Chapter 13 - Episode 12: The Magic Otaku Summons Something Unexpected
After finishing dinner, Roche Lamed bid his mother goodnight and returned to his room. Though small, having his own room was a privilege for an eight-year-old second son in this country. The manor itself was not large, and its location was on the outskirts of the Noble District, but it was a fine residence with a garden.
Roche's father, while holding the lowest rank of nobility as a Baron for life, was primarily a financial bureaucrat serving the royal court. Unlike nobles with landed estates, he didn't have to bear the costs of maintenance and personnel, so he was quite well-off financially. If Saki had known of these circumstances, he might have commented, "It's like the relationship between a minor daimyo and a high-ranking hatamoto in the Edo period."
Roche sat down at the desk he'd been given upon entering the academy and began his daily routine. Pinned to the wall by his desk, at eye level, were the two sheets of parchment he had received from Saki. More than a month had passed since he began training with the parchment depicting the triple circles. Now, when he looked at the parchment with just the single circle drawn on it, he could faintly see a phantom central point and a small double circle. When casting spells, the sigil now seemed to appear, tracing the movements of his fingertips.
As he gazed at the triple circles and the central point, Roche found himself thinking of his two friends, Saki and Ruria. Though they had only been at the academy for about three months, they had already become the center of attention for all the other students. Part of it was their background—the direct heir of the Arcalai family, who sponsored the private academy, and a blood relative—but above all, their magical talent was simply off the charts.
They had cast their first spell on the very day they were taught, and just the other day, they had already mastered a second one. For a child who entered a private academy teaching magic from a young age, it normally took three months just to be able to cast the first spell, and a second spell would typically take another year or two. Their speed was nothing short of overwhelming.
Ruria, in particular, stood out in many ways. Even for the [Light] spell, which consumed little magical power, she possessed an extraordinary amount of mana, enough to cast it more than a dozen times in a row. And she had the spell control to freely manipulate each of those individual lights simultaneously. The other day, she had fired eight successive shots of the [Magic Arrow] she had just learned, almost completely destroying the sturdy target in the magic practice area. A rumor was already circulating among the students: "Could she be the second coming of 'The Witch,' Ester Adoni Arcalai?"
But, Roche thought, the truly abnormal one was Saki.
The Triple Circle Method that Roche was now practicing was said to be something Saki had devised on his own. Everything Roche had been taught about magic emphasized the importance of accurately visualizing the sigil and the spell's activation. To that end, it was recommended to practice casting the spell repeatedly, or to learn by watching others cast it. But Saki had come up with the idea of training the very ability to "visualize accurately." How on earth could anyone think of such a thing?
The same went for magical power. When Saki first cast the [Light] spell, he had reportedly lost consciousness due to low mana. Roche had heard directly from him that his own magical power was very small. Yet now, he could cast the [Light] spell normally, and even the [Magic Arrow], which consumed more mana than [Light].
It was common knowledge that the amount of one's magical power was determined at birth and hardly ever changed throughout one's life. How had Saki managed to increase his magical power so much in such a short time?
And the final straw was when Roche had succeeded in casting [Magic Arrow] for the first time. Having finally succeeded with a spell he had been working on for the past year, Roche shared his joy with Saki and Ruria, who had been watching nearby. But the next moment, Saki said, "I'll give it a try, too," and then succeeded in casting [Magic Arrow] himself.
Never before had Roche heard of anyone mastering a spell just by watching someone else cast it. Even Sarah-sensei, who had been supervising the practice, had been astonished. Just how many conventions of magic did he intend to break?
With that thought, Roche belatedly remembered he was in the middle of his training. This won't do. Saki had told him that concentration was crucial for this training. Thanks to his younger friend, he, a former dunce, had finally managed to master a second spell. He had to take his training seriously, if only not to disappoint Saki.
Roche shifted his mindset and once again stared intently at the parchment with the triple circles drawn on it.
"The more I investigate, the more confused I get..."
Here I was, in the library of the Great Temple in the royal capital. I let out an involuntary groan as I looked down at a bound book of what appeared to be quite ancient parchment.
The library was not a particularly large room, perhaps ten meters square. Bookshelves reaching to the ceiling lined all three walls, save for the one with the entrance. In the center of the room, a simple table and chairs had been set up, where I, Ruria, Laz, and Hanna were seated. By the entrance door was a small desk where the female priest in charge of this library sat.
After our visit to the temple the other day, we had obtained permission through our guide, Priest Moshe, to view the books in this library. Since then, I had been making as much time as possible to come to the Great Temple and pore over its collection, trying to solve the mysteries surrounding this world's faith.
Coming to the temple was my own idea, but since Ruria is an avid reader, she naturally came along. That, of course, meant Hanna and Laz had to accompany us, and they ended up sitting beside us, killing time while we leafed through old bundles of parchment and bound books. I felt quite bad about this and apologized to them, but for some reason, they both smiled happily and told me not to worry about it. Oh, really? Hmph.
And so our library visits began, but as Priest Moshe had warned, reading the temple's books was a laborious task. My and Ruria's reading comprehension is extremely high; in the general education part of our academy, we have our own separate curriculum. But even we struggled with old words that are no longer in use and words spelled differently from their modern counterparts, repeatedly having to ask the library's priest for help. I can't thank the librarian sister enough for her patience in dealing with our questions.
What I discovered was that the gods worshipped in this country consisted of only those three. No, seriously. I'm not asking for eight million gods like in my past life's Japan, but even Egypt and Greece had many more deities. A polytheistic culture with only three gods, and no sun god, earth mother, or agricultural deity—gods related to the "dawn of civilization, agriculture." No hunting god either. I've never formally studied cultural anthropology or anything of the sort, but even I can't help but think this country's faith is strange.
"Gods other than the three? I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I've never heard of any."
That's what the female priest who serves as the librarian at this Great Temple, Laila-san, told me. As someone who prides herself on being familiar with every book in this library, she says she has never heard any legends of gods other than those three being worshipped in this country. So what about other countries? According to Laila-san, they also seem to worship these same three deities. This means that not just our country, but a wide area including the surrounding nations, shows no trace of spontaneously developed religions. That's got to be strange, right?
I tried asking Laila-san about the reason for this, but I couldn't seem to get a clear answer. There was a disconnect in our conversation, and I couldn't figure out why. It was only after repeating the question several times that I finally realized. Laila-san, who had lived her whole life in a world where only three gods existed, couldn't understand the sense of strangeness I felt, coming from a world with many religions and myths. However, there was a hint in our conversation.
"It is said that people began to revere the three gods during the era of the ancient magic kingdom."
The Ancient Magic Kingdom has made its appearance. A super-state said to have been founded in the distant past by powerful magic users, ruling over the entire world. Our own Hanoku Kingdom, as well as the surrounding nations, all trace their roots back to this ancient magic kingdom, as we are taught at the academy. In other words, the current state of the temple dates back to before the fall of the ancient magic kingdom, some four or five hundred years ago.
Still, it's a classic fantasy trope, but for some reason, magic kingdoms always seem to end up destroyed. In most fiction, they're already a thing of the past by the time the story begins. This world is no exception; in sparsely populated frontier regions, buildings from the magic kingdom era remain as ruins, and so-called adventurers supposedly search for them in hopes of striking it rich. I have no intention of going to such dangerous places, so I can only wish them well.
I'm getting off track. The ancient magic kingdom was said to have used magic far more powerful than what exists today, building a highly advanced civilization. The exact reason for the fall of such a mighty nation is still unknown. What is certain is that the peoples who survived the collapse of the ancient magic kingdom founded the various nations that exist today.
"So, you're saying that in the ancient magic kingdom, magic flourished, and that's why gods related to magic came to be worshipped?"
"It was a long time ago, so I cannot say for certain, but that theory is considered the most plausible among the priests who study the history of our faith."
"And since our country and the neighboring ones inherited the culture of the magic kingdom, they similarly worship the three gods."
"That is correct."
Laila-san replied to my questions with a smile. I see, that makes sense. The point about there being gods with the same names as in my previous life is still a mystery, but at least there's a reasonable explanation for the small number of gods and the imbalance in their domains.
Man, I really owe Laila-san big time. Without her, it would have taken me and Ruria a hundred times longer to decipher this mountain of old books. And she's wonderful for patiently answering the questions of children like us, even if we are the sons of a noble who has made a large donation.
With her fluffy hair and gentle demeanor, and a voluptuous figure that even a priest's robe can't hide, I'm sure glasses would look amazing on her if they existed in this world. Ah, she's so soothing.
"...Here."
As I was talking with Laila-san, Ruria cut in, pushing me aside to thrust a bound book at her. Apparently, she couldn't read the part she was pointing to. I gave way to Ruria and peeked over her shoulder at the problematic page.
"Ah, this is the word for 'plank,' but in this context, it means 'book.' It's a remnant from the old days when they used to carve letters on wooden or stone tablets..."
Ever since we started coming to this temple library, Ruria and I have been competing to bombard Laila-san with questions like this. Ruria had been reserved with her when we first met, but after seeing me ask Laila-san for help whenever I was stuck, she started asking questions herself.
She's quiet and shy, but Ruria is by no means a girl who doesn't assert herself. In fact, I think she's rather strong-willed. Sometimes, she even stops me from talking to Laila-san so she can ask a question herself.
...Is she really just strong-willed? Isn't she just trying to stop me from talking to or asking Laila-san questions?
For a moment, I suspected my childhood friend, but I decided she was just that eager to learn from the books and watched with a fond smile as Ruria pelted Laila-san with question after question.
Well, there are still many questions, but I've managed to get a general idea of the objects of faith in this world. In that case, I should probably resume my practice of ritual magic, which I had put on hold.
Before us now is a wooden vessel. Its size and shape are like a large wine glass, but what's different is that the rim of the cup is octagonal. Yet the lower part of the cup, the stem, and the base are circular, giving it a solid overall construction.
Yes. This is the magical weapon Ruria had asked for before. Since I had the [Fire Short Sword], I thought the complementary [Water Chalice] would be appropriate for Ruria, so I placed a special order with a craftsman through the Dalet Trading Company. There were other reasons for choosing a chalice, but I had actually placed the order right after we started going to the temple. It was a very intricate order, so it took some time to arrive.
An octagonal column of hard walnut wood was carved so that the top remained octagonal while the middle was rounded down to form a stem and base. The inside was hollowed out to follow the outer shape, octagonal near the rim and round at the bottom of the cup. At this point, I couldn't convey the design verbally, so I had to draw something like a three-view diagram from my vague knowledge of my past life and give it to them.
According to Hanna's father, the craftsman had said, "I've never seen such easy-to-understand design instructions before." This is bad. If that pseudo-three-view diagram gets spread around as some kind of model, I'll die of embarrassment. I want to believe that won't happen.
Back to the chalice in front of me. A portion of it has already been colored. The eight faces on the side of the chalice, from the rim down to where it starts to curve, have been painted silver. Ideally, a magical weapon should be decorated by one's own hand as much as possible. However, in the case of this silver paint, there were issues such as the silver pigment being made by dissolving silver powder in animal glue with water and heat, and the fact that the silver powder would settle and degrade if left for a time after being made, so I had no choice but to entrust it to the craftsman.
On top of the strange design, there was the silver paint. Including labor costs, it ended up being a huge expense. To be honest, my allowance wasn't nearly enough, so I had to beg the Dalet Trading Company to let me pay in installments. H-hey, it's not like that. I had no choice. In Western magic, the color symbolizing "Water" is silver, so no matter how expensive it was, I couldn't compromise on that. Also, recently, the light of the magical power Ruria wears has started to look silvery, so I matched it to that. Well, it's a gift for Ruria, so I thought it would be fine to make it a little luxurious, but that's a secret.
Now, let's finish this chalice. I handed Ruria the blue pigment I had ordered separately and had her paint the parts of the chalice not already painted silver. With a tense expression, Ruria spread the blue color little by little, her brush trembling. Once the chalice was painted silver and blue, I drew a thick orange line along the wavy border between them. It took quite some time, but the [Water Chalice] was finally complete.
"Good job, Ruria. You did it beautifully."
Before the completed chalice, Ruria puffed out her chest with a slightly proud expression, a little "hmph." We'll let the pigment dry completely, and tomorrow, we will finally Consecrate the chalice.
The next evening. After finishing dinner, we once again set up the altar in the children's room. It was still just wooden boxes stacked with a black cloth draped over them, but we'd have to make do with this for a while. The chalice had taken up more of my budget (allowance) than I expected.
I have already taught Ruria all the actions and words for the Consecration ritual. I broke the entire ritual into parts and went over it with her, performing the gestures and incantations together. Today, Ruria will perform the entire Consecration ritual by herself. Only after this is done will the chalice become her magical weapon.
As I taught her, Ruria first takes the chalice in hand and performs the Cross Purification.
"Thine, the Kingdom. The Severity, and the Majesty. Forever, so let it be."
With Ruria's incantation, I can see two pillars of light piercing her body in a cross. I was surprised to see it during practice as well, but it seems that in addition to the magical power inherent in people and objects and the power related to magic spells, I can also see the images that a practitioner visualizes during ritual magic. It might be that both Ruria and I are using the magical power within our bodies to create actual images when we visualize. It's a shame I can't investigate this more thoroughly, as Ruria is my only point of comparison.
While I was lost in thought, the ritual proceeded. Ruria held up the chalice and drew a pentagram, which remained in the air, emitting a brilliant silver light.
"Before me, Air; behind me, Water; on my right hand, Fire; on my left hand, Earth. For about me flames the Pentagram, and in the column shines the six-rayed Star."
Ruria's clear voice, though quiet, was distinct as she chanted and placed the chalice on the altar. She continued the incantation, scooping water from the bowl on the altar and sprinkling it around, then taking the lamp and holding it aloft. The Consecration ritual had reached its climax.
Ruria scooped water from the bowl again and rubbed it into the chalice as she performed the final incantation.
"In the great name of the Goddess Isis, I shall banish all evil forces and seeds."
This was the change I made this time. Having learned about this world's faith, I incorporated the name of the Goddess Isis into the incantation as the target of the ritual's appeal. When it was my turn, I had appealed to a vague "great being," but this time, I am calling out specifically to the Goddess Isis. I chose the goddess Isis because she is known by the epithet "Goddess of Magic," and also because her statue is depicted holding a holy chalice.
With this, the Consecration ritual is complete. One last performance of the Cross Purification, and tonight's ceremony would be over. That's how it was supposed to go... but something's wrong! Ruria has frozen, still reciting the final incantation of the Consecration. She's completely motionless, her hand on the chalice as if time has stopped.
This is bad. If anyone other than the practitioner speaks, or if someone who was not part of the ritual from the beginning intervenes, tonight's ceremony will be a failure. I hesitated for a moment, but I couldn't just leave Ruria in this clearly strange state. I braced myself to ruin the ritual and was about to call out to her.
In that instant.
A flash of silvery-white light burst forth from Ruria. Like a silent explosion, it filled the room with light. I couldn't look directly at it, covering my face with my arm to weather the torrent of light. When the brightness finally began to subside, I peeked through the gaps in my fingers at the source of the light.
Bathed in silver light, Ruria stood facing me. Her expression was as blank as ever, but I could perceive a quality I had never seen in her before. The silver light emanating from within her filled the surroundings, its brilliance making her form seem translucent, blurring her outline. A sense of fragility hung about her, as if she might vanish at any moment.
"Well done, child, for returning ritual magic to the world. We have been waiting a long time for ones like you to appear."
From Ruria's lips came words in her own voice, yet spoken with a flat tone I had never heard before. From her voice, from the content of her words, I was certain that it was not Ruria who was speaking now, but something else, borrowing her mouth to address me.
"Wh-who are you?"
In response to my trembling question, the being inside Ruria replied.
"I am Sister Magisa, Magister Templi of the magical society, the Holy Magicians' Order. I am the being you call the Goddess Isis."
It's been over a month since my last post. I am sincerely sorry. It's been a tough time with the heat and all, but I plan to continue posting without giving up.