Chapter 204

What the heck is with this shield? A long time ago, my master said flames felt warm even without touching them directly because heat is transmitted by “conduction” and “radiation.” This barrier is transparent, but I wonder if it cuts off things like radiation, too. Come to think of it, Transmutation Vessels don’t make my hands get hot or cold even if I increase or decrease their temperatures. Could this be a type of Transmutation Vessel, too? No, that can’t be… Outside, Mariela and the others could hear cries that sounded something like “guuuh…” or “gaaah…,” and the ebon raiders twisted their bodies as they burned in the blaze, but Mariela’s thoughts had completely wandered off. I wonder why my master is wearing clothes… Mariela had been convinced the salamander was her master, but the possibility of Freyja appearing stark naked hadn’t even occurred to her until the small lizard had instantaneously turned into a manifestation of her master clad in fluttering clothes. The fact that Mariela had violently thrown Freyja proved that pupils truly were a product of their teachers. Of course, even if she had appeared stark naked, this is Freyja we’re talking about, so she probably would have given the same grandiose speech, and Mariela would have hastily made her put on clothes. As Mariela was imagining Sieg pretending to hide his face as he peeked between his fingers with his Spirit Eye and Erotigan staring without even trying to disguise it, her master interrupted her lengthy train of thought. “Mariela, when did you notice? I thought for sure I’d fool you if I took the form of your spirit friend.” “I thought something was off ever since the salamander showed up without me calling it. When we first got here, it showed up seemingly all on its own. It also remained incarnated for way too long, no matter how I tried to justify it. But the point when I knew for sure was…that dream.” “Oopsiiie. You tried to summon it, huh? This place is the domain of the lake spirit, so ordinary fire spirits won’t come here. You have to call them with an offering, or conjure a special one like me, the great Freyja. By the way, the real salamander went home, so there’s no need to worry. Aah, I should’ve disappeared once or twice to really sell it. I mean, you were hardly surprised at all, huh?” “It’s because you’re you. This isn’t nearly as shocking as when I found out you couldn’t make potions any better than mid-grade despite being my master.” Freyja talked Mariela’s head off as if she was happy to use her mouth again after finally returning to human form, and Mariela pulled her along as she rushed for the water temple in the center of the courtyard. “Ah, wait, wait. Those things’ll come back if you don’t properly burn them. We gotta torch them good before that one regains sanity and the place fills with water. Come, many many flames, come, many many flames… Oh right, they’re already here. Hup. Summon Fire Blast! Fire!” “What’s with that half-baked chant…?” With Mariela still perplexed, Freyja once again struck the shadowy soldiers with maximum hellfire, and the ebon figures that had been squirming in the large blaze were wholly burned away and turned into dust. During the famine and the plague, Master burned every last one of the black monsters. Maybe the tower rooms with lit torches were safe because… Mariela thought back on all the salamander’s unnatural behavior ever since arriving in this strange place. Meanwhile, the ebon raiders, which had previously seemed an unstoppable force, were swallowed up in flame and reduced to ash. “Hey, we gotta go right now; the water’s coming.” Despite Mariela urging her to hurry up before, it was now Freyja, finished with her work, who turned to Sieg and the others and beckoned them to shake a leg. The other members, including Sieg, hadn’t anticipated this turn of events at all. They’d witnessed Freyja’s appearance with mouths agape. At the fiery woman’s instructions, however, they all regained their senses. “Huh? Whaaa—?! Freyja?! Uh, but she was that salamander until just now…” “Calm down, Edgan. This is normal.” “Huh? A lizard…in clothes… The thing that…licked…my cheek…” “Don’t think too hard about it. Let’s go.” They needed to get going, but Edgan had been overwhelmed by confusion. Actually, you could say he was possessed of a very clear head at that moment. Despite the approaching danger, he managed to think about a lizard wearing clothes. “So my master was originally a fire spirit. Even now, she somewhat resembles one, I guess,” Mariela explained to the flummoxed Edgan. The man had been totally thrown for a loop. Freyja had been a lizard, totally not Edgan’s type at all. But then she’d transformed into a beautiful woman, the perfect fit for him. “Ummm, errr, uhhh. Ah, Edgan. That’s right.” As was quickly becoming tradition, Freyja seemed to have forgotten poor Edgan. Her golden eyes glittered as she searched the Akashic records for it, then she replied as if she’d recalled the man’s name herself. Sieg looked at Freyja first with his Spirit Eye, then covered it and used his normal one, over and over. Although he possessed the Spirit Eye, even he hadn’t suspected Freyja’s true nature. However, his time living with her had helped him develop a considerable tolerance to Freyja’s antics. This left him with enough composure to lead Edgan as he followed after Mariela and the others. As for Yuric and the rest, they didn’t seem to understand the situation at all. Donnino removed his spectacles, wiped them off, and looked at Freyja again. Grandel was content with not understanding, and he simply turned toward the lamia and said good-bye to her. She responded with a menacing “Shaaa.” “Hoh-hoh, that’s quite frigid of you. So are you the hot and cold type, then?” Grandel asked with a chuckle, although the lamia had never once shown a “hot” side. Well, perhaps she was doing so now, since she remained close to Grandel and neither attacked nor fled. “Ra-rar! Rar!” “H-hey, Koo, no jumping!” Perhaps Koo the raptor thought he could also turn into a human, because he started jumping around on the spot, jostling the cart hitched to him. Yuric and Franz, who almost tumbled off, had to restrain him. “Look ou—” Sieg’s excessively large rucksack, which had been placed in the raptor’s wagon, also went flying, and Sieg caught it in a fluster right before it hit the ground. Despite the red-hot hellfire still blazing outside the barrier, everyone was involved in their own personal chaos. “Now then, it’s time to give the solution to this riddle.” The one who put an end to the discord with a brief comment was the woman who’d started it in the first place, Freyja. “Now, where should I start…? Heh-heh, you don’t need to make that face. I won’t dodge questions.” Freyja laughed at the rather exasperated Mariela, who stared wide-eyed at her master like she wouldn’t look away even for a moment. “Mariela, your eyes will dry out if you keep them open like that…,” Sieg remarked. Mariela was staring at her master so much it caused him to worry. In protest, Mariela muttered, “But…,” as she looked down just a little. Her master said, “Hey,” and offered Mariela her hand with an expression like she was soothing an upset child. Mariela took Freyja’s hand and at last blinked several times. Freyja always came running when Mariela needed help, but she never spoke about herself. Not only that—she’d abruptly left for parts unknown. If Mariela took her eyes off Freyja again, she felt like the woman might really disappear for good this time. That was why Mariela stared as hard as she did. After Freyja’s favorite pupil had followed her all the way here, however, she seemed inclined to explain things at last. Freyja tugged on Mariela’s hand as she led the whole group straight toward the temple in the center of the courtyard. 04 “A long time ago, before humans created what you call countries, this place wasn’t the Fell Forest, but a regular, plentiful wood.” The temple door, so gigantic you had to look up to see its peak, opened without a sound just from Freyja holding her hand out. A sixteen-foot-wide hallway extended left and right past the entrance, and just beyond the doorway was a garden decorated with streams and flowering plants. Mariela surveyed the area and saw blue sky peeking out from overhead. When she wondered if they were outside and gave it another look, she noticed the faint outline of a domed ceiling at a height that was several stories tall. The azure above seemed to be a painting on the top of the atrium. This temple had a symmetrical structure, and there were exits at both ends of the hallway the group now stood in. A splendid door was also visible on the opposite side of the garden, likely the heart of the temple. The corridor’s ceiling was about as high as that of a chamber or assembly hall, but as far as Mariela could tell from looking at the atrium’s garden, there seemed to be an upper floor. All the many pillars supporting the high roof had been cut from huge rocks that sported natural bands of lateral color. This gradation resembled geological strata, and to Mariela, it seemed like the memory of the earth that stretched far below the Fell Forest. A roughly waist-high wall separated the hallway everyone was in from the indoor garden, and it looked like they could reach the door to the heart of the temple in the shortest amount of time by climbing over the barricade and crossing the garden. However, Mariela hesitated even to stretch her arm toward the picturesque landscape, let alone set foot inside it. What a truly peaceful place. This world of water in itself wasn’t noisy, but even so, one undoubtedly felt the presence of monsters. Although this garden was a beautiful place where copious flowers bloomed, not a single leaf nor petal stirred, and Mariela could sense neither the chirping of birds nor the beating wings of butterflies. This place lacked the smell of earth, the scent of greenery, and the sound of running water, so it seemed like an elaborate model or a pop-up picture book. “This way,” Freyja called to Mariela and the others, who beheld the incredible vista, and she began walking briskly down the corridor. “Way back when, the marshland you guys found was a clear, beautiful lake. Its sublime elegance far surpassed this garden. When you saw it from far away, the water’s surface reflected the surrounding woods like a mirror, and up close, it was so glassy you could see to the bottom. The sight of light shining on that lake was so divine that any flame would cower at its radiance.” Sieg, Yuric, and the others looked incredulous, unable to imagine the fantastical sight that Freyja described from the gloomy marshland they’d visited earlier, but Mariela had seen it within her master’s dreams. “A lake spirit who ruled over this ley line, the one of the Fell Forest, resided there. This was a very long time before the ley line of the Labyrinth City and its surroundings was ruled by Endalsia. You probably know that the Fell Forest and the land around the Labyrinth City share the same ley line. Yet doesn’t it strike you as odd that you can understand the language of the spirits in the Labyrinth City but not in the Fell Forest?” Freyja’s scarf fluttered as she strolled along, and the decorations on it rustled quietly. The accessory’s golden color added a new hue to the bright garden they saw from the dim hallway and breathed life into the still world for just an instant. Without stopping or waiting for an answer, Freyja continued. “That’s because even with the same ley line, the warden can differ from place to place. It’s a common thing. Managing a vast range is tough for spirits—they’re noncommittal beings to begin with. Back then, the lake spirit here had already gone completely to the monsters’ side, and the humans’ patron, Endalsia, took over managing things.” The information in Freyja’s speech was so significant it would have put a complete end to the long-standing dispute between scholars in the imperial capital if they heard it. However, it was less impactful for those present, and they followed after Freyja one by one while surveying their surroundings with curiosity, as though they were on a sightseeing tour. “Now that you mention it, when I was little, I thought it was strange that I could make potions in both the Fell Forest and the Kingdom of Endalsia even though the forest was the monsters’ domain and the kingdom was the humans’…” Mariela, an alchemist, managed to follow Freyja’s exposition. “Ahh, Mariela, I think you did say something like that once. But you trusted me when I said it was because we were near the Kingdom of Endalsia. Thank goodness you were such an accepting child!” Mariela had slightly mixed feelings in response to her laughing master, and she wasn’t sure if she was being praised or mocked for having been so simpleminded. Wanting to get back to the original topic, she urged Freyja to continue. “And then?” “This is a closed lake, so it isn’t connected to any rivers. Well, it’s more accurate to say the pool rests above a spot where underground water wells up. The river near the sandpit goes underground, right? This place is far downstream of that. That water vein bumps into a rock, causing part of it to gather in one spot. That sand filters the water, leaving it very clear. The underground stream is abundant. Spirits live in it, too. That’s why this lake, which receives blessings from the forest, has never dried up. But since humans long ago didn’t know how water veins flowed, people in those days saw this as a very mystical place that would purify anything.” Mariela recalled her first dream. In that vision, the people, still inexperienced, had relied on the small fire spirit to reach the lake so they could purify the famine. “That’s why they came here to exorcise the corruption, right?” Freyja nodded at Mariela’s question. “Every time there was starvation, disease, or any other calamity, the humans passed through the forest to get to this lake and purify the corruption. It was thus that they survived.” After Freyja placed her hands on the door at the end of the hallway, she glanced back at the garden. Mariela also looked behind her and realized the beautiful landscape had transformed. It wasn’t a case of the seasons changing. Because the place that had been a beautiful garden had transformed into a deep, gloomy, yet magnificent forest reminiscent of Freyja’s story just now. “Now, in here.” Beyond the door Freyja ushered everyone through was a huge library packed with books that reached the ceiling on the left and right walls. Overflowing shelves of incongruous sizes were lined up even in the center of the spacious hallway, and heaps of tomes and discarded volumes were also stacked on the floor. “This is magnificent!” Grandel, who had some appreciation for literature, opened his eyes wide at the incredible collection as he tugged at his mustache. Meanwhile, Edgan, who would fall asleep in three seconds if he opened a book that wasn’t erotic, gave a big yawn at the smell of paper and ink blanketing the place, despite the fact that he wasn’t reading anything. Sieg surveyed at the interior of the room and then turned toward Mariela with a slightly dubious expression. Perhaps the girl had realized something, because she returned his glance with a slight nod. “None of the humans in the imperial capital remember this lake anymore, but frequent visits to this place to purify corruption eventually formed a kind of path—the road the desecration streamed through. That’s why the corruption generated in the vicinity of the imperial capital now flows here of its own accord even without anyone doing anything.” Freyja continued to talk as they passed through many rooms. They went through doors; they climbed up and down stairs. Every chamber was a library crammed with a massive quantity of books, and although Mariela was aware there were a lot, the letters were blurry or appeared to be volumes she was unfamiliar with no matter which one she examined. Try though she did, Mariela couldn’t tell what kind of books they were. “This lake was for sure more beautiful than any other, but it wasn’t a miraculous place that could heal and purify. Yet corruption streamed in and accumulated more and more, and the pool became a mass of desecration. This forest, the creatures within it, and this land that harbored the lake all bore the corruption and became the Fell Forest.” “Then what of the lake spirit?!” It was Franz who broke the astonished silence with his impatient question. He’d been feeling restless ever since he’d entered the temple. “The spirit is fine. It wasn’t a problem at all—neither to the spirit nor to the monsters. Whether there was corruption or not. You understand that, don’t you?” If it rains, the earth will be wet, and if it dries up, life will come to an end. Spirits simply accepted things as they were. If there was corruption, they would simply take it in and slowly send it back to the ley line. If the desecration became too much, monsters would be generated in large numbers and attack human settlements, but this wasn’t so different from a plague or a famine. “Even if they were engulfed by corrupted thoughts and lost their sanity, both the monsters and the spirits of the forest simply accepted it, just like an elderly person accepts their own death. From the perspective of the lake spirit, there was no problem.” Freyja halted and slowly turned to look back at Franz. “Franz, your worries and resentment come from the human sense of values. Do you get what I’m saying? Spirits are like that by nature.” At the question, Franz bit his lip. Even if he understood in his head, he couldn’t accept it. Freyja continued as though she sympathized with those feelings. “But, you know, there was someone who hated that. ‘I want to return you to when you were pure, clean, and corruption-free. I want you to be your true self and to exist with you.’ There was someone who wished for such things.” Freyja spread both her hands. She shone red as though illuminated by flames, and the others realized their surroundings had grown so dim, they couldn’t see. Some of the nearby books remained faintly visible, but it was impossible to tell how large a place they were in now. Everyone had a feeling like they were in an endlessly vast chamber, even though they should have known otherwise. “Now, Mariela, my pupil who reached this deep place in the Fell Forest. This is as far as I can guide you. This is the heart, the real situation. The truth is here, but to those who don’t even understand what they don’t know, it’s like looking at a book in the darkness. They won’t glean anything.” Freyja’s hair began to billow, despite the lack of wind. It was reminiscent of burning fire. “Now, tell me the answer. Where is this place? What is this world? Take everything you’ve learned and present the key to the exit.” Their surroundings were already pitch-dark, and Mariela couldn’t see anyone, not even Sieg. All that remained was Freyja. The woman’s eyes seemed to blaze in the darkness. Coupled with her slender pupils, they gave Freyja the countenance of an unfamiliar entity. “It’s pointless to try and scare me.” Mariela, however, responded to her master as she usually did. “This place isn’t our territory or anything. It’s Akashic records, right?” As though to show that Mariela’s answer was correct, the lamps in the black room lit up one after another, and the rest of the group, as well as the surrounding chamber, became visible again. “Mariela?! This place?” The first one to react to Mariela’s response was Sieg, who had been dubiously surveying their surroundings since the moment he’d entered. To his Spirit Eye, the strange library had looked like far more than a mere collection of books. “Probably, Sieg. I don’t know how, and I can’t be sure what sort of condition the lake spirit is in now, but if we’re in the Akashic records, then the memories of the true heart of the spirit should be here. The recollections of the lake spirit, Lyro Paja, who rules over the Fell Forest’s ley line.” The instant Mariela spoke that name, a gust of wind blew through the room. She’d presented the key, and the door opened. 05 Book pages were ruffled and flipped, and many were torn out altogether. It was like a sudden breeze had blown through trees and carried their leaves away. Mariela and the others reflexively closed their eyes at the unexpected strong gale, and when they opened them again, they found themselves not in a library as they had been before, but a dense forest. They were all familiar with the twisted trunks that writhed in pain and the gloomy leaves of the timber in the Fell Forest, but the trees here stretched straight up, seeking light, and those who beheld this place’s verdant colors felt as though their hearts were being cleansed. Surely the Fell Forest had looked as marvelous as this before the corruption had altered it. Stretching out before Mariela and the rest of the group was a placid, mystical lake. Not a single ripple could be seen on the water’s surface, as though the sudden breeze just now had been a lie. It reflected the surrounding greenery and made it seem like the forest continued below their feet. The scene was far more normal and natural than the world of water or the Fell Forest, but it curiously felt more wondrous to Mariela and the others. “There’s no doubting it. This is the place I sought…” “Franz!” Yuric clung to Franz’s arm as he began walking feebly toward the lake. Yuric’s touch returned Franz to his senses, and he muttered, “Sorry, Yuric. I’m okay.” However, he couldn’t take his eyes from the lake. In particular, he was transfixed by the figure standing at its center. “Lyro Paja. Long time no see,” Freyja said to the figure standing still on the water’s surface. It was the lake spirit, Lyro Paja. Freyja sounded both joyful and sad. Freyja had her back to Mariela and the others, and only Lyro Paja could see her expression. Still, the sight of Freyja stretching out her arms on the bank of the lake tied Mariela’s heart in knots. —O flame, is it true you used the time that seemed so long to you for my sake?— The spirit’s voice was calm. Like a waterfall threading its way down through rocks, their hair flowed and spread down toward the lake’s surface and became one with the water, further enhancing their neutral features, which looked neither male nor female. Perhaps because of the corruption, the being’s hair was dyed a deep color like black or navy blue. It resembled a stream at night rather than the transparent hue Mariela had seen in her first dream. Mariela felt the hair made Lyro Paja seem somewhat like a living creature with body heat rather than like an uninteresting object resembling clear water. Lyro Paja’s eyes, which evoked a deep abyss Mariela felt like she was about to fall into, shifted from Freyja to Mariela, then Sieg, Franz, Edgan, and the others in turn. —Did you purify my corruption along with these children of humanity? You’ve always been fond of people.— “Yeah. My pupil and her buddies. You feel it, right? They’re all very good boys and girls.” It was Freyja and Lyro Paja’s first meeting in many years. The pair were in their own little world on the lakeshore. It was a scene resembling fine glasswork that seemed like it could be broken simply by approaching it. Unsurprisingly, the tone-deaf Edgan butted in even though the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. “Umm, is that gorgeous person there Freyja’s girlfriend or something?” For Erotigan, the most important pieces of information seemed to be Lyro Paja’s gender and relationship with Freyja.