Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 37

37.

“Um, would it be alright if we explained?”

Just then, someone cautiously spoke up. When I turned around, Ferris and Alex were standing there with troubled expressions.

“Do you two know why he’s acting like that?”

“Well, you could say we do. Please, I implore you, Spirit King, do not be too angry with his actions. Even though I told him so many times, it seems he still holds that matter in his heart.”

“…That matter?”

I asked, puzzled, and Ferris gave a bitter smile before opening his mouth.

“I don’t know if the Spirit King is aware, but there are three empires on this continent: Carteras, known as the Magic Empire; the Alponf Empire, which symbolizes the sword and martial prowess; and the Holy Empire of Swalt, which worships the Demon God. This place where we are now is the last one I mentioned, the Swalt Empire.”

“Hmm, I see. Swalt Empire… I think I’ve heard of it somewhere.”

“You probably have. Perhaps, do you remember Isana’s full name?”

“Yes, of course. It was ‘Isana Ranne Swalt’… Eh? Swalt?”

When I widened my eyes in surprise, Ferris nodded as if he expected it.

“It’s just as the Spirit King suspects. In the human world, only a small number of nobles can attach a surname to their name. Among them, only the direct line of the imperial family can use the empire’s name as their surname.”

“I, I see.”

I thought he was just a noble, but I never imagined he would be royalty. Moreover, if he’s from the direct line, that means he’s a prince.

Now I understand Isana’s exaggerated way of speaking, which didn’t match his age, and the people who served him so devotedly. I thought he was just a runaway young master, but it seems there’s a rather complicated story behind it.

Why is a prince living like a beggar in this cave? Could there be a war? Or perhaps he got caught up in a power struggle.

“What I’m about to tell you is an episode that happened in this Swalt Empire. Perhaps it’s a story you already know. It’s been frequently mentioned by bards recently—about the Holy Land of Swalt Empire, which worships the Demon God, and the unfortunate emperor who existed there…”

“The unfortunate emperor?”

Ferris’s eyes blurred as if he were gazing into the distance.

Unlike the other empires, which are monarchies, the Holy Empire of Swalt had a system where the ecclesiastical power and the imperial power were separated, and often the Pope’s power exceeded that of the Emperor.

Moreover, the Demon God Kanos, whom they worshiped, symbolized battle and conquest rather than love and mercy. It was no exaggeration to say that most of the empire’s actual military power was under the Pope’s command.

Feeling a sense of crisis, the imperial family unconditionally sent one of the newborn imperial grandchildren to the temple to be raised there. The imperial grandchild who was sent would later grow up to become an important figure within the temple, and sometimes even be elected as Pope.

Thanks to this, the temple and the imperial family were able to coexist peacefully for a long time—until that terrible disaster occurred ten years ago.

“Disaster… you mean…”

“The Spirit King must also know—the terrible drought that lasted for ten years on the continent.”

Of course, I know. It was a disaster that happened because I wasn’t born yet.

I quietly closed my mouth and waited for the next words to follow. Then, Ferris, who looked at me for a moment with a scrutinizing gaze, opened his mouth again with a reminiscing expression.

“It was the seventh year since the disaster began.”

By that time, it was hard to find healthy crops anywhere on the continent. Springs and rivers had all dried up, and an unknown epidemic spread throughout the villages. Dozens, hundreds of people died every day and were thrown onto the streets.

People who were desperate to survive openly abandoned their children or sold them on the streets. There were even frequent cases of cannibalism. It was a living hell where people didn’t see each other as human beings.

Isana’s father, Emperor Kyle Ranne Swalt of the Swalt Empire, was a wise ruler who loved his people more than anyone else. Unable to bear the continued suffering of his people, he personally visited the Demon God Temple to ask for a divine revelation. He sought the cause of the current disaster and its solution from the god they believed in.

It was a very Holy Empire-like method, and no one objected to it. Rather, the ritual of receiving the divine revelation was held in a public place, with all the people watching. It was a kind of rainmaking ceremony.

The ritual was presided over by Duke Yucarte, the Emperor’s younger brother and the High Priest of the Demon God Temple. The two brothers purified themselves and fasted for a week to receive the divine revelation. As the brothers were known to have a strong friendship, the people were impressed by their sincerity.

“So, what happened?”

“A divine revelation was given.”

Ferris answered in a monotonous tone, as if he were telling a passing story. The explanation that followed was the same.

“At first, people couldn’t believe their eyes. It’s really rare for a divine revelation to be given. Even if a High Priest who has dedicated his life to the Demon God prays in a room for his entire life, the probability of receiving one is so low that it’s difficult to get it even once. But it was given in a public place, in front of everyone’s eyes. It was truly amazing.”

“A miracle happened.”

“Yes, that’s what we thought at the time. Everyone was happy. They believed that the long drought would finally end, without knowing how terrible the contents written inside were.”

Ferris smiled self-deprecatingly. It was a twisted and tangled smile. I felt a bad premonition and shivered slightly.

“What was the content of the divine revelation…”

“Are you curious?”

At his meaningful gaze, I swallowed hard.

Surely it wasn’t written that it was all caused by the Water Spirit King? If so, I can understand why Isana hates me so much to some extent.

Facing my nervous self, Ferris recited the full text of the divine revelation that he had heard and seen.

The tears of burning heat rebuke the ruler of darkness.

The land trampled upon, bearing countless disasters, utters words of curse.

The blood of the people becomes nourishment, continuing the filthy breath.

It can only be atoned for with death.

“…The ruler of darkness?”

“Divine revelations are mostly ambiguous. Therefore, there can be various interpretations regarding it, but usually there is only one being that the title refers to.”

“Who is it?”

“It is a metaphorical term for the Emperor of the Holy Empire of Swalt, the land of the Demon God.”

“…!”

What, that’s it? Then does that mean the people are suffering because of the Emperor’s sins?

I probably wasn’t the only one who took it that way. The content of the divine revelation was blatant to anyone who saw it.

As expected, many people who saw the content of the divine revelation in that place are said to have had the same thought as me. And from then on, the way people looked at the Emperor began to change.

God himself cursed and pointed out that he was living by feeding on the blood of the people. Every time a person died, the people unhesitatingly resented the Emperor. The Demon God Temple declared that it would call the Emperor an evil spirit and walk a different path from the imperial family from now on.

Even foreign countries often picked fights. It was a disaster that the entire continent experienced equally, without anyone to blame. The content of the divine revelation given at this time was enough to attract attention in other empires as well. Rumors spread like wildfire and began to spread uncontrollably. In that way, the Swalt Empire gradually became the public enemy of the entire continent.

The people of the entire continent all shouted in unison: The Emperor of the Swalt Empire was the spark of this terrible disaster!

The ritual performed for the people led the Emperor himself to ruin.

“Wait a minute. Even if that divine revelation is great, how can that be? Why did everyone accept the content without any doubt? What if it’s not true?”

“Because it’s a divine revelation. How can you not trust the content that God gives directly?”

“Someone might have manipulated it?”

“I’m not saying I didn’t suspect that point either, but it’s not easy to find out. Moreover, at that time, people were desperate to end the disaster by any means. The period of suffering from the drought was so long that they lost their rational judgment. Even if they knew it was unfair, it wouldn’t have mattered. They would have needed a place to resent and blame all those situations.”

“Kuhuk!”

Then, as if he was angry just thinking about it, Alex, who was next to Ferris, bit his lip. His tightly clenched fist was already blue with veins.

“So… what happened to the Emperor?”

Surely, he didn’t die, did he?

The divine revelation said that all these disasters would end when the Emperor died. Even though I knew the ending was obvious, I couldn’t help but ask.

As expected, Ferris smiled bitterly.

“…Before long, riots broke out among the citizens. They killed nobles and guards indiscriminately, and even attacked innocent civilians. The rioters demanded only one thing: to execute the Emperor, the source of the disaster. If that condition was not met, they would annihilate the entire imperial family.”

“That…”

“I found out later, but the Demon God Temple gave them strength. In the end, His Majesty took all the responsibility and stood on the scaffold himself.”

“…!”

The method of execution was hanging. This was also done publicly, with all the people watching.

The Emperor, who exists in the highest place of an empire, was hung on a rope in the most miserable form. No one mourned or felt sorry for the sight. They were already in a state of madness to the point where they could not distinguish between right and wrong.

Ferris’s eyes were already red as he explained the process at the time.

“We all didn’t believe the content of the divine revelation, but only His Majesty the Emperor was different. He thought that everything would end if he disappeared. I understand. He was a person who cared for his people more than anyone else, so it must have been difficult for him to bear their anger and resentment. In the end, no one could stop his decision. And Her Majesty the Empress, who watched all this calmly, even took her own life following her husband.”

“…When did that happen?”

“It hasn’t even been six months.”

“….”

Oh my god, six months? Then that’s what happened right before I was born?

Suddenly, I felt like the world was going dark. If I had been born earlier, the situation wouldn’t have gotten so bad. A few years, even a few months earlier.

But that also meant that the divine revelation was fulfilled. It was because it started raining not long after the Emperor died.

Perhaps even those who didn’t believe in the divine revelation would have changed their minds after seeing the changes that occurred after his death. That means there’s a high probability that the divine revelation is real….

‘…Did the Demon God know that I would return around this time? How? Or is it just a simple coincidence?’

I clenched my hands tightly as I felt a chill in one corner of my heart. Then Ferris carefully looked at my expression and asked.

“Was this something the Spirit King didn’t know at all?”

“…I didn’t know. If I had known, I wouldn’t have just stood by.”

“I see. It seems we’ve been misunderstanding so far.”

“Misunderstanding?”

At my question, Ferris avoided my gaze slightly and gave a sorry expression.

“Actually, I heard that it is the job of the Spirit Kings to manage the nature of the continent. So I thought that this drought was either presided over by Elquines, or at least happened with your consent.”

“What? That’s ridiculous! It’s true that we manage nature, but we don’t deliberately do things like this, even because of the sins of just one person. Who does such a ridiculous thing? Besides, if water doesn’t exist, the Water Spirits won’t be safe either.”

“Then why did such a long drought continue? And the rain that fell after he died…”

“There were unavoidable circumstances.”

“Unavoidable circumstances…”

“It’s hard to tell you in detail, but I’ll just say that it was a situation that we couldn’t help. The timing of the rain was just a coincidence.”

“Then, the divine revelation was right.”

I closed my mouth for a moment at Ferris’s bitter words. That’s because I didn’t have anything to say about it either. Clearly, the fact that I was born late was due to an accidental accident. But what if that itself was caused by a curse?

‘Ugh, I really don’t know.’

I sighed, trying to shake off my complicated thoughts. Unless I meet the Demon God later and ask about this, I don’t think I can be sure of anything.

“Um, anyway, it’s not something I did. I hope you don’t misunderstand that point.”

“Yes, I understand. I’m relieved to hear you say no.”

“Of course. I’m not really that kind of spirit. Huh? Wait a minute! Then maybe Isana is showing hostility to me too?”

“Ahaha….”

Ferris let out an awkward laugh.

Only then did I realize what was going on in this whole situation. I also understood what Isana meant when he grabbed me and pressed me at the time of the summoning.

Why did you do that? Why! Because of you, I…! My father!

It was like a scream spitting out blood. At that time, I was so embarrassed by the sudden situation that I couldn’t read the terrible sadness on his face.

Perhaps that was the reason why he summoned me even at the risk of his life. He wanted to ask for responsibility—the reason for ruining this world… the nature of Arkhadon.

The decisive role in driving the Emperor to death was the Demon God’s divine revelation, but in the first place, all of that would not have happened if the drought had not occurred. Besides, why did even the time when I was born coincide in such a way?

What would he have thought as he watched the rain pouring down as if waiting after his father was executed? For me, everything was just a coincidence, but from Isana’s point of view, who lost his father because of it, it was natural for him to have resentment towards me.

“Um, Spirit King, wouldn’t you please bestow grace?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

I asked, bewildered at Ferris’s words. Then a surprising thing happened. He knelt down in front of me and put both hands and forehead on the floor. I was so surprised by his sudden action that I stepped back.

“Fe, Ferris?”

“Please don’t terminate the contract with Isana! I beg you!”

“….”

“I know it’s not something I should dare to do, but right now, Isana is not in a state where he can make rational judgments. If he knows that the Spirit King didn’t deliberately cause the disaster, he will surely change his mind. Please have mercy on us and help him. Right now, he desperately needs your strength.”

Ferris’s eyes were already filled with tears as he raised his head. Then Alex and the others also started kneeling down one by one. They were determined not to move from that spot until a positive answer was given.

I couldn’t stop their actions and looked at them awkwardly. In fact, the dissatisfaction I had with Isana had almost disappeared. If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t know, but now that I knew that there were such circumstances, I couldn’t just hold a grudge. Anyway, it was a drought caused by me, so it’s right that it’s my fault.

“Um, okay. First of all, I’ll talk to Isana again properly.”

“Re, really?”

“Yes, so everyone, please get up. If you keep doing that, I’ll be a little burdened too?”

At those words, people hurriedly began to straighten their posture.

I looked back at their brightly lit faces and asked a question that suddenly came to mind.

“But why are you guys in a place like this? Even if he’s an unfortunate emperor, if he’s his son, Isana is quite high in status. Did people do harm to him?”

“Yes? Ah, of course, there are many things to say about that, but before that, there is one thing that the Spirit King misunderstood. The title of the unfortunate emperor does not mean the late Emperor.”

“Yes? It’s not?”

At my question, people made awkward expressions with each other. It seemed like they were reluctant to continue the explanation. Then Alex, representing everyone, opened his mouth with a firm expression.

“It is a painful and frustrating thing, but because the divine revelation was fulfilled, the late Emperor has not yet been cleared of the stigma of being the spark of disaster. Because of that, he is disgracefully called the Emperor of Disaster in the world.”

“I see. Then the unfortunate emperor is…”

“That is… the title given to His Majesty the current Emperor, who ascended to the throne at a young age due to this unjust event. That is, Isana, our lord.”

“…Eh?”

Wait a minute. What did Isana say?

I clearly heard it with both ears, but I felt like nothing was matching properly. Then Ferris, seeing me hardened, opened his mouth with a difficult expression on his face.

“I’m late to tell you. In fact, Isana is the only legitimate son of the late Emperor and the Crown Prince with the first right of succession. For that reason, he is now the monarch who governs the Swalt Empire in name and reality.”

“…!”

The only thought that struck my head at that moment was:

‘He wasn’t a prince, he was an emperor!’