kscans

Chapter 41 - The Forest of the Sea and Kobito-san

"Um, what?"

"Yeah, I get it, but it’s reality."

Three days after returning from Flawers.

Right now, Kobito-san was riding in a carriage with Romel. Apparently, a ship from the empire had arrived in Gesbelista to the south. The royal palace, receiving the news by fast horse, immediately abducted Kobito-san and headed for Gesbelista.

Needless to say, the roar of a reluctant Drago echoed through the baron's mansion. By now, Mugita, the son of Molt the frog who had decided to make the garden pond his home, was probably comforting him. By the way, Mugita came from Molt = Oomugi (Barley) = Mugita, another example of Kobito-san's unfortunately named creations.

"Why, though? Aren’t we non-aggressive and supposed to ignore each other?"

"They can come as long as they follow the procedures. Just like Sakura-san here."

Oh, right.

Inside the carriage were Kobito-san, Sakura beside her, and Romel and Dolphen opposite them. After being stuffed into the carriage without any explanation, Romel had finally started to explain the reason.

According to the news from the fast horse that arrived this morning, two ships flying the imperial flag had arrived at the port of Gesbelista. Gesbelista, a city in the south of Frontier, was a major port city. With its abundant seafood and rich farmlands, it was Frontier's breadbasket. It also cultivated many spices, and it was a region that had made Kobito-san drool when she was studying geography.

The purpose of the docked Kilfan ships was said to be Sakura, so the royal palace, having received a request for her entry permit to Yarmouth, decided to send her to Gesbelista by carriage along with her master, since she was now Chihiro's lady-in-waiting. This way, Kilfan could save the trouble of travel, and Frontier could avoid letting unwelcome guests into the country. It was about a day and a half from the royal capital to Gesbelista.

Leaving aside the empire's intentions, I'm interested in Gesbelista. I'll buy lots of fish.

Despite the tense atmosphere in the carriage, Kobito-san was thinking about carefree things.

"As long as we bring Lady Sakura back, you can become emperor. Make sure there are no mistakes."

"I know. We have to do something about that terrible country. I wonder what the Japanese people of the past were doing."

In a large inn in Gesbelista, a dozen or so men were holding a secret meeting. Most of them, with black hair and black eyes, nodded to each other with solemn faces.

"Since I began visiting Frontier, the scales have fallen from my eyes. A truly beautiful woman is one who suits a smile. The heartfelt smiles that the women of Kilfan lack are so beautiful. Our country is wrong."

"If Lady Sakura becomes empress, or Lord Katsumi becomes emperor, revising the laws will be easy."

"My time is only twenty years. It's better to have Sakura-san do her best. Since it was distorted over a long period of time, if we don't correct it over a long period of time, there's no telling where distortions will occur."

The young man called Katsumi murmured with a slight frown. In Arcadia, where the higher the status, the longer one's hair tended to be, he was a young man with short-cropped hair despite his fine appearance. He was remembering the story of the gods he had met when he came to this world.

"Where am I...?"

Katsumi, who should have been in the intensive care unit of a hospital, found himself surrounded by deep green trees, as if in a forest. The trees grew so thick that the sky was not visible. Before the stunned young man, two bolts of lightning struck with a sharp sound. From them appeared a humanoid light. The dazzlingly shining golden light spoke to Katsumi.

We shall grant you, who are dying, twenty years of time. In return, we want you to give your skills and knowledge to the world of our beloved children.

The gods of an unknown world declared this to Katsumi, who was bedridden with a terrible illness and did not know if he would see tomorrow.

So that means I'm going to die soon?

Katsumi looked at his own hands. His body was thin and frail, so much so that even an IV couldn't support it. He didn't think he could be of any use even if he was given a new lifespan of twenty years with such a body.

As if seeing through his thoughts, when the gods waved their fingers, Katsumi's emaciated, skeletal body instantly transformed. A solid frame and moderately muscled, healthy body. The ideal physique that Katsumi had once envisioned was there.

"This is... thank you. Are you giving me a new life?"

The gods nodded and looked at Katsumi as if for confirmation.

Only twenty years would be given. That was the limit to which they could bend the fate of one destined to die and keep them alive. We sincerely hope that you will weave a world together with our beloved children.

An isekai transfer, huh?

Katsumi, who had been bedridden since birth, had many things he wanted to do. He had dreamed and despaired, but still, unable to give up, he had immersed himself in the world of books. That was about to come true. The things he wanted to do were as numerous as the stars. For the gods, it might be only twenty years, but for a human... no, for Katsumi, those twenty years held immeasurable value.

"I'll do it. If you'll let me live even a little longer, I'll do anything."

A resolute light dwelled in his jet-black eyes.

How many times had the gods seen such eyes?

At first, everyone had acted in accordance with the gods' wishes. They had laughed and suffered with their beloved children, bringing many blessings to the land of Arcadia. However, as the twenty-year time limit approached, the recent seekers had started to become strange.

Until about a thousand years ago, it wasn't like that.

They would live out the lives they were given and even express their gratitude to the gods before ending their planned lives. When did that start to change? Around the time they learned that there was magic in the world of Arcadia, the seekers' attitudes began to change.

The subtleties of human emotion were incomprehensible to the gods.

A seeker once every fifty years or so. The last one had said strange things. Like, wasn't there a bonus for an isekai transfer, or give me a cheat ability. "Hmm?" The gods tilted their heads, and while clicking his tongue, he had accepted a new life and departed for Arcadia.

Katsumi, before them now, was different from him, with honest eyes. The kind of eyes unique to the people of the land of Wa, sparkling with hope, that they had seen before.

Slightly relieved, the gods sent Katsumi to Kilfan.

What the gods did not understand. The terror of one's own death approaching moment by moment. People are not so strong as to be able to devote themselves to the limit of their lives. A few hundred years ago, there may have been many with such strong mental fortitude, but for modern people, who are even called the glass generation, it is an impossible task. Because they have a little knowledge, the fear of death inflates whether they like it or not. That created friction, and as a result of the seekers of the last few generations committing atrocities, Kilfan became warped.

The weakness of humans, which is difficult for the gods to understand.

The seed sown to correct the gods' mistake is in the process of making a new mistake, but that is also the way of the world. It should be humans who correct the mistakes made by humans.

It is outside the scope of the gods.

"So this is Gesbelista. It's a beautiful land."

After stopping for one night on the way, Kobito-san and her group had entered Gesbelista. A scenic port city. The rich farmland that spread out before it was a magnificent sight. Coincidentally, it was now the planting season. Every field was overflowing with people, diligently working.

Come to think of it, isn't there a master's forest here too?

Remembering that Dolphen had once said there was a master's forest in the southern Gesbelista, Kobito-san turned her gaze to him.

"Dolphen, where about is the master's forest?"

"Ah, it's in the sea."

"Pardon?"

At the casually spoken words, Kobito-san's eyes widened.

In the sea? Huh? Is it a coral reef or something? Or a forest of kelp?

Dolphen and Romel let out a small laugh at the blinking Kobito-san.

"Your guess is half right, probably. It's a coral reef. Just one that is far vaster and larger than you can imagine."

According to them, this was the very origin of the war between Kilfan and Frontier. A massive coral reef located to the west of Frontier and Kilfan. Frontier, which had protected this reef for generations, clashed with Kilfan, which sought to harm it. That coral could be made into brilliant ornaments and furnishings was the same in Arcadia. Kilfan, having set its sights on this, sent its ships to obtain the vast blessings of the sea. However, it was still a master's forest. Many magical beasts lived there, and their counterattacks assailed Kilfan's ships. But Kilfan, in order to seal the magical beasts' attacks, went so far as to create large explosives, sink them into the coral reef, and detonate them. Frontier, which had intended to overlook it if it were just gathering or hunting, could not remain silent about this. They confronted them head-on, asking what they thought they were doing trying to destroy a master's forest.

The result was Kilfan's crushing defeat, but for Frontier, it was merely protecting their own waters, so their sense of it being a war was weak. In Arcadia, there was little consciousness of drawing lines in the vast sea, and there was only a vague recognition that the area visible to the eye was one's own territorial waters. The massive coral reef adjacent to the southwest of Frontier was, for all intents and purposes, Frontier's waters.

I see. Their fishing grounds overlap, and the coral reef is monopolized by Frontier, so it would certainly be frustrating for Kilfan. The sea is wide, but coral reefs are rare. It must be frustrating to have a mountain of treasure before your eyes and be told to stay away.

For Kobito-san, Kilfan itself was a mountain of treasure, but value is different for everyone.

Chihiro, casually thinking that she might as well make a pact with the master here, was incapable of sensing the filth of desire that awaited her.

Unaware of the malice that awaited, Kobito-san played with Pochiko-san. The Frontier party watched her with a smile.