The Strange Old Man
Rophen led Joseph toward a nearby mountain.
He pushed through the dark forest without the slightest hesitation, his pace far too swift for an old man leaning on a staff — faster, even, than Joseph, who knew these mountains well.
He's ridiculously fast. Is that magic too?
Joseph was already exhausted. He hadn't slept properly, he'd fought bandits, and now he was hauling a pack up a mountain he could barely see. It was miserable.
As Joseph labored, groaning, up the slope, Rophen glanced back and clicked his tongue.
"Stop complaining. We're almost there."
"I didn't say anything."
"I can hear it anyway."
"...?"
This old man is out of his mind...
They climbed until dawn began to break, and through the dense trees ahead, something came into view.
"Oh..."
Joseph couldn't help the sound of wonder that escaped him.
A small cabin sat in a clearing at the heart of the forest, looking for all the world like a painting. The faint scent of grass drifted toward him, easing the tension that had been coiled tight in his chest.
"Seems you like it."
Rophen cackled at Joseph's reaction.
"Well... honestly, it's a surprise."
"What is?"
"That you live somewhere this decent."
"Hmph."
Rophen snorted and went in first.
Warmth soaked into Joseph's body the moment he stepped inside. A faint glow of embers showed in the fireplace, and a pot hanging over it gave off a mouthwatering smell.
"We'll eat first."
"Didn't you have something to talk about?"
"I'm going to eat. If you don't want any, go sit in a corner."
This selfish old geezer...
Rophen said this and proceeded to ladle stew from the pot as he pleased. He set two bowls on the table, sat down, and looked at Joseph.
Honestly, Joseph wanted that stew. He'd been sleeping outdoors and hadn't had a proper meal in ages.
But eating it just like that feels way too suspicious...
Rophen watched him for a moment, then shrugged. Joseph had no choice but to set down his pack and take the seat across from him.
...Is this actually safe to eat?
Nothing about Rophen so far suggested genuine malice. That didn't mean Joseph could trust him completely.
In this insane world, who can you trust?
As Joseph stared down at the stew, Rophen let out a dry laugh.
"I'll have to take back what I said earlier. You wouldn't even make a decent mercenary. Your wariness is downright feral."
Joseph said nothing.
"I swear on my name — I didn't do a thing to that stew. I don't play games with food."
Then, as if to prove it, he started eating first.
Joseph hesitated a moment longer, then finally picked up his spoon.
The instant the stew hit his tongue, warmth flooded through his entire body. Tender meat that yielded softly between his teeth, a sweet fragrance blooming across his palate — it was an irresistible stew.
By the time he came back to himself, nothing remained in front of him but an empty bowl.
"Looks like it was edible enough."
Joseph had no answer for that.
Once the meal was finished, he spoke first.
"All right. Let's hear it. Why did you bring me here?"
"So impatient."
Rophen stroked his chin, studying Joseph, then opened his mouth.
"When I first sought you out, it was purely out of curiosity."
"Curiosity?"
"That's right. Every last person who possesses a Holy Relic is some kind of oddball. I wanted to know what sort of human you were."
Joseph was speechless. The idea that this lunatic old man's idle curiosity had nearly cost him his head was almost too absurd to process.
And Rophen, watching Joseph's face, didn't appear to feel the slightest shred of guilt.
"Don't misunderstand. This is part of my research."
"Research?"
"Yes. Research into Holy Relics."
Rophen went on to introduce himself as a self-proclaimed great mage who studied Holy Relics.
"Those priest types go on and on about Holy Relics being the grace of the gods. But at the end of the day, they're just lumps of Divinity, aren't they? Sticking them on a shelf and doing nothing with them is idiotic. You have to figure out how to use them."
It was the kind of talk that would have sent that fanatic priest into a frothing rage — but fortunately, he wasn't here.
Apparently Rophen had been trying to create new magic using Holy Relics.
"What does any of that have to do with looking at a person who happens to have one?"
"Holy Relics are peculiar things. They have... distinctive tastes. They only appear before very unusual people."
"It's just an object. The way you talk, it's as if the object is choosing the person."
"Choosing the person... that's a fitting way to put it."
This might actually be dangerous.
Joseph was starting to worry he'd gotten tangled up with a genuinely insane mage. He'd obtained the Holy Relic by pure luck. And it was something he could throw away whenever he wanted, wasn't it?
Rophen frowned at Joseph's expression.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"No, that's not it..."
"Forget it. Take out the Holy Relic."
Joseph hesitated, then drew the Holy Relic from his coat. He wasn't sure it was wise to hand it over, but refusing didn't seem like it would gain him anything either.
Rophen turned the orb this way and that, examining it, then shook his head.
"Can't tell a thing from the outside."
"Weren't you researching these?"
"I am. But mages can't see Divinity."
He said this and picked up the staff he'd leaned against the wall. Rophen tapped Joseph's Holy Relic with it.
A faint light bloomed from the relic, and a moment later a tiny sprout pushed up from the tabletop.
"It's a Holy Relic, all right."
"What did you just do?"
"I used magic. When you channel Mana through a Holy Relic, Divinity clings to the spell."
Divinity clings to it?
At Rophen's words, Joseph's gaze went to the sprout. Looking closer, he could see clusters of white light glittering around it.
But he still couldn't feel anything the way he felt Mana.
"You'll understand the details once you try it yourself."
Rophen said this and swung his staff again. The staff gathered to a single point in midair, then vanished as if it had been sucked away.
Joseph looked from the sprout to the Holy Relic and back. He was a little intrigued, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
"So. Has your curiosity been fully satisfied?"
Joseph had no desire to linger here any longer than necessary. He had a long road ahead, and a destination of his own. More than anything, a man who would hold a knife to a stranger's throat in his sleep out of curiosity was not someone you wanted to keep around.
"No. Looking at you has only made me more curious."
"...?"
"Remember what I said? Everyone who has a Holy Relic is some kind of oddball. You're a very unusual one yourself. A research subject, through and through."
What was this now.
Joseph's face crumpled, and Rophen cackled as if delighted, then pointed a finger at him.
"That magic you used earlier. Show it to me again."
"Which one?"
"Anything. Just do it."
Joseph glanced at Rophen, then formed a Mana Orb.
The moment he started to chant, Rophen raised a hand to stop him.
"That. That's what I mean."
"What is?"
"What you just made."
"Isn't this just a Mana Orb?"
Rophen stared at the orb for a long moment, then looked back at Joseph.
It was a peculiar expression.
"You've never met another mage, have you?"
Joseph nodded.
He tensed, wondering what strange thing the old man was about to say next — and the corner of Rophen's mouth curled up.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're a very unusual mage."
Rophen's face brightened further, as if something had pleased him greatly. Then he launched into a lecture on magical theory, uninvited.
"Ordinary mages gather the Mana inside their bodies and manifest spells through established formulas. The important part is that this entire process happens internally — inside the mage."
Joseph could only stare.
"But you're different."
He pointed at the orb.
"You use this to manifest magic not from within a mage's body, but from the outside. You even make several of them and use them at the same time. On top of that, you've been hardening them and firing them off. That's something ordinary mages couldn't dream of."
"Is it really that remarkable?"
Joseph was bewildered. He'd never had a teacher; he'd just cobbled things together on his own as best he could. Rophen's reaction almost made him wonder if he'd done something wrong.
"So... you're curious about this Mana Orb?"
Rophen nodded.
"That's right. That thing you call a Mana Orb. I'd like you to teach me how you learned it and how you've been using it."
Joseph explained in as much detail as he could, hoping the old man wouldn't latch onto anything else. He left out everything about Eidesa. If he mentioned that, he had a feeling Rophen would demand to be taught about it too and never let him go.
He simply said he'd come to understand Mana by chance.
Fortunately, Rophen didn't seem particularly suspicious. It hadn't been a particularly impressive story to begin with, so it didn't take long.
Rophen listened with glittering eyes. When the explanation was finished, he raised one eyebrow.
"I don't think I'll be able to replicate this."
"Is that so?"
Rophen nodded with a serious face. Then he drew his staff and stirred Mana through the air.
Pale clusters of light began gathering at the tip of the staff. Unlike Joseph's, however, the Mana Rophen drew together refused to coalesce into one and scattered away like drifting mist.
"Outside the body, Mana won't bind into a single mass. Even after hearing your explanation, I still don't understand it. A lack of knack, I suppose. Most mages would have their Mana scatter into thin air the moment they even tried to form a Mana Orb. It seems you had a talent for it."
"I see."
Being told he had talent wasn't unpleasant, but considering how he'd been rolling through danger this whole time, it didn't land with much weight.
"Then... may I go now?"
"Do you dislike this place that much?"
"It seemed like your business was finished."
As if I could dislike this place.
Honestly, the location was lovely and the food was excellent. What he disliked was the mage staring at him with glittering eyes as a research subject.
This was a man who had claimed it was all a misunderstanding, then sat back and watched mercenaries try to kill him.
What frightened Joseph most was that he couldn't predict what Rophen would do.
Then Rophen tapped the table.
"You taught me something new, so I was going to give you a gift in return."
"A gift?"
At that, Joseph's hands, which had been gathering his belongings, went still.
He asked at once.
"What is it?"
"And this from the one who was trying so hard to run away."
Rophen shook his head slightly, then pointed at the Holy Relic still in Joseph's hand.
"Take out your Holy Relic and set it on the floor there."
Joseph placed the Holy Relic on the floor.
Rophen murmured an incantation too quiet to catch, then tapped the relic several times with his staff.
Crrrk—!
A strange sound rang out, and roots began sprouting around the Holy Relic as if to embrace it.
Joseph's eyes went wide.
A tree grew with startling speed from the relic at its heart. Branches spiraled around the core, swelling as they wound, and only when the tree had reached Joseph's own height did it finally go still.
"W-what is this...!"
While Joseph stared in shock, Rophen tapped the tree once more.
The center, wound in branches, unfurled like a blooming flower — and from within, a long staff revealed itself.
It was a sight mysterious enough to leave his mouth hanging open.
When Joseph drew the staff free, the roots that had surged up were sucked back into the earth.
Living wood, its grain flowing like currents of magic
A Holy Relic of purest white, cradled at its crown
"The notion that only those priest types can make use of a Holy Relic is their arrogant delusion. If we're talking about greatness, we mages are far above those who merely claim to be servants of the gods..."
Rophen was rambling about something beside him, but it barely reached Joseph's ears.
His gaze was locked entirely on the staff in his hands.
The long wooden body of the staff was smooth and elegant, as if it had been shaped by the very flow of magic. And at its tip, the brilliant white Holy Relic sat cradled in the wood, reflecting the light with a proud, solitary presence.
Staring blankly at the staff, Joseph muttered inwardly.
If I walk around carrying this... I'll just be a golden goblin waiting to get jumped, won't I...?