To the Frontier with the Spirits
"This is how you do it, mister."
The child held out their bowl, showing the bread soaking inside.
"You have to keep dunking it until you've finished all the stew."
"Oh, I see. Thank you."
"Mister, did you really meet a spirit?"
Someone must have overheard the captain and spread the story. The child's eyes sparkled.
"No. I just suddenly understood what they were saying. I don't know why it happened either."
"That's the Spirit's Blessing. People who receive help from spirits all become happy. That's what my dad said. I'm jealous."
After saying that, the child went on to talk about how their mother had gone somewhere and how they'd once had an older brother who'd died a few years ago.
I wasn't sure I should be hearing this, but the child's father said nothing. He simply stroked the child's head in silence.
"Everyone sent to the Frontier has their own story."
He spoke calmly, then slurped his stew. The child also fell quiet and focused on eating.
Most people didn't have spoons. They either drank straight from the bowl or scooped up the chunks with bread. I did the same, sipping the broth little by little.
There didn't seem to be any special spices, yet the broth was rich and delicious. Once the food hit my stomach, it started growling and rumbling like mad. I was so hungry it hurt.
I gulped down the broth in a daze and scraped the chunks out with the hard bread. Even after I'd finished the stew, the bread I'd dropped in was still hard. How was I supposed to eat this?
The child who'd taught me how to eat was nibbling at the now slightly softened surface of their bread. They couldn't manage the inside either. Their father watched, then took the uneaten hard piece and popped it into his mouth. He bit down hard, and the bread cracked with a loud crunch. The people of this world must have strong teeth.
A few people came over to ask if I'd really received the Spirit's Blessing, but I just said I didn't know. I was exhausted today. Truly exhausted.
I wrapped the blanket around myself and lay down on the floor. I fell asleep almost instantly.
[...Child... Our god's child....]
A voice echoed from somewhere. It wasn't human. It sounded as if the entire space itself was vibrating to produce the sound.
I was probably asleep. I could hear the voice, but my body and consciousness felt heavy, as though sunk in a swamp. I couldn't move. Yet the voice kept calling me, refusing to let me sleep.
Ah, I'm so tired....
[...You who crossed the swamp of misfortune after wandering far... Come here... Come to my side... Child...]
The voice kept drilling into my mind until I had no choice but to open my eyes. The scenery had completely changed.
'Huh... What is this....'
I'd clearly fallen asleep wrapped in a blanket on the bare ground of the wasteland, yet now I stood before a massive tree. There was no sign of the people who'd been sleeping scattered around me. No wagons, no campfire. Even the shoes I'd been wearing were gone. I was barefoot.
Beneath my soles, I felt a moist, soft sensation. It was like grass, yet somehow different. How to describe it... Ah, it felt similar to Popcorn, the one that had come out of my body.
'Strange.'
I looked up at the tree. It was enormous—large enough that a hundred people holding hands couldn't encircle it. The entire tree was white, glowing softly in the darkness. Beautiful. This clearly wasn't reality. It was a dream. Even in another world, a tree like this couldn't exist.
"But it feels so real."
The moment the words left my mouth, the tree trembled slightly. Its leaves and branches quivered as though it were laughing. The sight was so odd and amusing that I reached out and lightly touched the trunk. I wondered if I'd feel a vibration or if the laughter would travel through my hand. Since it was a dream, it didn't matter what I did.
The white of the tree wasn't like faded wood. It looked more like cotton candy or clouds that had been hardened. It seemed like it might taste good, so I stuck out my tongue and gave it a quick lick. Mm, no taste at all. Not delicious. If I was going to dream, I wished it tasted like chocolate or candy instead.
As I grumbled, the tree shook all its branches and leaves, laughing. A laughing tree was strange, but it really did seem to be laughing. A laughing tree—even in a dream, that was bizarre.
[...Child... No matter how much time passes, you never change... Little troublemaker... Our god's fragment... Precious child... Losing you made our god's heart wither day by day, sinking into sorrow... Our god's child... Never leave our god's side again...]
Even if it was a dream, what on earth was this tree babbling about? When I looked up, the voice rang out softly once more.
[...I am the one who connects god and this land... The one who acts as god's proxy... I weep and laugh according to god's will... I am the servant of god who has longed for our god's child to return....]
Haah, even my dreams are weird and boring. I just wanted to go back to sleep. I was still tired from crossing from Earth to this world. As I muttered this, the white tree laughed again.
[...Child... Be happy... Do not fear wherever your feet may take you in this world... Our god is your mother... This world is your cradle... Be happy....]
White light flew from the tree like petals and poured over me. The light enveloped my body, swirling around me.
[...When our god grieved, the spirits also grieved and disappeared... Until the day our god's child returns to their mother's side... Child... Be happy with the spirits....]
With those final words, the white light surged into my body like a storm. It truly felt like a storm was raging inside me. Strangely, there was no pain, but it felt as though all the blood in my body was swirling in a vortex. Every strand of my hair and every tiny hair on my skin was swept up by the raging light and lifted into the air.
Whoa, what is this? Startled, I flailed my arms, then snapped my eyes open.
"Mister, did you have a scary dream?"
Everyone else seemed to have woken up already. Amid the surrounding commotion, the child was quietly peering at my face.
"A nightmare... It must have been a nightmare."
For a dream, it had been far too vivid. It felt as though I'd actually met that tree. I ruffled the child's hair with my fingers, then stood up. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the pale glow of dawn.
The captain and his men were urging people to prepare for departure. Those who weren't ready scrambled to gather their belongings. Most people carried packs on their backs. I was the only one with nothing.
The captain, who had been bustling about, approached me. In my hands were the belongings that had been taken from me the night before.
"Here, take them."
"Weren't you going to return them when we left? Is it all right to give them back now?"
"It's fine. I was just being cautious."
He explained that some thieves would plant accomplices in the caravan to poison food or water, so he'd held onto my things overnight just in case. Then he smiled. This world seemed far more dangerous and difficult to live in than I'd thought.
"All right, let's move out."
At the captain's shout, the wagons and carts began to roll. No one rode on horseback. Everyone walked. In a world like Earth, where people took cars even for short distances, this would have been unthinkable.
As I walked among the crowd, Popcorn suddenly popped out of my pocket.
"Peep! Peep-peep!"
They seemed excited by all the people. Popcorn wobbled through the air, circling nearby. Yesterday had been the same, and today they were still unsteady. It looked like they couldn't fly very well. Somehow, they reminded me of a baby just learning to walk.
Popcorn flew up to people's faces, staring into their eyes or perching on their noses, occasionally charging at someone only to bounce off. I couldn't tell if they were being mischievous or simply clumsy at flying. After tumbling through the air, Popcorn flew back to me. Maybe because they'd come from my body, they felt like a child running back to their parent.
'Huh....'
Light was slowly scattering from Popcorn's body. Of course, since it came from such a small form, the light was very faint. If I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed it at all.
'Strange.'
For some reason, the sight overlapped with the white light that had poured from the tree. Could it be... that this really was a spirit? Had the dream not been a dream after all?
'But....'
If that were true, I wished the spirits would appear somewhere a little more reasonable. Why did they have to come from a place like that? Without realizing it, I sighed and kept walking with the others.
Popcorn, who had been struggling to fly, grabbed tightly onto my eyelashes and clung there. Every time I blinked, I saw white Popcorn. They were in the way. I secretly plucked them off and tucked them into my coat pocket.
"Peep-peep-peep... Peep-peep-peep-peep... Peep-peep-peep-peep-peep...."
Popcorn bounced around inside the pocket, protesting loudly. Maybe they'd wanted to keep watching the people and were angry about being put away. They kept chirping noisily. With no other choice, I took them out and placed them on top of my head.
"...Peep... Peep... Peep-peep... Peep...."
The top of my head seemed to suit them. A series of bird-like chirps followed. I must have gotten tangled up with a troublesome little creature.
A spacious room, luxurious clothes, maids who attended to your every need with a single glance, and handsome escort knights. Time flowed like a dream. If this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up.
Sohee let out a small, contented breath. Back on Earth, she'd worked jobs that didn't build her career for meager pay. Even after five or ten years, her salary barely increased. She'd thought she'd just keep working until she found some ordinary man and lived a modest life. If she'd been truly beautiful, things might have been different, but with her face, she could only catch an ordinary man. Still, she hadn't been able to choose to live alone. The thought of working her whole life only to grow old and die in obscurity was terrifying.
Heh heh heh.
Sohee rolled around on the bed, giggling softly. No one could have imagined that an ordinary woman like her would become the Saintess of another world.
As she smiled happily, feeling the feather-light touch of the blanket, a maid's voice came from beside her.
"Saintess, the High Priest has arrived."
Startled, Sohee sat up. The expressionless maid stood quietly nearby. Sohee hadn't heard so much as a footstep, let alone the sound of the door. The maids here were truly remarkable—how did they walk so silently across marble floors while wearing shoes?
Sohee straightened her back and spoke with dignity.
"Very well. Let him in."
Here, she was the Saintess. She held a status equal to royalty. There was no need to speak politely to the maids. The maid bowed slightly and withdrew.
'What could the High Priest want?'
A faint worry stirred in her chest. The Saintess was the one who brought prosperity to this world. More specifically, spirits were said to be born wherever the Saintess was. That was what she'd been told upon her arrival. This world was apparently in dire straits because the number of spirits had dwindled. That was why they'd summoned a Saintess, but when nothing happened, everyone had seemed flustered. They must have thought that once the Saintess was summoned, spirits would immediately fill the place. The way Prince Alf had asked right after her summoning whether she could see any spirits or hear anything suggested as much. When she'd answered that she saw nothing, everyone present had looked disappointed.
'Even in that situation, the prince looked after me.'
Though they'd only met a day ago, Sohee could feel Prince Alf stepping boldly into her heart. She was already thirty, yet she felt like a fifteen-year-old girl who'd just fallen in love.
'Ah, but can a Saintess even get married?'
A sudden anxiety struck her. Now that she'd finally attained a high status, what good were pretty clothes and delicious food if she had to spend her life alone? Her thoughts jumped from one thing to another until the heavy door opened and the High Priest entered.