The Mage's Lament
“Ah.”
It was Nephthea’s voice.
“Aaaah, aaaaaah…!?”
That, too, was one of Nephthea’s screams.
“W-what exactly did you do to me…?!?!”
“Please choose your words more carefully. Nothing happened.”
It was early morning.
I had woken up first, washed my face, and stepped out—only to find Nephthea, who had just woken up herself, staring at me and letting out a shriek.
“Don’t lie to me!! A young man and woman fell asleep drunk together—there’s no way nothing happened!!”
“I’m sorry to disappoint your expectations. Wait, do you really not remember anything?”
“…?”
She froze for a moment, seemingly searching through her memories.
The recollection didn’t take long. Her face flushed bright red in an instant.
“So you do remember. You threw up all over my clothes, then passed out while loudly singing the Queen’s name in triple time like some kind of drunken opera….”
“Hngh—!!”
“Guh—!?”
Thwack. Something heavy flew straight at my face.
It was her staff, which had been leaning against the bedside.
Was she even allowed to swing that thing around so carelessly?
When I kicked the staff aside, I saw Nephthea had burrowed herself completely under the blanket, curled up into a tight ball.
“That’s it. I’m done for. I can never face anyone again.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but since you’ve already shown me every embarrassing thing you possibly could, please just go home. I’ll be on my way now.”
“W-where are you…?”
“To desperately try and sell my goods.”
I hoisted up the pile of ash-gray moss I had shoved into the corner with all my strength.
I still… hadn’t given up completely.
Today was the climax of the festival. I planned to sell it at half price if that’s what it took.
“That garbage again….”
“I keep telling you to watch your words.”
After finishing my preparations to leave, I grabbed the doorknob.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
Just before stepping out, a phrase Nephthea had uttered suddenly came back to me.
“The Creation Society. Do not speak that name so carelessly. I’m sure you already understand without me having to warn you, but you must be even more cautious.”
“Huh…??”
I didn’t have time to listen to her dazed reply.
I closed the door behind me and stepped out into the hallway.
Nephthea. The royal court mage who served directly under the Queen.
In terms of raw power, she was probably among the very best on the continent.
Yet casually throwing around that name—
‘It’s basically suicide.’
And that wasn’t an exaggeration. It was the literal truth.
I had no particular desire to see the corpse of someone I’d formed even the slightest connection with—
—Bang!
The door I had just closed burst open with enough force to nearly shatter.
Nephthea came flying out, hair disheveled.
“T-Teacher?! I didn’t say anything weird while I was drunk last night, right?!”
“What?! Like… what exactly…?”
“L-like… what my ideal type is or something…?!”
“…”
This was the first time I’d met someone so exhausting to even talk to.
The world of the Arcana Saga was not a dark story.
It was a classic fantasy where the player’s choices became moving narratives.
Its dazzlingly bright atmosphere and charming cast were precisely why the world had been so well-received.
However, there were also indelible stains that ran completely counter to that brilliance.
The Seven Calamities.
And the Creation Society.
Even a single one of them, if unleashed upon the world, was an overwhelmingly powerful being capable of plunging not just a single nation but the entire continent into terror and grotesque despair.
In the original work, they only began to act clearly in the latter half of the story, so they were all subjugated before they could fully display their might.
But what if—
—they arrived at an incomprehensibly early point in time, unlike the original?
What kind of hell would unfold then?
This was exactly why I feared the distortion of the original storyline more than anything else.
The previous incident with Gluttony had only been survivable because the entity had been an incomplete juvenile.
Therefore, if I were to imagine the worst possible scenario, it would be those things appearing right here and now—
Tap.
“…I’m certain I told you to leave.”
“Where I go is my own business. Besides, I still haven’t cleared all my suspicions.”
In the middle of the festival street, a shadow fell over the simple stall I had set up.
It was Nephthea.
She was staring down at me intensely as I sat behind the stall.
I was so sick of that face.
“What exactly are you trying to sell? No matter how I look at it, this is just trash.”
“Look, I’m really desperate right now, okay? I don’t have the energy to banter with you, Lady Nephthea, so please just leave. I’m begging you here.”
“What?! Who do you take me for….”
“Hm? Young man, why are you selling something like this?”
At that moment, one of the festival-goers passing by showed interest in my stall and approached.
“Ah—! If we’re talking about this, it’s a medicinal herb whose price will soon skyrocket! You’d do well to stock up while you still can!”
“And why exactly would a handful of weeds like this become expensive?”
“…It might be a little later than expected, but soon a plague will break out near the northern regions. At that time, this ash-gray moss will—”
“Tsk. So you’re a swindler. A decent-looking young man like you shouldn’t live like this.”
The passerby clicked his tongue with a crumpled expression and walked away.
Even to my own ears, the sales pitch sounded absurd.
But what could I do?
The ash-gray moss only exploded in rarity after that specific event occurred.
The original storyline had already diverged, and today was the final day of the festival.
There was truly nothing else I could do.
“…Sigh. Please stop looking down at me with that expression.”
“Pfft, I’m sorry…! It’s just—your situation is so pathetic… pffft!”
She let out a mocking laugh that said serves you right.
However, the giggling Nephthea’s face quickly turned serious.
Her gaze had locked onto the top of the stall with deep focus.
“Still… hmmm. I have heard that ash-gray moss is used as an ingredient for some kind of medicine….”
“—!!”
I shot up from my chair and grabbed both of her shoulders.
“Hik?! W-why, why, why are you doing this?!!”
“If—if, hypothetically speaking. If this were the key ingredient to curing a disease, would you believe me?”
“W-well, I suppose it could be used that way…? It’s not exactly my area of expertise, so I’m not entirely sure….”
“There isn’t one yet! There isn’t any disease it can cure right now!! But if we assume such a disease will appear soon!!!”
“I-I suppose it would be possible then?! C-certain mosses do have antibacterial properties…!?”
Finally.
It felt like a breakthrough had opened in this hopeless endeavor.
I held onto her even more desperately.
“Then! Could you please help me?! You’re a royal court mage, after all—if you’d just say a few words on my behalf….”
“No way?! I-I don’t want to!”
“Ow!!”
Thud! She kicked me hard in the shin.
The pain was so intense I screamed instantly.
“Just a moment ago you were begging me to leave, and now you’re asking for help? Do you even have a conscience?!”
“T-that was my mistake, but if you could just overlook it this once….”
“No. Way! I’m a woman who can get hurt too, you know! I’ll come back later, so you’d better be ready to confess the whole truth by then!!”
If you’re going to leave, then just leave already.
Nephthea spun around with an angry huff and disappeared into the festival crowd.
Despite how she acted, she was someone who held an important position in the kingdom.
If she had just stood beside me and spoken a few words, there might have been a chance. It seemed I had ruined any goodwill from the very beginning.
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped me involuntarily.
I rubbed my aching shin while watching the passersby.
The realization that I would have to spend the entire day with these foul-smelling mosses brought tears to my eyes.
—.
A deep orange hue.
The sky was slowly being dyed in that color.
Every corner of the village was filled with colorful lanterns and people with bright expressions.
The sight of festival-goers waiting for the spectacular night sky show was like a painting of pure happiness.
In this dazzling place, the only spot cast in shadow was probably mine alone.
“You still at it? Just pack up and go drink. Forget about it, kid.”
“Haha… I suppose I should…?”
The merchants at the neighboring stalls tossed out a few words as they passed by.
The festival had reached its final stretch.
The merchants, too, were gradually packing up their goods, the air thick with the mood of heading off to enjoy the last night.
“Haa…”
I had kept telling myself that not giving up was important, but in the end, this was nothing but stubborn pride.
Even I wasn’t entirely convinced by my own words.
The original storyline had already changed.
I was even beginning to doubt the future in which the disease would spread.
Maybe “swindler” really was the correct label.
“…This is hopeless.”
I looked down at the handful of ash-gray moss in my hand and let out a hollow laugh.
Just drink and forget.
It was actually pretty good advice.
Let’s call it here.
With that thought, I was about to rise from my chair when—
Tap.
Tap—.
The clear sound of heels cutting through the festival noise.
Just as I was about to close up shop, someone approached my stall.
Was it Nephthea again?
“…”
When I looked up, it wasn’t her.
I couldn’t see the face.
It was a figure wearing a black robe.
The person simply stood there, silently looking down at my stall.
“Ah, are you here to buy? Ha… This was supposed to be necessary when a plague breaks out in the northern regions, you see—.”
Jingle.
“—Truly. To see the world ahead of its time is to defy one’s own fate. It is to betray the heavens and hasten one’s own calamity.”
“…Excuse me?”
What was this person suddenly talking about?
The murmuring from beneath the black robe did not stop.
“Long ago, the twelfth sage of Paradise in the far south spoke thus: Do not attempt to fathom the celestial laws of the stars with your meager intellect. What is permitted to us is merely to follow the afterimages of the sun and moon, and to revere the trajectory of the ages.”
“Thus it is said: Do not stray from the fate granted to you.”
“Thus it is said: Do not wield excessive power.”
“Thus it is said: Do not deviate from the predetermined path of heaven.”
Flutter—.
The black hood was thrown back, revealing a woman who seemed to carry pure white within her.
Beneath the shadows, eyes that stared directly at twilight reflected the lantern light and met my gaze.
Shing—.
“—!?”
A cold sensation touched the nape of my neck.
It was only a moment later that I realized something had made contact.
When I lowered my eyes, a crimson blade—carved as if from a blood-mixed night sky—seemed to be measuring my very soul.
It was like a guillotine of judgment.
“—You. How is it that you know of the trial that will be given to the north before the stars have even spoken?”
“To see ahead is to defy fate.”
“To know the north’s trial before the stars declare it—”
“—is a sin that invites calamity.”
