Chapter 84: Story Within a Story - (3)

.......

...Urgh!!

It can't be...! Morgana, turning down dessert?!

This is serious, everyone! She must be suffering terribly, in body and mind!

Nooo... You can't die yet!

I was perfectly fine to begin with! This is all your fault... MMPH!!

Phew... What a relief. We still have some emergency apple pie left.

Now, let's come up with a new recipe to restore Morgana's health!

.......

...Urgh!!!

Um, it looks to us like she's just.......

...Gagging because she ate too much. I don't think this has anything to do with the Library of Lethe.

Nah, that's just because you've never seen Morgan le Fay in her prime.

Back in the day, the Fairy Queen could devour a three-layer cake in a single bite.

What...? Is that even physically possible?!

Maybe with the Fairy Queen's magic...?

Why on earth would I invent a spell like that?!

Exactly. There's no way she'd ever do something like that.

For Morgana, the art of enjoying good food is practically a code of chivalry.

And someone like Morgana would never compromise that code with cheap tricks like magic!

Yes! That's exactly what I wanted to say!

Though we're now about a million miles off topic!!

Sounds like your stomach's settled already. Anyway, back to the point.

Of course everyone's worried. You passed out, even if it was only for a moment.

Yeah! I shook you as hard as I could, and you still wouldn't wake up!

So you were the culprit. No wonder my shoulders were aching the moment I woke up.

Ohhh... I-I'm so sorry.......

...I thought it would be safe, since students use it too.

I never imagined you were under a curse like that.......

Don't make such a fuss. I simply let my guard down.

Still, experiencing it firsthand let me work out almost exactly how the spell is put together.

Oberon is a remarkable wizard, but when it comes to magical theory and analysis, I'm far...

Boo!!!

.......

.......

Hey, hey! Why didn't you jump?! My timing was perfect this time, too!

Because you've pulled the exact same stunt five times already.

Aww... Are you tired of my affection already?

What a shame... Nothing reveals the true shape of a soul quite like fear does.

Or could I just crack your soul open and take a look? I'll be careful not to leave any scars!

You'll probably ask at least five more times, so let me answer all five in advance.

No. No. No. No.

Absolutely, no.

You're so mean! I almost never ask permission first, you know!

Well, if you don't want me to, I guess that's that.

It'll be a bit of a pain, but I'll just have to find another way!

And since I'm involved too, I'll say no ten times in advance.

All right, can we get moving now? You said there are a lot of dangerous undead around here.

Yep! Half of them are skeletons I let loose to guard the border.

And the other half are skeletons who used to be my friends and neighbors back home!

Huh? F-Friends... from back home?!

Hmm? Did you forget already? I told you, I was born and raised here!

Sure, the great "Ashur Empire" is gone, and its green plains are now a wasteland crawling with undead.

But people don't die that easily, even without necromancy.

They'll become whatever it takes to survive... Keeheehee!

She means she made necromantic contracts with war refugees and prisoners of war from Ashur.

The fighting around here still hasn't stopped. And it often spills over into Igrit.

B-But... even so, doing that to people you knew.......

Of course I got their permission first! It's not like they had anything left to lose!

When you could die any minute, do you really have time to worry about your corpse?

Th-That's.......

Oh, by the way, when you're making undead, it's best to leave them with just a tiny bit of sanity.

They actually resist way less that way! Isn't that fascinating?!

...Though tampering with souls like that is illegal.

Obviously, even if I become emperor, I'm not changing that law.

I'd like to ban necromancy altogether, but.......

...Not every necromancer is like her.

Besides, we need her power for now.

Keeheehee... "For now," is it?

Ah, I just love that about you, Caira.

You play the noble hero, with every little scheme of yours carefully planned in advance.

You know exactly what kind of performance will thrill people... and what will leave them disappointed.

You know it instinctively, without even having to think... Absolutely shameless.

Neither Crassa nor I have that kind of instinct. You're the very opposite of a storybook king, aren't you?

Hate to break it to you, but this world isn't a fairy tale. And I've got no intention of becoming a storybook king, either.

All right, enough chit-chat! Let's find the "Seal of the White Dragon" and head back before the sun sets!

Yes, and we can take care of my "personal business" while we're at it.

Good grief... How did I, the Fairy Queen, become such a spectacle...? Hm?

Gaaah! Y-You scared me!!

E-Everyone! B-Behind Morgana... a s-skeleton!!

Ten to one it's one of Shuri's "friends." Ten to one it's another "prank," too... Wait, what?

Wait a second... Aren't there way too many skeletons for a prank?

Oh, right! I forgot to mention something!

For some reason, my friends won't follow my orders!

And I don't know what set them off, but now my friends' friends' friends are all swarming in too!

D-Does that mean... Oh no...!

Ahaha... Looks like we won't be getting through quietly this time either.

Hmph. Perfect timing. I needed to work off that meal anyway.

In the name of Avalon and apple pie! I'll cremate the lot of you, down to the very last bone!!

...Hang on. I've been seeing an awful lot of familiar skeletons.

Ooh! Our Holy Sword finally has an eye for skeletons!

Yep, yep! Half of them are friends we already took down!

Whoever's behind this has some real talent! They've even brought back the skeletons we burned to ash.

Aaargh, there's no end to these things!

I've smashed the same one three times already! Into three pieces each time!

Uuuugh... Even I'm starting to recognize the skeletons' faces...!

A-At this rate, we'll wear ourselves out first! Isn't there something else we can try?!

Of course there's a way! It's right in front of us.

What is it?! Even if it's nonsense, let's hear it!

Yep! And the answer is!!

The answer is...?!

Simple! You all become my undead, and you'll never get tired or die!

Want a contract? I've even got the Empire's official form!

Does sounding cheerful make that any less horrifying?!

Hmm? What's this? Is our Holy Sword more into the forceful approach?

You should've said so! I'm much better at cracking the whip than dangling the carrot!

If you've got time for nonsense, help Tina and me! We're trying to find out why these skeletons keep coming back!

Actually, isn't necromancy your specialty?! Why have you just been watching this whole time?!

Th-That's right! With your help, Shuri, we could solve this in no time!

Huh? I already know what's causing it.

...Huh?

What?! Then why didn't you say something sooner?!

Because you didn't ask?

Aaargh!!

Oh, forget it, forget it! We've just worked it out ourselves!

Lesser undead like those are no more than puppets. Destroy the core feeding them mana, and that should take care of it!

Yes! Shuri, would you please show us the way?

Everyone else, please hold off the undead at the entrance to the ruins!

You got it! Leave it to me and take your time!

Not one of those things is getting past me!

Yes! Leave this to us, and... *cough*!

T-Take your time... *cough*! *cough*!!

.......

...Oh? So we can just leave it all to you, Caira?

Then we can kick back for a bit? I didn't sleep well last night. I'm pretty tired.

H-Huh...?! Well, I mean... I can handle this on my own, but.......

Y-Y-Yes!! Especially since Elizabeth has... that... that......!!

R-Right! She gets those "seasick coughing fits"...!!

Oh, that condition that runs in the Pendragon royal family?

Come to think of it, we did take a boat to get here.

.......

Honestly... Do you think I'd care if a few skeletons slipped past?

Well, if you're that bored, you can always have dessert ready by the time I get back.

An offering to your Fairy Queen, who's suffering so terribly in body and mind!

...A truly perfect dessert.

......!!! C-Come to think of it, we used up all our emergency desserts earlier, didn't we...?!

Yes! I'll handle the resupply mission myself!

Caira, please hold off the skeletons in the meantime!

H-Hold on... You're going to make dessert... right now......?!

With undead all around us?!

Yes! Supplies are crucial in wartime!

.......

Aaaaargh! Whatever! I just have to make sure none of those things get close, right?!

Fine, I can do that! Elizabeth must have something in mind!

U-Um...! I know everyone's busy with all this, but.......

They may be skeletons now... but they were all people once......!

...Could we say "people" instead of "things"... please?!

What?! Why the hell does that matter right n...

.......

Ugh... Fine, fine! I won't let any of these "people" get close! Happy now?!

...Wait, while we're at it, couldn't we give you a cooler line?

Like... Like...!!

<Leave this to me and go on ahead!> ...or something?!

Aaaaargh!! We're in the middle of a battle here, you idiots!!!

Whoa! Everyone, look at this! The doodles I made when I was a kid are still here!

Even my childhood doodles were skeletons! Guess I was born to be a necromancer, huh? Keeheehee!

.......

Ahaha.......

Wait, this woman's skeleton looks kind of familiar...?

I saw the bakery lady over there earlier, and my mom would still have burn marks, so.......

...Could it be that girl from the watermill? Hmm.......

Excuse me. We didn't come here to play.

I did, though?

Then come back on your own later!

But I'm usually swamped with work! And my only friends are skeletons!

Besides, necromancers can't even keep pets!

Maybe that's why I want you even more, Morgana? Keeheehee!

I'll pretend I didn't hear that last part. We have more pressing matters to deal with.

That's right! The ruins aren't going anywhere!

We can take our time reminiscing later! All of us together!

Hmm, really? All right, back to business.

What have the two of you been doing this whole time anyway?

I already told you where the "Seal of the White Dragon" is hidden. Can't we just go get it?

Yes, and that little trinket is also why the undead keep coming back.

But think of the memories I saw in the "Library of Lethe," the "Seal of the White Dragon"...

...and the undead running out of control the moment we arrived.

It can't all be a coincidence. We have to be careful.

Yes, and the spell on Morgana is unlike anything we know.

It's less like fairy or human magic... and more like.......

...The power of a dragon.

The very power humans once called divine might or miracles, before I established magic as an academic discipline.

Aha! So you're drawing up a plan to break the "Curse"?

What a shame. If that power really is rooted in the "Divine".......

...it might have been a "Blessing" to someone.

Hmph, either way, I have no intention of letting anyone else decide that for me.

Not now that I've accepted the title of Fairy Queen.

Hmm... Says the queen with no kingdom or subjects?

Sh-Shuri!? What are you saying right now...?!

There are people who are better at that than I am.

I've had my fill of ruling nations, and I've already saved the world several times.

Now it's time for an even greater, more meaningful, more glorious achievement, one that will endure for all eternity!

.......

.......

What's with that half-hearted response? If you don't know what to say, at least clap.

Y-Yay...! A-A round of applause...!!

Can I pat your head instead?!

That look on your face just now was super cute! Hehehe.......

Would you like to become a skeleton yourself?

Well, now that we're on the subject, let me ask you a question of my own.

You said you were born and raised here, didn't you? From what I've heard, it wasn't always in this state.

Yep! As long as you keep the undead under control, even ruins like these can make a lovely home.

To us Ashur folk, life and death were as dull and ordinary as day and night.

Humanity's first empire, "Ashur," was also the cradle of necromancy.

They built armies of the undead, used them as slaves.......

...An immortal empire where even taxes were collected in souls, granting eternal life to its ruler.

But it came at a terrible price.

The land withered as its mana was drained away, and even souls, unable to endure eternity, slowly lost their sense of self.

Huh? What's with the sudden history lecture? Are you thinking of joining our magic school?

I need to check this against what you know.

If I'm right, this won't be just "personal business" anymore.

Hmm... So now you want to bring me onstage?

No. We've all been on the same stage from the start.

You're the only one pretending not to know, pretending none of this concerns you.

Putting on your little comedy from a comfortable seat in the audience.

.......

Morgana...?

Long ago, the "Ashur Empire" finally reached its limit.

No matter how much land they conquered, no matter how many people they sacrificed.

True immortality of the soul was simply impossible.

But then... a traveler from the west appeared and taught them a new kind of magic.

Not necromancy that drained the souls of the dead...

...but a burnt offering that melted the souls of the living into "Arke."

...!! Melting living souls... Just like the God of Destruction...?!

...You knew all along, didn't you? What Oberon was to me.

Yes. Oberon is no idol of yours.

She's the enemy who offered up your homeland as a living sacrifice, turning it into a hell where even death was denied.

Are you trying to say that I'm cursed just like you?

No one knows. I haven't uncovered the whole truth behind the curtain either.

But at least... you deserve to hear the "answer" I never got to give.

...Even if I'm not your "queen."

Huh? What is that supposed to...

Heh. Come to think of it, those were the terms of the contract from the start, weren't they?

Oberon was fundamentally different from me.

Her mana seemed to draw from the world itself,

and the world responded to her will as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

The wind blew in time with her humming, and flower buds opened at the brush of her hand.

Wolves forgot their hunger and rabbits their fear as they followed in her footsteps.

She never even had to work out why any of it happened.

You tried that at first, too.

Though I failed in the end. I'm just an ordinary fairy, after all.

But I've always been terribly prideful, you know. Prideful enough to keep trying to catch up to you, no matter what.

Which lyrics called forth the wind, and which gestures coaxed the flowers into bloom.

Why the same words and actions could produce different results from one day to the next.

I sorted through everything I could and couldn't do, analyzing it piece by piece...

...until I finally succeeded in reducing all those "miracles" to "magic."

Honestly... do you have any idea how hard I worked on that?

.......

...Why?

...You're asking me that now?

You watched me for all those years... You were right there!

Because I wanted you to tell me I'd done well! Because I wanted you to recognize me as your successor!!

I wanted to be more than a disciple following in her master's footsteps! I wanted to be the Fairy Queen entrusted with the future!

That's why... I worked hard, of all things!

Why I came all the way here, digging up a past I'd rather forget!

And yet... and yet...!!

C-Could that be the World Tree...?

But... why is it so twisted...?!

Ugh... Nghhh?!

M-Morgana! Are you all right?!

N-No...! This is just like before...

What is this ridiculously crude magic?! A child could have come up with this!!

It's all pathetic! This curse binding me! That rotting tree hanging in the sky!!

Even a common slime could cast a more sophisticated spell!

...Wha?!

Oh...?

.......

There's no way the "stage" for Excalibur and the God of Destruction was built overnight.

Even you couldn't have done it... No, especially not you, given how inept you were at magic!

It must have taken years and years... countless trials and errors!

And countless people must have been sacrificed along the way, in all sorts of ways!

Ashur was one of those attempts, wasn't it?! A miserable failure in your effort to build a more efficient stage!

You lured the king with the false promise of an immortal soul, making him sacrifice his own nation!

Because stopping the "Star Reincarnation" required vast amounts of Arke... human souls!

.......

...Is that your answer?

No! I'm just venting!!

I'll give you my answer once I've knocked you flat!!!

So, Tina! Shuri!!

Honestly, I can't do this alone, so you two had better help me!!

By order of Morgan le Fay, the Second Fairy Queen of Avalon!!

Huh? Y-Y-Yes, ma'am!! U-Understood!

.......

...Well, however much it looks like her, it's still just a shadow.

She'll forgive a little rudeness, won't she? Keeheehee!

.......

Haa... Haaah...

I-It's gone! The curse that was binding Morgana...!

...So we won?

I... actually beat Oberon...?!

Hehehe... Hehehehehe...!!

All three of us did, you mean! And it was only a shadow from a memory!

I know that, all right?! Can't you let me savor the moment for a second?!

.......

Hehehe... Did you see that, Oberon? Your disciple unraveled your curse in one go!

Even if you thought I was a pushover, you should have stuck to the basics!

Rely on brute force like that, and you're helpless once someone works out your magic formula!

...Yeah, I suppose so.

Exactly! So admit it!

When it comes to magical theory and analysis, I'm better than...

You talk a lot more than you used to.

It's my magic that's improved! My magic!!

Yes, that's improved too.

.......

...Hmph. As long as you understand.

Then will you give me your answer now?

One who is loved without loving in return. One who loves without being loved in return.

What kind of queen... should I have been?

.......

...Before I answer, there's something I need to tell you.

I wasn't completely oblivious back then.

I knew you were hiding something. Something that didn't fit the person I thought I knew.

Only vaguely, but I knew. The reason I never asked...

Were you scared?

...Yes.

I was scared of the truth, scared of all those lies.

And more than anything... I was terrified that you might actually be right.

I see...

So I pretended I had no clue until the very end.

Grumbling that you never taught me anything properly.

All the while, never once asking the questions that truly mattered... year after year.

And now?

Now, I've got a whole mountain of things to ask you about.

And as you can see, I'm strong enough to stand up to you now.

Yes... I suppose you've come to hate me after all.

...That's not what matters right now.

Just because I've come to hate you doesn't change the fact that you saved lives.

But just because I miss you...

...doesn't justify the tragedy that happened here.

.......

What I've seen here is only a shadow of the truth, after all.

This could all be a trap you've set, or I could just be seeing what I want to see.

So how could I draw any conclusions based on my feelings alone?

Hmm... really? And once you know the truth?

Will you tell me what happened to my homeland couldn't be helped, since she saved the world after all?

What right would I have to say that?

Decide for yourself whom to hate and whom to forgive.

Even if I become your queen, I can't decide how you feel about what you've been through.

.......

But now, I think I can answer your question, Oberon.

Someone who can love their own era to the very end, even if that love is never returned.

I believe that's the kind of person who should be queen.

Their own... era...?

A true ruler must bear all the sins and glories of their era in their own name.

It's not enough to simply say you loved it. You must take responsibility for everything that love set in motion, all the way to its end.

Even if everyone ends up hating you for it?

Who likes being hated? I'd much rather be praised, too.

But a ruler loved by everyone can neither exist nor should exist. So...

...So, as the Fairy Queen, I have a duty to ask you this.

Why didn't you tell me what was going to happen in Ashur that day?

.......

You said it yourself: sins must be recorded as sins.

What you tried to do for the world, and what you actually did.

What you ruined along the way, and what you failed to set right.

If you really saw me as your successor... you should have told me everything!

...If you'd known the truth, you would have hated me too.

Then you should have let me hate you!!

.......

If you intended to entrust me with the world you protected, you should have shown me the scars it would bear, too!

There's more to teaching than being a master your disciple loves!

.......

.......

Maybe I would have run away if you'd told me back then.

But now I'm facing you head-on!

I won't look away from what I once ignored and pretended not to know!

So from now on, I'll decide for myself what to carry forward and what to set right.

...Do you think you can take up the work I left behind?

I'll start by finding out exactly what your plan was.

Even if you tell me there was no other way, I won't accept it until I've looked for one myself.

And if it's beyond your power?

...Hmph. You just saw it, didn't you? The pathetic spectacle of me shouting for Tina and Shuri to help.

The sheer humility of admitting I couldn't do it alone!

...Pfft!!

P-Pathetic spectacle...? Ahaha...

O-Of course, my pride took a hit, but...!

It was far better than struggling alone like you did!

Way better!! Waaay better!!!

.......

So you can say things like that to me now.

Hmph. Did you think I'd just keep following you forever?

Yes, you've grown so much.

More than I expected... Far more.

Th-That's only natural! Do you know how long it's been since you vanished...

I'm so glad.

[speed=12][y=1.3]That I never made you my successor.[/y]

.......

...What? W-Wait a minute! What did you just...