866 The eleventh day of the month of silver ⑥ ~ ruling ~

"When Tia was about to lose her life, I was the first one to take care of her."

Some time later, it was Chim-Sudra who was given the opportunity to speak.

"That was a really bad hand wound. The steel knife slashed him down from his right shoulder to his left hip, and he had white bones peeking all over him."

The red folk, oops. And the wolves of Valve were burning their eyes in an angry manner at the crime.

"If Tia was guilty of an unforgivable sin, shouldn't I have done the same? But I could never kill Tia. How right-hearted Tia is was a strong reminder in the time to come... and Tia saved my countryman, Asta, for life. It can't be possible to kill such benefactors."

…………

"Of course, my crude hand alone would have given Tia back her soul, too. It was you, Shmiral-Lilyn, who spent the rest of the evening helping me, and it was Asta and I-Fa who helped Shmiral-Lilyn. And while Asta and the others were at the mercy of Tier, it was the folks of Fou and the women of Din and Lid who joined forces in Pha's house. I'm not convinced that so many human beings are going to do everything in their power to save Tia's life in this place. And even though we admit that Tia is so right, it really doesn't bother me that you fellow countrymen don't think that way."

…………

"Tia did try to kill Asta. But the moment he saw the pile of Morga I point to and knew he was the one who was contraindicated, he burst into tears and apologized to us. There were traces of Tia's fingers on Asta's neck, but they disappeared in a matter of days. Which slight pain. Tia literally threw out her life as a price for the pain in her hands. We believe that Tia redeemed more than enough of her sins."

I'm sure Chim-Sudra has been thinking about what to talk about on this occasion, too. He sat back on the rocky steps with a tough face when he wrapped it all up with a long, unusual tongue.

"... now it looks like you're the only one who hasn't spoken, Guest Ai-Fa"

To Raal's words, Ai-Fa nodded "um".

"I don't think there are so many words left for me to speak, as my countrymen have overlapped so many words for me.... But Tia was spending the last six months at Fa's house. It will be me and Asta who are most mindful of how right Tia is."

"Was Tia the right person?

"Tia was a man of right mind. And he weighed the presence of the Great God above all else. On one point, there is no question."

In a quiet, yet powerful voice, Ai-Fa spelled the words that way.

"As Asta also said earlier, the original tier said he should snap his neck more than once. Whenever this one feeds a meal or gives a wand for walking, he tells me that he doesn't need to imitate it because he will be strangled soon anyway... so much so that the stubbornness made this one angry. That's how he was always crushing his heart so that it wouldn't be our trouble."

…………

"Tia had also guessed that her right shoulder could not regain full strength, and that the end of the year was approaching. But even such thoughts and sorrows were hidden from us. Even if we reveal such stories, insist that they only make us feel dark... such stubbornness must not seem really angry"

That being said, Ai-Fa shook her head hard only once.

"And at the same time... to the strength and sobriety of the tier, I was to be beaten down. We are always going to discipline ourselves that we should go the right way with strong feelings so that we can live without shame on anyone...... A human being as clean and strong as Tia may not even exist by the woods. I sincerely admire the strength and sobriety of Tia"

…………

"It was the brethren of the sanctuary on this occasion who grew such tiers. Therefore, I believe that Tia will be shown the right path. I want you to make the right decision."

And it came to pass, when Ai-Fa held his mouth, that the people of the sanctuary turned again.

Raal speaks up sharply so as to control it.

"I think I understood what the people of the woods said. After all, you seem to be a clan somewhere similar to ours. … but still, it doesn't make any difference that you are people from the outside world"

"So will something, even inconvenience, arise?

Donda-Lou, who had been static for a while, questioned him severely.

Raal has a serious face and nods "um".

"You guys are right, maybe Tia is a man of strength and sobriety. But no matter how strong Tia is, no matter how clean she is, it doesn't change the size of her sins."

"What does that sin refer to?

"Of course, it's about spending a long time in the outside world"

Raal said that, rather, in a way that increased deposition.

"Contraindications have reasons why they should be contraindicated. The contraindication that you should not go out to the outside world is a code to forbid you from waking up or becoming friends or compatriots with the outside world… but also to protect your power as a people of the sanctuary"

"What is power as a people in the sanctuary? After all, are we getting rid of Tia's failure to regain her power as a hunter?

"No. Not a hunter, but a power as a people in the sanctuary. Whether you're a young boy or an old man who's not a hunter, that's nowhere to change. It is, that is, the power gained by keeping the impurities away"

Tia doesn't wander around, being reminded of the words of Raal and Donda-Lou from front to back.

I was supposed to listen to Raal, holding my breath.

"The two things we consider most impure - steel and stone houses. The story was that the people by the woods lived in tree houses, not stones, but I heard they were dealing with steel weapons. Is the sanctuary's qualification as a people left to Tia, who spent a long time surrounded by impure steel, and Raal is unable to determine it"

"But there shouldn't have been a chance for Tia to take the steel knife or anything like that. Still, are you guilty?

"Let's ask the other way. I hear that steel is a being that can cut off everything in this world. We use the Belze stone knife when cutting meat, spreading grass, etc., but what about the outside world?

"Let's use a steel knife, of course."

"So you're also chopping up trees in steel to make a house?

"I often use iron saws, not steel... but I would also use steel pigeons and axes"

"If so, houses and meals made of steel will also become unclean. Tia will have lived forever because of her unclean existence."

Donda-Lou pressed silently and wandered his jawbeard, which seemed as hard as a wire.

I squeeze my sweaty hands into tension.

"Innocence defiles the body and mind of the people of the sanctuary. It is unacceptable to welcome filthy human beings as compatriots. … Raal thinks so"

"Then -" sounds a low but tense beauty.

Sitting on the opposite end of Donda-Lou, is Gemd.

"Why does steel disgrace the hearts and minds of the people of the sanctuary? Whether it's stone or steel, does it make a difference to meat or spreading grass cut with a knife?

"There is, we believe. That's why we keep the impure steel away from us."

"Really? But isn't that a derivative arising from the great premise of making steel unclean? If you keep the steel itself away in the first place, you won't have a chance to touch the meat or the spreading grass treated by the steel, so I don't think you have to repel it."

To Jemd's words, Raal smiled.

"Raal doesn't know what the guest Gemd is talking about. I want you to talk to me so I can understand."

"Excuse me. I want to get rid of the contraindications."

With only a gentle face and tone, Gemd said so.

"In all likelihood, as Raal just said, there is a reason why contraindications should be contraindicated. Why are the people of the sanctuary repelling steel tools and stone houses… to preserve their qualifications as the people of the sanctuary, right? So what is the qualification of the people of the sanctuary? That means you're qualified as a magician."

The Red People were listening to the words of Gemd, whispering their breath so that they could persevere. I guess I can't help but have a great deal of interest in Gemd's words, thanks to the interaction that affects the Fourteen Little Gods.

"A people in the sanctuary is a clan that awaits the awakening of the Great God. The awakening of the Great God is synonymous with the resurrection of the magic of the earth. You are anxiously awaiting the full restoration of the magic of the earth, which was depleted in the ancient times. So what the hell happens when the Great God wakes up from his sleep and the earth is full of magic - the answer is one. The people of the sanctuary will be able to exercise their magic again."

Most of the guests, including me, were to be caught in a big surprise.

The only person who hasn't changed his complexion at all - Schmiral-Lilyn - is alone.

"It is for this reason that you are keeping yourselves clean in the sanctuary. Put yourself in nature and hunt for your prey with a stone weapon. That was the only way to stay qualified as a magician."

"So what is the existence of uncleanness? Why do steel and stone houses spoil their bodies and minds?

As could not be seen, Gazran-Rutim questioned.

Keeping his gaze fixed on the Raals, Gemd answers.

"That's because things like steel and stone houses are against nature's management. In this land, spirits do not dwell in steel or stone houses. The Spirit is supposedly inhabited by all things in the world... but the wisdom of forging iron as steel was also an act that could leave the Spirit. Cutting the stones out squarely and making them houses and paths is the same again. We who deal in steel and live in stone houses will never exercise magic, even if the world is full of magic."

"The Spirit… it must be regarded, like the gods, as something that man can neither see nor touch."

"Exactly. But the world is full of spirits. With the depletion of magic, all spirits should have disappeared...... then more than 600 years have passed already, so it is presumed that even though there are magic and spirits, they are resurrected. With those spirits, the people of the sanctuary live in the sanctuary."

Once Gemd clasped his mouth, he closed his eyelids to look for words.

"Therefore the people of the sanctuary repel the civilization of steel and stone. This new civilization has given great power to humans, but those who have been blessed with it lose their qualifications as magicians. How about Tia? She did spend six months in the outside world, but was that a fatal thing to do? Even if you ate a meal cooked with a steel knife and lived in a house made of steel tools, forestside settlements exist in the woods. Nor can they be ripped off by stone walls or cobblestones, so have the spirits of the forest and the earth been leaning on the friendship tier all along?

"But... no one can tell that."

To Raal's rebuttal, Gemd said, "Really?," he tilted his neck.

"We who live in the stone capital cannot judge it either. But if you are the people of the sanctuary, you should be able to judge. How do you see this tier in your eyes? Are you a compatriot of the sanctuary? Or are you from the outside world? … that's the answer."

"But," another chief raised his voice.

"If you say it, you don't even look like our countrymen with the people by the woods. At least, people except Guest Gemd and Guest Raylis...... no, is Guest Asta the same? Whatever it is, I feel a sign not so different from ours when it comes to the seven except that. Then you can't tell if you're compatriots or not just by the signs."

Then Gazran-Rutim spoke earlier than Gemd did.

"Maybe that's because of our origins. This is a presumption without any proof, but may I speak often?

"... does a story without proof make sense or something?

"I would rather those in the sanctuary know if this story makes sense.... Donda-Lou, too, would you mind?

"It's about the example," Donda-Lou snorted.

"I really didn't know we were going to get rid of that kind of story.... Well, I chose you for it. Tell me what you want."

"Thank you. … it is possible that the people by the forest are ancestors of the people of the sanctuary"

Only this time did the people of the sanctuary reveal their astonishment.

Hand control of a compatriot who tries to make a lot of noise, and Raal screws Gazran-Rutim.

"It's a lot, a pleasant story to hear. … just talk first"

"I understand. … This will be an inference that was guided by a combination of inheritance passed down to the forest side and inheritance that was being told in the outside world. First, listen to the legacy that was told in the outside world."

So Gazran-Rutim began to talk.

It is about the Black King and the White Queen, once sung by Nijah at the feast of Lou.

In the ancient times, the people of the clouds who abandoned the kingdom of the east - the clan of Gaze - met the clan of the white queen in the black forest, inhabited by the black beast. The White clan was small in body and without words - but it was a strange clan, where the voice of the forest could be heard.

The white clan, without a god with a name and mother of the forest, was to join the clan of gazettes to the brink of blood and fight the black beast. That's how they became, together, the people of the Black Forest - "The Black King and the White Queen" is such a story.

"It was eighty years ago that we moved to the woodlands of Morga. A human being who knows what preceded it is no longer one of the oldest Jiba-Lu of the Luu family. From what I heard from that Ziba-Lou - our ancestors once hunted a beast called the Black Monkey in a place called the Black Forest. Also, our former chiefly muscle was called the Gazette family. Combining those stories, isn't" The Black King and the White Queen "the story of our ancestors - and getting rid of them?"

…………

"Furthermore, we met Tia to learn about the Red People. From the lesson of small bodies and women as chiefs, I came to infer that the White Clan was a people of the sanctuary, just like the Red People..."

…………

"Raal said earlier that the white people were doomed. Doesn't that mean that by joining the outside clan to the brink of blood, you perished as a people of the sanctuary? Since the people of the clouds were originally the people of the kingdom of the east, it would have broken the taboo of 'Be not friends nor compatriots'. The White Clan, which lost its thundering bird compatriots and was threatened by the Black Monkeys, may have chosen the path of walking with a powerful cloud people, abandoning its life as a sanctuary people, and living as a Black Forest people - a people by the woods."

The blurring that was filling the cave disappeared, leaving a severe silence to fill.

There, the solemn voice of Raal sounds.

"Three chieftaincy muscles are said to exist by the forest. I don't see any proof of being the chief of the white people in my guest Donda-Lou... but to another chief, is that proof left?

"Hmm? What is the proof of the chief?

"The chief dwells the holy colour in his eyes. The Red People are also to have this many chiefs, but there are many people with red eyes in Chautarta and Namkar who take the oldest blood"

"I see," Donda-Lou snorted.

"It's an overdone story, and it's a long story to say… I hear there were many people with silver eyes in Gazette and his family Reema, who used to be the chieftaincy muscle"

"... in falsehood, you don't seem"

"By the woods, falsehood is considered a sin. Also, to save Tia, who is no compatriot, there is no reason to speak falsely"

Raal shut his mouth again.

Gazran-Rutim loosely overlaps words.

"It's a story that proves nothing. However, I have heard that the people by the forest have avoided interacting with the people of the outside world since the days of the Black Forest. In the last few years, we've had a lot of deeper ties with people from the outside world… but still, it doesn't make a difference that we're a family of hunters living in the woods. Then is it not surprising that even if you had similar signs to the people of the sanctuary?

"Yes. After all, a people by the woods was a clan that lived between the sanctuary and the narrow outside world. Generally speaking, the people of the kingdom refer to people like me and Leiris. I wonder if Tia, who was spending time in a forest settlement, would not have been unclean and disgraced greatly either because the forest people have so much in common with the sanctuary people"

That's what Gemd went on to say.

Yes, that was originally the argument.

"If it was us who saved Tia, and it was the town of stone that was spending, Tia's body might have been filthy. And Tia would also have avoided spending time in a stone town. Just as a wolf down the mountain turns into a dog, a man who leaves the sanctuary turns into an outside man. But since the forestside settlement is between the sanctuary and the outside world, Tia could not help but be human on the outside - and Lady Fermes infers so."

"... come to a conclusion, I wonder"

And Ruja raised her voice, who had long refrained from speaking.

"No matter where you look from, Tia is a people of the sanctuary. Six months ago and now, it'll be no different. Is there one person in this room who feels Tia has been dishonored?

There was no one to answer.

And one by one, its eyes are directed toward Raal. It was as if Raal, the partitioner, were waiting for the answer to how he found out.

Raal looks at the void for a while before giving it a face.

I was the one whose sharp light my eyes looked at.

"Before I conclude, I want to ask you one thing.... What is Tia to the Guest Asta?

"Yes. What kind of question is that?

"Guest Asta started just now...... no, I feel like I've been caring about Tia ever since the moment I stepped into this place. If Tia is treated as a sinner, anger, mourning... if Tia's sins are about to be forgiven, joy, relief... as if payfay on fire in her ass, severely disturbing her mind. Why is that?

"That's... of course, I hope Tia gets the right end of the line..."

"I think the majority of the guests would wish that way. But in doing so, our guest, Asta, is noticeably disturbed."

Raal put his arm on his ragged knee and embarked on himself all the way out.

"Guest Asta looks at Tia with her eyes as if she were looking at her family. Your eyes are filled with the light of mercy for Tia.... Are you sure you're not Tia's friend or compatriot?

"I'm not a friend or a compatriot. I just... care about Tia as much as I care about my friends and siblings. That's what makes me so merciful about Tia, like my family."

I made him say it like that, desperately catching tears that were about to spill.

"But I'm a forest folk, and Tia is a sanctuary folk. I was stiffening my readiness that one day this would be the day of parting. It's really painful to have to break up with someone who seems so favorable...... Tia said that's the punishment for having mercied someone who shouldn't be friends or compatriots. Me too... I'd like to take that bitterness with me."

"... If so, I guess I shouldn't have had feelings from the beginning"

"I guess so. But that was an impossible story. We spent less than six months together and we couldn't keep Tia away from our hearts. I prefer Tia to live proudly as a people of the sanctuary... from the heart. So I hope Tia shows me the right path as a people in the sanctuary"

Raal took a small breath and compared me to Tia.

"Well, I'd also like to ask Tia. Would it be difficult for Tia, so deeply bonded to the human outside world, to live rightly as a people of the sanctuary?

"No," Tia replied quietly.

"Tia also prefers Asta. Neither about Ai-Fa, nor about Donda-Lou - there was no such thing as an unfavourable person by the woods. But still, Tia's hometown is a mountain of Morga, and she can't abandon her family or her countrymen."

Tia distracted herself a lot as she showed us her back.

"How happy I would have been if I could have called Asta or Ai-Fa my family...... to think that way was often also true. But there's no way we can abandon Namkar's family. Breaking up with Asta and the others is so painful that it rips my heart out...... as Asta said earlier, I guess that's punishment. Tia wants to live as a sanctuary people with that intolerable pain in her chest"

"... were you so passionate about the outside world?"

"Mm-hmm. You're not allowed to speak up. Tia became as fond of Asta and I-Fa as her real family."

I bit my teeth off a long time ago.

Failure to do so was likely to spill a mass of emotion as a whimper.

(Even I... how happy I would have been to be a family with Tia)

But Tia has a home and family.

I've lost them - Tia had a place to go, and that's why I've survived so many trials.

"So... what if I allow you to live as an outside people?

Raal cut it out.

"If you scrape off the marks on your face and hands and feet, which are a testament to the Son of the Great God, you are allowed to go out into the outside world. Aren't you happier there than giving your soul back to the Great God?

"Is Raal trying a tier? If that was the idea, Tia had chosen her own path from the start."

Tia said so softly.

"If Tia's sins are not forgiven, this soul returns to the Great God. That's why Tia came back here."

"Right," Raal sighed.

"Sure, you seem to have an unexpected fortitude as a thirteen-year-old daughter.... Then I'm going to take a vote"

The sudden proclamation took my breath away.

But sooner than I raise my voice, Raal sounds good.

"Those who do not recognize Tia the son of Hamrah, the chief of Namkar, as compatriots of the sanctuary, rise up. Stand up and show the Great God what I will."

Confused, I was supposed to patronize my gaze.

No one stands up.

Raal himself looked around as he sat down.

"... all the chiefs found Tia not guilty. Let us acknowledge Tia's return to the sanctuary."

Tia's back shivered slightly.

"Are you sure... Tia's sins were forgiven?

"I did not forgive sin. I thought sin had already been redeemed. You're the one who insisted?

Raal giggles at the crackle.

"No, it was rather the guests behind you who insisted that way. Whatever it is, our will was put together in one piece. It is up to no one to relax this decision."

There were those who rose up from the square faster than the words could be finished.

It's Tia's mother, Hamra.

One step behind, Lyta and the white wolf also pop up. But after all, the first person to hold Tia was her mother.

"Sorry, Tia... Hamra, Tia's family, was not allowed to say anything..."

Hamra was crying, sneezing her face.

Those arms are holding Tia's back. She was just a little taller than Tia and looked like an adult - but that awful crying face looked just like Tia's.

The white wolf was circling behind Tia and rubbing his nose tip against the empty part of his back.

Lyta stops on her feet along the way, staring at the Tiers, tearing in a pompous manner.

Tia has her back on this one, so I don't even know what she looks like.

But it didn't take that long for a baby cry to come out of its mouth.

Several other red folks and the wolves of Valve surround the tier. So soon, I lost sight of Tia's little figure.

Tia was finally allowed to go home.

I shouldn't be rushing right now.

I grabbed my fist with my cunt, but I could only weep and whimper.

(Congratulations, Tia....... I'm so glad)

Then Ai-Fa followed my arm with her elbow.

"... don't spill tears, Asta."

Looking back, Ai-Fa was staring at me on the top of the Buddha.

The whimper was about to spill, so I can't answer it.

It's just - under the blue-white light of the star moss, it felt like there was something glowing in Ai-Fa's eyes, too.