Chapter 8 - The Mystery of the Sewers
"So, thirteen in total. The Class of 175 is doing quite well."
Hans-san praised us.
Although the start was good, after that it was four, two, two, and zero, failing to reach the fifteen I had secretly aimed for. According to Beowulf, the number found gradually decreases, perhaps because the sound when we exterminate them echoes and makes the rats wary.
However, it could be called a great success. Apparently, it doesn't often reach double digits normally.
Thinking I'd get back at him for the departure, I puffed out my chest and asked, "What's the Guard's record for a half-day?" After all, this is our second time. I can boast enough.
"Twenty-six."
Eh?
Twenty-six is impossible, isn't it? Beatrix and I combined can't use that much magic. What's that? How did you do it? That's over ten silver coins!
"Because we raided a nest."
"My squad did it five years ago," he said, puffing out his chest so much I thought he might fall over backward.
Hans-san, you said you've been on Guard duty for thirty years, right? Is this the difference in experience? I slumped my shoulders in disappointment.
"Was there a nest?"
When Beowulf asked, an unexpected answer came back.
"There used to be doors in two places. One of them was a room used for breaks and storing tools. For various reasons, it became a 'forbidden door,' but a story came up that rats seemed to be making a nest there. My squad went to clear it out. Now, both doors have been removed and rebuilt as walls, though."
The three of us involuntarily exchanged looks.
"What's wrong?"
To the puzzled-looking Hans-san, Beowulf explained what we saw underground.
"You figured it out that far? I splashed sewer water on it many times to dirty it, but I see, you rubbed it with a cloth."
Wouldn't that be destroying evidence?
"Why did you do that? Even if you're rebuilding it as a wall, there's no need to hide it, right?"
Beatrix is the type who, once she wants to know something, pursues it until she's satisfied. She immediately pressed him.
"I'm the one who dirtied the door's remains so they wouldn't be recognized. It's for prevention of recurrence. It's a request from the Church."
"?"
Prevention of recurrence of what? Why is the Church getting involved on its own? I don't really understand.
"Prevention of recurrence means something happened. If the wall was rebuilt, I could go around asking the town's contractors."
As expected of a mage. Her bite is fierce. Hans-san sighed, and after confirming that we had borrowed the floor plan from Marcelo-san, he began to speak.
It's apparently a famous story among the adults of the town.
Five years ago, a priest began a certain research.
The content of the research was a method for preserving bodies in the catacombs. The priest had been entrusted with the management of the catacombs by the Church. The work of managing the catacombs included managing the bodies placed in the cemetery.
Normally, bodies are buried in the communal cemetery on the surface. On the other hand, the bodies of those who wish for it can be stored in the catacombs after being subjected to a traditional preservation method for a certain fee.
Of course, only a few can choose the body preservation that requires a large amount of money. And it's a certain fact that the fees paid lead to the Church's income.
That priest, in his daily research, thought of trying to keep the bodies stored in the catacombs beautiful using magic. And he consulted his childhood friend, a mage.
The mage readily accepted the cooperation, but the research was difficult, and days without results continued.
Then, they borrowed a workroom that was in the sewers as an experimental site, and the two of them began to frequent the sewers, which were connected to the catacombs by a passage. It seems they were mainly using rat carcasses for experiments.
However, the day came when their research days ended. Because the mage, who had gone on a journey for about two weeks, proposed the 'Revenant-ization' of corpses, which is considered forbidden magic.
It is said there are several ways to create moving corpses called Revenants. However, it is said to be a kind of sorcery rather than magic. Originally, it seems to have been devised as a way to obtain a labor force that works tirelessly without cost, or soldiers.
No one wants their body to be used as they please even after death, and combined with the bad appearance, it was loathed from an emotional standpoint.
As a result of various debates, the Church judged it to be a desecration of the dead and it was made forbidden magic. However, rumors say there is no end to those who are captivated by its allure.
The mage thought it would be fine if the bodies were made into Revenants and just didn't move inside the coffins. At first, he apparently thought it was a joke. However, the priest, who perceived something akin to madness in the mage's words and actions, declared to the mage that he was withdrawing from the research and stopping the experiments.
But the mage did not give up. Predicting the priest's actions, he secretly made a duplicate key. Pretending to have listened to the priest, he stole into the workroom under the cover of night and resumed the experiments alone.
"Intellectual curiosity, is it? It seems mages can't rest until they've pursued something once it starts bothering them."
Hans-san paused and looked at Beatrix. Beatrix was looking away.
"Without anyone noticing, the mage continued research alone for many days in the darkness of the sewers, and as a result..."
Hans-san sighed and then said as if muttering.
"He fell into darkness."
It is said that when a person falls into darkness, the shackles of reason are removed.
The rampaging mage passed through the underground passage and launched an attack on the Church. Whether the target of the attack was the Church or a specific individual is unknown now. After raging like a storm, he was finally subjugated. Fortunately, although many were injured, no one other than himself died.
As a result, the door was sealed at the Church's request, and it was made as if the room never existed. Incidents that occur within the Church are dealt with by the Church. In exchange for not interfering in the country's politics, they are granted complete autonomy within the Church.
"That was five years ago. So, they made sure the same thing would never happen again."
"There, I've told you everything," Hans-san said and fell silent.
After Hans-san's story ended, the three of us decided to drink cider at the Guard's break area.
"Hey, Beatrix. About that story just now, what do you think?"
"Not much. Basically, someone who dabbled in forbidden magic was caught and subjugated, right? It seems to happen occasionally."
She's somehow distracted. She's usually the one who bites most at this kind of story.
"Setting aside animals becoming monsters, do human hearts really become like monsters so easily?"
The state where a human's mind goes wrong due to the bad influence of mana is called 'falling into darkness.' In the case of monsters, their bodies grow larger, but in the case of humans, it apparently hits the heart.
"Who knows. Since the term 'falling into darkness' exists, it probably happens once in a while."
Even when Beowulf asked, she just gazed out the window and had no intention of talking properly.
"According to Hans-san's story, in the end, the mage who fell into darkness was successfully defeated. And the small room was cleaned up along with the rats that had made a nest. So why do they want to make it as if it never happened?"
"Who knows. I wouldn't know."
This is no good. I looked at Beowulf, and she looked into my eyes and nodded.
"Beatrix. You know something, don't you? Tell us."
"Wh-what. I don't know anything. What is it?"
Ignoring the feigning Beatrix, I told Beowulf.
"Beowulf. Article 2 of the Class of 175 regulations. Say it."
Beowulf straightened her posture and recited solemnly.
"Thou shalt not keep secrets from members at any time. However, this shall not apply to secrets involving goodwill or cases where members would be in danger by speaking."
The Class of 175 has ironclad rules. Anyone deemed to have broken these rules must undergo an impeachment trial by the remaining seven members. If the result of the trial is guilty, they must receive one of the punishments, each devised by the seven, which are so outrageous that others cannot even imagine them.
"Wait a minute. What's that? It's tyranny, tyranny!"
"What are you saying? You're more transparent than you think. Besides, how long do you think we've known each other?"
"Exactly. If you don't want to receive punishment, confess while you can."
"Geez, stop it, I really don't know anything!"
"No. Spit it out!"
After resisting for a while, Beatrix finally gave in to our interrogation. And it was decided that she would talk in my room over the weekend. She requested that we don't talk about this to anyone else. At Beowulf's suggestion, we decided not to talk about it unless the three of us were together.
It feels like the roots are deep and scary. I hope nothing happens later...
The weekend arrived in the blink of an eye. The story Beatrix told when the three of us gathered in my room was quite shocking.
"Hans-san's story alone doesn't explain it."
Beatrix began with that preface.
Beatrix had apparently heard of the incident with the mage before. However, since she hadn't heard the location, she pressed Hans-san. She said she never thought it was in Nakanohara.
What she thought was strange was the reason the mage fell into darkness.
"It's a story well known among mages, but all mages who use powerful magic might fall into darkness."
"What do you mean?"
"Powerful magic requires large amounts of mana, right? Naturally, the caster is exposed to that mana. When you use powerful magic, dense mana gathers accordingly, so it affects the human spirit too. While using it repeatedly, there are cases where the heart can't take it anymore."
"But that would be the same for priests. And there are others who use powerful magic."
It's as Beowulf says. The high-level holy magic used by priests and the high-level wind magic used by hunters should have the same conditions.
"That's true, but... the way they pursue it is different."
The difference in the way they pursue it that Beatrix mentioned seems to be the difference in the way they think about magic: between a mage who freely pursues the path of magic to satisfy their own curiosity, and a priest who uses magic to save the masses while building up discipline to maintain themselves daily with a spirit of self-control.
The time when a mage falls into darkness is apparently when the use of magic, which was originally a means to achieve some purpose, is replaced by the purpose itself before they know it, and they can no longer escape from the pursuit of the magical path. And finally, they lose sight of themselves and rampage...
"However, if that's the case, I don't understand the reason the mage suddenly started rampaging at the Church. It would be easier to understand if he had become like a monster."
Certainly, just because the experiment he was doing alone didn't go well isn't a reason to attack the Church.
"Exactly. The mage's wish was to immortalize corpses, right? He was continuing the research in secret, so I don't understand the reason for rampaging at the Church."
It's just my own imagination, though, Beatrix prefaced.
"Maybe it wasn't falling into darkness."
What does that mean? I have a bad feeling about this.
The actress's lines are an adaptation of a wartime anecdote by the late Noriko Awaya. I remember being moved when I happened to look it up on a wiki. Although the generation, culture, and way of thinking are completely different, there truly are great women on the home front.
If you call it a rip-off... I guess I can't help it. I'm sorry.