By the time we finished sending messages and organizing our belongings, a full day had passed since we returned to the royal capital. Lu had already regained consciousness. And just as Freyja herself had said, once Lu awoke, the goddess stopped speaking altogether.
The skill 『Miko』 must be completely suppressing Freyja. In a sense, it really was a cage—one that sealed a god within a human body. Yet at the same time, my little sister could draw out Freyja’s power of creation and her magic.
That skill, 『Miko』, was unbelievable. It wasn’t coexistence. Lu clearly held the upper hand.
Solana had speculated that the ability might originally belong to Odin, the chief god who ruled over the other deities. And now that very sister of mine had been summoned with me to the underground chambers of the temple.
“Ah-choo!”
The room my sister and I were standing in was the chamber that housed the Frost Orb. Soon, a conference would be held here to establish contact with temples across the land. For the moment, the only other person in the room was Pauline-san, the one who had summoned us.
When I spoke, my breath came out in a pale cloud.
“It’s cold…”
Even though spring was already in full bloom outside, a thin layer of frost coated both the walls and the floor here. I gently rubbed Lu’s back, checking to make sure her cloak and scarf hadn’t slipped.
“Lu, are you okay?”
“Yeah…”
She hunched her shoulders, burying half her face in the scarf. Cold air slipped through the gaps in my own mantle as well. Both of us shivered.
“Oniichan… Freyja-sama is saying something too.”
“What did she say?”
“She says, 『My apologies for the trouble.』”
“I… see…”
I let my head droop in defeat. Freyja really did seem like a rather gentle, absentminded sort of goddess. By concentrating, Lu could actually speak with Freyja, who resided within her. The reason we had been summoned here was probably so the gods dwelling in the coins and the horn could hear the discussion as well.
Shaking off my thoughts, I turned my gaze toward the Frost Orb at the center of the chamber.
A sphere about two meters in diameter floated within a carved recess in the floor. Pauline stood beside it, holding her right hand over the orb.
If you listened carefully, the princess was quietly chanting.
“Sacred Orb… join with the power of the World Tree, and let the voices from afar reach this place!”
The orb flared to life.
Brilliant white light filled the entire room.
Pauline-san smiled and beckoned us closer.
“We will now exchange information with the temples in the frontier. Please listen as well.”
“Yes!”
I answered promptly.
Tapping her staff lightly, Pauline began the meeting.
“Then we will start with the report from the temple in the mining city of Alvis.”
Every city that housed a dungeon also possessed a Frost Orb. Depending on the location, the orb’s size and power varied.
Originally, they were sacred artifacts used to regulate the seal on the dungeon. But by channeling magic through them, the orbs could communicate with one another. It seemed this, too, was a power awakened by the horn.
The princess smoothly handled the reports arriving from each region.
Lu and I exchanged glances.
“Oniichan…”
“Yeah… It sounds like the monsters in the dungeon are becoming more violent everywhere.”
For instance, monsters stronger than usual had begun appearing within the dungeon. In other cases, the same creatures had grown far more cunning. In some cities, monsters had even burst out of the labyrinth and onto the surface, forcing high-ranking adventurers to hunt them down.
As Pauline-san listened to the reports, her expression gradually grew more severe.
Finally, when the last of the regional updates had finished, she spoke.
“It seems Rata’s words yesterday have been confirmed.”
The princess lowered her gaze.
“This is strange. An anomaly has occurred, yet no traces of the titan’s ashes have been discovered. No evidence at all. And even in cities where the slave traders had no bases, the disturbances in the labyrinths are happening just the same…?”
The orb continued to glow with its pale white light.
The sight suddenly reminded me of the battle in Flocia, and the realization struck me like lightning.
My eyes met Lu’s. My sister gave a small nod.
“Pauline-san… could it be this?”
I pointed toward the source of the seal.
“The Flocia orb—the monster… Ymir—he shattered it and ate it!”
The Frost Orb was a divine artifact that controlled the seals. That meant the seals could be strengthened… or weakened.
Pauline-san let out a strained breath.
“Impossible…!”
The gold coins trembled, and the gods began speaking one after another.
『That Ymir guy is more capable than I expected.』
『Are you saying that by absorbing the orb, he gained the ability to manipulate the seals just like the orb itself…?』
『What a troublesome bastard.』
『This…』
All the gods residing in my coins began speaking at once, and my head quickly started to spin. And as if that weren’t enough, Heimdall’s voice boomed from the horn.
『Fuhaha! Indeed… this is troublesome!』
His voice was thunderously loud.
Lu and Pauline both covered their ears, though it didn’t help much when the sound echoed directly inside our heads.
Lowering his voice slightly, Heimdall continued,
『However, there must be another mechanism at work. Even if Ymir absorbed the orb’s power, affecting every dungeon in the kingdom would be far too sudden.』
He had a point…
Lu tugged lightly at my sleeve.
“Freyja-sama says… she has something to say.”
Even Freyja now…
Having so many gods appear was reassuring. But they all had such strong personalities that I sometimes found myself completely overwhelmed.
“Um… I’ll just repeat what she said, Oniichan. She thinks ‘Ymir might be using Yggdrasil’s Water Mirror.’”
Yggdrasil’s Water Mirror.
That was another divine artifact created in ancient times. It was said to exist in the deepest layers of each dungeon, once used by distant gods to communicate with one another—much like the Frost Orb had just done. The one who picked up the idea was Loki.
『…Hmm, I see. That’s certainly possible. Yggdrasil—the Tree of Magic—extends its roots through every dungeon. If even a single part of the roots becomes tainted with poison, eventually the corruption spreads throughout the entire root system.』
After saying that, Loki fell silent.
I rested a finger against my chin, thinking.
“So… a divine artifact meant to transmit messages… is being used to send commands to every dungeon, telling the seals to weaken…?”
When the voices faded, the chamber of the orb felt even colder. In my pocket, the gold coin trembled faintly, giving off a slight warmth. Solana’s way of encouraging me.
“…We’ll just have to solve things one step at a time.”
Pauline-san planted her rod firmly on the floor.
“For now, the danger levels in each dungeon remain within what the temples and adventurers can manage. But if they exceed that point—then the power of the horn will be absolutely necessary.”
I nodded.
“So now we know how the enemy intends to move.”
“…Heh, yes. That we do.”
Pauline-san gripped her staff tightly. She looked tense.
“Tomorrow, we will go to the Royal Castle and ask the royal family and the nobles to take part in the battle.”
Bathed in the orb’s pale light, the princess’s cheeks looked whiter than usual.
Even during the discussion earlier, many voices from the other temples had demanded explanations about what happened in Flocia and Alvis. The lies surrounding the ancient myths—like the seals themselves—were reaching their limit.
And when the horn sounded again…
When gods emerged from labyrinths across the world…
The old myths would truly come to an end.
That was the feeling I couldn’t shake.
“Oh my, there’s no need to look so worried.”
“To be honest… I’m a little excited. The end of these lies may become a kind of awakening for the kingdom.”
We left the chamber of the orb and stepped outside the tower.Warm spring sunlight greeted us, and from somewhere in the distance came the steady sound of soldiers training.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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