Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Eye of Lethe
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The caravan leader's name was Zigrat. He welcomed Durel, whom I'd brought along, with immense delight. Even though Durel wasn't joining for escort duty but simply traveling with me, it was the same.
He bowed his head deeply, promising unlimited food and bedding for the duration of our journey together.
'Being a mage in this world is an incredible privilege...'
Just by revealing that Durel was a mage, I'd secured promises of food and lodging.
I never even considered the hypothetical that I wasn't a mage.
Raymond had told me.
A mage must always see themselves as special.
Never think back to the days before becoming one.
'I have to treat this situation as normal...'
That's how a mage protects their own world.
Just in case, I stood watch in front of the inn until moments before the caravan's departure, but Raymond never showed up.
"You should go now..."
I turned at the voice calling me. There stood one of the caravan staff and Durel. They were delaying the start because of me.
I knew I was being a nuisance, but my feet wouldn't move. After hesitating for a long while, I finally opened my mouth and turned away.
"Yeah. Let's go."
It felt like I was the only one who'd noticed Raymond's absence. In reality, the caravan proceeded steadily without him, and nothing happened even as I climbed into the carriage.
The only change was that the person riding with me had switched from Raymond to Durel.
Soon, the carriage set off.
Inside the jostling carriage, as I gazed out the window, a sudden thought struck me, and I turned to Durel. He seemed tense about riding with me, his face stiff as he kept glancing my way.
"Durel."
"Yes!"
"Am I intimidating?"
"To be honest... yes! A little...!"
What kind of person must I seem to Durel? I pulled my gaze from the window and gave a light smile. Seeing the boy so on edge naturally brought back memories from my past life.
Back when I was in the military, my junior at the outpost had been just like this.
"You know your letters well, right?"
"Pardon? Well, I wouldn't say I'm confident..."
At any rate, he definitely knew them better than the innkeeper. I pulled a book from my bag and said to him,
"Teach me your letters."
"Letters...? You mean... letters?"
"Yeah. I don't know them well."
"But... how do you do magic without knowing letters? Are you joking...?"
I simply looked at Durel without a word. Realizing there wasn't a hint of falsehood in my gaze, he gaped blankly.
"Will you teach me?"
"Ah, yes... I'll teach you."
In the end, Durel was stuck teaching me letters. He didn't drop his wary, suspicious look, but seeing my seriousness, he began teaching in earnest.
Unlike Raymond, Durel had a real talent for instruction. My reading skills, which hadn't improved much under Raymond, started advancing noticeably with each study session alongside Durel.
"That's read as 'Quimir...'"
"Quimir... What does it mean?"
"It's the name of a mage from an old tale."
"And this one?"
"That's..."
In return, I began teaching Durel magic. Well, calling it teaching magic was a bit misleading.
What I was showing him were various applications of illusion magic.
"The human brain is a wondrous thing. Even if something doesn't exist, create a believable scenario around it, and the brain will perceive and accept it as real."
"Y-Yes..."
"Well, if replicating what I did is too hard, starting with something simple isn't bad. Remember when you threw that rock at me?"
"Yes..."
"What if you tried it from very close range? Not summoning an actual rock, of course... Yeah, like this, for example."
I stopped explaining, stood up, and circulated my mana. I envisioned my right arm. Soon, mana flowing out from within me formed a hazy shape.
A small, cute girl's hand.
But this too was an intangible illusion. Just mana shaped into a form. The hand appeared overlapping my real one, scattering faint afterimages.
I moved both the created hand and my real one together. Then, my right hand split left and right, pointing in opposite directions simultaneously.
"That's..."
"Which one's the real hand?"
Fortunately, Durel was very quick on the uptake. Show him one thing, and he grasped five. He stood, drew a dagger from his waist.
'He gets it...'
Most illusion mages I'd seen in my past life attacked that way. Con artists who mixed truth and falsehood to deceive the eye and senses alike.
Not masterful yet, but there were signs of progress. Durel mimicked me, creating a new arm and moving it with his real one.
The two hands gripping the dagger moved up and down, left and right.
After swinging the created arm a few times, Durel let out a long breath and slumped back down. Wiping sweat from his brow, he said to me,
"That's quite a difficult spell... I'd need a proper Erkamon formula..."
"Oh?"
"Um... if it's not too much trouble... could you share the Erkamon for this spell...?"
There was no such thing. Erkamon served as a crutch for a mage's weak imagination, a sort of guide. For simply manifesting a mental image outward, no elaborate Erkamon was needed.
"There's no such thing."
"I see... Of course... I'll have to figure it out myself."
Durel nodded at my answer and closed his eyes. He seemed to have misunderstood me.
'But really, there isn't...'
Two weeks had passed since leaving the nameless second city. The moon and sun in the sky had cycled about fourteen times, no doubt.
The carriage, racing through narrow forest and mountain paths, now traversed wide plains. After galloping along the open road for a good while, its speed began to slow.
"Looks like we'll rest here for the night."
"Hm..."
I pressed against the window, peering out for a long time. The carriage had stopped at what looked like a large campsite. Tents dotted around, with carriages and wagons forming walls like fortifications.
"Where's this?"
"Probably a public campsite. A place made for any traveler to rest. First time I've seen one myself."
"Public campsite...? Who manages it? Won't places like this attract thieves? What about bandit raids?"
"It's under Lethe's watchful gaze. Nothing like that ever happens."
"Lethe..."
Lethe. The name of a forgotten entity. I looked up at the sky outside the window. Even in the bright daylight, something moon-like hung beside the sun.
What people called the Eye of Lethe.
'Like a god or something...'
The ever-cautious caravan leader Zigrat had chosen this spot. If he picked it, there must be good reason.
I stared out at the halted caravan for a while longer before opening the door and stepping outside.
'Lots of people...'
Maybe because it was a public site. Among the familiar faces, several stood out with exotic attire, a foreign air about them.
"Best not to stare too openly. Some lands take prolonged looks as a challenge to fight."
"You know everything, Durel."
"Not everything... just what I know..."
"Mage...!"
Then, Zigrat, the caravan leader, approached us mid-conversation. Even though I'd clearly told him my name, he still called me "Mage."
"What is it?"
"Ah, well... To claim a good spot, the caravan's strength matters... So, I was wondering if it's okay to mention your presence... That's why I came."
I glanced at Durel at Zigrat's words. He nodded as if he'd known, then spoke.
"It's common at public campsites... I read about it in a book."
"Do we really need a prime spot? We could just settle somewhere decent, like before..."
Mid-sentence, I frowned and trailed off. I'd realized something. I'd been thinking too selfishly. My comfortable sleeps so far had been thanks to the caravan's carriage.
Aside from folks like leader Zigrat, most bedded down on the bare ground during camps.
"Well, sure. If it gets us a good spot..."
"Thank you...!"
Zigrat withdrew, deeply moved by my response. I watched him go, then turned.
And found Durel wearing a faint smile.
"Master has a really good personality."
"...Calling me 'Master' is a bit embarrassing..."
That evening, just as Zigrat said, our group secured the largest tent. Inside, soft straw bedding was laid out, and everyone was thrilled.
'Hm...'