Saint's Prison - Chapter 134

Mother Lake

Francesco and I were cultivating a piece of land a little away from the monastery that had not yet been maintained.

We repeated the simple tasks of leveling the soil with a hoe and removing stones many times. With each swing, the hoe pierced the ground and dirt dust danced.

“Phew, I got quite dirty.”

After lightly brushing off the dirt dust clinging to my clothes, I arched my back and then relaxed my body. Suddenly, drowsiness rushed over me.

“………..hah, yawwwn.”

“Kuro-dono, you seem quite sleepy.”

Seeing me let out a deflated yawn, Francesco stopped swinging his hoe and smiled bitterly.

“…Hmm? Ah, I had a bit of a bad dream.”

“Is that so?”

Francesco lowered his eyebrows and looked puzzled. After a few seconds of silence, he coughed as if to change the atmosphere.

“Kuro-dono must be tired, too. You should rest your body sometimes. It’s better that way.”

“My body isn’t that tired, though.”

Rather, it’s my mind that’s worn out. I never say those words out loud. I didn’t want to involve Francesco any further.

“…Is that so? But, you know, Kuro-dono. The body may heal, but this,” he said, tapping his heart with his thumb, “doesn’t always work that way. Kuro-dono, don’t push yourself. People are much weaker than they think. That’s not a bad thing. What’s important is to be aware of your weakness. So, Kuro-dono… please don’t be reckless.”

“…I’ll consider considering it.”

“What’s that? Are you going to be reckless from a distance? Haa, Kuro-dono is quite stubborn.”

“Don’t praise me so much.”

“I’m not praising you for real.”

Exasperated, Francesco shrugged his shoulders. You rude fellow, I thought as I poked Francesco’s belly.

Tsun, poyon.

Tsun tsun, poyon poyon.

“Hehe.”

“Haha.”

We both let out deflated smiles. The serious atmosphere from earlier disappeared, and we started to play around like high school boys.

This kind of interaction is only possible with Francesco.

Once again, I tried to poke Francesco’s belly and took a step forward. Then, I heard a cracking sound at my feet.

“What’s this?”

I pulled my foot back and looked at the ground, where a broken shell was lying.

“…A shell in a place like this?”

As far as I know, shells have never been served in the monastery’s meals. That’s why I felt a strong sense of discomfort that a shell was buried in the field.

“Ah, could it be a shell fertilizer?”

Come to think of it, I heard that shells are rich in calcium and have an effect of neutralizing soil acidity.

“That’s not it. The shells are buried there because there used to be two lakes around here.”

“—Two lakes?”

My breath was uneven, and I couldn’t speak well.

(Two lakes… It’s the same as the Ryogo Village.)

My heart began to throb.

Throb, Throb.

I felt nauseous.

“Yes, there were two lakes way before the monastery was built and even before the burnt village existed. Well, the lakes had already dried up by the time the village was built, and that’s how it is now. …Kuro-dono? Your complexion is bad, are you okay?”

“…Ah, yes, I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Pressing down on my throbbing heart through the rosary, I smiled at Francesco. Can I really smile properly? I felt so small for just thinking such a thing.

***

Long ago, there were two lakes on the land of Ryogo Village.

Originally, the land was called Ryoko, but the name was changed to Ryogo after the water had dried up and the “氵” was removed. This story has been passed down in the village.

In fact, the two lakes were connected by an underground limestone cave, the womb cave.

It is probably because of this that the twins of Ryogo Village were considered sacred, and the Ando family, who presided over the Shinto rituals, were allowed to intermingle. I think this is the basis for it.

The name Ryogo Futago may have also contained the meaning of twins.

In addition, “胡” is a word that means foreign people or foreigners. There is a theory that the name Ryogo Village was given because of the legend that the fallen Heike settled in this area. Honestly, I don’t know what’s true. The means to investigate that was also lost in the fire…

Anyway, there is no doubt that the womb cave was originally an underwater limestone cave in the lake. And the village that was built by reclaiming the lakeside land is Ryogo Village.

Now, only the small spring left in the deepest part of the womb cave, the Mother Spring, gives a feeling of the remnants of the underwater limestone cave.

The people of Ryogo Village called the deepest space of the womb cave the Shrine of the Child and regarded it as a sacred area.

The head of the Ando family, generation after generation, entered the Shrine of the Child in the Rite of Death, performed purification at the Mother Spring, and presided over the Rite of the New Shrine as they emerged from the womb cave.

When people die, they return to the womb, bathe in amniotic fluid, gain new life, and pass through the birth canal to the outside.

In this series of rituals, the child born between the twins enters the Shrine of the Child through the entrance of the womb cave, the birth canal, and puts on death. Then, they receive purification at the Mother Spring, which has the role of amniotic fluid, and invite the gods to their purified, innocent bodies. By exiting the womb cave again through the birth canal, the gods obtain new life.

In other words, this series of rituals is a ritual of deification… or more accurately, a ritual of rebirth.

(Oh, speaking of which, Shizuyo’s end was…)

With a dry sound, something echoed in my mind.