The Forest Where Spirits Dwell - 07
"Do I really have to study in the carriage?"
Sylphy's face crumpled as though his head already ached. Titania regarded him without a trace of sympathy.
"I am sorry, but we have no time. Without even the most basic knowledge, you will find yourself in difficulty."
"Urgh."
"Now then, I shall ask. Which races constitute the Human Alliance?"
The Human Alliance was, as the name implied, a union of those counted among humanity. Any race left outside it had once been spoken of as possessing no personhood at all — though in the present age, every sentient people save the spirits and the monsters belonged to the Alliance. There might still be scattered minority races living in hiding somewhere, of course, but that was another matter.
"Humans, Elves, Beastkin, Dragonkin, and Dwarves — five races in all. And the current center of the Human Alliance is humanity."
"Just so. And the reason?"
"Because there are so many of them."
"That is but half the answer. It is true that humans outnumber the other races, but that is not all. It is also because of the proof of the Goddess's blessing — that the Hero is born only from among humankind."
Every Hero throughout history had been human, and that fact itself stood as evidence that theirs was the race blessed by the Goddess. For that reason, humanity held a somewhat greater voice within the Alliance, and in practice served as its leader.
"I shall not demand that you know everything."
"Ah — yes."
"But the characteristics of each race, and their present circumstances, you must commit to memory."
"B-but I'm essentially just Titania's attendant... I have a voice in name only. The most likely outcome is that I'll sit through the entire conference without saying a word."
"That much is true as well."
"Then why all of this...?"
"Because there is no end to learning, and still less harm in having learned."
Titania let out a small breath.
"Even should you have no mind to become Oberon, information is always the better for being plentiful, and there is no knowledge it does a person ill to carry. Not in making one's way through this world."
"..."
"Haha, you've got it rough, Sylphy."
"L-Lady Lilith!? Does Lady Lilith not have to study!?"
"Me? Even if I was a princess who never left her rooms, I at least know the current state of the races. I don't really need to study, you could say?"
"Urgh."
Which meant that the only one who needed to study here was Sylphy.
"...Come to think of it, why humans of all people? Why does the Goddess choose the Hero from among humans alone?"
"...There are any number of hypotheses, but the foremost among them is that the Goddess created them."
"The Goddess created them?"
"It is a famous tale, is it not? That the Goddess created humanity, and the Evil God created the monsters."
"Ah, I think I have heard that."
"And among humanity, there is a claim that humans were the first she created. Or perhaps the last. Either way, there is no question that the Goddess holds them in special regard."
"Alternatively, there is the theory that the Goddess created only humans, and that over the course of their lives they evolved and degenerated again and again until they came to look like entirely different races."
In other words, everyone belonging to the Human Alliance had originally been a single people, and through repeated evolution had become something unrecognizable from one another? It was not a story he could dismiss as impossible.
"Then what about the spirits? Why aren't the spirits part of humanity?"
"First, few spirits are capable of proper communication. Second, even the high spirits have no social instinct. And third, while they are not hostile toward humanity, neither are they particularly hostile toward the monsters."
"I see..."
"Of course, they are more favorably disposed toward humanity, so if humans are being attacked by monsters, they will tend to protect them. The reverse, they do not much concern themselves with."
"..."
"In any case, their way of thinking is warped far from that of ordinary humanity. It is as though they stand at the vantage of a god."
"The vantage of a god, is it."
"Any number of factors are involved, but the greatest reason remains that there is no one with whom they can truly communicate. They are not hostile toward humanity, at least, and above all there is a kind of spirit-faith — the belief that the Goddess herself created them — so they are not treated as enemies in any serious way."
There were also those who said that having spirits nearby brought good fortune, or that one's heart grew calm in their presence. Of course, one then had to endure the spirits' pranks in equal measure.
"Now then, let us return to the lesson."
"H-how long is this going to go on?"
"The way to end the lesson is simple, Sylphy."
"What is it?"
"It ends when you answer every question I pose without a single error."
"...Urgh! I should have just gone with Lord Lois and Lady Olivia!!"
Staying behind so the two of them could have time alone had been a mistake. He should have forced the issue and followed them, no matter how unreasonable it seemed. Sylphy found himself hating the meek, obedient self who had simply gone along with it at the time.
"So. What is it you came all this way to discuss?"
"We did not come to speak. We came to listen."
"To listen?"
Here, we had decided, there would be no point in talking in circles. We would be honest, and we would tell them everything.
"Originally, we had intended to make for Erchia, the City of Water. But the Spirit of the World Tree advised us to visit this shrine. The situation outside is on the verge of chaos — a calm before the storm, if ever there was one."
"..."
"We came hoping there might be a chance, here, to learn what manner of storm is coming."
"...I see. The Spirit of the World Tree went so far as to say that."
"..."
Olivia kept her silence, her eyes shifting. The look on her face said she had no idea what any of this was about, but she didn't need to remember it. What mattered was that I would summarize it for her later. She had no reason to commit any of it to memory.
Everyone had things they were good at. Olivia and I were partners on this journey, and this sort of work fell to me. She had her own part to play.
"Are you familiar with the Genesis?"
"The Genesis?"
"The tale that the Goddess made the world, and that the first being born into that world was the Evil God."
"Yes. That is so."
"And then the Evil God created the monsters and rose in rebellion against the Goddess, and the Goddess, in turn, created humanity to fight them, and in the end she was victorious. Or so the story goes."
It was a rather aggressive abridgment, but looking at the overall shape of it, that was the tale. The finer details differed depending on when a given author had set down their Genesis, and in some cases one hypothesis existed solely to refute another, so what had actually happened was impossible to know. But the rough current of it was what I had just described.
"History is, in the end, written by mortals, and it changes. When an age has passed, a hero is left with not even the original fragments of who they were. They are either glorified or cast down, and the story that remains is something other than the hero themselves."
"Are you saying that even the Goddess is no different?"
"Have you never wondered? If the Goddess truly won, why do the monsters still run rampant as they do, and why does a Demon King arise, again and again, without ever tiring of it?"
"..."
"..."
Plenty of people had wondered. But no one had ever produced a precise answer. There were countless hypotheses, and the one that rose to the surface of my mind now was the oldest of them all.
The possibility that the Evil God had never died.
"If the Evil God was truly defeated, then why has this tiresome war between humanity and the monsters never ceased, and why does this equally tiresome struggle between Hero and Demon King go on, again and again?"
"...And what meaning is there in that?"
Olivia opened her mouth.
"A Hero is one who has received the Goddess's blessing. Are you saying that isn't so?"
"To be precise, it is not a blessing. It is a choosing. Do you believe your own strength was made greater by the Goddess's blessing? Setting aside the Holy Sword she granted you, everything you have obtained has been your own."
"..."
It was a weighty thing to say.
"Shrine Spirit. You have built a shrine even here, and you maintain an attitude of faith toward the Goddess. That would mean you are well-disposed toward her. And yet the words you speak now do not sound well-disposed at all."
"That is a misunderstanding. We love the Goddess, and we are loyal to her. But that does not mean we do not criticize. Faith becomes blind devotion all too easily, and it must never be allowed to become so."
"..."
"Faith should be a sanctuary for the heart. It must never be used as a weapon with which to strike another."
In a sense, their faith in the Goddess seemed even deeper than that of the Spirit of the World Tree.
"Not long ago, a Demon King Army Cadre was running wild outside, wielding the Power of the Evil God."
"..."
"The Hero was betrayed by her own kind, and reduced to this. And this is after she recovered. Originally, she even carried the Curse of the God of Death."
"...Yes. I can tell as much from the damage to her Mana Nerves."
"All of it seems to be connected. Shrine Spirit — you can see that connecting thread, can't you?"
"..."
The Shrine Spirit fell silent. In other words, this was a story that would not sound particularly favorable to the Goddess, and it was a story different from the one of the Goddess that we commonly knew.
"Never mind the rest. If it's difficult, please take the time to think it over."
Olivia cut in.
"Just answer me this, Spirit."
"What is it?"
"The Goddess... is she an ally of humanity?"
It was a blasphemous question — the kind that, asked of someone of devout faith, might well earn one the label of heretic, and there would be no arguing the point. But for Olivia, it was probably a question that mattered.
The Shrine Spirit was silent for a moment, then answered.
"She is an ally. Of that, there is no doubt."
"...I understand."
"Olivia?"
"The Shrine Spirit looks like they need time to think. This doesn't seem to be as simple a story as I'd imagined. Let's go for a little walk."
"..."
"..."
I was silent for a moment, then rose.
"Shrine Spirit. Whatever truth we are about to hear, we will act for the sake of humanity, and we have no intention of ever letting go of the goodwill we carry in our hearts."
"..."
"We will take our leave for a short while, then."
"Wait."
"..."
Olivia and I stopped and looked back at the Shrine Spirit.
"Very well. Sit. I shall explain from the beginning."
Olivia and I stood frozen, exchanging a glance, then sat back down. It seemed they had made up their mind to tell us.
The Shrine Spirit appeared to hesitate. It looked as though they were struggling with how to convey it. Olivia and I did not press. We sat quietly and waited.
"Now then. Where to begin... Yes. I shall start with that."
"..."
At those words, Olivia and I both opened our mouths at once.
"Oh. That's even more than I imagined. I'm surprised, Lois."
"...S-so am I."
That was the kind of statement that, uttered before the high priests of the Royal Capital, would get you arrested on the spot with not a word to say in your defense.
I had expected whatever we were about to hear would be outrageous.
I just hadn't thought it would be the kind of story that would shake history itself.
I see.
No wonder they had hesitated to explain.