Paying Back with Interest
With a face that had grown terribly gaunt, the Great Elder and the other elders quietly dropped to one knee, their reverence plain.
“Congratulations, Primordial Druid.”
Primordial Druid.
Great Elder Albino knew of the druids who commanded the World Tree and the Golden Rule. He had recognized at a glance that my present state matched theirs exactly.
I gave a small nod.
“Thank you. But, Great Elder.”
“Yes, Primordial Druid. Speak, and I shall listen.”
Looking at the reverence still etched across Albino’s face, I offered a sly smile.
“Now you’ll have to undergo the verification, won’t you?”
Albino’s expression hardened in an instant, as though the earlier moment had never existed. He had been waiting for Raiga’s return. And now he understood there was no longer any escape.
In the end the Great Elder spoke with the air of a man who had surrendered everything.
“······ Yes. To follow one so great, it is a procedure that must be observed. I will submit to the verification of qualification. ··· I, and the elders as well. Everyone within the Palga, including the Sixteen Corner Pillars.”
“······ What?”
“······ ??”
“······ ???”
For a moment the elders blinked, certain they had misheard.
I’ll make them pay it back thoroughly—with interest.
Cheeks trembling, brows twitching and writhing, breath growing ever more ragged. Pupils still blown wide as if the present reality refused to settle. In that unchanging state the Great Elder and the elders took their places before the World Tree.
Why must I······
We are not beings who undergo verification······!
It was a silent uproar. For long ages they had guarded the World Tree of Honor. Many times they had tested the qualifications of others; never once had they themselves been required to prove their own. And now, for the first time, they would receive that “confirmation” before every watching eye. Of course they trembled. Of course they were tense. If they failed even to reach the second stage, no greater humiliation could be imagined.
“Mm.”
Great Elder Albino swallowed a low groan. He had dragged everyone in with the thought that he would not die alone, yet there was no undoing it now. He and every soul of the Palga must receive the World Tree’s authentication of honor. Not a single exception.
I have avoided this for a long time.
······ Of course it was something that had to be faced someday. He had simply postponed and postponed until the present moment arrived. Better to get it over with, he told himself—yet now that the reality stood before him, his feet refused to move.
What if his own qualification proved wretched? What if his honor as a druid, his very soul, had been polluted and defiled? The possibility was real enough. And so he hesitated. More than the shame of failure, he feared the World Tree might simply reject him.
······ He was afraid. What druid who had spent a lifetime guarding the World Tree could accept being cast out, unrecognized by the very tree he had protected?
So this is how it felt.
Only now did he understand Raiga’s feelings. The previous heads of the Palga who had once stood in this place must have felt the same. And Raiga, even after being rejected once, had challenged it again. To rise after failure and try once more—that was harder than it sounded. Especially when every finger pointed in accusation.
Great Elder Albino turned his gaze toward Raiga.
······ That brat. He finds this amusing, doesn’t he.
Raiga’s lips were curved upward. The sight of the elders and the Great Elder submitting to the World Tree’s verification seemed to delight him beyond measure. Well, no previous head of the Palga had ever managed such a thing.
And Hyun? What of him?
Even the High Druid appears to be enjoying himself.
By consuming the World Tree Seed he had become master of the Golden Rule. He had recreated the form of the primordial High Druid, the Druid of the Golden Rule, as recorded in the texts handed down among the druids. Heir to a sacred lineage. The pinnacle of druids, lord of nature itself—and that great being was Raiga’s disciple.
Tangled. Thoroughly tangled.
Albino sighed inwardly. To unravel the knotted thread, every one of them would undergo the World Tree’s verification. Now that Hyun had awakened as the Druid of the Golden Rule, the Great Elder and the elders were bound to follow him. Perhaps······ he was the final hope of the extinct druids.
“From this moment, every member of the Palga will receive the verification of qualification from the World Tree. First······ the elders.”
Yet he could not bring himself to step forward first. If the Great Elder himself were rejected at the outset, no greater disaster could be imagined.
“G-Great Elder?”
“······ Us first, you say?”
“Guh······.”
The elders were thrown into confusion. One even clutched the back of his neck. None of them had imagined they would be placed at the very front of the line. To be flung out in so unsightly a fashion would be humiliation beyond humiliation.
“Should not the Great Elder set the example?”
“Indeed.”
“I think so as well.”
Their resistance was only natural. Yet Albino’s will remained firm.
“As Great Chief of the Blue Druids, I command it. From the First Elder to the Tenth Elder, submit in order to the World Tree’s verification.”
“······.”
“······.”
The elders became mute as men who had swallowed honey. To invoke the Great Chief’s authority only at a moment like this—it was shameless and underhanded beyond measure. But what choice did they have? Their station required them to obey when ordered. Weeping as they ate mustard, the elders formed a line before the World Tree.
Thus began the time of verification.
“Ah—no······!”
“W-World Tree!”
One after another the elders were flung from the World Tree’s domain. Some failed even to enter the second stage. It was only natural. A druid’s honor lay in sowing seeds and expanding forest and nature. Yet they had lingered long within the sanctuary and failed to keep a druid’s true duty; their honor had withered of its own accord. The problem was that their condition proved far more wretched than any of them had expected.
“······ To live long enough to see a day like this.”
Great Elder Albino squeezed his eyes shut. He could not bear to watch. His cheeks burned. Was this truly all they amounted to? He had believed they had guarded the World Tree with honor, yet reality was merciless.
When at last the ten elders had finished their verification—
“······ My turn, then.”
Drawing another deep breath, Albino stepped forward to the World Tree.
The Great Elder and the elders. Then the Sixteen Corner Pillars and every other member of the Palga received the verification in turn. Watching it all, Raiga never once lost his smile.
Master should have seen this scene.
The previous head of the Palga, Dantalian. Had he witnessed it, he would have burst into roaring laughter. He might even have clutched his belly and rolled across the floor. His master had been that sort of unrestrained man.
“······ Thank you.”
Raiga turned his head and looked at Hyun as he spoke. With all his heart. For he was truly grateful. He had decided he would no longer hide his feelings.
A being who possessed the qualities of a Martial God and, on top of that, the qualifications of a High Druid. To have such a disciple was a blessing beyond measure. It felt like a bond his master Dantalian himself had forged and left behind. Therefore he would not conceal anything; he would strive to become a better master. A master who was overtaken by his disciple was no master at all.
“Pay it no mind. These were things that had to be done.”
And humble besides. Raiga’s smile deepened further. Who would have thought every single action could look so admirable? When had he last been so moved by another person? Lineage, background—none of it mattered any longer. Even if the boy had dropped from the sky, it made no difference. This was the child who had swallowed the seed his master Dantalian left behind, who had taken up that will. To Raiga, Hyun was no longer a stranger. Their bond was woven of a will thicker than blood.
“Had I been alone, I never could have accomplished any of this.”
He shook his head slightly as he spoke. Alone, he would never have become head of the Palga; he would already have been a corpse.
“You would have managed even alone.”
“Humility, taken too far, becomes poison. If there is anything I can do for you, speak it. Whatever it may be, I shall see it done.”
Whatever it may be. Even if it exceeded Raiga’s own qualifications. If his disciple wished it, he would do it. And what, then, did the disciple desire of him?
After watching for a long while, Hyun spoke.
“Enter the World Tree’s dungeon with me.”
“······ I cannot enter.”
Why state the obvious? Raiga was not honorable. The World Tree had not recognized him. Therefore he could not set foot in the World Tree’s dungeon.
“You need only have your qualification confirmed again.”
“······ You would have me suffer humiliation a third time?”
Raiga’s expression stiffened slightly. There was nothing he would not do—yet three times was three times. He had already drained two bitter cups; to be told to drink once more······
“Did you not say you would grant whatever I asked?”
“Yet······.”
Raiga began to speak, then shut his mouth firmly. Those had been his own words only moments ago. But how? Honor could not be raised by force. And a word once spoken could not simply be left unkept. A deep furrow carved itself between Raiga’s brows.
In that very instant—
“Take these.”
Hyun drew something from his robes. At a glance it looked like an ordinary sheaf of paper.
“This is······?”
“Indulgences.”
“······?”
Raiga blinked. Indulgences? Those were items a high priest of the Goddess Sect could use only three times in a lifetime. Yet at present no priest of the Goddess Sect could employ them. The Goddess Sect was in freefall; both Raiga and the Empire had long since realized that the authority to use Indulgences had been stripped away.
And yet······
All of these are Indulgences?
Even a rough count suggested no fewer than fifty sheets. That every one of them was an Indulgence defied belief. Even if it were true, it still made no sense. Who in the world could hand over such a quantity? Not even the Pope could manage it. Could it be Saintess Seia? No—impossible. However great a saintess she might be, fifty Indulgences were far beyond her reach. Yet his disciple would not lie.
“I cannot······ accept them.”
“Are you afraid?”
“······ Afraid of what?”
“Afraid that there may be no honor left to restore.”
“······.”
“If you will not take them, I will burn every last one.”
“Why······ go this far for me?”
Faced with that gaze of fierce will, Raiga clenched his fist. In truth he had done little for Hyun. He had received far more than he had given. Even what he had already received was more than he could ever repay.
“Pay it back later—with interest.”
“······ That is not something one says to one’s master.”
“I intend to collect every last bit, so do not worry.”
“So you were a ruthless loan shark all along.”
“Do you think you will be unable to repay it?”
Raiga let out a short laugh. Truly a bold brat. Where had such a creature been hiding all this time, only to appear so suddenly? He possessed a strange magnetism. Still, it made no difference.
Raiga accepted the Indulgences and spoke.
“Very well. I shall pay it back thoroughly—with interest.”
He had allowed himself to be provoked. Of course he did not truly believe his honor would be fully restored. He merely meant to show the effort of granting his disciple’s wish.
Shhhrrrip!
Raiga slowly tore the Indulgences. At the same moment—
“······.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at Hyun. With trembling pupils. Unbelievable though it was.