious fog appears year-round, and it is within the Ivizia Kingdom. I would not have to think so hard about crossing the border. And incidentally, Waiyack Valley is under the jurisdiction of the Restham Knight Order. It is a place where I have freedom to act.
"Huh? ...What?"
Leaving it to the horse's pace, we circled around the silver-white temple and passed through the gate to the outside. By the gate, naturally enough, there was a gatekeeper, who compared the horse emerging from inside with me and Tina, and opened his eyes wide in shock.
"Saying I am not a suspicious person would not be believed, would it."
As I was wondering how to explain, Tina woke up, perhaps sensing the presence of people. Tina's movements, looking around from within my arms, seemed to break the gatekeeper's shock too.
"Leo, is this the border?"
"No, I do not think so..."
With such an overwhelmingly magnificent silver-white temple towering behind us, there is no way this is the border. Among the Divine Kingdom Quebia, there is only one temple floating on a lake. It is the Divine Domain of the Divine Kingdom Quebia, where entry is forbidden to anyone except the royal family who protect the blood of the Divine King.
...Somehow, this place feels even more problematic than just a Divine Domain.
A silver-white temple in the Divine Domain of the Divine Kingdom Quebia. If we are talking about a silver-white temple shining in the sunlight, it should have appeared in the myths too.
For now, it did not seem appropriate for a trespassing suspicious person to be speaking from horseback. I dismounted to first apologize for the rudeness and explain the situation, and since Tina wanted to get down too, I helped her.
"We were enveloped in a strange fog and lost our way, but we left it to the horse's pace and ended up here. I would like to apologize for the discourtesy. Who should I request an audience with?"
"Huh? Apologize? Someone who came out of this temple does not need to apologize... Ah, yes. Please wait. I will call Remihio-sama right away. ...Ah, wait. Should I not keep you waiting?"
"I think calling the Acting King Remihio-sama here would be more of a problem..."
I pointed that out, but it did not seem to reach the gatekeeper's ears. The gatekeeper probably never seriously imagined anyone would be allowed entry into the silver-white temple behind him. For a temple surrounded by a lake on all sides, entry would be nearly impossible without a spirit's guidance anyway. Even I would be surprised if there were an intruder in this temple. I am surprised, but the gatekeeper cannot stay confused forever. We will not get anywhere, so I wish he would calm down a little.
"No matter how you look at it, we are the ones who are suspicious and in the wrong. It is only proper that I come to you. I am sorry, but..."
"Since you have emerged from that temple, it is only proper that I come to you."
Saying "It has been a while," Remihio knelt down, having appeared soundlessly. When had he gotten there? Startled by the Acting King suddenly kneeling, the gatekeeper hastily followed suit.
"Please raise your head, Remihio-sama. I... as far as I know, there is no reason for the Acting King to kneel before me."
"Since you came out of the Divine King's Temple, you must be the one closest to the Divine King on this earth."
"The Divine King's Temple... this is?"
The silver-white temple towering behind us was apparently a temple the gods built for the Divine King in the age of myth. Temples built by humans are made of stone and decorated in vivid colors. In the myths, the temples the gods built for themselves were all gold. The temple made of silver-white was only for the Divine King.
"The Divine King's Temple is a temple that only the Divine King and the Gods' Favored Child are permitted to enter. Even though I hold the position of Acting King, even I cannot enter that place."
So apparently, since I appeared from there, I must be the Divine King or the Gods' Favored Child. I do have a bit of an idea about this. I am not the Divine King, nor am I the Gods' Favored Child chosen by the gods as the next Divine King, but I may have touched the remains of the Divine King himself, who seems to still be wandering somewhere.
...That is it, is it not. The thing I touched in the cave at Tina's instruction.
Tina said the contents had been emptied out, but she did not say where the emptied contents had gone. Tina herself did not seem to know either, but if what was emptied back then remained in me, that might be why I was able to enter the silver-white temple.
...Come to think of it, on the night I rampaged in the Imperial capital, it seemed like the Divine King was inside me, did it not?
Looking back, several possibilities come to mind. I am not the Divine King, but there have been several times where some remnant of the Divine King might have remained within me.
...Could it be that being able to see spirits is an effect of the Divine King?
Come to think of it, I turned my gaze to the spirit sitting on the horse's head. The spirit, catching my gaze, hopped down from the horse's head and hung onto Remihio's hair. Remihio placed the spirit dangling from his hair onto his palm and thanked it, saying it had guided me properly.
"So that guide spirit was sent by Remihio-sama."
"The spirit said a noble person is troubled, so I sent it to help... but it seems you can see spirits."
Just as Remihio began to weave an unsettling phrase about the successor of the Divine King, I reached out my hand and urged him to stand. I am no successor of the Divine King. That is a serious misunderstanding, and I could not let the Acting King remain kneeling forever.
"The reason I can see spirits is... probably, the influence of being saved by the Divine King."
Or perhaps it is the influence of living in that cave. Whether it is from the influence of that cave overflowing with spirits, or just a change in my way of thinking combined with the experience of seeing spirits causing some change. It is not impossible to think that way.
"More importantly, we were trying to cross the border, and we were guided here by spirits..."
I am glad we could cross the border, but there was one problem. We had been traveling together with Cody up to near the border. In all likelihood, we have left Cody behind near the border.
When I told Remihio this, he wore a somewhat difficult smile. He said there was no need to worry about Cody. Since the spirits should recognize him as our traveling companion, he probably will not end up at the silver-white temple, but should be guided here as well.
"As expected of the Mysterious Kingdom Quebia. To travel from the border to the Divine Domain guided by spirits through the fog..."
"It does not happen to just anyone, but it is a phenomenon that can occasionally occur for those favored by spirits."
It seems the spirits have taken a liking to Cody's personality. Remihio also gave him a talisman to protect his journey, but even without it, Cody alone might be able to travel safely with the spirits' whimsical help.
...Cody is, in all likelihood, safer when we are not traveling with him.
It is not like Leonardo has any Divine King flags raised. (A style of denying from the very start.)
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.