We're on a Trip - 2
Four lovers had come along on the school trip. Of them, two already knew about my wound, and two did not. Exactly half and half—a perfect golden balance.
If I joined that golden balance myself, that would make three of us who had kept quiet about the wound, enough to form a majority—
"I didn't want to learn about Oppa's affairs the way other people do, by chance. I wanted to hear it from Oppa's own lips."
"I'm sorry…"
Having more criminals than guards doesn't put you on top. In this gathering, I, Margeta, and the Magic Lord were nothing but guilty parties. If we hadn't been found out it wouldn't have been a crime—but we had, so we were criminals.
Worse, I couldn't even argue with why they felt hurt. Once rings had been exchanged we were no longer mere acquaintances; we were closer than that. We were supposed to be honest without holding anything back, and to treat each other better than outsiders. From Luise and Irina's perspective, though, they had received exactly the same treatment as everyone else.
If every lover had been left in the dark it might have been different, but some knowing and some not—how painful must that have been? And the fact that the ones who already knew were the first and second prospective wives sealed it.
Anyone looking at this would call it discrimination.
They could easily think I had told the important lovers and kept quiet with the less important ones. Honestly, I probably would have thought the same in their place. Damn it.
"Still, I don't believe Oppa did it on purpose. There must have been circumstances. That's why you offered to explain everything, isn't it?"
I nodded hurriedly. Luise was right. It hadn't been anything ugly like favoring one wife over another; there had simply been unavoidable reasons I couldn't speak of.
"I think so too. At the very least, Oppa isn't the kind of person who would do something like that for no reason."
Watching Irina say that with a faint smile only made the already enormous guilt swell even larger. I had screwed over kids who trusted me this much.
Embarrassment and guilt made my eyes slide sideways, and I found Margeta and the Magic Lord keeping the same silent penance I was. From their standpoint there was nothing they could say either. If anything, they had only gotten dragged into this because of my long silence; they had every right to feel wronged.
"This might take a little while. Is that all right?"
Which meant I needed to explain quickly. Drag it out any longer and the frustrated ones would only grow more frustrated while the guilty ones kept their heads bowed.
"Yes."
"Better than not knowing."
Their firm, bone-striking answers nearly made me shut my mouth again.
Right. I had just asked something obvious.
The apology show that went by the name of an explanation was not a little long—it was very long.
First I had to explain why the wound existed in the first place, and that required the story of the Great Subjugation War. There was no way to keep it short and simple.
"If you were wounded by the Heaven-Defier, recovery was impossible. There are still people living with one arm because the injury never healed."
So I explained in as much detail as I could. Kagan's monstrous strength and the filthy curse of unhealable wounds, the countless victims who had been hurt fighting him, and the sad legend of how I was the one who finally took the sword through the chest.
Talking about the Great Subjugation War inevitably brought up the Six Swords as well, but thankfully they listened in silence. With their memorial service drawing near I had probably spoken a bit emotionally, and even though it was TMI that didn't quite fit the subject of a wound, I was grateful they heard me out.
"It never closed, but there's no pain anymore and it doesn't interfere with daily life. So rather than blurting it out, I was waiting for a time when it wouldn't startle you… and it ended up like this instead. I'm sorry."
In the end the conclusion was another apology. Because I was afraid of startling Luise and Irina, because it was hard to bring up casually, because it wasn't exactly something to brag about—there had been many reasons, but once we had been found out they were nothing more than excuses.
So what else was there to say? The only path was to reveal why this grotesque wound had appeared, why I had kept my mouth shut, and to apologize. Clumsy self-justification or turning the tables would only look ugly.
"Oppa."
"Hm?"
The moment she heard my apology, Luise was the first to speak.
"Then you're all right now? When the fairies talked about the power of a god, they meant the wound, didn't they?"
And she followed it with an extremely important question.
"That's right. The power of the god the Heaven-Defier believed in was lodged in the wound. I'm fine now, so don't worry."
When I nodded, Luise let out a relieved sigh. An unhealable wound and the divine power the fairies had spoken of—when those two pieces of information combined, every kind of thought must have raced through her head. The possibility that it was a divine curse, for instance.
Of course, at first it really had been a curse. Somehow it had been reclassified as an illegal structure and now even an eviction order had been carried out, but still.
"Thanks to the fairies I pulled the power out, so the wound should be able to heal soon."
"R-really?"
"Is that true?"
Even Margeta and the Magic Lord, who had been sitting quietly, reacted to that. Having known about my wound for so long, their worry had only been greater; the reaction was natural.
And just like that the atmosphere shifted abruptly from "a hearing about hiding the wound" to "celebration over the wound's recovery."
I'm saved…!
He had been wounded, but it didn't interfere with daily life, and he had been waiting for the right moment so he wouldn't worry us—that was Oppa's explanation.
After hearing it I could accept it. Or more precisely, I tried hard to accept it. Looking back, learning about it through some method other than Oppa's own mouth left a small regret, but when I imagined what I would have done in his place, it was hard to blame him.
I would have done the same.
Wanting to put off anything that didn't absolutely need to be said, wanting to avoid causing someone else worry—that was just human nature. Oppa would have been no different.
I could understand his feelings, and he had given a convincing explanation and an apology. What would more interrogation change? It would only make Oppa more uncomfortable, wouldn't it?
…I'll let it go for now.
So I decided to set aside the question about the World Tree as well. The fairies had certainly said they would take the divine power from Oppa, but that didn't mean they had succeeded. One of them had whined that the aura was too heavy, so that much was certain.
"You might get to see your mother again."
After that, Oppa had led the fairies outside as if he already knew something. The action had been so natural, and the result so shocking, that no one asked him what had happened.
When the World Tree is on the verge of revival right before your eyes, no one can calmly demand an explanation of "how." Even the elven elders and the saint of the Dawn Church had been focused solely on the World Tree; everyone else was even less likely to press the issue.
It isn't something he can talk about right away anyway.
And while the wound was Oppa's personal matter, the World Tree was an issue that would rock the entire continent, not just the empire. Oppa couldn't have carried out something that enormous on his own; he must have discussed it with the imperial family. So of course he couldn't give a detailed explanation to us, who weren't bureaucrats.
I wasn't resentful. Even inside House Yorun, truly important contracts are kept under strict silence. Oppa had performed a national task that went far beyond a simple contract, so of course he couldn't explain.
And nothing bad will happen to Oppa, so it's fine.
Ultimately the revival of the World Tree would only help Oppa's reputation; it wouldn't harm him. Hearing about it later would be no problem.
So I wouldn't press. Needlessly questioning a national affair would only put Oppa in a difficult position. I would wait for the day when Oppa himself could tell us.
"Since the power that was in the wound went into the World Tree, recovery should be possible now. Ah, I'll explain about the World Tree next time."
At those words a small smile tugged at my lips.
So Oppa wasn't hiding things from us because he wanted to hide them after all.
The hearing forced by the sudden wound coming-out ended in a warm atmosphere. I was so happy to have met such kind companions for someone of my fate…
"In Santoria you can ride a centaur instead of a carriage."
"That would feel a little awkward."
"Right? For a human it would be like getting a piggyback ride."
Watching Luise and Irina chatter only strengthened my conviction. I really had met kind companions.
Unlike yesterday when we had all crowded around together, this was a party of just the three of us—me, Luise, and Irina. Without Margeta and the Magic Lord's concession such a party would have been impossible, yet the concession had happened.
"I was the one who made the mistake. Even if it wasn't something that could be spoken of carelessly, I would have felt hurt too if I were in their place."
"I feel ashamed as well. It was no different from freezing the children out. Something to reflect on."
A big deal in which they would yield the intimate date time because they had made a mistake. Giving up travel time must have been disappointing for both of them, yet they still valued the affection among prospective family members enough to make that major decision.
It was moving. I had heard that when a man has multiple wives, schemes and intrigue often run rampant among them, yet with me there was nothing but consideration and harmony. How blessed was I? And realizing I had placed an embargo against such blessings made it hard to lift my head.
"Still, since we're already here, let's try it. Where else would we get an experience like this?"
But if I kept silent just because I couldn't raise my head, I would be wasting this precious time. I casually stuck my face in between the two who were deliberating between centaur and carriage.
"S-should we?"
Luise, who seemed enchanted by the word "experience" and fell into contemplation.
"It would be nice if there was one big enough for all three of us…"
Irina, who immediately agreed and muttered seriously.
I understand the feeling, but three people on one is pushing it, isn't it? Even a centaur is still a horse at the end of the day, and putting three adults on one horse is animal cruelty.
I had underestimated the demi-humans.
"Haha! I'm big enough that three is no problem!"
A female centaur let out a laugh so booming it hurt the ears. She was clearly on a different scale from the other centaurs nearby.
"Any more than that and it'd be tough, though!"
She added the little joke with a laugh, but I could only manage an awkward smile. If not for yesterday's hearing, five of us would have come instead of three.
Is she roasting me on purpose while knowing full well?
There was no way, yet for a moment the thought even crossed my mind. A persecution complex wondering whether the 0.5 Golden Duke legend had spread among the demi-humans too.
Yeah, I'm the bastard who has so many lovers that one vehicle can't hold them all. At least there's a guy with twice as many as me, so I can count myself lucky.
"All right, sit packed in tight as people who love each other should!"
Following the centaur's instruction as she slapped the saddle with her tail, I carefully took my seat.
"…Girls?"
"Y-you said to stick close!"
"Sitting like this seemed safest…"
Luise sat in front of me and used my body as a backrest; Irina sat behind and wrapped her arms tightly around me.
If only one of them had done it, it would have been a normal couple's riding posture. Doing both at once created a scene that was hard to describe.
"Looks wonderful! I'm jealous!"
The centaur praised us with a smiling face even while looking at that sight.
Truly a magnificent incarnation of capitalism.