第６４５堀：蘇る御三家 (Part1)
Chapter 645: The Resurrected Three Houses
The Resurrected Three Houses
When I regained consciousness, I was standing in nothing but darkness.
No, was it darkness? After all, even in the dark, I could see my own form clearly.
Perhaps there was light, even if everything around me was black.
Still, it was truly strange, as not even a shadow was cast.
Well, that was of little consequence.
For some reason, I couldn't remember who I was.
Why was I in such a bizarre place? And to begin with, what was my name?
As I pondered these things, a sphere of light suddenly welled up and appeared.
It was a reddish orb, like a miniature sun, and it made me feel strangely nostalgic.
"Found you."
"Hm?"
I felt as though I had heard someone’s voice and looked around, but there was still no one in this darkness but me.
"Over here. Right in front of you."
The voice came again, and the sphere of light flickered.
In other words...
"...Was that voice just now coming from the sphere of light?"
"Eh!? Ah—well, I suppose I look like a sphere of light right now."
I felt a strange sense of nostalgia for the sphere of light that gave such a vacant reply, but even without my memories, I could state with certainty that it was impossible for me to be an acquaintance of such a peculiar thing.
"You look like nothing else. Now then, what are you, sphere of light? You don't seem to have any malice, but does this black room have something to do with my lack of memories?"
"Huh? You have no memories!? That’s terrible!? Does that mean even hearing my voice doesn't ring a bell at all!?"
"Indeed. I have no idea. Who are you? You feel somewhat nostalgic, but..."
"Heh, is that it? The 'body remembers even if the mind forgets' thing? Hmm? No, wait, was it that the body remembers in an emergency if you've trained?"
"Both sound familiar. Martial arts are about repeatedly training to drill correct movements into the body, after all. Hmm? Does that mean I was a martial artist?"
"Pfft. You weren't anything as fancy as a martial artist. Ah, wait, but I wonder? It seems you attained a much higher position after that..."
It was an irritating reply, yet somehow, I couldn't bring myself to hate it.
As I thought, I must know this sphere of light.
"It seems you know me. If you would, I would like you to tell me. And why I have no memories."
"Ah, sorry, sorry. But teaching you from scratch is a pain, isn't it? I wonder if you'd remember everything if you just remembered the cause of your memory loss?"
"Who knows. I've never heard of a way to restore the memories of someone who has lost them. For now, why don't we go with the method you suggested? I have no way of predicting what might be effective. After all, I am suffering from amnesia."
"That's true. It's no use asking the person who forgot, is it? Well, for now..."
After a brief pause, the sphere of light declared:
"I suspect the reason you have no memories is because it's been quite a long time since you died."
"Ha?"
I am dead?
"Don't talk nonsense. The dead do not open their eyes again. Not unless it is a miracle of the gods."
"Oh? About that goddess, that's me."
"...A goddess?"
"Yup, me. A goddess."
A goddess, a goddess—a self-proclaimed goddess, a girl with an empty head.
...I remembered.
"Hey? Don't you remember anything?"
"I remembered. You idiot Hairen!!"
"Kyaa!? Stop it, Enol!?"
For the first time in a long while, I scolded the foolish Hairen.
Side: Enol Hairen Kamishiro, First Archbishop of the Haire Church and First Duchess of Kamishiro
"Good grief. I had been enshrining you with such care, hoping for a reaction someday, and it took 500 years for an answer."
With my memories returned, I was listening to Hairen within the black room—or rather, within my own consciousness as a deceased person.
Apparently, nearly 500 years had passed since I died.
It was no wonder my memories were gone.
My remains were kept frozen for religious reasons, but no matter what, they would have deteriorated.
"It couldn't be helped. Even for me, it was only about 25 years ago that I became able to project my consciousness outward like this."
"Did something happen 25 years ago? Or rather, what was the trigger that allowed my consciousness, as a dead person, to return?"
"Ah, uh..."
For some reason, Hairen acted hesitant when I demanded the reason.
This was the way she spoke whenever there were various problems.
It was the same tone she used when she had distributed the troops' rations to refugees without permission.
"It is fine. I am going to be angry, so just say it."
"You say you're going to be angry!?"
"Is that not better than lying? We are not on such terms that we would falter over something like this now."
"No, I don't like being scolded, but..."
"Speak quickly."
"Yes... actually..."
When I pressed the fool, it turned out that when the "Mad King" had taken the jewel, the Mad King's soul had been hiding inside. His physical body had perished, but he was not truly dead.
Incidentally, Hairen had also ended up with only her consciousness remaining inside the jewel in the same way.
However, the jewel had shattered due to Hairen's excessive wishes, its performance had degraded, and its stored magical power had dropped to near zero.
Well, if that were all, there would have been no problem, but by collecting and enshrining them, both Hairen and the Mad King gradually regained their strength within the jewel. On the day of the promotion ceremony 25 years ago, the Mad King had brainwashed one of the Haire believers to resurrect himself.
As a result, a "Mad King Cult" and a religion had formed, and the area was once again showing signs of war—or rather, a battle had already taken place between my Haiden and our friend, Findarl.
"However, why did you leave it alone for 25 years? Could you not have dealt with it immediately?"
"Even though we had been touching it repeatedly until then, nothing happened, so I never thought he would do something like that. We both hate seeing each other's faces, and I hadn't even thought about ways to resurrect. I hadn't."
"...You should be a little more attached to life."
"Hmph. Even if I descended to this earth now, there's no one left. It's better to sleep leisurely inside the jewel."
"Well, I suppose so."
I felt a pang of regret for using that tone after Hairen had helped me.
I knew well enough that Hairen hadn't chosen that method because she wanted to.
"And so, I only realized the Mad King idiot was doing various things five years ago, when the cultists stole the jewel."
"It was stolen!? The jewel!?"
"Yes, yes. By the time I realized it, it was already too late. The jewel I was in was already in the enemy's hands. And the enemy used this jewel to create others that resurrect monsters, and the last thing they tackled was the resurrection of the dead."
"In other words, us?"
"Exactly. Normally, monsters would run out of magic and die quickly because I have a barrier covering this whole land through the jewel, but if it's a jewel with my magic, that's a different story."
"Can they survive?"
"Yeah. That way, undead types and those that run on magic can act individually. And the reason I look like a sphere of light to you, Enol, is because I'm like a clone that had a little power split off into the jewel the enemy created."
"Did they embed the jewel inside my remains?"
"Yup, just cut open the stomach and—*plop*."
I instinctively checked my stomach, but there was no sign of anything amiss.
"You're a fool. This is the spirit world; you aren't looking at your real body."