"Hmm..."
Well now, what on earth should I do?
On the way to the royal capital of the Heed Kingdom—I think it was called... Galtaiba?—the Tactician went and filled my head with some incredibly troublesome nonsense. Well, from their perspective, it's probably a deeply serious topic rather than a troublesome one, but it completely escapes my understanding why they always dump these things on me to solve. I mean, I'll do it, but still...
We're ostriches, you know?! Aren't there plenty of other people you could rely on or consult with instead?!
This is something I've constantly felt, but we "ostriches" are still very much foreign objects within human society. You could even say we haven't blended in at all. Led by Dele, my children have become incredibly smart compared to how they used to be. Back when we were on the high plains, they were only about as smart as two- or three-year-olds, but now they're probably closer to four. If they try their best, it feels like they've acquired the intelligence of a five-year-old.
(In the very beginning, their vocabulary consisted of nothing but 'Grub!', after all.)
Considering that, they've become quite capable of expressing their own wills, and though it's vague, I can spot individual wills emerging within the flock. While maintaining their collective consciousness as a giant flock of ostriches, little by little, individual awareness—or rather, personalities—might be surfacing. Dele sometimes forgets, but she seems to vaguely understand that her own name is "Dele," and it feels like if we just spend a little more time, we can manage somehow.
However, they are still a bit too young to blend into human society. If only I could clone myself, I could accompany every single one of them, go to various places, and look after them... But I only have one body. For these children, who don't even have a clear concept of barter trade, let alone a monetary economy, human society is far too difficult. They don't even seem to understand sharing a baseline of values or the concept of negotiation yet...
"Well, that's why we're existences that are a little different from humans, and I had planned to maintain a certain distance until my children grew smarter... So why does everyone keep begging me for favors like this? Especially the Tactician."
That guy begs me for favors without absolutely any hesitation about racking up "debts" to me...! How many has he accumulated by now? Does the story about the young Queen this time count as five favors? Two for the previous matter with the Red Knight, and three for this matter with the young Queen? Just how does he plan to pay me back... No, I'll do it, okay? I'll do it, but seriously... You aren't going to default on me, are you? Because if you do, I will physically blast you away, got it? Pay it back properly, okay? Seriously.
"Sigh... fine, can't be helped. Guess I'll brace myself."
The thing I was asked to deal with this time was the "young Queen."
Specifically, dealing with a child who had completely broken down, or rather, had been swallowed up by this harsh world. To put it simply, it was a request to somehow help a child who had lost her parents in the war with the Beast Kingdom and had become completely obsessed with revenge and death. Because I was the one who defeated the Beast King, that child currently desires to be killed by me. At first, I thought, Why on earth???
"U-Um... this is extremely difficult to say, but... actually, Lady Wraith. You were ensnared in a trap."
"A trap?"
"Yes. It appears King Luchia was absolutely certain that the Beast King was heading this way..."
I hadn't understood it at all—or rather, since the Beast King's magic concealment was so incredible, I thought nobody had been able to discover him. But apparently, the young Queen had been desperately investigating him until her eyes bled in order to exact her revenge, trying to understand him. Therefore, she had predicted that if Nagan and Heed formed an alliance and effectively doubled their national power, the Beast King himself would definitely launch an invasion.
With a powerful enemy appearing right next to the Beast Kingdom, and with those enemies growing stronger over time, plus the appearance of a special strategic force like us, she knew the Beast King himself would absolutely come out. However, since the safety of the flock is my top priority, she worried I might run away halfway through. If that happened, the young Queen, who was completely powerless as an individual, wouldn't be able to achieve her revenge. Hence, she deceived me and threw me right at the Beast King.
"...If I said I didn't have feelings about it, I'd be lying."
It's true that because of the young Queen, I almost died, and my children got hurt as well. I feel straightforward anger about that, and a surge of murderous intent too. However, nobody died, and everyone has already fully recovered. Furthermore, from my perspective, you could even say that it was a power-up event. If I hadn't experienced the battle with the Beast King, I wouldn't have grasped magic yet, and my children wouldn't have grown one step smarter either.
Setting aside whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for a moment, for now, I recognize it as something that has already concluded. In other words, what occupies my heart right now isn't anger or murderous intent, but rather a lot of bewilderment and sympathy. It might also be because I've been dealing with my children who have stayed like toddlers for ten years, making me incredibly soft on kids...
"So well, I want to save her."
I only know the young Queen in her state of wearing a mask as a monarch. But the Tactician seems to understand her true self to a certain extent, and I listened to quite a few stories from him. While he's an untrustworthy guy, his core doesn't seem rotten. He falls more into the category of a good person. He, too, probably finds it unbearable to watch a child go mad.
...Well, knowing him, he probably utilizes even this aspect of his own personality.
"Mamaー?"
"Hmm? Ah, Dele. What's up?"
"Mama was going 'unya-unya'."
Unya-unya? Ah, you mean I was groaning/worrying? It's true that I sometimes use that onomatopoeia, but you actually went and memorized it. Uri-uri, what a cute little thing. Did you get worried because I was worrying strangely? Thank you, Mama is perfectly fine.
It's just that I got a bit anxious about whether the solution I came up with is truly okay.
"Muuー?"
"Ahaha, well, you wouldn't understand, right?"
"Nn! Understand! Mama amazing! Fine!"
"Oh my, really? Then guess I'll do my best."
That's right. I don't know if I can become a substitute parent for that girl, but having an adult you can depend on and act spoiled with is supposed to be important. ...Indeed, having me—the one she feels guilty toward—forgive her might be what matters most. I'll give her a scolding once, and after that, I'll praise her to high heaven for working so hard. That's about all I can do.
Outside the defensive walls protecting Galtaiba, the royal capital of the Heed Kingdom, a large-scale setup was currently underway.
Initially, the young Queen believed the enemy would yield to anger and just march right in, so she hadn't prepared anything like a victory celebration. However, her vassals advised that such an action would be terribly rude. The Prime Minister, who was thinking of somehow appeasing the ostriches' anger and ultimately satisfying them with his own head, also agreed. The young girl, who had already abandoned her duty as a ruler, accepted it.
Thus began this festival-like uproar.
As preparations for various cuisines proceeded across the nation, the citizens of the royal capital spontaneously joined in. After all, the heroes who had saved the country were returning, and weren't those heroes famously massive gluttons? The guards who had been hit by Wraith's intimidation were still in the middle of rehabilitation, but conversely, that became the factor that suppressed any bad rumors.
The people of the royal palace and the citizens worked as one to prepare for the ostriches' welcome. Such a joyful time flowed through them.
And among them, there was one person. A young girl who was enjoying herself just like them, but whose enjoyment was aimed in a completely different direction.
The young Queen was alone inside a pavilion set up as an audience chamber. Seated upon the throne, she was waiting intently for that moment to arrive.
"Father, Mother. Very soon... it's very soon now...!"
Her name was Luchia.
She was simply waiting for her death to arrive right before her eyes. The elation from the fact that the Beast King was dead had already subsided. What remained in her heart was purely an escape from this world. A desire that by bidding farewell to this flesh, she could go to the world where her father and mother were waiting. Wearing a manic smile that she would never show before her vassals, she waited for "Wraith" entirely alone.
Though she didn't clearly realize it herself, to the young Queen, "Wraith" was a benefactor who had made her feel the terror of death for the very first time, and at the same time, a beloved person who might kill her. Although she was at an age where she couldn't even comprehend romantic love yet, she was yearning for the intense magic Wraith had wrapped herself in when she was enraged, and the concept of death that assaulted her entire body.
If it was Wraith, she would definitely kill her, erase her, and send her to her parents' side. The young Queen was absolutely certain of it.
For that sake, she had ensnared Wraith in a trap. She purposely rode on the "Tactician's" smooth talking and drove Wraith into a deadly situation. And just as she planned, Wraith fell into the trap, killed the Beast King, and was presumably given the "reveal" by the Tactician, and was now heading here. When concluding the alliance with Nagan, I made one demand of the Tactician. That was to move just once for the sake of my desires.
He accepted it, and the moment I heard the words that the Beast King had died, I exercised that right.
She, Wraith, would come to my location to deliver death.
(Finally, finally, I...)
As she was thinking this, she noticed that the sounds of the citizens making a fuss outside the pavilion were growing louder.
It seemed the ostriches had arrived.
When the young Queen listened closely, she could hear footsteps. They weren't the kind humans or horses could make. They were heavier, more powerful footsteps. A roaring sound that trampled the ground, as if crushing everything. Precisely because she was sitting in a chair, the vibrations she could feel with her entire body grew stronger.
Within Luchia, those vibrations turned into terror, and her entire body became enveloped in the thick scent of death. Her body trembled. Yet at the same time, she rejoiced. The long-awaited death was finally coming to my side. The moment she understood that, emotions of joy exploded even further. The terror of death raced through her entire body, her trembling wouldn't stop, and her teeth clicked together so loudly it was annoying—but even more than that, her heart was rejoicing. The corners of her mouth rose to an eerie degree.
Faster, give me death. The moment the young Queen's heart forced her body into motion, causing her to advance forward as if tumbling out of her chair—
The footsteps stopped.
And then, death entered.
"WRAIIITH!!!"
"...Hey there. You're quite energetic, Luchia-chan."
She let out a scream that could be taken as either joy or terror.
"Hurry! Hurry, kill me! Me!"
Dominated by the dense terror of death, she forced her trembling, unmoving body to move using pure willpower. Crawling along the ground, she closed the distance little by little. However, Wraith was faster. By the time the young Queen had advanced just a tiny bit, the leader of the ostriches had already arrived right in front of her. Crouching down, she questioned the King.
"What is it that you want me to do?"
"Kill me! I ensnared you in a trap! I breached the contract! From the very beginning, I intended to throw you at the Beast King! No matter what happened to you! It was none of my business! Come on, kill me! I tried to kill you! Kill me, who tried to trap you! Kill me! Kill me! KILL ME!!!"
"...I see. Then."
The moment Wraith whispered that, sounding somewhat regretful—or rather, full of pity—the young Queen's body jumped.
It was magic.
Aimed right at the tip of the King's forehead was the tip of Wraith's wing.
Gathering there was magic. It was the same as what Luchia had felt back then when this ostrich in front of her was enraged—no, it was something even greater than that.
A dense crystal of death.
"Ah, aaah!!!"
The joy filling Luchia's heart triumphed over the terror.
(Fi... nally.)
The magic gathering at the wingtip began to emit a blinding light. I'm going to be killed—no, I'm going to be allowed to die. The young Queen instinctively understood that the sphere of magic was something that could definitely kill her. However, her entire body was already overflowing with joy. Now, there was no one left to stop it.
(Finally, to the place... where those two... are...)
"This is your punishment, okay?"
The moment Wraith said that.
Everything was unleashed.
A flash of light that enveloped everything.
An ache felt on her forehead.
"....Huh?"
(I'm... not dead?)
What her body felt was only a tiny bit of pain. It was exactly the kind of pain as if she had been flicked on the forehead. It was by no means a pain that led to death. And before she knew it, the magic that was the source of the death she had been feeling had vanished entirely.
And then.
"Eh."
She was embraced by the girl in front of her, by Wraith. Wrapped in wings that were massive, warm, and felt like they could envelop everything.
Before she knew it, the hand of a "mother" was stroking the "young child's" head.
"You've worked so hard up until now. It's okay, it's already okay."
The voice of a "mother," which she thought she would never feel again. An existence that taught her, poured into her, unconditional love. The dense death she had felt until just a moment ago, the death of her self that had slipped through her palm, the mother's affection enveloping her body before her brain could even begin processing what had happened—all of it blended together.
Her brain, which had already exceeded its limits, began to move rapidly to make everything align perfectly.
Suddenly, overflowing into the young Queen's brain—
was a
"" Memory that did not exist ""
"...W-Where am I?"
She was supposed to be inside the pavilion just a moment ago, yet the world had changed. ...But I know this place. The royal palace garden from back when my parents were still alive. It was a place where Mother used to grow flowers as a hobby, and beautiful flowers were always blooming. But since the two of them disappeared, I haven't visited even once. It was originally a place Mother managed all by herself, and I couldn't allow others to loiter around there either.
The memory of the last time I saw this place was unbelievably ruined. So why, how?
"Oh, Luchia. What are you doing?"
"...M... Mother."
She turned around toward the direction of the voice. It really was her.
My... my Mother. She's alive, why, why? She was supposed to have died, so why is she right in front of my eyes? Her eyes grew hot.
"M-My, what's wrong, crying all of a sudden...? Look, your mother is right here. Look, your father too."
"Ah, I'm right here as well. Just wait a moment, I'll fetch a handkerchief right away."
It was Father's voice. He went to war and came back as a corpse. A voice she wasn't supposed to hear ever again. Why, how?
Her head was confused, but her heart was rejoicing beyond measure. I could meet them once more. I was able to meet the two of them. Her eyes were hot. Tears wouldn't stop. What should I do? Even though I don't want to cry, even though I want to look at the two of them more... why, why?
Seeing her like that, perhaps out of pity, Father brought a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped her face. However, it wouldn't stop. There was no way it could stop.
"...Luchia, there is something I must apologize to you for."
"Father."
"I am truly sorry for leaving you behind. I wanted to stay with you forever, but it seems God wouldn't permit it."
"Me too, Luchia. I am truly sorry for dying and leaving you behind. ...But you see, we definitely don't want you to die."
"We want you to live on, forever and ever. It might not be something we who have died can say... but we want you to live."
"Live..."
"Ah, that's right."
"That's right, Luchia. Live all the way until you become an old grandma, and then come over here. Otherwise, Mother will be super cross, okay? Live a lot, and come tell us lots of those memories. So many that your father falls asleep halfway through."
"...Hey now?"
"Oh dear, aren't you terrible with long stories?"
Father and Mother were laughing. The world that I had wanted all this time.
I want to stay here forever.
But, but...
"It's alright, Luchia. You are a strong child."
"But you must never try your best all by yourself, okay? A King is someone who borrows everyone's strength."
"Father. Mother."
"And besides..."
The gazes of the two shifted behind me.
When she looked there in the same way, the "mother" who had embraced her just a moment ago was standing there.
"Lady Wraith isn't a bad person. Besides, she should be the one to guide you. Rely on her so much that you trouble her by calling her 'Mama'."
"We leave this child in your care."
At her parents' words, "Mama" nodded slowly.
"...It's time, huh."
"Father."
"...Take care of your health."
"Mother."
Her entire body became enveloped in light.
She tried to voice some words, but for some reason, no sound came out.
Her vision, everything, became enveloped in light.
Yet for some reason, this alone she was able to hear perfectly clearly:
""Live.""
(...Uh, what was that just now?)
The moment I embraced her, the young Queen, to reassure her, my consciousness had cut out for some reason. Eh, what? Seriously, what was that just now? Wait, scary, scary, scary! Uh, I couldn't exactly fire a magic cannon, so I forcibly dispersed the magic to neutralize it, but was that bad?! Did the fact that the magic scattered and lingered around the surroundings turn out bad?! Or rather, the scattered magic is gone! What was that just now?!
I mean, I originally intended to do about that much anyway, and since it would be awkward to interrupt, I went and nodded, but what was that?! It definitely connected to somewhere strange! This is troublesome! Extremely troublesome in various ways! Eh, it didn't create some severe glitch in the world or anything, right?! It's fine, right?! Somebody save me for now! Hey, you, Tactician! You're smart, right?! Explain this phenomenon! This definitely isn't a memory that doesn't exist or something like that, right?!
It seemed the world had no intention of leaving my confused self alone. The girl I was embracing moved just a tiny bit. While somehow fixing my expression, I slowly peered into her face.
"Wraith... no, Mama. Mama!"
"...Um, what is it?"
"I... I will do my best, my absolute best! So that I can talk to Father and Mother properly!"
"...Yeah, I'll cheer you on."
To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what's what, but I stroked the head of the young child who had hardened her resolve to do her best. Yeah, well, I don't really get it, but I'm being called Mama, and it seems like I was asked by her parents. ...Well, I'll look after her until she gets sick of me, yeah. It's just that I have a lot of extremely high-maintenance big brothers and big sisters, so I can't stay stuck to her side forever, so please forgive me for that.
"S-So... u-um, Mama. C-Can you call... my name...?"
"Yeah, sure. ...Luchia."
"! Yes, Mama!"
"AAAAHHHHH!!!"
...Eh, Dele?
Looking toward the direction where the scream came from, Dele had poked her head out from under the pavilion, and while letting out a screaming yell as she looked over here, she came running right toward us. ..., Eh, what's wrong? On top of that, wondering if something had happened to Dele, everyone else came along too. Whoa, a whole bunch of them.
"Wrong! Wrong! Not Mama! Uuu~! Dele's! Dele's Mama!"
"Eh?"
"Ha! No! Big sister! Mama is Luchia's Mama!"
"Wrong, wrong! Dele's! Dele's!"
""Uuuu~!!!""
Ah, yes, yes. I'm everyone's Mama, you see. Look, Dele too. I'll give you a hug, so come on over. Okay? No fighting.
(...Man, feels like things are going to get incredibly hectic from here on out.)