I Excommunicate You
From this moment on, I excommunicate you.
At first, when he had been rejected and cast out, Raiga felt nothing but resentment and bitter injustice.
It felt as though the honor he had built over a lifetime had been denied. As though he had fallen short of his master’s dying wish and expectations. In the end, no matter how he struggled, Raiga was still a slave. No matter how fine the clothes he wore, no matter how he swung a sword pretending to be a noble knight… his birth was nothing more than that of a lowly slave.
The crimson light pouring from the World Tree. The measure of honor. There could be no other reason he had been unable even to accept the first light.
In short—
A being without even the barest shred of honor.
The World Tree might as well have spoken those words directly to Raiga.
And yet…
Raiga had never refused any of the Empire’s dirty work. He had circled the Abyss and purified the land. Then he had incorporated that purified earth into the Empire, expanding the continent. To keep setting foot in the Abyss—where flesh is severed, bodies shattered, and even the mind frays—was something ordinary courage could never accomplish. No matter how strong a being might be, poison inevitably accumulated in the flesh.
Raiga had continued entering the Abyss, gnawing away at his own life, solely for the sake of honor. So that he would not bring shame upon his master’s name. So that by accomplishing what no one else could, he might become honorable himself!
…He had spent his entire life that way.
Are you telling me everything I have done… has nothing to do with honor?
Then what, exactly, was honor? If the things he had done were not honorable—if accomplishing what no one else would or could do was not an honorable act—!
…I’m sorry, Master.
The dream of becoming master of the Palga. The resolve to prove to the world that his master’s sacrifice had not been in vain, that the station of one’s birth had nothing to do with honor. All of it crumbled in an instant. He had burdened the master who had believed in him and turned his back on both the Palga and the Empire. Because of this unworthy disciple. Without ever returning to the fold of the Palga.
“······.”
…But even that bitterness did not last long. Not because he simply changed his mind. Because the situation shifted so abruptly that there was no time left to grieve.
Hyun of Adrium. His own disciple. When the boy first stood before the World Tree, Raiga had not expected much. No matter how much talent of a Martial God he possessed, that had nothing to do with honor for the moment. Moreover, Hyun was in a position similar to his own—a vagrant of Adrium with no clear status.
Orange…
…That was how it should have been. Talent and honor were clearly different things.
And yet.
Hyun was not cast out. Instead he was tested for the next qualification of honor. From red to orange. Orange to yellow. Green, blue, indigo. And at last the World Tree radiated the brilliant seven colors of the rainbow.
With every stage that stretched forth, Raiga’s expression grew more and more complex. The furrowed brow vanished without a trace. The wrinkles smoothed, his eyes widened, his pupils dilated—
“Great Chief of the Blue Druids, Albino, greets the Master of Great Nature, the High Druid.”
—and he simply stood there with his mouth hanging open, wearing a blank, stupefied look. Because he could not believe it. The one standing at the center, receiving praise from every elder and the Great Elder alike—no matter how many times he looked, it was unmistakably Hyun.
Th-this… how…
How could this be? His disciple a High Druid? Why were the elders and the Great Elder taking the forms of legendary druids? Was the reason they wielded the power of nature and lived eternally because they had never been human?
But Hyun was human. He was by no means a druid like them.
Then Hyun looked at the Great Elder and spoke.
“Is the test over?”
“…Forgive our rudeness, High Druid.”
They had administered the World Tree’s test to the very Master of the World Tree. What greater discourtesy could there be? He was a being who had no need to take any test, no reason to prove himself. He possessed honor and soul that surpassed even the prophets. Simply by standing there and confirming his qualification, the World Tree had regained its vitality and restored their own qualifications as well. Truly a being whose very name was a miracle.
“Please, tell us your name.”
“······!”
Raiga could not help being astonished once more at this point. It was the first time he had ever seen the Great Elder ask for a name first. Not even to him, not even to his own master, nor to the masters further back—they said no one had ever been asked first. They had only ever revealed their names of their own accord. Yet the Great Elder had asked first. Humbly, with the utmost courtesy. An attitude Raiga had never once witnessed.
“Hyun.”
When Hyun answered, Great Elder Albino’s gaze hardened as he spoke.
“Lord Hyun. Please lead us.”
“I’ll think about it.”
The words I’ll think about it. Somehow they sounded hopeful. Accepting immediately would no doubt look improper. Of course a High Druid would never refuse them!
So Albino asked with a smile still on his face.
“Thank you. And Lord Hyun—once more, if I may be so rude… is that your true form?”
“It is.”
“Then is it true that you really are Raiga’s disciple…?”
Setting everything else aside, he simply could not comprehend it. That a being who possessed the noblest soul of all was merely Raiga’s disciple! The disciple of someone who could not even properly understand the first letter of the word honor. Someone who had failed the World Tree’s test twice. A status too shameful even to inherit the name of the Palga. Had he perhaps hidden his identity and drifted here? Or was he concealing his true form? He asked with that faint hope still lingering.
“That’s right.”
…But Hyun answered without a moment’s hesitation. And somehow in a prickly tone. Great Elder Albino’s expression stiffened slightly.
“High Druid. Have I perhaps committed some mistake?”
“I have a question.”
“Yes. Ask anything. I will answer everything I know.”
“Isn’t a master’s honor the disciple’s honor?”
“Th-that is…”
“Isn’t a disciple’s honor also the master’s honor?”
In that instant Albino was thrown into confusion. A master’s honor did indeed connect directly to the disciple’s. Then the disciple’s honor likewise led back to the master’s. But that was only true within a reasonable gap. The difference between Raiga and Hyun was stark. The gulf was so vast they could not dare be spoken of in the same breath. Yet that was clearly not the answer Hyun wanted by asking. From Great Elder Albino’s face the ease and the smile had already vanished without a trace.
“······.”
“This is a place that rejected the one I follow. I have no reason to lead you, nor any reason to remain here.”
Snap!
Hyun turned his back without the slightest hesitation. At the same time every elder’s and the Great Elder’s eyes flew open as wide as lanterns.
N-no!
They had to stop him. Hyun leaving was something that absolutely must not happen. Without him the World Tree would wither again, and their forms would return to what they had been. And that was not all. The dungeon that had appeared within the World Tree—there was clearly a path there. They knew it instinctively. That in that dungeon lay the answer they had sought for so long.
“P-please wait a moment!”
Great Elder Albino hurriedly tried to halt Hyun. But Hyun did not stop. He left the hall, exited the sanctuary, looking ready to depart forever. What should he do? How could he stop those feet?
There have been Great Chiefs who called themselves High Druids, but a true High Druid recognized as Master of the World Tree has never appeared.
The Great Chiefs of the druids. In the days when the world was still whole, some among them had called themselves “High Druid” and attempted a great unification of their kind. Yet none had ever been recognized as Master of the World Tree. Only one who confirmed the qualification and raised the seven-colored rainbow could be acknowledged as High Druid—and in reality it had been impossible. Afterwards they were destroyed by Ruin. Because they were not unified. Because they had no true lord to follow.
But… after long years, he had finally appeared. He had appeared. Yet they could not let him go like this. They must not lose him so emptily, so vainly.
“······.”
Great Elder Albino looked at Raiga. In the end the answer to every one of these problems lay with him. The one the sanctuary had rejected. The man every elder and he himself had refused. Yet throughout the long years they had coexisted with the Palga, they had never reversed a decision. No successor of the Palga in history had ever been able to go against their will. And now they were to accept someone they had rejected twice?
······.
It was not simply a matter of pride. It was a matter that shook the very foundation of the sanctuary and of honor. The moment they accepted Raiga, they would have to admit they had been wrong. That every confirmation of qualification they had ever performed—that their entire role—had been mistaken.
“Hyun.”
It was then. Raiga. He suddenly opened his mouth.
Halt!
At the same time Hyun stopped. Raiga spoke toward that retreating back.
“I am fine.”
Fine? What was fine?
“You should live your own life.”
Raiga smiled. As if his thoughts had settled. With eyes that even seemed to radiate a transcendent light.
“It’s fine if you’re not my disciple. You don’t have to wear the shackle of my name. Though we were bound by force, what I actually gave you wasn’t much, was it?”
At best, only a name. Nothing more than the title of disciple to Raiga of the Eight Houses Knights. And even that title could not be called entirely good. It only held him back, just as it was doing now.
…Yes. That boy did not need his name in order to advance. With the talent of a Martial God, and if he gained the Great Elder and the Palga, he would soar through the heavens even without Raiga’s name. Better without it. Better not to be a disciple. Even knowing that, Hyun had insisted to the end that Raiga was his master.
…It was enough. Now Raiga had been saved. Though he himself had never reached it, his disciple had become master of the sanctuary. Beyond mere recognition, he stood at the peak. Simply watching the elders and the Great Elder fluster themselves was satisfaction enough.
“Hyun. From this moment, I excommuni—”
“W-wait!”
The one who cut him off and urgently intervened was none other than Great Elder Albino. Cold sweat poured down Albino’s face.
If he excommunicates him here, he will never return.
The worst possible situation. A disciple leaving for his master’s sake. A master trying to leave for such a disciple’s sake! There was no more terrible picture than this. If things proceeded, the High Druid—Hyun—would never return to this place. No, rather, only hostility would remain. That alone had to be prevented. And there was only one way to stop it.
“I recognize Raiga as the master of the Palga. Elders, you all agree, do you not?”
He asked, but it was essentially a command. At once the ten elders nodded hurriedly in unison.
“I-I agree.”
“Y-yes. Raiga is more than sufficient to succeed the Palga.”
“Of course.”
“Ha, ha. There couldn’t possibly be anyone who opposes.”
Everyone was dripping cold sweat. But this was the only way. Even if internal opposition would follow later. Great Elder Albino looked at Raiga once more and spoke.
“Raiga. Head of the Palga family.”
“······.”
“I permit you to be buried with the blessing of the sanctuary. If you wish, your master Dantalian as well.”
A proposal he could never refuse. Raiga raised his head. A strange expression. Eyes that flickered. And he looked at Hyun.
Then Hyun grinned so brightly every tooth showed and said,
“Please do so, Master.”