The Queen Bee Among the Kingless Swarm
'Who are they?'
Ella narrowed her eyes and watched the visitors. The three people who had come to the shrine were complete strangers. How—and why—had outsiders come all the way here?
By chance, to a shrine halfway up the mountain? That was impossible. Even the villagers had stopped coming altogether after a new shrine was built at the foot of the mountain—so why would outsiders deliberately come here?
As her suspicions grew, the girl turned her gaze to the woman standing on the left among the three.
'She looks like a priestess of Lady Ganymea.'
The woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with long brown hair tinged with red, braided and draped over one side. She wore a dull gray priest's robe and a necklace engraved with Ganymea's symbol.
'Did she come to keep watch?'
Priests and monks regularly visited the village to conduct various rites, including the infant consecration ceremony. After the village's spiritist died, their visits had become more frequent, concerned that the spirits might run wild and cause trouble.
Thinking the priestess had come for the same reason, the girl stared at her intently. The priestess met her gaze with deep brown eyes and gave a gentle smile.
"Hello, little sister."
She approached and greeted her with a hand placed over her chest.
"Ah… yes, hello."
"My name is Roberta. I serve the Mother of Knowledge and Discipline."
Roberta gestured to the other two.
"And these are Ulrich and Fritz. They are traveling with me as guests. And what is your name, sister?"
"Please call me Ella."
"Ella." She repeated the name softly. "That's a lovely name."
Ella smiled awkwardly and asked,
"Um, well… what brings you here, Priestess?"
"We're just passing through. Someone in our group has visited this place before, and they said they wanted to come again—so we stopped by."
She added that it wasn't related to any official duty.
'Someone's been here before?'
Who could it be? Ella examined the other two before fixing her gaze on the young man.
The man named Ulrich appeared to be about the same age as the priestess, but his face was expressionless. With an almost cold detachment, he swept his gaze over the shrine.
"It doesn't seem well maintained."
Ella flinched.
She knew it was no longer her responsibility, and that he hadn't said it as criticism but more like a muttered observation—but it still bothered her.
When her father was alive, the family came every day to take care of the shrine. But after his death, their livelihood had become unstable, leaving them no time for it.
Valdemar, her older brother, had to go wherever he was called to fill their father's place, and Ella either followed him or learned work alongside him.
They could only visit the shrine once every few days. The spirits liked the shrine, but they had no interest in maintaining it, so fallen leaves piled up and weeds grew freely.
"Well, that's—"
"Who is the spiritist now?"
Ulrich cut her off before she could finish.
"There… isn't one right now."
"There isn't? You mean the line has been severed?"
"…Yes."
After a brief hesitation, Ella told him the truth—that the previous spiritist had been her father, that it had been three years since his death, and that there was no successor.
"I see. So the succession has ended as well."
After saying that, Ulrich shifted his gaze from the shrine to Ella. Just then, the spirits that had disappeared earlier began to reappear around her.
They were usually noisy and chatty, but now they were quiet. It was as if they were wary. The spirits kept their mouths shut, watching the visitors cautiously.
"The spirits seem to follow you well."
Rather than following me, it's more like they take advantage of me.
Ella nearly repeated her brother's words out loud, but swallowed them back. The spirits only clung to her when it suited them; otherwise, they often ignored even the smallest of her requests.
"But there are too few of them. Wherever there is a spiritist, there should naturally be many spirits. That's strange. Was there some kind of incident?"
At Ulrich's gaze, the spirits hid behind the girl's back.
"It's because a new shrine was built."
"A new shrine?"
When she explained about the shrine at the foot of the mountain, he let out a low hum.
"I see."
Ella hesitated, glancing at him before asking,
"Have you visited here before?"
"I have. I don't remember the exact number of times, but it's been quite a few."
Quite a few?
Blinking, she looked him over again. Even if he had a youthful appearance, he couldn't be over thirty—so how could he have come here several times? And yet they had never met?
He must have come once or twice and exaggerated it. Though she thought this, she couldn't hide her suspicion and openly narrowed her eyes.
Seeing her expression, he gave a faint smile.
"I don't know if you've heard of it. The last time I came here, I used the name Cesar. That was just before I started using my current name."
Ella's eyes widened.
Cesar.
At that name, Ella's eyes grew round. It was the last name inscribed on the base of Keme's divine statue—and also a name her father had told her never to forget.
The girl hadn't expected to hear that name here, and for a moment she was flustered—but soon she steadied her racing heart. Then she voiced the question she had long wanted to ask whenever she heard that name.
"Do you know someone named Demian?"
At that, Ulrich—who had called himself Cesar—answered immediately.
"That was one of my former names."
"A… former name?"
"One of the names I used at some point."
The girl blinked repeatedly, her eyes wide.
Are they really the same person? Her instincts whispered no way, and she hurriedly asked another question, almost on impulse—though she half-expected the answer.
"…What about Rosenburg?"
"The answer is the same."
Her surprise faded, replaced by disbelief.
'Is he messing with me?'
Ella began to suspect Ulrich was teasing her. After all, since he had already claimed one name, couldn't he just say, that's me too for everything?
Thinking her serious questions were being met with jokes, her brows furrowed.
"It's hard to believe. Naturally."
He shook his head, saying that believing it right away would be stranger.
"You're joking, right?"
"No, it's the truth."
Ella glanced at Roberta and Fritz. There were faint smiles on their lips—but they didn't look like mockery. It felt like a different emotion, something she couldn't quite place.
"Then let me do this instead. I'll list the names myself. Many have been lost to oblivion, but at least a few should match. That should be enough, don't you think?"
And Ulrich began reciting names.
As she listened to the long list, Ella's expression stiffened. She didn't recognize all the names he mentioned, and likewise, he didn't name all the ones her father had told her. At best, about half of his names overlapped with half of her father's.
But it was enough to shake her.
How did he know? Had he secretly come to the shrine and memorized them? Even if he had, how could he read the ancient script?
Even the priests and monks who had visited the shrine couldn't read those inscriptions. Yet this man—who wasn't even a priest—knew not only how to read them, but also the names carved into a shrine deep in the mountains.
And if his claim was true—that all those names were his—then why had he used so many? He looked even younger than her brother.
"The names your father told you are the names of visitors. Those who came to determine whether the one who inherited the duty was worthy."
"Determine…?"
"You know what spirits are, don't you?"
Ella replied that, as the daughter of a spiritist, there was no way she wouldn't know.
In the beginning, when the gods created the world, spirits were the beings who helped cultivate it.
"Then do you know what distinguishes spirits from other life? Humans, dwarves, elves—even animals like horses or chickens—what makes them different?"
When she hesitated to answer, he glanced toward the priestess.
"There are many differences, but the most significant one is reproduction. Spirits are born without it—formed where the flow of mana is pure and its concentration is dense."
Ulrich nodded.
"Also, unlike animals, they have a hierarchy. Just as the Empire or the Church has ranks among officials, spirits too have a hierarchy. And each level is given a role and made to fulfill it."
He extended his right hand. The spirits that had been hiding behind Ella cautiously peeked out, then slowly flew toward him.
"Some have compared such spirits to bees."
Ella looked at the spirits fluttering around. Smaller than her index finger, with translucent humanoid forms—by Ulrich's explanation, they belonged to the lowest tier.
"The comparison isn't entirely wrong. Rank is determined by how much mana one holds and, as a result, how capable one is. Aside from the one at the very top, all spirits are essentially worker bees."
Lower-ranked spirits were weaker and less intelligent, while higher-ranked ones were larger, more defined in form, and more thoughtful. Of course, they were still spirits—so they remained childlike.
Ulrich gently stroked a spirit smaller than his finger.
"..."
The playful demeanor he had shown earlier was gone. The spirits perched calmly on his broad hand, waiting quietly for his touch. It was an unexpected sight—showing such rare behavior to someone they had just met.
"As you may know, in ancient times there were four spirits at the very top of the hierarchy, directly created by the gods. Cold and unwavering, they obeyed only heavenly command. Some even called them the kings of spirits."
"And now, spiritists have taken their place."
At Roberta's interjection, he nodded.
"That's right. A spiritist is someone who inherits the roles of those four."
Though they had been created directly by the gods, they were not immortal. And so, those four spirits chose successors to carry on their duties—that was what Ulrich referred to as spiritists.
"Not many people know that these days."
Roberta gave a wry smile, adding that nowadays, the term was often used for those who simply borrowed abilities from spirits based on familiarity.
"Language changes—there's no helping that. But if you trace the origin, it refers to one who tends this world and bears the duty of the heavens."
Ulrich lightly waved his hand, sending the spirits flying off. They burst into laughter as they tumbled away, only to quickly return and cling to his hand again.
The earlier wariness and the brief calmness were gone—they were once again full of playful energy. Watching them, Ulrich gave a faint smile.
Seeing how childlike spirits were, there was a reason why the four kings had not passed their duties and authority to another spirit of their kind.
There simply were no spirits like them.
Spirits created directly in the heavens and those born naturally on earth were entirely different beings.
No matter how much a naturally born spirit grew, it remained, in essence, a child. And what would happen if such a child were given the authority to command other spirits and even nature itself?
"It's not that they simply passed on their authority. Think about it—what happens if someone with duty and power neglects their duty and abuses that power?"
It would be just as dangerous as giving that power to spirits themselves.
"And what if the line of succession is broken? Of course, another spiritist might temporarily take over, but that's no fundamental solution. So the four of them called upon others—many others—and made a request."
Ella stared at Ulrich silently. It was difficult to keep up with everything he was saying, but as she tried to process it all, she could vaguely anticipate what came next.
"Was that request… to watch over things?"
"Yes. To ensure their will is carried out."
Ulrich gently stroked the whining spirits again.
"Today, I am the only one left among those watchers. And that is precisely why I've returned here."
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