Episode 46. Dipper, God of the Earth
“It must be because she’s not Bercheria.”
Gerard’s lips stretched out in satisfaction.
“As expected. I picked a great captain for the guard.”
Dylan couldn’t read the thoughts behind that fierce face at any given moment, which made him feel frustrated, but that didn’t matter to Gerard. He was content to be a loyal dog who obeyed his orders at the right moment.
“Your Majesty. How should I deal with a woman who isn’t Bercheria? Just give me the order.”
Look at this. How satisfying.
When this mission was over, Gerard decided to reward this loyal dog handsomely.
“We’ll catch her. Let’s catch her safely and return her to the palace. Shouldn’t I hear for myself what she was trying to do?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Gerard looked at Groovy, who sat there blankly, once more, and moved to the front of the line with a proud heart.
As he led the line of imperial knights, another white horse appeared at the front.
Leone, dressed entirely in white, as if to match her horse's attire, spotted Gerard and smiled brightly. She looked quite adorable, meticulously dressed, from fur hat to gloves, for her first trip to the north in a long time.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor."
"Looking at Leone's outfit, it reminds me of snow in the north. It would be fun to roll around together."
"Oh my, are you kidding me?"
She covered her mouth with her hand, still as beautiful as a girl, laughing.
She had long been the Emperor's mistress, so it was only natural that her beauty hadn't faded.
"Let's go."
Leone slowly moved forward, and the halting column, as if waiting, began to move.
It would take another half day to reach the portal connecting to the north.
Given the large group, it was likely to take even longer.
"Is the child following along?"
"Yeah. Behind."
"How beautiful must he be for the imperial court to be so noisy? Is it blinding?"
Leone's body swayed left and right as she held the reins.
Gerard laughed heartily.
"Go and see. How far is it?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, yes. Go ahead and see."
Gerard flicked his wrist and pushed Leone back.
She turned her horse around and disappeared into the darkness.
The scenery, just setting, was gloomy, like blood splattered across the landscape.
But today, strangely, even this weather wasn't unpleasant.
Even if this journey took several days, he felt he could continue without feeling bored.
His beloved mistress, the beautiful golden boy.
And the journey to capture Bercheria with them. He felt like humming a tune.
He turned his head slightly to check that Leone was following him.
As dusk began to break, he saw Leone following the procession, swaying gently, as if out for a stroll near Groovy.
The Emperor, still young and beautiful, smacked his lips.
Leone was a vixen, and she didn't hesitate to show her vixenness to Gerard.
Long ago, when Gerard was not the Emperor, but merely the Emperor's third son, Gerard returned to the palace carrying Leone, whose leg had been broken in a collision with his carriage.
There was no real purpose in bringing her to the palace.
He simply couldn't abandon her on the street, as so many citizens had seen her get hit by his carriage.
But then he heard something completely unexpected from the imperial doctor: Leone had recently given birth and was in a weak state.
Gerard summoned Leone to find out what had happened, and she told him, not her own story, but Gerard's.
"Trust me," she said. "I can make Prince Gerard the Emperor of Periat."
Feeling half-deceived, he decided to use her.
But as it turned out, Leone was a greater strategist than anyone in the world.
Without her, he wouldn't have been able to kill his father and brothers and take their place.
It was she who procured the medicine, and she who taught him the method.
Thanks to her, Gerard could live out the rest of his life as Emperor.
If he hadn't been Emperor, would he have been able to obtain Bercheria, his lifelong dream?
He couldn't have imagined it.
The prospect of somehow bringing back Bercheria and displaying it in his treasure trove.
Gerard found himself smiling even when he was still.
"But why are you staring at Groovy like that? It's making him uncomfortable."
Leone couldn't hear Gerard's monologue.
"Huh."
Gerard turned forward, seemingly annoyed.
Anyway, once he returned from the north, Groovy and Bercheria wouldn't have anything to do with anyone else.
They would be Gerard's personal possession anyway.
He turned his head, glanced at Leone, and nodded at a sudden thought.
"Oh, right. If it's true that she had a child back then, he'd be exactly that age."
He quickly dismissed it and rode on.
Lacrahan, having dismissed Tatiana, sat on the sofa for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
The woman he met in the forest might have wanted to help Lacrahan and Bercheria, as Tatiana had said.
It was a very small possibility, but it wasn't entirely impossible.
But the question always arose in the end.
Why?
Why on earth would she help him?
Why would she want to help Bercheria?
"It doesn't make sense."
Lacrahan stood up.
After the wedding tonight, it seemed like security around Bercheria would have to be strengthened.
"Bercheria!"
He opened the bedroom door and froze.
The space where Bercheria should have been was empty.
Kkio-yok!
The man atop Muha had a manly appearance at first glance.
His muscular, bronzed skin was clearly visible through the minimal clothing he wore, even in the winter weather.
Bercheria tilted her head and watched Muha and the man flying above her.
"It doesn't make sense..."
Someone controlling a divine being at will?
The man's actions made it seem that way.
Muha was moving around as if he were a toy.
As he grabbed Muha's nearly bald head feathers and shook them from side to side, Muha, like a docile lamb, turned toward her without question.
Slowly gliding, Muha descended in front of Bercheria.
The flapping of his wings uprooted trees and grass, sending them flying into the air.
The wind was so strong that even Bercheria, standing before him, found it difficult to stand.
Barely holding on, the condor's massive foot landed in front of her.
A rumbling sound was heard, and the man riding Muha leaped to the ground.
"..."
Bercheria watched him approach, tense. She had never before seen such an exotic appearance.
His bronzed skin brought to mind a midsummer beach, blazing with the sun.
In this frigid weather, it felt as if the man were alone, walking through a tropical night.
As the man, who had strode forward without hesitation, drew near, Bercheria spoke nervously.
"Are you the one who sent me the note?"
The man, who had come within a hair's breadth of his face, suddenly hugged Bercheria tightly.
"What are you doing...!"
Bercheria froze, her hands outstretched in the air.
The unusually large man held the tiny Bercheria in his arms and let out a long breath.
"I can't tell you how much I've missed you."
The man's desperate voice made Bercheria wonder if she had momentarily forgotten that she had known him for so long.
"...Who are you to do this?"
He was startled by Bercheria's voice and let her go.
"Oh, dear. I haven't introduced myself yet."
The man knelt on the floor and lifted one arm forward.
The torn forearm and the tendons running across it were surprisingly clear.
"I am the earth god who protects the kingdom of Contana."
Bercheria's eyes slowly opened.
The guardian of the kingdom of Contana.
The earth god, Dipper.
Dipper lifted his mysterious silver eyes and gently curved them, as if tempting.
“I have waited for this moment for a very long time. My Bercheria.”
Bercheria’s gaze, gazing at Dipper, was filled with wonder.
“The guardian of the kingdom of Contana...”
He stood, sweeping his long, wild hair back.
“That’s right. I am Dipper. Bercheria.”
Bercheria still looked at Muha, who was behind him, as if in disbelief.
“That’s right. Your Muha... Oh, now that I think about it, the name Bercheria gave him really suits him surprisingly well. He seems to like it quite a bit.”
Bercheria’s gaping mouth refused to close.
“Muha is a divine beast I personally brought back from the lava crater, so it’s not hard for me to guess his feelings.”
“Are you talking about when Muha was an egg?”
Dipper smiled, his rosy lips lifting.
“It was fate itself that I happened to see you while bringing that egg.”
Muha’s mother was originally a phoenix.
The phoenix mother fell in love with a condor and laid an egg.
Dipper, the god of the earth, possessed the ability to sense the energy of life.
When hybrids or other lifeforms with unique characteristics were introduced into the world, he would determine whether they would be harmful or beneficial to humans and deal with them accordingly.
It was a kind of wholesome hobby.
"Muha was a child with a peculiar destiny, destined to become a divine beast from the moment he was born."
Because divine beasts were so rare, he was carrying the small egg carefully as he traveled.
Suddenly, the egg tumbled from his hand and vanished into a tall tower as if it had been waiting.
Dipper, riding on the back of the mother phoenix, went to retrieve the egg and encountered Bercheria.
Trapped in the narrow tower, the girl was huddled, sobbing and crying alone.
The sight of the helpless child, weeping as if she were about to die, was so heartbreaking that he couldn't even approach, simply watching for a while.
It hadn't occurred to him that she might be Bercheria.
Unable to take the egg from the girl, Dipper decided to leave everything to fate and left the tower.
"I returned to the Kingdom of Contana, and from then on, as Bercheria knew, it was a hectic time. It was a struggle to purify the blood flowing through the land."
At that time, Dipper was so cornered that he felt the urge to exterminate all humans.
Even after washing away the sinful blood of humanity, they continued to kill, hate, and strangle each other.
"Then, not long ago, I heard the voice of the Supreme Being."
The Supreme Being.
It was a moment when his opinion once again intervened.
"The Supreme Being gave me a fateful command."
“It must be because she’s not Bercheria.”
Gerard’s lips stretched out in satisfaction.
“As expected. I picked a great captain for the guard.”
Dylan couldn’t read the thoughts behind that fierce face at any given moment, which made him feel frustrated, but that didn’t matter to Gerard. He was content to be a loyal dog who obeyed his orders at the right moment.
“Your Majesty. How should I deal with a woman who isn’t Bercheria? Just give me the order.”
Look at this. How satisfying.
When this mission was over, Gerard decided to reward this loyal dog handsomely.
“We’ll catch her. Let’s catch her safely and return her to the palace. Shouldn’t I hear for myself what she was trying to do?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Gerard looked at Groovy, who sat there blankly, once more, and moved to the front of the line with a proud heart.
As he led the line of imperial knights, another white horse appeared at the front.
Leone, dressed entirely in white, as if to match her horse's attire, spotted Gerard and smiled brightly. She looked quite adorable, meticulously dressed, from fur hat to gloves, for her first trip to the north in a long time.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor."
"Looking at Leone's outfit, it reminds me of snow in the north. It would be fun to roll around together."
"Oh my, are you kidding me?"
She covered her mouth with her hand, still as beautiful as a girl, laughing.
She had long been the Emperor's mistress, so it was only natural that her beauty hadn't faded.
"Let's go."
Leone slowly moved forward, and the halting column, as if waiting, began to move.
It would take another half day to reach the portal connecting to the north.
Given the large group, it was likely to take even longer.
"Is the child following along?"
"Yeah. Behind."
"How beautiful must he be for the imperial court to be so noisy? Is it blinding?"
Leone's body swayed left and right as she held the reins.
Gerard laughed heartily.
"Go and see. How far is it?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, yes. Go ahead and see."
Gerard flicked his wrist and pushed Leone back.
She turned her horse around and disappeared into the darkness.
The scenery, just setting, was gloomy, like blood splattered across the landscape.
But today, strangely, even this weather wasn't unpleasant.
Even if this journey took several days, he felt he could continue without feeling bored.
His beloved mistress, the beautiful golden boy.
And the journey to capture Bercheria with them. He felt like humming a tune.
He turned his head slightly to check that Leone was following him.
As dusk began to break, he saw Leone following the procession, swaying gently, as if out for a stroll near Groovy.
The Emperor, still young and beautiful, smacked his lips.
Leone was a vixen, and she didn't hesitate to show her vixenness to Gerard.
Long ago, when Gerard was not the Emperor, but merely the Emperor's third son, Gerard returned to the palace carrying Leone, whose leg had been broken in a collision with his carriage.
There was no real purpose in bringing her to the palace.
He simply couldn't abandon her on the street, as so many citizens had seen her get hit by his carriage.
But then he heard something completely unexpected from the imperial doctor: Leone had recently given birth and was in a weak state.
Gerard summoned Leone to find out what had happened, and she told him, not her own story, but Gerard's.
"Trust me," she said. "I can make Prince Gerard the Emperor of Periat."
Feeling half-deceived, he decided to use her.
But as it turned out, Leone was a greater strategist than anyone in the world.
Without her, he wouldn't have been able to kill his father and brothers and take their place.
It was she who procured the medicine, and she who taught him the method.
Thanks to her, Gerard could live out the rest of his life as Emperor.
If he hadn't been Emperor, would he have been able to obtain Bercheria, his lifelong dream?
He couldn't have imagined it.
The prospect of somehow bringing back Bercheria and displaying it in his treasure trove.
Gerard found himself smiling even when he was still.
"But why are you staring at Groovy like that? It's making him uncomfortable."
Leone couldn't hear Gerard's monologue.
"Huh."
Gerard turned forward, seemingly annoyed.
Anyway, once he returned from the north, Groovy and Bercheria wouldn't have anything to do with anyone else.
They would be Gerard's personal possession anyway.
He turned his head, glanced at Leone, and nodded at a sudden thought.
"Oh, right. If it's true that she had a child back then, he'd be exactly that age."
He quickly dismissed it and rode on.
***
Lacrahan, having dismissed Tatiana, sat on the sofa for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
The woman he met in the forest might have wanted to help Lacrahan and Bercheria, as Tatiana had said.
It was a very small possibility, but it wasn't entirely impossible.
But the question always arose in the end.
Why?
Why on earth would she help him?
Why would she want to help Bercheria?
"It doesn't make sense."
Lacrahan stood up.
After the wedding tonight, it seemed like security around Bercheria would have to be strengthened.
"Bercheria!"
He opened the bedroom door and froze.
The space where Bercheria should have been was empty.
***
Kkio-yok!
The man atop Muha had a manly appearance at first glance.
His muscular, bronzed skin was clearly visible through the minimal clothing he wore, even in the winter weather.
Bercheria tilted her head and watched Muha and the man flying above her.
"It doesn't make sense..."
Someone controlling a divine being at will?
The man's actions made it seem that way.
Muha was moving around as if he were a toy.
As he grabbed Muha's nearly bald head feathers and shook them from side to side, Muha, like a docile lamb, turned toward her without question.
Slowly gliding, Muha descended in front of Bercheria.
The flapping of his wings uprooted trees and grass, sending them flying into the air.
The wind was so strong that even Bercheria, standing before him, found it difficult to stand.
Barely holding on, the condor's massive foot landed in front of her.
A rumbling sound was heard, and the man riding Muha leaped to the ground.
"..."
Bercheria watched him approach, tense. She had never before seen such an exotic appearance.
His bronzed skin brought to mind a midsummer beach, blazing with the sun.
In this frigid weather, it felt as if the man were alone, walking through a tropical night.
As the man, who had strode forward without hesitation, drew near, Bercheria spoke nervously.
"Are you the one who sent me the note?"
The man, who had come within a hair's breadth of his face, suddenly hugged Bercheria tightly.
"What are you doing...!"
Bercheria froze, her hands outstretched in the air.
The unusually large man held the tiny Bercheria in his arms and let out a long breath.
"I can't tell you how much I've missed you."
The man's desperate voice made Bercheria wonder if she had momentarily forgotten that she had known him for so long.
"...Who are you to do this?"
He was startled by Bercheria's voice and let her go.
"Oh, dear. I haven't introduced myself yet."
The man knelt on the floor and lifted one arm forward.
The torn forearm and the tendons running across it were surprisingly clear.
"I am the earth god who protects the kingdom of Contana."
Bercheria's eyes slowly opened.
The guardian of the kingdom of Contana.
The earth god, Dipper.
Dipper lifted his mysterious silver eyes and gently curved them, as if tempting.
“I have waited for this moment for a very long time. My Bercheria.”
Bercheria’s gaze, gazing at Dipper, was filled with wonder.
“The guardian of the kingdom of Contana...”
He stood, sweeping his long, wild hair back.
“That’s right. I am Dipper. Bercheria.”
Bercheria still looked at Muha, who was behind him, as if in disbelief.
“That’s right. Your Muha... Oh, now that I think about it, the name Bercheria gave him really suits him surprisingly well. He seems to like it quite a bit.”
Bercheria’s gaping mouth refused to close.
“Muha is a divine beast I personally brought back from the lava crater, so it’s not hard for me to guess his feelings.”
“Are you talking about when Muha was an egg?”
Dipper smiled, his rosy lips lifting.
“It was fate itself that I happened to see you while bringing that egg.”
Muha’s mother was originally a phoenix.
The phoenix mother fell in love with a condor and laid an egg.
Dipper, the god of the earth, possessed the ability to sense the energy of life.
When hybrids or other lifeforms with unique characteristics were introduced into the world, he would determine whether they would be harmful or beneficial to humans and deal with them accordingly.
It was a kind of wholesome hobby.
"Muha was a child with a peculiar destiny, destined to become a divine beast from the moment he was born."
Because divine beasts were so rare, he was carrying the small egg carefully as he traveled.
Suddenly, the egg tumbled from his hand and vanished into a tall tower as if it had been waiting.
Dipper, riding on the back of the mother phoenix, went to retrieve the egg and encountered Bercheria.
Trapped in the narrow tower, the girl was huddled, sobbing and crying alone.
The sight of the helpless child, weeping as if she were about to die, was so heartbreaking that he couldn't even approach, simply watching for a while.
It hadn't occurred to him that she might be Bercheria.
Unable to take the egg from the girl, Dipper decided to leave everything to fate and left the tower.
"I returned to the Kingdom of Contana, and from then on, as Bercheria knew, it was a hectic time. It was a struggle to purify the blood flowing through the land."
At that time, Dipper was so cornered that he felt the urge to exterminate all humans.
Even after washing away the sinful blood of humanity, they continued to kill, hate, and strangle each other.
"Then, not long ago, I heard the voice of the Supreme Being."
The Supreme Being.
It was a moment when his opinion once again intervened.
"The Supreme Being gave me a fateful command."
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