Useless Now
Useless Now
Abandoned by her parents, unable to get along with anyone because of her appearance, she lived alone by magic deep in the mountains.
That was when Erpa first met Tudel—by chance, when Tudel climbed the mountain to gather magical ingredients.
"Who are you? Why is a girl living all alone in a mountain like this?"
Erpa hesitated to show herself when her hideout was discovered.
After all, she was hideous.
It was obvious Tudel would run away, too, once she saw her.
"The spells hanging around these caves... they're primitive, but incredibly powerful. It doesn't look like you've ever learned magic from anyone. If you can control magic at this level without any training, you're a genius among geniuses."
But Tudel was different.
She was the first woman who ever praised Erpa.
She looked at the magic Erpa had been using without understanding any of it and called it remarkable, outstanding.
She was lonely.
There was no way living alone in the mountains could be pleasant.
That first praise let Erpa open her heart to Tudel just a little.
"You're an interesting kid, aren't you? I'll come visit again."
Tudel said that and disappeared.
And she kept her promise.
After that, she often came to see Erpa.
One month.
After a month of Tudel coming to visit, Erpa finally opened her heart.
Cautiously, she showed Tudel her appearance, and Tudel didn't flinch in the slightest—she was remarkably composed.
"Your appearance is certainly different from ordinary people. I'm curious. Why did you end up that way?"
Tudel treated Erpa with steady composure.
She wasn't shocked, and she didn't scream or reject her the way other people did.
She was Erpa's first friend.
For the first time, someone understood her.
After that, Erpa met with Tudel often.
Tudel taught her letters, taught her the fundamentals of magic, and told her stories about the world.
Tudel was a teacher and a friend to her.
Maybe about a year passed.
"I've figured out why your arms and eyes are like that."
Tudel suddenly dropped that remark.
"Inside your body, an immense magical talent lies dormant. Talent that's almost excessive, I'd say. You might even describe it as a level that should never be granted to a human. In exchange for that overwhelming talent, your body overdeveloped. Extra eyes. Extra arms. It's the price for a blessed gift."
Tudel stroked Erpa's head.
"I've searched through the entire history of the Magic Tower, and yours is the first case like this. But what's clear is that you're not a monster. You're just an unlucky witch whose talent was too great to control. But people won't see you that way."
Tudel handed her a book.
Having been taught to read by Tudel, Erpa could understand the book's contents without much difficulty.
The book was about evil god worshippers and demon cultists—and about wicked mages and witches who made contracts with demons and wielded black magic, the magic of hell.
Tudel opened the book to a page and showed Erpa.
"The Chosen of the Evil God. The One with a Thousand Faces. Or the high priests of the evil god cults serving under them. They're vile beings called Calamity Bearers or Abominations. And their defining trait is having many eyes on their bodies."
Tudel lightly tapped Erpa's left cheek.
"If people see the left side of your face, they'll label you an Abomination. They will absolutely never see you as someone whose body overdeveloped because of extraordinary magical talent. It's such a rare condition, never even reported in the Magic Tower, that they'll have no choice but to misunderstand."
Those words frightened Erpa.
She didn't want to live like that.
She wanted to live freely among people.
So Erpa asked Tudel.
How could that happen?
Couldn't she fix her body with magic?
Two arms instead of four.
One pair of eyes instead of dozens.
At that, Tudel made Erpa an offer that was hard to refuse.
"Would you like to make a contract with me, Erpa? Your magical talent is beyond human. Something more than genius. I need your talent. To succeed at the Magic Tower, I need to publish a number of outstanding studies, and your talent could be a tremendous help to me. And you want to fix your body."
Tudel carefully extended her hand to Erpa.
"If you help me just a little, in return I'll arrange a space for you right in the middle of the capital. Somewhere no one will ever notice. I'll give you proper equipment and magic books there. Do your research. With your magical talent, you might even find a way to heal yourself."
Erpa felt her heart pound at those words.
She could be healed.
She could escape her appearance and return to a proper, ordinary-looking form.
It was what she had dreamed of.
Her deliberation didn't last long.
There was no reason at all to refuse Tudel's words.
"Good. Then the deal is made?"
She remembered Tudel smiling brightly.
Erpa smiled back at her.
Tudel was a good woman.
She always looked after her and helped her find a way to fix her own appearance.
A teacher and friend she was grateful and thankful for.
That was what Erpa had believed all this time.
And she had thought that belief would never change.
But today.
Erpa felt that faith shatter.
"...Tudel."
One evening.
Erpa broke her promise to Tudel.
She walked out of the secret laboratory set up in one corner of Tudel's room—the room she had sworn never to leave—and faced Tudel with a terrifying expression.
"I succeeded in stabilizing it. The magic circuit you talked about will now operate stably."
"What are you doing? I told you not to come out! What if someone sees you!"
Tudel raised her voice, but Erpa paid no attention.
"This magic circuit... what in the world does it do? Why does it resemble the circuits inside my body? This amplification circuit... what is it for?"
At Erpa's accusing question, Tudel's expression hardened coldly for the first time.
"You don't need to know, Erpa. You just have to carry out the tasks I assign you, the same as always."
Even at Tudel's cold voice, Erpa didn't stop.
"It's a technique that forcibly amplifies the mana circuits inside the body. A technique that forcibly raises magical talent, isn't it? This?"
Tudel let out a sigh at her words.
"Why in the world does that matter, Erpa?"
"If you use this technique to forcibly increase mana circuits, the subject whose circuits are increased will develop exactly the same symptoms as me. Extra limbs will sprout, multiple eyeballs will burst out... they'll be mistaken for an Abomination, just like me, and live a miserable life."
At that, Tudel approached Erpa with a smiling face.
"I'll handle it. Erpa. You don't need to worry. You just have to diligently perform the research I give you. Don't think beyond that. Understood?"
"Who do you intend to use this technique on? Not on yourself, I assume—you're a known member of the Magic Tower. You're going to use it on someone else, aren't you?"
"Erpa."
"Tell me! Tudel! You're trying to mass-produce people like me, aren't you!!"
Tudel walked to the sofa and sat down as if annoyed.
She lit a cigarette and exhaled a long stream of smoke.
"That's right. That was my plan."
Erpa stared at Tudel with a shocked expression.
"Why... why? You know how I've lived, don't you? You know perfectly well, and yet you're going to mass-produce people like that?"
"I was going to bring in a few hopeless pieces of garbage, apply the technique, and observe their reactions. In the process, I planned to research a way to amplify mana circuits stably—without causing physical deformation."
Tudel shrugged.
"Through that, I intended to become a greater witch than I am now."
"Tudel... Tudel, how could you! How could you even think that!"
As Erpa screamed, Tudel carefully approached her.
She stroked Erpa's head.
"Let's just keep doing what we've been doing. Erpa. It's nothing special, is it? Just go on as before. You quietly do your research in there—research how to fix your body."
Tudel grinned.
It was the same pretty smile she always wore, but to Erpa, her smile no longer looked beautiful.
"Think of how much I've done for you all this time. I risked being mistaken for an Abomination to get you magic books. I acquired all sorts of magical equipment. I kept your secret and helped you, didn't I? We're friends, aren't we? It's just a friend trying to advance a little further. Is that really something to overreact to this much?"
"Get off me!"
Erpa roughly smacked Tudel's hand away.
Her eyes were filled with despair and rage.
"You're talking about human experimentation! You're talking about making more people who share the same suffering as me! Do you think I'd tolerate that? Using my research and effort for that kind of... that kind of horrible thing—absolutely not! I won't allow it!"
Annoyance flared in Tudel's eyes.
"I'll handle it reasonably, Erpa. Go back into the laboratory."
"No. I can't go back in. You're going to discard all the amplification technique research you're doing right now and swear you'll never use it again! Otherwise, I absolutely won't go back in!"
"Erpa!"
Tudel's voice grew heated.
She glared at Erpa but soon exhaled a sigh and turned away.
"Fine. We'll talk later."
"I'll report it. I know now that human experimentation is illegal. I can report it anonymously, too."
Tudel's body went rigid.
"Mass-producing people who share my suffering—I can never accept that. Never. I'll stop it, whatever it takes. So Tudel... please don't do this."
"If you report me, what about you? You won't come out unscathed either."
At those words, Erpa faltered.
"That's why I don't want to report you if I can avoid it. So Tudel, I hope you won't push me."
Tudel and Erpa stared at each other in silence.
Tudel left her own house first, without a word.
The sound of the door closing echoed, and Tudel lit a new cigarette before starting to pace anxiously.
Human experimentation.
A technique that forcibly pumped mana circuits.
If this was discovered, she didn't know what kind of sanctions the Magic Tower would impose for violating research ethics.
Perhaps she would end up spending the rest of her life in prison.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
"That damn bitch, suddenly out of nowhere!..."
As she walked in agitation, Tudel suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
Erpa had just finished the mana circuit amplification technique.
Erpa was an unprecedented genius, but she had the flaw of being too dull and soft-hearted.
On top of that, she had now declared she would sabotage a magic experiment that Tudel absolutely had to carry out.
What if she found someone smarter, someone who listened to her better, someone who wouldn't hesitate to carry out unethical work if necessary—implanted the technique into that person, created a subject with magical talent on Erpa's level, and had them replace Erpa's position?
In a short time, Tudel finished her calculations.
And she had no difficulty concluding that it would be more advantageous.
Erpa was no longer useful.