(Ah, the one who destroyed my forest was you, then.)
A sudden strong wind blew through the clearing, rustling the trees as the light began to shimmer. What had felt like the set of a horror film was abruptly filled with the twittering of birds.
(Henceforth, I will give not a single spirit to you nor to your bloodline. Nor to yours.)
In the air just behind Empress Ephenia, the Earth Queen materialized, beige robes fluttering in the wind. She held out her hand toward the chancellor and his aides, and the small spirits by their shoulders dove straight for her.
(Empress. In addition to these three, there should be five more people who have lost their spirits. They are also responsible for the destruction of my forest.)
“I deeply apologize. This is all due to my incompetence.”
Though the Earth Queen was wearing such a plain dress, had wrapped herself in only a faint glow, and had brought no accompanying attendants, her presence alone was enough to impress us with the difference in power—enough so that the chancellor had knelt upon the ground, turning pale as it sunk in that this was whom he had been attempting to use for his own gain. The queen glanced at me and my brothers—who still sat watching from their chairs as the adults became well acquainted with the ground—gave us a kind smile, and then winked.
“She’s terrifying...”
Alan was starting to realize just how frightening a woman could be.
(For what was that an apology?) intoned the Earth Queen, returning her attention to the empress. (For involving these children whom we Royal Spirits have sworn to protect and turning the spirits into an excuse to resolve your little political squabbles? Or for not managing to discover who had destroyed my forest by yourself?)
The empress, the general, and the prince were all looking up at the queen with faces drained of color. They turned their eyes toward us, realized that we weren’t being expected to kneel, and then with shocked expressions, quickly averted their gazes back to the ground.
The two margraves were stuck looking between us and the queen with their mouths hanging open in shock. They’d gone far beyond a simple double take.
Father glanced at us from where he knelt and smiled uncomfortably.
When we had been invited by Ruri to his domain and been told to come back anytime, they’d said we didn’t need to kneel to them since we were friends. That was why even my brothers were able to sit in their seats as normal.
I was a girl beloved of the Royal Spirits, someone who’d been offered their backing. Nevertheless, I was also just a four-year-old. The imperial family might have thought that they were safe to ignore me so long as I didn’t do anything disagreeable. They’d likely never imagined that the Earth Queen herself would so readily appear before humans like this.
Come on, now. You literally came here with your own new spirit beasts. Do you know how happy Ruri was to see spirit beasts appear again after decades of the knowledge of them being lost? Do you know how jealous the other Royals were of him?
Prince Jean’s spirit beasts had likely been born before mine, but the queen had only gotten to meet them today because she hadn’t wanted to visit the people who had destroyed her forest. He and the general probably viewed the spirit beasts as their personal belongings, but to the Royal Spirits, humans were the ones owned by the spirit beasts, I imagined.
(Though the culprits have been found, my forest is still destroyed,) declared the Earth Queen. (We will turn the forest by Arlon Falls into our new residence. So that this forest does not remain isolated, I will have you connect this forest and the one by Arlon. Consider that your apology to us.)
“Come again?”
Yup. We hadn’t told them yet, but Kohaku’s request had been that a path be built for the spirits between this forest at the academy and the one by Arlon Falls. An easy way to visualize what she wanted was as a strip of land about the width of a road leading up to a large shrine—except rather than being paved with stones, it would be filled with trees.
Basically, so long as they connected the two areas with a row of trees and forbid humans from entering, it would suffice. The problem was that it took about twenty minutes by foot to travel between the two areas; this would be a massive undertaking.
“Is it possible for us to start a tree farm?” I asked.
“The Republic of Pendelus regularly imports saplings to prevent the further desertification of their land. All those saplings are grown in Noland,” Chris told me.
Huh?! They already have tree farms and reforestation projects? My old world’s technology is useless yet again! That’s odd. Isn’t this usually where I would show off my knowledge and then get exposed as a person from another world? Are radio calisthenics going to be my only achievement in this world?
(This forest is lacking in mana. Provide people who can supply mana until the forests are connected. The more concentrated the mana in the air is, the faster the forests will connect. When that is completed, I shall grant you your spirits.)
“What? Hey, you didn’t mention a condition like that,” I objected.
“Shhh!” Chris hushed me.
Kohaku had said that if we could get them to agree to connecting the forests, she’d grant them spirits. This is because they got the spirits involved in their silly power struggles, isn’t it? The princes weren’t even going to be allowed spirits for three years at best now.
(Belisario.)
“Yes, Your Sacred Majesty.”
(It was your skill that allowed us to find the culprits. You should make it clear that the imperial family owes you a great deal.)
My father accepted the queen’s words in silence.
(Oh, and before I forget. Empress, you should move quickly. The desertification of the capital has already begun.)
Is Kohaku actually super angry? She was sitting in the air, legs crossed, and had whipped out a feather fan that she was now elegantly waving.
Suddenly, the motherly Earth Queen was starting to look much more like a demon king.