Volume 1, Chapter 3, The Sacred Tree
"It's a really big tree."
In front of us was a holy tree said to be larger than the royal palace and to have existed for thousands of years. The trunk alone was over 100 meters thick.
Furthermore, blue, red, and yellow lights sparkled like fruits of the tree.
At the base, there was a hollow inside the tree, where the king, the prime minister, Murasaki, I, and the escort knights entered.
The inside of the tree hollow was quite spacious, about the size of a small meeting room.
In the middle of the tree hollow, a woman dressed as a shrine maiden was waiting.
"I'm counting on you today, Reina."
"Yes, Father."
The woman dressed as a priestess, called Reina, was a few years older than me and incredibly beautiful. Her shiny black hair was tied up with white fabric at the base of her neck and reached down to her waist.
"So you're saying you're my cousin?" I asked.
"Yes, I am the first princess. That makes me your cousin," she replied.
"The Sacred Tree chooses women with suitable qualities from the royal family to become priestesses," explained the king.
"Yuuki is a bit of an odd one, you see. Normally, we reincarnate them over there when they're around ten years old, but since he was born and raised there, he might be selected for a different kind of guardian spirit than the ones we've had so far."
The prime minister looked at me with interest.
"Come to think of it, do they get born as babies over there when they reincarnate?"
I asked about something that had been on my mind.
"No, only boys around ten years old with a crest are chosen to be reincarnated by the Holy Tree. But if there's a Japanese child with a similar aptitude around the same age, they sort of possess or assimilate with them. So, their memories and personalities mix a little bit."
"...Isn't that more like possession than reincarnation? It's like taking over someone's body."
I grimaced.
"Well, even if you say that, there's nothing else we can do. We have to do it for the sake of our country," the king answered with a troubled expression.
I wonder what will happen. Will the son suddenly change his personality, or will the parents cry? Moreover, returning here means they will disappear without a trace there.
"Well, that's fate. There's nothing we can do about it," the prime minister said, trying to dismiss it as fate.
"It's fate, so we can't help it," the king and prime minister tried to deceive themselves with fate.
"If you're having a hard time with your wives, perhaps it's just fate."
"The criticism is harsh."
The king laughed.
"You really resemble my brother."
The prime minister said, sounding a little nostalgic.
"Is it about time?" Reyna-san said as if to cut off the casual conversation between the king, the prime minister, and me.
In the depths of the tree hollow, there was a large altar.
When Reina stood before the altar, she performed a ceremony of two bows, two claps, and one bow while sitting seiza.
I thought to myself that this must be a Shinto ritual, but following Reina's lead, I also sat in the same manner and performed the same ritual.
"I, Sumeragi Reina, serving as a priestess, humbly offer my services before the sacred tree. I beseech you to grant our clan member, Sumeragi Yuuki, who has returned from the foreign land, as the guardian deity today and connect him to the sacred tree. I prostrate myself deeply and sincerely before you."
Here, my name seems to be Sumeragi Yuuki, perhaps because of my royal status.
The sacred tree began to shine, and the images of the gods appeared there.
It was surprising, but it was a Japanese god.
Huh, does it have something to do with the other world?
Then, a blazing flame appeared in the center of the screen. He held a sharp sword in his left hand and a lasso in his right hand.
It's Fudo Myoo. Is it okay? He's a Buddha.
A golden letter "KA" meaning Fudo Myoo in Sanskrit, known as seed syllable, appeared from the center of Fudo Myoo in front of me and entered my body.
And the appearance of Fudo Myoo in front of me was also changing.
The sword in his hand became larger, and as the figure of Fudo Myoo disappeared, the sword became a huge sword- Kurikara sword. The flames surrounding Kurikara sword disappeared, and it became a black lacquered Japanese sword.
"Go, Gouten"
Reina trembled as she looked at the sword and answered, "Eh!!"
The king and prime minister were surprised.
As the sword, Gouten, floated towards me, it settled into my hand.
Simultaneously, armor appeared on my body that was a mix of the armor of the Warring States period and Western armor.
"I-it can't be true. Why did Gouten appear?" Reina trembled.
"Is this bad? Is the next war going to be bad?"
The king is quite anxious.
"What...what's going on?"
"The Gouten has appeared twice so far. Once during the founding of the country, and the other when Yamato was on the brink of destruction. Both times, it appeared in a crisis situation. This sword is to be given to the hero who will save the country."
"What?!?"
I was taken aback by the king's words.
"According to legend, the Gouten can cause destruction like a small nuclear bomb wherever it is aimed. It's the strongest artifact of the Holy Tree. Well, it's like a cheat. However, the problem is that once it's fired, it can't be used again until the same time the next day. It can only be used once a day."
As someone who had once lived in Japan, the king was familiar with the concept of cheats.
"By the way, the armor you're wearing is also an evolving armor that will continue to protect you. And, with the guidance of the guardian god, taking into account your personality and talents, you will be granted the skills you desire. Well, you should ask your guardian god for more details. They should be able to teach you. More importantly, this war will be a battle for whether we will perish or not. There's no doubt about that," said the Prime Minister with a serious expression.
"Shall we take our wives to the battlefield?" the King whispered quietly, making sure Reina-san couldn't hear.
"Oh, that's a good idea," the Prime Minister whispered back in a low voice.
Shady.
It's too shady.
Does he want to decrease the number of his wives?
At that moment, a knight rushed into the room and knelt before the king.
"Your Majesty, Alekcia in the west has finally begun to move! They are approaching with an army of over 150,000!"
"150,000! That's too many. Did they also send troops to control Edelheit in the north?"
The king was slightly surprised.
"Yes, Your Majesty. In fact, Edelheit in the north is also marching south with an army of 100,000!"
"So they have formed an alliance."
"Yes, most likely."
"The total force is 250,000. That's twice the size of our country's army. Tell them to fortify the defense of the castle at the border! We will also march out!"
The Prime Minister shouted.
"Uh oh. The wives won't come to the battlefield if they're scared."
The King muttered with a pale face.
"We can't do it either. That's too bad."
The Prime Minister answered in a whisper.
"Geez, that's some confidence for a war that could end in destruction."