Stars in the Empty House
Am I an idiot?
Why hadn't I expected that Orcs and humans would speak different languages? Different cultures should have meant different tongues — that much should have been obvious. That was on me.
Which meant the rest of them — Elves, Dwarves, Beastmen — all had languages of their own, too. Ugh. Just thinking about having to learn every race's speech already made my head ache.
Everything in Orun was enormous. The buildings were rough-hewn, but each one bore its own distinctive carvings, and they had clearly been built to match an Orc's frame. Every Orc we passed in the street towered over Redrago. I'd thought Redrago was big enough in his own right — pure-blooded Orcs really were something else. And every pure-blood was bald. That was striking. So Redrago only had hair because he was mixed-blood.
Maybe it was the skin of the Orcs thronging the streets. You could have called Orun the orange nation without a hint of exaggeration — it was beautiful enough to earn the name.
I walked along, taking in the sights, until Redrago stopped in front of one particular house. This had to be his home. He hesitated at the door, as if the long-awaited reunion had left him unsteady. I wondered what his parents would be like.
The moment we stepped inside, a cold, quiet air closed around us — nothing like the street outside. A gray room, the complete opposite of the city beyond. Stale dust drifted through the house.
"DHFOSAKSDLQSLEK. DJAJSL. DKQJWL."
Whatever Redrago was saying, I couldn't understand a word of it — but his eyes looked somehow sad.
"Tiable. Let's rest here a little while."
Probably what I'd already guessed. I said nothing, and simply nodded.
I felt bad for Tiable, but the moment we reached Orun I ended up acting selfishly. Resting for a while in a room with no one in it.
I'd thought this time it wouldn't get to me. It did.
Tiable seemed to sense it somehow. The eyes that had been sparkling while she looked around the streets had gone still and quiet.
I was wondering whether I should have come here alone after all when Tiable stepped softly toward me and took my hand in both of hers. Her hands weren't large enough to cover mine, but a warmth seemed to fill them completely all the same.
"It's… okay."
She lifted her head, met my eyes, and spoke. The pronunciation wasn't perfect — but the feeling behind it came through clear as day.
At the same time, a tiny spark of light appeared above her head. From that first glimmer, little lights bloomed one after another through the dark room, turning the shadows into a night sky. Countless small white lights shone like stars. In an instant the room became a stretch of the Milky Way unfurled across the dark — and Tiable, lit by that impossible glow, looked like an angel.
So last time I was the one comforting you, and now you're returning the favor?
I ruffled her hair lightly.
We didn't stay long at Redrago's house after that. Maybe my attempt at comfort had helped. He recovered himself quickly, cleaned the place in silence, and headed back outside as if nothing had happened.
"All right. Shall we go meet the mage?"
Judging by what had happened at the gate, I wouldn't have guessed Redrago had any Orcs he was on friendly terms with. The place he stopped, though, looked like a school. He strode in without hesitation and called out.
"TMZKTM!"
Slightly smaller than the other Orcs — still bigger than Redrago. The Orc who had been conducting a lesson turned to look.
"Redrago!"
He said the name with what looked like genuine pleasure, then hid his smile, whispered something to Redrago, and went back to teaching. Probably meant they'd talk once class was over. Showing up unannounced was a bit of an imposition, but he didn't seem put out at all. If anything, he kept teaching with a faint smile still on his face.
When the lesson finished, Redrago went over and spoke with him — and it turned out that "Suxus!" Redrago had shouted wasn't an Orc greeting after all. The Orc standing in front of us introduced himself by that name.
Suxus was an Orc who could speak the human tongue. Thank goodness. I'd been one step away from having to ask Redrago to interpret everything.
⟨ Magic · Control · Want ⟩
"Magic control? I'm not sure I follow what you mean."
"Better if we just show you. Come on — to the practice grounds."
The place Suxus indicated was an empty lot walled off by white curtains. A round boundary was marked on the ground in white lines.
"Tiable's magic is a little… dangerous. Doesn't this seem a bit open? Completely exposed?"
Redrago must have been thinking of the black sphere I'd cast right in front of him. He sounded worried.
"You can't see it, but that space has a protective barrier over it. It stops ordinary attacks without trouble. It's safe. Even I can't break through."
Couldn't see it? Did that mean only I could see the white curtains?
"Tiable. Step inside and use your magic freely."
Suxus said it casually. Freely…? Was that really all right…?
I passed through the white curtain, took one more step, and stopped.
"Anywhere is fine."
If you say so… I trust you, Suxus.
In that case, maybe the most basic — and most aggressive — spell I knew.
"Fireball."
Flame kindled in my palm and began to gather into a sphere. In moments it had outgrown my hand and kept swelling without any sign of stopping. The air around me was sucked toward the fire; dust started kicking up from the ground.
I felt it. I thrust my palm forward, and a fireball of considerable size left my hand and shot away.
In that same instant, Suxus seized my hat and hauled me outside the boundary.
The second the fireball touched the curtain — a deafening blast painted everything inside a blazing red.
Suxus was shocked.
Because the young-looking girl, Tiable, could use magic? Because that same Tiable had fired off a powerful fireball?
Neither.
The words that had left Tiable's mouth were ones even Suxus could not understand. He knew only that she had spoken and, in doing so, cast a spell. What kind of magic it was, he had no way of predicting. For someone fluent in the magical languages of Orcs, humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Beastmen, that shock hit all the harder. Only when flame bloomed in Tiable's hand did he realize it was a fire-attribute attack spell.
"Isn't this a bit dangerous?"
Redrago said it quietly. Suxus agreed. A fireball driven by that volume of mana was not an ordinary fireball. A massive explosion was coming.
The moment the fireball left Tiable's hand, Suxus yanked her outside the boundary. Looking at Tiable as she sprawled on the ground, staring into the burning circle, Suxus thought:
This girl — Tiable — must be a demon.
I almost… died.
If Suxus hadn't grabbed my hat and pulled me out, I would have burned to death right there. A fireball's blast radius after impact was never supposed to be that large. I hadn't expected it to hit that hard.
Suxus looked at me with a face deep in thought, then turned to Redrago. The two of them spoke in Orcish for a moment.
"Tiable. We're going to talk for a bit."
"Have a look around my room in the meantime."
"And stay quiet inside…"
Well. Fine that they wanted to talk. It would have been nice if they'd actually said something about controlling my magic before they left, though…
Redrago and Suxus left me in Suxus's room and went out. The room was packed with books I couldn't read. A teacher's room, I supposed.
If he'd told me to look around, I wasn't about to refuse… I opened drawers and shelves left and right, but every scrap of paper was written in Orcish. Not a single thing I could read. What exactly was I supposed to be looking at…?
I gave up, sat in Suxus's chair, and slowly surveyed the room. What caught my eye was a map. It looked familiar somehow — where had I seen it before…? I stared until my eyes ached, but all I could tell was the shape of the land. I couldn't read a single place name, so it was useless.
Ah — when were Redrago and Suxus coming back?
"Redrago. You said that girl was human."
"I did."
"Hmm. There's a strong chance Tiable is a demon."
"What makes you say that? Because the magic just now was too powerful?"
Redrago had already considered the possibility himself, and he couldn't quite hide the way it unsettled him.
"When Tiable cast that spell, I could not understand the language she used."
"What's the problem with that? Every race has its own language. I still don't know much of the human magical tongue myself."
"Redrago. I know the magical languages of Orcs, humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Beastmen."
"All of them — save one."
Suxus's expression darkened a shade.
"Demons."
Hearing that, Redrago was certain. Tiable was a demon.