“What’s with the atmosphere?”
I tilted my head as I looked up at the city walls.
Even after achieving such a great victory, the cheers that should have erupted were nowhere to be heard.
It was only after I made eye contact with the masked Elves that I understood.
Right now, Riot Castle was radiating something much more important than cheers—resolve.
On the city walls, where unshakable Faith burned fiercely, the Elves stared at me as if searching for a place to escape.
Could the heated gaze of the humans they once regarded with discomfort truly be so unbearable?
A wry smile crept onto my face. It felt as though I had found a tiny crack in a wall long frozen by resentment.
“Open the gate.”
When I arrived at the city gate with the assault squad, the gate opened right on time and a torrent of soldiers poured out.
“We need to clear the area quickly before the Plague spreads!”
At the officer’s command, the soldiers began to spread out widely.
Clear the area.
I glanced behind me.
Corpses here, corpses there.
Foul-smelling filth, reeking of blood, still covered the ground before Riot Castle.
“Territory.”
I grabbed the men who were trying to clean up the battlefield.
The officers began clamoring, complaining that if they delayed, the Plague would break out.
“We swam through that Plague ourselves.”
I raised a finger and pointed at myself and the assault squad behind me. Not a single one of us was stained black.
Because this place was the Garden.
“Cleaning up isn’t our responsibility.”
The officers looked bewildered, as if they didn’t understand what I was saying.
At that moment.
Flash.
The Garden’s magic circle, stretching from the heavens to the earth, shone with light. At the same time, green energy burst forth from the World Tree.
Creak, creak.
All around us, the filthy corpses began to sink into the earth.
As if being dragged in by something, not even a single drop of blood remained.
“We are the Garden Keepers, the ones who nurture.”
From above the city walls, the Elves performed their rites and fulfilled their duties.
They were the Garden Keepers, and those filthy masses of Plague would undergo countless Cleansing Rituals beneath the roots of the World Tree.
“Ha, ha……”
The officers widened their eyes and gasped for breath.
Even though they had just experienced the Garden’s power with their own bodies, they could hardly accept the sight before them.
Riot Castle—and indeed, the entire Barentis Kingdom—needed to understand.
Just how great the power of the Garden that now dwelled within them truly was.
As I watched the Garden tidy itself in an instant, I released a powerful burst of light.
I thought perhaps Adelgarten might be struggling, so I intended to lend some strength.
Brilliant light spread across the sky, and soon widened to cover the land.
It looked just like white snow falling.
Light softly piled atop the green energy that flowed from the branches of the World Tree.
“Ah, ah…”
Just moments ago, it was a battlefield awash in blood and death, but now an unimaginably beautiful sight unfolded.
All eyes of those who looked around gathered upon me.
Step.
I stood tall in that place and raised my sword high.
And, with unwavering will, I declared,
“We are the Order of Guardians who protect the Garden, the faithful who follow our god, and the Executors who vanquish evil!”
If Garden Keeper and Guardian were the professions and rites of the Elves, then this would be the task and rite that our Hor Church would perform from now on.
***
A meeting to report the outcome of battle and to establish future plans continued unbroken.
The high command marveled at the Garden’s power, but at the same time, they felt a burden and sense of responsibility for the duties that would now befall them.
They decided to report the current situation to the Royal Palace and send an Official Letter requesting formal appointment as the Order of Guardians.
It was a truly historic decision.
On a small scale, it meant that the essence of Elves had taken root in the human kingdom; on a larger scale, it laid the foundation for harmony between humans and Elves.
Although the sequence was reversed, the result would not differ greatly.
I slipped out of the now-empty meeting room and wandered aimlessly.
At last, my feet carried me before the branches of the World Tree that wrapped around the castle.
As I drew closer, the branches shuddered. One particularly curved branch reached out toward me.
I placed my hand upon it.
-Daddy!
A pure, childlike voice rang in my head, making me smile. My retainers had been so troubled, yet…
For some reason, Adelgarten herself remained the same as ever.
“How do you like your new home?”
-It’s the best!
“The best, you say?”
I couldn’t help but question Adel’s reply.
I expected a positive answer, but I didn’t think she’d sound this happy.
After all, what had just been spread through her Garden but those filthy masses of Plague?
-The grudges that have built up in the hearts of the children for so long are slowly beginning to waver. There’s nothing that makes me happier than that.
She spoke with deep emotion. She’d always worried about the insular ecology of the Elves.
Perhaps her decision to make this place her Garden was for the sake of the Elves, too.
“Right. Harmony is needed, isn’t it?”
Of course, even during the Undead War, the Elves had supported us in every way.
But their only true intent was to follow me and Adelgarten.
As a peace-loving race, they didn’t openly oppose humans, but the barrier they kept was so thick that the men of Riot Castle could hardly approach.
Could that be called harmony?
Could they be called companions?
“From now on, things will start to change.”
They must change.
I wouldn’t force them to let go of grudges spanning countless years and join hands with humans.
I only hoped they would see humans not as humans, but as fellow faithful under the same god.
Otherwise, we could not hope to withstand the invasion of the Demonic Realm.
“By the way, how’s the south?”
I asked without taking my hand off the branch.
-Just like me. Mar Garten also awakened the Elves and left the Garden.
Adel replied cheerfully, as if delighted to have awakened her other half at last.
She said she could communicate with Mar Garten through their roots.
It seemed they’d already exchanged countless stories; their constant chatter was enough to give me a headache.
“Enough, so you mean you need more Faith, right?”
-Yes. Just a little more than now…
Mar Garten, who had only just awakened, was nearly starving, and Adel was pouring all her energy into maintaining the Garden.
Currently, I was bestowing Faith upon Adel five times a day.
I thought that was plenty, but even that wasn’t enough.
Well, it didn’t matter.
-Daddy, are you all right?
Adel asked with concern.
Really, what’s the problem with needing more Faith?
“I’ll feed you until you’re stuffed every day, so don’t worry.”
***
Dozens of carriages poured out of the East, West, and South Gates of the Capital.
The banners of the Hor Church and Royal Palace fluttered in the wind atop those carriages.
“For Baren!”
“For Hor!”
A total of twenty Hor Missionary Groups had been formed.
They were composed of faithful and missionaries entrusted with critical missions by the Royal Palace.
Having strengthened the Faith that had bloomed in the Capital, they now sought to spread that Faith to other territories.
Among them were high-ranking nobles, and even Snowfall’s Followers.
Regardless of status, only those outstanding in their ability to evangelize were selected—the five hundred missionaries and faithful who composed these twenty Missionary Groups.
Upon arriving at their designated territories, each group raised the Banner of the Hor Church and the royal standard.
And then, they immediately began to sing.
Given such an abrupt display, it was only natural that the local residents were bewildered. After all, they had long been stricken by fear of the Demonic Energy.
But when the Missionary Groups’ songs brought a sense of reverence and holiness, the people’s confusion soon faded.
Just by listening to the song, it felt as if the Demonic Energy was disappearing, and before long, the residents found themselves singing along with the Missionary Groups.
“…I’d already heard tales from the Capital, but seeing it in person like this…”
The lords of each territory expressed embarrassment.
It was certainly disconcerting to have dozens of strangers suddenly appear, waving unfamiliar banners and singing under the name of a missionary group.
That the reason for all this was religion only made it feel all the more foreign.
So, it was only natural that they found it hard to believe, and always asked the same question:
“Is it true that His Majesty the King has declared this?”
“It is! His Majesty, the esteemed King of Barentis, has decreed that the Hor Church shall be designated as Baren’s state religion!”
Trantis Marquess, uncharacteristically, replied with visible excitement every time he received that question.
He had traveled a long way, and fatigue must have been piling up, yet his face was alight with a sense of duty.
Harten Count, the Great Lord who governed most of the eastern territories of the Barentis Kingdom, rubbed his wrinkled face with one hand.
What sudden nonsense was this?
What in the world had been happening in the Capital all this time?
“Looks like I’ve fallen behind after all.”
Harten Count muttered in a hollow tone.
Afraid of the Demonic Energy that stained the sky and land, he had holed up in his castle, not venturing out for a long time.
Under the pretense of ruling his chaotic territory, he had blocked out what was happening in the world.
Yet while he was doing that, religion had gained power in the kingdom.
He felt as if he had been struck hard on the back of the head.
Suddenly regaining his senses, he realized just how unfamiliar and empty he felt, left behind by the times.
As Trantis Marquess looked at the Harten Count, whose face was dark with worry, he spoke.
“Raise this banner yourself and declare it to your people. And feel the presence of Hor, who resides in your heart.”
The Banner of the Hor Church was held out before the Great Lord.
The Count, whose lips had been moving restlessly, fell silent.
He wanted to ask the Marquess—
Do you really believe in this god?
What in the world is going on?
But now, did it matter?
The wise king, he thought, was seeking to comfort the people, even if only through such Faith.
Just as Harten Count was thinking that,
Flash—
A radiant aura burst from Trantis Marquess.
At the same time, the members of the Missionary Group standing behind him began to sing.
“W-what!”
Light that drove away the darkness, and a song of dazzling clarity.
The Great Lord, eyes wide, didn’t even realize the Banner of the Hor Church had slipped from his hand.
“His Majesty places great hope in your competence and achievements.”
Trantis Marquess bent down to pick up the Banner of the Hor Church and handed it back to the Count.
“Even folks like us still have some part to play. Baren still needs us, so why not help nurture the nation’s spirit alongside the Hor Church?”
As if to a rusty old man who was losing his skills with age, the radiant old man spoke.
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