episode_0057

It didn’t take long to reach the World Tree.

The Spirit Sanctuary was, after all, entirely on the World Tree’s roots.

“Kehiih, Mother will surely like Narita!”

“Yeah… I hope so…”

I felt strangely listless.

No, I shouldn’t need to be nervous.

After all, Nix and I aren’t… like that yet.

We haven’t exactly formed a master-servant contract, have we?

I wanted to think of it as simply meeting a friend’s mother, but…

Nix didn’t seem to share that sentiment.

“Kehut- Kehiih-”

“Stop laughing like that…?”

“O- Oh? Why~”

Molkangmolkang-

Clinging to my arm like a burr, she refused to let go.

I get that she’s thrilled to have a physical body, but it feels like she’s trying to get her fill of all material pleasures at once, and it’s making me a little uneasy.

There are so many enjoyable sensations in this world… how much more tired will I become trying to satisfy this one?

Furthermore, Nix gained knowledge of humans based on my memories, which worried me.

Honestly, I’m not exactly normal.

I don’t want my thoughts and beliefs to negatively influence her worldview.

This feels like raising a child.

I gently caressed Nix, who had my arm tucked to her chest and was rubbing her cheek against it.

“What’s the Spirit Mother like?”

“Um… incredibly big! And warm.”

“…That’s not an answer.”

As expected of a hikikomori, she’s read and learned a lot, but her vocabulary is terrible.

“Then what am I supposed to say!”

“I don’t know…”

Nix pouted.

You’ve lived with her for hundreds of years, you should know! Why should I, who’s meeting her for the first time, know? Anyway, spirits are incredibly self-centered.

I had no choice but to swing my arm around and around.

“Euaaa—”

“Quickly remember! Even if you can’t, explain somehow!”

“Okay, okay—! Just stop this—!”

A spirit’s body, created from mana to have a virtual mass, is incredibly light. Though, I am also quite strong.

After experiencing what it was like to be laundry flapping in the wind on a clothesline, Nix finally started thinking seriously.

“Um… Mother… hmm, something… vast?”

“Whirl, again?”

“No, no—! I’m serious!”

Whew… I can’t shake her again, she looks like she’s about to cry from motion sickness. I turned my attention to Frida, who was ahead of us.

“Frida, you?”

“What is it?”

“What’s the Spirit Mother like?”

Pfyuroong—

Frida spun in a large circle in mid-air and laughed.

“The sea! A vast and warm sea!”

“…Fine. I’ll figure it out myself.”

I asked the spirits I met along the way, just in case, and the answers were almost identical.

The sun, tropical nights, wind, flower scent… none of them made any sense.

I wondered if driving a truckload of them to the kingdom wouldn’t be a literary revolution. You could make a poem just from what they just said.

-Hee hee… I hope you weren’t too harsh on them.

Suddenly, a voice like a warm, fragrant summer breeze came from somewhere, after I’d pointed out to the 11th high-ranking spirit that the metaphor was too vague.

. . .

“Could it be… you were watching everything?”

The Spirit Sanctuary.

Deep within the Forest of Deception, its innermost part.

A place where not a single breath of wind could penetrate due to the densely packed trees and water.

But the leaves fluttered, as if a breeze were blowing.

-Yes.

“…Since when?”

-Since you were checking your magical tool at the entrance of the Forest of Deception… or so it seems.

From the very beginning…!

I suddenly remembered muttering to myself as I hunted monsters and solved puzzles, as if recording a strategy video, while breaking through the middle layers.

Ugh… another entry added to my collection of embarrassing moments.

“If you were watching, you could have just said something…”

-Hee hee, my apologies. I, too, became captivated watching you, just like the children.

The way she apologized while praising me… there was a wisdom evident in that warm voice. It couldn’t be hidden, even with her playful tone.

-It wouldn’t do to keep you here… Frida?

Pfyuroong-

As if a melody danced at the conductor’s fingertips, Frida flew up, drawing a graceful curve.

“Hee hee. Got it. Just a little further, Narita.”

I followed the little spirit, paying careful attention not to step on any grass, in case Mother saw.

Soon, we arrived at the base of the World Tree, before the Lake of Life.

“…I really want to show them this, too.”

A blue lake shining brilliantly, as if holding all the countless lives of this universe. The very core of the Spirit Sanctuary, the source of the World Tree, the mother of all spirits.

Gazing into its waters, it felt like another world existed beyond it.

‘…Oops.’

Suddenly, the surface rippled, and a small droplet of water—no, a small droplet of light—rose, Pororoong-.

Low-ranking spirits, Wisps.

They began to rise from the Lake of Life, filling the surroundings like a lantern festival.

Joy, wonder, excitement.

Overwhelmed by the cascade of emotions that brought a smile to my face, I was receiving the spirits’ greetings.

In the distance, I saw a girl shining the brightest.

I followed Frida toward her.

Hair as long as it was pure, nearly white, seeming to hold all the colors. Unblemished fair skin, bare. Gently extending a hand amidst the light, birthing new life—the source of this forest.

The World Tree, Gaia.

I quietly placed my hand over my chest, bowing slightly towards her, who was gazing at me intently.

“I, Narita Floraine Naifrantz, fifth princess of the Naifrantz kingdom, greet the Spirit Mother.”

“Hee hee, no need for such formality. I quite liked your straightforward nature.”

“I… see.”

A wisp gently brushed against my hand resting on my chest.

“Then… may I call you Gaia?”

“Please do, Narita.”

Gaia smiled brightly. The light surrounding us seemed to dance joyfully, too.

A red wisp gently touched my cheek, and a blue wisp playfully brushed against the hem of my skirt.

The high-ranking spirits, lined up beside Frida, sent me blessings on the waves of mana light.

A welcoming gathering, a feast of the spirits.

I wished that this short moment, where sensations overlapped and warm hearts were conveyed to one another, could last a little longer.

. . .

The feast ended, and the spirits returned to their places. They seemed to have stepped aside at Gaia’s request.

We sat down on a conveniently raised tree root.

“You said you had something you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Yes… well, there were a few things—”

I looked at Nix, still clinging to my arm. She was grinning ear to ear, seemingly delighted.

“One of them was that child, I presume.”

“Yes. But… I don’t know if it will be alright.”

“What is it?”

It was a little awkward to say out loud, and I hesitated on how to bring it up. But seeing Gaia looking at me with a warm gaze, patiently waiting for an answer, eased my mind slightly.

I slowly parted my slightly sticky lips.

“Ni… Nix… would it be… alright if someone like me took her?”

“Uh—?”

Nix, hugging my arm and staring into my eyes. Seeing her made all my worries vanish.

Right.

Why am I stiffening up like this, anyway?

I stood up.

And performed a dogeza.

“Please grant me your daughter, Mother!!”

“Oh my-”

Nix covered her mouth, slightly surprised, and Gaia smiled warmly.

“If that is the two of you’s wish, then I have nothing to say.”

“Gaia…!”

“High-ranking spirits are basically adults in human terms, so there’s no need to look after them here.”

She stood up and approached Nix.

“Child.”

“Ye- Yes!”

Despite having said she was warm and such, she stood up straight before her mother, and knelt down alongside me.

“Were you happy living in the sanctuary?”

“…Yes. It was a little lonely, and sad, and depressing at times—”

Nix chose her words carefully. She looked back on her past, slowly pondering, before giving a bright smile.

“—but including all that, it was a rewarding time.”

“Yes. Thank you. That’s all I can say.”

Gaia approached us.

She reached out to us as we knelt, and a strong yet gentle light enveloped us.

“May your souls meet, sometimes clash, lean on each other… until they fade and crumble into dust in the distant future.”

The entire forest responded to her words, illuminating its own soul.

-In the name of the World Tree Gaia, may blessings be upon their long journey.

Once again, I was awestruck by the spirits.

The sun of a small universe without a sun.

A tropical night so dark that you could see the stars of hope, and so hot that anticipation would make you sweat.

A wind that reaches out to everyone.

And the scent of flowers, where you suddenly find yourself.

I could genuinely feel all of that from Gaia’s presence.

* * *

“Oh, right. By the way, I drew a map of the path here… would it be alright if I released it?”

Before leaving, Narita offered a small magical tool with an awkward smile.

The Forest of Deception, surrounding the Spirit Sanctuary to hide it and prevent outside interference. She surely knows what it means to make a map of that path and spread it widely.

The fact that she even asks means there’s definitely a reason.

“Narita, I trust you.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

It seemed that my meaning — that she is free to use it but I trust she won’t make a reckless choice — was conveyed sufficiently.

“Take care on your journey. The way back will be clear.”

“I understand.”

“Hee hee… Then, farewell.”

Narita and Nix slowly walked away. Frida and a few wisps saw them off.

For once, the spirits were exhausted from the new stimulation.

Gaia was no exception.

A human who easily broke through the Forest of Deception, which had been inaccessible for hundreds of years, and reached the Spirit Sanctuary without even any weapons.

Could they be a typical human?

Gaia yawned, stretching her arms.

-You’ve worked hard, my children. Let’s rest peacefully for a while.

When will next time be. How will you come to us?

Will they come across the worlds, or shatter fates to come?

Or, like this time… will that daughter come again?

“You really resemble her very much, Lea…”

Gaia was reminded of her old friend the moment she saw the human easily traverse the forest. The face was all too similar, the way they navigated the forest, all too identical.

And she felt it the moment they met. The overwhelming destiny within, restraining the soul.

She wants to tell her everything, but that would be disrespectful to one burdened by a yoke.

Because only by understanding, questioning, and answering for themselves can they finally stand equal to that enormous fate.

The World Tree, Gaia, chose not to interfere.

“May you not meet the same end as your mother…I’ll pray quietly.”

It’s simply her, folding her hands and radiating light with all her soul.

It was all she could do as a spirit.