Rune Mage
Rune Mage
"See you again tomorrow."
Hearing her tell me to come back, calling my name — just for the briefest moment — made my heart flutter.
Of course, there was absolutely no romantic subtext to those words.
She simply meant we should meet again tomorrow and put on another wild magic performance together.
A few days later, at 2 p.m.
I was out in front of the citizens, putting on a magic show with Crow Bella, same as always.
"It's Mage Luke and Hwajireuguji!"
"Hwajireuguji, just one wink for my daughter, please!"
Thanks to Crow Bella, my magic performances became a smash hit among mothers with children. My show turned out to be the perfect attraction for parents in this otherworld who had few decent places to take their kids for fun.
"It's dangerous, so if you have children with you, you must not come inside!"
"Who's this bald guy!"
"Get the name right — I'm not 'bald guy'! My name is Brown, so call me Brown!"
As the audience grew larger, Brown brought out inn staff and personally managed the backyard. Thanks to the magic performances, the Tabad Inn's revenue had been steadily climbing lately.
From Brown's perspective, I probably looked like a goose that laid silver eggs, so of course he'd take care of me.
I glanced briefly at Brown, who was acting like stage crew, then turned to the audience and spoke.
"Good to see you all again today. I am Luke, the mage who commands crows."
"Whoooooaaa! The Crow Mage!"
The moment I greeted them, a storm of cheers and applause erupted. In my entire incubus life, not once had I ever been welcomed by people like this.
"Today I've prepared a new performance with my pet, Hwajilguji. Please watch. Bel— I mean, Hwajilguji!"
Flap-flap!
At the call of her name, Crow Bella beat her wings and soared into the air.
"Liquid."
I drew a Water Whip and flicked it lightly. The writhing whip adjusted its own trajectory, trying to snare Crow Bella.
Whoosh!
Crow Bella evaded the pursuing whip by the narrowest of margins, putting on a dazzling display of aerial maneuvers. Every time the Water Whip came within a hair of touching the crow's body, the audience roared.
"Hwajireuguji is in danger!"
"Is he trying to kill his own mascot?!"
Of course, there was no chance of Crow Bella actually getting hit by my Water Whip. I was simply piloting the whip in midair to create those close-call scenes. Like professional wrestling, we were just running a scripted match.
When several minutes passed without a single scratch on the crow's body, the audience gasped in admiration.
"That crow's flying skill is no joke. It dodged every bit of magic."
"As expected of Hwajireuguji! He might really be a descendant of Hugin and Munin, the kings of all crows!"
"God-jireuguji! Let's go!"
Having evaded every lash of the Water Whip, Crow Bella landed regally atop my horns, and a few spectators applauded.
Thwip—!
Crow Bella returned their applause with a crisp two-fingered salute.
That was how we'd been syncing our performances over the past week. Every time we showed off flashy stunts, the audience would toss copper coins into the backyard, and Brown, acting as staff, would scoop them all up and hand them to me.
"Luke. The amount you earned today comes to one silver. Not a bad haul for a day's performance."
"It actually pays surprisingly well. Less than adventurer work, though."
"Think of it as pocket money."
Collecting all the small change the audience flung added up to a decent sum.
The performance ended, and I was mulling over what to buy to eat with today's earnings when a woman called out to me from beyond the backyard fence.
"Adventurer. It's been a while."
"Hm?"
I looked up and saw a familiar woman in formal attire watching me.
'It's Hannah.'
Bella's personal secretary.
Hannah had been conducting research under Bella's orders to find a suitable Class for me. A Class is essentially a mage's advanced profession, but a Class that fit me was so rare that tracking it down seemed to be taking quite a while.
Caw!
The instant Hannah showed herself, Crow Bella shot into the sky and made a swift escape. She was probably keeping her stress-relief crow cosplay a secret even from the secretary.
Hannah watched Bella bolt with a puzzled expression.
"What's with that crow?"
"My pet. I let him — sorry, her — out from time to time. No need to worry about it."
"Keeping a crow as a pet... you have unusual tastes."
Hannah nodded as if she understood, then got to the reason she'd sought me out.
"Adventurer. After a month and a half of investigation, I've been able to identify a Class suited to you. This means the path to an advanced profession as a mage is now open to you as well."
"Thank you for your hard work. But it took quite a bit longer than the time you promised, didn't it?"
"That's because your Fate Poem is unusually peculiar. Even my mentor, a Magic Tower professor, had considerable difficulty helping to interpret it. We had to go so far as to consult the Magic Tower's ancient history books to uncover your Class."
The more Hannah talked about the effort involved, the more curious I grew about my Class.
Just what kind of hipster Class was it that even a Magic Tower professor struggled to identify?
"So what is it? Can you tell me here?"
"I can at least give you the Class name."
Hannah spoke briefly.
"Rune Mage. It is the Class with the oldest history on the Midgard Continent. The Class of the 'Two Mages' who can be called the progenitors of all mages was also Rune Mage."
The Class with the oldest history?
The progenitors of mages had the same Class as me?
Oh.
I felt a tingle of anticipation — this sounded like a genuinely good Class.
As I swallowed hard, Hannah waved her hand, gesturing for me to follow.
"Come with me to the Adventurer's Guild. I'll explain your Class in detail with Lady Bella present."
"You mean go to the office where Bella works?"
"Correct. Though I'm not certain if the lady is in her office at the moment. Lately, she's often away from her office once the afternoon hits."
"That's fine. She's probably back at the office by now."
Of course she was back.
Bella herself had told me she always returns to the office once the show ends.
Hannah tilted her head at how confidently I spoke.
"How do you know that, Adventurer? The lady doesn't even tell me, her secretary, when she'll return."
"Just a hunch. Let's get going."
"......Hm?"
After tidying up the backyard, I set off for the Adventurer's Guild with Hannah.
*
The vice guild master's office on the top floor of the guild headquarters.
When we stepped inside, Bella greeted us in her usual thin clothing. She had the office window wide open, cooling off from the heat — likely she'd just flown back right before we arrived. A pleasant autumn breeze drifted in, refreshingly cool.
"Lady Bella really is in the office."
"Lucky, huh."
Lucky, my ass!
I deflected with that one line, but Hannah didn't press me on how I'd predicted the future. True to form as a secretary, she simply delivered a loyal report to her employer, Bella.
"Lady Bella. I've succeeded in identifying the Adventurer's Class."
"Oh, have you? What Class is it?"
"I intend to explain it now to both you and the Adventurer."
Hannah and I sat facing each other at the guest table set up in the office. With Bella seated at her desk overlooking us, Hannah began her explanation.
"Before we begin the discussion on Rune Mage, there's something I need to confirm first. Adventurer. How much do you know about the history of magic?"
The history of magic — presumably the academic study of how magic in this otherworld was first born and then developed up to the modern era.
I'd never been taught history by Rumi, so I didn't know the details.
I answered Hannah honestly that I didn't know.
"Not much. But what does the history of magic have to do with Rune Mage?"
"If you knew the history, I could skip the explanation where appropriate. Since you don't, however, I'll have to tell you what's necessary. I'll just lightly cover the story of the progenitors of magic."
The progenitors of magic.
The first mages in human history who gave birth to magic in this otherworld.
That was the story Hannah was about to tell me.
"In the distant past, the Midgard Continent was ruled by an ancient race called the Aesir. The Aesir protected humanity from vicious beings like the giants of Jotunheim. Among them, two heroes in particular made their names ring across the continent: Odin and Loki."
Odin and Loki.
I knew full well I'd heard those names somewhere before. Not in this otherworld — back when I lived on Earth.
They were gods from Norse mythology.
The thing I'd found most fascinating after being reborn as an incubus on the Midgard Continent was this world's mythology. Place names and proper nouns matched the Norse myths I'd heard on Earth with startling accuracy.
'It's weird, is what it is.'
I had no idea why such coincidences occurred. But the Norse myths I knew and this otherworld's myths weren't a perfect match — there were differences too. So it was better to quietly listen rather than recklessly pretend I knew things.
"Odin and Loki, the most exceptional heroes of the Aesir, waged war against the giants of Jotunheim alongside their kin. However, the Aesir are said to have lacked strength compared to the ancient giants. To overcome the difference in innate power, Odin and Loki one day developed a new war technique. That war technique was magic."
Magic, developed for the sake of war.
How fitting for the Midgard Continent — a world of manly men.
"Magic, which borrows the power of runes to work mysterious miracles, is said to have been a tremendous asset in war. Odin and Loki overcame their disadvantage with magic and achieved victory against the giants. What they used at that time was ancient Rune Magic utilizing 24 Primitive Rune characters, and Odin and Loki called themselves 'Rune Mages.'"
Hannah looked at me and added one more line.
"That can be considered identical to your Class, Adventurer: Rune Mage."