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Chapter 215: Chatting with the King

「That’s because I didn’t wish that monsters and black spirits wouldn’t appear. 」
「Isn’t that something that you don’t have to say? It’s natural for people to wish that in the innermost depths of their hearts, no matter who it is. I don’t believe that didn’t have any bearing at all. 」

That’s because I’ve only lived here for a short time after all. I didn’t have any dangerous and near-death encounters with monsters and black spirits, nor did anyone I know. I probably don’t even realize just how scary monsters and black spirits truly are, even until now.

— I’m kinda like the only alien here.

「Won’t monsters appear here? 」
I changed the topic.

「The『King’s Bough』’s effectively doing it’s job here. 」
「I though monsters are lurking near the 『King’s Bough』. 」
「Yeah, they do. They’re guarding it. 」

The sound of Khan’s metal armor clanking as he walked beside me resounded in the hallway. The walls here were also lined with the spirit lights just like the ones in the corridor earlier, illuminating the place. Guide Spirit seemed to be walking barefoot on the stone paving, but I couldn’t say for sure that her feet were really touching the ground. She didn’t leave any footprints on the sand back in the desert after all.

「The 『King’s Bough』 has long since lost its ability to distinguish various things. Khan, being its vessel, is currently keeping it in check so there’s no major change happening in the vicinity, but the black cracks on the Bough are gradually increasing. 」

Guide Spirit softly explained.

「The monsters appear around here. 」
We stepped into a huge room when we emerged from the corridor.

The ceiling was indistinguishably dark and black as it blended into the darkness. Several pillars that were thicker than the ones in my tower lined up systematically and their upper part disappeared in the darkness too. I couldn’t figure out what they were for.

「Once I enter the room where the 『King’s Bough』 is kept, the spirit will temporarily return to its original body. It’ll also turn into a monster if I can’t suppress it on time, so go destroy it before that happens. 」
He unsheathed his broadsword; his stance changing to that of battle mode.

「Can’t I just enter on my own and crush it? 」
Why did the spirit have to return to its original body?

「Just let me meet the woman I love one last time. 」
Khan had a certain ferociousness in his smirk as he slashed at the black something that attacked him.

Ehh, you’re in love with a spirit!? Is that even possible? Mischt and Haralfa are both beauties, but I never considered them since there’s nothing remotely ‘living’ about them, much less having tangible flesh.

「— Did your nation have nothing to say when you carry 『King’s Bough』with you? 」
Khan changed topics when he noticed my eyes were round as saucers.

His manner of speaking didn’t even change one bit, as if the monsters he just massacred were nothing but mere mosquitoes that he swatted.

「I don’t have any nation nor do I have a kingdom so it’s fine. 」
「… You can choose a king, no, you’re already here so you’re supposed to be a king. 」
Even if you tell me I’m ‘supposed to’…

「Master is the King of himself! 」
Stop spouting nonsense, X-Stick!

「Why don’t you have any people? Is it because they were fickle while you were on your journey? 」
「Journey? 」
「The quest to obtain 『King’s Bough』. Your comrades during that journey will become your first people — isn’t that normally what happens? Or perhaps everyone had been working for you? 」
Uh, for starters, could taking a break and going back and forth between your own house and your destination be considered a journey?

Well, if it was a normal journey then yup, even if the other party was only a hired worker, the harsh conditions would definitely foster camaraderie and solidarity, or it could even lead to animosity. Regardless, this might sound unfair but my survival challenge back on the island was easier than fostering those and whatnot, though I’d refrain from saying that out loud.

「Master came by himself, and he wished for me on his own! 」
Hey, X-Stick, stop saying it as if I’m some sort of a loner!

「On your own…I see, you also come here on your own. 」
「Let me clarify, I have friends, you know. 」
I emphasized.

We haven’t confirmed anything between us, but we’re friends. I’m gonna cry if they said we aren’t.

Khan continued deftly slaying monsters left and right — uh, I think ‘careless’ might be more accurate. He didn’t seem to be careful at all, yet his attacks were minimal and precise. It’s as if our experience were heaven and earth.

「 The people who wielded influence over the『King’s Bough』would be the one who wished for it first and foremost, followed by that person’s comrades who had gone through the ordeals of obtaining the Bough and so on. So you see, the things that make up 『King’s Bough』 aren’t limited to seeking it and verbally declaring your desire of it, or even undertaking vows. That’s where the discrepancy sets in. 」

Oh right, I remembered declaring ‘whatever works, just make it properly’ when asked about behavior and what not. X-Stick did mention that they could usually gauge the state of the kingdom-to-be based on how the person conducted themselves during the trial period.

「The vows pledged should then be upheld first and foremost by the king followed by his people. As the 『King’s Bough』 is passed from generation to generation, the discrepancies widen — and it’s thanks to that condition that this kingdom is in this state. Our generations of kings and people do verbally declare our oaths, so the Bough is barely hanging on to its shape. Even if the other kingdoms didn’t mess with us, we’d still end up in this state. 」
Khan added that last sentence while bitterly smiling with self-mockery.

According to X-Stick, the kingdom he envisioned patterned after my trial was — 「Powerful and perfectly, flawlessly prepared! And quite comfortable too!! 」 Eh, does that mean if I don’t uphold those three things, X-Stick will get sick?

But, he did say that being a stick is his raison d’etre, so it’s highly likely that his priority is granting my desire to do a lot of ‘tap tap, poke poke, bam bam’ with a stick. Alright, let’s just ask him later.

「People who gather and collect spirits only to slight them will face terrible consequences once the spirits who had left returned. 」
The spirits that left, huh…. That must refer to the black spirits that escaped after being injured and deprived of their power. They would return when the effect of the 『King’s Bough』 was gone. Well, I feel those folks deserved it, they’re just paying for their mistakes.

— Wait, if we consider the length of a spirit’s life span… Does that mean the revenge for the grudges that had piled up for over a hundred years would be served all at once? Ooh, that’s quite harsh, huh.
Lights were installed at a much higher place than my height. The diffused illumination that reached the floor made our shadows huge. We continued walking amidst the endless rows of pillars that made it easy to lose one’s bearing until we reached a single door.

A bluish white stone with the relief of a tree — this place must be our goal.

「I’m warning you just in case. What I wished for is ‘diameter 4cm, length 3 meters’. 」
The damage would be lower if I confess as early as now, or it should be.

「Hey Master, we boughs can stretch our branches out so the length is not counted you know? 」
「Oh? I thought I got a bonus because you can expand and contract. So it’s already part of you, huh. 」
Oh, hmm, was it said that the 『King’s Bough』 can stretch a branch and grant it as the 『Fae’s Bough』?

「Oy… 」
Khan stopped in his tracks and stared at me with half-lidded eyes, totally judging me.

Is it really alright if I, a person who didn’t even wish for a kingdom, am to bear the role of Destroyer of the Bough?