75 - Episode 1: The Three Idiots on a Certain Day ~And Then There Were None~
Finally, I leave a warning for those of you who can read this summoning art.
There is an existence that I was unable to carve into this book. Although it should be listed among the seventy-two ancient gods, for some reason, I could not leave a record of its name. I do not know it. I know it, yet I do not. I have encountered it, yet I do not remember. I should have written it, yet it has been erased.
It is like a skip in a memory. A dropped frame. Memories that should have existed were patched together, yet corrected without any sense of incongruity.
Truly a missing number. An extra number that must not exist. The zero-th and seventy-third shadow beast────no, a demon-thing.
However, I remember the emotion I felt when I summoned it.
When it came to describing it, I never quite understood what I should call it.
The Golden Spider, the Demon of Memory, the Grand General of Hell. Indeed, there are certainly many titles for it left in oral tradition.
But they didn't quite hit the mark. Those words were terribly abstract, and even prose-like, in expressing it. It felt somehow unsuitable.
Whether it was even a living thing or not, it clearly deviated from the system of the world.
An anomaly that looks like a god to human eyes.
An outlier that looks like a demon to human eyes.
An out-of-bounds area that falls away from perception.
However, upon encountering it, I understood not through perception, not through sensation, but through instinct.
And I carved it into my emotions.
It is the one who is the beginning and the end.
One must not attempt to control it.
No, no matter how much magical power one has, it would likely be impossible to subdue.
It is already a part of the world's system. An avoidance circuit to move the system called the world, or to automatically protect it. Therefore, it has been granted deviant authorities.
Gentlemen, I was able to make contact with it, but I could not leave a memory, nor a record, and much less control it.
However, as a result of carving it into my emotions, its emotions flowed back through the path.
If one were to attach the symbol of words to that emotion, it should be crowned as the Prayer of Severance.
Gentlemen, if by some mistake you happen to cross paths with it, I want you to remember my words.
It is unknown what action it will take before you, but surely these words will become a breakthrough.
Gentlemen, it──── harbors the emotion of boredom.
Compendium of Otherworldly Demons Author: Albert A. Norlinrichtigkeit
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"Nmyu...?"
I had a dream.
I recognized this because, upon waking, I found a familiar canopy above me.
The one who sat up from the soft bed was a girl with long silver hair. Wearing white sleepwear, she stared blankly at the bed's canopy with her green eyes for a while, then let out a small yawn and stretched her body.
The girl's name was Marianne Romanet. She was the master of this mansion and, at the same time, a member of the adventurer party Serious Breakers based in this mansion.
"I had quite a nostalgic dream..."
Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she recalled the contents of the dream. A lucid dream that she remembered with unusual clarity. Its content was the past involving the shadow beasts associated with the contents of an ancient document she had once read.
That was, if I recall, when she was seven years old. It started with an ancient document given to her as a birthday present by the owner of a familiar magic bookstore.
At the time, Marianne had already established her position within the household. This was because she had developed soap at the age of four, and starting with that, she had contributed to the Romanet family by proposing shampoo, conditioner, cosmetics, clothing, and even water and sewage systems one after another.
That said, though. Now, she leaves mass production to the skill group atelier Formula, which she fully funded and gathered craftsmen for, but at the time, Marianne had to do everything from invention to mass production by herself, which was quite a struggle.
After all, it was an era without copyrights, and an era where skills were stolen by watching. To maintain the benefits of being a pioneer, and to continue providing them to the Romanet family, she could not easily involve untrustworthy others. At first, she thought about having the household members help or perhaps purchasing a slave, but the knowledge standard of this world was, after all, medieval.
Even the compulsory education of Japan would be equivalent to the education of royalty and nobility in this world. Not to mention ethics and information management. It was impossible to expect that from mere servants or slaves, and if she were to do it, she would have to raise them from scratch. If it were just manual labor, that would be fine, but when it came to chemicals, she feared accidents, so Marianne could not leave that side, and she spent that period worrying that she lacked manpower and the time to raise them.
Around the time she had somehow managed to master summoning arts on her own and began using golems for work, which improved operations somewhat, Marianne turned seven and encountered that ancient document────no, that grimoire.
The grimoire, titled the Compendium of Otherworldly Demons, was written in a language that no one could read. Neither her father nor her mother, nor any single inhabitant of this world could read it.
And for good reason. The language of that book was, unexpectedly, English.
When Marianne encountered the goddess Refill along with the other two idiots, that goddess had said, "Occasionally, I throw otherworldly people into this world to stir things up." Therefore, she guessed that this was likely written by an otherworldly person other than a Japanese person who had once reincarnated into this world.
Whether it was the hobby of a setting-obsessed person, or the organization of memories from a previous life────it was content she was somewhat hesitant to judge. What was written concerned the seventy-two pillars of Solomon. For a brief moment, she hoped she could actually summon them, but the summoning rituals all failed.
After seventy-two different types of failure, a desperate Marianne formed a magic circle that mixed all of them and ran the formula────and then it appeared.
Too divine to be called magical power, too sinister to be called divine aura.
A Golden Spider clad in distortion, heterogeneity, and anomaly.
She has actually forgotten the detailed exchange that took place there. She forgot the true name of the Golden Spider immediately after learning it.
However, facing the Golden Spider, which emitted an overwhelming presence, a sense of resignation that "Ah. My second life ends here" and a passion akin to a contradiction that "Don't mess with me! I won't die until I've created a garden of lilies!!" mixed together, and the words written in the afterword of the Compendium of Otherworldly Demons raced through her mind.
It said────it harbors the emotion of boredom.
The moment she remembered, emotions flowed back from the temporary path, and she sensed that the warning was true.
And the words that escaped her mouth were as follows.
"If you're just going to watch quietly and rot like that, then obey me. If you want to make a boring world interesting, you should move so that it becomes so, and if you cannot, then you should follow someone else who can. I do not know what you desire, but I want to live laughing loudly, so even in a boring world, I will live interestingly and hedonistically.────I have, and I will, you know."
Marianne does not know what the Golden Spider thought at that time. However, the Golden Spider, who should have been superior, bowed its head and the contract was formed. Subsequently, contracts were formed one after another with the shadow beasts described in the ancient document like a domino effect, and eventually, they numbered seventy-two.
Marianne does not know what that was. Only the words Golden Spider and a faint afterimage were carved into her brain, and she can no longer even remember if it was truly a spider. After all, she has never been able to summon it once since then.
"Why did I have such a dream now...?"
For the past few years, she had forgotten that such a thing had even happened. Thinking that it was somehow difficult to sleep, she suddenly remembered a sentence from that grimoire. From there, it connected, and she probably remembered the encounter with that Golden Spider.
Now, as for why it was so difficult to sleep, she looked at her bed and lifted the blanket.
"Is the cause of my bad dreams this girl... honestly..."
"Guhehe... Big Sister..."
There was a blue-haired girl────Lilitia, clinging to Marianne's waist as if using her as a body pillow. She was fast asleep with a slovenly expression, mumbling someone's name.
It has been a little over two months since they started activities as the adventurer party Serious Breakers. In a form where they joined the Three Idiots who had established a residence in the Imperial Capital, the three girls also rolled in. Well, that's fine. For Marianne, it is easier on the eyes to have girls chatting excitedly than to have those bulky men.
That said, though.
"The security magic────has all been broken, hasn't it..."
The magic she had set up throughout the room to reject the intruder Lilitia had been broken across the board. This was not the first time. Since she started living in this mansion────which on paper is a villa owned by the Romanet Great Trading Company────this has been a daily occurrence every morning.
At first, Marianne was speechless or felt a crisis of her chastity, but upon learning that she came under the pretext of "to wake up Big Sister Marianne, who is weak in the morning," she felt a bit relieved. How should I put it, she recognized her as something like a pet cat that sneaks into bed every morning.
Since nothing is being done to her for now, she thinks it is cute when she thinks of it that way. She thinks so, but.
"Hmm, indeed..."
Reflecting on the current situation, Marianne groans.
She was originally a man and is a lily-pig. The genre involved is so-called TS, but it's a bit complicated as she didn't become one by choice. Therefore, she likes watching girls flirting with each other, and it is also a pleasure to become a character in it and look at it objectively. She can be the protagonist, and the supporting helper character is also tasty.
So, in the current situation, she does not mind being pointed at by Lilitia's extra-large arrow. Recently, the psycho parts have been gradually corrected, and she doesn't dislike her looks. She doesn't dislike them, but somehow, what she's looking for is different.
Rather than direction, perhaps it's a different color. Instead of an enjoy and exciting multicolored brilliance, she seeks a platonic single color innocence. Occasionally it leans toward sexual love, but if that's not the foundation, she just can't get into the mood. Especially regarding herself.
However, the rampaging Lilitia is always violent. She is a hunter and a predator. She wishes that Lilitia would convey pure emotions even for just a third of the time, but looking at her actions so far, that will likely be difficult for the time being.
Therefore, Marianne makes a decision.
"Right. First────let's escape."
Leaving Lilitia, who was sleeping with soft breaths wrapped in the lingering scent of her beloved Big Sister, Marianne hurriedly readied herself and quietly left her room.
People call this escapism.
●
When she woke up, it was before noon, so the members of the Serious Breakers were already acting individually. Wondering what they were doing, Marianne strolled through the mansion and discovered a mountain of materials occupying the garden.
In front of it were a blond boy wearing a black cloak and a blond-haired, blue-eyed elf────Geoglyph Triad and Latia Fa Swin.
"Phew... sorry, Lati. For lending a hand."
"It's okay. Even so, you've accumulated quite a lot..."
"It's been nearly ten years since I learned storage magic, after all..."
It seems they are organizing storage magic. Things that are unclear whether they are materials, food, or junk are piled in the garden in wooden boxes or bare.
"Actually, how is it? Do you feel a bit easier?"
"Hmm, I feel like resources have opened up. Well, it's about as good as better than nothing. That said, I need to start putting real effort into making stock chants soon, or I'll finally get anxious. I can't be chanting magic one by one during combat at this point."
Hearing that exchange, Marianne remembered.
During the previous evil god subjugation battle, Geoglyph released all the magic he had stocked for ten years. He unraveled those formulas, converted them all into magical power, bundled them, and sublimated them into the age of gods magic called Progenitor Magic, and exercised it.
That extremely absurd zeroth magic formula, which fulfills all desires, forced a consumption that drove Geoglyph, who boasts an outrageous amount of magical power unseen in history, to magical power deficiency just by controlling it.
Since that battle, she knows he has been chanting and diligently accumulating magic whenever he has free time. That said, to recover ten years' worth, it seems it will take about half a year to a year even using several techniques. That too is abnormal.
(Come to think of it, yesterday he said he wanted to borrow a place because he wanted to increase resources. Indeed, if he wants to create free memory space, it's better to organize it once.)
Marianne has received some magic guidance from Geoglyph. Because of that influence, she can use a bit of storage magic, so she understands that, from a computer-like perspective, storage magic is like a resident application.
Just storing things puts pressure on the working memory, and as the workload increases, it eats up more memory capacity. Perhaps because he continued to train his magical power since he was young, Geoglyph's storage, computing power, and memory capacity have reached a slightly crazy level, but even so, they are finite. If he thinks about recovering ten years' worth of stock as quickly as possible, it is only logical to once release the memory area being pressured by storage magic and make full use of the opened resources.
Apparently, he intends to spend the whole day on that organization.
"I haven't even thanked you for making the Magic Gun yet, so I'll join you."
"Thanks. For now, let's put things in the warehouse and tidy up."
"Yeah!"
That said, though.
"Gunu..."
It looked like nothing more than flirting under the guise of organizing luggage, and Marianne, watching from the shadows, gnashed her teeth.
●
While thinking about the things that made her feel hazy regarding Geoglyph and Latia's interaction, Marianne, who felt hungry because she woke up before noon, headed to the mansion's kitchen.
The remaining members were already there. A well-built red-haired boy and a fox-beast girl in shrine maiden clothes.
"Now then, what should I make for today's lunch..."
It was Later and Kazuha. While preparing the cooking area, they seemed to be thinking of a menu in front of the stored ingredients.
"How about some inari-zushi, Later-sama?"
"You really took a liking to those, didn't you?"
"Um, well... yes..."
Kazuha nodded shyly, and Later nodded with a wry smile, saying he understood.
"If it's paired with inari-zushi, it's either soba or udon... Then, I'll make some kitsune udon."
"Kitsune udon! That sounds very wonderful...!"
It seems today's lunch will be udon and inari-zushi. These two are often in the kitchen together and prepare for all the Serious Breakers, so it is helpful for Marianne too, but────.
"Gunu..."
Setting that aside, it still looked like nothing more than flirting under the guise of cooking, so she was burning with the flames of jealousy, thinking they were doing it too well.
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Marianne was enraged. She decided that she must definitely impose a sanction on those two wicked idiots.
"I cannot accept this... indeed."
Let me be clear, Marianne does not harbor a shred of romantic affection for those two idiots. Partly because she was a man in her previous life, the idea of having those bad friends as partners is horrifying. It is likely the same for them. In the first place, her tastes and preferences are directed toward women, so those two don't even come close.
Therefore, the root of this emotion of anger was────.
"Even though I am being chased by Lilitia every day, those idiots are flirting, flirting, flirting...!"
It was a terribly wretched jealousy coming from envy. Truly ugly. There was no trace of her usual self who loves aesthetics.
"I know."
And then, with a malicious smile on her face, she clapped her hands. It seems she thought of something pointless again.
"Let's escape.────Dragging those idiots along...!!"
Incidentally, such strange behavior is called displaced aggression or venting in complicated psychology.
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Marianne and a shadow beast walk through the back alleys of the Imperial Capital. However, Marianne's pace is not dignified but stealthy, and the shadow beast Valefor, a giant lion with two heads following behind, also had an exasperated expression.
The two idiots, held by the scruff of their necks in the mouth of the shadow beast that exceeds three meters in height, raise their voices in protest to Marianne, who walks ahead.
"So, what the hell is this? I was kneading udon for lunch."
"That's right. I just started organizing my luggage."
Dangling like kittens carried by a mother cat, Geoglyph and Later held their usual great staff Night Sky Sovereignty and a rolling pin, respectively.
Yes, each of them was suddenly kidnapped by this shadow beast Valefor during their respective work and brought to Marianne. When the two asked for an explanation as to why she was doing such an incomprehensible thing, the idiot puffed out her chest.
"We are escaping."
"Why? I mean, to where?"
"To somewhere that is not here...!"
"That's not a line for someone who doesn't have a shred of innocence to say..."
Rather, she is a mass of malice.
"You're noisy! Flirting over there, flirting over here... I want you to put yourselves in the position of someone who has to see that!!"
"We aren't exactly flirting, though."
"Is this that? An attention seeker?"
"You're wrong! I just────thought those two were being too unfair, so I'll get in their way...!!"
"That's even worse!!"
Perhaps it was because they were arguing loudly like that.
"Ah! Geo!"
"Later-sama!?"
Latia and Kazuha, who had been searching for the suddenly kidnapped Geoglyph and Later, caught up. Furthermore.
"Big Sister!!"
"Gah! Lilitia!?"
With Lilitia, who had awakened from her slumber, also joining the fray, Marianne's expression twisted, and she turned her back and began to flee. The shadow beast followed behind with a slight delay, and the three girls began their pursuit.
"Ah..."
The two idiots, who roughly guessed the situation, looked distant for a moment while being swayed back and forth, then protested to Marianne.
"I mean, don't involve us. I'll make sure the princess misses lunch."
"Was today's lunch udon? Nice. If there's room, add beef and burdock tempura to mine. I feel like eating that occasionally."
"Ah, that. I ate it when I went far over there to North Kyushu, and it's delicious. At first, I tilted my head wondering why burdock in udon?"
"Stop being so harmonious! We are escaping!!"
"No, we have no need to escape."
"Don't involve us in your convenience."
"Kuh! These bad friends are in a bad mood at a time like this! Please think about other people's feelings for once!!"
"Look in a mirror!!"
Being told that, Marianne took a hand mirror from her storage magic, and while skillfully running, checked her face from the front, side, and diagonal poses.
"I am cute today as well!!"
"This girl is hopeless, we have to do something about her quickly..."
Not in a physical sense! Just as Geoglyph and Later were putting in a retort.
"Big Sister────!!"
As expected, the first to catch up was the rampaging saint Lilitia, whose physical abilities were thought to approach those of Later the manual labor specialist. She leaped through the air────or rather, dived toward Marianne as if swimming.
"Hinyaa!? S-Someone help meeeee!!"
At this rate, there will be a crisis of her chastity! Just as Marianne screamed that, an unfamiliar magic circle appeared behind her, and it appeared.
"Eh?"
Marianne also looked back to confirm it, which all the members of the Serious Breakers except her had witnessed────.
"Hae?"
Faster than she could recognize it, she was wrapped in light and lost consciousness.
By the time the light subsided, the original silence had returned to the back alley.
There was no one there anymore.
Not Geoglyph, nor Later, nor Latia, nor Kazuha, nor Lilitia, and────not Marianne.
And then there were none.