第６４７堀：互いの誤算 (Part1)
### Chapter 647: Mutual Miscalculations
**Side: Enol Hylen Kamishiro, First Archbishop of the Hylen Church and Duchess of Kamishiro**
I suddenly looked up at the night sky.
The familiar, beautiful starry sky stretched out before me.
"Lady Enol, is something the matter?"
"Hmm? Oh, Lady Age. I was just looking at the stars."
"Please, there is no need for honorifics. I am nothing more than a corpse-doll now."
"That makes two of us. Though, I am just an old hag, so perhaps young Age is better off? Or is that a pity, I wonder?"
"Who can say? It is a pity to have lost my life while still young, but to be able to walk alongside such illustrious people is an honor for me. Still, the starry sky..."
Age said this, gazing up at the stars just as I was.
"For me, it has been ten years since I last saw this, but nothing has changed."
"Even from my perspective of five hundred years, the starry sky remains unchanged. Many things have changed, but there are also many things that have not."
Indeed. There are things that remain, and things that have been lost.
The girl before me, Age, is about to face her own sister and friends for the first time in ten years. I honestly do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
How will she feel when she sees her sister and friends grown, while she remains a static, dead thing?
I find myself thinking that perhaps we shouldn't have brought her along.
More than that, I can never forgive the Mad King who killed a girl like her just to turn her into a vanguard.
At first, I thought the affairs of this era should be left to the people of this era, but seeing her, I felt strongly that this root of evil must be severed.
After all, it is our own responsibility for being complacent after having "defeated" the Mad King in the past.
As I was thinking this, another dead soul came to gaze at the night sky.
"I wondered where you’d gone. So you’re here, and the girl is with you, too."
It was my husband.
His role remains unchanged regardless of time or place; he has settled into the position of commander for this makeshift troop of the dead. He must have finished his tasks and come looking for us.
"It’s depressing to be surrounded by corpses, you know. We were just looking at something beautiful together."
"Ah, no, Lord Sota. That’s not..."
"You’re a corpse too, aren't you? Don't worry about it, little one. Enol has always had a sharp tongue."
"I-I see..."
Saying that, my husband sat down beside me and looked up at the stars.
"Still, this plan to house the remains in the Hylen Church... I honestly don't know if it was good or bad."
"It was unfortunate that we were utilized this way, but if we hadn't been here, who knows what would have happened. Well, it seems the Hylen call reached all the dead, so perhaps there was no need to worry so much."
The happiness of being able to walk this earth and this world with my husband again is something to be cherished, but the reason for it is, well... that.
"N-no! Lord Sota, Lady Enol, if not for you, I don't think everyone would have been able to pull together."
"Hmm. If the girl says so, I suppose I shall consider it a good thing."
"Indeed. We must at least work hard enough to live up to Age's expectations."
"You’re putting pressure on me again."
"Haha, that has always been your role. Isn't that right, Sage?"
"Yes!! I would love to see the leadership of the renowned Sage, Lord Sota!!"
"...Good grief. Between you and Hylen..."
Hahaha, I cannot refuse when a child says such things.
He was always a kind old man, after all.
However, he suddenly twisted his face into a complicated expression.
"But I am worried that I might run into the 'me' that exists as a split spirit at the shrine in the Kamishiro underground, where my hair was buried in place of a corpse."
"And the Academy, too. You left behind a soul-copy for the sake of amusement, didn't you? At this rate, there might be three Sotas in this world. Which one would be the original in that case?"
Sota had set up various contingencies, but he never expected his own corpse to be resurrected.
Furthermore, I never thought things like split spirits or soul-copies would actually succeed, but since I am resurrected myself, the possibility is certainly there.
The Shinto priests of Earth's Japan are truly terrifying.
"Well, I don't recall hearing about such things. It’s not like a living spirit, either. Honestly, I wish I had left behind a soul-copy of Enol."
"And why is that?"
"Because you’re a wrinkled old woman now, aren't you? It would have been nice to have one that looked like you in your youth."
"Right. Get over here, you damn old man. You’re a wrinkled old geezer yourself, yet you say such things. I’ll send you to the afterlife first."
"Feh!?"
I thought we were having a serious conversation, but he came here just to insult me.
It is true that I lived for about fifty years after you passed on.
But I haven't grown rusty.
No, my body may have declined, but my magical power has increased, so I can compensate with that.
I tried to punch him to teach him a lesson, but my fist cut through the air.
"Tch!? An illusion!!"
"Calm down. That’s not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant that we are old. If there were younger versions of us, it would be easier to leave the future developments to them, wouldn't it?"
"Hm. I see, that is what you meant."
"U-um! Lady Enol, Lord Sota, please calm down!?"
" "Ah, sorry, sorry." "
" "This old man just jumped to conclusions." "
" "Ah!?" "
"Um... please, calm down!?"
And so, after that, we began to discuss the future.
"First, it is fine for us to defeat the Mad King’s cronies nesting in the General Headquarters. But considering what comes after, it would be bad for old bodies like ours to be the figureheads."
"Besides, we are already dead, and we were all ancestors or heroes of various royal families. If we aren't careful, it could cause a rift that splits the nations."
"Indeed..."
There will surely be those who, in this current generation, will clamor for the "Heroes."
"It’s not just 'indeed.' Enol, you are the First Archbishop of the Hylen Church, aren't you? Even without trying, you’ll be pushed back to the top of the Church."
"That is true. Lady Enol is the genuine First Archbishop. They might beg you to take charge to settle this incident. However, if that happens, there will be many nations that will be suspicious or rebel because we are the dead."
"I refuse. Besides, there are our descendants, so shouldn't we just let them handle the actual work?"
"I suppose so. If they are safe, that is the best path."
"My sister would be perfect. She is a heroine who serves as both a knight and a general."
"Well, we will arrive at the General Headquarters tomorrow. We will strike them all at once while they are off guard. Do not be impatient, understand? You might end up putting our descendants in danger. Are we clear?"
"Yes!! Leave it to me, Lord Sota!!"
"I’m not Hylen, so I will follow your instructions. Use me as much as you like."
It is not as if we doubt each other's abilities at this point.
But still, I don't know.
Even though I am going to war, I found myself feeling a little excited.
After that conversation, the three of us watched the night sky until the morning came.
And then...
*Bang!*
"Don't move!!"
At that warning, we were stopped in front of the defensive walls of the General Headquarters.
"Who goes there!!"
"We are envoys of Lord RS!! We request an audience!!"
"Wait here for a moment!!"