Visit (5)
"Guh—!"
Elim, the wandering knight, coughed up a thick gout of black blood. Shreds of organ tissue came up with it, and with a hiss they lost their shape and melted away.
Poison.
A toxin so potent that a knight who had reached the upper ranks of Expert could not even begin to resist it.
Elim stared at the shrine maiden through eyes so bloodshot they looked ready to dissolve, and managed a broken murmur.
"Wh… why… would you…?"
"……"
The Shrine Maiden of the Night Sky gave no answer. As always, she simply gazed up at the star-strewn heavens without end — exactly as the scattered eyewitness accounts had always described her.
But this slaughter was nothing like those stories.
I was told… she wasn't this kind of woman…
There was no one on the continent who did not know of the Shrine Maiden of the Night Sky. She was everywhere and nowhere at once — appearing and vanishing like a phantom, always arriving wherever people needed help.
One famous tale told of a bandit raid on a village so small it did not even appear on any map. The place was doomed to be wiped out. Then the Shrine Maiden of the Starry Sky appeared out of nowhere, saved the village, reformed the bandits, and vanished as suddenly as she had come. Exactly three days later, in a tiny fiefdom a full month's journey from that village at the absolute least, she stopped a lord from hanging himself.
That was the moment her fame exploded. The words she left behind were still repeated through the lord's own mouth to this day:
Beyond that, almost nothing was known. Was the Shrine Maiden of the Night Sky human? No one could say. Was she a mage? No one could say. Where she came from, whom she served, where she had been born — not a single detail had ever been uncovered. She was mystery itself. The one certainty was that she leaned toward the side of good.
Of course, not everyone loved her. The Empire resented her for undermining the uniqueness of the nobility. The Knight Kingdom dismissed her as a wielder of unclean power, sneering that she was no different from a black mage or a shaman. That was why her visit today had not been welcome — an uninvited guest, treated closer to a criminal than a stranger.
Elim had been different. Years of wandering as a free knight had taught him to respect many ways of the world, and he had respected her as well.
But today, for the first time, he regretted that choice.
The stars are… so bright tonight.
The shrine maiden who had appeared so suddenly had butchered them so thoroughly that it was hard to believe they had parted with smiles only a short while ago. He could not even tell what power she had used. Her body, glowing pure white, almost seemed to be devouring the corpses to claim some new strength—
"Wi…tch…"
That was no shrine maiden. That was a witch. Elim whispered it through a voice already fraying to nothing.
Then, through his fading consciousness, her faint voice seeped in.
"…I told you I wouldn't do things like this."
[Mm. You did. That was our "contract," after all.]
A voice similar to the shrine maiden's, yet different — higher, sharper — whispered back.
[But you can see it too today, can't you? The "constellation" that mediated our contract won't show itself in the night sky tonight.]
"……"
[Today… yes. Today is a day without a contract between us. That's the "fate" that was decided. You know that, don't you? Maybe even better than I do.]
The constellation wasn't visible? Elim forced his head up. The night sky was thick with constellations, strewn endlessly across the dark. What on earth was she looking at…?
And the voice — he could hear it, and yet he couldn't. Was she speaking with a ghost? Or talking to herself as if she were two people…?
"Ah. Right."
The shrine maiden slowly turned her head.
"No one who knows this can be allowed to live."
Her neck creaked as it turned. Her eyes met Elim's.
Two eyes.
No — four?
There wasn't one face. Or was there? No, he could see four eyes. His head was warping. A brain forced to process something it could not understand was tearing itself apart, the face that should have been one splitting into two, forcibly scrambling his mind into—
Bang!
Elim's skull burst. The corpse dissolved without even knowing it was dead. The shrine maiden slowly drew back a hand she had somehow already extended. Her face was hidden beneath a tightly drawn hood, but the sorrow on her was unmistakable.
[Heh. Yes. This is fate.]
"…I only sent him off in peace."
[Mm. Anyone without the right who looks upon "us" goes mad, after all. But you still killed him, didn't you?]
The shrine maiden shook her head as if she did not want to hear it.
[Don't forget. "You" are never alone. Always "us."]
She whipped her head aside, unable to endure that final whisper. There was no one there.
[Heh heh heh…]
Slowly, she cradled her head. The voice circling inside her skull showed no sign of fading. She lifted her face. The stars were especially bright tonight — and things Elim had never been able to see were laid out across the sky.
Constellations embroidered through the dark.
They were red.
Things closer to demons than to gods. Malice so powerful it had almost become pure. And she — the constellation that was itself a demon — was grinning down at her…
[We are the "Witch."]
"…Shut up, Witch."
The shrine maiden shook the voice from her head and looked over the mountain of corpses with sorrowful eyes. In the end, this atrocity was of her own making.
"I'm sorry…"
Light poured down from the night sky. Starlight wrapped the bodies, erasing every corpse and every drop of blood, restoring the place to what it had been.
5th Circle Celestial Magic
⟨ Restoration ⟩
A spell that restored a scene exactly as the heavens remembered it.
The shrine maiden gazed at the landscape for a quiet moment, then left without a sound.
A cold wind alone swept through the place where she had stood — as if nothing at all had ever happened.
An empty room in the Alcarte ducal estate.
Evan and Osera had moved here so he could learn magic. As promised, she was about to teach him spatial magic.
…That had been the plan.
"Auntie. Why are you following us?"
"I—I'm not following you?"
Aegis, who had been trailing after them, denied it with a guilty look. Having Lapis right there made the denial fairly pointless.
"Ah! You're scared Evan's going to run off and join the Spacetime Magic Tower, aren't you!"
"Shh! Shh!"
Aegis hastily clamped a hand over Lapis's mouth. Lapis's eyes went cold.
"Don't touch me without permission."
"O-oh… sorry. Do you like candy?"
"I like carrots."
"…R-right. Then how about this? It's a carrot improved through alchemy."
"Bleh. Tastes bad. The ones Evan makes are delicious."
Even while bickering, Aegis kept shooting Evan pleading looks. Please, just don't go to the Spacetime Magic Tower! She fretted as if his mind might change at any second.
Honestly, it felt pretty good.
Me, treated like some kind of prodigy.
He knew it was a misunderstanding, but the feeling was still nice. If the truth ever came out it would be a disaster, of course.
"My lord. Can you use magic?"
Evan shook his head. It wasn't that he knew no magic at all. There was Analysis Eye, which identified the composition of things — a spell every alchemist learned. Mages couldn't learn it, so it barely counted as magic in their eyes.
"Can you handle mana, then?"
"To some degree, yes."
"That's a relief. Spatial magic is difficult to use without at least a basic understanding of magic."
Osera kindly began teaching him from the fundamentals. It wasn't a bad deal. If he wanted to imbue golems with magic, he would need to understand magic eventually.
"Magic is imagination and will. When you were little, did you ever imagine freely controlling fire?"
He had imagined setting things on fire. He just hadn't done it, because people said you'd wet the bed.
"I don't remember."
"That's all right. You can start now."
Osera added,
"Of course, imagination alone doesn't make everything possible. It depends on your innate elemental affinity. That's why we run an Element Affinity Test. But—"
She smiled gently.
"Spatial magic doesn't require affinity. Anyone born on this land, living through this time, can wield it."
She clapped her hands. A crack split open in midair.
Oh…
He was pretty sure he'd seen that in an anime.
Osera slipped her hand into the crack.
"This is my subspace. You find a seam in the 'space' we inhabit, claim dominion over it, and store whatever you need inside. Living people can't enter. If they do, they die."
"I see."
"It will feel awkward at first. Imagine that another space exists in the empty air, reach for it, and use your mana. After that, simply follow my formula."
Another space, huh…
Evan stretched a hand into the air. Touch something he was supposed to believe was there?
Can't I just copy what I've seen in games?
He had the perfect image ready. Virtual reality games — strap on one piece of gear and you could pull up status windows and items out of thin air. If he imagined that and drew up his mana…
"It may be difficult at first, but if you keep at it you'll start to get a feel for—"
"I've got it."
"Eh?"
His hand sank smoothly into empty air. It didn't just vanish — it slipped in, as if an invisible backpack had opened in the void.
Oh. There's actually a seam.
He couldn't see it, but he could feel it roughly by instinct. It really was like an inventory — a little bag hanging in midair. More precisely, the space inside the seam was about that size. It would expand as his proficiency rose, right?
Glad it wasn't that hard.
His head did ache a little, though. A side effect of using spatial magic, most likely. Evan quietly withdrew his hand. Panic was written all over Osera's face.
"Y-you truly succeeded on the first try…?"
"I got lucky."
Always stay humble. He was careful not to sound like he was showing off. Not because he was scared — just because caution never hurt. Definitely not because he was scared.
"…W-well, yes. There are cases of people succeeding on the first try."
"I see."
"While we're at it, would you like to try other magic…?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
Evan declined politely. Other magic? Why bother? He could learn it later.
Osera's lips twitched again.
Oh?
Just then, a small light flickered on Evan's finger. The Magic Storage Ring. It automatically recognized the spell, and the formula etched itself onto the ring with a soft shimmer. He tested it — it activated perfectly. Mana cost cut to a third. No headache.
Incredible.
Three uses a day was a little disappointing, but if he was willing to endure the side effects he could use the spell as much as he wanted. Evan nodded to himself in quiet satisfaction and dipped his head slightly.
"Thanks to you, I've gained an excellent spell. Thank you."
"…Ah. Y-yes. Of course."
Osera nodded with a faintly unsettled look. Had that sparked some sense of crisis in her? Aegis suddenly thrust her head forward.
"I—I'll teach you enchantment! You still can't use Magic Enchantment, right?"
"Pardon? Ah. Yes. I'm still not quite there."
"Everyone's like that as a beginner. So, here's how you do it…"
Magic Enchantment was a branch of alchemy as well as a form of magic, mainly used in artifact crafting. Used well, it could be inscribed onto golems too.
Oh.
A staff with a subspace formula engraved on it. When he slipped his hand in, it connected to the subspace he had opened earlier. Nice.
"Thank you."
"…This really isn't supposed to be that easy…"
Veterans can do this much. Evan swallowed the words. Osera, eyes dripping with lingering attachment, carefully asked him,
"…You truly have no intention of joining the Magic Tower, do you?"
"I'm grateful for the offer, but my answer remains the same."
Honestly, at this level he could handle most of it. Especially as a modern person raised on a flood of information from every medium imaginable. The fact that he was the only modern person in this world was a drawback that wasn't quite a drawback.
"…I see. It's a shame, but I'll have to content myself with this brief exchange with you, my lord."
Osera rose from her seat.
"Are you leaving immediately?"
"Time cannot be rewound once it has passed… so I intend to return and finish my own work."
She bowed her head with quiet courtesy.
"When you go to meet the shrine maiden… going alone is dangerous. At the very least, grow stronger first."
Isn't that obvious?
It was terrifying. Ah — not terrifying. Inconvenient. He was absolutely not scared.
The region she stayed in was the Kingdom of Demacia — a country packed with iron-headed sword maniacs who rejected magic, shamanism, and black magic alike. Alchemy? Naturally included. A dangerous place for an alchemist. He would prepare thoroughly.
"It was brief, but I enjoyed it."
Osera vanished with unhurried grace.
"Aren't you leaving, Auntie?"
"Hm? Me? I've got time to burn."
"……"
Evan finished preparing to leave. Honestly! He really didn't want to go. It was far too dangerous. But—
If I miss this chance, I might never meet her.
A chance to have his fortune read, glimpse destiny, and meet his ultimate favorite. Passing that up would be idiotic. He had no choice but to prepare, even if he was crying on the inside.
"I'll come with you!"
"Aren't you busy?"
"Me? Free as can be. We're a closed-off bunch, so there's not much to do."
"……"
Can't you just go home? He wanted to say it, but couldn't. Well… she would cover her own expenses, at least.
Then a piece of news arrived that made Evan doubt his own ears.
"…What did you just say?"
"A drug manufacturing facility… has been completely destroyed?"
A facility that had been a major supplier of narcotics to the underworld had been smashed by an unknown force.
For the glory.
Those were the words left at the ruined site. Speculation held that it was some new heretical cult.
A new heretical cult? Was there something like that…?
Something was going wrong, Evan felt — and then,
Of course.
Glory. Honor. For his sake. The combination of keywords was practically screaming for him to notice. Lapis smiled to herself.
You're doing well, Frey.
She looked thoroughly satisfied. All of it — every last bit — was for Evan.