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“This is a fragment of the magic gem I found, back when I was cursed.”
“I recall you mentioning it when you told me the story. So this is it...” Rosenberg took the fragment into his hand...and fell silent.
Fernobelia had said the demon lord fragment had been removed from the gem, so I wasn’t worried about it cursing Rosenberg or anything. Still, his expression and the air grew more tense with every breath.
“Is everything okay?” I finally asked.
“It is difficult to say... I am unable to perform an accurate assessment. But I will say that I have never seen a better conduit for hexing than this. Those magical crystals were of excellent quality, but they pale in comparison to this. If I were to estimate a price... It could buy a castle, at the very least.”
“A castle?! With a little piece like this?” The piece he was holding had chipped off the original cluster when we moved it out of the gallows. It wasn’t bigger than the nail on my index finger...and it could buy a castle?!
“A magic gem, one of a Dark element at that, would fetch a fortune on its own. Perhaps because it had once contained the curse that afflicts you, I sense that it is highly conducive for hexing. Any warlock would go to great lengths to acquire something like this. Whether they have the financial means to afford it or the skills to utilize its full potential is another story entirely. Duke Cassiel would trade one of his castles for it without a second thought. That is how extraordinary this piece is. I understand that you have shown this to me because you trust me. Still, I must caution you to choose very carefully who else you reveal this to.”
“I will,” I promised. It felt like a waste to keep it stashed away forever, though, so I decided to use it for experiments that no one else would see.
“May I ask what sort of spell you intend to create? I would like to be mentally prepared, just in case something goes awry.”
“Of course. Right now, I’m thinking of combining three steps of removing cursed energy.” The first step was protecting myself from what I expected to be a huge quantity of cursed energy that would gather around me. Next up was collecting the cursed energy. Because of how this process made sense to me, I would be surrounded by the cursed energy I’d gather—naturally, that was going to be very dangerous. “In addition to my own protection, I intend to ask the help of the curse slime that recently evolved. There’s still a chance that I wouldn’t have enough of a buffer to shield myself with. My third step is using the magic gem to divert the cursed energy away from me and into some sort of receptacle. After that, it would be even better if I could cleanse the cursed energy.”
“I see. You have already considered redundant safety nets. Beyond that, I have no advice. New hexes are normally a process of trial and error... You should try it out in whatever way you see fit. If I see that you are in danger, I will step in. I will create an exit route and have one of the adventurers pull you out, even by force,” Rosenberg said.
“Thank you. Beyond the spell’s procedure, is there anything else I should be mindful of?”
“Let me think... In hexology, ‘pushing your limits’ means to discern the ceiling of your power and attempting to approach that ceiling...not to break it. Never try to wield more power than you have.” Rosenberg meant that I could improve my skills through this training, but that would come as a result of finding out where the limits to that power lay, not by breaking those limits. Stability was paramount. “Of course, that is easier said than done. It is not uncommon for warlocks to lose their composure and control over their spell during this training. It would be best if it never comes to that, but losing control of a spell is almost expected. Worrying too much about that can break your focus, so try not to let that burden you when you attempt the spell.” Rosenberg added that spotting signs that a warlock was about to lose control of their spell was one of his particular talents.
“Now that you say that, I remember you told me how finding sources of cursed energy and studying and uncovering the causes of curses are your specialties. Noticing signs of a warlock about to lose control falls under that umbrella, I suppose.”
“The particular branch of hexology passed down in my family for generations is one that gleans information from the magical energy of hexes and from cursed energy itself... For example, you leveraged your memories from your days of seclusion in the forest to hex those ropes, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I could have gone down to town at any time, but I never really wanted to. I used those feelings of isolation,” I said.
“In other words, you imbued the ropes with your emotion, along with your magical energy, when you cast the curse. Because magical energy is manipulated with the power of will, residual intentions and emotions of the caster linger in the magical energy of any hex. However, that information is not revealed in concrete words or images. Based on the reaction I sense when I influence the hex with my own magical energy, I begin my deduction. From there, I still need to navigate towards the answer with my experience as my guide,” Rosenberg explained.
He went on to tell me some of his family legends about his ancestors: One stopped on a mountain path on his way to work, only to stray off the path and somehow find a buried body; another suddenly began nodding along beside a dead body, then perfectly described the murder scene he wasn’t there to witness and even described the hideout of the bandits responsible for the murder...as if they communed with the dead.
“Hearing the voice of the dead... That almost sounds like a séance,” I said.
“Oh, is that another piece of knowledge from your family? Our family has practiced hexology that deals closely with spirits, much like necromancy. Before our family was protected by the Cassiels, we were outcasts even among other warlocks. The difficulty of learning this branch of hexology has kept the craft and information about it from spreading to many others. I am very impressed that you guessed that much from those stories.”
“I’m no expert, of course, but my grandparents had plenty of books and all sorts of categories. Also, when I used my cleansing magic against the Undead in the City of Lost Souls, the responses I felt from them were humanlike. It seemed plausible that there would be a method of speaking with them.” I’d even seen Undead with their souls bound to Korumi in the Sea of Trees.
“Since you know that much... Would you like to learn my family’s craft?” Rosenberg offered.
“Are you sure? Isn’t it a trade secret?”
“Once our family joined the Cassiels—a few generations ago—we stopped keeping our craft a secret. In fact, we welcome anyone willing to learn it, in order to prevent our craft from fading away. Of course, there are no obligations that come with studying the craft either.”
What Rosenberg had taught me so far had been aligned to the hexology curriculum set forth by the Cassiels. He hadn’t introduced me to his family’s craft due to how difficult it was to learn. It wasn’t something he’d teach a novice warlock still working on fundamental hexing.
“Experience plays a great part in acquiring our family’s craft, which can be quite time-consuming. I would not be surprised if you learned it much faster than most,” said Rosenberg.
“I’m not sure I can live up to that expectation, but if you’re willing to teach me, I’ll try my best.”
“I would be grateful even if you only try it once. My father, who has retired from active hexing, is working on passing on our craft to other warlocks...without great results. He often pesters me about passing down our craft to an apprentice.”
So the dwindling warlock population was hitting Rosenberg closer to home than I’d thought. Does he have to pass on his craft to a human? I wondered. If not, Korumi might be a better candidate...
I asked him, and Rosenberg seemed intrigued by Korumi too. I promised to introduce them as soon as I figured out how to set up communication between Korumi and others. On that note, I returned to my room to craft the tool I needed for tomorrow’s experiment.
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“I did it...” I breathed. By the time I’d gotten the details to where I wanted them, it was late into the night. If I didn’t go to sleep soon, I was afraid I’d make people worry that I wasn’t getting enough sleep again. I decided to try out the staff really quickly before turning in for the night.
When I stepped outside, I found Eleonora standing outside the ladies’ cottage. “Eleonora. Are you still up?” I asked.
“Master Takebayashi... After sleeping until lunch today, I could not find sleep. And you?”
“I was making this for tomorrow.” I showed her the rake I was holding. In Japan, rakes were considered a tool to gather up good luck. There were even decorative fortune rakes out there. My rake was an augmented wand for hexing—a tool to gather up cursed energy. Other than the magic gem fragment I’d embedded in its center prong, it was made from ordinary bamboo I gathered in Fatoma...so calling it a “wand” was a bit of a stretch. Tekun said he’d teach me how to make a proper wand. I should take him up on that.
“Yes. That seems an intuitive tool to gather cursed energy,” Eleonora said.
“I think it’s a good design, if I do say so myself,” I said. Then, I noticed something off about Eleonora. She didn’t have a long face or anything, but there was an inexplicable hint of gloom in the air. Remembering how Wilieris said that she had too much time on her hands, I wanted to keep her talking a while longer. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you help me prepare for tomorrow? It won’t take long.”
“I will do anything you ask of me,” Eleonora said without hesitation, despite the late-night hour.
I couldn’t help but draw a comparison between her and myself or my coworkers back in Japan. Regardless, since Eleonora was—apparently—eager to help, I took her to a location better suited for our next task.