496 - Suspect Leonardo
I cannot simply ignore the fact that there was an attempted assassination of the Acting King of the Divine King's Domain Quebia. When considering who I should inform, Alfred was the first person who came to mind. Since this was a report that a foreign ruler had nearly been assassinated, I thought I should tell King Christoph, but I do not have the courage to speak to the King directly. For that reason, I decided to have Alfred act as the intermediary as usual.
"Ah, good morning, Alfred-sama."
"...Good morning, Christina."
I had asked the wind spirits to deliver the message and told them to let me hear his voice once Alfred woke up, but Alfred, who lives in a mansion in the noble district, had already entered the castle and visited the detached palace by the time of my breakfast. It was not just a little early, it was far too early to visit someone.
"Um... have you had breakfast yet?"
"I flew to the detached palace after hearing a story upon waking that made me doubt my own ears..."
"I understand. Not yet, then."
When I asked for another portion of breakfast to be prepared, preparations for Alfred's breakfast began immediately. The one who appeared with tea, saying "Please have some tea first," was for some reason Solana. Solana is not stationed at the detached palace as Alfred's maid, but she must have come along to take care of him. Perhaps it is a case of being familiar with the place, as her coordination with the ladies-in-waiting of the detached palace was seamless, and she quickly prepared the tea.
"...So, about the story the wind spirits delivered this morning."
I had the food brought out all at once instead of in courses as usual, and dismissed everyone except for the minimum number of servers. It seemed the matter was too serious to discuss as casually as usual.
"Since it is a story from the spirits, I do not believe it is a lie. I asked for details, and it seems that every person who attempted the assassination was blocked by the spirits."
"Then, the Acting King is safe?"
"Safe is an understatement... despite being targeted by assassins many times, the spirits handled everything, so he felt no sense of danger and proceeded to the imperial capital as planned."
"That is, how should I put it..."
Alfred rubbed his temples, thinking that humans with the protection of spirits are terrifying. A normal person would have felt a sense of danger and turned back, but Acting King Remihio seems to be different. Some might call him a coward for returning to his country just because he was targeted by assassins, but put another way, it means that the country cannot even maintain a minimum level of autonomy. Even if he had canceled the visit because he was attacked by assassins, it would not have been a disgrace to the visiting party.
"If possible, I think it would be better to contact the home country of Quebia... where is the Acting King now?"
"He seems to be in the imperial capital Trarbach. Also, it seems the Empire is also overflowing with spirits..."
The wind spirits told me about the state of the imperial capital Trarbach in an amusing way, but listening to it from the perspective of the local people, the situation is outrageous. Just when it seemed that the cobblestones were peeling up and tree roots were appearing, the roots apparently swallowed the "bad children," according to the spirits, and carried them away somewhere. As for where the carried-away humans went, there was a report from Leonardo at Mey Fortress. The naked men appearing around the border were the "bad children" who had vanished from the imperial capital. It seemed that even those other than the soldiers gathered to invade the Kingdom of Ivizia were being carried outside the border.
"As expected... it seems the Emperor has also gone missing in this chaos."
"That... the Empire must be in total chaos."
"I understand that it would be chaotic if the most important person in the country went missing... but is it that bad?"
In the Kingdom of Ivizia, even if Christoph wandered off somewhere, work would continue. Felicia and Alfred are in the royal capital, as are the other royal dukes. Since they have received education as rulers, national administration should not stall if Christoph is absent for a few days. If the former King Ethelbert is staying in the royal capital, they can seek instructions from him. Furthermore, Christoph takes responsibility for his work, so even if he had to disappear for some reason, he would likely provide some guidelines so that those left behind would not be troubled.
I could not quite imagine that the disappearance of a ruler would lead to total chaos, even if there were some confusion.
"The current Emperor Edeltroute went through various things in his youth and does not trust others. Therefore, he apparently established a system where his approval is required for everything, in order to eliminate even the slightest risk of assassination."
"That is, how should I put it... isn't the direction of his effort wrong?"
"It is not an uncommon story, is it? The story of humans who do not reflect on their own actions and only demand change from others."
Emperor Edeltroute of the Zugari Empire apparently established a system where national administration cannot function without him, choosing self-preservation. I feel that if they were royalty of the Kingdom of Ivizia, they would actively create a system where work functions even without them, but it seems the nature of rulers changes depending on the country. Rather than establishing a system where it would be problematic if he died as a countermeasure against assassins, I wish he had aimed to create a self and a country that would not be sent assassins in the first place.
"...Which means, the Acting King of the Divine King's Domain Quebia is visiting the imperial capital, which is in total chaos because the Emperor is missing."
"That is how it is."
"I can imagine a picture of the people of the castle confused about how to handle him, and Remihio-sama being completely carefree."
"I think you are probably the only person who could call an Acting King 'carefree'."
Since Alfred said he wanted more information, I decided to have Salisa make extra snacks today as well. Salisa had a subtle look on her face because she knew the purpose, but she gave a tentative agreement when I said I was just gathering information.
Since Alfred also reluctantly recognizes the utility of information gathering, Salisa and the others do not stop me. In exchange, I was warned not to let it be known that I can carry voices far using spirits, so I moved to the usual detached building. That detached building with the fountain that has a history involving Leonardo. This detached building is hidden by the former owner of the detached palace, the Eighth Princess. Therefore, even if there are unexpected visitors, there is little worry that they will suddenly show their faces here.
"Come to think of it, was Leonardo-sama the same age as I am now when he was the model for this fountain?"
I feel like I heard that he was forced to be a naked model when he was seventeen. And the only naked work of art I know of that Leonardo modeled for is this fountain. That means this must be Leonardo at seventeen. He is tall, but he is about one head shorter than the current Leonardo. His build is firmly muscular, but it gives the impression of being one size smaller. One would think the physique is almost complete by seventeen, but it seems Leonardo continued to grow even after serving as the model for the fountain.
...Even though we are supposed to be the same age, if we stood side by side, the statue looks more like my sibling.
My body is growing little by little, but I feel like I still do not look my age. Even with generous grading, I wonder if I finally look fifteen.
...Now then, shall I do various experiments while I am at it?
Switching my mindset, I tried things I had not noticed yesterday during the time I waited for the voice responses to arrive. Yesterday, I focused on delivering voices, experimenting with whether voices could reach people who cannot hear spirits and whether the recipient could be limited to an individual, but today is a slightly different experiment.
...At times like this, being a young lady is convenient. There are plenty of people I can use.
I am accompanied by one lady-in-waiting and one maid at all times, I have a Silver Knight as a guard, and on top of that, I have Koku-maro. When I want to do secret experiments, it is very helpful to have usable personnel by my side.
"...The fact that sound can be blocked is amazing."
Since I can carry voices far, I wondered if I could conversely make voices not reach. It was a simple idea. I conveyed the concept and had the wind spirits try it, and they were able to block the sound within a specified range so that it did not leak outside. With this, most eavesdropping can be prevented.
...Also, since the spirits tell me about people hiding in the ceiling and such, wouldn't a considerable amount of eavesdropping be prevented?
This is the answer to my previous question about how Ethelbert and the others obtained information about me while I was secluded in the detached palace. In addition to gathering rumors from the servants, it seems spies were cleverly hiding.
...But certainly? The spirits are the ones actually doing it, but it might be inevitable that they want to secure me, the one who can ask them to do this.
If I were a ruler, I would also move to secure me. This time, I tried blocking voices to prevent eavesdropping as an experiment, but the wind spirits do this by moving the air. If so, even if poison or gas were dispersed, it could be prevented with wind. Perhaps, if it were an assassination using bows and arrows, the trajectory of the fired arrow could be changed with wind.
...I certainly do not want to try it, but this probably...
It might be possible to kill humans. If the wind spirits manipulate the air, they could take away the air, more accurately the oxygen, from around the target, or conversely, they could keep blowing wind into the face to cause respiratory failure. I cannot report this speculation to Alfred. If he hears that humans might be killed using spirits, I will likely be locked away somewhere for real.
While killing time with experiments, a reply arrived from Carlotta, to whom I had sent a voice immediately after moving to the detached building. Only one spirit was supposed to have delivered the voice to Carlotta, but for some reason, there are two spirits that returned.
"Huh? I only asked one to run the errand, right?"
--Yes. One.
--I am the errand-runner~.
"...Errand?"
The one who called themselves "I" seemed to be an additional wind spirit. Since all the wind spirits I meet have translucent and amorphous forms, I could not tell them apart unless they introduced themselves.
The wind spirit who had delivered my voice to Carlotta raised their hand first, saying "I". Then, since I had not specified otherwise, Carlotta's voice echoed in the surroundings.
--Hello, Christina-san. Thank you for the letter sent in such a fun way.
I had told Carlotta about the state of the Kingdom of Ivizia overflowing with spirits and asked what the situation in the Zugari Empire was like. Since naked men, presumably Imperial soldiers, were appearing from the border of the Zugari Empire and the Kingdom of Ivizia, I was curious about the internal state of the Empire.
According to the reply from Carlotta, the area around Augun Castle seems quiet. However, it seems there is no change in the fact that spirits are overflowing. Many people are confused, surprised, and even injured by the spirits that suddenly became visible.
"The fact that it is harder to find humans who cannot see spirits in the Empire is a difference from here."
"What is the difference?"
Since it would be better to provide it as a report later, Rebecca is writing down Carlotta's statements. Since it involves writing down the words people speak exactly as they are, it seems like a bit of a difficult job.
"Carlotta-sama cannot hear the voices of spirits, but her granddaughter can."
"In the royal capital, there are only Christina-sama and Salisa, so this might also be considered a lot."
"But I understand why one spirit increased."
According to Carlotta, her granddaughter can also see spirits and hear their voices. It seems she tried to imitate me, who delivered a voice using a wind spirit, to see if they could do the same from their end. Carlotta's reply concluded by asking me to respond if the granddaughter's voice arrived safely.
"Then, could you let me hear the voice of Carlotta-sama's granddaughter?"
--Understood~.
I had Rebecca prepare a new piece of paper and gave sweets to the wind spirit who had first completed the errand. This voice also echoed in the surroundings. Since she said she would start trying to deliver voices from now on, perhaps she does not yet have the idea of delivering a voice only to an individual's ear.
The voice from Carlotta's granddaughter began with a polite greeting of "Nice to meet you". From the word "granddaughter", I had instinctively imagined a young girl, but from the feel of the voice, she is likely a girl of my generation. Imagining from the dignified ring, I feel she might be slightly older.
After a brief self-introduction, the purpose of this experiment was explained in the girl's voice. The primary goal was to confirm if she could do the same as I do. As expected, although it takes some time over there, she seems to find the exchange, which can be done at a speed incomparable to before, attractive. The experiment ended with the words that she wanted a reply if the voice arrived safely.
What I heard next after the purpose of the experiment was the state of the Augun territory. Carlotta gave a concise summary in her reply, but this was a bit more detailed. Many of the spirits that appeared in the Augun territory are gentle in nature, and they show themselves just because they want to play with human children, so there have been no damages from pranks so far. However, this is only the case within the Augun territory, and according to the words of humans who fled from adjacent territories, the nature of the spirits that appeared in other territories is far from gentle. Pranks on children are cute, but in severe cases, adults are snatched away and never return.
...Isn't that that? They are probably among the naked people who came out from the border.
Regarding the naked men being pushed out of the border, it seems spirits or some mysterious power are involved. Which means, if we only look at the result of disarming them by making them naked and pushing them out of the border, it means that humans with the intent to harm someone were eliminated from within the Zugari Empire. Perhaps the current Zugari Empire has become a safe country for citizens who have no power to fight.
...Does the nature of spirits differ by territory?
It is only from the subjective view of Carlotta and the others, but spirits in lands ruled by well-reputed lords are gentle, and spirits in lands that are not are the kind whose pranks are not a joke. I do not know if the lord is the problem or if the atmosphere of the entire territory is the problem, but I cannot say that it has no influence on the spirits.
The conversation concluded with me saying that I intend to gather information here as well and want to be told about the situation over there, and the wind spirit who carried the voice began to flap its hands. It probably means it will deliver the reply, so I should say something.
"Thank you for the errand. I want to think for a bit before replying, so please eat the sweets and wait."
I entertained the spirit with baked sweets, and in the meantime, I asked another wind spirit to carry my voice to Alfred. It would be bad if I made the judgment on how much of the story to tell.
"...Huh? Felicia-sama."
"I believe I told you to call me 'Henrietta'."
I wonder if she forgot, as Felicia's finger reaching for my cheek slipped. "Oh?" Felicia looked puzzled, but I am not always a round-cheeked person who is easy to pinch. In exchange for my chest and buttocks becoming slightly rounded, the childlike roundness has decreased.
"I consulted with Alfred-sama, and Henrietta has come."
"That child can no longer be as light-footed as before. She is currently studying beside my father."
I involuntarily let out a wry smile at Felicia's words that she cannot let me be monitored forever.
"I had a feeling, but I was being monitored, wasn't I?"
"Christina, even if I watch you right in front of me, I do not know what you will do next. The monitoring cannot be removed, you know?"
And then, I was asked for an explanation of what I had started doing that led to me being sent to the detached palace. Apparently, Felicia had received no explanation from Alfred and had simply come because she was told to go to the detached palace.
...Alfred-sama, you have become too used to handling me...!
Rather than telling her the detailed story, he probably sent Felicia to secure me so that I would not run wild. Since Alfred spent a long time in the city of Grunol as Alf, his acquaintance with me is also long. In other words, he is used to dealing with the troubles I cause.
"Um, I was able to hear about the internal state of the Empire from Carlotta-sama, the lord of the Augun territory in the Zugari Empire..."
I repeated the consultation I had brought up with Alfred, and in addition, I showed Felicia the words of Carlotta and the others that Rebecca had written down. When I confirmed how much of what we found here I could talk about, she gave me her seal of approval that I could talk about anything regarding spirits. She said that they also need as much information as possible because they are full of unknowns regarding spirits.
...They do not hold back on information. That is why I love our royalty.
To Felicia, who did not hold back as if saying we should help each other in times of need, I wrote out the content of the reply while confirming. I also decided to inform her about the large number of naked men appearing at the border.
A day passed while I spent time gathering information and doing experiments. As a test, I also tried delivering a voice to Remihio, but it is a secret that I felt a bit let down because a reply came normally.
In the reply from Remihio, one spirit had also increased. Unlike the return from Carlotta's place, the one that increased was not a wind spirit. It was a spirit resembling a plant, with green skin and hair made of leaves. Its eyes were hidden by leaves, but it seemed to have a mouth, so I will give it sweets later.
"Um, who is that child?"
--I brought them along~.
--I was brought along~.
The spirits high-fiving each other while saying "Yay" are cute. What kind of spirit it was is a mystery for now, but its basic vibe seems not much different from the wind spirits. The vibe is not much different, but the ability is completely different. After frolicking with the wind spirit for a while, the green spirit walked in front of me and sat down with a plop. The next time it opened its mouth, it began to speak not in the slightly high-pitched voice characteristic of spirits, but in a familiar male voice.
--Hello, Saint Tina. First, I congratulate you on your safe return.
The safe return must be about the time I was kidnapped. I hardly remember it, but I heard that when escaping from the Zugari Empire, I crossed into the Divine King's Domain Quebia, and from there, I was sent to the port city of Tior in the Kingdom of Ivizia by borrowing a ship.
"Thank you for your politeness. ...Wait, there is no point in saying it here. The voice is one-way."
--It is fine. I can hear you clearly.
"...Hmm?"
I stared down at the green spirit, thinking that Remihio's voice was heard at a strangely good timing. When I have a wind spirit deliver a voice, it is always one-way, and I have to wait for a reply from the other party on a slow plan, but based on experience, it takes two hours one way for my voice to reach the Zugari Empire where Remihio is thought to be. According to the wind spirits, the fact that it reaches faster than Mey Fortress is related to the terrain of the Erath Great Mountains. I say "according to" because the wind spirits explain cheerfully in their own words, so I did not quite grasp the point.
Anyway, since it should take a considerable amount of time for the voice from here to arrive, there is no way Remihio could react immediately to my words.
--It is a method of delivering voices in Quebia, borrowing the power of tree and grass spirits.
It seems there was a method in the Divine King's Domain Quebia to communicate by borrowing the power of spirits dwelling in multiple plants that were originally the same, such as through cuttings or division, utilizing the connection between spirits. As expected of a land that was ruled by the Divine King in the age of myth. Things that borrowed the power of spirits remained firmly in the modern era.
"So Quebia already had something like a telephone."
--It is a method that cannot be used unless one has the aptitude to talk with spirits, though.
It seems the means of communication borrowing the power of wind spirits also remained in the Divine King's Domain Quebia. It still takes more time than the one borrowing the power of plant spirits, but it seems there is a compatibility between spirits and humans, and those who are not liked by plant spirits but are liked by wind spirits use this method.
"Anyway, I am glad that Remihio-sama seems to be safe. I heard that you encountered many dangerous situations in the Zugari Empire."
I vague my words, saying that there are other people's eyes and ears. The fact that the Acting King of the Divine King's Domain Quebia was nearly assassinated is not a story that should be spread too much.
--There is no need to worry about me. I am more worried about the person who brings danger instead.
"That is... how should I put it, I heard it from the spirits."
The assassins who attacked Remihio were all blocked by spirits and lost their lives. Spirits are guards who are incomparably more reliable than human guards, who have limits to what they can do.
I am perplexed but convinced by Remihio, who sends a carefree reply despite having been nearly assassinated. In fact, Remihio seemed to be energetic even now, and the assassins had already been sanctioned by the spirits. There is nothing I can do for Remihio from the detached palace of the Kingdom of Ivizia, far away.
Regarding the fact that spirits are currently overflowing in the world, Remihio seems not to have noticed at all. This is because it was normal for spirits to be in the Divine King's Domain Quebia, and the fact that spirits are visible to Remihio's eyes does not change even after leaving his own country. Even if he is told that things that are usually visible have suddenly become visible, since there is no change in the fact that they are visible, he probably could not notice.
"According to the spirits, it is because the world where spirits live and this world were forcibly connected..."
Moreover, the culprit is apparently a human. I do not think a human could manipulate such a mystery, but since the spirits, who are that mystery itself, say so, there should be no mistake. Unlike humans, spirits do not lie.
--If it is possible to connect world and world, it could be no one other than the Divine King.
"...The Divine King?"
I feel a bit refreshed that a name other than Camille came up as a suspect. Ever since I heard that the worlds were connected because of a human, I could not help but think that Camille was the culprit.
...But, that is true. He apparently made a lot of strange machines, but Camille-san is a human.
I lean toward the Divine King culprit theory presented by Remihio, thinking that he probably cannot reach out to the world of fairies. Rather than thinking that Camille, a human although a reincarnated person, influenced the world of spirits, it is more natural to think that the Divine King did it. Anyone who knows the myths knows that the Divine King has that much power.
"That is true. The Divine King-sama is a rather careless person, so he might have messed up."
--If you are curious, why not try asking the Divine King directly?
"Eh? Can we contact the Divine King-sama from here?"
I wonder if it is possible to contact the Divine King, who is elusive every time and is encountered by chance. When I asked back in wonder, an even more incomprehensible reply came from Remihio.
That my older brother, Leonardo, is the Divine King now.