“No,theyarenot。Allofthembeaplishedwithoutyoubeingtheruleroverall。Youonlyoperformthetasksthatwouldrequireyourparticipation,sinoneofthemprescribedaroyalprerequisite。”
Kagamitinued,“savingpeoplefromdisastersrequiresyoutocareaboutthemwhenyouhearthenews,andtogoandhelpwithyoursuperbprowess。Itdoesnotateyouhavingtoweara。”
“Yukari,youarenotyetready。Yourvirtuesareinsuffittohavethispowerasyourpanion。Thispower,whichyoubeholdwithyourowneyes,isdivinepower。Itdesirestjoyfullightintoeveryheart,andmoveeveryooloveeachother,untilthewholeofcreationliveinaholyfellowshipofself-giving。”
“Yukari,yousaythatyoudonotdelightinthemiseryofothers,andIseethatyouhavesparedthelivesofmany。Butyouhavefailedtoremovemalicefromtheheartsofyourfollowers。YouhavenotfosteredaloviinRyō。Thisisnotatransgressionofhersagainstyou,butashortingofyourown。”
“Yukari,yousaythatyoutreateveryoneequally,butyouhaveyettoremoveindifferendptfromyourself,letalonefromthosearoundyou,towardtheweak。Youseverelypunishthosewhodonotshowrespecttoyou,butIhavenotusedanytitleforyouinthisversationsiransformedintothisstate,andyouhavezeroprotestagainstit。Youtreateveryoneequallybecausetheyareallweakandallidenticalandalldustacctoyouropinion。AssoonasIdisplayapoweronparwithorsurpassingyourown,youtreatmedifferentlyandfavorably。”
“Yukari,pleaselistentothestoryofamanwhowasmadeaking。”
Kagami’svoicegrewsofter,andtinued。
“IntheuniversewhereIcamefrom,therewasanenormousfloodmorethanfourthousandyearsago。Thevillagechiefsandtribechiefsgatheredtoseekasolution。Theyfoundawiseoldpersonwhosuggestedbuildingdikesaroundvillagesandpreciousfarmfields。Thepeopledidacctowhatwassuggested,andtheflooddestroyedthedikes。”
“Thepeoplewereangry,andtheyexecutedthewiseoldman。Thentheyaskedhissontogivehisopinion,andthesonsaidheoiigatethesituationfirst。”
“Theyoungmantraveledallovertheland,listeningtopeoplefromallwalksoflife。Duetotravelingiditions,hedevelopedalimpfromarthritis,andthelanguagecalled‘walkingalonelimpingandhunchedover’bythatperson’sname。Duetopoorlivingditionsduringtheiigation,hehadpieneandcouldn’thisteeth,andhisteethstartedhurting,andthelanguagestillcalledtoothachebythatperson’snamemorethanfourthousandyearslater。”
“Hetraveled,helistened,hehadversations。Manytimeshepassedrightinfrontofhishouse,butdidn’thavetimetogoinandsayagreetingtohisfamily。Sofortheyearshewasiigatingtheflood,neveroncedidhegointohisownhomedespitehavinghadopportunities。Hethendesignedalstobebuilt,andmarkedhillstobedugthrough。Heworkedalongsideeveryoiltheworkwasfinallypleted。Becauseofthis,alltribeleadersmetafterwards,andmadehimthefirstsnoftheland。”
“Yukari,donotthinkitwaseasytodesignals。Withdikes,eachvillagebuildtheirown,butalshesentofeveryvillagealongtheway。Whatwasoncefertilefieldswillbelostforeverwhenitbeesthebottomofaal。Whatwereoncerichhuntinggroundswillbenomoreasthealwouldbloimalsfromarriving。Whatoncewerefriendlyneighbvillageswillhavestrifebecauseonewillbeeprosperouswithbetteraccesstowaterandtransportationwhiletheotherstandsstill。”
“Theyoungmandidnothavepoliticalpower,orstatus,orsuperiorstrengthonbattlefields。Hehadtovinceeveryohhiswords,hispoliteness,hiswisdom,andhissiy。”
“Heriskedangeringpeopleinaskingpeopletopromiseforthesakeofthewhole。Yukari,willyouriskyourself,yourprestige,andyourreputationinordertgoodotheworld?Orwillyougainimmunitybyina?”
“Yukari,aleaderisnotmadebyhavingmanyswords。”
Yukarifellsilent。Shefeltshameforthefirsttimeinherlifetoday,andaslighthintofbeinginsuffitandinferior,justlikehowshe,earlierforthefirsttime,wasuosupplyasatisfactoryanswer。
Sometimelater,Kagamispokeagain。
“Iamkagami,themirror。Ireflectrealityasitis。Innerdesires,virtuesandvices,folliesandshortings,aremadeplainandvisibletoeveryonebyme。Themightyswordoflightisstrength,themirroriswisdom,andthejewelisbenevolehedivinetainsallofthem,andtheyareindivisible。Thedivinepowerotexistinmightinessalone。”
“Thispowerdemandswhoeverwieldsittomovetheheartsofmillions,withwisdomanddiscretionintheira。Topromotegoodnessinpeople,untileveryoneislikefamilytooneaomovepeople’sheartssoeveryoneshareswhattheyhave,andhelpeachotherwithchoresandwork。”
“Noandfromamonarchachievethat。Noruliforthfromasn,backedbythedisplayofpoweronbattlefields,movepeople’sheartstowardlovingeachother。”
“Yukari,nowIshallpronouncemyverdict。”
17
“Yukari,nowIshallpronouncemyverdict。”KagamilookedatYukariwithuandingandpassion。
“Thosewhodesiretheshallfirstbearitsweightofresponsibility。Asyouhavenotreadiedyourselftotakeontheweightofbeingamonarch,yourshallbetemporarilytakenawayfromyou。”
“Ifpeopletiofollowyoubecauseofthewisdomyoudisplayilingdisputes,ifpeoplegatheraroundyouandobeyyourwordbecauseyouespousegoodnessihenyoushallbemadearulerbypeoplethemselves。”
“Ifonedayyourwisdomhasthecapacitytouplifteveryperson,alongwiththewholeworld,withheranimalsandplants,herriversandmountains,herfieldsandlakes,ifonedayyourlovingkindnessbringsyourhearttoembracetheentirecreation,andtomoveeveryhearttowardgfellowship,thispowershallthenseekyououtandabidewithyou,asyouhavefirstprovenyourselfbytakingonthegrandresponsibility。”
AsKagamihadfinishedherjudgement,theswordsoflightthathadscatteredallacrossthesky,whichwereformedbythedustoflightleftoverfromftheholyvessels,chargedattheFive。
Yukari,Midori,andKasumistoodpetrified,whileYayoitriedtoactivatetransportspellsandescape,andRyō,beingthemostexperiencedotlefield,wastheonlyonewhomaocastspellsofdefensebeforetheswordsarrived。
Theswordspassedthroughthespellsofdefendtransportationasifthemagicmatricesdid,andimpaledthebodiesoftheFive。
Theswordspassedthroughthebodiesasiftheswordsthemselveswerejustpartofamirage,butasthebladespiercedtheFive,eachswordtipremovedaglowingfragmentofmagiwithiherainoftheswordsseemedtolastforever,andbytheend,theFiveweresittingontheground,exhausted,despitethefactthattheswordsdidnotinflictasinglemomentofpain,norleftbehindasinglewound。
“Theextraordinarycapacityfichasbeenmomentarilyremovedfromyou。Goandbeerealleaders,andyoursupremestrengthshallreturnwithjubilation。”
Yukarifeltweakforthefirsttime。(“Isthishowonersfeel!”)
“Kagami,thisisimpossible!IotbealeaderifIamweakandtired。Noonewilllistentomywords,letaloneobeymyands!”
“Donotworry。Therestofyrouparestrippedoftheirsuperiorrankingaswell。Noneofthemaregoingtousurpyou。Youarefamiliarwithadministration。Thatexperiendexpertisestillabidesinyou。Trustyourself。YouwillachievesuccessiingHimeyamaevenwithoutsuprememagicaltalent。”
“MydearfriendsatKageyama,”Kagami’svoicewasnowbeingfaint,“thankyoufortheyearsofjoy。IhumblybeseechyoutiveYukariandeveryoHimeyama,anddonotturnthemawaywhentheywanttohaveversationswithyou。TeachHimeyamahowtocareandloveandserve,notbywords,butbyyentlegiftoffriendship。”
KagamithenlookedatArashiandAkishi,“mydearOneesama,mydearOnee,takegoodcareofyourselves,andmayyouliveinpeadhappiness,fortherestofyourlives。。。”