Agastya, the Tree of Life, the Fusang Tree, the Tree of Knowledge, the World Tree... Every culture throughout history—no, the entire universe—seemed to have its own tree myth.
In Chronos, it was quite similar to the myth of the World Tree.
A legend where the World Tree was the world itself.
I tracked down Suematsu-san and interrogated him.
I had to be certain he wasn't some double agent for the Zen God Race.
However, Suematsu-san testified as follows:
“I was instructed by Funadama-sama to place a divided spirit there.”
Wait, what?!
Zashiki-warashi-chan?!
I didn’t understand anything anymore.
I went to see Zashiki-warashi-chan.
Zashiki-warashi-chan's shrine was located in a corner of the Chronos Palace.
When I arrived, I found Zashiki-warashi-chan playing on a swing.
“Hey there, Zashiki-warashi-chan.”
『Leo-kun!』
She came trotting over to me.
“Hey, tell me, what is that tree?”
『Himorogi.』
A himorogi, huh?
In short, it was a tree myth.
I hadn't heard much about it even in the Empire. Was it only a thing in manga or novels?
“XXXX, will become XXXX! Protect Chronos!”
I couldn't make out part of what she said.
No, it was more like my brain rejected it, so it didn't form coherent words. But there didn't seem to be any ill intent behind it.
Hmm...
“Nice!”
I stopped thinking.
It wouldn't make sense even if I tried. In the first place, I couldn't even comprehend the words. It was impossible to ask a human to understand that.
With that settled, I reported to Wifey.
Afterward, I held a remote meeting with the Head of the Chronos Religion.
He had only just recovered from his fainting spell, but he’d managed to drag himself out of bed for this. Sorry!
“There is a god on the Emperor's warship,” I explained.
“...A god?”
“Ah, well, it was an old custom to build an altar on a ship. The craftsman who built the vessel revived that ancient, elegant style. So, there is an altar.”
“I see...”
Well, he wouldn't understand if I talked about pagan religions. Even I didn't understand it.
“And, centering around the ESPers, it became possible to see their form.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!”
“One of my subordinates, an ESPer named Suematsu-san—he's the right hand of my first officer, though his specific ESP is hard to identify—well, that person placed a divided spirit, like a talisman, in those ruins on the god's command. Please rest assured. I don't understand the meaning of this at all, either.”
Conveying something I didn't even understand myself to another person was an exercise in futility. Because it made no sense.
“...Huh?”
“And then a tree grew. Apparently, it is a Divine Tree. Please rest assured. None of us understand it!”
While Wifey was inquiring at the shrine, the meeting seemed to be devolving into chaos. That was natural, I suppose. No one understood.
In the first place, the fact that only ESPers could see it was already beyond comprehension.
“...Is it something malicious?” the Head asked.
“When I asked the god, they said it would protect Chronos.”
“...Grand Duke. May I explain our side of the matter?”
“Ah, please, go ahead~”
“The Legend of the Divine Tree also exists in Chronos... Yes, it says a Legitimate King arrives along with a Saint. The Saint and the King plant a tree, and the tree that grows protects the people...”
It was a standard enough Divine Tree legend.
“Grand Duke. Inwardly, I also thought things like 'a Foreign King is just...' but... I have made up my mind. ...My King.”
“Uh, personally, I'd prefer if you stayed a critic and kicked me out as soon as possible.”
“Don't be so faint-hearted! My King!”
This was bad!
I’d just birthed a fanatic!
Alright, time to distract him.
“Ah, yeah, that's fine for now, but about the cultural festival with the Chronosians. Permission to use the land...”
“A Harvest Festival! Yes! We shall also cooperate fully!”
Ah! He mixed religion into it!
“Let us celebrate the birth of the Divine Tree! Hahaha! My shock at the Foreign King's miracle was merely a reflection of my own immaturity! Yes, my King! You are the savior of us Chronosians—no, the savior of the entire universe!”
This was bad. His eyes! His eyes were terrifying! They were completely bloodshot.
No, you mustn't. Don't rely on the Space Kaiju Kawagon. Nothing but potatoes stolen from military fields would come out of that, you know?
“Now! Let us celebrate the birth of the Divine Tree! Glory to Chronos!”
“U-Um, you see. I think the glory part can wait until we properly return to democracy and elect a representative for the Chronosians.”
“No. Leo-sama is the one! Chosen by God! He is the King of Chronos!”
An atmosphere had been created where I couldn't say, “But I'm only the Grand Duke!”
What was I supposed to do? I wanted to be ousted... I wanted to be ousted and go home! I wanted to flirt with my lovely wives!
But I also knew there was no way to persuade a person who had that expression on their face.
Alright, meeting over.
Now then, I guess I'll get ready for the festival.
I had already given up on trying to fix this.
Regarding the method of creating Jesters, considering the probability of success, it seemed to be at a level where it would be more efficient to just increase the number of Imperial citizens. It was easy to breed Mystery Crayfish, which could multiply even with just one specimen. But creating a Mystery Crayfish from scratch was basically an impossible game.
The Galactic Empire itself was a dumping ground for experimental organisms... I'd better stop thinking about it.
As for me, I didn't care who my ancestors were. In fact, I couldn't trace back that far. My family, House Kamishiro, was a Marquis House in name only with a high rank, and I was not a chosen Hero. That was fine.
However, I did give Latarnia a piece of my mind! I didn't know what would happen after that, since it was all ancient history.
As for the cultural festival, I could no longer manage it myself. I was too busy running around explaining the Jester problem and the Zashiki-warashi-chan problem. Consequently, I dumped the entire thing onto Claire and Eddie. I left security to Rikochi.
I had my subordinates negotiate with the people of Chronos. As for me, I had a video conference with To.
“I shall bring the Great Elder to the festival,” she said.
So, diplomacy was happening even here.
More importantly...
Who was in charge of the yakisoba?! I wouldn't hand over the yakisoba duty! The yakisoba stall belonged to me!
And I didn't know that the strongest swordsman with far too much time on her hands... Katori-sensei was closing in.
Yes, Katori-sensei was on her way.
Furthermore, there were the forces that had come to see the tree... plus the Ogre God Nation Elite Squad who came to play with me. The Chronos conspiracy theorists. And the Zen God Race.
And then there was me—constantly hungry after being ordered to stop by the doctor for losing five kilos despite my low body fat, then gaining two kilos of muscle only to lose another three.
The Banquet of Chaos was about to begin.
Yakisoba... I want to eat it...