ACT 4
“It appears that the damage in the homeland was also quite extensive.”
Felicia read the letter they had received from Linnea, her expression clouding as she did so.
It had been almost a week since the earthquake.
A letter had arrived today by horseback messenger from Gimlé, but the contents were far from pleasant for Yuuto.
“Not just Iárnviðr and Gimlé, but even Nóatún...”
His comment sounded like a groan.
While Gimlé and Iárnviðr were located near the center of Yggdrasil, Nóatún was the old capital of the Hoof Clan—it was a city on the western edge of Yggdrasil.
That meant that the earthquake had not only hit Glaðsheimr, but had affected a wide swathe of Yggdrasil.
“So then, Big Brother, this must be...”
“Yeah... I was hoping I was overreacting, but it seems pretty certain at this point.”
At Felicia’s question, Yuuto nodded with a stiff expression.
It had started. The countdown to Yggdrasil’s demise.
“According to Plato’s Timaeus, there would be multiple unusual earthquakes and floods before the sinking occurs. I doubt it’ll happen immediately, but now that things have gotten started, we need to push forward with my ascension to the throne as þjóðann.”
Forcing the issue of succession and being labeled a usurper would reduce his authority and damage his legitimacy, so he had wanted to go through the proper procedures wherever possible, but it now seemed he wouldn’t have time for that anymore.
“In fact, we may well need to push for it to happen within the next few days...”
There was a sudden knock on the office door. Given the subject he had been discussing, Yuuto couldn’t help but tense up.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, he called out to the visitor.
“What is it?”
“It’s Kristina. There is a matter that requires your immediate attention, Father.”
“Ah! Come in.”
Yuuto summoned Kristina into the room without a second thought.
Kristina was the head of Yuuto’s intelligence group, the Vindálfs—the Band of Wind Elves—and while she was still very young, she was gifted with an extremely sharp mind.
This was something she felt required his immediate attention. No matter how busy he might be, that meant he needed to listen.
“What is it?” Yuuto asked as soon as he saw her enter.
Kristina nodded once and spoke, “There are some undesirable rumors spreading through the populace. At this rate, the people might very well riot.”
“What?!”
Even Yuuto was dumbstruck.
It was a heavy blow to deal with when he had, just prior, been discussing how he needed to become þjóðann as quickly as possible.
The þjóðann was a beloved figure to the people of Glaðsheimr. If he were to take that title when they were already on the verge of rioting, it would be like pouring fuel onto the fire.
Glaðsheimr’s population was around one hundred thousand. If they were to riot...
Just thinking about it sent a shiver up Yuuto’s spine.
He needed to listen to the details, but it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to push things along as he wished.
“Huh? The huge earthquake was my fault?”
The claim was so unexpected that Yuuto could only repeat the words he’d heard.
It was true that Yuuto was now rumored to be some kind of war god incarnate, or a servant of the gods, and many half-believed it.
It was also true that the various things he’d accomplished with knowledge from the 21st century, such as increasing the harvest yields of wheat and other foods by several times in the blink of an eye, had all been far beyond what the average person in Yggdrasil could comprehend, making it seem like the work of the gods.
With all that said, however...
“I don’t have the ability to cause natural disasters.”
He had used trebuchets to simulate meteorites during the Siege of Iárnviðr, and had caused a manmade flood when fighting the Lightning Clan, but both had tricks behind them.
When it came to causing an earthquake of this scale, he didn’t know where he would even start with trying to orchestrate such a thing.
“No, it wasn’t that you caused it, Father, but rather that it was divine punishment for you disobeying the wishes of the Great God Ymir.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It’s said that the first þjóðann, Wotan, was given the right to rule Yggdrasil by Ymir. The twin runes were proof of that divine right. You are aware of the myth, Father?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that story multiple times.”
Ordinarily, he would have considered it a made up story to justify the þjóðann’s rule, but the fact that the mysterious power of the twin runes was passed on from generation to generation gave the myth a basis in fact, and thus it was accepted as truth in Yggdrasil.
“This divine punishment was meted out by Ymir out of anger, because you disrespected the family that Ymir himself specified as the rulers of Yggdrasil and tried to usurp their authority. That particular rumor has been spreading throughout the populace at quite a pace.”
“Mm...”
There was no scientific basis for it, but he couldn’t dismiss it as ridiculous. In this age, politics and religion were intertwined.
Even in the Steel Clan’s territories, while the practice was now banned, trials that sounded like a bad joke—such as throwing the accused into the river and determining their guilt on whether they drowned—used to be commonplace.
The common person was conditioned to believe that everything was a result of the will of the gods.
“Well, this is certainly going to be a handful.”
Yuuto let out a despondent sigh.
Given that Yuuto was generally a rationalist, these types of problems were the hardest for him to deal with. They simply couldn’t be argued away by logic.
“I suppose we can start with having Lady Rífa make a public announcement.”
If the rumor was that this happened because he disrespected the þjóðann, then it would help to have the þjóðann herself forcefully deny that was the case. It was simple, but it seemed like it would be effective.
“No doubt they would simply believe she was being forced to say as much. Her visiting the wounded and her serving out food have been interpreted in that way.”
“Seriously?! I guess that’s possible, yeah... I suppose I hadn’t thought it through.”
Charity work by royals was a normal thing in the 21st century. Human beings don’t question things that they consider to be normal.
In line with that thinking, he had proposed those activities to Rífa as it seemed like a relatively harmless to do, but upon further thought, it turned out that by making the þjóðann perform tasks that people of much lower standing were usually supposed to do, the populace could interpret that act as an example of their new ruler abusing his new-found power to control the þjóðann as he wished.
“Then what do we do? Do you have any proposals?”
“What immediately came to mind would be to use the Vindálfs to spread rumors favorable to you, Father.”
“I see.”
Yuuto nodded with interest.
That train of thought was to be expected of a girl who had inherited the blood of the trickster Botvid and had been educated in his ways.
Given that Yuuto himself tended to favor strategies that involved tackling matters head on, he was grateful for Kristina’s presence at times like these.
“Then let’s go with that. Frankly, it’s a little embarrassing to have to do it, but this isn’t a time to be choosy.”
He had to think about the future, after all. He needed to marry Rífa and obtain the title and authority of þjóðann whatever the cost.
However, given the rumors being circulated, if he tried to force the marriage now, the chances of a riot breaking out would be extremely high. If he were to be considered a usurper as a result of that, then the marriage itself would serve to be completely pointless.
Considering that they were now on the clock, he needed to remedy this issue quickly.
“Understood. When you take into account that you have actually put into place several public policies that improve the welfare of your people, it shouldn’t be a difficult task to pull off,” she said, before adding, “However... There is one thing to keep in mind.”
“Is there something else?” Yuuto said with a troubled sigh.
Frankly, he felt overwhelmed by the number of problems piling up in front of him.
While he was widely regarded as some sort of god of war or great ruler, the reality was that he was still a seventeen-year-old boy. He wasn’t sure he could handle any more.
“The rumors feel like they’re being spread intentionally.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Yuuto asked, his expression hardening.
That meant there was someone trying to manipulate public opinion. As a ruler, that was information he couldn’t let pass.
“Glaðsheimr is a very large city. For the þjóðann’s charity visit to be known in all four corners of the city a mere three days after it occurred... That feels unnaturally fast.”
“I agree. It’s definitely not quite right.”
“Yes. It’s not something that could have happened on its own. Someone has been intentionally trying to spread the information.”
Given that Kristina was a professional at handling information, her words held great weight. If she believed that to be the case, it was almost certain that it was true, and Yuuto had a fair idea of who that manipulator was.
“Seems like he’s going to cause me yet more trouble, huh...”
He was a fundamentally troublesome presence.
“What?! What sort of ridiculous rumor is that?!”
Rífa opened her eyes in shock and couldn’t help but raise her voice.
Yuuto was disrespecting her? No, if anyone had done that, it was Hárbarth. Why would that rumor spread about Yuuto right now, anyway? It made no sense.
She had been dozing off in her room after Fagrahvél had left, when Yuuto came to visit her. She had happily welcomed him in only to be given this news. This was a lovely example of going from heaven to hell in a heartbeat.
“Well, it’s almost certainly Hárbarth’s doing.”
“What nerve he has to suggest such a thing! What an annoyingly obnoxious hypocrite!” Rífa spat out in anger.
Ordinarily, it shouldn’t be the case that the guilty would go without punishment and the innocent be blamed in their place. This situation was puzzling enough to make one want to ask the gods why they allow such injustices to pass.
“Indeed. I’m not exactly pleased, either, but it remains that those rumors have been spreading.”
“Then I will make a statement. I’ve not been disrespected at all. If anything, Lord Yuuto, you’ve treated me well!”
As Rífa shouted, Yuuto’s expression softened a tad, and he smiled.
“I appreciate your feelings, but I don’t believe doing that will solve the problem.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. The people won’t be able to tell if your statement is sincere or if it was coerced.”
“...”
Rífa pouted. It frustrated her greatly that she didn’t even have the power to correct the misunderstanding.
“Also, while I wish I didn’t have to ask this, I’d like you to refrain from any further charity visits.”
“What?!”
“It appears that’s what’s fanning the flames of the misunderstanding. That I’m forcing the virtuous Lady Rífa to do lowly tasks against her wishes.”
“Wh-What?! Are you serious?!” Her voice broke as she asked in surprise.
These rumors weren’t only completely baseless, but the total opposite of what was really occurring! She even felt a bit of rage toward her people for being fooled so easily. Then, in the next moment, she felt like crying. She felt so guilty for causing so much trouble for Yuuto.
“I’m sorry... I really am useless. I caused all this simply because I insisted on doing something...”
This must be how it felt to be so ashamed as to want to hide in a hole.
For her, this had been the most freedom she’d ever had in her life. Of course, as a result, she had also been shown just how little she knew—and she had struggled with that knowledge—but even that felt precious to her. Until now, after all, she had been a caged bird who hadn’t been allowed to experience anything.
She felt immense shame at the fact that she could only repay all the gifts that Yuuto had given her by freeing her with even more problems for him to cope with.
“Lady Rífa, you’ve done nothing wrong. This is all down to Hárbarth’s scheming. Even if you had stayed out of the limelight and holed up in the palace, I’m sure similar rumors would have spread.”
“That might be true, but...”
She appreciated Yuuto’s reassurance, but it didn’t lift her spirits.
She wanted to show off to the man she loved. She wanted to be useful, but she only caused him problems. She couldn’t help but hate herself for that.
“Well, we’ve already taken steps to deal with it, so don’t worry.”
“Well... If you say so...”
As it would turn out, however, the situation didn’t improve—if anything, it continued to worsen.
“It seems that Yuuto’s reputation is still suffering...”
“That it is. The people are now treating Lord Yuuto as nothing more than a villain.”
“Guh...”
Upon hearing Fagrahvél’s report, Rífa bit down on her lower lip in frustration.
It had been ten days since the earthquake, and the rate of spread of the bad rumors surrounding Yuuto hadn’t slowed—it had accelerated, in fact.
“Get out of Glaðsheimr, Suoh-Yuuto!”
“This city belongs to the þjóðann and to us!”
“Free the þjóðann!”
Such cries were now echoing throughout the city.
“They’re such thankless people, considering that the truth is the exact opposite,” Rífa murmured, quivering with rage.
If it weren’t for him, many of those very citizens would be dying from starvation and exposure to the harsh Yggdrasil winter.
In fact, if he were to leave now, the people of Glaðsheimr would certainly not last the winter.
“Why don’t they understand that...?”
She was embarrassed as Glaðsheimr’s representative.
She could understand their grievances in rational terms. Certainly, being forced to live in the halls with strangers, all stuffed in together, would be both mentally and emotionally exhausting.
As for food, they couldn’t eat what they wanted, and what they could eat, there wasn’t much of. Compared to before the earthquake, their quality of life had taken a dive.
Given that it had overlapped with Yuuto taking over the governance of the city, it was understandable that the people wanted to blame him for it.
She understood that, but she still couldn’t accept it.
“I want to show the people the real Lord Yuuto—is there not anything I can do, Fagrahvél?”
“I’ve been discussing this with Bára, but this sort of information warfare is what Hárbarth does best, and we are struggling to come up with solutions... Lady Kristina is doing her best, but given that this was his home ground, she can’t help but be at a disadvantage...”
“I see...”
Rífa slumped her shoulders.
Bára was Fagrahvél’s trusted adviser and the Sword Clan’s master strategist. She had heard that Bára possessed a sharp mind, but learning that things would be difficult even with her help made Rífa’s heart sink.
“My laaady. Yooour Maaajesty.”
With a knock on the door came an exceedingly leisurely and languid voice.
Speaking of the devil, it was Bára herself.
“What is it, Bára?”
“We have a proooblem. The people gathered in the squaaaare are riooooting.”
“What?!”
Fagrahvél and Rífa lapsed into a shocked silence.
While Bára’s tone played down just how bad things were, it was clearly an emergency.
“Lord Yuuto!”
Feeling the need to start somewhere, Rífa made her way to Yuuto’s office, where she found him rubbing his forehead with an extremely troubled expression.
“Oh, hello Lady Rífa.”
After a moment’s pause, he turned his eyes toward her. His face looked ragged, each of its features heavy with fatigue.
“I’ve heard my people have started a riot...”
“Yes, there’s about five thousand rioters,” Yuuto stated matter-of-factly. “They took advantage of the fact that I didn’t have enough soldiers stationed due to the rescue efforts. They attacked the five food storage warehouses simultaneously, and they currently continue to occupy them. It seemed they had help from the refugees within the palace, and we had no time to react.”
“By the gods!”
The situation was much more dire than she had imagined.
It went without saying, but people couldn’t live without eating. The rioters being in control of the city’s food stores made for a very dangerous situation indeed.
“The rioters ignored everything else and headed straight for them. They’re clearly led by someone who knows the palace’s layout extremely well.”
“That damned Hárbarth. To fan the flames in such a manner when the country is under this unprecedented threat... He is a thoroughly rotten man. If only he’d chosen to simply retire and spend his last days sipping tea...”
He was a man who would understand that this situation would erode the people’s own standing. If this were to continue, large numbers of people would starve to death.
Even with that stark reality presented to him, he still chose to enact this plan of his to further his own twisted ambitions. It seemed the man didn’t have the faintest trace of a conscience.
“For the moment, we’ve sent out the army, and we’ve finished cordoning off each location. We’re currently attempting to negotiate with them, but none seem willing to listen...”
Yuuto pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb and sighed.
She could tell at a mere glance that he was struggling to deal with this situation.
Ordinarily, however clever Hárbarth might be, Yuuto wouldn’t have been caught in such a disadvantageous position. However, Hárbarth had made great use of the sudden disaster, manipulating Yuuto’s love of the people for his own gain.
“It would be easy to put this down with force, but if we do that, it’ll just make the tension between us and the residents that much worse. If things continue to worsen, though, we may be left with no choice.”
“That’s it!”
“Lady Rífa?!”
No longer able to stay idle, Rífa turned on her heel and ran out of the office.
Rífa knew the layout of the Valaskjálf Palace well. She arrived at the nearest food store without losing her way.
As Yuuto had said, there were armed soldiers blocking the hall.
“Y-Your Majesty?! I-It isn’t safe here!”
“That is of no importance! Get out of the way! I’ll convince the rioters to stand down!”
Rífa stood firm and raised her voice.
What moved her now was pure anger.
Anger toward Hárbarth for interrupting Yuuto’s efforts to help her people for no reason other than to satisfy his own greed, and also toward the rioters who were being used by Hárbarth.
More than anything, though, toward the fundamental cause of this situation—her own lack of power.
“B-But...”
“Be quiet and get out of the way!”
“Ah?!”
The soldier hesitated, but he flinched at Rífa’s intense aura and soon cleared out of the way.
She had been born with a weak constitution and was unable to walk under the sun—and her unusual appearance had made others view her with suspicion.
She hadn’t let that handicap stop her though, and if anything, she had focused on learning politics, governance, martial arts, and seiðrs as regularly as she could, health permitting, of course.
It was an easy thing to say, but it wasn’t something that could be done with less than remarkable strength of will.
Unlike her frail appearance, however, she had an incredible amount of willpower.
It was true that she had lost some of that confidence due to seeing first-hand just how little experience she had, but now that she’d been overcome with anger, she wasn’t someone a mere soldier could stop.
The sound of the soldiers swallowing was audible, as one by one the soldiers were shoved aside by Rífa’s formidable gaze, clearing the way for her to pass.
“O-Oh, Your Majesty!”
“You were safe!”
“Look, Your Majesty, we’ve secured the food stores!”
“If we have this much, we won’t have to be hungry anymore!”
The rioters, upon seeing Rífa, started reporting their accomplishments with pride.
Their expressions indicated they felt they hadn’t done anything wrong—in fact, they seemed to believe they had worked hard for the sake of the people of Glaðsheimr.
That was enough to break the last barrier holding back the flood of Rífa’s rage.
“You... FOOLS!”
What came next was a thundering voice—one filled with rage—a voice that no one could have imagined could possibly come from such a young and frail-looking woman.
“Eep!”
The rioters, who had believed they would be praised, suddenly drew back, as though someone had hit them in the face.
“You don’t have the faintest idea of what you have done! Lord Yuuto has been tirelessly working and struggling on your behalf to save you, and this is how you repay him?! How dare you!”
Rífa began lecturing the rioters with a burning aura of fury.
Her anger was enough to make not only the rioters, but also the soldiers behind her, flinch and shrink back.
“Y-Your Majesty, you’re being deceived!”
One of the rioters tried desperately to argue despite their fear.
Upon hearing that, the intimidated rioters also seemed to have regained their composure somewhat.
“Th-That’s right! Your Majesty, you’re being deceived by that man!”
“He’s stuffed us into that awful space!”
“And he keeps us from being adequately fed or warmed from the cold!”
“At the rate things were going, we would have soon starved or frozen to death!”
“And look at this! Look how much food they’ve stolen away for themselves!”
They began whining and airing all their accumulated grievances. This was all probably true from their point of view. They had all probably been suffering under their current circumstances.
Even so, Rífa couldn’t contain her confusion and frustration at just how foolish they were being.
“You do not understand a thing...”
Her voice had gone beyond anger and was filled, instead, with sadness.
“Then why are you still alive, neither starving nor freezing?! It’s because Lord Yuuto pushed back against the objections of the courtiers and opened the palace to you! It’s because he provided you all with the foodstuffs they brought for themselves to instead feed you!”
She still tried to muster her will and yell out, but...
“Th-That can’t be the case.”
“Th-Then why are we so hungry?!”
“Y-Your Majesty, you mustn’t be deceived!”
“Th-That’s right! You’re going to believe a foreigner over us?!”
It seemed she couldn’t reach the hearts of the rioters. They, too, were desperately trying to survive, and had risked everything to act. They simply didn’t have the luxury of listening to anyone else’s views.
“Why don’t you understand...?”
No matter how sincerely she engaged them, she couldn’t soothe their souls that had been frozen by pain and anger. She was, in the end, just a useless little girl.
She slumped her shoulders.
And then, just as her spirit was about broken—
“Lady Rífa!”
Hearing Yuuto’s voice, she grit her teeth, and she forced herself to bear it—her frustration, her disappointment, and her anger. He was shouldering so much more than she was.
He must have overcome all sorts of pains and struggles in contrast to his successes. With that in mind, she couldn’t very well give up here.
No matter how far she had fallen, she was still the þjóðann. How could she stand at his side without being able to do something about her own people?!
“I am the þjóðann—Hm?”
An incredible thought suddenly hit her. Yuuto’s Steel Clan was stocked with a remarkable amount of talent. What was it that she, and no one else, had among that group?
That had to be the title of þjóðann, and what came with that was...
She took a deep breath and sang, letting her magic ride her song.
It was a galdr of calming.
The galdr itself wasn’t difficult. She’d heard Felicia would sing it to help Yuuto sleep.
Ordinarily it would only provide a small amount of reassurance, but it became something else entirely when sung by Rífa—a twin-runed Einherjar—who was already quite talented, had also spent years working to perfect her skills as a seiðr wielder.
The rioters turned their attention to listening intently to her beautiful voice, as though entranced.
As her song permeated the space, the hostility quickly ebbed out of the faces of the rioters. They began to calm down.
Eventually, when Rífa finished singing...
“M-My apologies, Your Majesty!”
“We were wrong!”
“We felt your thoughts, Your Majesty!”
“Yeah! We truly understand that you were really concerned for us!”
The rioters all tossed aside their weapons and wept, kneeling in place, apologizing as though they’d woken from a nightmare.
Art can, at times, overcome all reason.
Rífa’s song communicated her feelings to them better than any number of words ever could.
“Y-Your Majesty! W-We’re so very sorry! We...”
“It’s fine. From now on, think of Lord Yuuto as my equal and listen to his words. That is all that I ask,” Rífa said gently, as she spoke to the head of the rioters, who had kowtowed in front of her.
He, too, had evidently been moved by Rífa’s song, felt her heart, and regretted his actions.
“Well done, Lady Rífa. Honestly, you really bailed us out there,” Yuuto said, offering his heartfelt gratitude.
“I-I-It was amazing. I-I-I was so moved that my tears won’t stop.”
Next to him stood Fagrahvél, who sobbed as she was overwhelmed with emotion.
She felt faintly shy, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
“Heheh, that wasn’t much work for me.”
In contrast to her words, Rífa puffed out her chest proudly.
She had a bad habit of getting carried away, but no one thought to correct her today, not even in their hearts.
“No, no, that really was impressive. I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me we’d be able to peacefully liberate all five of the locations.”
Deeply moved, Yuuto offered his unstinting praise.
Yes, the fact that they were able to retake all five food stores without resorting to using any amount of force—and without spilling a drop of blood as a result—was definitely thanks to Rífa’s efforts.
The rioters hadn’t listened no matter how hard the Steel Clan’s people had tried to persuade them, but after hearing Rífa’s song, they threw down their weapons and surrendered.
It was a miraculous achievement that was only possible because of Rífa’s ability to effectively wield the magic possessed by a twin-runed Einherjar. It was a feat no one else could perform.
“Heh... Well, with my power, such a thing is simple enough. If anything else happens, feel free to ask me for help. But, well, that was tiring even for me. I’ll be returning to my room to rest.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you so much for your hard work today.”
“Mm.”
Rífa lightly waved, turned on her heel, and rounded a corner in the hallway.
In an instant, she felt her strength leave her body, and she wobbled in place.
She somehow maintained her footing and kept from collapsing, but she felt a disquieting cough escape her mouth.
She pressed her palm to her mouth to bite back the sounds of her coughing.
“Rí...”
“Ah!”
Fagrahvél, who had followed her, tried to raise her voice upon seeing Rífa’s state, but Rífa immediately quieted her by pressing her hand to Fagrahvél’s mouth.
“Don’t raise your voice. It’ll tip off Lord Yuuto,” Rífa said in a quiet voice, slowly gazing at Fagrahvél.
She waited until Fagrahvél nodded before releasing her hand.
“L-Lady Rífa. Th-That’s...!”
Fagrahvél had lowered her voice, but her tone was tense.
Her eyes went from Rífa’s mouth to her hand and back. Rífa smiled self-deprecatingly and glanced down at her right hand.
Her hand was slick with her own blood.
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