Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: A Scene from the Legends - 2
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Adwin continued.
“Yesterday, Mother’s soul was churning with longing and sorrow for Father. It was the first time I’d ever seen her soul shake so violently.”
“......”
“That’s how I realized it. Even though it was clearly one soul, I could see two sets of emotions.”
“Huh?”
“How should I put it? It felt like the souls were mixed together? Like someone else’s soul had fused with Mother’s original one.”
It was hard to grasp at first.
But Jenia, a holy knight more familiar with souls than anyone except necromancers, nodded in understanding.
“Another soul has overlaid itself onto Ms. Mariana’s soul.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s extremely rare, but it’s not unheard of. It usually happens when necromancy fails.”
She paused, as if rummaging through her memories.
“Amateur necromancers who summon strong souls into their bodies end up getting consumed by them. ‘Devoured’ is the word for it.”
Adwin shook his head.
“No, sister. It’s not consumption or devouring. It’s fusion. The two souls have become one.”
“Huh? That’s impossible.”
“But that’s what I actually felt. Though, since Mother’s memories and personality remain intact... it seems like the fused soul has sunk beneath the surface.”
Jenia looked unconvinced by common sense, but Nana and Neril, who knew less about souls, could accept his words at face value.
Clap.
Neril clapped her hands lightly and spoke.
“Ah, I get it now.”
“Huh?”
“You probably couldn’t find the spell to open the gates of the underworld even if you stripped every territory resident naked.”
I felt intrigued and asked.
“Tell me more.”
“It’s not that someone opened the gates of the underworld and called the souls here. It’s closer to the souls seeking out and coming to the one possessing Mariana.”
“That possible?”
“Necromancers call it the underworld, holy knights and priests call it the embrace of the gods, and mages call it the void realm.”
“......”
“Opening the door to that place isn’t ordinary. So it’s more natural to think that lingering spirits who couldn’t pass on wandered the earth, drawn by the scent of an old soul to Reynus territory.”
Hm?
So the soul possessing Mariana was some kind of celebrity?
‘Who could it be.’
Circumstantially, the one who made a soul possess Mariana’s body was Idria.
If it was a soul Idria handled?
Slurp.
By then, perhaps calmed a bit, Adwin took a sip of tea and said to me.
“And this is something I wanted to mention since yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
“Your soul is also quite unique, brother.”
“How so.”
“It’s not fused with someone else like Mother’s. It feels more like something supporting from behind?”
“......”
“And that support looks really special. Like, an otherworldly existence. Black flames rising from the deepest depths of the world.”
Suddenly, Adwin’s seizure began.
As Jenia soothed him with her usual technique, I spoke to Trail.
‘He says you’re special.’
[A kid who knows his stuff.]
‘Since it came up, let’s talk. We’ve met for a while now, but you’ve never shared your story.’
[......]
‘Or should I share my guess first?’
Actually, at some point, I’d had a hunch like, ‘This guy might be...’
But before I could say more, Trail spoke.
[I’m just Trail.]
‘You’re transparent.’
[Trail, I said. Dummy.]
Dodging, huh? Guess it’s not time yet.
I decided to drop the topic for now.
Then Neril’s voice came.
“Very intriguing. You’ve got a ghost... well, not exactly a ghost, but something attached to you too?”
“Dunno. But that’s not the important part right now.”
“We’re talking about the soul of a self-proclaimed hero. What could be more important?”
“How to restore Ms. Mariana to normal.”
Neril shut her mouth at my words.
I continued.
“If your guess is right, separating whatever soul fused with Ms. Mariana and sending it back to the underworld would automatically resolve all the territory’s incidents.”
“That’s true, but... Adwin said the fusion’s already happened. Can it even be separated?”
“That’s for him to answer.”
I looked at Adwin.
“What do you think? Possible?”
“Hoo. Questions of possible or impossible are meaningless. What matters is can I do it or not.”
“Same thing.”
“Uh, yeah. You’re right.”
Back to normal, Adwin pondered seriously.
“I learned necromancy from Mother from start to finish. There is a spell developed by a past hero who was a necromancer.”
“Then we’re good.”
“But the one who taught it to me was Mother. Wouldn’t she know if her own body changed? And she said it wouldn’t work.”
“So it’s difficult because it’s not an ordinary soul.”
“Yeah.”
His face darkened.
But I wasn’t particularly worried.
“To me, you seem far more talented than Ms. Mariana.”
“Huh? Ahaha.”
“I’m serious.”
“......”
“Ms. Mariana might really not have known. That some soul possessed her. You noticed what she didn’t.”
Mariana didn’t know what happened to her.
Adwin did.
That difference is huge.
We fell silent for a bit, giving Adwin time to think.
Finally.
“I’ll do it.”
Resolve hardened on his face.
We relayed our conclusion to Mariana.
Naturally, her first reaction was denial.
“Another soul possessed me?”
“It’s not just possession—it fused, according to Adwin.”
“Phew. I’m a necromancer myself. I wouldn’t miss something like that.”
She tried to laugh it off.
Adwin started to say something, but I spoke first.
“Then let me ask one thing.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“You met a woman named Idria on your way back from the capital, right?”
Idria.
At that name, Neril and Jenia whipped their heads toward me.
They’d remember it as the one who gave the Withering Jewel to the Martial King.
Meanwhile, Mariana’s eyes widened enormously.
“H-How do you know that.”
“I know her a bit. You must’ve heard about Rior territory too.”
“......? The duel between you and Martial King Ters?”
“There’s more to it.”
Click.
I flicked the Withering Jewel into the air.
I showed it to Mariana and briefly explained the situation.
How the Martial King used this jewel to drain the territory residents’ vitality.
And that the woman who delivered the jewel to the Martial King was Idria.
Mariana’s face went pale.
“S-Such things happened. I thought she wasn’t ordinary, but...”
“Could you tell us more about that encounter?”
“Nothing special. She told me I was a good vessel that day and vanished. And then...”
She glanced at Adwin and wore a sorrowful expression.
“The next day, my husband disappeared.”
“......”
“I stayed in the village for days, frantically searching for him. I even tried summoning his soul, thinking maybe he died. No response, though.”
“I see.”
“I couldn’t keep my son waiting forever, so I decided to return home first. I thought if I waited in my hometown, Somel would come back someday. That was 13 years ago.”
Adwin quickly took Mariana’s hand.
Mariana stroked his hand and said.
“Son, is there really another soul in me?”
“That’s what I see.”
“......If you say so, then it must be true.”
She smiled warmly.
“I never once told you that you surpassed me.”
“......!”
“Necromancy is dangerous. I was afraid you’d get arrogant and summon too strong a soul. Arrogance leads to mistakes, and for a necromancer, a mistake means being devoured by the soul you called.”
“......”
“And you’ve been a bit off these past few years anyway.”
A heavily abbreviated statement, but we all nodded in unison.
Adwin has been a bit much.
“But I’m the one who got devoured. As a mother and a mentor, I’m unqualified.”
Adwin gripped Mariana’s hand tightly.
“Mother! Don’t say that.”
“Son.”
“You’re the one who raised Adwin Ain, friend of the dead and dark necromancer. The primordial blaze itself. The radiance named hope. The dusky mists beyond Redby...”
Adwin showered Mariana with endless praise to comfort her.
Mariana’s expression paled slightly.
Jenia whispered to me.
“Ophelia regretted it later, beating the ground. Wonder if he’ll be okay.”
From then on, the waiting began.
Separating souls was pure necromancy; we had no place interfering.
Adwin and Mariana holed up in a room, not emerging.
Two days passed like that.
We fully enjoyed the perfect spring weather.
Plop.
Neril idly picked up a pebble, tossed it, and said.
“Wonder if it’s okay to be this leisurely.”
“We’ve got no say in this one.”
“We’ve been running around on foot till now. This idleness feels off.”
Workaholic?
Sometimes you need a break.
That’s what I thought, but Jenia eagerly agreed with Neril.
“I feel the same. More importantly, will this boost our fame?”
“......!”
“You look like you completely forgot, Mr. Maide.”
Right!
I had forgotten.
Jenia continued.
“Even if Neril’s guess is right and the ghost fuss stops once the soul fused with Ms. Mariana vanishes... no one will know Mr. Maide solved it.”
“And I didn’t solve it to begin with.”
“Then it’s just another territory we skipped. No gain except maybe recruiting Adwin.”
“Unclear if he’ll even join us. Overall, bad business.”
“No investment, so no loss.”
I watched them chatter, lips twitching.
These guys cared more about my fame than I, the aspiring hero, did.
[A model hero party indeed.]
‘Yeah. Never knew they had personalities like this before regression.’
[By the way, Jenia hit the nail on the head. Gonna let it slide?]
‘Ugh. Originally planned to point out Mariana as culprit and snag the fame.’
Enough to surpass even Kaild Wake, who got the fake hero’s sword.
But Mariana wasn’t the culprit, and things twisted weirdly to here.
Should I force some rumors now?
No. Not enough.
Need a big splash...
It was then.
“Huh.”
“Ah.”
Neril and Jenia, who’d been playing fine, suddenly stiffened.
I tilted my head and asked.
“What’s up?”
“It broke.”
“It broke.”
“You two know you’re getting creepily similar lately?”
They glared at me in unison.
Yeah, like that.
“What broke.”
“The magic hiding Tibur.”
“Huh?”
“Jenia, you mean the prison spell broke, right?”
Jenia nodded.
I crossed my arms casually.
“Knights of Light sent support? Maybe sniffed Neril’s mana residue and reported it.”
“The Captain left Neril matters fully to me. If Mr. Maide’s right, someone overstepped.”
Neril shrugged.
“What now?”
“Let’s check. Bored waiting anyway.”
“Yeah. Jenia, you said he’s in the castle basement?”
Jenia nodded.
We stretched and stood.
Up to then, it felt as casual as digesting after a meal.
But soon we learned.
The splash we’d been waiting for was here.
Tibur’s gums hurt a lot.
More than anger at Maide or Jenia, more than wondering why he was in the basement prison.
He thought he’d sell his soul to the Demon King if he could forget this pain.
Unholy thoughts for a holy knight, but that’s how bad the pain was.
And his wish came true.
Not granted by the Demon King, though.
“Ugh.”
At some point, Tibur’s mind flew away.
And a soul took over his body.
“Where is this?”
The voice was Tibur’s, but the timbre differed.
He slowly rose.
He sensed the mana flow hiding his body.
“Invisibility magic, huh. Feels like a skilled caster.”
Did this era still have mages of this level?
He admired briefly, then nonchalantly formed hand seals.
Like a lie, Neril’s magic shattered, revealing Tibur’s form.
A wandering vengeful spirit on the continent.
Most souls are utterly mad, unable to converse normally without a necromancer’s aid.
But his eyes were calmly settled.
He thought rationally.
‘That nostalgic scent. It’s her. Come to think, this is her hometown.’
A light sparked in his serene eyes.
“They even layered a prison spell. Seems the body’s original owner did some bad things.”
A skilled spell too.
He could break it with magic, but there was a simpler way.
Thud.
He stomped lightly.
A bizarre magic circle floated underfoot.
He tapped it with his toe.
And.
Rumble! Boom!
The building collapsed.
The man was in the castle’s basement prison.
One magic circle demolished an entire castle.
The chaos of walls crumbling broke the prison spell too.
Screams erupted around.
“Kwaaaagh!”
“W-What? What happened?”
“Everyone evacuate! Get out first!”
The man hummed a tune, using the guards’ screams as accompaniment.
‘First, find her... oh.’
Wobble.
His legs suddenly gave out.
The body he possessed was a mediocre holy knight.
It had some holy power, which he converted to mana, but the last spell depleted it all.
Not a great vessel.
Already annoyed by missing teeth from whatever happened—speech lisps too.
“Gotta fill the stomach first. Can’t show weakness before her.”
Swoosh.
He waved a hand, clearing fallen stones above.
Blue sky appeared.
He slowly floated up.
“I’ll come fetch you soon, my hero.”