Great Forest (2)
Hmm. That’s just how it is. Is there even any reason to bother telling them? Surprisingly enough, it happens to be the truth.
“I understand it may be hard to believe. But it is the truth. There’s no reason for you to treat us as enemies, is there? The elf Shariel is already enrolled at Attelina, after all.”
“Understood. The Spirit King has ordered that we escort the Empire’s distinguished guest to the palace.”
“Oh?”
Hmm? That long-eared king? Me?
A being I had completely forgotten about in my memories was calling for me. What a peculiar feeling.
No, wait. I’m Olivia now. And yet that long-ear calling for me means…
Either his uncanny foresight predicted the arrival of the Ashtar duke’s daughter, or he has already figured out who I really am.
If it’s the latter, things are only going to get troublesome.
If he finds out, I’ll probably end up looking like a complete fool in front of that damn long-ear.
“Haa. Nothing for it, I suppose.”
Even if that were the case, I was in no position to pick and choose right now.
I should probably be grateful he was even willing to see me.
Under the elves’ escort I entered the deep forest where their queen resided.
The buildings were made of wood, yet they were nothing like ordinary wooden structures. They resembled the grand palaces of the East, immensely imposing and coated in mana so that fire was never a concern.
“Greetings. I am Olivia, Saint of the Empire.”
“The Ashtar duke’s daughter, the Taesa, and court mage as well?”
Isis, known as the Spirit King, narrowed his brows.
Yes. Of course it would seem strange. A young lady of a ducal house holding both the titles of Taesa and court mage? Even obtaining a position near that wastrel of an emperor was no easy feat. Yet here was Ashtar’s daughter holding both offices at once.
“Yes. One thing led to another, and it simply turned out that way.”
“Fine. But claiming your reason is ‘travel’? Doesn’t that sound a little odd even coming from your own mouth?”
“Yet that is the reality. What would you have me do about it?”
Reality was what it was; there was nothing I could do.
“Hmm. Be that as it may. Travel can be like that, I suppose. Then what of this ‘New World Group’?”
“Yes. That is precisely what I came to discuss.”
I explained the events in Ribelt and everything I knew about the New World Group.
As the Elf King and the elders listened in silence, their expressions shifted in increasingly strange ways.
From their perspective the New World Group was little more than a fire on the far bank of a river; there was no real need for me to go into such detail. Yet I did so thoroughly for a reason of my own.
“So that is the nature of this New World Group.”
“But to claim they have already advanced into the Great Forest itself—is that not mere conjecture?”
One of the elders spoke with an arrogant smile. Yes. I had expected exactly that reaction.
It was only natural. The Great Forest was a natural fortress that even the imperial army had never managed to breach.
If the elves ever left the forest to fight in open battle the imperial forces would win, yet inside the Great Forest even the mightiest army on the continent would be annihilated.
With a daughter of the Empire that possessed such history sitting right here, the elders no doubt found the whole thing amusing.
“Yes. For the moment that is true. I only mean that you should remain vigilant. The Empire is crushing the New World Group underfoot, so they may scatter in every direction simply to survive.”
I could not be certain they would enter the Great Forest. The ones I had caught so far might only have been weaklings. There could still be fanatics willing to sell more than their lives for the god they served—fanatics strong enough to force their way into this place.
“The mere thought of such filth setting foot in the Great Forest is enough to sour my mood. Very well. We shall raise our state of alert.”
“You have my thanks.”
How kind of him. The Elf King had actually listened to me quite reasonably.
I still did not know why. This long-ear was usually extremely prickly toward humans. The fact that he was suddenly being so cooperative with me meant something else was going on.
“It is for the sake of the Great Forest as well. Naturally. Elders, withdraw for now.”
“Your Majesty? You intend a private audience with the Empire’s Taesa?”
Even I had not seen that coming. Suddenly? Why?
“Do you wish more vulgar words to leave my mouth?”
“No, Your Majesty. Forgive us.”
Vulgar words, was it. Right. This Elf King had learned every last one of them from me—human curses and all.
Whether he used them or not was his business, but it was still a pity. That a noble elf of the forest, a king no less, was spewing such coarse language. Even the emperor of the Empire was not so free with his profanity.
I glanced at Celia.
“Should I leave as well?”
“Yeah. It would be better if you stepped out too.”
Apparently the Elf King had something he wanted to discuss with me alone.
And if I failed to hear it now, I had the feeling it would leave a foul taste in my mouth.
An unsettling sensation, like ordering soup for dinner at an inn only to find it tasted of plain hot water.
In short, it felt like I had not quite finished blowing my nose.
Once Celia had been sent away, I turned my full attention to him.
Seated upon the throne, the gaze he directed at me was neither cold nor particularly interested. It was simply the look of someone regarding a tiresome chore.
As though he were still deciding how exactly he ought to look at me.
“Right. Let’s clear away the trivialities. You. Who are you?”
“I am the daughter of House Ashtar.”
Isn’t it obvious just by looking? The Ashtar duke’s daughter.
I was not so dense that I failed to understand what the long-ear truly meant by the question, but I had no desire to admit it.
After all. I had already been found out by Pope Glacia. If this long-ear saw through me as well, how was I supposed to feel?
The long-ear stared at me for a long while.
I met that gaze head-on. Of all people, I had no wish to hear a single word from this bastard.
After studying me carefully, he finally spoke with deliberate care.
“I have heard the tales. The infamous villainess of Ashtar who one day became a saint and reeled in every young noble of the Empire.”
“And where, exactly, did you hear that?”
How had someone living in the Great Forest come across such stories? Or was he constantly monitoring the Empire’s affairs?
No. On second thought it was not entirely impossible.
Proof of that sat right here in the form of the elf Shariel.
“I did not send Shariel to Attelina for no reason.”
“I should have known.”
“Then allow me to finish.”
“And what exactly do you intend to say?”
The fact that he said he would “finish” made me want to punch him. That little word almost certainly contained something substantial.
“There was someone who used to piss me off to no end. I never used to have such a foul mouth. That bastard is the reason it got this dirty.”
I knew exactly who he was talking about.
This was something I absolutely could not admit or allow to be discovered. I had expected the Spirit King to sense something of my presence, but I never imagined he would see through me this thoroughly.
So for now I decided to deny everything as hard as I could.
“Whatever do you mean by that?”
“That son of a bitch from the Hero Party. Or rather, the mage of the Hero Party.”
“Hahaha. And why would you bring that up?”
That son of a bitch from the Hero Party. My mood soured, but there was nothing I could do about it. I did not want to be found out. I had already been exposed to the pope. I could not let this long-eared bastard catch me as well.
So even if it left a bitter taste, I had to grit my teeth and endure. Only then would I keep this long-ear from gaining any leverage over me.
“You reek far too much like him. It is not as though you shared a bed with the man, and his death was suspicious enough as it is.”
“That matter has nothing to do with me.”
It already felt too late, yet I continued denying it again and again.
“Be honest. Are you not that gloomy mage?”
“Ha. Hahaha. Whatever could you mean?”
Could I still hide it? If I could not, then right here and now I would have to pick a fight with this long-ear and rearrange his face. Back in Noah’s day I had been able to overwhelm this human. A surprise attack with this body should still be possible.
“I know you all too well. You cannot hide it. You are already scheming. Besides. Would an ordinary noble not at least frown or voice displeasure when a foreign monarch spews such filthy language? Yet you did not so much as react.”
Ah. He had a point. I had not taken issue with a single curse that left this long-ear’s mouth.
That was the problem, then.
“Mm. You’re right. My mistake.”
“You call that acting? Turning into a girl has made you sly as a fox.”
Throb.
A vein seemed to bulge at my temple.
What the hell had this human just said to me?
What? Turning into a girl made me sly as a fox? He was parroting the exact same line Glacia had used?
This I would not tolerate. He already believed I was Noah. Further denial would only earn me a dismissive “Fine, have it your way.”
In that case I might as well get properly angry. I had to throw at least one barb at this damn long-ear.
“Fuck. The pope said the exact same shit.”
“Heh heh heh. So at last you have given up on hiding. Well then. How exactly did you end up in that state?”
So it had come to this after all. Yes. Of course it would.
Damn it. This long-ear had been more dangerous than Glacia. I had been an idiot. If I was going to come here I should have hidden myself far more carefully.
“So what is it you want to say?”
“How admirably you keep using that tone. Why not speak the way you always used to?”
“I am a noble now, appearances aside.”
I held the title of Taesa to the emperor of the Empire, yet the Elf King was a lofty existence of the Great Forest. He was the representative of the long-eared race that had been born of dew and ruled the woods since the age of myth. Their monarchy itself had only been modeled after the Empire a few hundred years ago, but a king-like position had existed in form long before that.
In short, he was a being in no way inferior to the emperor.
Addressing such a figure with the highest possible honorifics was simply part of my duty as the Empire’s Taesa.
It would have been different if I were still Noah of the Ruined Land, with nothing left to lose and no reason to care about surrounding eyes.
“No matter how unlucky a bastard he was, he would not have been the sort to commit adultery with another’s body.”
At those coldly spoken words I had no choice but to answer.
The Elf King would be thorough on that particular point. If I tried to hide it he would assume I had done something demonic, and that might turn him into an enemy for no good reason. That would be inconvenient.
More importantly, if that mouth of his started flapping without restraint it would become a real problem.
So on this matter I needed to explain the circumstances.
“Half right, half wrong. From the start this body of Olivia Lapa Ashtar had its soul torn apart long ago thanks to one particular whore.”
“You mean to say you used soul-fusion magic.”
He hit it immediately. That was why I hated long-ears. Their intuition was far too sharp. Still, now that he had reached that point I needed to explain a little further.
There was no telling how this damn long-ear might misinterpret things otherwise.
“I had to save her somehow. In the end Noah died by his own hand in the battle against the Demon King. That is how the two of us became one.”
“Hmm. So that is how it was. Quite impressive, I must say.”
“The magic?”
“Indeed. Soul-fusion magic. Only someone exceptionally gifted in that field would even conceive of such a thing. Fail to master it in a single attempt and your own soul can be shredded to pieces.”
He was not wrong. Even learning it meant staking your soul as collateral; one mistake and you simply died.
Using your own soul as a sacrifice for adulterous magic would only earn the goddess’s scorn. That was why Noah had devised a method of converting the soul into mana and distributing it as a fail-safe. The portions of soul Noah had apportioned functioned as independent souls in their own right.
“Yes. You seem well informed.”
“To succeed on the first attempt, and while still alive at that? You divided the soul?”
That point alone was enough to pique his curiosity.
After all, I had accomplished something no one else had managed.
The Elf King had always been more interested in magic than anyone else. The spirit magic the elves used was, in the broadest sense, simply another branch of magic.