Immortal's Ascending Path-56
Episode-56< Queen Bee in Muwangun (Revised) >
After finishing his words, Ulrich entered the shrine. Two people from his party followed him inside and offered prayers to the statue of Keme, but he did not pray. He simply looked up at the statue.
Ella stood outside the shrine door, her lips pressed tightly together, watching Ulrich's back.
'A person who monitors spiritists?'
Is that person you? His claim stirred up Ella's heart.
It was a story she was hearing for the first time, one her father had never mentioned, but that wasn't all. Several names on the shrine's foundation belonged to one person, and there was a reason for having so many names.
He said it himself. That he had lived for a very long time. That he had received a request from the four spirits directly forged by the gods. Ella didn't know about the existence of a monitor, but she knew about the existence of the four spirits.
'Father said there were four kings of spirits, and they lived in the distant past... all the way back to the age of fairies. If he received a request directly from those spirits, as this person says, then that means he has lived since that era.'
How could that be?
When did the age of fairies end? When did the minions of the evil god rise and destroy that era? It was a long time ago, more than thousands of years in the past.
'I've heard that fairies live for a very long time, but.'
Ella looked at Ulrich's blunt ears.
'No matter how I look at it, he's not a fairy.'
She had never seen a fairy, but his appearance was far from her imagination. His features were neat, but he wasn't beautiful enough to believe he was a fairy.
What should she say? Where should she start asking? Ella pondered. She had to ask to figure out whether Ulrich's claim was true or false, but it was too difficult a problem for a girl who hadn't even had her coming-of-age ceremony.
"As always, you have a lot of pasts."
Roberta asked as she came out of the shrine.
"I have no choice but to have many. It would be the same even if you lived as long as I have."
"Is that so? I don't think I'd have as many as Ulrich."
"Roberta, how old do you think I am?"
"Well, I'd say you're at least over ten thousand years old."
Ten thousand years?
Ella blinked, listening to their conversation.
It was a joking tone, but Roberta's eyes weren't smiling as she looked at Ulrich. Even the boy named Fritz didn't react much after hearing the absurd number.
"Ten thousand years, since the lifespan of a human is at most a hundred years, if you lived for ten thousand years, it would be like living a hundred lifetimes? Then let's assume. What if one person lived a hundred lives?"
Roberta rubbed her dry lips and examined him.
"If that person doesn't stay in one place for their entire life and enjoys wandering around while changing their name like some people do, they would have all sorts of experiences."
She went on to answer that in this kind of life, someone might ask him to be the godfather of their son, he might accidentally save someone in danger, and he might inherit an unfinished task from someone.
"My answer is the same. I am one person, but the world is wide and there was a lot of time. At one time, I lived as a fisherman by the sea, and at another time, I lived as a tailor in the city."
Like reincarnation, he added.
'If he really lived for a long time, that would be the case.'
Ella frowned. The more she heard, the more complicated her head became, rather than resolving her doubts.
She wanted them to ask about the source of her doubts, namely Ulrich's lifespan, but they didn't ask. Rather, they nodded as if they understood.
There was a consensus between them that Ella didn't know. The girl showed her doubts with her expression because she couldn't understand it, and Roberta smiled when she saw that expression.
"Seeing you, sister, reminds me of myself in the past."
"Yes?"
The three of them chased after Ulrich, who was going down the hillside stairs.
"That's what I was like."
"Are you saying you're not like that now?"
"Now I have no choice but to believe it."
Roberta paused before opening her mouth.
"Did Ulrich tell you why he visited this place?"
"He said it was because of a request."
He said that because the four spirits asked him, he revisited this place to confirm his duty, authority, and succession.
"Yes. Fulfilling the request will be his purpose. In my opinion, when that purpose is achieved, the questions you have will also be resolved. I can't say all of them, though."
Ella tilted her head and sent a look.
"Because it won't end with just confirmation."
Belatedly, she let out an 'ah' sound. She understood what they were saying. If it wasn't going to end with just confirmation, then he had to show some ability. Wouldn't that support his claim?
"I guess so."
As she answered in a tone that hoped it would be so without certainty, Ella looked down at Ulrich, who was going down the stairs. Roberta whispered to her.
"So, I want to ask you a favor, sister."
#
The three of them visited the mansion of Ella and Valdemar.
Valdemar was flustered that his younger sister had suddenly brought three strangers, but he readily gave them a room. It was because there was a Priest among the group.
A formal Priest of the Public Church had authority anytime, anywhere. Even though she said she had only stopped by the village to relieve her fatigue from the journey, Valdemar asked first if she would like to stay at the mansion.
Roberta humbly expressed her gratitude. "Then I will be in your care for a few days, brother." She was soon asked by the villagers for various rituals such as sacraments and healing, and in the meantime, Ella took the other two people out of the mansion.
"Should I... introduce you one by one?"
Ulrich looked around as he walked down the village road.
"No. There's no need to rush, so I'm just thinking of watching from afar today."
Everywhere his gaze reached, one or two spirits could be seen. Besides the sky, rooftops, and window frames, spirits were scattered everywhere throughout the village.
Of course, even if you said they were scattered, their number was still much smaller than that of people. However, the chattering sound was as good as that of people, so their presence was clear.
"There are really a lot of spirits." Fritz widened his eyes as if he was amazed. "I hardly saw them in Osnover, but here, spirits are everywhere. This place must be special, right?"
"Both places are at extremes. In Osnover, the flow of mana is bad due to the influence of the Ice Peninsula, so it is difficult for spirits to appear, and here, the flow is pure and there was also a spiritist."
Fritz tilted his head.
"Does the spiritist also have an influence?"
"Just as someone compared spirits to honeybees, spiritists can be compared to queen bees. Just as queen bees lay eggs, spiritists also create spirits if necessary."
Ella recalled the image of her father creating spirits.
In the shrine, he prayed to the sky and gathered his hands respectfully, and light emanated between his hands, giving shape to a spirit.
The spirit born in that way was usually higher in rank than a naturally born spirit. It was natural since it contained a lot of mana, and it was a great help when following her father's instructions.
"And a place like this where there are only spirits without a spiritist can be called Muwangun, and the person aiming for that position can be called a royal cell."
"That's a good analogy. A beehive without a queen bee raises a queen from among the larvae. That's exactly what the people here are trying to do, trying to control the spirits. Trying to become a spiritist, a queen bee."
However, Fritz asked if you can't become a royal cell with just the favor of the spirits.
"Unless you bring another queen bee, there's no other way. Fortunately, unlike a beehive, spirits don't disappear just because there is no spiritist, so there is no choice but to enjoy the convenience with the favor of the remaining spirits."
The three continued their conversation and stopped walking.
"Lift it up as it is!"
Looking at what they were doing, a bucket soon rose from the well. It was a bucket full of water, and it wasn't connected to a pulley.
"Okay!" he clapped his hands. At that moment, the bucket turned over and poured water on his head.
A spirit larger than the palm of his hand was hidden in the bucket, and it laughed wildly as it watched the soaked man. It seemed he had asked the spirit to draw well water and was tricked.
"That's the problem because it's not easy."
Ella sighed.
"It's the nature that spirits are born with. It's an unavoidable problem. It's best to think that there is no one who can control spirits other than spiritists."
As Ulrich said, that was the nature of spirits. They were easily swayed by impulses and emotions, so if there was nothing to force their actions, they would follow instructions and then suddenly change their minds.
If they smelled something sweet, heard a cheerful sound, or felt playful, they would forget what they were doing until just before and indulge in their impulses.
"Isn't it impossible?"
"It is possible. It's just extremely rare. Those who are called spiritists today are such people. Whether it's friendship or contract, they have suppressed the impulses of the spirits in their own way."
#
As they went out of the village, several villagers were coaxing the spirits. The fields near the village had been damaged by the recent storm, so they were trying to ask the spirits to clean up.
However, it didn't seem to be going as planned. As Ella remembered, they would have come out early in the morning, but it seemed even more cluttered than before.
"What's going on?" Ella asked as she approached.
In fact, she didn't even need to hear the answer. Some whim must have arisen, and the spirits must have stopped working. The people scolded and coaxed the spirits, and when Ella approached, they complained as expected, pouring out their grievances.
"Ella, can you do something about it?" They pointed to the scattered debris, saying that they wouldn't listen at all. "I managed to clean it up, but they made it look like that."
"Again?"
The villagers glared at the spirits frolicking in the air. However, the spirits were chattering among themselves and didn't care.
Ella put her hand into the small pouch on her belt. There was an even smaller bottle inside the pouch, and when she took it out, the spirits turned their heads and sniffed.
What was in the bottle was fruit pickled in honey, and it was immediately effective for spirits who couldn't get enough of sweet food. Knowing this, she had packed it when she left the mansion.
What, what, the spirits flew over noisily. Ella gently pushed away the spirits trying to stick to the bottle and said.
"You guys, don't you want to eat this?"
The spirits shouted in unison that they wanted to eat it.
"Then what do you have to do?"
"Clean up!", "Clean!" When various answers came back, Ella smiled, opened the bottle, and took out one pickled fruit at a time and divided it among the spirits.
Since the spirits were so small, she could feed everyone with just one bottle. The spirits with their faces covered in honey scattered and began to clean up the field.
However, the effect didn't last long. As she said, spirits were impulses themselves. Before long, their movements slowed down, and they started playing again.
'That's just like you guys.' Ella shook her head as she watched the scene. A spirit lay down on the girl's head as well.
"I don't know how people who have become spiritists... that is, people who deal with spirits through friendship, can do that."
Ella said as she looked at Ulrich. She wasn't expecting an answer. It was a complaint close to a soliloquy, but Ulrich smiled a smile that you wouldn't know unless you paid attention.
"They each have their own tricks. It's like a secret that they don't easily teach to others. And even if you know it, you can't easily follow it."
Ulrich said that and reached out to the spirit hovering in front of him. The spirit gently placed its foot on his index finger, and he whispered something.
His words were drowned out by the voices of the spirits chattering from all directions. However, the spirit on his index finger seemed to have heard clearly and nodded a few times before flying up again.
"What did you say?"
"I said it seems a little dirty around here."
Ella asked back, "Yes?" Would it have any meaning to say such a thing to a race that was more like a child than that child?
Unbelievably, it did. The spirit who heard Ulrich's whisper whispered something to another spirit, and those two spirits whispered to two other spirits, increasing their number.
Soon, the spirits on all sides of the field began to clean up the scattered debris. Ella opened her mouth as she watched the scene.
"...Is this the trick?"
"In this case, it's more fundamental than a trick."
"Fundamental, you say?"
She sent a look hoping for an explanation for the incomprehensible words, but he didn't answer.
'Father was like this every time he avoided answering.' Ella pouted her lips and examined the spirits. They weren't quick, but they were cleaning up the field without slacking off.
'It might be related to that monitoring thing.'
If she had sweet food in her hand, she wouldn't know, but he was a complete stranger with nothing. Could there be another reason why they would follow this person's instructions?
"Good skill."
Ella stopped worrying and turned her head to the side.
"You're not a spiritist, are you?"
To the question with a smile like a joke, Ulrich also turned his head. Behind them, a man with an impressive red beard was standing with a smiling face.
Ella automatically suppressed the frown that was forming and whispered to Ulrich. His name was Anders, and he was the best spiritist in this village, surpassing her brother.
Ulrich received a smile from Anders, but he faced him with a calm expression.