Apparently that was the rule now.
“Now then, the world that we inhabit has people, monsters, animals, plants, fire, water, wind, earth, stones, air, the sun, the moon, the stars... So much stuff I can’t possibly list them all. It has lots of things. But.”
“But?”
“The hinterworld has nothing but mana. Every concept is created with mana. As a result, everything is unstable, and the laws of physics and logic are completely different than in our world.”
Leen, very uncouthly, swirled her fork in the air as she spoke.
Mana was something you couldn’t avoid as an adventurer or even just as a regular citizen. The firestone I’d used back in Erifell’s house was a mana crystal—in other words, a processed crystal that had been touched by the influence of mana. For monsters, mana was akin to air. That was why—differences between species aside—there were many monsters in mana dense places. On the other hand, mana was poisonous to us humans. Due to this, a natural boundary formed where monsters and people lived in places with differing amounts of mana. However, only alchemists or wizards who made mana research their focus could explain what it was. It went without saying that I wasn’t able to.
“Now then, young Hakura.”
Leen raised a finger with me, having fun being in teacher mode.
“What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say ‘mana’?”
This was a habit of Leen’s when she got talkative. If I couldn’t answer, she’d proudly explain what the right answer was. However, if I could answer, then she’d either be over the moon or get sulky.
“Well, monsters and magic.”
“A perfect answer! I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it!”
“You cheeky so-and-so!”
Apparently I’d landed on her happy mood this time. As she was applauding me, I took the opening to stab my fork into her gratin and claim my prize.
“Hey! My shrimp!” Leen exclaimed.
“My rightful reward for getting the answer right.”
“Stealing is a crime, you know?”
“You started it by stealing from me!”
I put my guard up, ready for her to go full-on glutton and steal my entire meal, but she just tutted and glared at me. Although that in itself was pretty terrifying.
“Hmph... Anyway, your understanding is pretty much accurate. Monsters are creatures that have transformed due to the influence of mana. Magic is the ability to conjure up phenomena at will by transforming mana. It is used in a variety of ways in key industries like alchemy and manufacturing. It’s a crucial part of everyday life.”
Leen safely moved her plate out of my fork’s range. Tch...
“Now, onto a key part of adventuring life: Spheres.”
Leen’s emerald Sphere glinted in the sunlight streaming in through the window.
Spheres were the key reason we adventurers could stand our own against monsters. Affixed to the back of our right hands, they embedded themselves into our nervous system, becoming a part of our bodies. They served as proof of our status as adventurers, and changed color the longer we held them. I glanced down at my own: an obsidian Sphere that gave off a dull, black glimmer. It looked completely black at some angles, but holding it up to the light, I could see that the part that was farthest from my skin let some light through.
Spheres were proof of your identity. They allowed you to take on quests and receive payment, deposit and take out money... They were a literal lifeline that played a role in every aspect of admin life. But naturally, their biggest benefit was that they increased our strength.
“The physical boosts we receive from Spheres are also thanks to mana. Spheres allow you to safely take mana into the body, after all.”
Everyone who wanted to buy a Sphere from the guild received this explanation. We were told that the reason we could fight monsters was because the source of our strength was the same.
“Back to demons. Demons are existences that gained sentience after spending a long time immersed in mana in the hinterworld.”
Leen took another napkin and pulled out a fountain pen filled with ink (it looked to be pretty pricey) from an inside pocket. Around the top of the napkin, she drew a small triangle. This wasn’t all that important, but we’d be charged for this paper napkin later...
“In the beginning, there was one demon. Its name was Lucilfer Halpuanikwavelapifelnilkeles.”
“Huh?” I squeaked.
I’d been in listening mode, but my brain couldn’t parse the sudden weird string of sounds Leen had just uttered.
“Like I said, Lucilfer Halpuanikwavelapifelnilkeles. Can you repeat after me?”
“No freakin’ way! I’m surprised you managed to say it!”
Plus, some of those sounds didn’t even seem possible for me to make.
“If you get hit in the head every time you stumble over your words, then you’ll be able to pronounce it eventually.”
I fell silent again. This was surprising coming from the usually confident Leen. She wasn’t even bragging this time, speaking as if this were the most normal thing in the world.
“Over a very, very long period of time,” Leen said, as she drew a circle in the triangle, “the first demon Lucilfer absorbed the mana of the hinterworld and grew huge. To the point that all the mana in the hinterworld was Lucilfer. However, Lucilfer grew so big that problems started to arise, so it decided to slice off bits of its body and form new demons. Those demons then started their own demonic lines. These Seven Great Demons are known as the Hepta Maligna.”
Leen then drew a large pyramid that covered the whole napkin with the little triangle at its tip. Underneath the triangle, she drew a trapezoid, to form a new level underneath that. In it, she drew seven more circles. She then drew lines linking the seven circles to the one at the top of the pyramid.
“These Hepta Maligna too grew and ended up slicing off bits of their own bodies, from which formed new demons. This pattern of replication is the cycle of life in the hinterworld.”
The pyramid grew downward as Leen drew more trapezoids with their own circles inside them, which, in turn, had lines that linked them to the circles directly above. The bottom of the pyramid had reached the bottom of the napkin where the circles had become tiny dots.
Then, Leen poked small holes in the napkin.
“Like I said, witches are women who have formed pacts with demons living in the hinterworld. Every time a witch forms a pact, a small hole is opened between the two worlds from which mana flows into our world. As I explained, mana in the hinterworld is demons, so this process invites demons into our world.”
Leen peered at me through the holes made by her pen.
“In short, the truth behind a curse is that a witch has drawn a demon from the hinterworld into their own bodies so that they can use them as a catalyst to utilize the rules of the other world.”
After this long-winded explanation, I finally understood the connection between witches and demons. Witches formed pacts with demons—that was how they got their power. It made sense.
“Hooowever...” Leen said before chomping on her food.
She gave the impression of a carnivore, but she ate a lot of veggies too. With a pen in one hand and her fork in the other, she was really multitasking here. One would usually choose to either eat or talk, but that choice had an outcome that involved not eating, which apparently was unacceptable.
“A pact seems simple enough, but it’s actually very difficult. Demons are from a completely different world, so their values and moral system are fundamentally different to those of us people. The resources needed to break down the border between worlds, the details of the contract, what will be given up in response, what will be gained...”
Leen shoveled dressing-covered salad into her mouth, and while she chewed, I patiently waited for her to continue.
“Phew... These are all things that need to be worked out, even though communication with demons is difficult. It’s like a person trying to understand what a monster is saying.”
This was an impossible task for anyone other than a certain monstermancer. Actually, I supposed that Tetna and Rudolf were an exception, but they were mostly communicating via emotions and not through actual spoken language.
“In order to combat this, the most mainstream and effective method was to temporarily fuse with the demon. They share body and thoughts, or rather merge their consciousnesses...”
After a long pause, I said, “Isn’t that dangerous?”
Leen had spoken with zero hesitation, but if demons were creatures (if they could be called that) that were entirely made of mana, it seemed to me like inviting one into your own body was nothing but danger.
“Of course it’s dangerous. You might never regain your sense of self, or your body might die from the strain. It was painful when we inserted our Spheres to render our bodies capable of interacting with mana, right?”
“Well, yeah...”
It was really, really damn painful. I’d never do it again. It was why adventurers were uncharacteristically kind to newbies like Jiray.
“There used to be a manual in order to reduce losses, but even in that case, it’s difficult to form a pact that goes exactly how you want. Even two people speaking the same language will still have misunderstandings and disagreements. It’s much worse when with a demon,” Leen said.