Fortress of Flames (6)
"We've figured out what you lot found."
Some time after Tene's discovery had been handed over to the dwarves, Orson settled into his seat before Rosaria's party, who had been summoned for a report on the current situation.
The room was packed with blueprints covered in countless magic circuits and instruments whose purposes were anyone's guess — clearly a workshop dedicated to the study of magic tools.
"First, let's talk while looking at this."
Thud—
Once he confirmed that Rosaria's entire group had arrived, Orson brought out the object Tene had pulled from the lava and set it down on the table.
It was a circular form a little larger than a manhole cover, fashioned from what looked like extremely dense stone. A hole punched through the center like a doughnut, and a sizable mana stone was embedded within. Radiating out from that stone, the disc was densely engraved with innumerable magic circuits.
"We've examined this magic tool you brought us, but… there's still a great deal we can't make sense of."
"For starters, this style of magic circuit is not one any dwarf would use."
"The circuit design is far too one-dimensional. It was built to accomplish a single purpose and nothing else — every convenience ignored. Crude, in a way."
"So what exactly is this magic tool?"
"Those salamanders you mentioned — they left the lava once their fellow spirits began to vanish, yes?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Makes sense. This… is a magic tool for capturing spirits."
"Capturing… spirits?"
Attempts to capture spirits had been made since ancient times — some craving the power spirits held, others simply wanting to study them. Every attempt had failed. Spirits were free-spirited beings unbound by rules. Unlike magic, a spirit was essentially a piece of this world's nature itself; incur a spirit's wrath and disaster could follow. Capturing one in the first place was nearly impossible. A spirit's form was a form in name only — closer to a nexus of natural mana — so they had no true physical body, something like ghosts, and could pass freely into the Spirit Realm whenever they wished.
"Is something like that even possible!?"
At the claim that such a tool could capture spirits, Felix shot to his feet, the most violently startled of them all.
Technically, it is possible. In the original story's late stages, before the demonkin joined the war, they developed magic to control the Spirit King — the ultimate balancer of this world — and blocked the spirits from intervening… But that method only appears in the late game. It shouldn't be showing up now…!
The king of all spirits. The so-called Spirit King. Parent to every spirit and one of the great pillars of this world, the Spirit King normally remained in the Spirit Realm and only emerged when this world faced collapse — a kind of failsafe, according to the original novel. And in the late stages of that story, one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings had crossed a forbidden line, sacrificing countless lives to bind the Spirit King inside the Spirit Realm and tip the war in the demonkin's favor.
Which means this magic tool might also… be connected to the demonkin…!
"Isn't this totally a Mon×ter Ball?"
"Right?"
"—What's an ×ster Ball, Mom?"
"A Mons× Ball…?"
"A-anyway. Please continue. Everyone, quiet."
Even with the protagonists about to get tangled up with the demonkin — the greatest crisis this world faced — Rosaria tossed out a joke without a shred of seriousness. Felix shot her a look and steered the conversation back on track.
"Ahem… From what we've determined, this magic tool captures spirits and then seals them inside the mana stone at its center."
"Capture and confinement. Those two purposes alone, pursued with a massive mana stone, seem to make it possible… but the truth is, we still don't fully understand the principle."
"This is… the absolute pinnacle of wonder, like some lost technology of the ancients."
"Lost technology?"
"Long ago, the peoples of this world — dwarves included — possessed far greater technology than we do now, and enjoyed progress and abundance."
"But after the war with the demonkin, we lost a great deal of that knowledge. In the end, rather than advancing new techniques, we've been reduced to restoring what was lost."
The Millennium War. The all-out conflict with the demonkin had driven the races to unite — but the price had been everything. Centuries, even millennia of recorded history and technology had been burned away entirely. Even now, the dwarves still feared that war and labored to recover the techniques they had lost.
"At any rate, we've resolved the reason and the cause behind the salamanders vanishing from the lava. The power of the spirits will soon return to the magma. I hardly know how to express our gratitude."
Orson spoke of the past with a distant look into empty air, then rose from his seat and offered Rosaria's party a formal bow of thanks — a far cry from the manner he had first shown them.
"Old man, you're not just saying that, right?"
"Of course not! We return what we receive — an old dwarven tradition! Take this."
"What is this?"
"Whoa, old man. Is this for real? That's no small gesture."
At Louis's demand for proper compensation, Orson drew something from his coat and handed it over. The party tilted their heads at the thick, square-shaped plate they had been given — but Louis's eyes went round with undisguised shock.
"This is a Token of Brotherhood. Should you ever meet other dwarves, show them this, and they will treat you as kin."
"In other words, it's basically the same as forming an alliance with the dwarves — and that is a huge deal! Those stuck-up shorty grandpas handing this to outsiders? Unheard of!"
"Ahem…! And while you remain in this fortress, you also have the privilege of free beer whenever you like!"
"Oh…!"
What they had been given was as good as a mark declaring that the dwarves would treat them as honored guests from this day forward. The dwarves, already second only to the elves in how little they mixed with other races, were showing this much goodwill to outsiders who had arrived a mere day ago. It spoke volumes about just how grave a crisis the party had resolved.
"Wow… so this is actually a really big deal?"
"I don't know if we should even accept something like this…"
"If you understood how great a thing you resolved, you wouldn't say that. If anything, I feel this is still insufficient — so if there's anything you need, speak up anytime!"
It had been less a pure good deed than a convenient side effect of pursuing their own goals, and thanks to Tene it had been almost absurdly easy — yet they were receiving this outrageous generosity. Rosaria and Felix looked dazed, but Orson only laughed it off, telling them not to sweat the details.
"Old man! So when does the Dragon's Breath start running again?"
"Word just came in — the power of the spirits has begun to settle into the lava."
"It should be fully operational by the day after tomorrow."
"Yes! Finally! Orson, old man — then obviously we get first dibs when it fires up, right?"
Louis was the first to whoop at the news that the Dragon's Breath would be operational again.
"Of course. But… kid. What kind of material did you get your hands on that you'd risk your neck obsessing over the Dragon's Breath like this? Come on, spit it out!"
"Telling you in advance would ruin the fun~ Dream on, old man."
"You little…!"
Having watched Louis fixate on the Dragon's Breath this whole time, Orson was dying to know what material he meant to melt — but Louis firmly shook his head.
"Anyway, we'll be using it first thing the morning after next, so block out the time slot!"
"Urgh…! Fine. But once you've forged it, you tell me. I'm so curious my hands are shaking!"
"You lot rest well tonight. Don't worry about meals — I don't know what humans usually eat, but I'll show you that we dwarves are good for more than just working iron!"
And so the lava crisis was settled for the time being, and Rosaria's party left to return to their respective lodgings.
"Ugh… I'm stuffed…"
Late that night.
Having been swarmed by dwarves eager to see the humans who had solved the fortress's problem, Felix had been force-fed sausage after sausage until his belly was taut as a drum. He rubbed it with a queasy mutter.
When a dwarf offered him a mug of beer, Felix — only just of age by modern standards — had nearly taken it out of curiosity, but in the end he shook his head. Drinking was legal from sixteen in this world, and the dwarves had never bothered with age limits at all, so everyone in Rosaria's party except Felix had gladly accepted a mug. Keeping the merry, increasingly drunk group from going completely off the rails had already left Felix exhausted.
But he still couldn't rest.
"Everyone's sound asleep."
"Mmmph… sausages are so good… hehe…"
"I hate snow removal work…"
Aside from Louis, who had taken separate lodgings, Rosaria and Tene were deep in sleep. Felix quietly rose from his bed and slipped out of the room.
"This should be far enough."
Putting a little distance between himself and the raucous lower floor — where a dwarven drinking party was in full swing, the protagonists' absence a flimsy excuse for what was really just an excuse to drink themselves senseless — Felix carefully drew a crystal orb from his coat.
"Hoo…"
Vmmm—
Confirming no one was nearby, Felix slowly focused and poured mana into the crystal. The air around the mana-responsive orb began to tremble.
A moment later.
"Can you hear me? Dad?"
"My daughter?"
"Yes, it's me."
After a brief crackle of noise, a familiar voice came through the crystal — the voice of their father, and of Freya, Countess of Evergarden.
"Did you arrive safely? Are you hurt anywhere? Have you eaten?"
"Yes, yes, we arrived fine, we ate well, and nothing hurts. We just saw each other this morning."
"Even so, I always worry."
The instant the connection opened, a barrage of questions came flying through. Felix answered in a faintly weary voice.
"Anyway, Dad — your prediction seems to have been right."
"…Can you tell me the details?"
"So, when we arrived here today—"
Felix began recounting everything that had happened in Karak-Zar.
"—And that's how it went."
"I see… Indeed. I expected as much, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly."
Having heard the full account, Freya confirmed in a calm voice that her prediction had been correct.
"For now, the day after tomorrow I'll attempt contact as you instructed. Should I pass along this information as well?"
"That's all right. Now that I know, there's no need to leak more information than necessary."
"Understood. Then I'll contact you again tomorrow."
"Good. My good daughter. Have a pleasant night."
"…Dad, you really have become a full-fledged countess. Should I pick up that 'thing' you mentioned last time, too?"
"Wh-what…?! N-no…! That's…! That's…!"
"Got it. Sounds like you want some quality time with Mom. I'm hanging up!"
"Wait! Daughter! Hanhee!! Dad isn't like th—"
Click—
"Honestly, Dad. Still that embarrassed, huh."
With a quiet smile, Felix murmured to himself as he ended the call with Freya.
"Well then — before bed, I should look into that magic tool from earlier."
Felix pulled out the notebook where he had recorded the circuits of the magic tool Orson had explained, and returned to his room.
It was a night with a great deal to think about — but somehow, he felt it would be all right.