498 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - Christina's Visit
Reports still arrive from the border that naked men have been sighted, but by now both the Black Knights and the residents of the towns and villages near the border have grown accustomed to this commotion. After pairing spirits with Black Knights who could see them and Black Knights who could not, and having them capture the naked men, no particularly problematic incidents have occurred. The spirits find and neutralize the men who are expelled naked from the border, and the Black Knights capture them and take their statements.
What is decided based on those statements is whether the men are sent to Mehl Fortress or to a nearby village. However, even if commanders or nobles were mixed in among the naked men, they hardly had any useful information, so I feel this sorting work may no longer be necessary. If this situation continues, it is a mystery how long the Zugarri Empire can maintain its dignity as a nation.
...It seems the soldiers guarding the border have completely disappeared.
When the activity of the tree roots that separated the border subsided, it became possible to peer through the gaps between the roots lined up like a forest and see beyond the border. I tried looking through a telescope at the fortress guarding the Zugarri Empire side from between those gaps, but not a single human figure could be seen. On a trial basis, I sent one Black Knight unarmed across the border, and surprisingly, the tree roots avoided him and opened a path. It seems the tree roots did not grow there to guard the border.
So I sent another Black Knight who was armed across the border, but the tree roots showed no reaction this time either. Since the men were being regurgitated with their weapons removed, I had assumed the roots blocked entry with weapons, but apparently that was not the case.
Then I positioned several pairs of Black Knights on both sides of the border and had them conduct mock battles. And finally, the tree roots showed a reaction. There was no change on this side of the border, but inside the Zugarri Empire, tree roots emerged from the ground and entangled the Black Knights, and by the time they were pushed out to the Ivizia Kingdom side of the border, their weapons had been removed. The only difference was that none of them had been stripped completely naked. The reason for this is probably distance. Since the distance from being entangled by the tree roots to crossing the border was extremely short, I think their clothes and undergarments could not be removed. The evidence, or perhaps the basis for this, was the Black Knights' armor scattered across the ground. Their swords fell at the spot where they were taken by the tree roots, and during the process of being carried to the border, their armor and clothes seemed to get stripped off or fall off.
...In any case, as long as we do not engage in combat, it seems possible to enter the Empire.
I tested everything I could think of and compiled the results into a report. I cannot keep hundreds of men in towns and villages indefinitely. Even though summer is coming and farm work will become busy, the villagers in various places do not have time to look after soldiers from a neighboring country. There have been no famines in recent years, but that does not mean any village has the surplus to support grown men who do not work.
Now, what to do, I thought as I looked through the reports arriving from surrounding villages. If they were originally people of the Ivizia Kingdom, with shared customs they could be accepted into pioneer villages with a few years of food support, but that would not work with people who were Zugarri Empire citizens from the ground up. Especially those who were in the ruling class, it would likely be impossible for them to naturalize as commoners in the Ivizia Kingdom. The nature of nobility is too different between the Ivizia Kingdom and the Zugarri Empire.
"Commander, a messenger has arrived saying Tina-chan has shown up at the castle."
"There is no way Tina would come here... no, actually, is that possible with Tina? I cannot say it is impossible, and she just might do it..."
An image of Christina smiling with an innocent face floated up in my mind, and even as I told myself that could not be, I lifted myself from my chair. It could not be, but that was exactly the kind of thing Christina, who had spirits with her, might do. Christina was the kind of person who would use wind spirits to send her voice all the way from the capital to Mehl Fortress at the border, so coming from the capital to Mehl Fortress itself might be nothing special for her. She had never appeared at Mehl Fortress before, but she had made trips from the city of Grenore to the detached palace in the capital, or to the Mandez Residence. Christina was someone who would not let me say "definitely not."
Receiving the news of Christina's visit, I hurried back from the border to the castle. Whether true or not, it seemed that Christina, who had visited without any prior notice, had nevertheless been received courteously. That was probably because of what she was wearing and because she had brought a silver-white knight with her. Kokumaro the black shiba was also at her feet, but just having the nursery spirit with her would only make her seem like a young lady from a good family.
"It has been a while, Leonardo-sama."
"Why are you here, Tina... no, well, you are Tina. With Tina it is possible, but..."
As I looked down at Christina, too surprised, she, sitting properly in the reception room chair with a composed face, furrowed her brow slightly. If she were inside the residence, she would not have held back and would have made a displeased face. She gave her usual correction, saying she was 'Christina,' not 'Tina.'
"Why is Ti... Christina here? The nursery spirit should not have been able to come to Mehl Fortress."
"Yes. That is why I borrowed the power of Remihio-sama and the earth spirit."
"...Another dangerous name comes up."
Spirits were one thing, but the acting king of the Divine Kingdom Quebia was another matter entirely. Christina should have understood that he was not someone whose name should be thrown around so casually, but then I thought about how she had gotten in touch with such a person, and it clicked.
Christina was sending her voice from the capital to Mehl Fortress at the border. Using the same method, she could probably send her voice to Remihio as well.
"First, let us take care of the main business."
Saying "Please take a look at this," Christina placed a small pot on the table. There was a plant sprout in the center of the pot, and I recognized that sprout. It was the same Enomena sprout that had always been sitting in the pot Christina had been checking every day for nearly a year, saying "It is not growing at all."
"What about this pot? Come to think of it, you were preparing a small pot for the winter move..."
"That pot is at the detached palace. This is a new pot I made yesterday on my way through Grenore."
If she were to name it, it would be Number Two, Christina said with an extremely serious face. The pot from which the nursery spirit was born was Number Zero, and the pot at the detached palace was Number One.
"...I want to hear the detailed story about how you stopped by Grenore, but first let me hear the main business. The lecture can come after that."
"I have already received plenty of lecturing from Alfred-sama, so please, Leonardo-sama, praise and spoil me."
"A bad child who does not follow her guardian's instructions does not deserve praise or spoiling, I think."
The fact that Alfred had already scolded her meant Christina had done something at the detached palace too. From just a little conversation, the thing she might get scolded by Alfred for would be going to Grenore, perhaps.
...No, that was probably not it. Would not this castle visit also get her scolded later? No, she had brought a proper guard.
Even though her human guard was only Jean-Jacques, Christina had brought a guard. Since she had a guard with her, it was hard to imagine this was a solo rampage decided by Christina alone.
...I was concerned that Salisa was not with her, though.
Putting all of that aside, I first confirmed with Christina whether this visit was being made with Alfred's approval. At that, Christina gently averted her eyes.
She said "ketsu-bou-sen" was perfectly covered, some mysterious-sounding saying, but if the discussion was truly finished and she had Alfred's approval, Christina would have no need to look away from me.
She would normally puff out her chest and say there was no problem.
"Tina? Really, what have you done at the detached palace?"
"Set that aside for now. First, this."
Saying "Please look at this," Christina pushed the Enomena pot toward me.
The fact that she did not correct me when I called her 'Tina' meant she was just trying to change the subject.
"With this pot, I can talk with Leonardo-sama at Mehl Fortress from the detached palace faster than the wind spirit can deliver my voice."
Of course, it seemed that being able to hear the spirits' voices was a prerequisite, but with this, there would be no need to wait hours for messages to arrive when communicating about the border anomalies, Christina said. She proudly explained the mechanism, but in short, it was thanks to Remihio's knowledge and the cooperation of the spirits. From my perspective, Christina had been given both communication and transportation methods right where she was most adept at taking action, and I wanted to hold my head in my hands. Trying to think positively that 'it is good we have a means to communicate immediately,' the drawbacks seemed far too great.
"...But if Christina can come trotting over to Mehl Fortress whenever she likes, this communication method loses its meaning, does it not?"
"Even if I can trot around, there is no one who would permit it."
So a means of communication was necessary after all, Christina said, straightening her posture. It seemed she was getting to the main topic.
When Christina said something unusual about clearing the room, I had the attendants and guards leave. When I pointed out that Jean-Jacques, whom Christina had brought, should leave too, she said it was fine since Jean-Jacques already knew the content, and kept him there as a guard.
"I will give you some snacks, so could you please make it so no one can eavesdrop on the conversation in this room for a while?"
--Okay.
As if accustomed to dealing with wind spirits, Christina took out snacks from her pocket and negotiated with the spirit. I had noticed the edges of snack wrappers peeking out from her bulging pocket, but it seemed those were treats to give to the spirits.
"You seem to have become quite skilled at handling spirits."
"Well, I have had them participate in many experiments."
If she asked whether I had borrowed the power of spirits on my side as well, I could not deny it. It was the spirits who had found the men appearing naked and neutralized them before they could run wild in the towns and villages. Indeed, I too had borrowed the power of the spirits.
"So, it seems safe to consider the earthquake from the other day as an illusion..."
According to the spirits, the phenomenon where the spirit world and this world connected, mistaken for an earthquake, was the work of humans, and according to the acting king Remihio, it was something that only a human who was at the level of the Divine King could do. And apparently, my name was suggested as that Divine King.
"What is that? It must be Remihio-sama's misunderstanding. There is no way I could do something so extraordinary, and me being the Divine King..."
There was no way, I tried to continue, but then something came to mind. I only noticed it when I could see the spirits with my own eyes, but I felt that the spirits were oddly attentive to me. There were several Black Knights at Mehl Fortress who could see spirits, but I was the only one around whom the spirits gathered, fussing and chattering, trying to take care of me. The other Black Knights barely paid attention to the spirits unless they felt like it, and they did not actively approach them either.
"...Do you have some idea of what this might be?"
"It is not that I have an idea, but I did think it was strange. Come to think of it, when I went to the imperial capital pursuing Christina, I was called 'King' by the spirits."
In the imperial capital Trarbach, while wandering in search of Christina, I heard voices that seemed to be from spirits. They called out to me, saying "King, O King," and each of the spirits seemed to lend me their power and bodies.
Since I had encountered the Divine King himself right after that, I had assumed the Divine King came and offered his help, that the spirits had lent their power to the Divine King. But if the story Christina brought was true, that took on a different meaning.
"Perhaps the spirits were reacting to the Divine King inside Leonardo-sama."
"It seems in your mind I have become the same person as the Divine King, but I am not the Divine King."
"I understand. Leonardo-sama has black eyes in both eyes, after all."
But since the spirits reacted to me, and Remihio called me the Divine King, it seemed the two had become inseparable in Christina's mind. A theory Remihio had proposed was that, just as Camille had cut up the Divine King's remains and used them as 'spirit crystals,' perhaps I had used the Divine King's remains in some way.
"If that is the case, the question becomes where did Leonardo-sama obtain the Divine King's remains..."
"...That time?"
If there was an opportunity to touch the Divine King's remains, it would be that. In the cave where Camille was hiding, Christina had tried to break the spirit crystals. At that time, Christina told me to touch the crystals, and I complied, each time feeling a sharp, prickling pain as if a needle had stabbed my fingertip.
"If you ask if there was anything that seems relevant, it would only be that time..."
The only opportunity I had to touch the Divine King's remains would have been that time. As I thought that, I suddenly remembered something the Divine King had said that bothered me. When I fell into the ravine and was saved by the Divine King's hand, I was invited into a dark space. In that place, the Divine King had indeed said this. That he could wait out a human's lifespan at this point.
I had not noticed it at the time, but the 'human's lifespan' the Divine King mentioned was probably 'my lifespan.' If I died and my body was lost, the Divine King's remains, which I apparently carried without realizing it, would probably be lost too.
"...Does that mean I had the Divine King's remains before I touched the spirit crystals in Camille's cave?"
If so, I wondered where, and what came to mind was twenty years ago. For me it was a story from over twenty years ago, but for Camille it was about five or six years ago. Since about two years had passed since Jean-Jacques heard this story, it would be about eight years ago.
There was quite a gap between my memory and Camille's memory, but if some spiritual element was involved, it could not be said to be completely impossible. In fact, according to what Christina had heard directly from the Divine King, his remains seemed to have stopped time in order to fulfill his wish. The Divine King apparently said that since there was no longer a wish to fulfill, his remains should be destroyed, but at the very least, the Divine King's body had remained from the mythological era to the present day.
Considering that the Divine King's body had remained since the mythological era, time differences of eight or twenty years might be within the margin of error.
"...So it was when I met Camille twenty years ago after all?"
"Did Leonardo-sama meet Camille-san twenty years ago as well?"
"Apparently it was about seven or eight years ago for Camille."
I told Christina the story Jean-Jacques had heard and the story I had heard from Camille. It was common for different perspectives to emerge depending on who you asked. I watched Christina carefully to see how she would take this story, but she only tilted her head slightly and did not seem to have noticed anything in particular.
"...There seems to be quite a gap between Leonardo-sama's story and Camille-san's story?"
"Do you not think it could be an error that might occur if spirits were involved?"
"That... could be. It might be possible."
With that preface, saying she could not explain it well, Christina told me about the time she first encountered the Divine King. It was a story I had also heard at the time, but hearing it now made it sound different.
According to the Divine King's explanation, when Christina and the Divine King first encountered each other, the world was thrown into chaos by an impossible situation, and the 'time' that flowed during that period was made to have never happened. It was normal for Christina to be taken by spirits during the Recollection Festival, but on that day, Christina was never reported missing. While having the memory of meeting the Divine King, the fact that she was taken by spirits and went somewhere did not remain.
When it came to matters concerning the Divine King, even time itself could not be said not to distort.
"...We will need to meet Camille-san and hear his story once."
"Yeah. I would like to meet and hear his story if there is an opportunity..."
"Then let us go."
Saying "Let us go right now," Christina stood up, and I remembered there was something I needed to ask. To be precise, I should have had the opportunity to ask, but Christina had moved the conversation forward first, so I had not been able to.
"By the way, Christina, how did you get to Mehl Fortress? It is too fast for a carriage, and even if you rode Jean-Jacques's horse with fresh horses swapped in, it is too fast."
"As I said, I borrowed the power of the earth spirit."
Just as she had borrowed the power of the wind spirit, she had borrowed the power of the earth spirit to travel, Christina said. Remihio had apparently explained the difference between the nursery spirit's power and the earth spirit's power to her.
...Ah, holding the reins was already so difficult...!
While Christina was in the capital, I had essentially left her in Alfred's care, but I could too easily imagine Alfred's struggles. Even if one wanted to hold the reins on Christina, she increased the number of reins without anyone noticing, making them extremely hard to grasp.
"...In any case, Tina, let us head straight back to the detached palace."
"Eh? I do not want to. If I go back now, will I not get scolded by Alfred-sama again?"
"So you WILL get scolded?! Did you not have permission to come here?"
Since Jean-Jacques, her guard, was with her, I had assumed Alfred was aware of and approved her visit to Mehl Fortress, but that seemed not to be the case. Christina seemed to have sneaked out of the detached palace, even while aware she would be scolded when she returned. When I pressed her on whether Jean-Jacques had silently gone along with it, it turned out Jean-Jacques had been bribed by Christina. And before coming to Mehl Fortress, it seemed he had also dropped by Grenore to see Giselle and his daughter.
"Kalisa did not say anything... no, that cannot be."
Since she had borrowed the power of the earth spirit to travel, the nursery spirit who usually carried Christina was probably not happy about it. Thinking that, I looked for the nursery spirit usually perched on Christina's shoulder, and found Christina's pocket moving restlessly. When I peered in, I somehow got glared at by the nursery spirit, who I could tell was sulking with puffed-out cheeks. The sulking nursery spirit seemed intent on eating all the snacks in her pocket.
"When I return to the detached palace, Leonardo-sama will come with me. Please get scolded together with me."
"Alf's lectures are shorter if you get scolded sooner."
"I know. I have been getting scolded for nearly ten years, after all."
But lately, the earnest and heartfelt lectures he gave seemed to be painful to hear. When I pointed out that she should simply not do things that would worry him, Christina made a troubled face. It was quite frustrating to leave to others something that she could solve quickly and surely herself, and then just wait for follow-up reports, she said.
"So let us go quickly and come back quickly."
If she returned to the detached palace before Alfred noticed her absence, he would not worry. And even if Alfred did notice her absence, if I returned with her, he would probably feel reassured knowing it was not so worrisome, she said.
"...I think no matter what you do, the lecture is unavoidable."
"But I think depending on my efforts, the lecturing time might be a little shorter."
"I think the direction of your efforts is wrong."
"It is fine. Even the spirits seem troubled about what is happening, so I cannot leave it to Alfred-sama."
Christina could hear the spirits' voices. Apparently, Alfred had also become able to see spirits during this recent commotion. However, Alfred could not hear the spirits' voices. And the spirits seemed to be expecting Christina to resolve this situation.
"...They have participated in many experiments, they have helped me talk with Leonardo-sama, and they have done so much for me, so I thought I should repay them somehow..."
"So that is why."
Now I understood why Christina was being strangely disobedient, willing to move on her own even at the cost of worrying Alfred. She felt indebted to the spirits, and wanted to fulfill their wish. Certainly, there were few people who could hear the spirits' voices. In the capital, only Christina and Salisa could, and at Mehl Fortress, only I could. That meant the only ones who could possibly fulfill the spirits' requests were myself, Christina, and Salisa.
"...Can we fulfill the spirits' wish by meeting Camille?"
"I do not know. But since the spirits say that humans caused this situation, if Leonardo-sama, who is suspected of being the Divine King, is not the culprit, then the next possibility is Camille-san, who made the bulb from which the fairy was born."
When she said there could hardly be anyone as suspicious as Camille, I had to agree that there was no one more involved in this situation than Camille. Rather, who else besides Camille could cause something like this? The more I thought about it, the more I felt that if anyone else could, the culprit would be the Divine King. Only the Divine King or Camille could cause something as outrageous as the spirits overflowing into the world.
Meeting Camille in his cave would not be that dangerous. Considering Christina's situation with the spirits, I decided to give in a little. It was definitely not because I had fallen for Christina's tearful plea that 'it is better if we get scolded together.'
"So, how do you plan to get to Camille's place?"
"By asking the earth spirit, perhaps?"
When Christina introduced the earth spirit, a little person wearing a pumpkin hat appeared on the table. It seemed to have been hiding its presence until it was introduced. It walked across the table and came right in front of me, then took off its hat and bowed its head.
"Can you take us to Camille's place?"
--Who is Camille?
"Huh? From there..."
As Christina started thinking about how to convey who Camille was to the spirit, I tried changing the wording a little. I had heard how the wind spirit and Christina communicated, so I had some understanding of how to ask things of the spirits.
"There should be a 'Seat of Spirits,' or a man who cut up the Divine King's remains and used them. Would this be understood?"
--Understand.
"Then take me, Christina, and..."
I told the spirit to take Jean-Jacques and Kokumaro there as well, and the earth spirit grinned and put its pumpkin hat back on. That seemed to be a sign of agreement, and in the next moment, the scenery around us had changed.
"...No, I wanted to tell Yurgen and the others that I was going out before asking."
It seemed I had chosen my words a bit poorly. But still, this was way too hasty. I first checked our surroundings.
As I slowly looked around, the scenery was unfamiliar. It was neither the forest near the cave nor the river. It was a bright place with thin undergrowth covering the ground, and the air felt a little thin. I had intended to be taken to Camille's cave, but it seemed we had come out somewhere different.
As I wondered where we had ended up, Christina, perhaps feeling uneasy, clung to my arm. The nursery spirit, who had been sulking, also seemed to sense something strange and crawled out of the pocket, climbing up onto Christina's shoulder.
"Leo, a big tree."
Tugging at my arm, Christina pointed behind us. When I turned to see what she had found, there was an impossibly huge tree.
"This is... could it be the Dawn Tower...?"
Whether one could call the tree in front of us a tower was another matter, but the Dawn Tower I had seen before had been covered in a transparent, tree-like substance. That tree must have grown and become the great tree before us, hiding the Dawn Tower within it.
It seemed we had not been taken to Camille's cave, but had ended up in front of the Dawn Tower instead.
Lately, "ketsu-bou-sen" has started to look like it means "Let me start with the conclusion. I am going to run wild from now. This is that declaration."
I will fix any typos or errors another day.