As if sensing our thoughts, Rouge continued. “Not all Jewelculi are your enemies. Unlike the others, I actually want you to defeat our teacher.”
I was stunned by her words. I’d known she was different from the other Jewelculi, but I hadn’t realized it was to this extent. She must have understood that if Ide lost, it could potentially lead to her death.
“So, please let me guide the two of you to where our teacher is. With me, we can pass through most of the Northern Alliance unnoticed. After all, I am one of the founding members of Viaysia.”
“Hmm, she doesn’t seem to be lying,” Titee growled at Rouge, who stared straight back into our eyes. “Can you handle this, Kanamin?”
I knew her request referred to the mind-linking spell Distance Mute and nodded back, signaling that I still had magic power left.
“All right. Kanamin will now check if you’re telling the truth. To put it simply, it’s magic that reaches into your chest to expose your heart. If you accept it, you may accompany us. We do need a guide, after all.”
Though Titee explained it with a hint of a threat, Rouge walked toward me without hesitation and offered her chest. “Impressive, Aikawa Kanami. You have some good magic. This is quite helpful.”
“Right, then. Excuse me for a moment. Distance Mute.”
I immediately slipped my arm in, creating the connection. By accepting the magic, Rouge seemed to understand the effect of Distance Mute. She continued her story, as if to prove she wasn’t lying.
“All of us Jewelculi were saved by Dr. Ide. He gave us, beings created solely for battle, a reason to live and a place to belong. Plus, thanks to the cure he discovered, we can live much longer now. That’s why everyone here would die for him if it meant keeping him safe.”
I could be certain there was no lie in those words, because I was connected to her. Furthermore, drawn in by Rouge trying to dig up memories about Ide, a single memory came into view. It was the memory of her meeting Ide for the first time.
A barren plain swept by a dry, howling wind came into sight. It was strangely nostalgic, a place that felt familiar, as if I’d seen it somewhere before.
This was likely Rouge’s memory from a year ago. Not only was Distance Mute active, but the magic of Past Sight seemed faintly activated too, allowing me to see various things from her perspective.
Under a clear blue sky, the plain stretched endlessly to the horizon. The untouched wilderness made it immediately clear that this was a remote frontier. Yet there was one exception. Beside a dense forest, stood a secluded mansion, now engulfed in flames. The flames raged so fiercely, they seemed poised to leap into the forest at any moment. The fire’s intensity suggested the mansion would be reduced to nothing within days.
Rouge and the others stood frozen in shock before the crackling flames scattering sparks. Holding hands with Noir, she watched the place where she was born vanish.
I recognized the burning mansion from the memory as a research institute belonging to a certain country. It seemed this had happened after the Jewelculi, the result of repeated cruel experiments, were discovered by two beings: Ide, the Quadragesimal Guardian and the Thief of Wood’s Essence, and Wyss Hylipröpe, a special Jewelculus born from Palinchron.
Before Rouge and Noir could be used up as research materials, they were saved by a man and woman with matching long white hair flowing behind them. Perhaps thanks to Past Sight, the scene of these two putting up a fierce fight against the researchers and guards played out clearly in my mind.
After all that fighting ended, Ms. Wyss, looking grim, warned Ide that the Jewelculi children’s lifespans were far too short. The longer they lived, the more they would suffer. She spoke these words in front of the very beings she referred to—the red and black Jewelculi.
But Ide immediately shook his head. “You are wrong, Wyss. There is no such thing as a life that should not have been born in this world.”
Without a moment’s pause, he grasped Rouge’s and Noir’s hands. The warmth of his touch left them bewildered. It was likely a temperature they had never felt in their short, tragic lives. Though confused, they never pulled away.
“Absolutely not,” Ide continued. “I will save them myself.”
As if convincing himself, Ide repeated it again, swearing to protect these two lives. Surprised by the Guardian’s firm resolve, Ms. Wyss smiled, looking slightly troubled, and agreed. They vowed to help all the Jewelculi they could from then on.
That was the beginning, the start of a new tale for the Thief of Wood’s Essence summoned to this era, and the beginning of a new life for Rouge and the other Jewelculi. Ide placed his hands atop the heads of the red and black Jewelculi, assuring them that there was nothing to fear anymore. He stroked them with unfamiliar movements, as if recalling something—as if cherishing a memory.
“It is amazing you managed to escape the research facility with those tiny bodies. But you can rest easy now. The humans who tormented you are gone.”
Rouge and Noir had met Ide and Ms. Wyss by chance. Yet they believed these two would help them.
And so, the journey of the four began. Their primary goal was to liberate the Jewelculi suffering in other research institutes, but fundamentally, it was a journey to help others. They traveled around, rescuing persecuted slaves and beastmen, aiding starving villages and towns. Ide possessed all the knowledge and power to make it possible.
Along the way, through Ms. Wyss’s connections and with the aid of the Regacy family, they created places where the rescued Jewelculi could live new lives. The oppressed Jewelculi were saved one after another, yet at the same time, many raised questions, unable to understand the meaning behind their rescues.
They said they were created beings, meant to be used, and couldn’t understand why they should be protected. Faced with this birth more tragic than slavery, Ide always answered gently. He explained that he saved the Jewelculi because they were family. That they could now decide who their own family was and that under Ide’s own law, he considered everyone to be one family.
In this way, through the law that Ide established, all Jewelculi gained a family. They discarded the numbers indicating their creation order and gave each other new names.
Naturally, many problems arose during that journey. The Jewelculi being created at the research institutes were far too frail. Yet Ide treated them all, sacrificing even his sleep to do so. The Jewelculi tried to stop Ide, who was searching for a cure even at the cost of his own health. They sometimes advised him that his precious time as the Thief of Wood’s Essence shouldn’t be spent on something so hopeless.
“I’m sorry, doctor. Our lives are far too fragile. Honestly, further treatment is pointless. Let’s give up now...”
“So what? If we are talking about life, then I am already a dead man myself, am I not? Whatever you say is pointless. I have decided to save the Jewelculi. Yes, I have already decided,” Ide said, cutting cleanly through their lamentations.
Ide made a vow before the Jewelculi that he’d rescued. “Even if you have a few problems, there is no doubt you are powerful young people. And if you are promising young people, I always welcome you. The kingdom I aim to build needs plenty of talent.”
This aligned with Ide’s goal of founding a kingdom, so there was nothing to worry about. He brushed away the guilt and anxiety of the Jewelculi.
Within his vow lay another phrase, one I remembered from Titee’s memories: “Never give up! Let’s aim for paradise together!”