503 - The Return of the Divine King 2
I heard the story much later, but it seems the gunshot at that moment echoed throughout the world as the sound of a bell. Because spirits returned to the world before and after the sound of the bell, it seems it came to be recorded in history books as the 'Holy Bell of Dawn'.
That the sound bearing such a solemn name was produced by a gun that looked like nothing more than a toy or a hairdryer is a secret known only to me and Leonardo.
...Huh?
The moment I pulled the trigger, white light overflowed from the muzzle. Despite being a dazzling light, it was a light that strangely did not burn the eyes, and it was sucked into the 'Spirit's Seat', filling the crystal pure white. Eventually, it seemed the 'Spirit's Seat' could no longer contain the light, and just as several cracks raced across the surface, it burst from the inside.
The way the crystal fragments scattered sparklingly was a truly fantastical sight.
Thinking calmly, fragments scattering with such force are nothing but dangerous, but this is not glass, nor stone, nor anything of the sort. It is a coffin made of a mysterious material that vanishes without a trace once broken.
The fragments of the 'Spirit's Seat' vanished into light before they could wound our skin nearby.
All that remained was the 'Spirit Crystal' that had been 'Camille'.
"Teo...?"
The white light subsided, and I looked up at Leonardo standing beside me. The name that naturally came out of my mouth was not the familiar 'Leonardo', but for some reason, 'Teo'. Really, for some reason, it just suddenly came out.
"Huh? Why, Teo?"
Suddenly called by a different name, Leonardo's black eyes widened in surprise. Seeing that face, I, who had called him that, was the one who became confused. I had never thought until now that the face he makes when surprised resembles Teo when he is surprised in return, but now, strangely, they look exactly alike. I thought that when Teo grows up, he will look like Leonardo.
"It's strange, isn't it? I've never thought about this once until now... but I just suddenly thought that if Teo, that Teo, grew up, he might have a face like Leonardo-san's... but?"
Huh? I tilt my head, at a loss for words. It is strange to look at Leonardo and think he resembles Teo. I think so, but today of all days, it strangely bothered me. It might also be influenced by the fact that I had just seen the statue that Leonardo supposedly modeled for when he was seventeen, in the detached wing of the detached palace. Since I am seventeen now, Teo should also be seventeen this spring. Due to our birthdays, Teo and I are the same age for only half a month.
...Come to think of it, are Teo and Leonardo-san's birthdays only one day apart?
I had celebrated Teo's birthday once. If I recall, on the day after Leonardo's birthday, I remember it was a hassle because he sulked, saying that while I celebrated Mirsche's birthday, I wouldn't celebrate his own. Then, realizing I had unconsciously begun searching for commonalities between Leonardo and Teo, I frowned deeply. There is no meaning in searching for commonalities between Leonardo and Teo. There should be no meaning, but somewhere in my head, there was a part of me that could not stop searching for commonalities.
"...This is troublesome. It's no big deal if the spirits or Alf ask, but I feel like if Tina asks, I won't be able to avoid answering."
This is truly a problem, Leonardo says with a wry smile. Though he says it's a problem, it bothered me a little that he had a face that looked as if he had made up his mind.
"The spirits were calling me 'the one who stole the King's body', right? According to the spirits, it seems my arm was the 'arm of the Divine King'."
"...I am curious as to how the conversation led to that, but I am also convinced. If I think that Leonardo-sama's abnormal monstrous strength is derived from the Divine King, I feel I can... somehow be convinced."
While wondering where on earth he obtained the arm of the Divine King, my mind begins to understand. Leonardo's arm was apparently the arm of the Divine King. Hearing this, Leonardo's monstrous strength, which had surprised me so many times until now, makes sense.
And the fact that Leonardo's arm is the arm of the Divine King means that the last of the Divine King's remains that I must destroy is right next to me.
...Huh? Does that mean, if I destroy the arm of the Divine King...?
Suddenly becoming anxious about what would happen to Leonardo's arm, I grab Leonardo's arm. If this arm of Leonardo's that I am grabbing is the arm of the Divine King, wouldn't Leonardo's arm also disappear if the arm of the Divine King is destroyed?
"The Divine King's arm, this... it's attached to Leonardo-san, isn't it? If something like this is destroyed... what will happen to Leonardo-san?"
"I don't know that myself... but well, it'll work out somehow."
"Work out somehow... what will you do if it doesn't work out?"
"That's why I think the Divine King said 'I will wait for my lifespan'..."
According to the spirits, Leonardo has already reached his limit as a human. Despite being an ordinary human, he obtained the arm of the Divine King somewhere and used it unconsciously. Leonardo, an ordinary human, is using the power of the Divine King granted by the gods, even if only in part. It would be stranger if it didn't put a strain on his body.
An abnormality I can recall immediately is last year's tournament.
Leonardo sliced through a shield as thick as paper and nearly cut off the arm of his opponent, Alf. The spirits' assessment is that if he continues to use the arm of the Divine King like this, accidents like that will occur frequently in the future. Unlike humans, spirits do not lie for their own benefit. Since the spirit went out of its way to warn him, Leonardo must truly be reaching his limit in living normally as a human. It might also be related to the fact that other 'Spirit's Seats' have been destroyed in the last few years, weakening the power that sealed the Divine King's remains.
"This is the last of the Divine King's remains. Since it's a good opportunity, I think I'll return this arm too."
"In that case, will it end with just Leonardo-san losing one arm? Won't Leonardo-san disappear without a trace, like the 'Spirit's Seat'?"
"I don't know that... but Tina, do you dislike me with one arm?"
"I think Leonardo-san would be cool even with one arm, but..."
This is not that kind of problem, I glare at Leonardo. It's not a matter of being cool or bad. I am making it a matter of whether Leonardo disappears from me or not. Even if Leonardo loses an arm, I can just lend him my arm when an arm is needed, so that is not a problem at all.
"I'm afraid of becoming even stronger from here on. Besides, it'll be a nuisance. I'd hate it if, when Tina has children someday, I'm too afraid of crushing them to even pick them up."
Distortions must be corrected, Leonardo says. The arm of the Divine King is not something a human should use, knowing what it is. In order for Leonardo to hug me and the children I might bear in the future with all his might, the arm of the Divine King must be returned.
"...Even if the arm of the Divine King is gone, Leonardo-san won't disappear, will you?"
"That... I don't even know what state things are in to begin with."
"That's the part where you're supposed to say it's okay even if it's a lie."
You honest man, I kick Leonardo's shin for the first time in a while. Since I stopped wearing the custom shoes that protected my toes, it's a way of venting frustration that I had somehow been holding back. As expected, or rather, my toes are the ones that hurt.
"It's okay if you become one-armed, but Leonardo-san, you must stay with me. Please don't leave me all alone."
Don't disappear, I tightly grab Leonardo's sleeve so he cannot go anywhere. For some reason, from a little while ago, I had become unable to hug Leonardo as casually as before. I wonder if this is what adolescence is. Feeling that it's a bit strange not to be able to hug family casually, the growth of the heart was also troublesome.
"Tina has Lord Bertrand and her cousin, so she shouldn't be alone... but it seems Tina will become my bride."
In order to be by my side for the rest of my life, he must indeed let go of the power of the arm of the Divine King, which is not something a human should possess.
After stroking my head once as if to comfort me, Leonardo quietly closes his eyelids. Taking one deep, quiet breath, Leonardo slowly opened his eyelids.
...What?
I can tell that gazes are being poured from all around, as if monitoring Leonardo's movements. Due to the sheer number of piercing gazes, an unpleasant sweat ran down my spine. Receiving these too-painful gazes, however, Leonardo is not shaken or anything. He simply called out to the surrounding spirits in a quiet voice.
"As you wish, I will give you my name. The condition is that if a deficiency occurs to me after this, you will protect Tina from everything until I come to fetch her. That is all."
If you can keep this, I will give you my name, Leonardo declares, and spirits and fairies appear in swarms from all around. I instinctively step back due to the sheer number, and I am hugged by a slender arm that reached out as if to shield me. I recognize the squishy, soft elasticity. It's the feeling of Kalisa's oversized breasts.
...Eh? Why is Kalisa so big?
The nanny fairy was supposed to be a small fairy the size of my shoulder, but the female spirit with Kalisa's face, who seems to be the former nanny fairy and is currently hugging me, is big. In fact, she is bigger than Leonardo. The spirit with Kalisa's face sharply raised one hand. She is probably expressing her intent to accept Leonardo's exchange condition by raising her hand. The spirits gathered around also began raising their hands, saying "I will protect" and "Accepted" one after another.
And Leonardo seemed satisfied with this answer from the spirits. I thought he made a troubled face for a moment, and then, with a slightly embarrassed expression, he offers the name 'Leonardo' given by my father Saromon to the spirits.
That his real name is 'Teo'.
"Leo!?"
Simultaneously with Leonardo's declaration, white lightning strikes around Leonardo. Kalisa holds onto my body as I instinctively try to run over. While I am struggling to somehow escape from Kalisa's arms, a whirlwind arises centered on Leonardo. Thanks to Kalisa holding onto me, my body, buffeted by the sudden gust, managed to avoid being blown away.
After the sound of the lightning strike stopped and the wind subsided, the one standing where Leonardo had been was the Divine King. The King of the age of myth, who always appears and disappears whimsically.
And he was also a person who should have officially died just now.
"Um... Divine King-sama? Where is Leo... where is Leonardo-san...?"
I have nothing but a bad feeling about Leonardo's sudden disappearance. It would be fine if he were just kidnapped by spirits, but Leonardo had no reason to be kidnapped by spirits. The 'Spirit's Seats' until now have vanished without a trace upon destruction. Leonardo was a living human, but because he had the arm of the Divine King, did he disappear just like the 'Spirit's Seats' until now?
Kalisa's restraint loosens, and I timidly slip out from her arms. As I approach the Divine King standing where Leonardo had stood, the Divine King smiles with a somewhat refreshed face.
"...Teo has gone to correct the distortion."
"Teo? I... about Leonardo-san..."
I was about to answer that I want to know Leonardo's whereabouts, not Teo's, and then I remember with a delay. Leonardo had just said it. That his real name is 'Teo'. The Divine King simply called Leonardo by his real name. Regardless of which name is used, he is referring to the 'Leonardo' I speak of.
...Come to think of it, I had never even thought about Leonardo-san's real name.
Leonardo had been 'Leonardo' from the first time we met. Even though I should have known that Leonardo has a different name, as my father Saromon had named him on the day we first met, I had never cared until now. Even though I should have known that just as I had the name 'Christina', Leonardo also had a name given by his blood-related parents.
"...Teo? Leonardo-san's real name is Teo? But why now...?"
Wondering why Leonardo's real name became an issue now, I realize there was something else I thought 'why now' about just a moment ago. Looking at Leonardo's face, for the first time today, I thought 'I wonder if Teo would have a face like this when he grows up'.
"...Huh? Leonardo-san's real younger sister's name, if I recall..."
According to Leonardo's personal history document I saw in the royal capital, Leonardo's younger sister's name is 'Mirsche'. The younger sister of Teo who is at Grenore's mansion is also named 'Mirsche'.
"Huh? Huh huh?"
Once one thing seemed questionable, other strange points came to mind one after another. I had believed that Teo and Leonardo's birthdays were one day apart, but Teo never said a definite date. Mirsche's birthday was celebrated one day late because the following day was the day to go to the Menhishumi Church. Also, Teo and Leonardo both liked and ate Herb-Roasted Coral, which I am bad with, many times. Leonardo himself declared that he was the type of brat who bullied girls he liked when he was a child. Even the part about being sold by his parents is the same.
I think it's impossible, but the more I remember, the more commonalities the two had.
"...Come, Tina."
"Eh?"
The Divine King offers his hand for an escort, and I am bewildered for a moment. Just as I wonder where he intends to take me, he tells me the destination before we move. It is nothing special. It is simply leaving the bleak Dawn Tower.
"Because I made a promise with Teo. Until Teo comes to fetch you, I shall protect you with responsibility."
There is plenty of time. If there are things I want to ask or things I am curious about, he invites me to tell me everything, and I place my hand atop the Divine King's hand.
Typos and omissions will be handled at a later date.
In this story, every mob character named 'Teo' ends up leaving halfway through... though it's a bit late to mention that now.