Chapter 62 …
[Right. I mean that accident where you almost died.]
“Th-that… surely. You’re not saying you—no, I mean, you all did it?”
I was about to protest in shock, but quickly switched to formal speech. I was alone here; I couldn’t afford to offend them.
I didn’t even know how to fight spirits.
[Don’t misunderstand. It’s true that humans angered us, and the mountain dislikes them—but yesterday’s accident was caused by humans.]
Well, Agasa did say it broke because they used cheap materials.
I nodded.
“Then what do you mean?”
[It means you should end it as an accident caused by humans.]
I thought I understood.
In short: We’ll overlook it for now, but cross the line again and you’re finished.
That kind of warning.
[Go back and deliver the message. If they come any farther, we will not forgive them.]
“To whom?”
[That’s for you to figure out, child. I am the spirit of this mountain. Once I leave this place, I cannot use my power. But recently…]
The Spirit King lowered his voice as if revealing a secret.
[Recently, there were humans who came near our paradise and harmed life. We could not send them back alive.]
“All the way here? The mining development has already reached this deep.”
[Who knows. I do not concern myself with human affairs.]
“I see…”
[Anyway. I deliberately let only two of them live to spread fear. But since you don’t know about it, it seems they were silenced.]
Two people survived.
Whatever this was, something needed investigating.
I nodded, then voiced the question that had been on my mind.
“Um, excuse me… do you happen to know about a forbidden book?”
From what I’d heard, the Spirit King seemed to know things my gods couldn’t tell me.
So this was my chance.
[A forbidden book?]
The Spirit King tilted his head. For some reason, the gesture reminded me of a cat—it was oddly cute.
Disgusting one moment, humanlike the next, strangely beautiful, cute, and even frightening.
He truly had a thousand faces.
[I know nothing about any book forbidden to humans.]
Well… they had been living peacefully among themselves in this mountain. Of course they wouldn’t know.
I let out a small sigh.
[—Ah, how noisy.]
The Spirit King, who had been speaking with me, suddenly turned his head. I followed his gaze, but saw only empty air.
[Humans really are… destroying the mountain with such ugly chunks of metal.]
“I’m not sure what you mean…”
[Those searching for you are making quite a racket.]
“Ah. Right.”
How worried must everyone outside be? I’d been chatting leisurely and completely forgotten.
My heart suddenly grew urgent.
“I—I have to go, Spirit King.”
[I know. And I am counting on you.]
The Spirit King moved slightly.
The next moment—
“Gasp…!”
He was right in front of me.
It happened so fast I couldn’t even finish my startled breath.
His large, long fingers—dry like tree branches—touched the bracelet on my wrist.
His fingertips brushed lightly over the gem.
[Picking up things like this, we said nothing. Humans truly know no satisfaction.]
I should have recoiled in shock, but strangely, my body wouldn’t move.
The bracelet began to feel warm.
[Just think of it as taking a short nap. When you wake, you’ll be back.]
Light flowed from the bracelet, and my vision blurred.
“Ah—th-thank you! For talking with me, and for saving me, and—”
I hurriedly expressed my gratitude. He was frightening and a bit overwhelming, but—
He had saved me and was sending me back. It could only be kindness.
[I rather like children who know gratitude. Until we meet again, little one.]
That was his last reply. Warm light wrapped around my entire body.
* * *
[Dorothy, Dorothy?]
A familiar voice reached me—one that always put me at ease.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
When I looked around, I was in a forest—not the mine shaft, nor the spirits’ paradise.
Why… the forest…?
This time, my body didn’t feel heavy. If anything, I felt healthy and light.
What is this…
My mind was simply hazy.
[Dorothy! You’re finally awake!]
Agasa’s voice rang out.
So she had been the one waking me.
[Ah, Lady Agasa! You’ve recovered?!]
Why did it feel like it had been so long? I felt oddly happy to hear her.
[Not completely, but I can converse now. Dorothy… your body seems fine. The Spirit King must have helped you.]
[Ah, you were watching?]
[No. Without the Spirit King’s permission, even we cannot enter his paradise. It’s just… the bracelet…]
“The bracelet…?”
The once-dim gem on my bracelet had regained its vivid color.
“Huh?”
No—more than restored. It looked even more brilliant than before. The yellow gem seemed to spill rainbow light.
After the Spirit King touched it… had he given it some kind of blessing?
[I can feel the Spirit King’s power.]
[So he imbued it with power…]
I nodded.
[Lady Agasa, where are we?]
First, I needed to get back quickly.
The sun was high overhead. Considering the accident happened late at night, at least twelve hours had passed.
[I must have made everyone terribly worried.]
I stood up. I needed to figure out where I was and return.
[Indeed. We should hurry. Dorothy, the mine entrance isn’t far. Try walking left first.]
I followed Agasa’s directions.
Lately she’d made me anxious and been fairly useless—but a god was still a god.
At times like this, she was a huge help.
[Now turn right there.]
[Okay.]
As I walked step by step—
Thud, thump, thump.
Strange noises reached my ears.
[What is that—]
Before I could even wonder—
“Your Majesty. I’m sorry— the chances are…”
Someone’s voice.
“Damn it!”
A curse spat through clenched teeth.
“The Saintess… progress… not too late—”
From the fragmented voices, I immediately realized.
Not far away, someone was searching for me.
And desperately so.
My feet moved on their own. I had to get there quickly.
The voices grew clearer.
“But Your Majesty… it has already been five days since the Saintess was buried.”
Wh—five days?!
My mouth fell open at the shocking time gap.
I thought at most a single day had passed.
[Time flows differently in the spirits’ paradise. Still… the difference is more severe than expected.]
If an ordinary human chatted with spirits a few times, they’d age to death in no time. The spirits’ paradise was far more terrifying than it looked.
“Besides, when we broke through and checked the predicted location, there wasn’t even a body.”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. At the very least we need an estimated position to begin rescue operations, but we simply cannot pinpoint the Saintess’s location.”
“No. Dorothy is not dead.”
Voices arguing.
The moment I emerged from the forest and my view cleared, the entire scene came into sight.
People gathered. Miners digging inward from above.
Faces exhausted, covered in dust, twisted with strain.
“She is our benefactor who saved us—we want to rescue her just as badly. But if we dig any deeper… there will be another collapse, Your Majesty.”
Several workers spoke with gloomy expressions. And before them—
“Then I’ll go. How do you use the equipment?”
“What? Your Majesty! Please calm down—!”
“It is the Saintess’s disappearance. A grave and urgent matter.”
There stood Theodore.
His face was expressionless—but I could tell.
His emotions were at their limit.
I feel bad for breaking my promise…
“Your Majesty, please. I will go instead.”
“They said it’s dangerous, Isaac. What if you die?”
“Why don’t you understand that Your Majesty’s life is more precious than mine?!”
Isaac stomped his feet as he tried to stop Theodore.
Theodore replied in an extremely calm voice—but the content was anything but calm.
I hurried forward. I had to stop him.
“E-excuse me! I… came back alive, you know?!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs. Thanks to Agasa, my voice rang loudly across the area.
At once, all eyes turned to me.
“Sa—Saintess?”
“…Dorothy?”
Theodore stared at me in a daze.
Well. Shouting was good and all, but…
This was getting awkward. Should I do a “Ta-da, I’m fine!” or something?
While I hesitated—
“Saintess…! It really is the Saintess. Thank goodness you returned safely!”
Someone cried out.
“…Is that really her? How can she be that clean? Are we seeing things because of the spirits’ curse?”
“Watch your mouth! After everything the Saintess did for us!”
People suddenly began bickering.
“Wh… what do you mean?”
I turned toward them, baffled.
“But look. How can she be that clean?! It makes no sense.”
The man insisting I was an illusion pointed at me with a face pale as if he’d seen a ghost.
Clean…?
Only then did I look myself over.
It was true.
From the robe and dress I was wearing to everything on my body—nothing was damaged.
My hair was neat, my body uninjured. Even though I’d been lying on the ground, there was barely any dirt on me.
I didn’t know about my face, but at least nothing hurt.
[It seems the Spirit King’s kindness was excessive.]
To think his buff would create this situation… my head started to ache.
“Th-this is… the spirits trying to bewitch us!”
“Be quiet! Saintess, I’m sorry. This fool has been claiming he’s seen spirits for ages… he’s lost his mind.”
“You only say that because you haven’t seen them! Do you know how terrifying it was?!”
The argument among the people grew more and more heated.
