Sacred Treasures of the Tree of Life and Death
I tried memorizing the information until my eyes caught a tent where they were pa.s.sing it out as pamphlets. Perhaps my nerves had caused me to miss it at first…I should calm down.
"They"re pa.s.sing out pamphlets over there. I"m gonna go get some."
"Very well."
Daniela waited as I made my way over to the tent. It was after I had accepted two of them and began to return to Daniela, that I felt someone"s eyes on me.
Once again, it was a tingling, stabbing sensation. No, it couldn"t be my imagination. And so I slowly activated Presence Detection.
"Ah, it"s no use."
There were too many people. It was a ma.s.s of different presences. But I couldn"t see anyone that looked suspicious when searching with my own eyes.
"d.a.m.n it…"
It bothered me, but there was nothing I could do. Oh, well…better get back to Daniela.
When I found her, she was eating some fruit on a stick. It looked chilled and delicious.
"What"s that?"
"I bought it."
But, where"s mine?
"Thanks."
I asked her with a look, and she produced a second one. When I bit into it, the juices filled my mouth. It was chilled and very sweet. I loved this kind of fruit…
As we had no reason to stick around, we started walking again as we ate. There were crowds of people around who could have been citizens or tourists. But you could tell that they were all excited about tomorrow"s game. There were people who looked like Adventurers who were already drinking and enjoying the festivities.
It was a lot of noise, but no one was fighting and it was peace itself. Of course, the n.o.blewoman, Alenbia Ef Quingeria, had been condemned for her strategies the other day. But there was nothing like that now. And if you asked me, they should have just taken her guards down and then fought her. It was a battle royal. And she had played within the rules.
"Hey, Daniela."
"What, Asagi?"
"The real tournament starts tomorrow. Anything on your mind?"
"…Indeed. Well, my first opponent is the lucky boy who we agreed had reached his peak. So, no. I have not thought about it much."
Well, Daniela sure lucked out in a way.
"The problem is the one after, after that."
"Really? What about the second fight?"
"Insignificant. The problem is the woman with the ice rapier. She will definitely rise to the top."
The woman who they said could hit dewdrops falling from a leaf. Levee Badi, White Dew. She would likely beat the n.o.blewoman, Alenbia Ef Quingeria and then beat the spear wielder, Bandi Ree. And then she would appear before Daniela. Or so Daniela said…
"Well, we don"t know what will really happen."
"Yes… Hmm. Perhaps it is just that I really want to fight her."
"Because you use the same weapons?"
"Yes. I have used this weapon for many years, but I sense something in her that is a natural gift."
Daniela said as she caressed the rapier of the tree of life and death. That sword…I had been meaning to ask about it. But I always seemed to forget.
Eve had said something about it back in Nicora. "Today, I will finally have your sword and bow. The sacred treasures of the tree of life and death!" What were these weapons?
"Daniela, about that rapier…"
"The sacred treasure of the Tree of Life and Death?"
"Uh, yeah. Is it a secret?"
"Well, yes. But I should have told you. It must have slipped my mind."
Yes. I had forgotten as well. I wouldn"t have even asked her now had she not started to touch it.
And she did it with so much affection. Then she raised her face and looked at me. Her eyes were serious.
"We should go back to our room. We can talk there."
"Yeah, sure."
She was going to tell me something important. That in itself made me happy. It showed that she trusted me. And since we didn"t have any other plans, we decided to head back for the day. Sometimes it was nice to just talk on your day off.
We bought a little food, including fruit, to take back with us. And then we returned to the lodging facility.
Back in our room, we sat facing each other on opposite sides of the table after putting down our belongings. The table was covered in food.
"Hey, Daniela."
"What, Asagi."
"I was quite anxious and was preparing myself for this serious story you were going to tell me."
"Oh, yes. Well, I can speak while eating, you know."
She said as she reached for a box of noodles. She took in a mouthful and then smiled happily.
"I want it back."
"What?"
"My resolve."
"You should have put it away in your bag."
Grrr… This woman was too dedicated to her appet.i.te…!
Oh, well. That was Daniela. I fell in love with all of the sides of her, so there was no use complaining now. I gave up and picked up a box of the same noodles.
"Mmmggmm…So? What are they?"
"Something that was pa.s.sed down in my homeland. While they make effective weapons, they were originally ceremonial treasures."
"Ceremonial treasures?"
Something used for ceremonies, I suppose.
"Yes. They were used for many years. Perhaps through refining or some other transition, they turned into sacred treasures."
"Back where I"m from, they used to say that souls lived inside objects that were treasured for a long time. Maybe it"s like that?"
What they call tsuk.u.mogami. Tools that were used for a hundred years would be inhabited by a soul or spirit.
"Indeed. It is similar to that. And so the long-used rapier and bow became sacred treasures. They are almost legendary among some light elves."
"Legendary weapons, huh…"
Her rapier definitely had the look of a legendary sword. Like Excalibur.
"So it"s incredibly rare then."
"Yes. Not many people know of it, but those that do will want it."
"So that"s why Eve was after it…"
And she had targetted it after one hundred years. But perhaps acquiring a legendary weapon was worth that effort.
"But I am the only one who can use these."
"What do you mean?"
"I was chosen by the weapons. And only chosen elves can wield them."
"The sacred treasures choose their wielder?"
"Aye. It has to do with bloodlines. Back home, I was chosen as the maiden of the tree of life and death."
"I see."
Bloodlines and legendary weapons. Beauty. Who"s the protagonist now…
"My mother…had lived as the maiden for many years. But I took her place when I was born. Of course, it was shortly after that that the stampede occurred."
"…"
The loathsome stampede that had destroyed her home. Daniela"s parents have been killed in front of her eyes. And the result was a trauma she carried for years. Time seemed to have stopped for her since then. But Daniela said that things changed once she met me. And her trauma was starting to weaken.
"Well, I have continued to live as the maiden who was chosen by the rapier and bow. Not that I conduct myself as a maiden in any way."
"I see… No, that was a very interesting story. Thanks for telling me."
"Do not mention it. I had been meaning to tell you about it. But it is such a dull tale that I needed a good meal to get me through it"
"That"s not true. Besides, it means a lot to know more about your past."
"Asagi…"
In fact, I really knew very little about Daniela"s past. She didn"t talk about it much, but part of it was because I knew we would always be together whether regardless of how much knowledge I had. And she would answer when I did ask her. But sometimes I worried about asking too many questions and accidentally stepping on a land mine.
In any case, I was happy to hear her talk.
"I know. You tell me something about yourself, Asagi. Let me see… Tell me about your childhood."
"You want to hear a story about some stupid kid?"
"Yes, tell me about the stupid kid."
What a curious person. Oh, well. I had to return the favor, I suppose. A legendary story about my childhood. It was a real sidesplitter, so I hoped she was ready.
"But first, what exactly would happen if someone else tried to use your weapons?"
"They would be surrounded by darkness and have the life sucked out of them."
"The life…"
"And then their soul would forever be disconnected from the cycle and will wander, lost in the world."
"Lost in the world…"