Lotus Year 88
Another year has passed, and in the meantime things haven't changed much at all. The village of the horned ones is going through political turmoil, but nothing that really affects me.
Zan, or rather Hiraki, which is apparently his real name, proclaimed himself the new lord of these lands. He did not proclaim himself king, just a lord, since there is not much to govern here. He elevated some allied nobles to advisory posts in the militia and civilian administration, and with their help formed a government as a simplified monarchy, where all the village's problems were resolved by him directly. Most people didn't care about this, but having someone to turn to when things go wrong brings them some comfort, but their lack of education prevents them from seeing the bigger game happening here.
I have taken to calling the nobles who back Hiraki as monarchists. These individuals are influential and have many resources, but are scarce enough they barely can form a faction of their own. Their power mainly comes from their ability to address interpersonal conflicts and larger problems, serving as intermediaries or judges in various interactions throughout the village.
Some other groups of people in the village have openly displayed discontentment with the new self-proclaimed government. Specifically, two main opposition groups recently created, and together the three powers coexist uneasily, claiming to work together but in reality each is plotting the downfall of the others.
I have dubbed the first of these opposition factions the “Templars”. They were created by Selene and her small cabal of weird wizards. They seem to spend their days learning magic on the banks of the lake and doing things interesting to me like magical research and the development of new spells that I haven’t seen before. Currently, as far as I can tell, their group is the most powerful, containing many elite mages with backgrounds ranging from nobles to peasants. They retain their power through their versatility and utility, both fighting on battlefields against daily waves of zombies and helping in the village with everyday tasks such as paving, building, and making magical items.
The last and most populous faction is the simple villagers. They are very autonomous since the group consists of all the working classes of the village who can only rely on themselves. Their main power comes from the fact that they are the true "heart" of the village. If they don’t produce food, everyone will starve, if they don't build houses, no one will have a home, and if they don't work on domestic tasks, things will fall apart at the seams. Because of this, they have become the critical group to control. The nobles want to rule over them, but the villagers are not so stupid as to follow orders just because "a nobleman told them to" when they know they have the high ground in negotiations.
To address this, the nobles are pushing for the reintroduction of the currency system into the village; they hope to be able to induce people to work for them by dangling gold in front of them to make them dance with the music. The problem is that the village is not developed enough to really need coins. There is no need for money when each person can produce their own food and exchange other essential items that they may need with their neighbors.
Because of this, the monarchist nobles are at an impasse with the commoners. The peasants still work normally and do their duties, but when the nobles try to convince them to work exclusively for them, they are routinely rejected due to lacking the “prestige” nobles in other places have.
Here, working for a noble isn't much different than working for anyone else, so instead of being obligated to work themselves to death on a noble’s flight of fancy, the peasants prefer to focus only on working with each other in exchange for exclusive resources.
Instead of working hard to please a noble, peasants are more concerned with securing more things for themselves. They exchange cool and useful things obtained by soldiers or hunters in exchange for products they make themselves, such as clothes, weapons, food, or even animals. Thus far, this system of bartering has been working where, for example, the town blacksmith could repair the weapon of a hunter in exchange for scrap metal found outside the walls and lotus silk producers can exchange with seamstresses for quality clothes.
Surprisingly, the group that benefits most from this is the templars, as they are always open to exchanging resources like lake gems found by fishermen or items found on the bodies of zombies for magical favors only they are capable of providing such as body strengthening spells or magical enchantments. Hunters also always like to be on good terms with mages, as they are also responsible for healing the wounded and providing them with temporary enchantments on their weapons and armor.
In summary, I think the monarchists don’t have good prospects for their new regime unless they obtain undeniable might or greatly increased public popularity.
Their first attempt to solidify their authority came in the form of a nobleman coming to the statue of the fountain lady trying to "summon" me to ask for my assistance in protecting the "prosperity and integrity” of his people; to which I responded with silence, as I do for everyone. When they saw the "fountain lady" didn't care about their plight, they next attempted to bring the princess to their side. Hiraki gave up on the idea of wooing her away from her husband, but kept constantly pestering her to join forces with him. The princess responded by telling them to go to "that place" and otherwise ignored them. The princess - who seemed to me to be the most influential person in the village - turned out to be the person least interested in fights for power, and was more concerned with finding a way to cure her child's defective eyes.
She spent hours, days on end trying to cure her son with various types of spells and different combinations of medicines. She ended up creating a large collection of potted plants that she used to test her strange healing spells, all in an attempt to cure her son's eyes. I don't understand why she tries so hard. Maybe she feels guilty in some way? Or maybe it's just her pride as the best healer in the village? The boy is blinder than an old mole when it comes to what we can see with our physical eyes.
Over the years, however, I have discovered that he has something like an extremely sharp sense for mana. So much so that somehow he can do something that even I can’t: visualizing the slightest vibration that occurs on the "mana grid" near him. The mana grid is... the mana of the world? It's everywhere, even if I can't properly see it like the boy can. I can still feel it faintly through my roots and leaves, like a thin veil that covers the entire world. I can feel vibrations in this veil when large differences in energy concentration occur suddenly, like a bad feeling or a chill that comes from nowhere.
But the boy is so sensitive to mana that I can't even move my leaves using my skills without him noticing the shift. The worst part is that he can feel the pure energy constantly leaking from my core, making me feel exposed like a lighthouse in the middle of a dark night. I don't know why, but he never says anything about this to his relatives. Maybe he feels like it's normal, that everyone sees the world the way he does? Or maybe he thinks this different view is one of the “problems” that his mother talks about him having.
His mother became obsessed with curing his eyes to the detriment of everything else in her life. Distance grew between her and her husband as he thought she was wasting her time trying to cure the incurable while they should instead spend their time and energy teaching their child to live with his disability. She, however, believed that he couldn’t live a normal life unless she could “fix” him, so she hid him away from the rest of the world to prevent any harm coming to him.
This, and the nobles spreading unpleasant rumors about them, soured their previously very pleasant and happy marriage, leading to the princess's husband becoming more distant from her and their son every day. The princess didn't help either, trying her best to hide her son from the ugly reality that is the world, and keeping him inside a small "bubble" where everything is good, beautiful and perfect. But this bubble can’t last forever. The princess doesn't have royal status here, not really; her title of princess lost its real value a long time ago. People still admire and respect her, but more because of the fact that she is a healer with powerful skills, and less because she is a princess with great leadership ability.
Her obsession left her isolated in the village’s growing power struggle, with no allies and someone she desperately needs to protect from the coming storm.
The night here is very beautiful. Even with the presence of demonic clouds, the beauty of the lake cannot be overshadowed for a moment. Magical flowers illuminate the surface of the lake, creating a luminous and graceful environment, and the croaking of frogs and the chirping of crickets add musical ambience. All this makes the sight of the statue of a woman attached in the middle of a small circle of decorated stones much more striking. The statue has roots growing on it as well as small imperfections caused by weathering, but this doesn’t undermine its beauty nor the mystery of the water streaming unendingly from the jug held in its arms.
Amid this beauty, a figure approaches silently - a familiar woman who has recently been the center of attention in the village: the princess, or rather Shizu, the "golden princess" of the horned men. It seems life has perhaps not been kind to her as she appears haggard, sad and a bit melancholic. Her status as princess has not saved her from the ravages of time and her abandonment of the power struggle has left her discarded by the public, merely a curiosity for her “royal blood”.
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-----={Suzuki's Point Of View}=-----
Sitting on a stone bench by the lake, Suzuki finds herself lost, in the midst of a conflict for power she never wanted to participate in with difficult decisions she needs to make that would not only affect her own future, but also the life of everyone close to her.
"I don't know exactly how to do this. I was never a religious person or one who valued rituals. I never waited for anyone to come to save me, or believed in higher powers watching over me. Maybe that's why I am where I am today..."
Suzuki speaks awkwardly, forcing herself to try something she doesn’t believe in. She feels uncomfortable and stupid talking to an inanimate statue in the middle of an island in a lake.
"I... I think I lost and gained a lot in this life. I was never my father's favorite daughter as, according to him, if I hadn't been born my mother would still be here. But when I demonstrated the same healing talents as my mother, he started pretending he liked me, you know? I felt like he didn't care about me, but he forced himself to do it to keep my talents around."
"My brothers didn't help either. They were nothing more than tormentors who made me feel miserable every day, with their "jokes" and nasty comments, about how if I wasn't a healer like our mother our father would have sold me before even my coming-of-age party, and how grateful I should be to them for letting me live in the jade castle with them."
Suzuki begins venting to the statue, something she knows many others have done in the past as well.
"Sometimes I feel bad thinking this, but I'm glad they're dead. When the red plague started all they thought about was fleeing to the catacombs and leaving the people they swore to protect to die. If I hadn't left them to join Lady Felirym in the infirmary, I would be dead like them now."
"It was a long journey, wasn't it? Many died at my hands, and their deaths made me face the value of life itself. I clearly remember the contorted faces and screams of despair that I saw and heard throughout the kingdom as we fled from rotting flesh monsters through the streets of Cindervil, crept through filthy sewers, crawled through the rough earth, and did things we swore never to speak of again, all to survive and make it here, a miraculous oasis in the midst of dead lands by the plague."
"When I arrived here I felt so lost. People trusted me, they expected me to be the leader or to tell them what to do, but I was never a leader, I didn't even know how I ended up in this position! One moment I was just doing my normal healing of the wounded and the next there were so many eyes looking to me for answers! It feels so random, like people saw my royal blood and healing abilities in a high-pressure scenario and just assumed I should be their leader.”
"I was so scared, I just wanted to have an ordinary life. Before all this, I planned to give up the competition for the crown and join the temple of mother earth. But then the world flipped upside down, and there were suddenly so many people who talked incessantly about anything and everything, and I just wanted to stop being the princess for a moment and be a normal person. And then..."
Suzuki rambled on, becoming increasingly emotional, about how the world put her in situations she didn't want to be in, and things she didn't want to do, until finally reaching the crux of her story.
"And then I met James. He treated me like a normal person. Not the princess of a fallen kingdom, or a grand leader, or even the village healer, just a normal person. He liked me, you know? Like, the real me beneath the titles and responsibilities. He was so funny, bringing me flowers and telling me those stupid, unfunny jokes that made me laugh when I needed it. He listened to me when I spoke. Really listened to me, not like my maids who pretended to care. He was there for me whenever I needed."
And now the chapter where people come to reveal their love problems. If I had a coin for every person in this village who has ever come here to tell me about their love life, the bottom of the lake would be covered in gold.
"Then my perfect little angel was born. I had never felt motherly before. I didn't have a mother to take care of me when I was little, and all the women in my life gave me lessons and responsibilities instead of love. But when I looked at that little being, so small and fragile, curled into a little ball and wrapped in my arms, I couldn’t help but feel that I would do anything in my power to keep him safe."
Now it's the typical first-time-mother story. I must admit that these sometimes take me by surprise. Most of the mothers in the village really adore their babies, and even those who don't show it openly come to the lake from time to time to pray to me to protect their children from the evils of the world.
"I tried so hard to cure him of his illness. I always heard stories about how the royal family had demonic influence in our bloodline, and how our blood carried curses that couldn't be removed, but I kept telling myself I could cure him, that I needed to heal him, no matter what. No matter the price."
At the end of her words, Suzuki serenely looked out over the waters for a moment, before standing up and looking directly at the statue.
"Some say you were a divine gift, a light in the midst of chaos, or recompense for all our suffering. But you... you don't care like we do, do you?"
Suzuki said, looking sharply at the motionless statue located in the middle of the lake.
"I know you exist, we all saw you with our own eyes. But you never answered our prayers. You ignored our pleas in times of fear and despair, you ignored everyone who came to beg for your help over the years, and you never sent even the smallest sign."
"Why? Why are we made to believe in something that just left us behind? I've learned about guardian spirits, I know you don't work for free, but you ignored everything! Our pleas, our requests, our sacrifices! Does our suffering mean nothing to you at all!?”
Susuki cried out through tears. Soon, however, she calmed down and wiped away her tears before looking back at the statue with sharp eyes.
"A while ago I wouldn't have cared about this, but now I have someone I desperately need to protect. I was too naive in thinking I had time, that I could solve everything on my own, but I was wrong. I need help. Help I won't find among my people, but you might be able to give me."
"Grant me one wish! A single wish is all that I need! I'll give you anything you want to take from me, I just need your promise! Promise to heal my little angel, and take care of him when I cannot fight for him anymore!"
Suzuki began glaring at the lake as small ripples lapped placidly at its shores. After a few moments, when nothing was forthcoming, she began to get frustrated.
"ANSWER ME!" shouted Suzuki, picking up a stone and throwing it directly at the statue. The impact of the throw broke a small part of the statue's hair, but still there was no response.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! TELL ME YOUR PRICE!"
Suzuki demanded as she picked up more stones to throw at the statue. In her anger, some stones missed the statue and fell into the lake, but that didn’t stop Suzuki from continuing to hurl rocks at the statue while once more tears formed in her eyes.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHAT CAN I GIVE YOU TO FULFILL MY WISH? I OFFER YOU EVERYTHING! TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME, BUT GRANT ME MY WISH!"
At the end of the attack, the statue had suffered only cosmetic damage. Suzuki, not being very athletic, had as much effect as "stones thrown in the wind". Amid tired sighs, Suzuki wearily picked up another stone to throw at the statue but cut herself on a sharp edge and instinctively dropped the blood-stained stone to the ground. She looked miserably at the unresponsive statue while her hand kept bleeding for a few moments until she seemed to just break down. She fell to her knees and started sobbing, repeating the same phrase like it could bring her salvation.
"Please, listen to my wish."
As Suzuki's blood flowed between the cracks in the ground, soon it reached the lake water, after the first drop of her blood fell into the waters of the lake, the magical flowers that illuminated the surface of the lake began to slowly die off one by one.
Amidst her crying, Suzuki soon noticed the absence of the lake's magical flowers glow. Suzuki then began to look at the lake in disbelief while muttering, thinking that her actions had angered the lake's guardian.
Then to her surprise, in the next moment a large bubble of blue light began to approach the surface of the lake, coming directly from the depths of the magical lake. As soon as the lights got close to the surface, a large tornado of water began to form before it began to rise into the sky.
The whirlpool then began to spin and spin faster and faster, until the water in the center of the whirlpool began to glow with an ethereal and mysterious glow, within moments the whirlpool of water burst to reveal a sort of mannequin made entirely of water.
The water mannequin began to move clumsily until several roots began to rapidly grow inside it, creating a pseudo-skeleton. Soon it began to take on a more defined humanoid shape until a large dress made of water currents connected to the lake formed on the mannequin's body. On its head, streams of water fell gently forming straight hair, and at the top from her head a root grew rapidly until a lily pad with a lotus flower on the tip took the shape of a hat.
The mysterious figure then "looked" around with its featureless face. It slowly slid atop the water to the edge of the lake, where it looked directly at Suzuki before several of the lake's flowers began to emit an intense bright blue glow like candles.
"Y-You-"
Before Suzuki could speak, the mysterious woman placed her index finger in front of her face, indicating that she wanted silence. In an instant, Suzuki found herself surrounded by a dense white fog, so thick she could barely see 2 meters ahead. While she was struggling to understand what was happening, various incoherent sounds like whispers and children's laughter started to incessantly come out from the depths of the fog.
"You..."
Said a melodious voice that echoed through the fog. Suzuki looked for who spoke but was unable to find anyone aside from herself and the mannequin. As it dawned on her who was speaking, she looked in surprise at the figure in front of her who was in turn simply silently observing her.
"Are you really willing to pay any price?" asked the lady at the fountain.
Suzuki couldn’t process this at first - the surprise of the encounter leaving frozen - but soon the words reached her head, and without hesitation Suzuki gave her answer:
"YES! I'll give you anything if you can grant my wish!"