I see, so that’s why it looks impressive from the outside but is bare on the inside? I suppose there’s value in appearing magnificent and intimidating, though. Gee must’ve felt the same if he ordered the palace to be built like this.
“Gee, what are you doing?”
Just when I was about to rejoice that we’d finally encountered another living person, a familiar blizzard-like sensation crept over my body.
I clung to Gee in surprise and a touch of fear, and he pat me on the back reassuringly.
“That’s Rhydelt Osphe.”
I hesitantly took a peek at my ancestor, and he looked just like the portrait that hung on the wall in our house.
He had curlier hair than Papa, and it was a blend of vibrant shades of red and orange, resembling real flames. I assumed fire magic was so prevalent in the Osphe family because Rhydelt was just that strongly affiliated with the element.
And his blizzard-like aura was identical to Papa’s when he was angry.
“Who is that kid? Have you been keeping a secret love child hidden away somewhere?”
I don’t think I look at all like Gee… I mean, technically, we are related by blood, but very, very distantly…
“As if I have time to be producing illegitimate children. In fact, she looks remarkably like you; are you sure she’s not your offspring?” Gee said this as a teasing jab at his friend, but my ancestor frowned deeply in response.
“Unfortunately, I have my hands so full with taking care of you that I don’t even have time to be introduced to prospective fiancées.”
Gee chuckled. “Heh, sorry about that,” but he didn’t seem concerned that, as a king, he was the one who should be most concerned about producing heirs to carry on his line.
“This girl is a very important guest who the God of Creation arranged for me to meet. She may still be a child, but that’s no reason to show her disrespect.”
“The God of Creation?! Please forgive my rudeness, my lady.”
Please stop! It’s making me extremely uncomfortable to see my venerated ancestor bow his head to me!
And more importantly, why did he accept that explanation without question? Has Gee told him about God’s meddling tendencies?
“Right now, we’re on our way to fulfill my guest’s request to meet with Roy.”
“In that case, shall I have tea waiting for you upon your return?”
“That would be great, thanks.”
The conversation wrapped up quickly, and my ancestor strode off, leaving us to continue in the direction we’d been headed before we were stopped. Before long, we’d left the royal palace entirely.
The area surrounding the royal palace was also completely different from how it looked in my time.
To start with, neither the beast stables nor dragon stables existed yet!
There was only a moderately sized barn to house horses. I presumed it belonged to whatever organization currently existed as a predecessor to the royal guard.
“It seems the world is quite peaceful in your time, Nefertima.”
“That’s right! Thanks to the hard work of the dragons at the dragon stables, the animals at the beast stables, and all of the members of the royal knighthood!”
The peace enjoyed throughout the Kingdom of Gaché in my time depended in part on the capable governance of the king and his cabinet ministers, but it was the knights who ensured the physical safety of the citizens. Because of all their efforts, the citizens lived peaceful, happy lives.
“In that case, we’ll also have to do our best. If not, our descendants will look back at us and laugh.”
“What were you doing before you became a knight?” I asked Gee curiously. In my day, the only thing known about Gee’s origins was that he was a common knight before he rose to the position of king. Even the information about which country he’d been a knight of during the Age of Turmoil had been lost to time.
“Originally, I was an adventurer. I was an orphan, so I started working as an adventurer pretty much as soon as I was old enough to hold a sword. When the war started, adventurers started getting recruited to fight. The pay was good, so I accepted the offer, but I never got back out once I started down that path.”
In short, he started as essentially a temp worker, then became a full-fledged knight in his own right, began making a name for himself with his accomplishments on the battlefield, and before he knew it, he’d ended up becoming king. That probably spoke to just how talented Gee was, but I suspected having God’s favor also didn’t hurt.
“Look, there’s Roy.”
A massive animal was mingling with the horses grazing lazily in the pasture.
It’s a rhinoceros! But he looks even bigger than the rhinoceroses I saw at the beast stables…
“Roy!” Gee called, and Roy responded immediately, raising his head and lumbering towards us. The way the ground shook as he ran led me to suspect he weighed even more than the dragons at the dragon stables. “This child’s name is Nefertima. You should be able to tell whether or not she’s a beloved child, right?” Gee said, stroking Roy’s armored flank.
As if he understood what Gee was saying, Roy nodded twice.
“Nice to meet you, Roy!”
Gee jerked his head in Roy’s direction, indicating that it was okay to pet him, so I timidly reached out my hand and touched him. His skin was lined with deep, almost crevice-like wrinkles that created a bumpy texture as I ran my fingers over his flesh. The outer layer of his skin also seemed to be comprised of hard plates similar to a suit of armor that overlapped at the joints.
On Earth, there were multiple different varieties of rhinoceros, including white rhinoceroses, black rhinoceroses, and Indian rhinoceroses. Although he didn’t fit any of these categories exactly, Roy seemed to have the most in common with the Indian rhinoceros.
The different varieties of rhinoceros on Earth had been driven nearly to the brink of extinction by poachers who wanted their horns, but it seemed the same was true of the rhinoceroses in this world.
Looking at Roy’s horn, it was indeed thick and magnificent, but to be honest, it wasn’t nearly as pretty to look at as the horns of other animals. However, because a rhinoceros’s horn could be used to make a cure-all medicine as well as the strongest weapons known to man, and because they symbolized authority and power, rhinoceroses were excessively over-hunted by adventurers hoping to get rich quick.
It was common knowledge on Earth that rhinoceros horns—unlike the horns of other animals made from a bone-like material—were made of keratin, just like hair and nails. I was curious if the same was true of the rhinoceroses here.
“Is it okay to touch your horn?”
Roy slowly lowered his head, which I took to mean he was consenting to my request.
The texture feels different from the horn heads’ and land bulls’ horns, but Roy’s horn feels just as hard as theirs. It’s smooth, but it’s also dimpled all over…
Looking closely, I could see an extremely detailed pattern engraved in the horn that looked a bit like laser-etched glass.
“It’s so strangely wonderful…” The indescribable texture of the horn only added to its mysterious allure.
“The elemental spirits engraved the patterns on rhinoceroses’ horns. The pattern is different on every rhinoceros, as well as how much of the horn it covers.”
What?! The elemental spirits made this pattern?!
In nature, rhinoceroses lived in a forest called the Dwelling of Elemental Spirits, a place known to be inhabited by a large number of elemental spirits. It was said that was why rhinoceroses could sense elemental spirits and even communicate with them to a certain degree.
That’s so cool! The elemental spirits mark the rhinoceroses’ horns with their own coat of arms, so to speak, almost like exchanging friendship bracelets or something!
Roy’s horn was covered in engravings from base to tip, showing just how many elemental spirits he was friends with.
“You’re really amazing, Roy!”
“Would you like to ride on Roy’s back and go for a walk around the exterior of the palace?”
“Is it really okay?!” I exclaimed almost before Gee had even finished speaking.
Apparently, my exuberance was more endearing than off-putting because Gee just chuckled and set me on Roy’s back. Then Gee climbed up behind me and called out to Roy, “Go slow, okay, buddy?”
I could feel the thump of Roy’s heavy footfalls reverberate through my entire body, but it wasn’t as jarring as I would’ve expected. Of course, that would probably change the second Roy started running, but at our current pace, the ride was surprisingly smoother than riding on a horse.
We took a leisurely stroll around the exterior of the royal palace, and as we rode, I told Gee all sorts of things. I told him about my family, of course, and about the king and Will, too. He seemed surprised to hear that Will was bonded with a holy beast, because he remarked in an awed tone, “One of my descendants, bonded with a holy beast?”
After playing with Roy until I was satisfied, we returned to the palace to have the tea my ancestor had promised to prepare for us. The sweets served with the tea were just ordinary baked goods, but there was something simple and almost nostalgic about the flavor.
“What’s wrong? Are you getting tired?”
I’d cycled through being surprised, nervous, and excited all in such a short span of time, on top of spending what felt like hours wandering through the maze of doors earlier, and now that I was finally sitting and resting, a fierce wave of exhaustion washed over me.
“Nooo… I’m still… fine…”
Despite my attempt to deny it, Gee sat me on his lap and rhythmically patted me on my back as if soothing a baby to sleep.
“Go to sleep. When you wake up, I suspect you’ll find you’ve returned to your own time.” Gee seemed to have a hunch that this was where we parted ways.
“…Thanks for everything, Gee.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you for giving me a glimpse of the road I must walk. Thank you, Nefertima.”
Gee’s voice faded into the distance, and my eyelids slid shut of their own accord.