Chapter 14
We didn’t go straight to the ritual from the meeting.
The mystic and the elders wanted to, but I received one day of grace. The reason, of course, was that I had spells to prepare.
The warrior clan offered us the biggest and fanciest of their residences as our guestroom. There, Sedam wrote down the information we’d acquired that day. Reyha prepared tea.
“I already thought you were too incredible to be true, but to think you were from a different world. Is everyone in that world a wizard like you?”
I stopped thumbing through my spellbook at Sedam’s question. I lay down on the embroidered carpet and looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “No… I think it’s quite rare…”
“Another world… I wonder what kind of wonderful world you came from, Lord?” Reyha asked as she poured the warrior clan’s tea, which had a strong and unique scent. Her purple eyes were sparkling.
“My world?” I sat up and scratched my jaw, thinking about it as I took my tea. At least where I lived, my world was more peaceful and prosperous than this one. On a global scale, though, it was full of problems.
For example, science, political systems, and ideologies. The preexisting conditions such as daemons were fundamentally different, but in a way, it was more advanced than this world.
Even though there was magic and sorcery, this world had the same laws of physics, and the human spirit was pretty much the same. There was also the possibility that, with time, there would be an industrial revolution and people’s thoughts would develop, too.
Some of the protagonists that I’d read about in portal fantasies or isekai fiction used the knowledge of their own time and place to reform society.
My first job is to protect people from daemons. But how can I achieve that? Does the Watcher want me to develop this world? For example, if there was a system where a country could guarantee a certain quality life for its citizens in this world, maybe there wouldn’t be so many miserable children like the sorcerer-soldiers of the guild.
But then again…
I struggled to see a way forward. Leading the world to a better path was far beyond my ability. I became depressed, thinking about it all. I sighed, still imagining what intentions the Watcher might have had for me.
“My lord?”
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”
I felt awkward after clamming up without answering Reyha’s question. I started sipping my tea.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next morning…
“Okay, done.” I closed my spellbook. I’d finished charging Mind Wall and Perfect Resistance, both spells that I didn’t use often.
“Then let’s go! I’m going, you’re going, we’re all going. C’mon.” Sedam practically pulled me out of the room, cheerful as can be.
“What’s gotten into you?”
Lade, who was waiting for us outside, led us to the site of the prophecy ritual. I saw how excited Sedam was and pretended not to notice him murmuring to himself.
We soon reached a valley that looked like someone had ripped a mountain in two. There was a cave in the rocky mountain right behind the warrior clan’s castrum where the ritual was to take place.
“Sorry to have kept you all waiting,” I said.
In front of the cave stood the mystic, of course, as well as several warrior clan women dressed in the same red and white outfits. Apparently, my words served as a signal for them to bow deeply.
Lade said, “Try not to get in your own way,” and left us. The elders weren’t there. It seemed like men weren’t normally allowed.
“From here, I would like to ask for only the wizard to accompany me,” the true elf maiden said to us in her captivating voice.
“I knew it.” Sedam put his hand to his forehead and groaned.
Sometimes, reality bites.
“Sorry, buddy… I’ll try to tell you every detail later.” I patted him on the shoulder.
“You better. I want to hear everything.” Sedam wasn’t a bad guy. He nodded and took a step back.
“Now, wizard. Please wait over here.” One of the maidens held something out. Upon closer inspection, it was a wooden tool with red thread wrapped around it many times…a spool.
“What’s this for?”
“To mark your path, so that you can return to this world from that of the daemon’s consciousness. Never let this string break.”
After explaining, the mystic took the end of the string on the spool I held and handed it to Reyha.
“Er, what’s this for?”
“This string is strongest when it is held by a woman who cares about the person going in. You are suitable.”
Puzzled at first, after Reyha heard the explanation, she looked at me. She sat down right there and hung her head.
“Lord. I, Reyhanalka Haiklus Si, swear to protect this thread with my life!”
“I hope you will…”
There was certainly no question about her loyalty. I didn’t know if this thread was just a prop, or if it really did have some sort of sorcerous meaning, but if Reyha said she would, I knew she would protect it.
Meanwhile, I could hear Sedam’s murmuring as he closely watched the spool. “Hmm… Taking a red thread to another world. It’s like the story of Olrol and Chalis.”
“Could you explain that? In detail.”
The whole thing was strange. A journey into a dimension of the mind? It was almost like eldritch horror. But if you weren’t ready for things to get a little cosmic, then you’d never be able to play a horror RPG like The Call of Cthulhu.