"Hah!"
"Gah!"
"Let's stop here."
The wooden sword in Frei's hand stopped mere inches from the female
knight's side. Hilde, who had been refereeing the mock battle, called an end to
it upon seeing that.
"Aww, I lost..."
"You're amazing, Frei! You're so small, but so strong!"
"Well, she is one of the grand duke's relatives... It's not that surprising."
Frei's prodigious skill received a mixed reaction from the knights who were
watching the fight. Despite her looks, she was a gold-ranked adventurer (in the
future at least). There was no way she'd lose to standard soldiers.
"Hee hee hee! I won! But hey, lady...your right leg was acting funny at the end
there. Did you twist it?"
"Huh? Oh... Yes. It happened when I was trying to do that low slash earlier..."
her opponent said that and raised her leg a little, moving it around a bit as if to
check for pain.
"Hey, fath— Er...Y-Your Highness! Heal her!"
"Yep, yep..."
I used [Cure Heal] on the knight, prompting her to almost apologetically bow
afterward. I could understand why, since it must have been a little awkward
using your national leader as a health dispenser...but the one using me here
was more Frei than anyone else.
After the match ended, Frei found herself surrounded by a gaggle of female
knights. Over the past few days, she'd become somewhat of a mascot for the
knight order...and she was remarkably popular with the girls.
Unlike Quun, who was perfectly content to stay cooped up in Babylon, Frei
was quite the people person. It probably helped that she was so cute.
"Touya, you're grinning..."
"Oh, my bad!"
Hilde pointed out my expression, which I promptly fixed.
I was just happy that my daughter was popular, though...
I looked back at Hilde, who seemed to be struggling to keep a grin off her own
face as well. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... The two of us were
definitely overly doting, though. Perhaps that wasn't a bad thing to have in
common with your wife.
As I mulled that over, my smartphone began to vibrate.
Huh, I wonder who's calling...me...? Ugh!
When I saw the incoming caller ID, I hesitated for a moment... But after what
felt like an eternity of pondering, I bit the bullet and picked up the call.
"Uh...hey."
"Oh, Duke Brunhild! It's good to hear your voice!"
"...Yeah, yours too..."
The ridiculously shrill voice in my ear was enough to make me move my
phone away. There was no mistaking this larger-than-life way of speaking.
The caller was Robert, prince of Panaches. Or as I preferred to call him, the
pumpkin-pants prince. He was also the master of the blue crown, Distortion
Blau. I'd met the guy a few times, but he was a little too intense for me. I just
didn't have the patience for someone with his personality... Even over the
phone, he was as overbearing as ever. It went without saying that he was the
least popular among his fellow crown masters.
"So, uh, what's up?"
"Well, you see...there's someone I'd like for you to meet! The king of Rhea."
"Rhea?"
Rhea... What was that again? Oh, right! Isn't that the island kingdom
northwest of Panaches? I think I remember that.
"What does the king of Rhea want with me?"
"Well, you see...it's about that Puretree of yours."
The Puretree was a divine tree I'd planted in the middle of Isengard to purify
the corruptive influence that the wicked god had left there. I couldn't imagine
what the king of Rhea had to do with that, but I shrugged and accepted the
meeting anyway.
From what I'd heard, Rhea was a bountiful land ruled over by the elves. It was
somewhat similar to the Sea of Trees, probably.
I'd never heard anything bad about them, so meeting with them formally was
fine by me. From what Robert told me, Rhea had recently opened up diplomatic
relations with Panaches, as well as the Rephan Kingdom to their southwest.
They hadn't broached any contact with Zadonia or Dauburn yet, however,
probably since the conflict between the two had only recently simmered down.
It was fairly well known that I'd planted the Puretree, so they probably hoped
to use their connection with Panaches to get in touch with me. Still, there was
only one way to find out what they wanted.
◇ ◇ ◇
I decided to take Yumina and Leen with me on the trip to Rhea. Yumina was
great when it came to diplomacy, and Leen was more experienced at dealing
with a variety of races. Plus, Leen worked in a diplomatic capacity back when
she served Mismede, so she was perfect for this job.
But it seemed like we had another companion who was set on joining us...
"Rhea's a country with many ruins. It's home to various legacy Gollems from
ancient conflicts. You may well be able to find some Gollem parts you've never
seen before, father. I'd highly suggest we look into it."
"Quun, you little pest... This isn't a vacation, it's a diplomatic mission."
"I'm aware, mother. I just meant that it's something we could look into while
you're taking care of diplomatic affairs,"Quun replied. She couldn't help but giggle at Leen's grumbling.
When I'd mentioned I was going to Rhea, she just about begged to join me.
Apparently, she'd met the king before... At least, in her personal past.
"Are we all ready, then? Blau! Do your thing," Robert spoke up, prompting the
small blue Gollem by his side to raise one of its hands.
As that hand twirled about, the scenery around us seemed to melt away and
distort. But gradually, it returned to normal. This was the power of Distortion
Blau, the ability to bend space itself.
Once the distortion wore off, we found ourselves surrounded by greenery.
We were in Farn, the royal capital of Rhea. It was a capital city, so there were a
great many buildings, but there was also an incredible amount of lush
vegetation all around. It was as if the city was built into a forest. I looked around
and saw citizens coming and going, each with smiles on their faces.
"There are a lot of elves here..." Yumina couldn't help but mutter the obvious
as we walked through the streets.
There were definitely a whole lot of people around. And not just elves, either.
There were humans, beastfolk, and dragonewts too... But elves were clearly the
dominant species here. The ratio was probably seven elves to every three nonelves.
"From what I understand, Rhea was originally a nation of elves, though they
do have an active immigrant population. Just about all the high-ranking
positions within the country belong to elves, however."
Quun's explanation made perfect sense to me. Elves were often associated
with the forest, so the lush greenery all around us in their capital was clearly by
design.
We continued walking down a narrow roadway until we spotted a castle in
the distance. It was in a clearing, surrounded by trees.
Is that the elf king's castle?
I looked around and found my mouth agape as I saw a tree near the castle... It
was almost as big as the building itself! It dwarfed every other tree in the
vicinity, even.
"Come, then! His Majesty should be waiting for us. Not too far to the castle
no—" halfway through his sentence, Prince Robert fell flat on his face and
began to snore.
That forced slumber was the price he needed to pay in exchange for using
Blau's crown ability. There was quite a bit of distance between Brunhild and
Rhea, so he'd probably be sleeping for quite a while.
I could've just simply used [Recall] on Robert to look at his memories and
open up a [Gate] to the place, but Quun insisted on seeing Distortion Blau in
action at least once.
Robert was apparently egged on by that and said he'd be happy to ferry us
there with his own power. Thankfully, we had some Panaches knights with us,
so they could look after him.
The knights quickly hauled Robert up, carrying him along with them in a
manner that suggested they were well used to it at this point. Just as we were
about to carry on our march to the castle, a Gollem carriage pulled up next to
us.
"Prince Robert of Panaches, Duke Touya of Brunhild. I've been sent from the
castle to fetch you."
An elven man stepped out of the carriage. Well, it looked more like a minibus
being pulled by crawling legs than a typical horse-drawn carriage, but still... The
elven man in front of us looked to be in his twenties. He had long golden hair
tied up in a bun at the back of his head and wore stereotypical black and white
butler attire. Personally, I thought he seemed a bit young for a job like that, but
ages were deceiving when it came to his kind.
As I stared down the man, Quun came up from behind me and tugged at my
sleeve. What did she want now, I wondered?
"Father... That's the elf king."
"What?!"
I looked to the young-looking elf, then back to Quun.
That's the king?! Why's he dressed like a butler?!
"He probably wants to surprise you by revealing his identity later on... He's a
bit of a prankster... Or at least, he is in the future."
"A prankster? What a joke..." Leen, who'd been listening to Quun's
murmuring, couldn't help but say that and sigh.
Is he joking? Or maybe he's trying to get a grasp of what kind of person I am?
Elves tended to err on the side of caution, so many of them were hesitant to
share their true feelings. After all, it wasn't too uncommon to meet people who
seemed friendly on the surface, but harbored malicious intentions beneath
that. With that in mind, I couldn't blame him for trying to figure us out in
advance.
"Is everything well?"
"Yes, we're fine. I'm honored that you'd greet us in person, Your Majesty.
Though I must say, I never expected you to be wearing such an unusual outfit."
The smiling young man's eyes widened in shock once Leen's words reached
his ears.
Sorry... My wife's also a bit of a prankster, so she doesn't like being caught
out.
After a short stunned silence, the young-looking elf grinned and raised his
hands into the air.
"My, you got me... I waited for Prince Robert to fall asleep before revealing
myself, but it seems that was all for naught, eh? How'd you know?"
"I'll just say that you exude a certain...royal aspect that I couldn't help but
notice," Leen replied very politely, even though I knew she was lying. Our
daughter had just given her the answer!
"Hm... If you say so... No matter, welcome to the Kingdom of Rhea. I am, as
you properly deduced, the king, Ervin Rheawind."
"I'm Mochizuki Leen, the fifth grand duchess of Brunhild. Leen being my given
name. As for these two..."
"I'm Mochizuki Touya, the grand duke of Brunhild."
"I'm Mochizuki Yumina, the first grand duchess of Brunhild."
By marrying me, Leen and the others had married into the Mochizuki family
name as well. Since I was Japanese, they'd also taken to using my native name
order when it came to their full names. But since they'd also married into the
Brunhild nobility, our family name was also Brunhild.
We weren't the only royal family to have this kind of surname and national
name disparity, however. It was just one of those things that happened
sometimes.
In Leen's case, she was both Mochizuki Leen and Leen Brunhild. Similarly,
Yumina was both Mochizuki Yumina and Yumina Brunhild.
I didn't really want to call myself Touya Brunhild, though. It sounded kind of
lame, honestly.
"And who's this young lady?"
"A pleasure to meet you, King Rhea. My name is Mochizuki Quun. I'm a
member of the Brunhild royal family. I wished to visit Rhea and see its
magnificent forests, which is why the Grand Duke saw fit to let me accompany
him."
Quun pinched the hem of her skirt and gave a small curtsy. She was
surprisingly good at formalities... But she'd probably been raised that way, since
she was a royal and all.
"I must admit, I was also hoping to see your crown. I've heard much about
Grand Grun."
"Ha ha ha ha. I daresay you appear far more interested in Grun than you are
in me. Well, let it not be said that I deny my guests."
The elf king made a waving gesture with his hand, prompting the Gollem
carriage near him to slide open. A small mechanical hand then reached out
from the interior before the entire Gollem emerged from within.
The Gollem looked much like the blue one next to me, except green. And I
couldn't help but notice it was a little more feminine in shape as well. It had
what looked to be some kind of radiator or vent on its head that resembled a
ponytail, and there was more...curvature to its general shape. There was also
some metal about the machine's waist that jutted out like a skirt.
Gollems didn't really have genders, but they could have gendered
personalities based on the Q-Crystals loaded into them. Elluka's cat-shaped
Gollem, Bastet, was quite feminine, for example.
"This is Grand Grun, master of earth's bounty and incarnation of the
Mothertree. She's been my partner these last two thousand years."
"Greetings. Crown Series Designation CS-06. Gran Grun, at your service."
Wow, it can talk... I wonder what price you have to pay to use its ability...
Probably something bad, I'd bet. I'm guessing it's not physical though, just
based on the elf guy.
I glanced to my side and saw Quun's eyes positively sparkling with joy at the
sight of the green Gollem.
"Haven't you seen this thing in the future?"
"I have not. I've never been allowed to attend any of your conference
meetings, and King Rhea never brings Grun with him, anyway... I'd never seen
her before. She's lovely!"
...Lovely? Not sure if I'd call a Gollem that, but fair enough.
"Now, please come aboard. I'll take you to the castle at once. Grun, you first."
"Understood," Grun said that, bowed, then vanished into the carriage again.
It was only there that I noticed it wasn't entering the passenger compartment...
It was actually the driver! A Gollem controlling a Gollem seemed a little weird at
first, but then I remembered our Over Gears worked in a pretty similar manner.
The Gollem carriage moved surprisingly swiftly. I noticed that it stomped over
the stone road without causing any damage either... Perhaps the legs were
rubber-tipped or something? There wasn't much jostling inside the carriage, so
there was at least some impressive shock absorption built into the design.
Eventually, we made it to the castle...and it was even more impressive up
close. The white walls were covered in sprawling ivy, there were trees dotted
around the surrounding land, and that single gigantic tree towered over
everything. The area looked like the perfect image of nature's bounty.
Apparently, the castle was over four thousand years old, but it didn't look it at
all. That was probably the work of some kind of long-lasting protection magic.
The interior of the castle was a little dated, but not terribly so.
Once we hopped off the carriage, we followed King Rhea and his crown
through a hallway. I got the distinct impression we weren't heading to the
inside of the castle itself, however... It felt more like we were walking right
through the castle to the back...or something.
Judging from the smirk on the king's face, I had a feeling he might be planning
something sneaky. We eventually came to a huge door at the end of the hall. As
we approached, two elven guards pushed it open with all their might.
"Whoa!"
"What?!"
"Wow..."
The door creaked open, revealing a stunning sight. It opened out into a forest
clearing, the sun beating down brightly from above.
We were right in front of that massive tree I'd seen earlier...and it was even
more terrifyingly large up close.
"This is Rheawind, the spirit tree. It was the Mothertree to we elves, the place
where our souls once returned to."
...Once returned to?
I closed my eyes, but couldn't feel the presence of any spirits like I had in the
Sea of Trees. I couldn't feel much of anything at all, strangely enough... It had
no life force at all.
"I take it you've noticed already. This spirit tree is dead. She died of old age
not too long ago. It has enough residual magic to still look magnificent for now,
but in the coming months, it'll lose its luster and finally wilt away."
I see... And a tree that reaches the end of its natural lifespan can't be brought
back with magic. It must have been here for thousands of years, watching over
Rhea... Honestly, I feel lucky just getting to see this thing.
"Rheawind has done her job admirably...but the spirit tree is a vital fixture in
my nation. Should we be left without one, my people will be unable to rest
easily. Thus, we must seek out a new spirit tree."
"A new one?"
"Indeed. That's why I sought you out, Grand Duke Brunhild. For it was you
who created Isengard's Puretree, was it not? You are surely capable of helping
us."
"...Huh?"
Isengard's Puretree... I remember planting that thing to purify the venom from
the wicked god, yeah. It wasn't me who made it, though... It was Uncle Kousuke,
the god of agriculture... What does he want me to do, exactly? Uproot the one
in Isengard and fly it over here or something?
"Oh, just so we're on the same page here, I don't specifically want Isengard's
Puretree. I simply want a tree with similar properties for my own nation."
"Hm, I see..."
The tree was created after a lot of trial and error, so there were actually a lot
of similar saplings in my [Storage]. Still, it was the creation of another god, so I
was hesitant to just give something like that away without asking for permission
first.
"Please give me a moment... I need to confer on this," I said that and quickly
backed up to call Kousuke. It would hinge on whether or not the god of
agriculture agreed.
"No prob here, kid. It's basically a mortal plant, since it don't really do nothin'
other than purify the air," Uncle Kousuke replied. He was pretty to the point
with his answer.
...Just like that, huh?
I shrugged. If he said it was fine, it was fine.
I took out a Puretree sapling from [Storage], prompting King Rhea to look
over it with amazement. He was literally shaking.
"M-my word... Gods above... It's as if a very god resides within this plant! I've
never felt such spiritual purity!"
He was exaggerating a bit, but it was definitely a beautifully pure plant.
Or...maybe he just knew more than I did about divine gardening.
The sapling gave off little glittery particles. Each one was a small burst of
purified magic power. There weren't as many of the particles as there were
with the other Puretree, however. It took in polluted air and mana from the
atmosphere, but there wasn't as much of that here as there was in Isengard...
Well, that was just my guess at least, anyway. It could easily have been that it
was just too immature to do its job properly yet.
I handed the sapling over to King Rhea, who was so ecstatic that I was almost
worried he'd drop it.
"You have my thanks, Grand Duke... It's my desire to see my nation build
stronger bridges with Brunhild from now on."
"Don't worry. It's my pleasure, really."
The king shook my hand with great fervor. He looked about to cry. He then
turned and looked at the towering tree behind him.
"Rheawind... O Mothertree, you who have watched over our nation for so
long, you may rest in peace now. Thank you."
Grun held a hand out toward the spirit tree. And then...a green pulse shot out
from the Gollem's arm, impacting the side of the tree.
"Touya, look!"
"What?"
Yumina pointed up at the tree, and I noticed what she was looking at. Its
color, which had once been vibrant, was rapidly fading away.
It was as if I was watching a movie on fast-forward. The very life drained out
of the tree. Its branches and the main trunk itself began withering and
crumbling. The massive plant before us was wasting away into dust.
...Is this Grun's crown skill, maybe?!
Once the spirit tree had finished crumbling away on the winds, King Rhea
approached the spot it had once resided. He then crouched down and planted
the new sapling.
"From old life doth fresh life spring anew...for that is the blessing of nature!"
"Huh?!"
"What the—?!"
As the king spoke, the tree he'd planted began rapidly growing. I couldn't
believe my eyes! I stared on in absolute disbelief as it just kept on growing and
growing. Branches gnarled, flowers bloomed, leaves spread out, and the trunk
kept on thickening.
Is this Grun's power too?!
"So this is Vegetative Dominion... It's a power that can control not only plants,
but processed material like lumber as well. This is Grand Grun's crown skill!"
Quun seemed just as surprised as me to see it in action, but at least she could
explain what it was.
I knew it! But wait, doesn't this thing come at a cost to the user?!
"Gah!"
I panicked as the pained groans of King Rhea reached my ears. The Puretree in
front of us was now half the size of the original spirit tree. Grun had finally
stopped wielding that green beam too.
King Rhea staggered forward, stumbled, and fell to his knees. He then fell
face-first into the dirt.
Using a crown ability too much can kill you... Is he okay?!
"H-Hey, you okay?!"
I ran over to him and flipped him over onto his back, only to hear a very
peculiar sound echo out from his stomach. It sounded like a long, loud growl.
Huh?
The elf king looked up toward the sky. His eyes were glazed over as he
mumbled, "...Hungry... Need food..."
...I-Is THAT the price?!
◇ ◇ ◇
"The green crown's penalty is hunger. It can lead to starvation and even death
in some cases. Though I have no plans to use my abilities to that degree, of
course," the elf king was resting in his bed as he spoke. His eyes were still glazed
over, and his stomach rumbled fairly frequently.
The logical thing to do in a situation like this would be to get up and eat, but
apparently that wasn't an option for him. When King Rhea picked up an apple
and brought it to his mouth...it simply crumbled away to dust.
I can't believe what I'm seeing!
"It's part of the price, you see... I won't be able to eat any food until a certain
timer expires. Given how much of my Gollem's power I employed this time, I'll
likely have to go without food for twenty days..."
"Seriously?!"
"We elves are a race that can survive a while without food, so you needn't
worry about me on that front. I can still drink water, after all. It's just the initial
hunger pangs that are troubling."
Nia, the red crown's partner, told me something like that once. She said that
pretty much every crown except purple could be used without dying if you were
smart about it.
Though the purple crown's negative effects were thankfully neutralized by my
[Cracking] spell.
But seriously...his food turns to dust too? That's way too cruel.
It reminded me of a story I'd read once. It was about this king who was
granted the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. But unfortunately
for him, that extended to his food as well.
The "price" you paid to use a crown's power really did seem more like a curse
that deprived the human partner of something important. But since it was a
curse willingly undertaken in exchange for power, it probably wasn't easily
lifted. I didn't think my [Recovery] would be able to cut it, even. I could
probably use [Cracking] to get rid of Grun's abilities entirely, but I highly
doubted the king wanted that.
"Fret not. I've been using this power for a very, very long time, so I'm used to
it now. I know exactly what my limits are, so I'm careful not to cross the
threshold into serious danger."
According to Quun, the green crown could manipulate plant life over a wide
area. But as the range increased, so too did the effectiveness of the
manipulation. In that regard, it was similar to my [Prison] skill.
It wasn't just limited to living plant life either. Processed wood was also under
Grun's control. Apparently, she'd once destroyed a vast fleet of invading ships
by twisting them into scraps of seaweed. I personally thought it'd be easier to
just make holes in the ships, though...
"Why use the power to make the tree grow, then? It would've started
growing on its own anyway."
"That tree is a symbol of my nation. It must be visible to ensure peace of mind
for all my citizens. It's clear to anyone at a glance that a strong, thick trunk is a
more striking vision than a frail sapling."
I mean, I guess... I can see it pretty clearly out the window right now, and
there are already a few people praying to it...so he's probably right.
The people of his nation must've known that their tree was dying out, so they
probably all pinned their hopes on a new tree sprouting soon. In the end, the
king sacrificed his own comfort for his people's. That couldn't have been easy.
Not eating for a full twenty days would be rough for just about anyone. Even
if he was familiar with it at this point, I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get used
to that.
"Grand Duke Brunhild. I can't possibly thank you enough...and neither can my
people. But I'd still like to offer you something in the way of compensation. My
country is home to many ancient ruins and relics... We also have a great many
unearthed technologies stored within our treasury. I'd like to offer you some."
"No, that won't be necessary. I'm just happy to—"
"What a brilliant idea, Your Majesty! I'd be most keen to look over some of
these treasures alongside the grand duke!"
Uncle Kousuke was the one responsible for the sapling, so I didn't think it was
my place to claim a reward. However, Quun didn't seem to feel that way, as she
immediately jumped forward with gleaming eyes.
...You're coming on a little strong, you know? Try to dial it back a bit!
"Er... Right that way, then. He'll show you to our treasury."
"Okay."
We were greeted by another (seemingly) young elf, who introduced himself
as the prime minister. He walked with us to the treasury.
We left King Rhea behind to chug plenty of water and get some rest.
Apparently, drinking and sleeping were mostly what he did during his fasting
periods, since it made him feel less hungry. I made a mental note to bring him
some of Lu's cooking once his timer expired.
Prince Robert of Panaches was still unconscious, so we figured we'd grab
whatever treasure Quun wanted, then hang out for a bit.
I wanted to extend an offer to join the alliance, but it didn't feel right doing it
while the king was bedridden. Thus, I decided to ask him later on instead.
"Here we are."
We found ourselves in front of a heavy-looking door guarded by two massive
Gollems. There were a great many locks on it too. But thankfully, the prime
minister had a great many keys.
Once the door was opened, we were treated to the sight of piles of gold and
silver, as well as various interesting machines scattered around. There were
plenty of Gollems as well. They looked to all be legacy models. There was no
way a nation would keep standard factory models stored away in their treasury,
after all.
Most of us calmly looked at the machines, Gollems, and scattered parts. It all
looked like junk to me, but I wasn't exactly the expert here. My daughter Quun,
on the other hand, dashed around the room like it was on fire. Her cheeks were
flushed, she balled her hands up into fists, and she was one open mouth away
from making a noise that would've probably sounded something like "Squee!" It
was honestly pretty cute.
"Fathe— Er, Your Highness, um... Can I, you know?!"
"Uh... Sure, whatever. Pick anything you like."
"Thanks so much! I love you!" Quun yelled that and charged forward to give
me a huge hug. I was about to hug her back, but she quickly let go and barreled
back into the depths of the treasury.
...Why do I hear boss music?
"Our darling's being a touch doting today... Don't you agree, Yumina?"
"Quite right, Leen. A national leader must conduct himself more seriously,
should he not?"
"R-Right..."
Yumina and Leen sandwiched me, pressing their sides uncomfortably against
both of mine.
I wasn't being that doting, was I...? Well, it wasn't my fault! How could I
possibly say no?!
After all that business, we headed back to Brunhild castle. Quun skipped
down the hallway with her treasure in hand. It was about the size of a
basketball and looked like some kind of engine, but I couldn't be sure. It had to
be metal, but it seemed surprisingly light... When I picked it up, it felt light
enough to be made of plastic, even.
"So, what exactly is that device?"
"Thank you for asking, mother! This happens to be a spirit kiln!"
"A spirit kiln?"
I'd never heard of that before. Quun went on to explain that while G-Cubes
formed the heart and power source of a Gollem, they required a magical spark
to actually get that going. And apparently, spirit kilns were the source of said
spark in ancient times.
All things had spirits in them, after all. The kiln simply allowed one to harness
a spirit's power to amplify it within a machine. The western continent was far
less magically oriented than the east, but it still had spirits. Before things were
more automated, the ancients of the Reverse World used spirits to move their
Gollems directly.
"The Gollems from back then are different to the ones now, of course. The
modern notion of a Gollem was born only during their great war."
"Huh, so that kiln thing's from a time before the Phrase invasion happened
over here..."
Judging by the condition of it, I couldn't believe it was over five thousand
years old. Did it have protective magic on it or something? Then again, some of
our Frame Gears were that old and they were fine...
"Now I can analyze this ancient technology and unfurl secrets yet unknown!
Mua ha ha ha ha!"
"Our daughter's...a little scary, isn't she?"
"She certainly is, dear. But that's just how she's wired."
Leen and I looked over at Quun with troubled expressions on our faces. I
personally felt that a laugh that evil should never be shown to one's parents...
"Now then, off to Babylon for me!"
"Be sure you're back down for dinner."
"Okaaaay!"
Quun merrily skipped off toward Babylon. That girl sure was something.
When it came to her hobbies, she was like a devil in girl form.
I sighed quietly and shook my head, only for Yumina to do the same.
"She's terribly cute, isn't she? I hope my own child comes soon..."
"Whatever do you mean, Yumina? Is she not your child? They're all siblings,
aren't they?"
Leen's words caused Yumina to pause for a moment, but then she smiled and
let out a small chuckle.
"You're quite right. I'm her mother as well, aren't I?"
Quun had referred to Yumina as such earlier, even, which was only natural.
She'd had nine mothers since the moment she was born. I highly doubted that
the ties of biology mattered much to our kids when it came to their moms.
Quun was fond of teasing all of them, not just Leen. Though I got the feeling she
still tormented Leen just a little bit more than the rest.
I could still understand Yumina's feelings, however. It was frustrating knowing
your kid was out there somewhere, but not knowing when they'd actually show
up.
I'd secretly ordered Kougyoku to have her servants act as lookouts for
anything unusual in all the major cities. That was mostly for finding Yakumo if
she happened to show up, though... She was the hardest to track, since she
could freely use [Gate] and all.
Frankly, her actions confused me. If she wanted to train, then what better
place to do it than the country that was home to Moroha and Yae herself? As a
father, I just didn't get it.
◇ ◇ ◇
It'd been about a week since I visited the Kingdom of Rhea. Quun hadn't come
down from Babylon at all since that trip. She and Elluka were apparently hard at
work on something deep inside the research laboratory. That girl of mine was
clearly an indoor person... Or rather, she had the makings of an extreme
recluse.
Frei, on the other hand, was a total outdoor person. But she tended to only
really do things with Ende's daughter, Allis.
"By the way...wasn't there supposed to be some kind of tournament in
Mismede?" I turned toward Linze as I asked that, hoping she'd have an answer
to my question. It was lunchtime, so we were seated at the dining table
alongside Elze, Sakura, and Sue.
The other girls had other things to attend to, so it was just us. That wasn't too
uncommon an occurrence, and everyone was perfectly fine going about like
that.
"It started today, I believe. Isn't that right, sis?"
"That's right. Bwuh, I wish I was competing..." Elze grumbled to herself as she
ate her omelet. I could understand her annoyance, but it was better for her not
to compete in things like that.
Elze, Yae, and Hilde were among the strongest people in the world. I felt like
the only non-gods that could defeat them at this point were long-lived dwarven
or elven individuals who'd dedicated thousands of years to training.
"Well, I guess it's fine not to compete... A foreign royal showing up for
Mismede's contest might be frowned on."
"Yeah, you're right... It's not easy being a grand duchess."
The beastking had always wanted to host a grand martial arts tournament in
Mismede, but his advisors constantly vetoed it by citing budget issues. But after
they saw the tournament in Brunhild and realized how much money we
must've raked in from the food stalls and other such things, they realized they
could just as easily do the same thing. From there it was just a matter of getting
the go-ahead from Royal Chancellor Glatz.
I made sure to help them out with warding and recovery magic, though.
Better safe than sorry, after all.
Since this was the first tournament, it was apparently limited to Mismedians,
but I had a feeling there'd be more participants in future bouts. Especially after
the magic train got running properly.
I wondered if the beastking himself would be participating... When he joined
in on our tourney, he fought Belfast's General Leon to a draw. I never actually
saw the fight myself, since I was unconscious due to my encounter with Gila,
but I heard it was one to remember. If only someone had recorded it...
"If she can't participate, could she at least go watch?"
"Hmm... The beastking probably wouldn't have an issue with that, but..."
Sue's words troubled me slightly. I wasn't entirely sure if it'd go so smoothly if
Elze actually went there. I had a feeling that the tournament winner or maybe
even the beastking himself would challenge Elze to an exhibition match at the
end or something. It'd be a real pain if one of Brunhild's royals beat up either
the winner of their first tournament or the king himself...
I personally felt like we should just give up on going to the Mismede
tournament this year. But just as I was about to voice my thoughts, I received a
telepathic message from Kougyoku.
"I apologize for interrupting your meal, my lord, but I've received important
intel from one of my scouts. I'd implore you to take a look for yourself."
"Sure. Patch me through."
My optic nerve was magically linked to one of the birds under Kougyoku's
command.
Darkness engulfed my vision for a brief moment, but then it was replaced by a
sight not my own. I was seeing through the bird's eyes.
Huh...? Where is this? There sure are a lot of people... Is this a venue hall?
There's a bunch of demi-humans... Is this Mismede? Oh, yep. It's Mismede.
There's the chancellor over there, and that's the fighting ring that I cast a ward
on the other day. It's the tournament hall.
The venue was stacked with beastmen. It was quite the sight, really. Seemed
like the event had drawn a considerable crowd.
The bird's gaze suddenly shifted to the middle of the arena itself. Someone
was fighting... It seemed like the tournament itself was ongoing. One of the
fighters was a massive, bearded man with a huge wooden sword. He was some
kind of bear beastman, probably. As for his opponent...
"Wh—?!"
A clatter rang out as I stood up and knocked my chair to the floor. Everyone
stared at me, but I could only look back at one of my wives... Linze.
She was the spitting image of the girl I'd just seen fighting in the arena.
"Wh-What's going on, Touya?!"
"N-Nothing, it's just... Well, I got a message and... Ugh... It'll be faster if I just
show you!" I said that, then quickly cast [Mirage] to project the image of what I
was seeing over in Mismede. The scene now played out above the dining table.
There was no sound, though. It was like a muted video.
"...Huh?"
"What is this, an arena?"
"Wait, is that kid fighting?"
"Is that Linze?"
The girl looked to be about seven. She wore a heavy gauntlet on each hand,
and she was giving the large bear beastman a serious run for his money.
She charged in like a furious bolt, prompting her foe to respond by turning the
broad side of his blade toward her. But she saw through his maneuver and
suddenly jumped upward, zigzagging through the air above him... I could only
stare in awe, unsure how she was even doing that. It was like she was jumping
off invisible platforms. She then wound back her fist and brought it crashing
down against the man's sword, splintering it to pieces. The bearman was
blasted back with it, falling out of the ring. He bounced a few times before
smashing into a wall.
Everyone at the table cried out in sheer shock. We couldn't believe what we
were seeing... Just how powerful was she? Elze looked at the girl on the video,
then at her sister. Then she looked back and forth a few times.
"C-Could it be...? Could that really be...?!"
"I think it's Linze's daughter... Linne."
"They look really similar, yep. It's gotta be her."
Sakura and Sue both nodded in unison. They really did look similar... Though,
that was probably to be expected.
She had shoulder-length silvery hair, along with a headband that resembled
Linze's. Her eyes, on the other hand, made me think more of Elze at a
glance...but she was wearing clothing much closer to Linze's. It was honestly like
looking at a miniature Linze.
"Awawawah?! Sh-She's here?! Sh-She's arrived?! She's real?!"
"What are you asking now...?"
"Uhm... Ah... Ahhh! C-Calm down! Deep breaths! Wh-What is this?! WhWhat?! Sh-She's really..."
"Calm down, Linze."
She was completely freaking out. I definitely understood why, though. The
only reason I was so composed was because it'd happened a few times to me
already.
"Ah! Look!"
"Huh?"
I heard Elze squeal, then turned back to look at the display. Linne was waving
her hand out toward the audience and celebrating her win. But then I noticed
the other small girl in the audience raise her hand in turn, waving back to the
winner.
"She looks just like Elze..."
"That must be Elna, yep!"
"Wh-Whah?! Sh-She's here?! Sh-She's real?!"
Elze started sweating profusely in response to Sakura and Sue. Her eyes
started darting around frantically. The room's atmosphere had quickly shifted
to one of pure panic, and both twins were now flustered beyond words.
"Uhm... Ah... Ahhh... Wh-What do I do? C-Calm down! Ah! Wh-What is this?!
Wh-Whaaaaaat?!"
"Elze, calm down... Wait, didn't we just do this?"
She was acting just as freaked out as Linze had been earlier. They really were
alike...
The girl in the audience had long silvery hair. She resembled Elze in a great
many ways...except for the eyes. They reflected a softness and maturity that
her mother was somewhat lacking in. She wore clothing similar to Elze's, as
well. Perhaps future Linze made them for her?
"T-Touya! We gotta go to Mismede, now!"
"Th-That's right! Why are we staring at the projection?! We need to get
going!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down..."
I was powerless against just one yelling wife, so the combined force of two
was enough to bring me to my knees. I quickly opened up a [Gate] to the arena,
allowing us to exit in a quiet corner of the spectator stands.
Elze and Linze practically dashed through after me, while Sakura and Sue
came through in a more orderly fashion.
We watched Linne leave the ring and head for a nearby antechamber. Linze
immediately started charging after her, so I had no choice but to grab her arm
and stop her from making a fuss.
"Hold on! She's still a tournament participant. If you go into the waiting room
and see her without permission, you might cause trouble."
"B-But..."
"Why don't we hold off on Linne for now and go see Elna in the audience?
That way she'll end up coming to us anyway, yeah?" Sue's words caused Linze
to reluctantly nod in agreement.
"Uhm... Where is she...? Oh, there!" Elze pointed out Elna, who was sitting
rather far away from us. She was on the front row, on the opposite side of the
arena.
I was surprised she managed to pick the girl out from the bustling crowd, but
maybe that was just a mother's intuition at work. We'd have to circle the arena
to reach her... Just as I was about to break into a light jog, I heard Elze speak up
from behind me.
"Sakura! Please use [Teleport]!"
"Sure."
My vision changed in a flash.
Ack! Wait, you idiots!
Apparently, being exposed to my divinity gave Sakura the added perk of being
able to teleport multiple people within a certain radius. We materialized on the
other side of the ring, causing some nearby people to jump back in shock.
We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, dammit!
In the midst of the sudden chaos, I could only focus on one thing. The
confused eyes of the young girl who was looking up and over at us.
"Mommy?" Elna's gaze was focused solely on Elze.
"U-Uh... E-Elna?"
"Ahhh! Waaah!"
Upon hearing her own name come from Elze's mouth, Elna's expression
shifted. Her eyes welled up with tears almost immediately.
"Mommy! It's youuu! Waaaaaah! Snff... Waaah! I missed you! I was so
scared!" Elna bolted forward, clinging to Elze's side and sobbing like a child...
But given that she was one, that was reasonable.
Elze was clearly taken aback by the sudden hug, but she quickly composed
herself and pulled little Elna into a tender embrace.
Uh...I'm here too, you know? You know, your dad? H-Hello...?
◇ ◇ ◇
Elna was crying a lot, so we left the venue hall to help calm her down. Once
we got out of there, we sat down on a nearby bench and listened to her recount
the story of what had happened.
"So wait, you landed at the Great Gau River?!"
"Mhm... We were on a bridge in Mismede, but it was all rotten and it
collapsed...so I fell with Linne..."
"A-are you okay?! You aren't hurt, are you?!" Elze suddenly panicked, patting
her hands gently around her daughter's body. Elna giggled quietly at that.
"It's okay. We didn't fall in the water, but we lost our phones in there...so we
couldn't call anyone..."
That explained a lot. The mass-produced smartphones were enchanted with
[Apport] and [Teleport] to prevent them from getting lost or stolen, but that
depended on me actually triggering the magic. Without me, there was nothing
the two girls could do.
"We decided we needed to find our way to Brunhild when we heard about
the tournament...and, well, we thought maybe we could ask the beastking for
help..."
"Wow! You're so smart! That's my girl!" Elze said that and gave Elna a big hug,
rubbing her cheek up against the girl's own. Elna's cheeks turned beet red in
response.
Heh... I get it. They look just like Elze and Linze, so I'm sure the beastking
would contact me if he met them. Even if I hadn't come here, I probably
would've gotten a call about it by tomorrow.
But there was a bit of a problem. The mass-produced smartphones were
marked with serial numbers, and that was how I recalled any lost ones to me.
However, I didn't know the serial numbers for their phones, since they were
from the future. And because the serial numbers were supposed to be secret,
the girls didn't know their own either.
It was kind of a pain, but I figured I'd just use [Search] to track them down
later.
As I mulled that over, Sue suddenly spoke up, asking, "How old are you and
Linne?"
"We're both seven...but I'm the older one, by a month!"
Apparently, Elna was my sixth child, and Linne was the seventh. Quun was the
third...so that meant there were two other kids between them. There were also
two younger than Linne.
I didn't know which of those were Yumina's, Lu's, Sue's, or Sakura's, however.
Sue and Sakura pressed for info on their kids, but Elna didn't relent. She
mentioned that Granny Tokie told her not to speak too much about the future.
Elze noticed how ravenous for information the two women were and quickly
shut them down. Sue and Sakura took their defeat with a small sigh, but they
gave up for the time being.
At that moment, a funny sound rang out. It was a little growl from Elna's
tummy. I raised a brow and saw the little girl clutching her stomach. Her cheeks
were flushed.
"O-Oh, we haven't gotten to eat yet..."
"Well, we were actually in the middle of lunch when we noticed you were
here. Let's grab a bite to eat. Excuse me, three skewers for each of us, please!"
"Coming right up!"
Sue turned around and ordered us a ton of chicken skewers. There was an
absolute mountain of food in my [Storage], but it wasn't bad to partake in local
cuisine every once in a while. Besides, it was a festival, so taking the chance to
eat stall food was part of the fun. Thus, I took a skewer and handed it off to
Linze.
"Here you go."
"Oh, thanks..." Linze mumbled before smiling softly. I could tell she was a bit
worried about Linne, though. Her smile was weaker than usual as she looked
over at Elze and Elna sitting with each other.
"It'll be okay. She's your daughter... I know she'll win... Don't worry, Linze."
"Thank you, Sakura..." Linze replied, her smile brightening a little upon
hearing those words. Sakura was right. She had to have strength on the level of
a gold or silver adventurer. If anything, she might even have been able to win
the whole tournament...which would've been a huge problem.
"Since we've found the girls, should we get Linne to drop out?"
"Um... I don't think you can do that, dad..." Elna quietly mumbled in my
direction. She felt a little more distant compared to how close she was with
Elze...but I chose to believe she was just shy about how she'd been crying.
Having a daughter who wasn't comfortable around me would make me sad.
"Linne loves contests like this. If she loses she'll be upset, but if she gets
pulled out she'll be even sadder... She'll cry if you do that... She'll probably cry if
she just loses normally..."
Oh... Guess she's really childish.
Quun and Frei were mature for their ages, so it might have given me
unrealistic expectations of my kids.
"Hmm... The problem is this is Mismede's first tournament. It's a milestone
event for them, you know? It'd be one thing for a normal person from another
country to win, but a foreign royal might be a bit much..."
I didn't plan to tell anyone Linne was related to me, but she looked so much
like Linze that it'd be an uphill battle convincing anyone otherwise. Even if we
said she was a cousin or something, that still wouldn't be a good look.
It wouldn't be a problem if she lost in the tournament, but I didn't know if it'd
be a good idea for her to fight to the finals... My feelings were ultimately mixed.
As a father, I'd have loved to see her win, but as a national leader, I knew it'd
complicate matters. After all, I knew the people of Mismede would prefer to
have someone from their country win the tournament.
"Oh, that reminds me... Does Linne have anything up her sleeve? Any Null
spells, maybe?"
"Oh, yeah. She does! She has [Gravity],
" Elna bluntly answered Elze's
question.
Oh... Now I see... Yeah... That'll do it.
That was an ability I used a lot. You could use it to increase the force of your
weapon at the last second before impact. In Linne's case, she probably couldn't
use it remotely via her phone like I did, so she was directly manipulating the
weight of the gauntlets she was constantly in physical contact with.
"Can you use magic in this tournament?"
"So long as it's not recovery magic or direct attacks, you can. There was
[Tailwind] in the last match," Elna answered Sue's question.
[Tailwind]... That's a Wind spell that boosts your speed, right? I don't use it
often, but it's like a mix of [Accel] and [Boost].
"When Linne was walking through the air earlier...was that magic?" Sakura
asked Elna what I was thinking.
"She was using [Shield] to make mid-air platforms to bounce off. They're not
visible, so it looks like she's walking..."
She's using [Shield] like that?! That's smart, since you can create small ones
that vanish after a few seconds. I should actually give that a go at some point.
But my daughter with Linze has [Shield] and [Gravity], huh? Two Null spells...
As if sensing my thoughts, Elna spoke up and informed me of the spells she
was capable of using. She could use [Boost], [Multiple], and [Recovery]. Upon
hearing that her daughter could use the same Null spell she could, Elze broke
out into a huge smile.
Quun could use [Program], Elna had [Boost]...and Sakura's daughter Yoshino
apparently had [Teleport] as well. I wondered if that meant there really was a
genetic aspect to Null magic...
"So, uh, what are we gonna do about Linne?"
"I could yank her to us with [Teleport] if you like..."
"No, don't do that."
Sakura's suggestion felt like a bit much to me. I didn't want to make my
daughter cry the first time I met her.
"If she loses she'll stop, right? Why not have the Beastking put her up against
someone really strong?"
"Hm... It'd have to be someone extremely strong, though... She beat that big
guy pretty easily."
"How about you use [Mirage] on me? Then I can fight her! It seems like she's
one of my students alongside Allis, so it might be fun!"
Elze's suggestion seemed a little too extreme, but I didn't know if we could
trust the beastking or his staff to handle this delicate situation.
"If she's your student, then she might be able to tell it's you because of your
fighting style, Elze... I guess I'll just have to—"
"I'll do it," Linze raised her hand, speaking in a small yet clear voice.
"Huh?"
"Looking at my sis bonding with Elna, I... I want to get close to my daughter
too."
Can that really be considered bonding? I'm not entirely sure if challenging her
to a duel is the same as hugging her...
"But you're a mage, Linze. How are you gonna fight her?"
"The rules say I can't use magic to hurt my opponent, but there are ways
around that. I'm trained in many arcane aspects, after all."
Linze wasn't as physically strong as most of the others, but that didn't mean
she was weak. In all honesty, she was far, far beyond your average adventurer.
She'd spent a long time in Babylon's library studying ancient magic, compound
spells, and even spirit magic. She was also further empowered by the wedding
ring, since it was a gift from God Almighty.
"Hey, Elna. Linne's the type to get carried away, isn't she? Did she say this
tournament was going to be an easy win?"
"Y-Yes...she said exactly that... How did you know?"
"Hee hee... I've heard it before. Plenty of times from my sister when we were
growing up, in fact."
"L-Linze! N-Not in front of my daughter!"
Elze flailed her arms as her cheeks flushed red. I couldn't help but chuckle at
that.
"I think it's my duty as a mother to know how far my daughter's coming
along. Is that okay, Touya?"
"It's fine by me, yeah..."
I wasn't sure Linze could beat Linne in a straight physical match, though. This
wouldn't be like Hilde's duel with Frei. Still, I had faith that Linze would be able
to think of a way to make her daughter submit without either side suffering
harm... That seemed more her style, after all.
My phone suddenly vibrated in my breast pocket, so I pulled it out. It was a
call from Royal Chancellor Glatz...of Mismede...
"Uhhh, hello?"
"Oh, Grand Duke? Are you perhaps in Mismede?"
"Er, yes... How'd you know?"
"Ha ha ha hah... I thought I saw you and a few of your companions from my
viewing box. Would you care to join me up here?"
If I recalled correctly, Glatz's box was a VIP area on a higher floor. He was a
bird beastman, so that probably explained his keen eyesight from such a
distance.
I shrugged my shoulders and accepted the invite. This next match would
surely be one to remember.