495 - Alfred's Concerns
...I want to go back and refill my snacks.
Normally speaking, a lady does not hide snacks in her pockets. I am a lady (provisional) who is pretending to be a lady by playing the part of a cat, and I hide snacks primarily to give to the nursery spirit on my shoulder and to feel comforted by watching it eat, as well as for emergency rations in case I am occasionally snatched away and carried somewhere by spirits.
For these reasons, I did not put that many sweets in my pockets to begin with. If I am pestered by a group of wind spirits egged on by the nursery spirit, the contents of my pockets will be empty in the blink of an eye.
...It seems they will let me hear rumors without payment (sweets), though.
Depending on the situation, I might need to have my voice delivered somewhere again. I want to go back and refill my sweets now, but it would be difficult for me to leave this place at the moment. I am the only one here who can hear the voices of the spirits. Since Christoph-sama and the others are seeking the rumors picked up by the spirits, it seems I will not be able to move from here for a while.
I take the last one from my pocket and ask a wind spirit to deliver a message to the detached palace. To prepare plenty of sweets to give to the spirits. Besides, Salisa, who can hear the voices of spirits, is at the detached palace, so she will probably manage somehow.
"...However, looking at it all together like this, it seems there was truly no major damage."
"It is good that we could confirm it was not a real earthquake."
Christoph-sama lets out a sigh of relief, thinking that for now, they can be at ease. Even if he could not show it on his face, Christoph-sama must have felt some anxiety toward the phenomenon of an earthquake, which he had no experience with.
Because the wind spirits flew all over the royal capital to collect rumors, it was easy to gather stories about whether buildings had collapsed due to the earthquake or if anyone had been pinned under fallen furniture. Just as the deer spirit said, it seems that earthquake was nothing more than an illusion. Among the stories the wind spirits collected, there were none of people being pinned under buildings or furniture. Instead, there were many accidents such as people being surprised by the first-time phenomenon of the ground shaking, becoming confused, falling on their buttocks, or slipping on stairs. Reports of minor accidents are truly numerous.
"Even so, it seems more people were injured from being surprised by the earthquake than I thought."
"That is because there is no one who says they are 'used to it' like Christina. What is worrying is also the existence of spirits that overflowed along with the earthquake."
"Ah, if they are cute-looking ones, it might be comforting, but there are some that are a bit gruesome."
Spirits that look like 'typical fairies,' such as little girls who have completely wrong scales like the nursery spirit, or beauties with dragonfly wings, are fine. The problem is the spirits that are goblins or have animal heads and walk on two legs. Especially the goblins, their faces can only be described as vicious. If such a face were to look at you from the darkness in the corner of a room, even someone who is not a child would start crying.
"If Christina can deliver voices, why not deliver information to the lords of various regions? It is precisely because there is no information that everyone becomes anxious. If we explain the name of that phenomenon and the fact that spirits are overflowing in the world, they might feel a bit more at ease."
"I think anxiety might fade by knowing, but... first, if they do not believe the part about 'having a voice delivered with the cooperation of spirits,' I think it will just end with them thinking it is an auditory hallucination or something."
The people here are fine. Because they have obtained the cooperation of wind spirits and seen the results of various experiments until the sweets in my pocket ran out, Felicia and the Royal Duke, who cannot see them, also believe in the existence of spirits.
It is difficult to believe in things that cannot be seen.
Even for Felicia and the others, while the wind spirits actually delivered voices, I feel that the part where they witnessed the baked sweets coming out of my pocket disappear the moment they were handed to a spirit was a stronger reason for their belief. Being visible is, in itself, a power.
"Then, you should primarily deliver it to Christina's acquaintances."
Having lived in the royal capital for two years previously, I have met various nobles through Felicia's introduction. Since they are friends and acquaintances of Felicia, there are many acquaintances who are Staff Dukes, and being Staff Dukes means they are people with a reasonable amount of status and trust. If I deliver this information to them, they will undoubtedly spread it for the sake of their people. And above all, because they had a friendship with me personally, there is a possibility they will recognize it as my voice. In other words, there is a possibility they will not judge the delivered voice as an auditory hallucination and will believe it.
"Even if not all the lords can believe Christina's voice, if even one person believes and takes action, the anxiety in that person's territory will be removed."
In addition to the lords, Christoph-sama says it might also be good to deliver voices to the guides of the Menhishumi Church. The Menhishumi Church, which seeks knowledge, would likely be seeking information about the phenomenon called an 'earthquake,' and conversely, there will be people who rely on the Menhishumi Church asking 'what was that phenomenon.' There is also a method to remove the people's anxiety by letting them spread correct knowledge from there.
"Following that, telling Cody might also be useful."
Cody is a traveling merchant. Since he does business while traveling across the continent over the course of a year, he is the perfect person to carry and spread information. Incidentally, we can also conduct an experiment to see how far the wind spirits can deliver voices across the continent.
"...As I thought, a refill of sweets is necessary."
Since I had a message delivered to the detached palace, Salisa should be making additional baked sweets by now, but even that would be a number within the range of common sense. It might not be enough for the number of lords in all the territories within the Kingdom of Ivizia. In addition to the number of lords, I plan to have voices delivered to the Menhishumi Church as well.
"I wonder if they would be satisfied with sweets bought at a shop...?"
What do you think? When I looked down at the nursery spirit on my shoulder, it patted its chest as if to say 'leave it to me!', so it seems it still intends to eat. Surely, if the wind spirits refuse, saying 'I do not want sweets that were bought' or 'I want the same thing the nursery spirit was eating,' the nursery spirit will perform by stuffing its cheeks in a very delicious-looking way. The wind spirits seem to be bundles of curiosity, so they will surely be knocked out by it this time as well.
"Christina, you may return to the detached palace once and refill the sweets. If you go out to buy them outside the royal castle, charge the payment to my residence."
"Yes. I shall go."
It seems I can leave the room for a while, I answer Christoph-sama while giving a lady's bow. When I tried to leave just like that, for some reason Alfred-sama was attached as my companion. Because the number of my guards is small, he was told to act together with me.
"If we were going to the city, that would be one thing, but I can return to the detached palace in an instant...?"
If the nursery spirit carries me, my travel time is zero. This nursery spirit refuses if I say I want to go far away alone, but if the errand is to return to the detached palace where Salisa is, it will probably listen. Furthermore, if I return to the detached palace, I can also replenish the number of guards. While I tilted my head, thinking there is no need to take Alfred-sama away from this place, everyone here gave me a subtle look.
"...Suddenly disappearing and suddenly appearing is truly behavior typical of you, but please stop."
Just as Alfred-sama's cheek began to twitch, saying it is bad for the heart, I realized the meaning of these subtle gazes. Even if they understand the circumstances, having me vanish suddenly from before their eyes is certainly bad for the heart. It seems that even Alfred-sama cannot simply accept it as the usual thing.
I was sent off, thinking I would prepare the manuscript of the information to be delivered while refilling the sweets. The reason Felicia and the others started saying they would prepare the manuscript is probably because they know the content I sent to Leonardo first. Since it was a message to Leonardo, with whom I am on familiar terms, I sent it with very relaxed words.
...It is no good. If I am not conscious of it, my true nature comes out immediately. At this rate, I will be treated as a child forever.
I board the prepared carriage, conscious that I must ground my behavior as a lady. Alfred-sama, who sat opposite me, had a somewhat difficult expression on his face.
"...About the talk of delivering your voice to the lords of various regions."
Alfred-sama says in a slightly stiff voice that it would be better to stop delivering voices. I wondered why he did not oppose it in the place where Christoph-sama and the others were, and immediately realized the reason. It is precisely because Alfred-sama thinks it is better to stop it that Christoph-sama made me and Alfred-sama act together. In other words, Christoph-sama, who started saying whether we should deliver voices, also wonders in his heart whether this is a good idea.
"Um... was there some problem?"
"The plan itself is good. That is why Father did not oppose it in that place. But..."
It is a good plan for calming the confusion that is likely occurring in various places now, but from a long-term perspective, it seems it is not very good. However, it is 'not good' for me. When weighing me as an individual against a large number of citizens, Christoph-sama as the King apparently could not point this out. Therefore, by separating us from that place, he seems to have tried to convey their concerns to me.
"It is bad that you can hear the voices of spirits, but it is also bad that you can freely deliver your own voice."
"...I think it is convenient, like a telephone?"
Unlike a tool called a telephone, this is something that is established only by getting the cooperation of spirits, which are beings with will, so frequent use is difficult and interactions with spirits must be handled carefully, but looking only at the result, it is a very convenient thing. Carrying a voice to a distant voice, and carrying a voice back from afar. It is possible to exchange information far more quickly and accurately than compared to urgent messengers using fast horses or the delivery of letters by human feet as has been the case until now.
When I ask what is bad, Alfred-sama knits his brows troubledly. He says it is because it is too convenient.
"Is being convenient a bad thing?"
"Being convenient is a good thing. I also think it is a wonderful thing. However... if that were something without a heart or a tool."
"They are working happily with sweets as payment...?"
I understand Alfred-sama's words as a problem of the spirits who are actually working. It is true that spirits also seem to have hearts, but I am making requests to them, and I have been giving rewards. I have treated them as convenient tools, but I am not unilaterally commanding them, nor is it without any return. My head is filled with question marks, wondering what Alfred-sama is considering a problem.
"...The 'convenient thing' I am talking about is you, Christina."
I, who can hear the voices of spirits, speak to them, and communicate to some extent, am a convenient existence when told. Especially if one is a ruler, they would not be able to leave me, who can act as a pseudo-substitute for a telephone, running wild.
"Um...?"
"Do you understand? Both I and Father, as rulers, will not be able to leave you running wild. The wish to stay in the city of Grenore until twenty might also be revoked depending on the case."
When urged to think about it, I can indeed understand the reason why Christoph-sama and the others are concerned. I, who can collect rumors using wind spirits, can expose people's secrets as much as I want. If I deliver a voice and give instructions, no evidence of evil deeds will remain, and conversely, I can eavesdrop on some plot while staying in my private room. Setting aside suitability in terms of personality, I was too convenient for conducting intelligence activities.
Christoph-sama and Alfred-sama can probably believe that I would not use spirits in such a way, but people who do not know me would not think so. There will certainly be people who think that a young girl like me can be made to do whatever they want if they just kidnap and lock her up. In fact, since I have been kidnapped to a neighboring country once, I cannot just laugh it off as overthinking.
"To protect you and to prevent you from being utilized, we will have no choice but to lock you up somewhere."
To Alfred-sama, who says he does not want to do such a thing, I try to tease him by saying that since the nursery spirit will take me away, locking me up is impossible. I understand that he is worrying about me, but probably no one can lock me up, joke aside. And, when it comes to this, the target will not be me, but those around me. For example, if Leonardo is taken hostage, I will be unable to go anywhere. Thinking about who on earth could take Leonardo as a hostage, I realize. Both Alfred-sama and Christoph-sama can do that. That is why Alfred-sama is trying to stop me.
"...I understand that Alfred-sama is saying this because he is worried about me. But let us think about that later."
This is no time to hesitate by thinking about things that have not even happened. Just by delivering words, I might be able to remove anxiety from many people. I can think about the rest later.
"Long ago, I protected myself by not claiming to be a reincarnated person. But because of that, I let many patients of Wards' disease die."
I have vented that regret to Christoph-sama before. Christoph-sama told me that, conversely, it was the right choice not to claim it, but that does not mean my regret disappears.
"Since there are things I can do, things that only I can do, it cannot be helped. This time, I want to properly do what I can do."
I throw the task of thinking of a way for me to live normally without being locked up to Alfred-sama, asking him to use his excellent head. If it is Alfred-sama, he will surely find a plan that does not have such emotional resistance. That is how much I believe in Alfred-sama.
When I smile, saying let us remove everyone's anxiety for now, Alfred-sama gave a wry smile. He says that the way I throw all the troublesome things to him is exactly like Leonardo. When I continue by saying I am counting on you, I was lightly tapped on the forehead. It seems I have graduated from having my cheeks pulled.
...I might have realized one more thing.
Alfred-sama told me that I might end up being locked up because of my high utility value, but I realized there is another way to say it. After this confusion settles, only a few fools will think of me as just a convenient tool. Anyone with even a bit of wisdom to think would feel that I am a threat. A person who can collect various rumors from all over the world and deliver them anywhere would be a threat that a ruler would want to secure, or if they cannot control them, stop even by killing them.
It is an opponent who is difficult to deal with when malice is directed, not knowing when they might turn their fangs toward you.
Locking me up does not only mean securing me. It also meant protecting the fools who cannot understand a threat as a threat from the threat that is me.
...I just want to live an ordinary, leisurely life, though.
It seems it has truly become difficult for me to live within the circle of people. For each other's sake, we should live with a certain amount of distance, but there probably will not be only people who leave me alone.
...As a last resort, maybe I should try saying I want to live at Aurelia-san's house.
Waiyakku Valley is a place protected by a mysterious mist. There, I could reduce the number of guards and live protected from the intrusion of suspicious persons.
...If it comes to that, the retirement route is inevitable, isn't it.
I return to the courtyard of the government building, loading the carriage full of baked sweets baked at the detached palace and sweets bought in the inner city. It is almost time for it to get cold, but it seems they have no intention of entering the building, perhaps out of caution against eavesdropping. While we were out preparing sweets, the manuscript of the content to be delivered was completed. As for the content, it is truly concise.
Starting with an explanation that voices are being delivered with the cooperation of spirits, the phenomenon where the ground shook is a natural phenomenon called an 'earthquake.' However, this time, it is more likely to be an illusion rather than an 'earthquake.'
According to information from the spirits, it was said to be something that happened because the world of spirits and this world were forcibly connected. An explanation is also included that this is why spirits became visible. There are those who cannot see and those who can, but neither is abnormal.
Anyway, no further shaking will likely occur this time. It is more frightening and sad for the anxious citizens to be frightened, run wild, and get injured. The manuscript concluded by asking them to strive to remove the citizens' anxiety as quickly as possible.
"Will this be the end of the response for this time for now?"
While I am giving sweets to the wind spirits as an advance payment, Alfred-sama confirms the matters to be handled by counting on his fingers. Three fingers remained standing, but for now, it seems there is nothing more I can do. While I am receiving the words that it is a tentative end, the wind spirit sent to Mey Fortress returned.
--From Mey Fortress, this is Leonardo.
Leonardo's reply, which I specified to be in the form of a report because I would let Christoph-sama and the others hear it, was truly stiff like a report. Regarding the part about the naked man, which was too mysterious just by hearing it from the spirits, if we take it favorably, it seems a spirit or something just disarmed the enemy soldier. Spirits were overflowing over there as well, and Leonardo apparently went around capturing the men with the help of the spirits' power. At that time, the Black Knight, who can see spirits, also played a great role.
"...It seems Leonardo can also hear the voices of spirits."
"The report that there seem to be many who look like children is useful. I will immediately confirm in the royal capital as well."
"Incidentally, let us also investigate if there are any who can hear voices."
Beside Alfred-sama and the others who are scrutinizing the information from Leonardo, as for me, I calculate the time it takes for the voice to reach Mey Fortress from the time spent on the round trip. The voice was delivered during the bright hours, and the reply arrived after the sun set. There must have been time to think about the reply, but thinking generously, it would be about two and a half hours one way. Compared to the means of communication until now, it is surprisingly fast.
...Alfred-sama worried about me, but actually, maybe I do not have to worry that much?
Seeing the forms of spirits, hearing their voices, and being able to communicate is only me for now. However, that is only in this place, and if I go out into the city, the number of people who can see the forms of spirits will increase, and among them, there might be people who can hear voices, and there might be people who can communicate. I can be a threat only in the current situation where there is only me. If there are other people with the same aptitude, it should not become what Alfred-sama fears.
...Probably.
Since I was outside for almost half a day, I warm my chilled body in the bath. After having dinner, which became later than usual, I was pushed into bed early, saying I must not catch a cold because I was chilled. It is a larger bed than the one in Grenore, but because there is a black dog stuffed toy, I do not feel it that much. I think a large stuffed toy in a seventeen-year-old lady's bed is questionable, but this black dog stuffed toy is something Kalisa made for me. I cannot stop it, and I do not want to throw it away, so I think that when I have children someday, I will move it to the children's room.
...And, it is subtly a disturbance to a peaceful sleep.
I did not know if day and night do not matter to spirits, or if that is the nature of wind spirits, but even after getting into bed, wind spirits continue to bring rumors one after another, and it is noisy. I might be able to just let it flow, but they seem to have completely mistaken me for a rumor-loving person because I wanted to hear rumors during the day, and as wind spirits, they are letting me hear them out of goodwill. I feel it would be rude to let this flow, so I have no choice but to keep them company in their chatter until I seriously fall asleep.
...Hmm?
I do not know how long I had been keeping the spirits company in their chatter, but among the conversation between spirits, I picked up a topic that I could not let flow, and my consciousness, which was about to fall asleep, surfaced. I think just now, if I did not mishear, a tremendous story was mixed in.
"What is this about the Provisional King of Quebia visiting the Zugari Empire? Is that a true story?"
--It's true-.
--We don't lie-.
As the saying goes, it is a mixture of gems and stones, and I might have found a gem among the rumors brought by the wind spirits. When I sat up, saying I want to hear the story in more detail, the wind spirit who seemed to be the most knowledgeable about this story came before my eyes.
"So, what happened with the Provisional King's visit to the Empire?"
--Beat 'em up-!
"...Beat 'em...?"
What did he beat up and how. I involuntarily knit my brows at the word that jumped out of the wind spirit's mouth, which seemed entirely unsuitable for Remihio, the Provisional King of the Divine King's Domain Quebia. No matter how I hear it, it is not a peaceful story.
"Please tell me in more detail."
--Um- the king's child's child's child's...?
"You mean Remihio-sama, who is looking after the Divine King's absence in Quebia, right? Of the Divine King's lineage."
--Yes!
When I asked to hear in detail, I was surprised by the wind spirit who started counting the number of descendants from the time of the Divine King. Since the Divine King's lineage should have continued from the age of myth, if I am unlucky, there is a possibility that even if I repeat 'child's' all night, I still will not catch up to the present.
--And then- a bad guy was aiming for the king's child, so he eliminated them.
--Like the wind! Because he's a wind spirit?
"...Ah, wind spirits also tell jokes, I see."
My attention went to the joke and I pointed it out, but if it is not my imagination, a tremendous story was coming out of the wind spirit's mouth. Since it is something a spirit says, I think there is no need to doubt the truth, but if it is not my imagination, the content is that the Provisional King of the Divine King's Domain Quebia was attacked by villains in the Zugari Empire. Hearing in more detail, it was more correct to say he was targeted by assassins rather than being attacked by villains.
"Truly... that country is fearless beyond measure..."
The more I hear, the more the content makes me lose strength. To try and harm the Divine King's lineage would be a reckless act that could be called a recurrence of myth. And, perhaps because he is one connected to the Divine King's blood, it seems Remihio's surroundings were solidified by spirits. The assassins fell from the trees they were hiding in and died from hitting the wrong spot. The servant who tried to mix poison into the food tripped and covered themselves in the poison, and also died. The wind spirits tell me happily, but it seems all these unfortunate accidents were caused by them. Truly, they are not just cute existences.
"...Could it be that this anomaly this time was also caused by some spirit who was angry at the Empire? Like a giant tree root, or something humans cannot do anything about?"
--No-.
--We don't do that-.
At the wind spirit's words that followed, saying this was something humans caused, I hold my head in my hands, beyond surprise. When it comes to this, I can truly think of only one person.