Chapter 8
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Awe and Terror (4)
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"I think I'm starting to understand."
At the entrance of the empty cave.
Yutenia murmured to herself, a magic book open before her as she read alone.
She was dressed in a clean, new tunic.
A week had already passed since she had been granted the book by the great being she served.
During that time, Yutenia had worked diligently to comprehend the magic book.
And now, she had achieved some initial success.
"What I learned from my father has been quite helpful, too."
Yutenia's slender fingers turned the page of the thick magic book.
Magic was not a field of study so simple that anyone could understand it.
Had it not been for the minimal education she received as a noble, it would have taken Yutenia much more time to comprehend the book.
Fortunately, she possessed a natural talent for wielding magic.
Understanding the fragments of magic in just a week was a testament to that.
"Well then I suppose I should test it."
Thud.
Closing the open magic book, Yutenia rose to her feet.
She stood and tucked the book under her arm, then walked slowly toward the cave's exit.
Step. Step.
Her light footsteps rustled through the undergrowth.
Emerging from the brush, Yutenia scanned the ground, searching for a sizable stone.
One was jagged and uneven.
Next to it lay a flatter one.
After examining the nearby stones, Yutenia picked one up that felt just right.
"This weight should be fine, I think."
A heavy sensation filled the palm of her hand as she gripped the stone.
Toss. Catch.
Yutenia lightly tossed and caught the stone a few times before settling into a stance.
Immediately after, she threw the stone high into the air and reached a hand toward the sky.
A blue haze began to shimmer from her palm, enveloping her body.
The moment the mana surrounding her began to diffuse into the air.
Yutenia focused the mana and cast her spell.
"Barrier."
Vwoom!
The stone, falling toward Yutenias head, struck a translucent wall and ricocheted off.
A hemispherical shield, centered on her, had protected her from the stone.
Barrier, a low-tier defensive spell.
Yutenias eyes sparkled as she gazed at the barrier she had manifested to protect herself.
The bluish shield prevented any substance from approaching her.
She poked at the barrier around her, but the condensed mana blocked even her own touch.
"How fascinating. So this is magic."
Swoosh.
After observing the barrier for a while, Yutenia waved her hand, dispersing the collected mana.
The solid concentration of mana unraveled, and the barrier vanished without a trace.
It was a supernatural miracle, created in the empty air by a mere gesture of her hand.
This was the moment Yutenia became captivated by magic.
"If I continue to master spells like this, I'm sure it will aid in His Grace's long-held wish."
Magic is the discipline of recreating objects and phenomena.
By studying flows, one reproduces phenomena; by observing substance, one imitates objects.
Thus, magic at its zenith can bring about miracles that defy nature itself.
And Yutenia was a human born with a talent for learning such magic.
It does not take long for a genius to recognize their own potential.
The same was true for Yutenia.
Recalling the contents of the magic book, she extended her hand toward the empty space before her.
"Shield."
A translucent, blue barrier materialized in the air where Yutenias hand rested.
The Shield spell was not something contained within the magic book she had received.
It was a spell she had created herself by understanding the properties of Barrier.
Having created the shield in mid-air, Yutenia reached out and tapped it lightly.
Thrumm.
Ripples spread from the point where her hand made contact.
"It seems it still needs some improvement. Perhaps a bit more mana is required."
After touching the shield several more times, Yutenia gestured with her hand as before, dispersing it.
Having tested each spell once, she now intended to modify and try them again.
Yutenia was beginning to find her first foray into magic quite enjoyable.
For a long while after, she continued to cast Barrier and Shield, observing the changes in the magic.
Yutenia's magical experiments continued until the sun set.
The Senterius branch of Cloud, the executive agency of the Empire.
There, Third-Grade Investigator Rick Swile looked at his superior.
His expression was more serious than ever before.
Normally, Rick was the type to crack jokes even with his superiors, his face always full of laughter.
But now, he was in no situation to even feign a smile.
The reason lay in the case he was reporting.
"Rick what did you say the scale of the damage was for this case?"
The one-eyed investigator sitting across from Rick asked him.
Second-Grade Investigator, Hurs Alemier.
He made no effort to hide his displeasure as he listened to Rick's report.
"Four villages have vanished."
Rick reported to his superior, a heavy feeling in his chest.
Four entire villages had simply evaporated.
They weren't burned down or plundered by bandits.
All objects and facilities were left as they were; only the people had disappeared.
It was not a case that could be explained within the bounds of normalcy.
Hearing Rick's words, Hurs scribbled something on the wooden board he was holding and asked.
"Any chance of bandits?"
"All the valuable goods in the villages were left untouched."
"Not a single thing was missing?"
"No, sir. There were no signs that anything had been tampered with."
If bandits had been involved, anything of value would not have been left in the villages.
However, there were no signs of looting, not even a single proper bloodstain to be found.
That was precisely why Rick was certain it wasn't the work of bandits.
No bandit raid would result in such a scene.
At the very least, it wasn't a crime motivated by money.
After listening to Rick, Hurs tilted his head and posed his next question.
"Could they have moved somewhere as a group?"
"Impossible. One of the missing villagers had a crippled leg, and he, too, vanished without a trace."
Rick had searched the areas around the villages just in case.
A large-scale migration would inevitably leave tracks.
But no signs of a mass movement of people could be found near the villages.
Hurs's second theory was also fruitless.
As one possibility after another was dismissed, Hurs clicked his tongue and glared at the wooden board in his hands.
"So you're saying the people just disappeared without a trace?"
"Yes. At least, that's what I've been able to confirm."
"Investigator Rick. Do you really think that makes any sense?"
"I swear to the gods, what I'm telling you is the truth."
That was why Rick had come to see Hurs today.
No matter how thoroughly he scoured the villages, he couldn't find a single proper clue.
It was a case where everything was left untouched, and only the villagers had vanished entirely.
In Rick's limited view, the only thing he could surmise was that it was the work of a mage.
That was why he had come to report to Investigator Hurs, a skilled combat mage himself.
But even after hearing Rick's story, Hurs's reaction was lukewarm.
It seemed that even Hurs, a mage, had no particular ideas.
"People just vanishing into thin air, huh. I'd sooner bet on you having missed the clues."
"Investigator Hurs. Is there any chance it could be the work of a mage?"
"A mage's work?"
"The possibility that magic was used to erase the villages, I mean."
Rick laid out his reasoning to the pondering Hurs.
But Hurs immediately shook his head upon hearing it.
He simply stared at Rick with a look of disbelief.
"Nonsense. If magic were used, there's no reason the surrounding objects would be unharmed."
"Couldn't magic have been used only on the people?"
"Rick Swile. Does your sword distinguish between friend and foe when it moves?"
""
"If such incredible magic existed, there wouldn't be unfortunate incidents of allies dying to friendly fire on the battlefield."
At Hurs's words, Rick was struck dumb.
Rick had thought that something like this would surely be possible with magic.
But according to Hurs, a combat mage, such a thing was difficult even for magic.
A miraculous spell that could differentiate between objects and people did not exist.
That was the conclusion of their conversation.
Hurs's realistic assessment left Rick feeling even more frustrated than before.
"But, several villages have disappeared without a trace."
"And I'm telling you, it's more likely that you just failed to find anything."
"...Investigator Hurs."
"However, if what our dear Investigator Rick says is really true, then who knows, maybe someone's been making offerings to an evil god."
"Offerings?"
Offerings.
The moment he heard that word, Rick felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest.
It was the only glimmer of a clue in this baffling case.
His face filled with anticipation, Rick turned to Investigator Hurs.
"I read something in an old text once. It said that priests who worshiped evil gods sacrificed people for their wicked deeds."
"Priests of an evil god"
"Of course, they were all killed in the last war. The Holy See took action directly, so there shouldn't be any of them left."
"Is that so."
"Though I still think you just did a sloppy investigation."
Priests of an evil god. Sacrifice. Offering.
The three keywords clicked together in Rick's mind, forming a single picture.
What if priests who worshiped an evil god still remained?
And what if that faction was sacrificing people to further some plot?
If that were the case, the sudden disappearance of four villages was not so incomprehensible.
Having reached a conclusion in his mind, Rick decided to search the vicinity of the villages once more.
"Investigator Hurs."
"Decided to go investigate again?"
"I will return with traces of an evil god."
"What? Wait a minute, hey"
Slam.
Rick closed the door and stepped outside.
Four villages' worth of people had gone missing.
If he searched the surrounding radius thoroughly, he might just be able to find a trace of an evil god.
Click.
Gripping the sword at his hip, Rick moved toward his tethered horse.