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After Returning to the Country Arc – 4: The God-protected Forest’s Longest Day
— In the middle of the 8th month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar —
On this clear day, I was flying through the sky on Naden’s back while she was in ryuu form.
This height had scared me at first, but after a number of times being sent out to do weather reporting, I was now completely used to it. Now, I could even sleep at an altitude of 1,000 meters.
Though Naden gets mad if I sleep...
“Is something the matter, sire?” Aisha asked.
“It’s nothing,” I told her.
It was just that today Aisha was seated behind me, with her hands wrapped tightly around my waist. That was because we were heading to Aisha’s homeland, the God-protected Forest.
“Still, why are we going to the God-protected Forest so suddenly?” Aisha asked.
“Because we got engaged, but I haven’t gone to give my regards to Sir Wodan. We’ve been communicating with letters, but I’ve been meaning to find the time to go see him.”
“It was to see him about the betrothal?!”
“Yeah. I’ve already talked to Liscia’s parents, and Juna’s guardian is Excel, so I’ve spoken with her. For Naden, Tiamat is like her mother, so the formalities are taken care of there, too. For Roroa... I intend to visit their grave soon.”
Near Van, the former capital of the Principality, there was a grave for the Amidonian royal family. Roroa’s parents lay at rest there. I couldn’t imagine Gaius would have blessed our marriage, but I had to believe that Roroa’s mother, a cheerful woman according to Sir Gouran, would have pacified him.
“So, that being the case, we’re visiting Aisha’s family home, huh?” Naden asked.
“Urgh... If that was what this was about, you could have told me. I’m not mentally prepared...” Aisha ground her forehead against my back.
Leaving the confused Aisha alone for a bit, I talked to my other fiancée, who was kindly giving us a ride.
“Sorry, Naden. Making you give Aisha a ride again, too.”
I gave her a pat on the back.
She turned her ryuu head around to look our way and replied, “I don’t really mind if it’s Aisha,” using her telepathy. “She’s ridden me before. Besides, ‘the partner of my partner is like my partner.’”
“Yeah, you were saying something like that before.”
Aisha, who seemed to have recovered from writhing in embarrassment, tilted her head to the side. “Hm... If Naden and I are partners, which of us is the husband?”
What is this stupidity Aisha was suddenly spouting? ...was what I thought, but Naden pondered the question with a surprising amount of seriousness.
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be you, Aisha? You’re strong, after all.”
“In your ryuu form, you’re strong, too.”
“But compared to Juna, you’re more of a husband type, wouldn’t you say?”
“Comparing me to Juna isn’t fair! She’s more of a woman than anyone.”
“In this form, my breasts are bigger than hers... Wait, saying that just makes me sad. But when you think of it that way, isn’t Liscia the most like a husband?”
“Lady Liscia is gutsy,” Aisha agreed. “In a way, she’s better husband material than His Majesty.”
“You’re just saying whatever you want...” Hearing the two of them talk, my shoulders slumped. It was true enough; I was nowhere near as gutsy as Liscia. “Still, in the end, you’d both prefer to be the wife, right?”
““Well, of course.””
“For my part, I need both of you to be my brides.”
“Sire!” Aisha cried.
“Souma!”
The two both smiled bashfully.
I was embarrassed having said it, too.
“It’s awkward having my superior flirting right beside me, you realize?” Hal complained.
He was flying beside us on the back of Ruby, who was in red dragon form. He looked at us with a face like he’d been forced to drink boiled sugar.
His mount was looking at Naden with her golden eyes, too.
“You, too, Naden,” Ruby rebuked and then looked away sulkily. “If you’re a dragon of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, keep yourself together when your knight is riding you. That is the dignity expected of a knight’s partner.”
“Souma’s not a knight, he’s a king, so there.”
“Don’t quibble! That makes him higher than a knight!”
“Oh, geez, shut up!”
The two of them started arguing high up in the sky.
While they weren’t as hostile as they had been when I’d first met the two of them, neither of them had changed their stubborn personalities, so fights like this were a daily occurrence.
That said, they did it as friends.
As my fiancĂ©e, Naden’s position was far higher than Ruby’s, but the fact they could fight on equal terms showed that Naden and Ruby didn’t let that come between them. They were each the only person the other knew from their homeland here, after all.
Then Naden said, “Nyahh!” and barred her teeth. “You can stop worrying about me and get along with your own knight, can’t you?! That fox-eared mage isn’t here today, so you can get as lovey-dovey as you want.”
“Wh-What are you saying?! I wouldn’t...”
“Oh, my, what’s this? Your face is all red, Ruby?” Naden teased.
“It’s naturally that color!”
After that, Naden and Ruby kept shouting and having a good time. Where did the dignity expected of a knight’s partner go...? Well, if they were getting along and fighting with each other, I could let that go.
“But there wasn’t any need for me to come, was there?” Hal asked. “If Young Miss Aisha and Young Miss Naden are with you, isn’t that enough to protect you?”
It was true; when I had the greatest warrior in the kingdom, Aisha, and Naden, who in her ryuu form could probably take on over ten wyvern riders at once, with me, there was no point in bringing Hal to protect me.
However, there was a good reason for bringing him along.
“When I sent Sir Wodan a letter saying, ‘I will come to visit soon,’ I was asked to bring you with me, too,” I explained. “It seems Sir Sur has been wanting to see you.”
“By Sir Sur, you mean... Ohh, that dark elf who came to reinforce us before, huh?” Hal said, clapping his hands.
Back when the Forbidden Army and the Army had been staring each other down near Randel, there had been a unit of dark elf archers rushing to their aid as thanks for the relief they’d received after the landslide disaster. The one leading those reinforcements had been Sir Sur. Our troops had been stretched thin at the time, so I was still really grateful remembering that assistance.
“But why does he want to meet me?” Hal asked. “He’s already repaid his debts, hasn’t he?”
“Oh, well, it seems the one who really wants to meet with you is Sur’s daughter. She was apparently one of the people you saved while searching for survivors with me.”
“...Yeah, I don’t remember her. We saved a lot of people that time, after all.”
“Even if you’ve forgotten her, she hasn’t forgotten you. You’re the man who saved her life, after all.”
“Only because that was the mission...” Hal scratched at his head.
He wasn’t good at accepting excessive praise. He might run wild at times, but that straightforward nature of his was very like Hal, and it left a good impression on me.
“Let her thank you, at least,” I said. “Now then... Come on, Naden, Ruby, don’t just keep fighting forever. Let’s hurry on to the God-protected Forest. Sir Wodan is waiting for us.”
“Oh! Yeah. Roger that.”
“R-Roger.”
And with the two dragon girls having come to their senses and picked up the pace, we headed for the God-protected Forest.
The green leaves of the God-protected Forest shone in the summer sun.
When coming to provide aid before, we had stopped the rhinoceros train outside and headed for the village on foot, but this time we were coming from the air, so we could land directly in the dark elf village.
“H-He really came on a dragon!” an elf exclaimed.
“That’s a big’un...”
They weren’t wary because we had notified them in advance, but the dark elves curiously watched the ryuu and the dragon descend from a distance.
When we touched down and Naden and Ruby took human form, the people who had been watching from a distance rushed in like a dam had just burst. Surrounded by dark elves of all ages, from children to adults, we ended up getting manhandled.
“What?! You girls are dragons?!”
“Wowwwie! Hey, transform again!”
“Why, King Souma, how good of you to come visit.”
“You were a great help last time.”
“Hey, Lady Aisha, good of you to come back.”
“Lady Aisha, congratulations on your betrothal to His Majesty.”
“Is this red-headed girl Sir Hal’s partner? She’s a beauty.”
“Who is this black-haired kid? Huh? She’s not a kid?”
That was about how it went, with the questions flying fast and it not being clear who was saying what to whom until somebody clapped their hands.
Looking in the direction of the noise, Aisha’s father Sir Wodan was looking on with a wry smile.
“Everyone, His Majesty and his entourage have only just arrived. It is rude to surround and interrogate them like that.”
When Wodan lightly told them off, the dark elves stepped back seeming a little embarrassed.
Now that we were free from the crowd, we could finally catch our breaths.
“You’re a lifesaver, Sir Wodan,” I said gratefully.
“No, no, the villagers were being rude. However, this is because when they learned that you, who came to the aid of our village, were coming to visit, they all became excited about how they had to welcome you. Please, forgive them.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m grateful for the warm welcome.”
Sir Wodan and I exchanged a firm handshake. In that moment, the dark elves all started clapping...
I dunno, being this welcome was kind of embarrassing.
“Now, it won’t do for us to stand here talking forever,” Sir Wodan said, indicating which direction he wanted us to go. “Please, come to my house.”
“Chief.” A hand went up from inside the crowd of dark elves.
The one with his hand raised was Sir Sur, who had lead the reinforcements that came during our battle against the Army.
“I wanted to invite Sir Halbert to my own house,” he said. “Would that be all right?”
“Hmm, what do you say, King Souma?” Sir Wodan asked.
I smiled and nodded. “I don’t mind. That was why I brought him along in the first place.”
“Thank you,” Sur said. “Now, Sir Halbert, please come to my house.”
“O-Okay?”
Hal was dragged off with Sur pulling him by the arm. Ruby hurried after them.
Having parted with Hal, Aisha, Naden, and I went to Sir Wodan’s house.
Looking at the village along the way, I could see almost no signs of the disaster that had happened here before. Their houses were in a forest to begin with, and many were simple, so it must not have taken long to rebuild them.
“You’ve come a long way towards recovering already,” I commented.
“That is thanks to your generous provision of materials,” Sir Wodan said. “Thank you, sincerely.”
“I ought to thank you. Thank you for sending those reinforcements during the recent war.”
“It was nothing. Those are the times when we most need to help one another.”
As we walked, we entered Wodan’s house.
Having been shown through to the living room, Wodan offered me the head seat at the table, but I firmly declined.
“I’m not here as a king today, but as a single man, here to take Aisha to wife. Please, sit at the head of the table, Sir Wodan.”
“...I see.”
Sir Wodan sat in the head seat, while I sat across from him. I had Aisha sit next to me, and Naden sat a little behind us, waiting.
Then I bowed my head. “Even though my betrothal to Aisha was agreed on, I must apologize for having been so busy that it delayed my coming to give you, her father, my regards. Please, give me your daughter... give me Aisha as my wife.”
“P-Please, Father.” Aisha hurriedly bowed her head.
When I glanced over, Naden was bowing her head along with us.
Sir Wodan sighed a little. “Raise your heads,” he said.
When I raised my face, Sir Wodan had tried to force a smile, but failed. It was an awkward expression.
“I am sure Aisha requested this marriage, didn’t she? There is no need for you to bow your head, Sir Souma. This is complicated for me as a father, but if it is my daughter’s wish... it seems I must give you my blessing.”
“Fatheeer...” Aisha said tearfully, her voice full of emotion. Sir Wodan gave her a smile, then returning his face to normal, he looked me in the eye.
“We dark elves are a long-lived race. Aisha is younger than you, and will live longer, I am sure. Even if you reach the end of your natural life, you will be leaving Aisha behind. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
The life of an ordinary human like myself, when looked at by a member of a long-lived race like Naden or Aisha, had to look like a short thing. Even so, Aisha and Naden both wanted to be with me.
In order to ensure they did not regret the time spent with me, I thought from the bottom of my heart that I would endeavor to be a good king, and a good partner. Even if a time when we would be forced to part was to come...
However, it seemed what Sir Wodan wanted to say was a little different than what I was reflecting on. He began to speak, sounding like he had found some sort of enlightenment.
“However, long-lived as our races are, if we cannot live to the end of our natural lives, it is possible for us to live a shorter time than humans. We can die in war or accidents. If we catch epidemic diseases, we die quite easily. My own wife, Aisha’s mother, lost her life to such a disease. If you let your guard down because she is long-lived, Aisha may pass on before you do.”
I was silent.
“So, please, take care of Aisha. Give her a new family and fond memories for the time when, someday, you go on ahead of her.” Sir Wodan quietly bowed his head.
A father’s wish was always for his daughter’s happiness.
I would soon be a father myself. I didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl yet, but there might come a day when, like Sir Wodan, I would entrust my child to someone.
I chose my words carefully and answered him in a calm tone. “Aisha is a far stronger person than I. From here on... I am sure she will defend me on the battlefield.”
He was silent.
“That being the case, I believe I will try to protect Aisha’s smile from everything else. So that, someday, she can see me off with a smile. So that she will not regret our time together.”
“Sire...” Aisha cried and drew closer to me.
I could hear sniffling from behind me, too. Her tears had likely made Naden start crying, too.
Sir Wodan stood up and walked towards me. Then, placing his hands over mine and Aisha’s, he smiled and said, “Sir Souma, I’m counting on you to take care of Aisha.”
“Yes, Father, I will.”
“Aisha. Be happy.”
“I will... Father.”
“Madam Naden, I am sure you will be Sir Souma’s wife, too. Please, treat Aisha well as a member of the same family.”
“Of course I will! Roger that!”
Having heard our responses, Sir Wodan smiled broadly and nodded in satisfaction.
Meanwhile, around that time...
Having broken off from Souma and the others, Halbert ended up being practically dragged into Sur’s house.
He walked where his hand was being pulled. With Halbert’s strength, which was among the top in the kingdom, it would be easy to shake free of this hand, but he felt nothing but goodwill from Sur, and so he couldn’t treat the man poorly.
Ruby hurried after the two of them.
Halbert turned just his head back in her direction and asked in a whisper, “H-Hey, Ruby, what’s going on here?!”
“D-Don’t ask me,” she whispered back. “Can’t you get away?”
“If he were hostile, that’d be one thing, but I’d feel bad brushing off an invitation made with goodwill...”
“Then all we can do is wait and see how it goes, right?”
While the two of them were having that exchange, Sur turned back with a smile. “Okay, we’re here. Welcome to my home.”
““Huh?””
By the time they realized it, the two had been led to a small house with a thatched roof. It was clearly the abode of a farmer, but the roof was bizarrely steep.
“That’s an awfully pointy house you’ve got... huh...”
Halbert’s opinion was more or less exactly how it looked, so Sur laughed.
“Here in this forest, when winter comes, we get a fair amount of snow accumulation. If we don’t use roofs like this so the snow falls off, they’ll collapse.”
“You get that much accumulation?” Hal asked.
“Yes. Because of it, we cannot hunt in winter, and everyone spends their time indoors, mending things or doing maintenance on their weapons. Though last year’s winter was different.”
“How so?”
Sur indicated the pile of lumber next to the stairs. “Because we had lumber from the trees knocked down by the landslide, as well as from the periodic thinning His Majesty advised us to do. We were making pieces of traditional art before, like statues, but they seem to have become popular in the outside world, and are creating significant wealth for us. There are occasionally merchants who receive permission from both the kingdom and the God-protected Forest to come buy them.”
“Wow...”
“The most popular of them was... Let’s see, I think I had one around here...” Sur said and began digging through the wood pile.
Not long passed before he pulled a long, thin object from the pile.
“Ahh, here it is.” He held it up for Halbert and Ruby to see. “This is it. This is the most popular item.”
“By this, you mean... a wooden sword?”
What Sur was holding up was a sword made of wood. What was more, it wasn’t the sort of orthodox double-bladed sword used in the kingdom, but one modeled on the katana which was the main style in use in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union. On top of that, there was some sort of writing or symbols carved into the handle.
“His Majesty called this a souvenir bokuto,” Sur said.
“Oh... Of course Souma would be involved.” Halbert said shaking his head in exasperation.
When Sur had started talking about traditional art, but then said the most popular item was a bokuto, he’d gotten the feeling. If it was the sort of thing where he couldn’t tell at first glance what the point was, it had to be Souma.
“Then what’s engraved on the handle was him, too?”
“Yes. He says they’re the characters that would represent the name of this forest in his world’s language,” Sur showed them the hilt and explained.
Halbert and Ruby couldn’t read them, of course, but there were four kanji, ????, carved into it.
Incidentally, Souma had considered carving in the name of that one lake in Hokkaido, since no one could read what it said anyway, but when he imagined soldiers training diligently with one of those wooden swords in hand... Yeah, no, he’d turned that idea down himself.
Sur offered the bokuto to Halbert. “Sir Hal, would you like one for yourself?”
Halbert stared at the proffered bokuto.
Ruby thought, What are you staring so seriously for? But... eventually, Halbert quietly took it.
“Huh?! You’re taking it?! It’s just a wooden stick, isn’t it?!” Ruby reacted to Halbert’s actions with wide-eyed shock.
“I don’t know why! I don’t get it, but I really wanted it!”
Sur nodded as Halbert tried to explain himself. “I understand. There’s something you find strangely exciting about it, as a man.”
“That’s right! If you see something like this, you can’t not take it! Is there some sort of magic placed on these characters?”
“I don’t really feel any magical power,” Ruby said dubiously. Red dragons were sensitive to magical power.
Most likely, what Halbert and Sur were feeling was the same thing that all those boys who bought a souvenir bokuto on a field trip did. However, Halbert didn’t know that was a thing, so he felt like he had been charmed somehow. This was the terror of the souvenir bokuto.
While they were having that inconsequential discussion, something burst out of Sur’s house.
Halbert, being a warrior by nature, readied himself to fight the instant it happened, but when he realized it was a small child, his tension eased...
However, that was a mistake.
“Lord Hal!” the child cried, landing an energetic tackle to the stomach.
“Guhhh!” Halbert let out a groan.
“Hal?!” Ruby cried.
He used his hands to give the worried Ruby a sign he was okay.
The one now hugging Halbert was a little dark elf girl.
She was maybe twelve. Her hair was cut short, and she had a cute face. With no regard for Halbert’s reaction, the girl rubbed her face against his abdomen.
“Lord Hal! I’ve been wanting to see you!”
“Erm... Are you Sir Sur’s daughter?” Hal said, remembering Sur had mentioned she wanted to see him. This girl who’d performed a flying tackle-hug had to be her.
The girl let go, and politely bowed her head. “Excuse me for that. I am Sur’s daughter Velza.”
Velza raised her face and grinned.
“I do not know if you remember me, Lord Hal, but I am one of those you saved from beneath the sand and dirt. Thank you so much for that.”
And she bowed her head once more.
Halbert was flustered. “No, it’s nothing you need to thank me for. I only followed Souma’s orders...”
“It still made me happy. I will never forget the day you saved me. Nor will I forget you, Lord Hal, or my debt of gratitude.”
“I dunno what to say...” Halbert was overwhelmed by the girl’s persistent thanks.
“Heh heh. She’s a real polite girl, isn’t she?” Ruby, who’d been left completely out of it, said to Sur. “She’s so small, but she really has it together.”
“Tell me about it. When did that tomboy daughter of mine get to be so pol—Gwah!”
“Sir Sur?!”
Mid-word, Sur began writing in pain. Velza had kicked a piece of wood lying by her feet, and it had landed a direct hit on Sur’s shin.
Through all of that, Velza never once dropped her smile.
When Halbert and Ruby saw Velza smiling like that, it reminded them of an angry Kaede, and a chill ran down their spines.
Because Halbert and Ruby were both straightforward in their personalities, they often had fights without it getting ugly, but if they ever stepped over the line, they knew they were in for a lecture from a smiling Kaede. This girl’s smile was just like Kaede’s was at those times.
Velza ran over in front of Ruby. “Um... Would you happen to be Lord Hal’s wife, perhaps?”
Ruby was dumbfounded for a moment, but then she nodded.
“Yes. I am Ruby the dragon. I’ve formed a dragon knight’s contract with Hal. Because the contract between a dragon and a knight makes them life partners, you could say we’re engaged.”
When Velza heard Ruby’s response, she clapped her hands. “Oh, my! You’re that dragon, Miss Ruby? To think he has become a dragon knight! That’s Lord Hal for you.”
Having said that with an innocent look in her eyes, Velza took Ruby’s hands.
“I want to join the National Defense Force like Lord Hal in future. If possible, I want to be assigned to Lord Hal’s unit. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma’am.”
“R-Right...”
It seemed Ruby was not entirely displeased to be referred to that way.
Seeing Velza worm her way into Ruby’s good graces in no time, Halbert sensed the situation moving forward somewhere where he had no control.
Wh-What is this...? This feeling like the moat around my walls was filled in without me noticing...?
While Halbert was thinking that, Sur, who had recovered from his pain, plopped a hand down on Velza’s shoulder with a sigh.
“It’s rude making our guests stand outside forever. How about we take this indoors?”
“Oh, my! You’re right! How careless of me. I was so delighted that Lord Hal was here, I got worked up despite myself. Now, let’s go, Lord Hal, Lady Ruby.”
Velza took Halbert and Ruby’s hands and showed them inside the house.
If anyone else saw it, it would look like a little sister having her big brother and sister indulge her. Halbert and Ruby didn’t feel bad about having a little girl adore them, either.
However, behind the two who were being led by the nose by Velza, Sur wore a wry smile.
Goodness me, he thought. She must take after her passionate mother... If you don’t take her by the reins, you’re going to be in for a rough ride, Sir Hal.
While thinking that, Sur followed the three of them inside the house.
That evening, with pleasantries with Sir Wodan out of the way, Aisha, Naden, and I went to visit Aisha’s mother’s grave.
In the God-protected Forest, people were buried at the bases of trees. Their custom was to return their bodies, which were raised on the forest’s blessings, to the forest.
We heard the rustling of branches and the buzzing of insects.
I knelt in front of the tree where Aisha’s mother lay at rest, my hands together, praying in the Japanese style. Like I had sworn to Sir Wodan, I would protect Aisha from sadness to the best of my ability.
So, please, give me your daughter, I prayed.
After staying like that for a short while, I stood up and looked at Aisha and Naden.
“I have something to say to the two of you.”
“What might that be, sire?” Aisha asked.
“What? Why so formal?”
They both gave me blank looks. I chose my words carefully.
“It’s about... after we’re gone.”
They both opened their eyes wide in silent shock.
This was something the two of them were going to have to face eventually, after all.
“If you let your guard down, even a member of a long-lived race can live a short life,” I said. “What Sir Wodan was saying makes perfect sense. However, the more likely outcome is that Liscia, Juna, Roroa, and I will end up leaving you two behind. I make this request having thought about what that means myself.”
I looked into their dumbfounded eyes and continued.
“Please... Don’t be lonely. I’m happy to have met you two. I don’t want to make this moment one that you reminisce on sadly while thinking, Things were better back then.”
The two of them said nothing, just keeping on listening to me speak.
“I want you two to be happy when you remember. Ideally, you’ll be able to smile and think, I’m happy now, but I was happy back then, too. Once we’re gone, stay connected to our children, and to the long-lived people you know like Carla and Excel... and if you find a good partner, I don’t mind if you get remarried.”
The two of them looked down and said nothing.
“Make sure you’re always connected with someone, and don’t be lonely,” I said. “Not ever...”
Aisha and Naden hugged me without a word.
They neither accepted or rejected what I was saying. Because we each understood all too well how the others felt.
If they were in my position, they might have thought the same thing I was. If I were in their position, I’m sure I’d have felt the same as they were. So there was no need for a response.
If the two of them remembered me saying this later, it might give them the push they needed if they ended up feeling lost when the inevitable happened. This was the best I could do for them. Their lack of response must have been their own way of being considerate.
I patted them both on the back and, with a laugh, I said, “I’m never letting go of you for as long as I live, though. I’m gonna be with you until you’re sick of me.”
“Okay,” Aisha said. “Let’s be together as long as we can.”
“We aren’t going to let go of you easily, either,” Naden agreed.
They both had tears in the corners of their eyes, but they were smiling.
“Let’s be sure we make children, too,” Aisha added. “I’ll do my best.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Definitely.”
“One won’t be enough, either,” Aisha went on. “You’ll have to work hard, sire.”
“S-Sure... I’ll do my best.”
Seeing Aisha get so enthusiastic, I felt a bit overwhelmed.
Naden joined in, too. “If we have a ryuu, we’ll have to leave it in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, so I’d prefer a dragonewt, if possible. I’d like to give birth to at least one ryuu to show my gratitude to Lady Tiamat, so... Oh! But if it’s a dragonewt, that would be a member of the sea serpent race, right? What do we do if it grows up to be like Duchess Walter?”
A child like Excel, huh...
“Let’s all work together to educate our child so that doesn’t happen,” I said fervently.
“Indeed,” Aisha agreed.
“Roger that.”
With that, we laughed while continuing to hug each other.