502 - The Return of the Divine King 1
"Eh? Why is the Spirit's Seat here... Oh, come to think of it, it wouldn't be strange for it to be here."
For a moment, I wondered why the Spirit's Seat was here, but upon further thought, I remembered hearing from Leonardo that the Spirit's Seat had been carved up by Camille and was being used under the name Spirit Crystal. Since I had come to the Zoogary Empire specifically to speak with that Camille, it wasn't strange at all that the Spirit's Seat was near him. Rather, it was inevitable.
"...There's no one here, is there? If I were to secretly break it while I have the chance... I wonder if Camille-san would sulk?"
--I wouldn't sulk. In fact, that is exactly why I called you here.
"He...?"
I was certain no one was around, but the voice came from an unexpectedly close distance. I looked around to see where someone could have been hiding, but there was no one. I was the only one in this room, save for the Spirit's Seat before me.
"Huh? This Spirit's Seat seems a bit strange...?"
I wondered what it was and observed the Spirit's Seat once more. I had heard from Leonardo that it had been carved up, but its shape and size were almost no different from the one I had seen in the Kingdom of Ivizia. It was a transparent coffin adorned with crystals. Then where was the sense of incongruity coming from? As I stared intently, I could see that the Spirit's Seat before me was made of two types of crystals mixed together. The transparency differed slightly, and two colors of crystal were blended to form the shape of the coffin.
"What is it? I feel like it's... distorted...?"
Looking at it made me feel sick. I hadn't felt this way with the previous Spirit's Seat, but this one was strange. Something was off.
--That is because that Spirit's Seat is not a natural thing.
"Ah, so that's why it feels distorted... Wait, Camille-san?"
Hearing the voice again, I looked up, and this time an old man with a kind-looking smile was standing beside the Spirit's Seat. At a glance, I thought he was human, but the doubt arose because the old man's form was half-transparent. Like a wind spirit, the old man had a translucent appearance.
--Hello, it seems China has completely recovered.
"It's Tina. Christina."
It seemed it was fine to assume the old man was Camille. Just as I had heard from Leonardo, he seemed to remember people's names slightly incorrectly.
"Are you Camille-san, the old gentleman? But Camille-san shouldn't know the original me...?"
--I heard about you from Jasper. He said you were a girl who was a bit of a tomboy, full of curiosity, and yet shy around strangers.
Seeing Camille narrow his eyes nostalgically gave me a somewhat strange feeling. It was only natural, but Camille knew a Jasper that I did not. He might have known him longer than I did.
"...Do you know Jasper, Camille-san?"
--Yes, I know him well. He was one of my few friends.
"I actually met that Jasper just now."
I asked Camille what on earth that had been. I hadn't been there at the time of Jasper's death, but I had heard from Leonardo that he had died. Jasper could not possibly be alive. If so, who was that person who seemed to exist as two sides of the same coin as the girl calling herself Almel, and whose way of being could hardly be called that of a normal human?
--That is not Jasper. He has Jasper's appearance, but he is an artificial spirit I created.
Camille continued, saying that while it is lonely, no one can bring a dead person back to life. The Jasper I had met earlier had Jasper's appearance, but was a different existence.
--Based on the appearance and responses, you might be under that illusion, but that is not Jasper.
Being told emphatically that he was a newborn artificial spirit, one thing clicked. The nursery fairy we call Kalisa looked like she was influenced by Kalisa's features, but her personality was more unrestrained and tactless than Kalisa's. It was fine that she ate the sweets I gave her, but she was such a glutton that she sometimes sneaked sweets even when I didn't give her any. In that sense, she was actually more like me.
Artificial spirits might borrow the appearance of the deceased, but their personalities do not necessarily match. Thinking about it carefully, neither that Jasper nor the nursery fairy had spoken to me once. It might be because if they opened their mouths, it would be obvious they were different people. Because I wanted them to be Kalisa and Jasper, they likely kept silent. While it couldn't be called proof, the girl who called herself Almel, whom I didn't know the real version of, was surely the same kind of existence as Jasper and the nursery fairy, yet she exchanged words normally.
"...But I want to believe they are Kalisa and Jasper. Otherwise, there is no reason for them to be so kind to me."
--If that is what you think, then perhaps it is so.
I suppose that is fine, Camille smiled gently. Camille, who created the artificial spirits, might have had enough material to point out that my interpretation was wrong, but he accepted it all. To me, the nursery fairy was Kalisa, and the Jasper who vented the complaints that had been in his stomach was certainly Jasper.
"By the way, what happened to you, Camille-san? Your body is transparent..."
I had heard he was an elusive person, but had he finally stopped being human? I had only heard of humans with half-transparent bodies in ghost stories.
--You noticed a good point! ...There is a gun lying there, isn't there? Could you pick it up for me?
"I don't want to touch a gun, but... well, it doesn't look like you can pick it up yourself with that body."
Since it couldn't be helped, I picked up the gun lying on the floor. Even though I called it a gun, it wasn't a handgun. Its shape looked like a hairdryer used to dry wet hair, or rather, it looked like a toy gun that might appear in an anime or a special effects show. The design was based on white, with six drop-shaped stones embedded like petals. If it were a toy, an electronic sound would likely ring out the moment the trigger was pulled, and the six colored stones would shine brightly.
"What is this? This toy gun. Where should I put it?"
--You don't need to put it anywhere. Could you use that gun to shoot through this Spirit Crystal?
"...I'm not going to step on a landmine that is this clearly and vividly visible, for one."
This is too suspicious, I stared at Camille with the eyes one uses for a suspicious person, holding the toy gun I had just picked up with only my thumb and index finger as if it were filth or something. Once I knew there was some scheme involved, it was doubtful whether I should handle it with care.
"First, I demand an explanation."
Since it seemed he wanted to involve me, I made the natural demand for an explanation first. No matter how I thought about it, since I had been lured this far, Camille likely needed my cooperation, or the cooperation of a human with a physical body capable of holding a gun, for what he wanted to do.
--I have succeeded in developing magic as a new energy.
"Isn't that statement too abrupt!?"
I wanted to push him away and ask what he was talking about, but I couldn't because of the too-alluring word magic. To me, who unintentionally urged him to continue, Camille looked quite pleased, saying, "As expected, when it comes to reincarnating in another world, one longs for magic, doesn't one." It was so spot on that I felt more than a little embarrassed.
...But I feel like I'm starting to see it. The true nature of this recent anomaly.
Suddenly, spirits became visible. And not just to me, but about half of the people in the Kingdom of Ivizia and almost all the people in the Zoogary Empire can now see spirits.
In the age of myth, humans and spirits supposedly coexisted, but when the Divine King vanished from the world, the world of spirits and the world where humans live were separated. That was something the Divine King did so that humans could not ignore the will of the spirits and squeeze out and misuse their power, just as the youth of myth had done.
Camille likely did the opposite this time.
He reconnected the world that the Divine King had split in two, and he calls the act of drawing out the power of spirits magic. In terms of gaining the cooperation of spirits, the means of communication that Remihio and I used might also fall under magic, according to Camille.
According to Camille, the magic he developed is simple enough for anyone to handle. Because of that simplicity, he said it is easy to imagine a future where it is misused.
...It certainly is simple. Anyone who can converse with spirits can easily cause wonders!
If I could say one thing, it would be: don't make something so dangerous. He had reconnected the two worlds, which was fine, but Camille seemed to have some awareness that it couldn't be left unchecked. Though it felt far too late, he said he also created an Information Processing System to monitor magic in order to prevent misuse and abuse. And the place where that Information Processing System is installed is this Dawn Tower.
The Dawn Tower was said to have been built in its current location, the reckless spot at the summit of the Erath Great Mountains towering in the center of the continent, for this purpose.
Incidentally, the Dawn Tower is built almost in the center of the continent.
If so, this anomaly is likely occurring across the entire continent. I had only gathered a bit of information regarding the Kingdom of Saenard, but I had heard from a wind spirit that they were surprised to be able to see spirits and that some people had been injured.
"In other words, the reason one is snatched by tree roots when performing combat acts within the Zoogary Empire is...?"
--That is the Dawn Tower's defense system.
To ensure that the Dawn Tower was not destroyed by mistake, he apparently banned combat acts around the tower. To my amazement, the operation of this defense system itself seemed to have served as a test for the system.
"For now, it seems combat acts are banned not just around the tower, but throughout the entire Zoogary Empire?"
--That part will probably need adjustment eventually.
"Eventually... By the way, who decides on the monitoring and adjustments, and how?"
The range in which the tree roots eliminate combat acts seems to be up to the borders of the Zoogary Empire. This means that, unlike the wind spirits who carry information from neighboring countries, the tree roots should be controllable to some extent. As Camille said he would adjust them eventually, they can be controlled by human hands.
...I think that's dangerous in its own right, don't you? Having humans make the decisions.
Whether it is misuse or abuse, if a human is the one making the final judgment, it comes down to that person's discretion. As long as humans hold the decision-making power, I cannot feel completely safe, and leaving it to the spirits would also be worrying. The judgment criteria of spirits differ greatly from humans, and while they probably wouldn't be moved by bribes or interests dangled before their noses, they might carelessly be fooled by a child's smooth talk.
When I pointed out what he intended to do about that, Camille smiled happily. It seemed he enjoyed the fact that I didn't just accept what he said and voiced my doubts.
--Please leave the adjustments and monitoring to me. I will take responsibility for it.
"I believe there is no doubt that Camille-san is human, but..."
While saying Camille is also human, I noticed. The current Camille has a body that is half-transparent like a spirit. In a different sense from the Jasper I met earlier, he is in a state that can hardly be called human.
"...Huh? Could it be...?"
He intended this from the start. Or perhaps Camille has already stopped being human with that intention.
"Camille-san, what is that body? Why are you transparent? You look like a spirit... but Camille-san, you are human, right?"
--I want you to be at ease on that point. I am human. I myself do not trust nor rely on the me that is human.
That is why I stopped being human, Camille declared with a powerful contradiction. He is human, yet he stopped being human.
--This time, I will not let what I created be stolen. I will not cast it out either.
Camille said it is the responsibility of the human who created it to monitor how it is used until the end. For that purpose, he stopped being human.
"Monitoring until the end... is such a thing possible? I hate to say this, but Camille-san, you are quite old, aren't you?"
Or was the mechanism that allows one to use magic something that would break in a few years? If not, Camille wouldn't be able to responsibly monitor it. Even Camille has a lifespan.
"...Ah, is that why you have that body?"
A body transparent like a spirit, one that can hardly be called human. Camille might have discarded his human body for this reason.
--That's right. With this spirit body, I am not bound by aging or lifespan.
He said that because he is not bound by a fleshly body, it has become easier to interact with spirits. He said he had been completely ignored before, but since becoming this body, his spirit friends have increased. He said he separated me and Leonardo at the request of those friends.
...I feel like some troublesome people have colluded?
I feel like the worst combination has been born, combining human wisdom with the unrestrained nature of spirits. Freed from the time limit of aging, Camille will likely continue various researches to satisfy his curiosity more and more in the future. Just thinking about it a little is terrifying.
--Right now, I have forcibly connected the world, but soon this will become the normal state.
It seems the return of the Divine King is approaching, Camille continued. He said that when the Divine King returns to the surface, the worlds of spirits and humans will become one again. Camille had merely accelerated that slightly. Rather, he said it was because the world had begun returning to its original state that this reckless research took shape.
"Speaking of the Divine King's return, there is a need to destroy the Spirit's Seat..."
Huh? At this point, my thoughts finally began to come together. The Information Processing System to monitor the magic Camille created is in the Dawn Tower. And the only thing that looks like something inside the Dawn Tower is this Spirit's Seat before me. Camille told me to shoot through that Spirit's Seat at the beginning. Since he said it was fine to destroy it, the Spirit's Seat probably isn't the Information Processing System. There doesn't seem to be anything else, but it might be that the Information Processing System is somewhere else, just not visible to my eyes. If not, something is still off. I feel like I haven't asked everything I should.
--I heard from the spirits that you promised the Divine King to destroy the Spirit's Seat. This is that Spirit's Seat, which I called the Spirit Crystal.
Now, please shoot through it with the gun without hesitation, he continued, and the conversation really returned to the beginning. I want to destroy the Spirit's Seat, and Camille wants the Spirit Crystal shot through. What I want and what Camille wants are the same.
They should be the same, but I felt that I shouldn't just shoot the Spirit's Seat saying, "Yes, I see."
"...I feel like this Spirit's Seat is a bit different from the one I saw before. Somehow, staring at it makes me feel sick, or anxious..."
Wanting to prolong the moment of choice, I voiced what I had felt earlier to see if I could draw out something more. Camille had asserted that this was the Spirit's Seat, but I felt a sense of incongruity.
--That would be natural. Because that Spirit's Seat is, so to speak, like two human corpses mixed together.
"You just said something incredible very casually."
What is that, I urged for an explanation. It seemed the incongruity I sensed was correct. If my memory serves, the Spirit's Seat is a coffin containing the remains of the Divine King. I had never heard a story about the remains of another person being mixed in.
...Huh? But the Spirit's Seat that Camille-san has...
According to the story I heard from Leonardo, Camille had carved up the Spirit's Seat, called it the Spirit Crystal, and used it for his research. In other words, the Spirit's Seat should not have the shape of the Spirit's Seat I know, and since Leonardo and I destroyed it when we came before, even if Camille reassembled the Spirit's Seat like a puzzle, it shouldn't return to its original shape. Despite this, the Spirit's Seat before me had a form that I recognized as the Spirit's Seat at a glance. This doesn't add up, not just a little.
"Camille-san, the other person mixed into this Spirit's Seat is..."
--That's right. In addition to the remains of the Divine King, my body is mixed in.
"How could the spirits possibly allow such a thing!?"
I was the one who became agitated by the fact told so casually. Mixing his own body with the remains of the Divine King was beyond blasphemous.
...Wait, at this point? For Camille-san, who tore apart the Divine King's remains, is it too late for that?
Thinking calmly, besides tearing apart the Divine King's remains, he had also used the bones to create artificial spirits, so it really is too late. Camille probably has a personality that doesn't consider human dignity. He might casually use human bodies as experimental materials just because they are there or because it seems possible.
And coming this far, I feel like I've somewhat understood what the mysterious bulb from which the nursery fairy was born was created for. It was probably a result of research to discard the fleshly body, or a byproduct.
"...Huh? But you said to shoot through the Spirit's Seat, which means it's okay to destroy it, right? If so, what happens to you, Camille-san?"
The Divine King had told me to destroy his remains, so I didn't mind destroying the Spirit's Seat. That was the Divine King's wish, and I thought it was a good thing that as a result, the Divine King would begin walking toward a new life.
However, what would happen to Camille's body, which was mixed with the Spirit's Seat? If Camille, who discarded his fleshly body and said he would monitor so that magic is not misused or abused, also headed toward the next reincarnation, who would protect the Dawn Tower?
--You don't need to worry about me. I've already made arrangements.
I decided not to ask with whom. I didn't want my thoughts, which already couldn't keep up, to be made any more complex.
According to Camille, even if I destroy the Spirit's Seat, only the Divine King's remains part would be lost. Camille, who connected the shattered Spirit's Seat with his own body, had already turned into a Spirit Crystal, and even if the Divine King's remains were destroyed, he planned to remain as a Spirit Crystal. The assumption was that if I destroyed the Spirit's Seat, the Divine King's remains would be destroyed, and fragments of the Spirit Crystal integrated with Camille would remain. Camille's remains, like the Divine King's, would exist in this world semi-permanently as a Spirit Crystal until he himself felt like leaving.
--And then... as many 'me's as there are shattered fragments will be born.
It seems multiple Camilles would become the Information Processing System to monitor magic. Since leaving everything to the discretion of one human is dangerous when distortions occur, there would be Camilles who are basically the same, but have slightly different ways of thinking.
"Even so, I think Camille-san is still Camille-san."
As expected, it would likely be just as dangerous as having one human manage it. Even if he created a monitoring system, as long as the original was Camille, I felt there wouldn't be much difference even if he increased the number. The aim was likely to correct slight distortions, but the possibility that everyone would distort in the same direction at the same time couldn't be ruled out. If that happened, no matter how many monitoring eyes and heads there were, it would be meaningless.
-- For now, I will also incorporate opinions other than my own. That is why they are artificial spirits.
It seemed that the reason the nursery fairies and other artificial spirits were artificial was for this purpose. They are spirits who think more like humans. Real spirits that have existed in nature since long ago cannot do this. Furthermore, the reason he gave me Enomena's bulb was that he needed a spirit with a completely different personality and a different way of looking at things than Camille. The artificial spirits of Jasper and Almel were born for the same purpose. It was a coincidence that a man and a woman became two sides of the same spirit, but this also became a spirit's individuality.
Artificial spirits created by Camille, who can understand human circumstances, would carry information, and the Camilles integrated as a system would monitor how magic is used and prevent misuse and abuse. It seemed Camille had already factored in the doubts and their solutions that came to mind immediately after I heard the story.
"I understand Camille-san's wishes and that you've taken the steps you can. But... I don't want to grant that."
Does destroying the Spirit's Seat, which Camille is assimilated with, not mean that I am killing Camille? Because of that, I cannot pull the trigger. I have stabbed a beast to protect myself, but that doesn't mean I am strong enough to kill other humans without hesitation. I think one should resist to survive, but I have a resistance to attacking others when my own body is not in danger.
--I see. You were worried that you might kill me.
If that's the case, there is no need to worry, Camille said. This life has already ended.
--I told you I mixed my body with the Spirit's Seat, didn't I? The spirits did not allow the act of placing a living human in the Divine King's coffin.
"Eh?"
It seemed that the trigger for Camille thinking about integrating himself with the Spirit's Seat was an inquiry from the Divine King's Domain Quebia. Only after the request for the return or destruction of the Spirit's Seat from Remihio, the provisional king of the Divine King's Domain Quebia, reached the Zoogary Empire did Camille realize the true nature of the Spirit Crystal. It would have been fine if he had just followed Remihio's request once he realized, but Camille thought of something else. He thought that if he could convert himself into a Spirit Crystal, he could monitor the use of magic semi-permanently.
After that, the research seemed to have progressed smoothly. Since he was essentially holding the Divine King, the absolute monarch of the spirits, hostage, the spirits could not say no to any request. He negotiated with the existence that was stopping the Divine King's time through the spirits and begged them to apply the same measure to his own body. Of course, the spirits did not agree to this for free and gave one condition. That he must definitely destroy the Spirit's Seat and liberate the Divine King.
"So that's why I am here."
--That's right. Since I no longer have a fleshly body, I needed to call someone here to destroy the Spirit's Seat for me.
Therefore, he continued, he wanted me to shoot through the Spirit's Seat without reservation. Because then the wishes of the Divine King, the spirits, and Camille would all be granted.
"D-don't make me choose such a heavy thing! The responsibility is too great, I feel like a hole is going to open in my stomach right now!!"
"That's right. There's no way we can let Tina shoulder such a grave matter alone!"
"Hohe?"
A third person's voice suddenly interrupted. When I turned my face toward the voice, I was immediately pulled into a broad chest. What spread through my nostrils was the familiar scent of Leonardo.
"Leo?"
"I finally caught up. Really, Tina, you fly off anywhere the moment I take my eyes off you for a second."
To Leonardo, who spoke in a voice that sounded exhausted from the bottom of his heart, saying I should think about the person chasing me, I thought I wasn't in the wrong this time, but I apologized anyway. The ones who snatched me were the spirits, but it is indeed I who am causing the worry.
"Camille, confirmation. Even if the Spirit's Seat is destroyed, it won't result in Tina killing you, right?"
--I am already dead. In that sense, no one can kill me anymore.
"I see, then that's good. ...One more thing. Is it impossible to stop the Dawn Tower now?"
--It would be possible to destroy the tower itself, but it is impossible to eliminate magic.
Of the Divine King's remains split into six, four have already been destroyed. Since the world had already begun returning to its original shape, even if the Dawn Tower were destroyed, it wouldn't change the fact that spirits would return to this world.
He said that destroying the Dawn Tower would only be the difference between the spirits' return being today or tomorrow, and whether there is someone monitoring humans regarding the power called magic.
If that's the case, it's better to have the Dawn Tower. Humans are creatures that always make mistakes. It is reassuring to know that someone is monitoring. Originally, that was supposed to be the Divine King's job, but if it were left only to the Divine King, adverse effects would appear when the Divine King abandoned the world. The reason spirits had disappeared since the age of myth, as in this case, was because the Divine King was the only one monitoring. Camille stopped being human and became a spirit, but since he is different from a complete spirit, he can make human-like thoughts and judgments. From a human perspective, this could be called an ideal monitor.
"Alright, let's shoot."
"Eh? Is it okay to just decide such an important thing here and now on your own? We should consult Alfred-sama..."
Rather, it was content that should be consulted not just with Alfred, but also with Remihio, Christoph, and even the king of the Kingdom of Saenard and the rulers of the Zoogary Empire, whom I had never met. It shouldn't be something that Leonardo and I just decide on our own saying, "Yes, I see."
I thought so, but Leonardo's hand reached out and was placed over my hand holding the gun. If I wouldn't shoot, he would, and before I could stop him, Leonardo pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out of the gun.
"...I see. As expected, unless you're a reincarnated person, you can't break the Spirit's Seat."
"Eeeh!? In the end, I'm the one who has to take responsibility?"
"Tina's responsibility is the responsibility of her guardian, me."
Telling me to shoot without worry, the gun was pressed into my hand once again. I tried to protest that Leonardo made it sound too easy, but Leonardo's hand overlapped the hand gripping the barrel.
"Come to think of it, Camille said before that this gun fires by borrowing the power of spirits."
Leonardo said it's best to use what is inside oneself as the bullet, and as soon as he spoke, the gun suddenly increased in weight. I almost lost my posture, but I quickly recovered with Leonardo's support.
"Now, it is almost time for the return of the Divine King."
Just as he followed up with the ominous words that he would drag him back even if he had to put a rope around his neck, pressure was applied to the finger on the trigger. Truly, Leonardo has no intention of letting me bear the responsibility. I was just supporting the gun and didn't pull the trigger, I thought. He intends to be the one who pulls the trigger.
...I don't want that.
I am afraid of what will be caused as a result of pulling the trigger. But it is even scarier to let Leonardo bear all that responsibility. I want to be with Leonardo forever. If there is responsibility to be borne, I want to bear it together.
The one pulling the trigger is not my finger pushed by Leonardo, but my own will.