Camelot of a Strange World (1)

It had still been night when I was talking with Grandpa Myrddin, and yet I lay down beside Franc, closed my eyes for what felt like a moment, and opened them to morning.

Something felt missing. I looked to the side, and Franc, who ought to have been asleep there, was gone. I cast Spatial Perception through the place and found her baking bread in a sort of oven behind the wall that held the fireplace. I watched her draw the golden-brown loaves from the heat with practiced hands, then searched the rest of the tower. There was no sign of Myrddin.

Must've gone out somewhere.

I sat up on the hard wooden bed and turned my eyes to the great window. Between the buildings of a bustling city, crowds of people came and went — men leading horses and donkeys that pulled freight carts along the wide roads, carriages of a curious make passing one another, the whole city and its markets alive with noise. I looked out over a place that might well have belonged to the Middle Ages, then climbed down from the bed and went to Franc, who was coming toward me with a tray: the finished bread set in a bowl, jam and milk beside it.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah."

Her smile put the morning sunlight to shame. We moved to the table and sat, and Franc... if she truly didn't care in the least about where I came from, her face showed it. The smile was the same as ever. I gazed at that beautiful face, somehow even more luminous than usual, and took the bread she held out. It was warm and soft, like her breasts.

"This morning it's fresh-baked bread, with orange marmalade and milk."

I accepted the jam and the milk from her hands, then caught those pale fingers in mine. Morning light poured in through the window and lit her widened eyes, and all at once the rims of my own grew hot.

"...Franc."

"Yes?"

I didn't think I could hold the words back.

"I love you."

"Hehe. I love you too."

She answered the confession with a shy little laugh. Franc was a treasure I would not have traded for anything in the world. We made a breakfast of her homemade bread and fresh milk, and then she suggested a walk in the woods behind the house. There were no lamps, and the sunlight barely reached indoors; stay shut up in that gloom and nothing but dreary thoughts would come of it. So I linked arms with her, as she wanted, and we stepped into the woods behind the building.

Grandpa Myrddin had called this city Camelot. Did that mean Camelot had stood in what was now the Manchester region? We walked a path where sunlight spilled down through leaves grown thick and wild, and then something Franc said pulled a sigh out of me.

"Three whole days have passed since I collapsed?"

"Yes. Today is August twenty-first."

I'd only shut my eyes and opened them, and three days were gone? I switched on the Certifier and checked the date. It really was August 21.

Ah — there'd been the time Franc comforted me in between, so maybe two days. I let out a heavy sigh, closed my eyes, and out of habit turned Spatial Perception outward... Huh?

"The range grew again. Phase Power, too."

"...What?"

Eyes still shut, I studied her startled face and took stock of the range. Spatial Perception had expanded by half again, reaching 6.75 kilometers out from where I stood. Phase Power had doubled as well, from 3.5 million to 7 million.

"Haha... So learning my own bloodline counts as enlightenment, does it..."

Franc heard the mutter, gave a bitter little smile, drew my arm into her embrace, and rested her head on my shoulder.

Come to think of it, there had been that sensation when we crossed here from the hut at Stonehenge. The moment I called it back, space seemed to seep in under my skin, and a strange lightness lifted through my guts until it owned my whole body. Uh — and after that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what? The instant I unconsciously fixed on the rooftop of Myrddin's stone manor, the one Spatial Perception was showing me, I felt as if I'd dropped from somewhere high. The world flickered once, like a lamp switched on and off in a dark room, and the scenery changed.

"Huh? This is the tower roof... Ah! Franc!"

Only then did it hit me that I'd left her behind the moment I moved. I searched for her with Spatial Perception and found her flying between the trees at a terrifying speed, coming straight for where I stood. She arrived almost at once and asked, her face full of shock.

"Seoha! W-what happened? You blurred like a mirage all of a sudden, and then you were gone!"

"When Myrddin brought us here from the hut, he used a technique called spatial phase transit. I had a feeling I might be able to do it too, so I tried it while recalling how it felt back then, and... it actually worked?"

"Th-that's incredible..."

She didn't hide her wonder, and seeing it, the weight on my heart seemed to lighten a little.

"Myrddin's spatial phase transit might as well have no limit on distance, but it looks like I can only move inside my Spatial Perception range. I can't call it the same thing... Let's call it Space Leaping."

"Not teleportation, but space leaping? Spatial Perception, Spatial Manipulation, and now Space Leaping — you must have a remarkable gift for anything to do with space, Seoha."

"You think so? Ah. I wonder if I could steal a look at that Subspace Storage the Indian ability user is supposed to have."

"If it's you, Seoha, I'm certain you'll gain that ability too!"

"With encouragement like that, I'll have to master it no matter what. But..."

She was nestled in my arms, looking up at me, and I seemed to have grown a little taller again. I was tall enough now to kiss her forehead without any trouble, and looking down, she was so lovely she might have been a cute little dog with platinum fur. She flushed faintly under my gaze, waiting for whatever came next, and I whispered.

"That night you called me husband. You're not going to call me that anymore?"

"Ah. Th-that's... I-it's a little embarrassing."

Her face went beet red. She rested her head on my shoulder and looked away, and while I touched her flushed earlobe without a word, she opened her mouth in a flustered, almost apologetic voice.

"I-I thought husband said what I feel better than honey or darling... Haaah. But it's so embarrassing... H-husband?"

Hearing that word from her lips again, the chest that had gone cold from learning the truth of the past seemed to warm through.

"You don't dislike it, do you...?"

"As if I could."

She saw on my face that I meant it, and came into my arms with a bright smile. I smiled too, held her tight, and whispered.

"If it hadn't been for you that night, I might truly have gone mad. Thank you for keeping my mind in one piece. I love you."

"Nnh. I-I love you too."

A breathless sound escaped her, and still she never lost that happy smile. She was, as ever, the greatest treasure I had come to hold in my hands. I would not let this treasure go.

Testing Space Leaping, I found I could move without restriction anywhere inside my Spatial Perception range, taking with me anything in contact with my body. Before a proper trial I caught a rabbit wandering the woods and leaped with it, from short distances out to longer ones, but the rabbit dangling by the ears from my grip only twitched its nose and stayed perfectly docile. When I finished and let it go, it bolted off unharmed. Once I'd confirmed the leap was safe, I took Franc in my arms, leaped, and asked how it felt.

"How do you feel?"

"Mmm. Like my body is being pulled to one side."

Unrestricted Space Leaping wouldn't be much use in open country, but in a place like a dungeon it would be extremely handy. Slipping into the treasure vault under the Tower of London, for instance... Ahem. Not that I would. Only that the option existed. And if I ever really gained something like a subspace pocket or a warehouse, I'd become a god-given thief, plain and simple.

On the off chance, I tested whether the Space Wall had gained any sense of friend and foe, but it still erased everything except me and whatever I had on. A little disappointing.

"Hmm. I've never heard of a special-type ability user with warp or teleport. Have you, Franc?"

"Nothing on the level of your Space Leaping, or Myrddin's spatial phase transit. Only enough to move a single step, at most?"

"That's the Blink spell out of a fantasy novel."

"In any case, you already boast such powerful abilities, and now you have Space Leaping as well. I don't think there's anyone left who could do a thing to you, Seoha."

I looked at the innocent face saying it, took her hand, and turned my eyes to the river cutting through the city below the hill.

"The humans who pick a fight with me won't disappear completely."

"What? Why not?"

"The world's a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠big place, and it's full of dumbasses. Ever heard of the law of conservation of dumbasses?"

"The law of... conservation?"

I fiddled with the cheek of Franc, who was staring at me in pure disbelief, and explained.

"Yeah. Wherever three or more people gather, there is always at least one dumbass. And if there isn't, then you yourself are the dumbass. A revolutionary new law."

How else do you explain people still insisting the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Earth is flat, two hundred years into the new age? Dumbasses like that only know shit is shit after they've tasted it. Until they saw my power with their own eyes, they'd swear it was a lie, say they couldn't believe it, and stick their bellies out as if daring me to do something about it.

"Ahaha."

At the mention of shit, Franc's pretty brows twitched, and she laughed awkwardly.

"Anyway, do you know where Myrddin went? There's something I want to ask him."

"He went out early, at dawn. I didn't get the chance to ask where."

We finished the walk and returned to Myrddin's stone building, where a slightly cool air came out to meet us. High summer, and still this chilly — no wonder they lit the fireplace at night. I grumbled inwardly at a host who had vanished on us without so much as a word. In a few hours I'd be able to return to reality, and before that I wanted to ask him a few more things. I wanted to get home quickly and hear the truth from Mom and Dad...

"So Myrddin was Merlin?"

"Ah. He's called both Myrddin and Mirdin, but they say that in France the name sounded rather like a... bad word, so it was changed to Merlin."

"A bad word?"

"M-merde. It's similar to the word for shit."

"...Tell him that and I bet he'd blow up."

"You mustn't say it!"

"I won't. I won't."

If I said it and the great mage got angry enough to lay a curse on me, I'd be the only one in trouble.

I didn't know whether this was the legendary Camelot we knew, but Franc seemed to want to see the city, so I threw on a brown robe from inside Myrddin's house and we went out into town. She had shed her clothes and reshaped her skin into the sort of dress the city's maidens wore, yet she clung to my side, strangely restless. When I asked why—

"I-it's been so long since I've gone about like this, it feels as if I'm walking around naked..."

...she gave me an answer that would have had outdoor exhibitionists springing to their feet.

"Looks like there's a clothing shop in the village. We ought to stop there first."

"L-let's do that."

In any case, my first impression of Camelot was nothing like what I'd expected. I'd already seen the spectacular sanitation of a medieval city, so I hadn't hoped for much at all, and yet Camelot looked, if anything, like an ordinary city out of a fantasy novel. I'd pictured unpaved roads awash in horse dung. As if to laugh at me, the streets were as neat and clean as a modern town. Along the main avenue in particular, things like streetlamps stood in a long row, and from the oil filling them I guessed they were lit at night to brighten the roads.

"Streetlamps like those existed in this age?"

"I'm not certain either, but I don't think they did."

Camelot had the look of a typical great city built along a vast river. Ferries and merchant ships came and went on the water, and I could guess that commerce here was highly developed. What surprised me most was that the river ran clear and blue. The river at Londinium had been thick with floating filth.

The city was divided by an outer wall and an inner wall, and at the center inside the inner wall stood a castle as grand as a fortress. That would be Camelot Castle, sharing the city's name. Within the inner wall, where the castle stood, great mansions lined up in rows, and there wasn't a single miscellaneous shop to be seen, so it looked like a district where nobles gathered to live. Perhaps that was why they seemed to call the ground inside the inner wall the Upper Town. The ground inside the outer wall, by the opposite logic, was called the Downtown.

The Downtown, where Camelot's citizens actually lived, was fairly complicated, true to the name — though "complicated" was only by comparison with the Upper Town. Put the way we would at home, it was divided like a planned city into commercial, residential, and industrial districts. As if to mock my notion that the Upper Town was clean and pleasant while the Downtown was where the poor lived, it was a clean and prosperous city. A plain example of how benevolent and wise its ruler was.

Beyond the enormous city, which didn't even fit inside a radius of 6.5 kilometers, endless wheat fields spread out, and even now they were steadily clearing the surrounding forest into farmland. In another direction I could see a vast pasture raising sheep, dairy cows, and horses. Hand in hand with Franc, I wandered the procession of wagons on the hard-packed dirt roads and the bright, clean streets of the lively Downtown, and culture shock found me in more than one place.

A perfectly laid system of water and sewage, for one. There were the streetlamps that had surprised me earlier, and what seemed to be a trade devoted entirely to clearing horse and donkey dung from the streets. Out of curiosity I tracked the man with Spatial Perception. He was drying the dung for fuel, or turning it into fertilizer. There were public toilets all through the city, and — what astonished me most — bathhouses that drew river water and heated it.

I'd been taught that public baths were a custom that flourished only in Rome, and yet Camelot had them too... From what I'd read, Roman public baths didn't change the water often the way modern ones do; once a bath was filled, it was used until the water turned black with grime. Camelot's public baths, by contrast, were facilities that hardly differed from those of the present day. They charged next to nothing and had become thoroughly common, and inside there were even instructions on how to wash oneself, so I could tell they paid considerable attention to hygiene.

Woods and trees made parks throughout the city, and at the four quarters of the Downtown stood bell towers — smaller than Big Ben, but there to tell the time. Just now a tower had rung, dong, ding-dong, several times over, and with the sound people headed home, while merchants sitting at their stalls took out something like sandwiches to eat. Their sense of time seemed firmly in place. Walking the lively market streets and taking it all in, I was surprised one last time: aside from the absence of electricity, cars, and machines, it was no different from reality. In a place like this, I thought I could live without much burden at all.

I confirmed it on the way back for lunch. Myrddin's tower stood apart in the forest on the city's outskirts; he had probably built the house there because he wanted it so. We ate the morning's bread for lunch, then went out again to watch flocks of snow-white sheep, dairy cows, and foals wandering a great pasture, and strolled the broad river that followed Camelot's edge, sightseeing here and there.

The average height in this world seemed to be around four feet seven, I was thinking, drawing stares from the people we passed — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when Franc's eyes sparkled and she pointed at the castle rising far off in the city's center.

"What do you think of visiting the Upper Town? If we go there, you might be able to see the Knights of the Round Table, or King Arthur, with Spatial Perception!"

"King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table marched out to the coast of West Sussex, didn't they? Even if we go, the people themselves probably won't be there."

"Ah. You're right..."

She looked a little disappointed. I chuckled, took her hand, and started walking.

"Even if they aren't, we can still look around the castle where King Arthur lives. Let's go."

"Yes!"

I was curious myself what Guinevere looked like — the one who had ruined the kingdom in her affair with Lancelot. For the record, while we were wandering the city that afternoon I'd seen a shop like the fancy-goods stores back home. In the display case there were handkerchiefs and square cloths embroidered with the faces of the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur, and Queen Guinevere. The faces were so abstract they were no use as a reference at all. Franc had trembled trying not to laugh when she saw them, which said everything.

With an eager Franc beside me, I followed the road out to the Upper Town's gate, where four soldiers watched the people coming and going without particularly stopping anyone. They carried well-kept halberds, longswords at their waists, and kite shields on their backs. For armor they wore chain mail that gleamed, and over it blue coats marked with an eight-pointed cross — four arrowheads set face to face. I remembered someone saying that if you want to judge a nation's strength, look at the guards of its castle. (Where I'd seen it, I couldn't recall.) Looking at these guards, I thought their might must be considerable. Those same men looked at me and murmured among themselves.

"A truly tall fellow. Taller than Sir Percival, wouldn't you say?"

"By build alone, he'd rank among the finest in Camelot."

"And not only that. Look at his stride and his footwork. Steady, and natural as flowing water. His skill can't be ordinary either."

"The maiden beside him is remarkably tall as well. Siblings, perhaps?"

Listening to the soldiers at the gate, I looked at Franc.

"Percival's a Knight of the Round Table, right?"

"Yes. Lord Myrddin said you were taller than Sir Percival, so Sir Percival must have quite a build himself."

I'd overheard then that King Arthur would take an interest in my build, but I wasn't going to live in this world, and I had no intention of playing the subordinate under someone else, so I'd let it pass. Franc, it seemed, had not. Her face all but said, King Arthur taking an interest in Seoha — how amazing!

Entering the Upper Town, I found streets as neatly kept as the Downtown's. Down there, aside from the buildings that looked like cathedrals, the tallest structures were three stories; up here, three stories was the baseline. Most of them were clean, refined mansions with real artistry to them, pleasant to look at. Soldiers patrolled the streets here and there in disciplined posture. As expected of a district where nobles lived, they seemed to take public order seriously.

In any case, I turned my steps toward the heart of the Upper Town, so Franc could look over Camelot Castle with Spatial Perception.