Sleeping Beauty of the Elves (11)
"Why? Why? If you become my Apostle, you can do anything!"
Hearing the Guardian Deity's desperate plea, Yohan wanted to scream on Falco's behalf. Are you seriously asking because you don't know? Cut the absolute bullshit. But he held back. At this moment, it was only right to let Falco have the floor.
"The Guardian Deity I heard about growing up wasn't someone like you," Falco said, looking down at her with a cold gaze. "She was someone who loved her people more than anyone else, someone who protected us."
"Y-yes! That's me! I am that very Guardian Deity. The one who protects the Dawn Dew Tribe..."
"Right," Falco nodded, cutting her off. "But you only want to protect just the Dawn Dew Tribe."
Falco spoke with a much stronger emphasis than usual.
"Under the guise of protecting the tribe, you desecrate our people's remains, exploit their very souls, and now you're trying to use me too."
"T-that's..."
The Guardian Deity couldn't find a single word to refute Falco's accusation. She could only trail off, looking utterly lost.
"And seeing the necromancy you used made me certain."
The horde of skeletons the deity had summoned was proof enough.
"That the Dawn Dew Tribe was always like that."
Falco briefly scanned her surroundings. Although the skeletons had been incinerated by Yohan's Divine Flame, the scars left on the earth where they had clawed their way up remained.
"Yohan."
"Huh? Me?"
Falco suddenly turned her head to lock eyes with him.
"Do you understand now why that campsite employee reacted the way he did when he heard our tribe's name?"
"Wait, what? You were listening back then too?"
She must have regained consciousness around the time they entered the Great Forest. When Yohan asked, Falco silently nodded.
"The Dawn Dew Tribe didn't just die in a random forest fire. They were wiped out after a conflict with other tribes. I almost burned to death in the process, too."
Falco gently touched the back of her neck as she spoke. It was completely flawless now, but before she met the Goddess, she had kept it wrapped in bandages to hide the horrific burn scars. And it wasn't just her neck. As far as Yohan could remember, Falco used to walk around with her entire body wrapped in bandages.
Elves love the forest, but they also love war.
Yohan suddenly recalled that piece of lore.
"Necromancy is an art that interferes with human flesh and spirit. Whether by choice or force, friction with other tribes would have been inevitable," the Goddess chimed in, having listened quietly to Falco's story. Falco looked at her and nodded.
"There's no way you don't know how I was treated back then," Falco said, turning her gaze back to the Guardian Deity. "A heretic who stubbornly refused the tribe's traditions. They said if I weren't the chief's daughter, they would have turned me into a zombie or a skeleton long ago."
The atmosphere froze at Falco's words. Yet, she paid no mind to the chilling silence and continued.
"Earlier, I said I almost died in the chaos of a war with another tribe, but to be precise, I was already marked for death before that."
Falco rubbed her wrist.
"They said catching me every time I ran away was getting annoying, so they might as well burn me alive and just use my bones."
It wasn't hard to guess who had made that decision.
"I was about to be burned alive, but luckily, the neighboring tribe attacked right then, which saved my life. Though I was already caught in the flames and badly injured by that point."
The Guardian Deity remained silent. Yohan realized her silence was an admission. Everything Falco said was true, and the deity had witnessed it all firsthand.
"Yes. What you say is true," the Guardian Deity finally spoke after a long silence. "But in the end, you still came back home, didn't you?"
You ran away because you hated your people, yet when your own life was on the line, you crawled back to survive.
Though her words were brief, the underlying implication was clear: In the end, you are nothing but a child of the Dawn Dew.
"I don't think so. Unfortunately, you're wrong," Falco retorted with a cold expression.
"To begin with, until recently, I didn't even know a Guardian Deity actually existed. That's why I accepted our Goddess's blessing through Yohan without hesitation."
She meant that if she had known her tribe's Guardian Deity was real and that she was already under her blessing, she would have rejected the Goddess's blessing. Gods certainly existed in this world—plenty of them, in fact. But that didn't mean everyone witnessed or believed in them, and Falco was one of those people. Even so, Falco had still believed in the Guardian Deity she had never seen.
"So I thought... if the Guardian Deity truly existed, she would surely save me as I lay dying."
Because a guardian deity's duty was to protect her people. Falco added that with a soft sigh.
The Guardian Deity was a far cry from Falco's expectations. Her innocent, childlike appearance was nothing but an illusion.
"But our Goddess was different," Falco said, suddenly looking at the Unnamed Goddess.
"The Goddess and Yohan saved me, even though I was practically their enemy, and they completely healed the burns covering my body."
Hearing her say it like that was a bit embarrassing. The two mentioned awkwardly crossed their arms, trying to maintain their composure.
"Even though she was dying with barely any divine power left, and even though I wasn't even a believer, she reached out to me without demanding anything in return."
Falco's tone, which had softened for a moment, turned harsh again.
"But what about you? Did you welcome me because a believer you thought was dead returned? Or were you just thrilled to have a chance to prolong your own life?"
"I..."
The Guardian Deity couldn't muster a proper answer to Falco's question.
"So, I will never become your Apostle. End of story."
Falco hadn't really expected an answer anyway. She spat out her cold refusal, turned away from the Guardian Deity, and walked back to Yohan and the Goddess.
"Is your arm okay?"
"Y-yes. It hurt a bit when he popped it back in by force, but..."
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess."
"No, it's fine. I can handle this much easily."
Falco then approached Billy, asking about his well-being. Seeing this, Yohan wanted to chime in about how much he had suffered inside the deity's pocket dimension, but he exercised superhuman patience and held his tongue. Now was not the time for idle chatter.
"I..."
Meanwhile, the Guardian Deity sat slumped on the dirt floor, whispering in a dying voice. In her pathetic state, there was not a shred of dignity left of a tribe's guardian deity.
"Sigh, what the hell do we do with this now?" Yohan muttered, looking down at her.
If the Guardian Deity had remained crazed until the very end, he would have gladly finished her off to sever the blessing lingering inside Falco. But the deity before Yohan now bore no resemblance to her former self. She was plunged into a despair so deep that even a divine being could not bear it.
"Apostle. This is the impact that apostasy has on divine beings like myself," the Goddess said in a low voice.
Yohan nodded silently. Back when they were discussing how to gather followers for the Church of the Unnamed Goddess, she had shown an intense aversion to the concept of apostasy. To a mortal, it was just a matter of saying, "I'm going to believe in a different god now," but to the deity who was the object of that faith, the weight of that act was on an entirely different level. It was practically a denial of their very existence.
"Yes..."
As Yohan was lost in thought, the Guardian Deity suddenly spoke with a resolute tone.
Flash!
Is she trying to fight to the bitter end? Yohan quickly summoned his Light Sword and pointed the tip at her. But he tilted his head in confusion when he realized she wasn't showing any hostility.
"You're right. A tribe is not a place, but its people."
Wait, where have I heard that line before...? Yohan thought to himself.
Falco also looked somewhat surprised, and the Guardian Deity gave her a bitter smile.
"I forgot that crucial truth for far too long. I think I lost my mind the moment I realized I was left all alone in this world."
Had she finally regained her senses after hearing Falco's words? Even so, Yohan couldn't let his guard down. He watched her closely, ready to cut her down at a moment's notice.
"I am the Guardian Deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe. Born from the faith of my people, existing solely for them."
This was the fundamental irony of the gods in this world—a truth Yohan had also realized during his recent conversation with the Goddess.
"I'm sorry. I showed the last child of our tribe a pathetic sight."
I did terrible things. To you, and to the children who passed away before you.
The Guardian Deity apologized as she looked at Falco.
"Yes. It is enough that you admit your wrongdoing. So, even now, enter under my domain," the Goddess said, stepping closer to the Guardian Deity. Yohan could immediately tell this was the final mercy and goodwill she could offer.
"With Falco safe and you alive, you can rebuild the tribe at any time. Though... you will have to abandon necromancy, of course."
But the Guardian Deity shook her head. This wasn't her clinging to her pride at the final hour. Rather, at this very moment, she accepted that she was an utterly diminished being.
"I cannot undo what has already been done. As Peony said, the Dawn Dew Tribe was always like that, and so am I, born from their beliefs."
The Guardian Deity spoke with a complicated expression. Then, she stood up and clasped her hands over her chest as if in prayer.
"There is no reason for me to survive. The Dawn Dew Tribe will now fade beyond the horizon of time."
Of course, genetically speaking, the lineage wasn't entirely severed since Falco was still alive. But Falco had cut ties with the tribe, and she had long since abandoned her faith in its Guardian Deity.
"Peony... no, Falco."
The Guardian Deity called her by the name she had chosen for herself after casting off the shackles of the Dawn Dew and venturing into the outside world.
At this, not only Falco but Yohan and the Goddess also looked quite surprised.
"You might deny it, but to me, you are the last of my people left in this world."
Falco fell silent at her words.
"I am the Guardian Deity of the tribe. So, even in death, it is only right that I protect you."
As soon as she finished speaking, a bright light erupted from her body. It wasn't the ominous purple she had emitted during battle, but an indigo hue carrying the clear, fresh energy of dawn.
"I think I finally understand. You didn't come here to find me."
The Guardian Deity's body gradually grew faint, while the light she emitted became more brilliant and clear.
"Rather, I was the one waiting all along. For this very moment."
To fulfill her final duty as a Guardian Deity.
Soon, her faded form vanished completely. In the spot where she had stood, a single ring set with a gem that captured the light of dawn lay quietly.
As everyone stood frozen, Falco, realizing what had just happened to her body, muttered blankly,
"The... the blessing has disappeared..."