Chapter 11

6 The magic beasts in the mine had a peculiar appearance. They resembled caterpillars that’d been given arms and legs, then made bigger. Although they were larger than a normal caterpillar, you could still cup one in both your hands. A group of about ten of them crawled across the walls and ceiling toward them to strike. They were surprisingly strong, and it took only a few of them to immobilize you. Still, they were lacking in the speed department. Easy pickings for an adventurer with a weapon. And though they flooded from the mines, no one had ever named them. “…Hah!” Dann swung his right leg, rending the underbelly of one of the beasts and sending it crashing into the wall. It didn’t move again. He’d been felling most of the monsters that had appeared here. Every once in a while, one or two of them would get past Dann, but they would quickly collapse beneath Tomah’s sword. The adventurers marched on effortlessly, leaving a mound of corpses in their wake. Rozalia brought up the rear, never once letting her guard down as she scanned the area, though right now it didn’t seem she’d have much opportunity to act. Just as Ix had asked the night before, the three adventurers were acting as his bodyguards while he investigated the interior of Mount Agnas. Obviously, he didn’t expect to find a dragon heart here, but there were some things you couldn’t understand without seeing them for yourself. The mine continued evenly for a while, then branched off into multiple paths. After producing a large map, Tomah pointed down one of them. Dann nodded wordlessly and forged ahead as Tomah used his short sword to scratch a sign into the wall. The group operated in almost total silence and guided Ix in a practiced manner. This held true when enemies appeared too; the three worked so well together that you would think they had eyes in the backs of their heads. Despite their youthful facades, they bore the hearts of seasoned warriors. After walking for a while, Dann spoke up for the first time. “Phew, there’s loads. Is it always like this?” “No, I heard they barely come out in the active mines,” replied Tomah. He’d gathered this information before setting out. “Once the mine is abandoned and people stop going in and out, the magic beasts start to nest like this. The townspeople just leave them be, though, since the creatures don’t come out of the abandoned ones.” “Hmm…” Dann rolled his shoulder. “What do they live on? Don’t see any food or water in this kinda place.” “The miners say they eat the holes.” “Holes?” “Dann, you’re speaking too loudly,” snapped Rozalia. “Yeah, sure, sure.” Dann shrugged, waving his hand. “Now, what’s this about holes?” Tomah prefaced that these were just rumors, before explaining, “This mountain has had lots of minerals mined from it over the years. Once the villagers suck one vein dry, they find another. It just keeps repeating like that. Despite that, the mountain isn’t full of holes. Apparently, there are no cave-ins, either.” He pointed to the ceiling. “They say that happens because the magic beasts eat the holes and seal them up. And it’s true that holes dug into the mountain quickly get dammed. The shaft we’re in now has only been abandoned very recently.” “Ha, that’s ridiculous. How can you get full from eating holes?” Dann shook his head and looked at Ix. “Ix, wasn’t it? Whatcha looking for? You’ve been pretty quiet, but it’s to fix Yuui’s wand, right?” The wandmaker’s apprentice shrugged instead of answering. “Keeping it a secret?” Dann said with a snort. “Fine, I wasn’t gonna ask too much anyway.” “…It’s warm,” murmured Ix. “Huh?” “The wall.” Ix kept his hand on the left side of the wall. Though it appeared to be nothing more than cold stone, it gave off a slight warmth. “That’s…’cause it’s a volcano. They’re warm, right?” ventured Dann uncertainly. “Really?” asked Ix. “Well, no, I don’t really know…” “No, I’m curious. Did you learn about them in the Academy?” Dann’s eyes flicked back and forth as Ix stared at him. “I-I’m gonna go scout ahead!” yelped Dann, before hurrying forward. The light of his torch grew faint. “Has Yuui said anything?” asked Tomah. “No,” said Ix. “She said to leave her alone.” Since they were walking single file, all Ix could see was Tomah’s back. Tomah started talking bit by bit as they walked. “Yuui came to the Academy over a year ago. It wasn’t by choice. The kingdom forced her here from Lukutta.” Tomah’s voice was quiet, but it reverberated well in the mine, so Ix could hear it clearly. “She’s the daughter of a tribe that is part of Lukutta’s extended royal family. The kingdom called it study abroad, but that’s just a diplomatic way of saying they took her hostage. They swore she’d be free physically, but she can’t leave the kingdom of her own volition, and she can’t own assets. She wasn’t allowed to buy clothes. Naturally, the students at the Academy treated her terribly… That’s why I invited her to join us.” “Join you? As adventurers?” “Yeah. As you can see, we have a vukodrak member and an elven member. Might not be an appropriate way of putting it, but those three groups are in similar positions. I thought she might get along with them.” Both the vukodrak and elves were people whose lands the kingdom had invaded in times past. Though their former nations had been subjugated much longer ago than Lukutta had, there was no doubt that the citizens of the kingdom looked down on all three populations. With that, Tomah continued his explanation. “The Academy allows its students to become adventurers, but the compensation they receive from their activities doesn’t belong to them—the Academy vault has rights to it. Then students are granted funds from the Academy. In kingdom law, that money isn’t considered personal assets. So it’s sort of a loophole, which allowed Yuui to spend her money the way she wanted.” “I see.” “I was surprised when she accepted our invitation right away. I asked her if she would find it unpleasant to get close to kingdom citizens, and she told me, ‘I don’t bring international disputes into personal relationships.’ From then on, we were thick as thieves.” “That’s the kind of person she is,” added Rozalia from behind Ix. “She sees things more clearly than you could imagine. Sometimes she judges things so logically, it’s scary.” “Logically?” Ix glanced over his shoulder at her face. Her eyes wavered in the light from the torch. “It’s dangerous to look backward,” she chided, and Ix turned around in compliance. Tomah started explaining again. “For a while, things went by without any problems. Yuui’s smart and quick-thinking. She’s good at magic, and she actually ended up saving us more often than not. And our adventuring let her make money she could use as she pleased, which made her happy. But…” Tomah let out a sigh. “It all started with the delegation.” Ix had heard about that somewhere. He racked his brain for it. Yes, that must be it. “The delegation from the eastern peoples?” “Yeah, that’s it. They came from the east to the capital; we even saw them a few times at the Academy. That’s when the topic of the Lukutta war came up… In hindsight, it was insensitive of me to talk about it in front of her. I think I’d gotten too used to how logical she was… No, that’s just an excuse. Ix, do you know the strategy the kingdom employed in the war?” “You mean, burning down every village and town they found and killing all its citizens…?” Ix had heard about it while in his master’s shop. “Y-yeah, you’re well informed…,” Tomah said nervously. “It was the only option. The Lukutta weren’t accepting surrender, so the kingdom needed to make a decisive blow. Sure, it may have been possible to avoid killing everyone and slowly advance the war front, but that country is mostly forests. If the kingdom didn’t thoroughly crush them, Lukutta could have attacked them from behind.” Tomah shook his head twice, three times. “It was my father who proposed that strategy.” “And that’s how Yuui’s family died,” Ix said in realization. “Yes. They burned her village to the ground. Her mother and brother were killed in the attack, and apparently, her father traded his life for hers… It’s heartbreaking.” “That’s as horrifying as it gets,” echoed Ix bluntly. “Right after I brought that up, Yuui suddenly insisted she couldn’t be around me… No, on second thought, it wasn’t actually sudden. There’s no one in the world who’d want to be friends with the son of the man who murdered your family. It’s only natural,” mumbled Tomah in self-deprecation. “The elves were invaded generations ago,” noted Rozalia. “So I’d never say that I can empathize…but I can imagine how she’s feeling. Dann…he’s not the kind to think about things too much, but he’s worried about her.” “Well, you can tell that much just by looking,” said Ix. “So yeah. Her wand broke after that,” said Tomah, back on topic. “We offered to pay for its repair, but she refused our offer. Then she disappeared when the Academy went on break, which—” “Is when she came to me,” Ix finished for him. Tomah nodded slightly. Only the sound of footsteps broke the silence. Other than a short rest partway through, the group continued without issue farther into the mine. Tomah’s map was highly accurate, so they didn’t get lost. Ix stopped several times to carefully examine the walls and floor. The shaft went ever downward; as they advanced, the walls radiated more and more heat. Agnasite was scattered over the floor here and there, though all of it was too small to be of any use. They were most likely remnants of the mining that had once taken place here. Ix gazed up at the ceiling, and Rozalia asked, “What have you been staring at for a while now?” “There’s no water.” “Hmm?” “There are fissures in the ceiling and walls, but it doesn’t look like water is leaking from any of them.” Instead of water, fine sand-like grains of agnasite streamed out from the cracks. “Is that strange?” inquired Rozalia. “No, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it strange…” Ix just had an inkling that this phenomenon was slightly different from what he’d heard about caves and mines or even volcanoes. He couldn’t think of any connections to dragons, though… Just as they were considering going back, they came up to a dead end in the shaft. “This is one of those walls,” deduced Tomah with his arms crossed. “It’s just like they said. Apparently, it’s one huge sheet of rock that runs laterally through the mountain… If they run into this wall, that’s the end of that vein. Then they search for another one.” Ix touched the stone as he listened to Tomah’s explanation. It was fairly hot. Not enough to burn you but definitely odd. “…Dann, what is it?” asked Rozalia suddenly. Peering over, Ix saw Dann inspecting the black wall just as Ix had done. But unlike Ix, Dann had pressed his entire body up against it. “There’s, like…a strange sound up ahead,” said Dann. “Sound? Isn’t that just the wind blowing through the mines?” asked Tomah. “No, it doesn’t sound like it. It’s a deep resonance, like a roar… Kind of like a river or a waterfall. And it smells just a little bit.” “Is it the stink of magic beasts?” “No, not that. It’s a heavy odor, but magic beasts smell worse. I have no idea what the heck it is. But I feel like I’ve sniffed it before…” “Hmm, maybe it just looks like a dead end, but there’s another mine continuing on the other side?” mused Ix. Closing his eyes, he focused on what he could smell and hear, but he couldn’t sense anything. Of course, he was no match for a vukodrak’s senses. Though he’d been pressed against the side of the tunnel for a while, Dann quickly started tapping it lightly. “Hey, let’s break it down,” he suggested. “Huh?” Tomah’s eyes widened. “We ain’t gonna get anywhere just thinking. Break it down, and we can figure it out in one go.” “I guess that’s true… Hmm,” grumbled Tomah. “But how would we even break it? Is that even possible?” “Well, if I go at it—” “You can’t be certain of anything. We have no idea how thick it is,” interrupted Rozalia flatly. “But yes, it may be possible to disrupt it. I might be able to pierce through if I shoot it multiple times.” “…He was asking me,” whined Dann, his ears drooping. “Ix, what should we do?” asked Tomah, implying they’d think about that after checking with their requester. “Hmm? Oh, well…” Huh…? A thought suddenly flitted through Ix’s mind. Agnasite from the walls and ceiling of the mine and this strange stone… He felt a strong pounding through the wall. “…No, it’s impossible,” gasped Ix, covering his mouth as he shook his head to and fro. “What’s wrong?” asked Rozalia. “It’s nothing…” Ix looked up. “Let’s give up on tearing it down for now.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you made us come all the way here, and now you’re chickening out?” Dann raised both hands. “I don’t know what you’re looking for, but there’s clearly something here. You just gonna ignore it?” “That’s not what I’m saying. I want to get more information and some equipment before we make an attempt.” “But Yuui’s wand repair—” “I’m the requester,” interrupted Ix with a frown. “Adventurers have a responsibility to do as their client tells them. Am I wrong? We have no idea what’s on the other side of there. For all we know, lava starts pouring in as soon as we break it.” “That’s rich, calling yourself a client when you didn’t even go through the Guild.” “Keep it together, Dann,” urged Tomah, stepping between the two. “What Ix says, goes. We should follow his lead.” “…Fine.” The four returned the way they came, leaving easy-to-understand symbols along the way so they wouldn’t forget the route. Ix marched in silence until Rozalia’s voice came from behind, close to his ear. “What did you realize back there?” she asked. “What do you mean?” “Don’t play dumb. You had an incredible expression on your face.” “Just an idle thought. Not the kind of thing you talk about.” “Hmm, if you say so.” “Well, we’ll know for sure if we see it. The next time we come.” “Next time will cost you money!” shouted Dann from the front. Apparently, he’d heard every word of their conversation. “…Do you have money?” asked Rozalia. Ix shrugged and kept his mouth shut. 7 “You seem worse for wear.” Yuui looked up to see Ost emerge from the gloom. She brushed some dust off her hand. It was true that she looked ill. Being alone in the dim basement as she worked on checking the purification records was depressing work. That wasn’t the only reason, though. Ost approached her quietly, checking the flame of the candle. Then he murmured, “Seems it will last a bit longer.” “I appreciate your concern,” Yuui replied very matter-of-factly. “Where is your companion today? The apprentice.” “Ah, he had some business to attend to…” The conversation finished there, but Ost didn’t leave. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, watching Yuui read through the purification records. After a few fruitless pages, Yuui looked up. “Ost…” “Yes?” “How long has it been since you came to Agnasruze?” “Ah, well, this year will be seventeen years. I was in a different congregation before that.” “Seventeen years… That’s quite a while.” “Oh, not at all… There are some who spend their whole lives in one church. I still have a ways to go.” “How has it been since you’ve become the sage here?” “It’s a wonderful place. Peaceful and pleasant to live in.” “From what I’ve seen,” ventured Yuui, glancing briefly into his eyes, “the rich and the poor stand at odds.” “Ah…that.” The clergyman sighed. “Yes, you are correct. This sort of division often occurs in New Order towns. But according to our tenets, all people are equal, regardless of whether they are wealthy or poor. I have explained this time and time again, but it seems the people don’t quite understand… It’s shameful—proof of my lack of skill as a sage.” His unexpected answer caught Yuui off guard. “But this town has its merits,” countered Ost, smiling and spreading his arms. “While it’s true that this opposition exists, it never escalates into arguments or fights. Our population is made up of peaceful individuals, children and adults alike.” “Children, too?” Yuui asked, settling on a slightly malicious question. “The other day, some kids were bullying a boy…” “Ah, that would be Henri.” To her surprise, Ost responded immediately. “You know him?” “Only by name. He hasn’t accepted his purification.” “…Is that the reason he’s tormented?” “I honestly don’t know.” Ost sighed, shaking his head sadly. “There are others who haven’t been purified, but none of them are treated so horribly. Children will tease one another over the slightest thing, of course, but as to why him specifically…” “Henri…” Yuui fell silent. She snapped the notebook closed and shot up. “My apologies, I’ll be leaving now,” she announced. “Oh? Ah, of course. Please come back again anytime.” “Thank you very much.” With that, she left the church and began investigating nearby. While this place wasn’t quite large enough to call a city, it wasn’t a hamlet, either. Her only recourse was to search on foot. Yuui headed toward bustling areas where children were likely to gather. That hunch alone wasn’t enough to go off, however; morning gave way to afternoon as she searched. Still, she continued to ask around as she wandered, until eventually she heard what sounded like the shouts of children and rushed in that direction. Yuui came upon an alleyway with no foot traffic to speak of. Several kids had formed a circle and trapped Henri in the middle. One or two of the children stood in front of him and tried to shove branches into his mouth. Each time they did, he would thrash violently, attempting to wriggle free. While the sticks didn’t go into his mouth, they would stab his cheek instead and leave gouge marks, which made the other kids break out into hoots and hollers. Yuui slipped her hand in her pocket as she moved closer. “Excuse me,” she called, and all the children whipped around simultaneously. “I have business with that boy. Is now a good time?” They looked at one another, utterly confused, and started murmuring. “Huh?” “Who’s that?” “Some chick?” “Please let him go,” she demanded calmly. Their murmuring eventually stopped, and all eyes gathered onto a single boy. He seemed to be the strongest of them. Realizing they were staring at him, he took a step toward Yuui. “What’s your business? Are you saying we can’t be here?” he asked. “I am. I’d like to speak with him privately.” “Hmm… I guess we could leave, but it’s none of your business where we go next. We could just be nearby.” Yuui sighed. “Huh? You got a problem?” the boy said with a smirk. “Um, I’m sorry.” Yuui shook her head. “I really should negotiate calmly, but it looks like that will be a pain, so I’ll just use this.” “Use what—?” Yuui brought out her wand and gently flicked it. A small orb of light appeared at its tip. A shudder ran through the children. “I-is that magic?” “Uh, what do we do?” They whispered to one another. In reality, that orb of light had no effect other than illuminating the surrounding area. Yuui had been uncertain about using it, but the kids weren’t used to magic, so it seemed plenty to scare them. As soon as one of the boys turned tail, the rest of the kids scattered like baby rabbits. Yuui watched them leave as disappointment welled up within her. …It’s gotten so weak. This didn’t even count as using magic. If the wand had been in perfect condition, it could have birthed an orb of light so bright it would blind you, so big it could swallow two or three houses. Well, she could cry about it later. Instead, she walked over to Henri. “Are you all right?” Yuui asked. “Ah…thanks,” Henri said with a groan, then looked away. “You want something from me…?” “Yes, I do. I just have a little question.” An idea had struck her when she’d been talking to Ost. If Ix’s guess was right, if there really was some religion that had been wiped from this town in the past, then how would the priest of the old religion have been treated? She didn’t even have to mull it over. They would have been horribly oppressed, and those attitudes would be encouraged. If you didn’t destroy the root of the old faith, a new one couldn’t become established. In all likelihood, the priest would have been put to death, and their family wouldn’t come out much better. How long would those feelings have persisted? Would they disappear in a generation or two? Or would they cling to people for longer? Would they remain like the town’s baseless reverence for objects? Persist like their nonsensical taboos? Why was there a boy who kept getting bullied in this peaceful town? Ost, a relative newcomer, didn’t know why. Which meant… Though Yuui had been doing nothing more than desperately trying to fit pieces of this puzzle together, she nevertheless came to meet the boy to confirm her suspicions. She cleared her throat, then asked, “Have you heard of a man named Ega Fulmen?” “Ega? Never heard of him,” Henri quickly replied with a shake of his head. “Ah, really…?” Of course, she thought. Yuui must’ve been having a mental breakdown, grasping at straws like this, getting so worked up on a whim. As if something so simple would be true. But just then, Henri continued. “But I do know a Fulmen.” “Huh?” Yuui blinked. “Wh-who?” “My grandma.” “What?” “It’s my grandma’s name. Sheela Fulmen.” 8 “Dann, we really should stop,” urged Tomah as he stared idly at the shadows cast on the wall. “But even if the wand gets fixed, we just did some bodyguard stuff. Yuui won’t think we had anything to do with it.” “I’m not disagreeing with that, but our primary reason for helping fix her wand isn’t to make her feel grateful toward us.” Tomah sighed, exasperated. “And I don’t know how I feel about not saying anything to Ix…” “We decided by majority vote, Tomah. Stop complaining already.” “Might’ve been a majority vote, but that’s just two to one.” “In other words, we have twice as many people.” Dann, Tomah, and Rozalia had returned to the mine shaft. They’d followed the symbols they’d left the day before and had made quick progress. The magic beasts were swarming again after only a day, but the group could move faster than last time, since they didn’t have to protect someone else. “You’re being a worrywart, like always,” grumbled Dann as he looked back. “All we’re gonna do is open a tiny hole and peek in. We’ve got our equipment, and we’ll split if it looks dangerous. Just like we always do. It’d actually be weird to bring the client with us.” “I guess…” “Look, we’re there already.” The three dropped their bags in front of the black stone. Then they produced various pieces of equipment, like a sturdy rope and pitons to secure it. To prepare for the possibility of water bursting out of the hole, they tied the rope around themselves. They had also brought a staff to cast a barrier spell in the event a dangerous magic beast reared its head. On the off chance lava spurted from the hole, they had all memorized the map of the mine so they could escape. They had considered these possibilities and many more—which had resulted in their excessive pile of gear. This was all due to Tomah insisting that they would proceed with caution. “Right, looks good to me,” announced Tomah with a nod after they spent time preparing. “Rozalia, if you don’t mind. Just go bit by bit.” “I know.” Rozalia waved her wand, and a burst of purple light ran through the air. It filled the dark tunnel with a brilliant flash. Once the light faded, they could see a hole punched into the rock. Though it seemed pretty deep, it hadn’t yet penetrated to the other side. “Looks like we’ll need a few more shots,” murmured Rozalia. “R-Rozalia, be more careful,” stammered Tomah. “Too slow. Hey, put more power into the next one,” egged on Dann. “Sigh…” After processing the contradictory orders, Rozalia let loose another light pulse at almost exactly the same strength. That, too, failed to pierce through. She hit it two more times, three. Immediately after the fifth shot… The moment the light faded. The ground suddenly rocked. “Whoa!” Dann couldn’t help crying out as he stumbled. He would probably have fallen were it not for the rope. The earth heaved and rumbled, tossing him about. As he lay on the ground in an attempt to keep himself still, he looked over at the other two. Both of them were gritting their teeth and enduring the tremors. “What is this, an eruption?!” shouted Dann. “I don’t know! But we can’t stay here! We have to leave!” Tomah shouted back. Dann replied in agreement as he looked forward. There was a hole in the stone. The last hit had pierced through. It was dark on the other side. He couldn’t tell what was there…but that was only for a moment. Something gushed out from the hole, and his field of vision was swallowed by darkness. Before he realized it, he could no longer feel the floor. “Huh?” He looked toward the rope and the piton, but the piton had rushed off along with the floor. Dann felt a strange floating sensation. The next moment, he sensed that he was plummeting rapidly. No, not falling—being sucked in. “No way!” He flailed his arms and legs, but there was nothing to grip on to. He rolled himself into a ball and protected his head with his arms. Then came an impact so hard, it knocked the breath out of him. And then he was sinking into fluid. He spread his arms and legs and raised his head above the surface. It was so dark, he couldn’t see a thing. He was already being swept away by the violent flow. Desperate, he stretched his arms out and felt something hard. He didn’t know if it was stone or something else, but he grabbed on. “Tomah! Rozalia!” he shouted, but the roar drowned out his voice. He clutched the hard surface with all the strength he could muster, but his fingers soon grew numb. “Shit!” Was a river flowing on the other side of the stone? A river? For some reason, at the moment, he managed to collect himself and noticed something strange about this river. It didn’t feel or smell like any water he knew. So what was it, then? What was the thing most like this? It was hot enough that it almost seemed to boil. When he opened his mouth, the taste… “Ah…?” But he didn’t understand the conclusion he’d come to. He did everything he could to spit out the liquid that flowed into his mouth. “Someone! I can’t breathe!” His fingers reached their limits, and the rushing river devoured him once again.