Chapter 2 Part 1
Chapter 2 – The Folklore of ‘My Lord’s People‘
“Please let me get this straight.”
Things have become quite confusing.
── Princess Iris is Alice’s reincarnation.
── Rhodelia Koofy from the ‘Grail Trading Company’ is a descendant of the villagers of ‘Feela Village’.
── The villagers were expecting Alice and me to meet and had made preparations for it.
All this information came at once.
“At any rate, I understand that Princess Iris is Alice’s reincarnation.”
I stopped using honorifics. After discussing it, I decided to speak in the shoes of my previous life.
“Yes. And Yuuki-sama is the reincarnation of ‘My Lord’, right?”
“That’s right, but…”
Lyle, Remilia, and Alice… what have they done? It is impossible that they had Alice reincarnated a year after my death. That is just not normal.
“I wonder if Alice was not in pain, I hope not.”
“…Eh?”
“To reincarnate, you must pierce your body with the Holy Sword, right? I wonder if it didn’t hurt.”
“Well, that’s…”
Princess Iris placed her hand on her chest as if searching for her memories.
“…I think it probably hurt.”
“I thought so.”
“But compared to the pain in my chest when I discovered that ‘My Lord’ had died, it was nothing.”
Saying that, Iris held my hand again. Rhodelia was watching us while kneeling, with a pleased expression on her face.
“I remembered. If your surname is Koofy, then you must be the descendant of the craftsman, Gates Koofy.”
“As expected of My Lord. Thank you for remembering my ancestor.”
“I will never forget about my family. Oh, that’s right, he was good at calculations. He must have passed that on to his descendants and created a company like this.”
Gates, you’re amazing. You were strong and quick-witted. From my perspective, you were an easy-to-deal-with child, but you have created a company like this… I wish I could have seen that process. I wanted to praise you.
“Can I praise you instead of Gates, Rhodelia?”
“I-It’s an honor.”
“Can I pat your head?”
“To your heart’s content.”
“Good job. You did well protecting his company.”
I patted Rhodelia on the head. Gates used to be pleased when I did this.
He was smart, but he was also weak-willed. When Lyle took Remilia from him, he came crying to me.
“Iris, do you remember what happened after I died?”
“Yes, for Alice, it’s the closest memory.”
“Then, Rhodelia too. Please tell me what happened after Alice used the Holy Sword.”
“Yes, understood.”
“All right.”
I removed my jacket and used it as a cushion to sit on the basement floor. I then motioned for Rhodelia to sit as well. Iris also took off her robe and tried to ──
“Are you trying to sit on my lap!? I don’t think that’s a good idea, though!?”
“I-I’m sorry!?”
Princess Iris quickly stood up with a bright red face.
“E-Ehhh? That’s weird. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Are you being influenced by Alice’s memories, perhaps?”
“Y-Yes, my body moved on its own.”
“……Okay, I don’t mind, but what should we do?”
“……I-I’ll just sit normally!”
said Iris as she sat down next to me.
It is kind of unsettling to think that Iris is the reincarnation of Alice, as Alice would always sit on my lap all the time.
“Rhodelia-sama, you know this from your ancestors’ traditions, right?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness. So I only know rough details.”
Rhodelia then looked in my direction.
“But my parents have taught me about My Lord since childhood.”
“I see.”
“My family’s old tale begins with, ‘Once upon a time, there was a great man called My Lord’. The story ends with, ‘The Koofy family is actually My Lord’s vassal’. That’s one set of the story.”
“…Don’t make other people’s lives into old tales.”
“I also want to hear that tale.”
“Before that, can you tell me what happened after I died, Iris?”
I turned to Iris and said so.
“Yes, My Lord. I’ll tell you.”
Iris straightened her posture, placing a hand over her chest. She then began to talk about her memories from her previous life ──
After My Lord died, I could not get up for a while. It was not a symptom of the ‘Death Crest Disease’. It was because I stopped eating after hearing that my father had killed My Lord.
Eh? Don’t be reckless, you say…?
…Yes, you’re right. But at the time, I did not know that My Lord had been reincarnated. So I intended to follow in My Lord’s footsteps.
…I knew that it was not my father’s fault. He had no choice but to kill My Lord with his own hands to save the village from the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’. I also knew that it was My Lord’s will. However… my body would not listen to me.
When I woke up in the morning and realized that My Lord was no longer there, I could not handle it. It was like I had already died, and my body just kept going on living ── that was what those days were like.
The situation changed when my father, Lyle, was appointed as a ‘Hero’ by the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’. My father was granted the Holy Sword as a reward for defeating My Lord. After that, my parents, Lyle and Remilia, cooperated to conduct research on the Holy Sword.
These were what they told me,
‘Will you help us with the research?’
‘If our hypothesis is correct…’
‘You might be able to meet My Lord again.’
It all started with My Lord’s last words, “See you again”.
My Lord never lied to us. Since you said that, we thought there must be a way, so my parents decided to infiltrate the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’ to find out.
After hearing the story, I jumped out of bed. I started eating again. Of course, as My Lord instructed me after the illness, I chewed slowly and swallowed little by little. As soon as my body recovered, I began to help with the research.
Thanks to My Lord, my blood had become closer to ‘Magical Blood, Mistel Blood’. With that, I was able to assist with their research efficiently.
And so, my parents discovered the secrets of the Holy Sword.
── The Holy Sword has the power to reincarnate the ‘righteous one’.
── There is one more use of this power left.
── Alice can be reincarnated at the same time as My Lord.
My parents asked me,
‘What would you do if you could meet My Lord?’
And I answered,
‘I will see him no matter what it takes.’
My parents allowed me to use the Holy Sword. I think they had no choice. They had watched over me, who had stopped eating anything after My Lord’s death.
Afterward, a second outbreak of the ‘Death Crest Disease’ occurred, so we were slightly delayed. But I, Alice Carmine, was able to use the Holy Sword safely.
And now, I am sitting next to Yuuki-sama… My Lord. Oh yes, my little sister was born safely. Were you worried, My Lord? The ‘Death Crest Disease’ was rampant at the time. You were concerned if the baby in my mother’s stomach would be born safely, right? She was a little infected, but we did something using my blood and the power of the ‘Purification’ spell that my parents learned from My Lord. Her name was Mia. She was a cute little girl.
When my parents sent me off, they told me to visit the crest with a bat and an old castle if I ever meet My Lord in the future.
I did not understand the meaning at the time, but it turned out to be something like this.
── The people of the village created a company and left it for the future.
── Thus, the village’s legacy is passed on to My Lord.
The crest with a bat and an old castle was needed as a marker for that.
After that, I received a message from my parents to deliver to My Lord.
From my father, Lyle ── Um, I’m sorry for the foul language…
“Don’t mess around, you damn old man. You planted the trauma of killing a family member in someone’s mind. Take responsibility and take care of my daughter. She’s not going to marry anyone but you anyway!”
From my mother, Remilia…
“…Fufufu. The ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’, huh? Because of them, My Lord had to go through that… I’ll never forgive them. Never. I won’t leave the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’ to the time when My Lord and Alice are reincarnated. While I’m still alive, I’ll erase them completely without leaving any trace.”
I’m sorry, but my mother also loved My Lord.
That’s about all I can remember now.
Lastly… Yuuki-sama… My Lord. I’m still a little confused about whether I’m Iris… or Alice. But this feeling is real. I wanted to see you… so much… I really missed you. My Lord… Yuuki-sama… Dean-sama… My Lord.
…My Lord… My Lord, you idiot.
…You died without my permission… do you know how much I cried!? You idiot, My Lord is an idiot… I missed you so much… I really missed you… I wanted to see you……!
