Sepia Invasion (4)
Quite some time had passed since Sepia was invaded.
In that span, Deriel had truly thrown his strength into rebuilding the city, and other demons from Aldmed—the village where the exiled demons lived—had come as well to help restore Sepia.
At first the people of Sepia had firmly refused to let demons set foot inside their walls, but Deriel's heartfelt speeches and the tireless effort the demons poured into the reconstruction gradually opened their hearts.
It was limited to Sepia, of course, but among the human nations this was the first race to which they had ever opened themselves.
Perhaps thanks to the demons' help, Sepia recovered in no time.
Deriel had been so busy with the reconstruction that he never had a moment to talk with me. Then, once the work finally looked as if it might be finished, time opened up for a conversation, and we agreed to borrow the guild's reception room.
I had chosen the guild in part because I wanted to see Lena's face again after so long.
But Lena was not at the guild today either. She had always been there to greet me whenever I walked through the doors—until that day, after which she had simply vanished.
Afraid she might have died, I even checked the list of deceased adventurers, but her name was nowhere on it.
I had asked the receptionist to let me know if any word of Lena turned up, yet no message ever came.
Deriel and I entered the guild and headed for the stairs that led to the reception room.
The room itself was modestly furnished, nothing like the scale of the guild outside. Beside a low table sat chairs of a reasonable size.
Two cups had been set out on the table, steam curling gently from whatever hot tea filled them.
We sat facing each other, each of us waiting to see who would speak first.
In that quiet room, I was the one who broke the silence.
"O-oh. Long time."
"It has been a while. Have you been well?"
"Yeah. Thanks… for helping Sepia."
Honestly, I had never expected him to go this far for the city's recovery.
"We merely did everything we could."
Deriel answered as he reached for the tea on the table.
"I… have a lot of questions."
He took a sip of tea, then fixed his gaze on mine.
Those vivid red eyes looked as if they might pull me in.
They were nothing like Redrago's burning stare.
"Hmm. Ask as much as you like—if it serves our exchange."
"Can I… go to Aldmed?"
"That may be difficult. Every demon who lived in Aldmed has already come over to Sepia."
"There is nothing left in that region at all."
"Still… I want to see the buildings that are left."
"Hmm…"
Deriel seemed to be weighing something. Why hesitate? If no one was there, looking at a few buildings should have been fine.
"The road to Aldmed is dangerous, you see."
"I-I'm strong too."
I hadn't been idle all this time either.
I had been clearing every sort of request the guild offered on my own, and my standing there had risen high enough that I could accept nearly any commission they posted.
I still hadn't reached Gold rank like Lena, though.
"Tiable—so, can you defeat me? Even among demons, I am on the weaker side. My horn is broken; I am weaker still. And yet you could not so much as scratch me."
"To travel the road to Aldmed and return safely, you would need to be strong enough to beat someone of my level with ease."
"…"
"…So. Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"Can demons use… every race's magic?"
"Not every spell of every race—but yes, we can use the magic of every race."
Deriel's answer came almost at once. Had he already prepared a list of expected questions in his head?
"Uh… um…"
There had been so many things I wanted to ask a demon when I finally met one, yet now that I was sitting across from him, the words simply would not come.
"Then I suppose I may ask something of my own as well?"
"Yeah…"
"Tiable—that bracelet you are wearing. It does not look like mere ornamentation. Why do you keep it on?"
"I am curious why you are restraining your own power."
Deriel pointed at my bracelet as he spoke.
A fine crack ran across the band. Casting Meteor must have put more strain on it than I had realized.
"This is… well. Every time I talk, a spell goes off, so…"
I touched the bracelet on my wrist as I answered.
"I see. That is why you wear it. From where I stand, it does not seem necessary."
"Do you remember me saying that mana manipulation is my specialty?"
I did. He had told me as much when we were dealing with the thralls.
"With a little practice, you will no longer need that bracelet. If you ever require help—"
"Help! I need it!"
I shouted before he could even finish.
Suxus had given me the bracelet for my sake, but if I truly did not need it, I wanted it off as soon as possible.
"Quite eager, aren't you."
"While we are on the subject, shall we try it now? Later we may not have the time."
"Yeah!"
"Tiable—do you understand how you are handling mana right now? Other races are the same. I cannot fathom why anyone would treat mana that way."
"I noticed it when I watched you cast Meteor as well. You use it with such terrible inefficiency."
"It is an extremely powerful spell, true—but you do not need to expend that much mana for it."
"May I take your hand?"
Deriel started to reach toward me, then stopped to ask permission.
He meant to share his knowledge with me. I had no reason to refuse.
"Yeah."
He took hold of my wrist and told me to concentrate.
When he spoke something in the demon tongue, I began to sense the flow of mana.
It moved differently from the mana I had always handled.
"Can you feel it?"
I could. So this was the structure demons used when they cast magic.
I felt as if I could do it too.
One of the puzzles I had been carrying for so long finally clicked into place.
I had always wondered why the power of a spell never changed even when I did not raise my voice to cast it.
In my previous world I had noticed the fact while using magic myself, but no amount of thinking had ever given me the reason.
Meeting a demon had fitted the last piece into the puzzle at once.
If I had been able to meet other races in that earlier life, I might have drawn a little closer to becoming a Sage.
"If you use mana this way, spells will no longer activate every time you speak. Practice. Then practice again."
If I cast magic with the method Deriel had just shown me, it almost seemed as if I would not need to speak at all.
"If I handle mana like this… wouldn't it go off even without talking?"
At my words, Deriel stirred more sharply than anything I had seen from him before.
"Th-that is… correct. Yes. How did you know that?"
"I can feel it. Sort of."
"Hmm. Talent, even without being a demon."
He recovered his composure almost at once and murmured to himself.
"Huh? I-I'm… not a demon?"
"Hmm? Did you believe you were one?"
"N-no. It's just… everyone else kept saying I was a demon…"
Deriel gave a small laugh at that and went on.
"Tiable—you are most certainly not a demon. I will guarantee it as one myself."
Handling mana the way Deriel had taught me turned out to be harder than I expected. It felt almost the same as the first time I had ever cast a spell.
When I had only been sensing the flow, it had seemed as if I could manage it somehow—but putting it into practice was another matter entirely.
I still wore the bracelet every day. Adapting was going to take a little more time.
Once again I got ready to head for the guild.
Practice belonged on real commissions. I could train my magic and earn money at the same time.
Maybe a little of Lena's mindset had rubbed off on me after all.
Before I left the house, I never forgot to say goodbye to Hwia.
"Hwia! I'm going!"
"Okay! Don't get hurt! You always have to be careful! Have a good day today too~"
Hwia saw me off like a little mother.
When I told everyone that I had registered as an adventurer at the guild and had started taking commissions, they had all been stunned.
"What?!" "Whaaat?" "Mm… I had a feeling, ever since she started hanging around with Lena."
Everyone except one person. Redrago had simply shrugged it off as if he had expected it all along.
Looking at my body, I would probably become an adult in only a few more years, yet Hugo still treated me like a child.
Fortunately Hwia had insisted that I should do what I wanted, so no one stood in my way, and I kept going to the guild without interference.
The moment I stepped inside, the receptionist who spotted me hurried over at a run.
It was the same receptionist I had asked about Lena before.
Could this finally be the message I had been waiting for?
"Tiable! Someone who knows where Lena went told me."
"She went to Orsis."
Orsis? The nation of the beastmen? So she had gone home.
Leaving without a word had stung a little, but nothing urgent was holding me here. Maybe I should head to Orsis myself and find her.
When I checked the map, Orsis turned out to be vastly farther away than Orun.
I would have to tell Hugo and Hwia, who lived with me.
After the sun went down we gathered around the table and ate a warm meat stew and soup. The stew Hwia had made and the soup Hugo had prepared sat steaming on the tabletop.
Just the smell of it made me feel full already.
"Hugo, Hwia. I… want to go to Orsis."
"What?" "Where's Orsis?"
Hugo was so startled he dropped the spoon he had been using to scoop soup.
"Isn't Orsis the beastman nation? Why would you need to go there?"
"Ow, hot! Oppa!"
"Huh? The beastman nation?"
"Le-Lena went to Orsis. I want to see her."
"I-I was wondering if… I could go…"
Watching Hugo's reaction, I pushed the words out awkwardly. The more I spoke, the smaller my voice became.
"Alright, Tiable—how long do you think I'd—"
"Tiable! I'm coming too! Orsis!"
Hwia cut Hugo off, planting both hands on the table and shouting.