Tell Me (4)
“Um…….”
The Archmage had been quick to draw a line, trying to head off any prejudice before it could take root—and perhaps that very act had left a faint residue of displeasure on Meister’s face.
Daniel carefully raised a hand.
“D-does magic have fields of specialization as well? I had simply assumed it was a single discipline dealing purely with the study of magic itself…….”
The question that tumbled out was about mages. It was the sort of doubt any ordinary person with no real contact with them might reasonably voice.
“Ha. So you’re saying a single doctor handles both trauma and internal medicine all by himself, is that it?”
Naturally, Meister had no intention of forgiving Daniel’s ignorance. To him, knowledge that even worldly people often failed to grasp seemed to hold no meaning whatsoever.
Under Meister’s gaze, loaded with pure pity, Daniel’s eyes rolled slowly.
“…It isn’t like that?”
“You’re really affiliated with the temple?”
“…I’ve never once been assigned to healing duties.”
“You’ve worked there and received treatment before, haven’t you?”
“Th-that, well…….”
Even so, Deathbringer made no move to rescue Daniel. He himself had only learned such things after joining the party, but that was neither here nor there.
“Do you just carry that head around as decoration?”
…Watching him get chewed out every single time was a little pathetic, sure—but still neither here nor there.
“Don’t be so hard on him. There are fields one simply doesn’t know well without direct experience.”
“Tsk.”
Only after the Archmage stepped in, unable to watch any longer, did Meister’s mouth finally close.
“I’ll say this exactly once, so wash out your ears and listen carefully. Ask again next time and I’ll dig the wax out of them for you.”
No—unable to tolerate another’s stupidity, he opened his mouth again to hammer the knowledge in.
“Magic has fields. Essence Magic that probes the fundamental nature of matter, for example, or Nature Magic that reads the flow of the natural world and tries to imitate it…….”
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, he had no intention of handing over advanced knowledge, so everything stayed at the conceptual level.
Daniel and Deathbringer, suddenly subjected to a lecture over their meal, wore expressions that twisted into something complicated. The Inquisitor simply kept eating in silence.
“…And last of all, there’s Life Magic—the kind that analyzes and intervenes in life itself.”
“……?”
Then, for a moment. Deathbringer flicked an ear at the subtle drop in Meister’s tone. Even the Inquisitor, who had seemed not to be listening at all, clenched a fist tight—but this took priority for now.
Does he hate Life Magic? Dark-green eyes fixed intently on Meister’s face.
“Wait… analyzing and intervening in life? That sounds almost like…….”
“Like trespassing on the domain of the gods? Correct. There are mages like that, yes.”
“That is blasphemy!”
Ah, for heaven’s sake, so loud.
Deathbringer reflexively furrowed his brow at Daniel’s shout. He, too, felt a certain unease at the idea of intervening in life—but Life Magic was far too distant for him, while Daniel was uncomfortably close. His lips curled slightly.
“And the Magic Tower simply leaves them be even knowing that?”
“Listen here, you rigid priest. You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding—”
But now was not the time to worry about Daniel. Half out of habit, half out of professional reflex, Deathbringer observed Meister carefully.
A sunken voice. Eyes grown a shade deeper. Arms folded in a defensive posture.
“What we mean by analysis and intervention is regenerating a severed arm or leg, or mapping the physical structure of demons to find their weaknesses—that sort of thing. Acts like creating new life forms were regulated by mages themselves long before the temple ever got involved. Do you take us for complete idiots?”
And through it all, a hand rubbing at his own neck.
“Besides, Life Magic wasn’t originally born for the sake of creation. It began as healing magic—developed by a mage who had lost his family and wanted to overcome the limits of medicine.”
No—was what he was touching truly his neck?
“…That’s all it is. Just as there are corrupt humans even among priests, there are mages who cross the line as well. That’s the whole story.”
Dark-green eyes traced the gloved fingertips. The place those fingertips kept stroking was not the neck itself. It was the ring-shaped tattoo engraved upon it.
“…I apologize. It seems I reacted far too strongly. I had no idea it was such a meaningful field of study.”
“Forget it. The starting point may have been that, but by now it’s also true that the field has the highest concentration of complete lunatics.”
“Ah, well… is that so?”
“It… does tend to be that way. The heartland of Life Magic is in the north, which only deepens that tendency. That place sits on the fiercest front lines, and… the disregard for life runs just as deep there. Plenty of those who will stop at nothing as a result.”
“Stop at nothing…….”
“Just so you know—even if you head north, stay away from the Magic Towers there if you can help it. That place… isn’t something worth seeing.”
Deathbringer watched as the hand that had been stroking the ring-shaped tattoo slid down the forearm and scratched at another tattoo etched there. It did not look like a conscious act.
“Agreed. A stiff-necked priest like you would turn into a criminal the moment you set foot inside.”
“…Why would I become a criminal?”
“Because you’d start swinging your sword around screaming that you can’t leave humans who do such insane things under the same sky, and then the guards would haul you off. That’s what I mean.”
But was it really common to scratch only the exact spots where tattoos were engraved—without even looking—and to do so completely unconsciously?
…For someone who had never once shown that habit before?
“…It’s that bad.”
“Never mind dissecting demons while they’re still alive—some Magic Towers even accept volunteers for human experimentation under temple supervision. That sort of thing would be a bit much for a rigid type like you, wouldn’t it?”
“H-human experimentation…….”
“Ah, of course the ones who kidnap people on their own and research them are illegal. You can smash those places the second you find them and no one will arrest you, so don’t worry too much.”
“I wasn’t worried about that……! More importantly—there are people who kidnap others at will?”
“Just because laws exist doesn’t mean criminals stop appearing. Of course there are.”
“What in the world……!!”
In front of Meister’s snickering face, Deathbringer cursed his own occupational disease. Damn it—he hadn’t had the slightest intention of digging into some ink-stained bastard’s past.
His stomach twisted for no good reason.
“What on earth is going on?”
The situation was far too unsuitable for a proper bath. Following the villagers’ lead, I simply rinsed the worst of the bloodstains off at the well. Thankfully the wig was fixed firmly in place; even when I splashed water over my head as if washing my face, it didn’t shift at all.
“They apparently sent some soldiers out to assess how many demons had seized the highway. But the numbers turned out higher than expected…….”
“They were all done in by the demons……?”
“I only caught fragments of their rambling, so I can’t be certain—but given that black veins have risen across all of their skin, it seems clear they were attacked by demons.”
“This is…….”
In the process I also heard an explanation of how this whole mess had begun—in other words, why those three people had come staggering in with their bodies carved open by blades.
“They were lucky.”
Could you really call that lucky? One man’s shoulder had been half-severed, another’s belly had been split so his guts nearly spilled out, and the third had his wrist torn clean off.
“…What about the others?”
“No idea. But they’re all dead, wouldn’t you say? If the dispatched force was wiped out so helplessly, it means there are that many demons outside.”
Still, I couldn’t entirely dismiss the claim. As the village chief said, there would have been those who never even got the chance to try running.
“Mm. More importantly, I’ve been late in asking. Who are you?”
I found myself wondering how many people might still be left beyond those walls. Whether I could still save them if I charged out right now.
“…A traveler.”
But if I did save them—if I cut my way through enough demons to overwhelm dozens of soldiers and brought those people back—
What would come after? Could I silence the questions that would inevitably rise? Could I slip past without anyone suspecting my identity?
“A traveler who can use a little magic.”
And yet, despite every one of those anxieties, what came tumbling out of my mouth was this:
“Please tell me where they came running from. If anyone is still left, I can bring them back.”
“Whaaat?!”
Something that could not even be called a laugh leaked from the corner of my lips.
“Have you lost your mind?! The chief just said the soldiers themselves were wiped out without a fight!!”
“I heard that as well, but…….”
“And you’re still going out there?!”
Whatever meaning she took from it, Tisha started hopping up and down. How long had we even known each other for her to worry this much? I clenched and unclenched my wet hands a few times.
“There might still be people alive. I can’t just leave them.”
“Even saving the living has to depend on the situation! Right now the place is crawling with demons!”
“It’s fine. I can take care of myself.”
“No—demons aren’t the kind of thing you can handle with just that……!”
Tisha thumped her own chest as if words had failed her entirely, and the village chief—who had stepped back for a moment—spoke with a calm face.
“…That would be suicide.”
He, too, had wanted to stop me.
“Hmm. You may be right.”
Separately, the chief’s words were not wrong. The demons roaming outside might not be able to kill this body of mine—but if my identity were exposed because of it, that would be a suicide of its own kind.
“But if I refuse to act for that reason, I would become someone who cannot face myself. Someone who looked away simply because he didn’t want to risk his own safety, even though he could have helped.”
In the end, though, wasn’t that only a problem if I got caught? As long as I didn’t let them see me fight, as long as I didn’t hand them anything that called the Demon Knight to mind—
“While for me this is nothing more than a gamble, for those people it might be the one and only chance they’ll ever get. Who can say?”
—so I accepted the rationalizing sentences that were trying to persuade me.
“So… I have no choice.”
I would go out there so that I could face myself.
“You…….”
Tisha’s and the chief’s eyes grew heavy.
Even so, they did not easily point me in a direction, and I understood the feeling. In their eyes I was a would-be suicide charging into a hopeless cause—and on top of that, someone asking them to help him kill himself.
No matter how good the intention wrapped around it, no one would want to actively endorse something that close to suicide. Hesitation was only natural.
I sympathized with their reluctance.
“If you’d rather not say, I can simply search on my own. Would that be all right?”
But I could not let this drag on. I pulled the gloves back out of my pocket.
My wet hands refused to go in properly, but I forced them, crumpling the fabric until they somehow slid on. Bloodstained sleeves covered them, and the cloak I had set aside settled over my back, shoulders, and part of my upper body.
“…This way.”
“Thank you.”
“…But I won’t open the gate. If demons rush in while we’re opening it, we…….”
“That’s fine. I’ll jump.”
“Y-young master, aren’t you saying that far too lightly……?”
I simply offered Tisha a small smile.
“Instead, mm. If I bring people back, please prepare tools so we can get them inside without opening the gate. I can at least ask for that much, can’t I?”
“As long as it isn’t ‘open the gate,’ I don’t particularly mind… but how do you bring people inside without opening it?”
“Ah, well.”
Did they have mountain-rescue stretchers here? I thought for a moment, then pulled paper and a fountain pen from my inventory and quickly scrawled a sketch.
Eyes went round at the objects that had suddenly appeared out of thin air, but that was none of my concern. I had already claimed I could use magic.
“Please make something shaped like this while I’m gone. When I return, lower it from the top of the wall. If we lay people on it and haul them up, we can get them inside without opening the gate.”
“This is… I see.”
“I’ll leave the paper.”
Thank goodness my drawing speed had improved so much from web novel life; otherwise I would have wasted a ridiculous amount of time.
I handed the entire sheet of paper to the village chief, then followed the guide toward the wall. If the gate I had entered through sat at six o’clock, this one was somewhere around ten.
“I’ll be back.”
“…No one will blame you if you can’t save anyone, so just make sure you come back alive, young master!”
“Yes.”
Good. The demons didn’t seem to have reached this far yet.
I drew a breath with the Disguise Skill still deactivated. The debuffs hadn’t fully worn off, but……
“See you later.”
This much was perfectly fine. I vaulted lightly over the two-story wall.