Spirit's Blessing
At first, I was startled when it burst out of my body, but Popcorn—or whatever it was—looked small and somehow dim-witted, so it didn't seem frightening.
It was smaller than a fingernail, which made it oddly cute.
"...Pii... Pi... Pii...."
Popcorn wobbled through the air toward me, then drooped downward as if its strength had given out.
It was falling.
Without thinking, I held out my hand, and Popcorn landed softly on my palm with a gentle plop.
It felt weightless, like a snowflake, and pleasantly warm.
"Pi? Pipi... Pipipipipipi."
The spirit that had been lying on my palm suddenly stood up.
For some reason, it seemed to have regained its energy all at once.
"Pi! Pipipi!"
It hopped an inch or two into the air, then began spinning in circles as if dancing.
Its tiny, slender hands stretched upward and then lowered again.
It looked exactly like an Indian dance.
Cute.
I smiled faintly, but the man standing in front of me looked terrified.
"Hey, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
Ah. He couldn't see Popcorn.
To him, I must have looked completely insane.
"It looked like something had landed on my hand. Now that I look again, there's nothing there."
I lowered my hand and curled my fingers slightly.
Inside the small hollow of my palm, Popcorn bounced up and down.
The fluffy sensation twirled against my skin.
Its tiny hands and feet brushing against me felt a little ticklish.
Ah, so that's why it was itching earlier.
This little guy had been moving around inside me because it wanted to come out.
But I still had no idea why something like this had burst out of my body in the first place.
Maybe it was some kind of insect.
Perhaps it had crawled in while I was unconscious and laid eggs.
...That thought was horrifying.
I shuddered without meaning to, and the man in front of me hurried back to his group and returned with someone else.
He must have decided something strange was happening.
I worried that this might get me labeled as a lunatic and driven out. Without any weapons, just my bare body, I wouldn't survive alone in that darkness.
I'd definitely be eaten by wolves within an hour.
If I was unlucky, something even worse would get me.
The person the man brought over was the one who had been ladling out food.
"What's this about something happening?"
The cook grumbled as he looked at me.
"Doesn't seem any different from before."
At the cook's words, the man pointed at my face.
"Captain, say something to him."
So he wasn't a cook—he was the captain.
The captain let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.
"All right, what happened?"
This time, the question was directed at me.
"I don't really know either, but suddenly I can understand the language properly."
"...."
The captain's eyes widened.
"Hmm," he murmured, stroking his chin with his fingers. "That's certainly odd. You didn't look like you were lying earlier."
He glanced around and asked, "Did anything strange happen?"
"Well... I don't know. The language just suddenly started making sense."
It would be better not to mention Popcorn in my hand.
If I said it had come out of my body, they'd definitely think I was crazy.
I wasn't sure why, but I felt certain of it.
The captain nodded as if he'd come to his own conclusion.
"Maybe it's the Spirit's Blessing. Things like that happen around here sometimes."
"Spirit's Blessing...?"
When I asked, the captain nodded again.
"That's right. They say there used to be a giant Spirit Tree here. It's just desert now, but long ago this place was all green meadows and forests."
But one day the Spirit Tree began to die little by little.
As it withered, the land grew barren until it became what it is today.
"Still, it seems some roots of the Spirit Tree remain somewhere. Sometimes a child bitten by wolves comes back without a single wound, or someone on the verge of death suddenly recovers. We call that the Spirit's Blessing."
The man beside him asked skeptically, "Captain, is that really true? I've never heard of anything like that."
"That's because you're from somewhere else. I used to live in a city near here, so I know about it."
The captain gestured for me to come closer.
"Let's go inside. If you stay out in the dark, you'll get attacked by beasts. Sometimes people vanish right next to you before you even notice. You have to be careful."
Startled, I moved to walk beside the captain.
I'd known it was dangerous, but I hadn't expected it to be this bad—having your throat slit while you were still awake.
This world was truly perilous.
As we returned to the line, I asked the captain, "By the way, is there a city nearby?"
"If you walk for four or five days, you'll reach one. There's a village a bit closer, but it's been abandoned. After the Spirit Tree died, no one lives in this region anymore."
The captain glanced at me.
"We're heading in the opposite direction from that city."
"...."
"What are you planning to do? When morning comes, will you head to the city alone?"
I didn't have the courage for that.
Now that I could understand them, it was clear these were decent people.
I wanted to stay with them if possible.
The captain smirked as if he'd expected my answer.
"If you don't have anywhere particular to go, come with us. We're heading to a pioneer settlement on the frontier. In the beginning, they provide supplies and the taxes are lower than elsewhere. Especially for the first three years—taxes are completely waived."
When I asked what a pioneer settlement was, the captain gave me a look of disbelief.
"So that's where you're from. Your clothes looked foreign, but I never imagined you wouldn't even know what a pioneer settlement is."
The captain explained it to me.
The settlement they were going to was royal land bordering a neighboring kingdom—a vast stretch of territory that had barely been touched by human feet. To cultivate it, you'd have to start by clearing trees and hauling away massive rocks.
Naturally, the first year would be so difficult that even finding enough to eat would be a struggle.
"People who already have farmland don't go there. At first, you have to do everything yourself, and it's really hard. But for those who have nothing, this is an opportunity."
With the Spirit Tree gone, the entire kingdom was drying up and the areas where crops could be grown were shrinking.
They were still shrinking even now.
The country as a whole wasn't short on food yet, but that day wasn't far off.
In some regions, crops were already failing and many people were starving to death.
For several years now, rain had been scarce as well.
It wasn't just this kingdom—neighboring countries and the lands beyond were in the same situation. Everyone was struggling.
That was why they were sending people to the empty pioneer lands to cultivate them.
To attract settlers, many benefits were offered.
"There's still forest left in the pioneer lands. Thanks to that, there's water for farming."
Because of the forest, beasts and monsters lived there too.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
The captain laughed at my question.
"Of course it's dangerous. That's why they give you food and necessities as settlement money in the beginning. So you won't run away."
The royal family exempted settlers from taxes for the first few years and promised not to raise taxes on farmland for twenty years.
A contract guaranteed it.
They also provided a small amount of fabric and farming tools.
That was what was loaded on the wagons.
"Normally, I'd at least offer a meal to someone we meet in a place like this."
The captain shrugged.
"But everything here is meant for the people going to the pioneer settlement. So unless you sign a contract, I can't give you anything. These are royal supplies. If you try to take them without permission, you'll lose your head."
The captain made a slicing motion across his throat.
"There's really no opportunity like this. Don't miss it."
In the pioneer lands, you could cultivate as much land as you wanted, as long as no one else had claimed it first.
Even the forests, which were normally off-limits, were open there.
Taking firewood or fruit from the pioneer forests wasn't a crime.
"You just have to be careful about paying taxes on the land you cultivate."
If you didn't pay taxes, there would be penalties.
That was why you couldn't just take as much land as you wanted, no matter how vast it was.
You had to know your own limits—how much you could actually cultivate and manage.
"So does that mean the land becomes the property of the person who contracts for it?"
At my question, not only the captain but everyone around us burst out laughing.
"Where in the world did you come from? Who would give you royal land?"
Well, I hadn't really thought they would.
In the medieval era, even nobles with vast estates were only managing the king's land on his behalf.
If there were a king and nobles here, it would be similar. They wouldn't hand royal land over to a commoner.
I'd just wanted to confirm.
"They'll write up a contract saying they won't take it away or raise taxes for twenty years, so you just have to work hard during that time. Besides, they don't kick out farmers who are actually cultivating the land. If you do it properly, they usually leave you alone even after twenty years. Your children inherit it. You don't have to worry about losing your fields later on."
The captain spoke with great enthusiasm.
Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
If I couldn't keep up with this group, my chances of surviving the night were 99.9 percent zero.
Even if I went somewhere else, the odds of success weren't high.
In novels, people used modern knowledge to succeed spectacularly, but in reality, things like that didn't happen easily.
That was only possible because it was fiction.
At the very least, I had no confidence I could succeed with nothing but my bare hands.
When I said I'd sign the contract, the captain clapped me on the back and said I'd made a good choice.
While the others went to fetch the contract, I slightly opened the hand I'd been holding closed.
Until a moment ago, it had been wriggling around, but now Popcorn had gone quiet.
It lay still.
Maybe it was dead.
I watched carefully and saw its tiny, fluffy body rise and fall, then rise again.
It was breathing.
"...."
So Popcorn breathed too.
Was it sleeping?
Looking closely, I could see a very small mouth.
It moved slightly, as if dreaming.
"Pi... Pi..." Popcorn made a tiny sound, like it was talking in its sleep.
A spirit, huh....
Maybe this little guy was a spirit after all.
The thought crossed my mind for a second, but... no, probably not.
If it were a spirit, it wouldn't have come bursting out of my body.
Still, the fact that I could understand the language was probably thanks to this creature.
I didn't know what it had done or why, but that had to be it.
I muttered to myself.
Thank you.
I slipped the spirit into my pocket.
The captain rummaged through a wagon and pulled out an iron bowl with a handle.
It looked like a large cup.
Even in the darkness, I could tell the bowl was old and a little dirty.
As he handed it to me, he said, "Usually people bring their own bowls. Most of the folks here have at least their old dishes or a few valuables. But you don't seem to have anything, so take mine."
"Thank you."
As I accepted the iron bowl, my stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.
The captain laughed heartily and stirred the large pot with a ladle.
I'd thought it was soup or porridge, but up close it looked more like stew.
It was full of large chunks of vegetables and meat.
The captain filled the bowl to the brim, and another man brought over a blanket and two pieces of hard bread.
I returned to where I'd been sitting earlier and, imitating the others, dipped the hard bread into the stew.
After soaking it for a while, I put it in my mouth, but it was so hard I couldn't eat it.
Biting into it was impossible.
It was like a rock—so hard my teeth hurt.
The people nearby burst out laughing at the sight.