Ch.202013 Investigation Record – World of Sword and Magic (5)

His Imperial Majesty showed compassion in his expression toward me. He bent one knee so he could meet my gaze at eye level, looking directly at me, an elf.

There was a flame in his eyes. Different from the self-destructive emotional mass I had seen in Michael’s eyes. This wasn’t created by a god, but by a human. It was black smoke that consumed people.

The light in his eyes sparkled so brilliantly that I thought if the God-President had bestowed anything upon the Emperor, it must have been this flame in his eyes, comparable perhaps to the North Star. It was a sparkle that showed the way forward.

“Words like ‘reality’ and ‘being realistic’ are similar to dust. If you don’t constantly wipe it away and clean it up, you’ll be covered in dust and only able to think of dusty things. Don’t let dust settle! What great achievements can be accomplished with a dust-covered heart? Isn’t that so?”

I couldn’t answer his question confidently. All I could do was quietly take a breath and nod. If that’s the case, would everything be better if everyone lived for today and themselves with hearts free of dust?

Is there really anyone who can live like that? Michael couldn’t live for himself, and although he always did his best for today, he was constantly held back by the past.

Michael was the least dust-covered person I knew, yet he still struggled. He was someone who believed in nothing, yet would willingly save someone he had intended to kill.

Compared to him, I look almost like a rag. I couldn’t forget my dreams or let go of my memories. I had relaxed my body’s tension with the sweet excuse of misfortune, but that was about it.

Living like this wouldn’t be so bad. If something big—like the destruction prophesied by the King of Industrial Spirits—didn’t come, one could live with an ambiguous mindset.

Still, since I had already decided to fight my father… from the moment I shot him to prevent him from striking lightning outside, I had no right to say ambiguity was enough.

These issues always gave me headaches. My head was starting to throb when His Imperial Majesty cleared his throat.

“Has the Emperor put too much pressure on a young person barely twenty-one or twenty-two?”

By then, quite a crowd of onlookers had gathered around us. The young man who had first offered to explain the Emperor’s achievements to me spoke up. He showed respect but no discomfort.

“You’ve just given a five-minute summary of what you’ve been carefully explaining to us over decades since your coronation! It might not be too much, but wouldn’t it be overwhelming, Your Majesty?”

The Emperor, who had been stroking his beard once or twice, clicked his tongue and made the dogs he had with him stand up. When they rose, the two large dogs, bigger than an elf, began wagging their tails and panting.

“That statement is also true. Plainly true. So I should bestow something good to balance the burden I’ve placed. Follow me! Let’s go to the place I visit when I have concerns. Come along now.”

Was this a stroke of good luck? The Emperor began walking first, and as I followed behind with quick steps, Mr. Moin began following behind me.

As I was about to trail along, the Emperor paused briefly to allow me to walk beside him. He was an exceptionally kind person. Truly.

“Don’t follow behind. Isn’t it foolish to follow someone’s back without even knowing where you’re going? We’re heading over there. It’s a place run by the grandson of a chancellor I used to seek advice from before receiving immortality from the God-President.”

He headed toward a restaurant across the street with a sign displaying its name in English and… some language I couldn’t identify.

Looking at the owner, it seemed to be a Chinese establishment. Probably. There weren’t many foreigners in Texas. Well… even if there were, they certainly wouldn’t have heard kind words. Definitely not.

There had only been vast plains with mansions and dozens of family members. I missed it. But I couldn’t. By now, a green mask had been placed over those memories.

And at this moment, I realized that the Emperor before me was older than I had thought. And the fact that the human who appeared to be in his forties inside the store was his grandson meant…

“Then, Your Imperial Majesty’s chancellor…”

He briefly wore a sad expression. The Emperor set aside all his usual dignity and imperial virtues, momentarily longing for the past.

“And not just him. Everyone has already gone to the God-President’s embrace. When I returned, when I was a penniless emperor with nothing in my hands, the people who shared dreams with me are now gone. However, I still remember the vision I showed them. I’ve never forgotten my promise to build a suspension bridge over San Francisco Bay. In that sense, am I not sharing immortality with them?”

The God-President created sadness, but people didn’t drown in it. At least not at this moment. We crossed the street together, watching police officers salute him, and entered the restaurant.

It was a clean place with a large imperial certification plaque on the window and photos of the Emperor with the store’s former owners hanging side by side. Though I wasn’t familiar with the food, the elf menu was quite decent.

A fried bread that looked like a donut but was savory rather than sweet, and a cup of soy milk that was quite sweet to me—though probably minimally seasoned from a human perspective—was more than enough for an elf’s breakfast.

After finishing his breakfast, which was naturally more substantial than mine, the Emperor spoke. The name “Emperor Who Hurts No One” wasn’t given without reason. Truly.

“Do you feel better now? I may have been a bit harsh, calling you a rough gem showing imperial virtues. I still have many shortcomings myself.”

It was pleasant to be called a gem by someone worthy of respect, but I hadn’t shown him anything. All I had demonstrated was being startled and flustered four times in a row.

“I’m not sure what virtues I’ve shown you, Your Majesty…”

The Emperor spoke as if it were obvious, in a very light tone.

“You have vision, don’t you? You have a direction in which you want to move the world. You’ve had it for a very long time. Isn’t that so?”

“I’ve always had dreams! I became a journalist in the first place because of the childish idea of ‘dedicating myself to justice!’ I did work until that statement no longer sounded childish, though.”

His gaze softened further. He asked in a kind voice like a neighborhood elder, but the content of his question was sharp. Direct.

“It was an incorrect vision, wasn’t it?”

Now I could admit it. The mindset that the world is black and white, and I’ll stand on the pure white side! That was as wrong as the Followers of the Forest’s Firstborn.

“Of course it was. I was trying to dry up this world full of vibrant colors until only black and white remained. It was stupid.”

“Since you acted on an incorrect vision, you must have failed.”

Another sharp question. However, I could now admit that the early part of my journalism career was filled with failures. Acknowledging this made my judgment of Libelle even sweeter.

“I failed tremendously. I tried to write an exposé on the mafia and failed, and articles I wrote thinking they were righteous were rejected by my editor… there were many failures. But these days I’m on a path to success! I’ve built enough trust that I was even granted permission to find a way to travel from New York to San Francisco within two days to cover the coronation anniversary.”

The Emperor smiled at my boasting. He clenched his fist to speak, declaring as if making a proclamation.

“That is precisely the imperial virtue! Beginning with failure. Beginning with foolishness. And yet, not stopping at failure, not remaining in foolishness, but seeking vision—that is the virtue of an emperor!”

The emperor he spoke of was someone who provided vision. Someone who set direction, not paths. Could I do something similar? With the Forest’s Firstborn… it had been done out of a sense of duty.

Once I learned that my beloved father was a terrible murderer to some, it became something I had to do. But was it really just a sense of duty?

Using all my strength to persuade Mrs. Gremory and Ysil, borrowing Hector’s hand, and even hiring a detective… perhaps I did it because it was within my capabilities. I gained a little confidence.

I was, after all, Charles Clichy’s daughter. The daughter of a man who led people with vision—a wrong and foolish vision, but still led others with what he believed in.

So, I could try again to do better than my father. I came here looking for a fire to take back to New York, but first I found a spark to move myself again.

Perhaps I was living too comfortably. The fact that I could gain wisdom by seeking out people might be unfairly fortunate.

Could I repay that fortune? Could I feel satisfied thinking that all that luck was for this purpose? I hadn’t found the answer yet.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help wishing that someone else had been here today instead of me—someone who needed these words and comforts more than I did.

Fortunately, I was a journalist. The second fortunate thing was that my article would be published in a New York newspaper, and the third fortunate thing was… that person was from New York. I really was lucky.

I took out my camera. The dogs, quietly sitting beside the restaurant chair waiting for the Emperor to rise, briefly lifted their heads but lay down again after seeing the camera.

“Ah, may I take just one picture now? I was planning to do it slowly tomorrow during the coronation ceremony, but after hearing all that, I can’t just sit still!”

The Emperor stroked his beard once to shape it, and his casual expression instantly transformed into one of such imperial dignity that it seemed almost awkward how quickly he changed.

I couldn’t help but smile, though it wasn’t at all amusing. Without hiding the fact that the restaurant was in the background, I injected mana into the circuit. The mana raced through the camera, and the Emperor’s image was captured on film.

After granting me one photograph, the Emperor checked his wristwatch and stood up first. He wasn’t someone who could afford to dedicate his entire morning to me.

“I would have liked to chat more, but alas, there are always things that must be done at times like these. I must go prepare for the coronation anniversary ceremony. But you won’t forget our conversation, will you?”

Just thirty minutes ago, the person before me was an inexplicable Emperor. I had heard he was a good person but couldn’t understand why, and meeting him in person only increased my confusion. But now I understood why the people of San Francisco recognized America’s only Emperor.

The claim that the God-President had appointed him actually meant that the people of San Francisco had elevated him to Emperor. Even the God-President was ultimately an elected deity, one who tried not to do what people didn’t want.

“I’ll never forget it, so don’t worry! Since I took a close-up photo today, I’ll have to take one from afar tomorrow, Your Imperial Majesty!”

I didn’t expect to have the fortune of photographing him up close again tomorrow. Still, this was enough. The Emperor disappeared back into the crowd outside the restaurant.

He exited as casually as he had appeared. Mr. Moin, who had been drinking coffee at another table, came over to mine. He smiled leisurely at my enthusiastic expression.

I had originally planned to leave after Mr. Moin finished his coffee, but he set down his cup. He began speaking as if it was the first time he had seen the Emperor so enthusiastic.

“If you had been a little more prepared, there might have been a coronation ceremony tomorrow. It’s the first time I’ve seen His Imperial Majesty so pleased… no, it’s the second time recently.”

If someone else had received such words, that would be good in its own way. He ordered an elf-style coffee with soy milk for me and then spoke.

“A large man came here once before. He looked like a vagrant, and honestly, there aren’t many people like that in San Francisco, so his appearance was unforgettable. He was as big and strong as an ogre, and when he saw the Emperor, he ran over shouting, ‘Oh, warrior!’ and started talking with him.”

I seemed to know who it was… Well, if that unworshipped god was properly traveling across America and finding meaning in his life as an unworshipped god, I would welcome it.

“Ah, I think I know who it was. Mr. Sol? The one who said he could be called either Mithras or Sol Invictus?”

Sol was the sun, and Invictus was a word that also appeared in the Argonne Invincibles. So was that unworshipped god becoming the undefeated sun? Such confident names usually break easily.

“You know him? Well, he did say he came from New York. Anyway, the two of them talked… honestly, I didn’t eavesdrop, but our hearing is quite sensitive, you know. When that god told the Emperor about his dream, His Imperial Majesty said, ‘That is a fine vision in its own right.’ You must be pleased to receive as good an evaluation as a god.”

If it met the Emperor’s standards, was that god dreaming of something decent? Then again, the Emperor seemed to approve of any passionate vision, so maybe not.

I decided to reserve judgment on this too. After shuddering once to express my disgust, I said:

“Being a sun god and war god, I hope his dream isn’t about more war. The Great War was already too much.”

We exchanged appropriate agreements and casual conversation, and after finishing my elf-style coffee, I headed out into the streets of San Francisco. That day, I captured several photos of the city filling with anticipation as it prepared for the festival.

People’s expressions were still full of smiles. Those who knew which direction to go could smile. Those who sympathized with that direction and created paths with their own hands could be happy.

Just as I had praised the golden age of jazz when I was still trapped in my childhood, I now looked at the San Francisco Imperial Territory. Glory to the people, glory to the Emperor they serve, glory to the God who appointed him. Just once, but I shouted it.