The Sword That Remembers
A greeting? Of all things?
Facing the child floating in midair, grinning down at him, Logan simply stood there, dumbstruck.
The spirit was far stranger a being than anything he had imagined. It was clearly alive and moving right before his eyes, and yet it gave the impression of belonging to some world other than this one.
The feeling that no matter how far he reached out, he somehow could not touch it. If he ever truly met Gideon, it would feel exactly like this.
"Logan?"
"Ah, sorry. You startled me a little... I was just thinking how similar this is to Gideon."
"Oh, right! You have Gideon, Logan? Then this should be easy for you to understand."
"Yeah. I can't see him the way I can see a spirit, but the feeling seems similar."
"I wonder. Does Gideon remember me?"
"Of course he does. I already told you—I'd met you before."
"Really?"
"Who's Gideon, anyway?"
"Yeah, who is this Gideon? It's the name you mentioned at the riding grounds too, right?"
"Gideon sounds like a man's name. Is he a friend of yours, Logan?"
Hard on the heels of Bayul's delighted reaction, a flood of questions came pouring in.
"Uh, well, you see..."
Just as Innocent was not something Bayul could easily talk about, Gideon was not something Logan could lightly bring up either. A belated wave of guilt washed over him—had he said too much and put Logan in an awkward spot?
"It's all right, Bayul."
As if he had read Bayul's heart, Logan said it was fine and drew the curved dagger from his coat.
"You're going to show us?"
"You did the same."
These were people who knew Bayul's secret. If they knew how to guard that, then surely they could guard this as well.
"This is him."
"Why are you suddenly pulling out a knife?"
"We asked who Gideon was and you just shove a blade at us?"
"Don't tell me you named your knife or something."
"Seriously though, why is this blade so pitch-black? Did you burn it in a fire or something?"
"Only those who are able can hear Gideon's voice. He isn't like a spirit—it's not something I can make him share just because I want to."
"What did he just say? Rai, did you understand any of that?"
"Nope. Not a word."
"I understood! Hello, Gideon!"
Innocent stuck her tongue out at Eli and Aidan—dummies, how do you not know that?—then gave the dagger an adorably formal little bow.
"Innocent, did you just call us dummies?"
"Why you little brat, where are your manners—!"
That was when a faint tremor ran through the dagger. As though wracked with sobs, the blade shuddered, and slowly a light began to seep out of it. It was not blinding—merely a hazy, dim glow, just faint enough to soften the darkness around it.
"Better to hear it than to have me explain. Gideon, say hello. You've heard everything already—this is Bayul and his friends."
"...Bayul..."
The moment Logan's introduction ended, a voice unlike any other resonated through the room, filling every corner of it.
"Gideon?"
"Yes... it has been a long time, hasn't it..."
"Wow, Gideon!"
Bayul's voice rose with delight. It was exactly as he remembered—that rough, gravelly tone, yet threaded with warmth. For a moment he was almost carried back to his childhood.
"Wait a moment... an Ego Sword?"
Out of nowhere, a single word surfaced in Eli's mind.
An Ego Sword.
A blade possessing a self, a soul of its own. Some called it a sword in which a spirit dwelled; others, a blade possessed by a ghost.
True to its nature, an Ego Sword chose its own master. Anyone who failed to acknowledge that choice and tried to take it by force would be devoured by the sword's overwhelming will—driven mad, or twisted into a bloodthirsty fiend.
Conversely, winning an Ego Sword's heart was a shortcut to renown. A chosen wielder might, with enough skill and fortune, rise all the way to the transcendent realm of the Meister—the height Duke Randert himself had reached.
How Ego Swords came into being remained a matter of endless debate. Some said they were souls that could not let go of some lingering attachment in life and imprisoned themselves in steel. Others told stranger, more mystical tales—of master smiths whose devotion ran so deep that they were drawn bodily into the blades they forged. The stories were as numerous as they were bizarre.
Whatever the truth, an Ego Sword was an extraordinarily special and extraordinarily dangerous thing.
A dream of a sword that any knight would covet—yet one as impossible to obtain as plucking a star from the heavens, and harder still to be chosen by.
And here it was, resting in the hand of Logan, a mere first-year student at the Academy.
"Rai, an Ego Sword? You mean that knife is an Ego Sword?"
Aidan knew Ego Swords well enough. As a Knight Department student, there was probably no one who didn't yearn for one. And Aidan was no exception.
"He sounds like a grown man."
"...A grown man?"
"Didn't you hear his voice?"
"Huh? Not at all."
He had been watching Bayul babble away at thin air this whole time, after all.
"I told you already. Only those who are able can hear an Ego Sword's voice."
"What? So I'm the only one who can't hear it? Everyone else can?"
What a gravely unjust situation this was. Ego Swords aside, the fact that he alone was deaf to the voice made Aidan grouse and grumble. When Bayul and Eli looked at him with apologetic eyes, his mood only soured further.
"Quinn, what about you? Can you hear him too?"
"..."
Quinn did not answer. She simply turned her head away with an air of complete disinterest.
Thank goodness—apparently I'm not the only outcast here.
Having found a comrade in misfortune, the lump in Aidan's chest finally began to settle.
"What's the big deal about missing one lousy voice? I'm just too good to listen, that's all!"
It's not that I can't hear it—I just don't listen!
For the sake of his own sanity, this was the better way to think about it. Everyone had been too preoccupied with each other to notice, but Quinn's head had tilted up and down, ever so slightly—as if in deep, silent agreement with Aidan's words.
"...A noisy child, this one."
"Gideon says he can't hear your voice, so that's why."
Worried the sword might take offense, Bayul stepped in to explain.
"Wait, you're talking about me right now? What? What's he saying!"
"He says you're noisy!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Innocent zipped over to Aidan and pressed up against his ear in a perfect imitation.
"A noisy child, this one—that's what he said!"
"Ugh, what was his tone like? Was he annoyed? Did he sound irritated?"
His face made it abundantly clear that if Gideon had sounded annoyed, he absolutely would not let it slide.
"No, Aidan, don't misunderstand. Gideon just finds the situation interesting, that's all."
"Interesting? What's interesting about it?"
"Well, Logan just summoned Gideon in front of a bunch of people. It's probably the first time he's ever done that. Right, Logan?"
"He seemed curious about everyone."
"To be summoned before so many... how very strange this is..."
"Really? Then summon him lots from now on! So he can play with me too. Okay? Okay?"
Even though Gideon was nothing but a voice, he had apparently won Innocent over completely. She spun circles around the dagger, laughing so hard she nearly tumbled out of the air.
"A Water Spirit... hoo... how very unexpected..."
"...Gideon?"
That tone—as though he had known spirits all along—startled not only Bayul but Eli and Logan as well. Why hadn't I thought of it? Most Ego Swords had lived through untold ages. Gideon would be no different. If he knew something about spirits, he could be the perfect guide.
"Gideon, when you say 'very unexpected'—what do you mean?"
"To meet the fallen kin once more... I merely meant to say... it gladdens me..."
"Gideon, have you seen spirits before?"
Bayul had heard that even as a Spirit User, there was still much he did not know about spirits. Anything Gideon knew could only help him.
"No... I have never seen one... I have only heard tell..."
"Heard what?"
"That the Spirit King... left something behind... so I heard..."
"The Spirit King? Spirits have kings too?"
"There are kings everywhere, you know. Here in the human world, over in the Mermaid Kingdom. Why wouldn't there be one in the Spirit Realm?"
Eli's explanation came kindly enough.
"The Water Spirit King, the Fire Spirit King, the Wind Spirit King, the Earth Spirit King. Just assume there's one for each of the four great elements."
"Oh."
Bayul nodded, and this time it was Eli who asked.
"But what did the Spirit King leave behind?"
"That... I do not know... only that it is said to be connected... to something that will revive... the fallen Spirit Realm..."
"The revival of the Spirit Realm? Is that truly possible?"
Spirit Users, long extinct, had begun to appear once more—so it was not so strange to believe that the Spirit Realm, too, was stirring awake. But that was merely a supposition, nothing certain.
"What are you all talking about? Someone interpret for me properly!"
Somewhere along the way, Quinn had drawn close. If you asked where the Spirit Realm's collapse had struck hardest, the Mermaid Kingdom would be impossible to leave off the list. Enduring humiliation upon humiliation, the reason Quinn kept her footing here was to reclaim her dying homeland.
The revival of the Spirit Realm.
For Quinn, nothing could matter more.
"The Spirit King left something behind? What? How can the Spirit Realm come back to life? What is that sword saying?"
"Quinn, calm down. Even Gideon doesn't seem to know the details."
"It sounds like the Spirit King left something behind to revive the Spirit Realm, but no one knows what it is! That's the short version."
Bayul understood Quinn's agitation well enough. Eli delivered the essentials in brief, crisp terms, and Quinn rounded on a voice she could not even hear.
"Then how do we find it? Do you know the answer to that, at least?"
"...Forgive me..."
When Bayul shook his head in her stead, disappointment spread across Quinn's face. It was an unfamiliar look, one that suited her not at all.
"Quinn, we'll help you!"
"Help me?"
"Let's look for it together. If we all search, we're bound to turn up something. Right, everyone?"
"Well, obviously!"
"We've got the one and only Spirit User in the world on our side—what could we possibly fail to find?"
"Quinn, you know what my gift can do, right?"
Aidan lifted his chin and preened, and Quinn gave him a look of pure incredulity.
"I'll help too. If there's something to be done."
Listening to the easy warmth between Bayul and his friends, Logan found he simply couldn't stay on the sidelines. He knew nothing of the Mermaid Kingdom, but he wanted to help regardless.
"Me too! I'll help too!"
Even Innocent flew up with her hand raised high, promising it to Quinn. The innocent creature's laughter rang out in a pleasant echo.
"Lucky you, Quinn. So many people willing to help."
"You said it. Though I doubt that prickly thing will actually say thank you."
"You never know. What if it all goes so smoothly he ends up sobbing and thanking you? Ooh, just imagining it is fun. It'd be something else, all right!"
"That will never happen."
So don't even imagine it.
Quinn's eyes, fixed on Aidan, said exactly that.
"You really think so?"
"Want to bet on it?"
"What bet? Whether Quinn cries or not?"
"I said it'll never happen!"
"I've got one vote for crying!"
"I say no crying. Bayul, you?"
"Are you all seriously going to keep doing this pointless stuff?"
"Hey, Bayul. Which side are you betting on? This is a real bet! The winner gets one wish granted—no exceptions! Call?"
"I call!"
"Bayul? You in or not?"
"Can't any of you hear me? I said knock it off!"