60. Coronation (2)
60. Coronation (2)
Bel, Cloné, and Hestia gazed up at the platform before the <Crossroads of Glory>.
There stood the newly enthroned Emperor Brigitte.
The Empress.
An empress, one who had never once existed in the history of the Astes Empire, was now born.
"I shall once more offer a greeting to the people of this nation."
Emperor Brigitte continued.
"I am Brigitte von Astes. My people."
The golden cape fluttered.
These were words declared not as an heir to the throne, but as the emperor.
The imperial citizens faced the new emperor directly.
The nobles also stared at Brigitte.
Count Benosetian, owner of the magical train <Halo Special>, was relieved at having long ago sided with Brigitte.
Marquis Kairos watched the birth of the new emperor with a reverent expression.
Duke Balzac as well, with a beaming smile, gazed up at Brigitte on the platform.
Then he looked beside him and spoke.
"Should you not be up there instead?"
Beside Balzac stood Yuma. Yuma shook his head.
"You speak nonsense."
"Heh heh, who engineered Emperor Brigitte — there is not a noble present who does not know."
It was right after that pointless conversation ended.
Hwaa-ah-ak──!!
It was an aureole.
But the light that had been an aureole surpassed the concept of an aureole and became a radiance whirling around Brigitte's entire body.
Behind Brigitte, Agares, now the Retired Emperor, opened his eyes wide.
A radiance emanating from her entire form.
And the moment that radiance poured out, Brigitte's shadow changed from black to a blue-green, flickering flame.
That light shone upon the world brilliantly for a brief moment, then concealed itself completely from Brigitte's body.
Yuma furrowed his brow slightly.
It was clearly Brigitte who had changed. Because a notification resounded in his mind.
[Companion - 'Brigitte von Astes' has achieved 'Destiny Shift', altering her own fate.]
[She has awakened the 'Imperial Bloodline of Astes'.]
[Authority - 'Song of the Emperor' has been awakened.]
Yuma was a bit dumbfounded.
What was the point if he could see it?
When the one who actually gained this skill, Brigitte, would have no way of knowing what skill it was.
[Authority - Song of the Emperor
It is a wide-area buff skill used by the first emperor of the Asteras Imperial House, Ikeras von Astes.
By singing a verse from the Song of the Emperor, it raises the physical abilities and combat capabilities of troops within the area.
Duration: Until the caster's stamina is exhausted.
Exhausted stamina can be recharged through sleep.]
Yuma had to contemplate for a moment how he should explain it if Brigitte herself was not aware of this.
Up on the platform.
Brigitte turned and slowly walked down from the platform.
"Father."
Brigitte looked toward her father, Retired Emperor Agares, who was gazing at her intently.
"I seem to have gained some sort of power... but I do not quite know what power it is."
Agares nodded slowly at the words of his daughter who had just become emperor.
"Do not worry. That... I seem to know it."
"Pardon?"
Agares retrieved from his mind a legend he had only ever heard passed down from his ancestors.
The Song of the Emperor.
A power that only the first emperor had been born with.
The first emperor's authority that temporarily boosted the military strength of his own legions.
Agares was certain that Brigitte had awakened an authority identical to that first emperor's.
The coronation ceremony.
And the radiance that flowed from her body.
And the blue-green light that filled her shadow instead.
All matched the information in the Book of Imperial Blood, which only an emperor could peruse.
Agares could not forget the sentence the first emperor had penned, describing that moment of awakening.
Because he had wanted to become a great emperor like the first.
And greatness was always accompanied by unparalleled specialness.
Thus Agares had always admired the first emperor.
And now, it seemed his own daughter, who had ascended to the imperial throne, had awakened that specialness.
'Indeed, the first emperor had noted that such a blessing had likely been bestowed upon him because he had achieved the impossible — harmony between the races.'
Then what had his daughter achieved?
Not many achievements of his daughter's came to mind.
'Though truly, seeing people well, winning trust well — those too are abilities.'
Yuma.
He had brought many blessings to this empire in numerous ways.
The coronation ended.
Yuma and Yuma's party hastened their return to the Princess's Palace.
While ascending the stairs.
"Kuluck—."
Blood gushed from Yuma's mouth.
Cloné, who was walking beside him, came to an abrupt halt.
Golden eyes between black hair were piercingly staring at Yuma.
"Yuma-nim...?"
The green eyes of the cat tribe with scarlet hair also stared piercingly at Yuma.
"Yuma?"
Yuma had to waste another half-day reassuring Cloné and Hestia.
It was a clarification event that occurred again with four days remaining before his scheduled coughing up of blood due to the <Fruit of Invulnerability to Poison>.
***
Deepening night.
Brigitte had dismissed everyone and was sipping wine alone.
"Oh. You came, Yuma."
A faint flush had risen to Brigitte's face.
"I am in a very good mood today."
Brigitte stared at Yuma, who had been pestered by Cloné and Hestia for half the day.
"You would be."
Yuma slowly drank the wine Brigitte had just poured into the glass placed before him.
"Is today not the day you ascended to the imperial throne you desired? You could stand to toast more grandly with your subjects."
Brigitte smirked at Yuma's words.
"That's right, I could. But the grandness of the coronation at the Crossroads of Glory is enough."
Brigitte raised her glass toward Yuma.
Yuma touched his glass to the one Brigitte had raised.
Jjaeng-
"Tonight is a very good night."
Whether it was the alcohol or something else, Brigitte repeated the same words.
"A night when I feel like marrying you."
For a moment, Yuma doubted his ears had misheard.
So he remained still, saying nothing.
Perhaps she perceived it as rejection, as Brigitte laughed bitterly.
"Do not worry. I didn't just blurt that out because I want to keep you by my side in this Astes Empire."
"...I never once thought that. Brigitte. I was only a little flustered."
"Right, since you are someone who considers the future of the continent even more than I, my words could only have sounded pathetic."
Brigitte placed her right hand over Yuma's right hand resting on the table.
"Next time. After the world stabilizes a bit more. We'll talk again."
Brigitte's face seemed quite shy for someone who had just become emperor today.
Ahem, clearing her throat, Brigitte continued.
"The emergence of another possible Evil God that you mentioned yesterday. And the circumstances suggesting there might be an Evil God's cult... the imperial intelligence agency has begun an investigation."
Yuma furrowed his brow at the arrival of a serious topic.
"Does it look like they can narrow down the target quickly?"
Brigitte slowly shook her head.
"It seems it will take some time. As long as Inkrinew, whom it is no exaggeration to say this empire trusted, has been revealed to be an Evil God. Honestly, if you count the truly righteous gods on this continent, there is only the God of War believed in by the Holy Empire Leobrehim and the God of Nature believed in by the elves."
Brigitte continued.
"Except for those two cases, the orthodox view is that they cannot be called legitimate gods. The rest are labeled heretical. And the number of those heretical ones is too many."
Merely imaginary gods devised in the schemes of wicked humans seeking to seize greed.
The sheer number of these gods was too great.
"Probably, they're treated the same as the real Evil God's cult. They might be aiming for that on purpose."
Yuma listened to Brigitte's words while downing another glass of wine.
"The photograph inside the pendant you gave me. I'll gradually circulate it among the top layers of the Continental Information Guild. That way, sooner or later, something will be caught."
She was speaking of the pendant that came from the bosom of Yuriana, the woman into whom the Evil God had directly descended.
Yuma nodded.
"There's no need to rush. After all, it seems likely that the Evil God's side won't be able to overcome their curiosity and will seek me out once more."
A mere mortal had killed a god.
Curiosity about it. And a faint uneasiness.
Yuma was certain the Evil God he had indirectly encountered the day before would not be able to suppress those two feelings for long.
'Drawing out the main body and killing it would be the sure way.'
Yuma concluded he would have to devise a method to succeed in a second Evil God hunt while preparing for the Demon Realm Army.
Just as he was about to tell her to go in and rest, Brigitte opened her mouth again.
It seemed she still had more to say.
"Today, you saw the light that sprang from my body?"
Not metaphorical, real light. Yuma nodded. Light you couldn't possibly miss.
"Yes, I saw it."
"When I asked my father, he said it seems I have awakened an authority that only the first emperor possessed."
It was something Yuma had figured she'd be too preoccupied for today and had considered telling her about tomorrow, but it appeared she had already heard it from Agares, now the former emperor.
"Is that so."
"Yes, I am told I've gained an authority that can raise the strength of my soldiers. It seems I can grant a wide-area buff effect by reciting a chant like a verse of poetry."
Emperor Agares must have informed her so precisely that no further explanation was needed.
'There must be some sort of book that only emperors can peruse.'
Thanks to that, there was no need for Yuma to explain separately.
"I intend to properly master that Song of the Emperor and present it at your Grand Duke enthronement ceremony five days from now. Since it's a day of profound significance."
Brigitte's blue eyes stared directly into Yuma's blue eyes.
"They say it is an authority granted to the bloodline of an emperor who has altered fate. Perhaps my fate changed... at the moment I did not die to God Inkrinu. Or, even had I not died, one of Cloné or Bel would have perished... and in the first place, without your strength, I couldn't have gathered them anyway."
Brigitte sat beside Yuma and leaned her face against his shoulder.
Yuma had no choice but to smell the faint scent of alcohol emanating from the emperor's mouth.
"This is all thanks to you. Yuma. All of my accomplishments... all of it is thanks to you. You gathered up all of my luck for me."
"That you ultimately reached this place is due to your own self who did not give up on her dreams despite absurd situations."
Brigitte shook her head very slowly.
That gesture. It transmitted through his shoulder.
"Merely that alone couldn't have gotten me here. Your power was great. That is the truth. So now, I want to be of help to you. No, I will be. Absolutely."
Yuma could feel that Brigitte's intoxication had risen quite a bit.
"When I have become worthy before you, then I shall make today's proposition again...."
Yuma could only let out a chuckle at that.