“If we believe what they said. But even if it was three thousand years ago, I find it hard to accept a story about a person becoming a god.”
“True enough, but it didn’t only happen three thousand years ago. It happened a few days ago too, didn’t it?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking. If that being really was a god… I get the feeling a god isn’t as unapproachable as one might think.”
“In Delphinad, they sell gods at a discount. If a god’s impossible to approach, what’s the point of faith? Still, I said everything I had to say about gods back on the island, didn’t I?”
Luke was right. They said that whenever someone from another land came to Delphinad, their faith in the god they had believed in began to waver. It was hard not to think, confronted with the sight of so many similar gods, their powers, legends, and appearances overlapping, gathered and classified together. Especially when one statue bore a notice that read, Today’s special: half-price candles.
“If they’d said he was a mage-king of an ancient kingdom rather than a god, I might have found it easier to believe. But all those people are dead now. There’s no one left to ask.”
At Rosa’s words, they all nodded. Gene spoke.
“Vitalis was the king’s name, not the god’s. Still, I don’t understand the officiant. He thought Vitalis wouldn’t care even if he treated Nikephoros however he pleased, once he came back. Why didn’t that happen?”
“That is a little strange. Why did Nikephoros remain himself? Contrary to what the officiant expected, Vitalis’s personality seems to have vanished instead. Nikephoros was obsessed with his duel against the captain right to the end. He forgot all about reviving Sing and the rest.”
Luke was right. It was good fortune, since that was why all four of them survived. But the question remained. Gene spoke.
“Perhaps the god, or whatever it was, hadn’t fully revived?”
Rosa shook her head.
“I don’t know. But the officiant seemed to expect Vitalis’s personality even in that state.”
“Could Vitalis’s personality have vanished ages ago over those three thousand years? And perhaps it had been so long since they revived their god that even those fellows didn’t know?”
They all gave Luke an exasperated look. Yet on reflection, no explanation fit better. And everyone who could have explained anything more was dead. With his fingers laced behind his head, Luke spoke as though it did not matter.
“And so a law has been established: anyone who duels the Shadowhawk and wins disappears. Garon first, and Nikephoros this time. Gene lives because he lost. What a fortunate thing.”
Gene wrinkled his nose a little.
“To be honest, I don’t enjoy losing.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
At Rosa’s direct question, Gene looked away instead of answering and muttered,
“Of all places, the Grand Theater.”
That day, the area above the Grand Theater’s seats, where the luxurious houses stood, had collapsed as though struck by an earthquake. Excavating to investigate, they found huge tree roots underground. By the time they unearthed them, however, the roots were already completely dried up.
“If that was Sing’s tree, what was the one on the island?”
When Luke muttered the question, Gene spoke.
“Could they have been connected? By roots underground.”
“What? At that distance?”
“If the tree spread far enough to cover the city, as our research at the library suggested, it doesn’t seem impossible. Vitalis cut down the tree on the Grand Theater’s hill, so we should assume the one we saw had grown anew from another root. The tree beneath the Grand Theater revived when the island’s tree did, then died when that one died. That would more or less fit, wouldn’t it?”
“Captain, it sounds plausible, but it gives me the creeps.”
As Luke hunched his shoulders, Rosa added,
“Perhaps that island was part of Delphinad in Sing’s time. It isn’t as far away as you might think.”
At last, they reached the story Gene had wanted to hear all along: Rosa’s escape. But she seemed reluctant to speak about it. Luke too appeared to know something and subtly avoided explaining. After watching Tahyang for a while, Gene folded his arms, looking inexplicably angry.
“Oh, I see. Why are you hiding it from me?”
Tahyang spoke.
“He asked us not to speak of him. Don’t take it too seriously. You can simply remember him as someone who did us a kindness.”
Tahyang did not go so far as to say that ignorance was bliss. Instead, he looked down at Gene’s sword, Ganax, and said it seemed to have done its part. The moment the tree died and the god vanished had clearly revealed what sort of sword Ganax was. Luke asked,
“But where did Ganax spend thirty years before turning up again?”
Gene answered.
“She dug it out of her son’s grave. When Garon failed to come and receive it on their last meeting, she buried it there as a final gift to her son. She deliberately didn’t tell me, but I only realized it myself when I thought about it just now.”
Tahyang nodded.
“She must truly think of you as her grandson.”
“Mm. Now that I’m healed, I intend to visit her.”
“Let us go together.”
Luke suddenly gave a little laugh and spoke.
“But Captain, you did look rather splendid back there, when you took this and went to fight the general alone. Even then, though, what was all that about not overestimating yourself? You should have just said, I’ll deal with him. Everyone stand back! That reminds me of something Ashabel said.”
“What did Ashabel say?”
“That self-deprecation’s your specialty.”
“No, it was because our opponent was a god…”
Gene tried to defend himself, but several men came over, smiling broadly. Having returned to Hawk House at last, and enjoying a tavern finer than any they had entered in their lives, they all seemed comfortably drunk. Hal spoke.
“Captain, sing us a song.”
“A song?”
At Gene’s puzzled expression, Hal grinned.
“When we spent the night at the Grand Theater, Mr. Gayar said you’re a wonderful singer. Why have you never sung for us?”
“Gayar?”
Gene had repeated the name without thinking. Then he remembered what sort of song he had sung for Gayar before and hurriedly grew serious. He could never sing a song like that. Especially in company like this.
“No. What nonsense.”
After sending the men away, Gene was grumbling that he would have a word with Gayar the next time they met when Rosa leaned toward him and asked,
“Is it true you’re good at singing?”
Gene quickly shook his head.
“No.”
In fact, he sang quite well. Or had, when he was young. Since reaching adulthood, he had hardly sung at all. In Epherium, where he grew up, songs and dancing were considered the province of the lower classes. Being good at singing was no boast.
“If you’d sung for me, I was going to show you something interesting.”
“Hmm?”
Rosa put a hand into her pocket, one corner of her mouth rising. There seemed to be something inside. When Gene looked troubled, she wrinkled her nose slightly and spoke.
“Then you owe me a song.”
She took a small ivory plaque from her pocket and handed it to him. It looked exactly like a library admission token. Taking it, he found that it really was one. Gene asked,
“Why do you have this? You’re meant to return it when you leave.”
“Look at the back.”
Turning it over, he saw the words Lifetime Admission, and the name Daeior engraved beneath. Below that was the name of Chief Librarian Terrenus. Gene turned it over several times, looking astonished.
“Where did you get a privilege like this? It isn’t forged, is it?”
“Of course not. The library sent it.”
Rosa took the ivory plaque back, gave it a little wave as though showing it off, and returned it to her pocket. Lifetime tokens were not issued lightly even to nobles. However he thought about it, Gene could not understand why she had received one. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked again.
“Why did they send something like this only to you?”
“All this questioning makes you sound envious.”
“Oh, of course…”
Having been accused even of questioning her, Gene felt awkward about saying more and fell silent. Rosa tilted her head a little toward him and smiled. Her hair touched his shoulder.
“To be honest, I don’t know either. But perhaps the great Terren knows something. I think it isn’t really mine. It’s my great-uncle’s. A gift for Randri Daeior, who struggled alone to save Delphinad, then endured the disgrace of being banned for decades.”
At that moment, an appetizing smell drifted toward them. Harat shouted.
“Here it is! Hawk House special chicken!”
Harat and Ashabel brought steaming plates, setting one before each of the four at the table, then slapped palms with each other. Luke chuckled.
“If it’s Hawk House, why are you serving chicken instead of hawk? Suspicious.”
On each plate was a roast chicken stuffed with seasoned bread, accompanied by potatoes and a sauce made from broth. It smelled delicious. At the same time, Gene felt he had smelled it before. When he turned, Rosa spoke with an air of innocence.
“I thought some people missed out on it that day.”
Only then did he remember. On the day Rosa first came to Hawk House, Gene and Tahyang had arrived late and been left with only the smell, ending their meal with a few potatoes. Luke tore a bite from a drumstick and cried,
“Ah, northern cooking at last! This is wonderful!”
Tahyang too put a piece into his mouth, then turned toward Gene.
“Thank you.”
“Why thank me?”
Tahyang was too busy eating to answer further. Beside them, the two delighted assistant cooks went beyond slapping palms and began a dance of praise. Rosa pretended not to notice and started eating.
Gene looked down at his plate, then gave a small laugh. Tilting his head a little toward Rosa, he spoke.
“I’m glad we survived.”
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