kscans

Chapter 139 - The Little One and the Gods' Banquet

"So that’s the last of the border forests."

In the distance, she could see the Torzebisont Kingdom. A cold country in the far northeast of the borderlands. Unlike the Donautil Kingdom, which had a long dry season, she had heard it was a humid country where snow remained even in summer. Gazing at the faint outline of a tall tower, the Little One descended into the final border forest. It was a deep green forest where low bushes spread out. The coniferous trees gave her a harsh, splintery impression. Relieved that the vegetation was thicker than she had expected, the Little One walked deeper into the forest.

Somehow, this makes me want to sing "The Bear in the Forest."

The Little One walked on with a look of excitement, into a deep forest just like one from the tales of Peter Rabbit, with its dense conifers and the moss that grew rampant on their trunks. The Frontier knights spread out around her, acting as her guard. Hyrulia and Zack were staying behind. They had set up a proper living space around the Mononoke carriage, which was now like a second home. Though they could maintain their cleanliness with grooming magic, it seemed they didn’t feel truly refreshed without bathing and doing laundry, so the three of them divided the various chores. They even roped in the few knights who had remained.

There’s a strange sense of domesticity that’s so calming.

When she returned to the carriage, she was sure she would find laundry fluttering in the breeze and the smell of a delicious meal, with Hyrulia standing by, towel in hand.

As the Little One was thinking about such trivial things, the forest ahead of her broke, and a clearing filled with brilliant sunlight appeared. In the center of the clearing, where soft grass swayed, was a gaping hole. There was a mound of earth, with a hole in the middle of it.

Wait a minute, I’ve seen this before.

The Little One, who had spent her childhood running through the mountains and fields and playing in the rice paddies and rivers.

As she placed her fingers on her forehead, trying to remember, something emerged from the hole. A pure white pole shot out. No, below the twitching pole, she could see a large face. The Little One’s mouth fell open, and she murmured, "A rabbit..."

Of course she recognized it. It was a bigger version of the many rabbit holes in the mountains.

A giant rabbit, about two meters tall, emerged. It blinked its round, crimson eyes and looked around until its gaze stopped on the Little One.

"King? The Golden King?"

"Probably. Are you the Lord of this place?"

"That’s right! I finally get to meet you!"

The giant rabbit leaped up, about to embrace the Little One, but Dorfen slid in and snatched her away. The rabbit dived stomach-first onto the ground and seemed to have hit its abdomen hard, as it thrashed its limbs in agony for a moment.

"Noooo! Why did you run away? That’s so meeean!"

"You fool! If you hugged her with your weight, Lady Chihiro would be crushed!"

The giant rabbit looked at Dorfen, who was scolding her with wide eyes, and brought its paws to its mouth, biting its nails.

"But, but, Ragon contacted me, you know? He said the King had come! I was so excited, thinking it was my turn next!"

Seeing the rabbit biting its nails in frustration, the Little One nodded in understanding. Ragon was the Lord of the forest between the Sucaraba Kingdom and the Torzebisont Kingdom. A giant chicken. The rabbit, having heard of the Little One’s visit from Ragon, must have thought this forest would be next. However, the Little One and her party had returned to Frontier for the New Year. Furthermore, they had continued their pilgrimage in the opposite direction, so the giant rabbit, whose expectations had been raised, had been left waiting.

Patting the head of the weeping rabbit, the Little One asked its name.

"I’m Chihiro. And you are?"

"Olga!"

"Okay! Shall we make a pact, then?"

Olga was about to nod at the Little One’s outstretched left hand, but she stopped and slowly lowered her face.

"That’s right, there was something I had to do first."

Something she had to do?

Olga grabbed the Little One by her sides, hoisted her onto her back, and took off running. "Hero?!"

"Lady Chihiro!!"

The Frontier party hastily chased after the rabbit, which had inexplicably started running on two legs. Olga leaped into the large rabbit hole and ran through a maze of twisting and turning tunnels. She brought the Frontier party to a large cavern. And there, they saw something familiar.

"A magic circulation device..."

"I heard the King needs this. We have to get the spirit before the pact, right?"

"Huh? Why?"

The Little One looked up inquisitively at the rabbit, whose whiskers twitched.

"Well, because the Golden Ring will be complete, won’t it? If you don’t have the three spirits, you can’t go to the Primeval Forest."

Primeval Forest?

She didn’t understand, but for now, she wanted the spirit. The Little One and Chihaya expertly channeled their magic and obtained the Wind Spirit. A small dragon appeared with a ‘powan’. A Western-style dragon perched on each of the twins’ shoulders. A tiny dragon with small wings on its back. But then, Chihaya’s face smoothly shifted, and Cesare emerged.

"Wait, if this is here, could it be?"

"Oh, right, we had a lodger. That’s right. There’s a golden magic crystal in the ground here."

A golden magic crystal?!

"...A pure magic crystal, nurtured by the land of Arcadia. For the Golden King."

Olga’s eyes narrowed in a smile as she dropped her bombshell. Stunned, the Frontier party, frozen in place, were urged on by her and proceeded down a path that led further underground.

"Whoa... It’s real."

Honey-colored magic crystals covered the entire wall. Gazing at the dancing golden magic, Dorfen and the others were at a loss for words at the spectacular sight.

"What you people call a magic circulation device is a contraption for gathering magic. For the Primeval Forest. This place is a transit point. A byproduct, you could say."

According to Olga’s explanation, long ago, when the gods still descended frequently, the Primeval Forest was created to bless the world. The magic circulation devices were installed to send magic to it. They absorbed magic from the land of Arcadia, gathered it, and sent it to the Primeval Forest. Here was the answer to the question Romel had once had. The magic poured into the magic circulation devices became magic crystals like this and were sent to the so-called Primeval Forest.

"But the other forests had dark magic crystals."

"That’s because of that lodger over there."

Cesare, who was called a lodger, raised his eyebrows fiercely. But Olga brushed off his scathing gaze and snorted.

"It’s because his companions planted fragments of dark magic crystals, and they fed on the golden magic. What a nuisance."

I see. So originally, there were stored golden magic crystals under the other magic circulation devices as well. They were dyed by the dark magic crystals, leading to the current situation. While the Little One was lost in thought, Cesare patted the golden magic crystals. He let out a faint smile and murmured as if in a trance.

"Haha... So it was here. Those detestable Higher Beings, they hid it here!"

The divine power that was missing, even though Cesare had collected all the dark magic crystals. The magic circulation devices were all connected. Using that, the Higher Beings had hidden Cesare’s power as a god here. Hearing this explanation, the Little One’s eyes rounded in surprise.

"Does that mean I’m the one to release it this time?"

"That’s right. And I will neutralize it."

Cesare gathered dark magic and took a stance. But Olga stopped him.

"There’s something we must do before that. Let’s make a pact, shall we? O King."

The giant rabbit offered her smiling face. Right, I did make her wait.

The Little One readily agreed, and when they exchanged their magic in the pact...

The world shook.

"Whaaaat?!"

The air trembled with a ‘buuun’, and the world in her vision blurred from the intense vibration.

"Ufufu, have a good trip, O Golden King."

Her eyes, changing from red, flashed gold. Seen off by those eyes, the twins’ figures vanished from the cavern as if dissipating into mist. The Frontier knights were frozen in place, their faces etched with shock. The only ones who could move were Olga and her children, who had gathered from somewhere.

"Now then... I wonder what will happen."

Olga twitched her whiskers and waited with her children for the Little One’s return.

"Where is this...?"

Recovering from the intense jolt that had wracked her entire body, the Little One found herself standing on unfamiliar ground. It was a landscape like paradise, with lush greenery, flowers of all seasons blooming in profusion, and many fruit trees bearing fruit.

It was truly a utopia. ...This isn’t heaven, is it?

The Little One and Chihaya walked cautiously and spotted a figure in a gazebo in the distance. It was a gazebo of beautiful design, surrounded by climbing roses. They could tell someone was there, but they couldn’t make out their features.

Who could it be?

As the twins cautiously approached, the figure noticed them and gave a light wave.

"Chihiro, Chihaya, over here. Come."

The man standing there was someone the twins knew well.

""...Romel?!""

Why is Romel in a place like this?

Romel gave a wry smile at the twins, whose faces were covered in question marks, and offered them a seat. But there, the Little One’s feet stopped.

"You’re not Romel. Who are you?"

A chill like static electricity ran down the Little One’s spine. Even if his appearance was the same, she would never mistake him. Like Chihaya and Cesare, they looked the same but were not the same. If she had to put it into words, it was a recognition of the soul. The same way Romel could distinguish between Merda and Melitta.

The man before her widened his eyes slightly and raised the corners of his mouth in amusement.

"Good intuition."

With that murmur, he shook his head. As he shook his hair, the color seemed to dissolve into the air, and the man before them transformed into gold. Hair like the sun and honey-colored eyes. He looked just like the Little One used to.

What happened?

The golden man smiled at the staring twins and opened his mouth.

"I suppose this is our first time meeting? Though I have been watching you for a long time. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sapphard. The one known as the Founding King."

The Little One’s mind couldn’t keep up.

Someone! Explain, please!!

As the panicked Little One screamed in her mind, the giant honeybee, sensing the disturbance, took off towards the Table of the Gods.

This is...? Could it be!!

The nostalgic magical power she felt from far away, before she could even see it. Whether Merda, who flew with single-minded determination, would have a tearful reunion was something not even the Little One knew.

Was it divine providence, or the devil’s temptation?

And so, the three who had been made to dance by the Higher Beings met face to face for the first time.