An Interesting Child
“······ You’ve picked up an interesting child.”
The Grand Elder spoke with clear intrigue.
The only man Raiga had brought with him. The air about the youth who watched the situation with such ease was nothing like the Raiga of long ago. Back then Raiga had been a wounded wild animal—hunched tight, spraying murderous intent without a scrap of composure. The one who now met the Grand Elder’s gaze head-on was different.
He has composure.
······ It had been that way from the start. Anyone who first set foot in this place, the Sanctuary, was invariably overwhelmed. They tensed; their minds slipped. A landscape that did not exist in the world. Surrounded by countless spirit beasts and immortals, shrinking back was only natural. Until now there had never been a single exception.
And yet······.
He’s actually smiling.
Far from tense, he was more at ease than the very Raiga who had dragged him here. Was that even possible? Normally the disciple tensed while the master stayed relaxed—that was the proper picture. These two were the reverse. The master was tense; the disciple lounged.
Moreover.
Composure born of certainty. Confidence that he will not die.
··· Confidence overflowed. One look at the eyes told everything. A gaze that almost seemed to provoke the Grand Elder himself, as if the boy had merely come on a sightseeing tour.
Yet it was strange. Unless the boy’s head was broken—or even if it was—almost no one in this world could stare straight into the Grand Elder’s eyes like that. Those eyes were the eyes of an Immortal. Meet them and the profound mystery invaded you, forcing you to realize of your own accord how worthless your existence truly was—like a human standing infinitely small before great nature and the vast cosmos. Even Raiga had never been able to hold that gaze for long. No matter how honorable or how wicked, before the Grand Elder’s presence one was nothing more than dust.
That was why he had spoken. You’ve picked up an interesting child. He still did not know where that confidence came from, but one thing was certain: this human was the complete opposite of the young Raiga.
Then perhaps his honor would be the same.
“I have no intention of doing anything. So put away that killing intent.”
The Grand Elder smiled as he looked at Raiga. Had the man truly believed he would devour his own disciple? The instant their eyes met, Raiga had begun spraying murderous intent like a madman. An utterly faithless act inside the sacred Sanctuary, yet—
A pitiful fate.
This too was fate and karma. The principle of the world that turns and turns until it returns to the origin. Raiga was doing exactly that now. Just like his former master, and the successors of the generation before that, and the generation before that—every one of them, on the brink of death, eventually returned here. This was the place where the Palga had begun, and the Grand Elder was the one who had been present at that very birth.
So he overlooked it. After all······ less than ten days of life remained. Witnessing the final appearance of the one who had inherited the Palga was also part of the Grand Elder’s role.
Nothing changes.
The history of the Sanctuary’s existence and of the Sanctuary of Honor judging worthiness stretched longer than words could tell. In all those ages the result had changed only twice. The Sanctuary’s holy place tested both honor and the nobility of the soul. Therefore simply piling up honor alone never altered the outcome. Of course there had been exceptions—cases of truly insane, overwhelming honor. But amassing that much honor was impossible within a human lifespan. Living a long time did not make it possible either.
Honor is so very easy to chip away.
Living long meant making countless mistakes. And even a small mistake was enough to erode honor. The stronger the power, the heavier the responsibility, the greater the size of every mistake became. That was why the result had changed only twice in the long ages the Sanctuary had existed.
······ It was human nature to rush like moths toward even the thinnest thread of hope. Yet those two previous anomalies had both changed the world. Those who rewrote the result with their own hands left eternal, immortal achievements carved upon the world.
What of Raiga? Could he become the third anomaly?
“Then let us begin the Sanctuary’s trial. All of you, follow me.”
Raiga watched the Grand Elder’s back, tense. Suddenly he remembered the first time he had come here as a child with his master. Even after a full forty years the Grand Elder looked exactly the same. His master, his master’s master, and those from ages even further back—the Grand Elder had lived here in that same form the entire time. A fossil-like existence of the Palga, one might say.
—Raiga. Do not make an enemy of the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder alone must never be turned into an enemy. He is one who has existed since before the world was divided······.
On the verge of death his master had earnestly charged him: never, under any circumstances, treat the Grand Elder as an enemy. Even if he made enemies of every other elder, leave the Grand Elder alone. Now he understood the reason with perfect clarity.
There is no opening······.
Not even a hair’s breadth of an opening. The Grand Elder was a flawless being. Truly invincible. Enough to make one wonder whether even opening the 5th Gate would be enough to win. More than that—if he had existed since before the world was divided, it meant he had lived since before Pangenia was split by Ruin into the Abyss and the floating continents of the sky.
One who walked with the Palga of the Old Empire.
The Old Empire. The four great houses that had represented it: Palga, Dersian, Archon, and Rahon. In the age when the other three houses, including the Archon Imperial Family, had been so mighty they seemed to touch the heavens—from that age, or perhaps from even further in the past, this old monster called the Grand Elder had existed.
Yet no one knew why he remained with the Palga. Even the previous successors of the Palga had never known his exact origin. Only this:
The guardian of the Sanctuary. And one who cannot leave the Sanctuary.
The Grand Elder could not leave the Sanctuary. But that did not mean he was invincible only inside it. If leaving the Sanctuary were the condition that released his invincibility, that itself would be an “opening.” The mere existence of a weakness was an opening, and Raiga should have been able to read it through the grain. Yet there was none. Whether inside the Sanctuary or out, the Grand Elder was a true monster without a single weakness.
······ Yet even the Grand Elder cannot freely command the will of the Sanctuary.
The will of the Sanctuary and the Grand Elder’s existence were unrelated. The Sanctuary of Honor was a place that purely discerned true honor. Just because the Grand Elder disliked someone did not mean the Sanctuary would give the same answer. And it was said that the true power of the Palga was born only after one obtained qualification here in the Sanctuary. Raiga had mastered the opening of the 5th Gate and all the techniques of the Palga, yet he had never fully obtained the Palga’s qualification from the Sanctuary itself.
If it were the me of now······.
As a child he had been different. He had been flung out of the Sanctuary, worthless. He had fainted, and when he opened his eyes he was back in the Empire. He had accomplished absolutely nothing.
—It’s all right. Even without the Sanctuary’s permission you are still my disciple.
—You alone are my disciple.
—Raiga. Let us prove it together.
—That the Sanctuary was wrong, that their eyes were blind.
—Let us change the world together, Raiga!
Even so······ the previous master of the Palga had accepted him. Overriding everyone’s opposition. But that master had died not long after. Left alone, Raiga had spent his entire life falling asleep and waking right beside death. There had been no leisure to change the world.
Yet Raiga believed he had been honorable enough. He had purified the Abyss and devoted his whole life to expanding the Empire’s territory. He had raised the knight order and established it as the strongest force in the Empire. He had created something from nothing. If that was not honorable, what in the world could be?
“Now, Raiga. This is the true ‘Sanctuary of Honor.’ Do you remember?”
The place where the Grand Elder stopped. Directly ahead stood the Sanctuary of Honor. The grail outside was a fake that merely imitated its function—an illusion created to hide the real Sanctuary of Honor. Why hide it? The reason was simple.
······ A colossal tree. In a place where not a single ray of light entered, one tree shone of its own accord. More beautiful and mysterious than any verdure.
“A World Tree······.”
The World Tree said to exist only in the Primeval Forest. It was here, inside the Sanctuary. The Grand Elder nodded.
“The ‘World Tree of Honor.’ The most beautiful tree that only the honorable—only those who have proven their own qualification—may approach.”
The fake grail outside was nothing before the World Tree. No god could be more dignified than this.
“Prove yourself once more. Whether you possess the qualification worthy of the Palga.”
The Grand Elder wore a faint smile. The final chance.
Thud—
Raiga slowly moved his feet. With the utmost caution. Tense to the extreme.
··· I am not the child I once was.
Raiga clenched his fists. Cold sweat ran from the tightly gripped hands. That Tree of Honor, that World Tree, was Raiga’s trauma itself. He had not been granted succession of the Palga, and his master had died lonely. Died most alone. To be buried here in the Sanctuary beneath the blessing of the World Tree was the orthodoxy and courtesy of the Palga, yet even that had been denied him—simply because he had accepted as disciple the one the Sanctuary had rejected.
Master.
Looking back, he had never even properly called him Master. The young Raiga had been filled with hostility toward the world. Sold again and again, he had killed those who bought him. Every kind of torture. Unspeakable things had been done to him without end, so distrust of humanity was only natural. He had thought his master would be the same—that some impure intention lay behind raising him.
······ He had realized too late that it was not so. Only after his master died did he understand that the sole person who had seen his worth completely was that master.
That was why. When Hyun had called him “Master,” his heart had surged with emotion. Why had he not found him sooner? He should have realized even one day earlier. Why had he looked at the world so crookedly?
Master must have felt the same as I do.
Only on the brink of death had he understood. Both his master and himself—there had been no need to view the world so narrowly. Well, that was why they were human.
Yet the Raiga of childhood and the Raiga of now were different people. The present him knew honor. He had lived so that he would not be ashamed of himself. If it were now, would his master not look at him and feel satisfied?
Thud—
At last Raiga stepped into the domain of the World Tree. He drew a steadying breath and spoke.
“I, Raiga, have come here with the qualification of master of the ‘Palga.’ Acknowledge my worth, World Tree of Honor!”
Acknowledge it. Even now, that Master’s eyes had not been wrong. That he was a successor and master fitting for the name of the Palga. ······ Acknowledge it.
Sssssssss!
In that instant the leaves of the World Tree began to shake violently. And then—
Boom!
Something struck his chest. At the same moment Raiga’s body was flung outside the domain.
“······.”
Unlike before, he did not faint. Yet an indescribable rage rose on Raiga’s face. He had believed he had changed. He had thought that this time he would be accepted. And yet.
Are you saying nothing has changed······?
It was the same as when he was a child. In the end the result had not changed. He would never, for all eternity, be able to become the master of the Palga.
“······ How regrettable.”
The Grand Elder shook his head. It was the result he had expected, of course. With this, the matter was as good as never having happened.
“Return quietly. This place is not your grave, Raiga.”
Moreover, he would not permit Raiga to die here. One who had not received the Sanctuary’s permission could not be allowed to die beneath the Sanctuary’s blessing. The proper place for him to die was the Empire. Leave with your disciple.
“As expected, the root cannot be changed.”
“Tsk tsk, I knew it from the first moment I saw him forty years ago.”
“How much of the world’s filth has he dragged around with him?”
“A man who does not fit the Immortal Realm.”
The elders clicked their tongues as if they had known all along. An dishonorable man. One without the qualification to inherit the Palga.
Sssssssssssss!
That was when it happened.
“Hm······?”
“The World Tree?”
“What is this······?”
The leaves of the World Tree trembled once more. Far more steeply than before, beyond any comparison. But that was not all. The sight unfolding before their eyes was enough to startle even the Grand Elder, who had lived through eons.
The leaves of the World Tree······!
······ Without warning, they had fully bloomed. Flowers burst open from the foliage.
Whoooooosh—!
At the same time the World Tree turned a vivid green and began to pour out a brilliant light so radiant it filled the entire Sanctuary.