Holy, Blessed, and an Apostle - 5
Quite apart from someone’s tearful sobs, the transfer of power concluded in complete success.
“World Tree! World Tree!”
“It’s smaller than before! But still good!”
“Our home, our home!”
As proof, the fairies that had been buzzing about near the tree latched onto the provisional World Tree and showed no intention of letting go.
It was not a full resurrection, so they called it smaller than the old one—yet beings who had once made the World Tree their home now named it World Tree themselves. Given only a modest span of time, the World Tree would rise again after hundreds of years.
“It really has changed. I don’t know enough about holy power to put it properly, but it’s become incomparably more splendid than before.”
Trixie, standing behind me, nodded as she regarded the provisional—no, the tree that could now fairly be called a semi-World Tree.
Mana and holy power were different in nature, yet both were energies that composed this world. Thanks to that shared nature, even Trixie, long accustomed to mana, had sensed the change.
“Good heavens.”
And if even Trixie, ignorant of the World Tree and holy power, had noticed the marvel, then Grandmother—who had once managed the World Tree herself—needed no further comment.
She had watched me drive the sword home with a face full of anticipation; now her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked up at the tree. Just as the fairies called it the World Tree, it seemed to appear so in Grandmother’s eyes as well.
After gazing at it for a long while, Grandmother quietly wiped the corners of her eyes and smiled at me.
“Thank you. Our people owe you a great debt.”
“A debt? Humans burned a treasure; a human is simply returning it.”
I shook my head hurriedly at Grandmother’s words of thanks. Had it been gratitude for anything else I might have accepted it, but the World Tree left me too embarrassed to receive thanks.
After all, the ones who burned the World Tree had been those Apels bastards. Even if Kpelleofen was the nation that tore Apels apart, the fact remained that humans were cleaning up a human crime.
“The villains who burned the World Tree were punished by the present Empire, so not every human bears that sin. In that circumstance you raised the World Tree again—how could that not be a debt of gratitude?”
Grandmother, for her part, clearly regarded Apels and Kpelleofen as separate.
It was a relief to hear. Even if her heart still shrank from all humans, her reason was doing its best to treat them as distinct. Whether that was Grandmother’s personal temperament or the responsibility of an elder who led the elven race, the Empire could only breathe easier for it.
“And.”
Grandmother drew a little closer and gently patted my shoulder.
“Our Mother does not resent humanity either, so of course.”
The place where I had felt a faint warmth when Constantina’s voice had sounded.
It seemed an elven elder served as both secular and religious leader. She had noticed at once something invisible from the outside.
The northern high priestess didn’t notice even when she saw it with her own eyes.
—Hey!
Eternal Blue Sky’s shout rang out at the thought that had risen by instinct.
I felt bad, but what could I do? It was true.
I found myself forcibly drafted into the elves’ banquet.
A banquet only in name—tables and food laid out on the open ground beside the World Tree, a modest affair—yet standing alone among nothing but elves was thoroughly awkward. Even Trixie was half-elf; the sole pure human was me.
“Benefactor! Why are you just standing there looking blank? Don’t just stand—try this too!”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The one silver lining was that most of the elves in the demi-human sanctuary were not hostile toward humans. I heard none of the “filthy short-lived race, how dare you!” lines common in the novels of my previous world.
Besides, I was the elder’s grandson-in-law-to-be and the hero who had revived the World Tree. Hostility was out of the question; friendliness was inevitable.
“You eat well! You’ll be a beloved son-in-law!”
When I put the food the blue-haired elf offered into my mouth, she nodded in satisfaction.
Beloved for eating well. So the sacrifice my stomach made at lunch had not been in vain. Truly fortunate.
“Still, how long has it been since we all gathered to play like this? Feels like the first time since Apels fell.”
The blue-haired elf’s next mutter made me flinch.
The first time since Apels fell?
The nuance was as if she had been alive at the fall of Apels.
It was confusing. Talking with elves always left me unsure whether I was hearing recent news or history. Since I was about to take elves as in-laws, I needed to get used to it quickly.
“Heh, surprised? I may not look it, but I was a warrior who fought in the war that destroyed Apels.”
As if she had read my thoughts, the blue-haired elf grinned and thumped my back.
Not merely alive at Apels’s fall—she had fought as a warrior. Outwardly she looked at most a woman in her thirties, yet just how old was she inside—
“You’re not thinking anything weird, are you?”
“Not at all.”
“Then we’re fine.”
Apparently elves were just as sensitive about age.
The blue-haired elf drained the liquor in her hand with gusto and kept talking of this and that. That it was a relief the World Tree had returned when so few elves had ever seen it with their own eyes; that the younger elves’ vague affection for the World Tree was reassuring; that she never expected the one who revived it would become the elder’s grandson-in-law, and so on. Ordinary recent news this time, not history.
“Ah, your wife’s coming.”
At those words I turned and saw Trixie approaching with a haggard face, having been swarmed by other elves.
I barely managed to suppress a snort of laughter. In human society Trixie was a revered magical elder; the moment she entered this sanctuary she was nothing more than the adorable youngest.
“Trixie! Thanks for bringing the good liquor!”
The blue-haired elf waved vigorously in greeting.
“I’m glad it pleased you. I’ll bring more often in the future.”
Trixie offered a soft smile at the enthusiastic thanks.
In truth it had been Servet wine brought as a gift for Grandmother, but using it for the happiness and laughter of all the elves was not a bad thing either.
In any case, Trixie came to me with heavy steps and naturally rested her head on my shoulder. Suddenly displaying affection in front of an elder was a bit much, yet Trixie’s exhaustion so far outstripped any embarrassment that I gladly lent my shoulder.
And the elf before us only smirked, finding the young lovers’ display of affection cute.
“You worked hard.”
So I patted Trixie’s shoulder and then stroked her ear—
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
The smirking blue-haired elf shouted in panic. And since her claim of being a war veteran was no lie, the roar was so thunderous that every other elf’s gaze snapped toward us at once.
That aside, I was bewildered. Had she looked displeased even at the head-on-shoulder, we could have assumed a mistake—but she had been fine until that, so I had no idea what the problem was.
“Er, this is embarrassing, but Trixie and I are not yet well-versed in elven culture. Did we commit some blunder…?”
When I asked carefully, the blue-haired elf’s face flushed scarlet; she rolled her eyes this way and that, then asked back in the faintest voice.
“You really don’t know?”
“Trixie never heard much about the elves while her mother was alive, and I am of another race to begin with.”
“Ah.”
A low exclamation, and her gaze dropped.
Pity that Trixie had lost her parents young and never learned proper common sense, mixed with the awkwardness of how to explain the situation.
But the hesitation was short. The elf who possessed a war veteran’s courage leaned in and whispered something against Trixie’s ear.
“I-I didn’t know!”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
Trixie, who had been blinking as she listened, turned red in an instant and shook her head furiously.
What on earth was going on?
I wanted to know too.
Is it the ears?
From the circumstances it seemed touching the ears was the issue, but without an explanation I could not pin down exactly what the problem was.
I only touched them because Trixie melted into a puddle of bliss whenever her ears were stroked…
…
Don’t tell me.
A belated thought left me feeling as though my blood had run dry. Could it be that elven ears were treated not like human ears but like an entirely different part of the body?
If so, the blue-haired elf’s reaction made sense. The young couple had gone past simple affection and shown something rather fiery.
A rather awkward atmosphere lingered after that.
In the midst of ordinary work I received an unexpected package.
“Cardinal Alexandriana sent this?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. She conveyed her regret that she could not present it in person.”
I rubbed my chin as I regarded the two boxes held by the Imperial Palace chamberlain.
Sent under a cardinal’s name and having passed the palace’s inspection procedures, the contents could not pose a safety threat. Only pure curiosity remained.
Is there something a cardinal would send under her own name?
Had it been under the Pope’s name or that of Cardinal Aldino, head of the delegation, I would have taken it as a gift for friendship between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.
But under Cardinal Alexandriana—one among several prefects and only the second-in-command of the delegation? The only thing that came to mind was the matter of canonization, yet that had already been settled as beatification in life and canonization after death. There was no particular reason to send me anything.
“Open them. Since the Cardinal sent them herself, a proper return gift will be in order.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After a brief deliberation I ordered them opened. Once the boxes were open the nature of the gifts would be clear at once; there was no need to brood. Better to confirm the contents quickly and consider a fitting reply.
Hah.
The moment I saw what emerged from the first box I nearly barked a hollow laugh.
A portrait. Even a layman could tell it had been painted with care—lips firmly closed, a devout expression, a scripture and a cross held in both hands: a thoroughly religious portrait.
And its subject was the Minister of the Inspectorate.
Blessed Karl Crassius of Tailglehen
Reading the inscription at the bottom of the portrait, I bit my lip. If I let my guard down I would burst out laughing in front of the chamberlain.
In commemoration of the living beatification of the pillar of the Empire, a gift offered to Brother Blessed Karl Crassius and to His Majesty his sovereign.
“It is written thus,” the chamberlain reported after reading the letter enclosed with the portrait.
“I see.”
I managed a nod.
I understood. Living beatification was exceedingly rare; it was certainly an event worth commemorating. A portrait identical to this one had no doubt already been delivered to the Minister’s residence as well.
And the other one?
My gaze went unbidden to the second box. Having received a portrait of the Blessed, was this vestments or a holy relic for the Blessed? No—if so there would have been no need to send it to me.
Fortunately the chamberlain opened the other box before my curiosity could grow further, and—
Kh.
I fought desperately to hold back laughter.
Saint Karl Crassius of Tailglehen
Following the portrait of the Blessed came a portrait of the Saint.
I was going to lose my mind. They had said canonization after death, yet already within the Holy Kingdom they seemed to have decided to treat him as a saint; a nimbus of light had been painted behind the Minister’s head exactly as in the portraits of the saints. That thoroughness and speed nearly made me explode with laughter.
Hold it. Hold it in. An emperor could not show a frivolous face before a subordinate.
“An impressive gift. I shall decide on a return present myself and inform you later. You may withdraw, Chamberlain.”
The chamberlain bowed respectfully and retreated backward.
Not long after, the door of the office closed and even the chamberlain’s footsteps faded into the distance—
“Hahahaha!”
The laughter I had been holding burst free.
Unlike the portrait of the Blessed, this one showed the Minister wearing a gentle smile and holding a cross near his chest.
Even the Minister himself would laugh if he saw this.