kscans

Chapter 104 - The King of Castrato and the Little One

《...Connected?》

《Impossible...》

《It must be a miracle, right?》

In the Celestial Realm, adrift with a white, hazy mist, the gods exchanged looks of astonishment. Amidst a sea of worlds dominated by the Spirit King of the Abyss, merely surviving, the world of Earth was the only one to have repelled it. On Earth, where humanity’s imagination had created worlds in many dimensions, new principles were born even for the spirits, and they lived joyfully. The reason was simple. They had merely become independent from the Spirit King of the Abyss. Just as the gods of the Celestial Realm were the parents of humanity, the Spirit King of the Abyss was the parent of the spirits. Its children, the spirits, had simply stood on their own two feet with the help of the people of Earth.

This was a common occurrence on Earth, a world that greedily pursued the wondrous and believed in it with all its heart. It wielded a tremendous power, much like faith.

However, to the gods, who were unfamiliar with such extraordinary things, it was surely an unbelievable miracle. For a fleeting moment, the Little One had opened a door to another dimension, and the gods couldn't believe their eyes.

Worlds of other dimensions exist everywhere, and distance is as good as non-existent. If a feeling of belief could get through, it was possible for anyone to open a door. Unaware of this, the girl had wished for the existence of righteous spirits. Unconsciously, she had believed that the spirits she had contracted with were not evil beings. And she had denied with all her might the existence of spirits that would harm people. Declared unnecessary by the Little One, the black dragon could no longer maintain its form. The title of Golden King, who rules the world, was not just for show. Her rejection was a rejection from the world of Arcadia itself. Taking the full brunt of that, the dark spirit had its power stripped away.

《Well, I’ll be...》

《I’m truly impressed by the creatures known as humans.》

As they looked down on Arcadia with gazes of wonder, the gods mourned their own worlds.

Each of their worlds was dominated by the spirits of the Abyss, dreaming. Worlds of listlessness where people neither worked nor thought, merely sinking into a peaceful slumber. There was no sadness, but in its place, no joy either. In such warm, cocoon-like worlds, the people were being kept by the Spirit King. No one left their homes. They formed families with partners chosen by the spirits and drowned in a life of indolence.

《...How heartbreaking.》

The Higher Beings quietly watched the gods who wept at the vast difference between their worlds and Earth or Arcadia. A grim light dwelled in their eyes as they looked upon their children, the gods, with pain. From the bottom of their hearts, the Higher Beings hated the Spirit King of the Abyss.

《Just you wait. It will be soon.》

Clenching their teeth with a giri, they looked down at Cesare. They were the Higher Beings, eagerly awaiting the moment he would fall into despair and his soul would be stained with darkness.

However, the Little One’s party knew nothing of this. They were steadily planting seeds of hope in the nursery of despair.

"Ngh, could you do something about this?"

"I told you to get away from Hero!"

"...Brother."

Chihiro let out a weary sigh as Charles held her in his arms and refused to let go. Chihaya’s veins pulsed, piki piki, and Augfel’s brows furrowed in trouble. Chihaya, Dorfen, and the others had tried to pull him away, but Charles resisted the force, his embrace tightening with a gyuuu, and a frog-like squeak escaped the Little One’s lips. Seeing this, they were forced to abandon the idea of prying him off by force.

With the root spirit gone, the royal palace had fallen into a temporary state of chaos, but it soon settled down. The Frontier party, their irritation poorly concealed, visited the Crown Prince’s office with grim expressions. At the center of it all was the second prince, a blissful smile on his face as he hugged the Little One.

"Do something about this."

There was no respect left in his tone. The Castrato brothers cowered, breaking into a cold sweat under the concentrated fire of loathing gazes.

And that brought them to the present.

"Brother, please let the young lady go already."

"That’s right, Charles. It is rude to touch a woman like that, even if she is a child."

Charles retorted to the two who were admonishing him, his eyes like ice.

"She is my bride. Who else but me is allowed to touch her?"

"Who’s your bride! I’m not giving Hero to anyone!"

Chihaya sounded as if he were possessed by Drago himself. Dorfen nodded emphatically and also spoke up.

"That is correct. Chihiro-sama has a proper fiancé in Prince Romel. Frankly, someone like you is not worthy."

Dorfen and the Little One’s squad raised their eyebrows in a challenging smirk.

Hieee, there’s a really chilly atmosphere...!

Charles hugged the flustered Little One even deeper into his chest and muttered, bit by bit.

"It’s fine. It doesn’t matter if I’m inferior to anyone, as long as I have my bride with me. ...I don’t need anything else."

Charles placed a small kiss on Chihiro’s temple and curled up like a sulking child. The Little One let out a sigh and stroked the head of Charles, who was buried in her shoulder.

"Looks like you’ve had a tough time too. But it’s just starting. You might find lots of fun things to do, so why not look for them? While eating something delicious."

The Crown Prince and Augfel stared wide-eyed at the Little One, who whispered as placidly as an old woman. The Little One was already approaching her late forties, counting her previous lives. It couldn't be helped if she sounded like an old person sometimes. In fact, Chihiro felt like she was looking at her own grandson.

"Well, setting that aside, I heard the story from Prince Charles."

It was far too big a problem to be set aside, but the Little One paid it no mind. She compared the information she had seen and heard so far with what she had heard from Charles.

According to Charles, at some point, a black dragon had taken up residence in his heart. It had shown empathy for him as he waited for his bride, said it would help him, and apparently caused the current situation.

"It said it would grant any wish I had. It even used Father as a sacrifice for that."

The members of the Castrato party stiffened in shock. According to what Charles heard from the black dragon, remnants of the gods were rampant in this country, making it difficult for it to enter. Then, yesterday, the power of the gods suddenly weakened, and it was able to emerge from the palace basement. Until then, the black dragon said it could only enter Charles's dreams.

Hearing that, the Little One glanced at Chihaya. Chihaya, who had been glaring at Charles with wide eyes, realized the meaning of her gaze and reluctantly brought out Cesare. Cesare emerged and pointedly looked away from the Little One. Seeing this, she couldn't help but sigh and beckoned to Cesare with a kui kui of her finger.

"You have something to say, don’t you?"

‘...It was not intentional. It was just the result.’

Cesare wore a sour expression.

The whole affair stemmed from his tampering with the principles of a certain medicinal herb. That herb was not only used in mind-control drugs but also had strong analgesic properties, so it was used in many of Castrato’s medicines. In other words, it had been influencing the people of Castrato, both in large and small ways, with the power of the gods. By tampering with the herb's principles, Cesare had nullified the divine medicinal effects, creating a situation where the black dragon spirit could slip in. Unconsciously, Cesare’s remnants had been protecting the country of Castrato from the evil clutches of the Spirit King.

Listening to the explanation, there were indeed some unavoidable aspects. It had to be done to prevent further victims.

"You were able to restore the prophet in the basement, right? Can’t you restore the king too?"

Hearing Charles say he was used as a sacrifice, the Little One recalled the black crystal in the underground forest. It turned out to be the final form of a human, the transformed state of the old prophetess. When the silver-haired man enveloped the crystal with his magic and waited patiently, the old woman gradually emerged from the dissolved crystal, leaving even the Little One speechless.

She was alive, and if she had been left as she was, she would have been forced to become a breeding ground for magic crystals until her life ended.

Hearing this, the Castrato faction froze completely.

"Someone! Go at once and check on His Majesty in the tower!"

The Little One glanced at the soldiers who dashed off, datto, and asked Charles in a small voice while stroking his hair.

"Did you break it?"

The young man shook his head, furu furu.

"Just solidified it. It said it could only be done with dark magic."

It lured them into a peaceful slumber and stole their magic. They would likely die, literally, in their sleep. There was no need to wait for the soldier’s answer, who would surely come back at full speed. The Little One had Charles lead the way, and they hurried to the King of Castrato’s side.

"Well now, this is quite a sight."

Before them was a giant magic crystal, large enough to cover the entire window. The Little One touched the crystal that lined the wall and grimaced at the same unsettling pulse as before. She then tried enveloping it with her golden magic, but the black crystal remained just as it was. It didn't change at all.

"Onii-sama, can’t you do something?"

Called Onii-sama for the first time in a while, Cesare’s face brightened for a moment, but he stared at the black crystal and shook his head melancholically.

‘Dark magic favors malice. The more evil the heart, the higher the rate of invasion. Corroded to this extent, even if it were dissolved, only a wretched corpse would remain.’

In other words, he was already dead.

The Little One looked up briefly towards the heavens and offered a silent prayer. Following her lead, the members of Frontier also closed their eyes.

The dumbfounded people of Castrato collapsed powerlessly. The King of Castrato, whom she was meeting for the first time across all her past lives, had been transformed into a silent crystal.

It’s a death far too good for a villain.

With a sharp look of contempt, the Little One glanced at the black crystal as if spitting and left the tower.

Here, the wedge of fate that had long been held between the two countries was finally brought to an end, and Castrato and Frontier would see a new development.

What that would be, even the Little One did not know now.

Chihiro could only pray that it would be for the better.