“Alright, I think I should be heading home now.” Arti indicated her intention to leave as night fell, signaling that time was running out. Rustiara puffed out her cheeks in response.
“Ehh, let’s play more!”
“No, no. I have to attend classes at the academy tomorrow. I can’t play for too long.” Arti replied apologetically to Rustiara. Maria echoed the same sentiment.
“Ah, I’ll be going home too. I don’t have anything I need to do, and since you’re going, Arti, I’ll go with you.” Maria hadn’t spent any money after her meal. Perhaps because of this, she spent a lot of time talking with Arti, who also wasn’t trying to spend money. It might be because they grew closer during that time that they decided to leave together.
“Hmm. Maria, I’ll personally escort you home. Christ and Rustiara, you two can enjoy yourselves a little longer.” When Arti offered to walk Maria home, Maria accepted with a smile. It seemed that a friendship had blossomed between them while Rustiara and I were causing a ruckus. After Rustiara complained a bit, Arti and Maria departed without any further issues.
Then, it was just the two of us, and Rustiara called out to me with a smile.
“If Maria’s not here, should we go all out?”
“Hmm. No, I’m a bit tired myself.” While our base stamina was enhanced by our levels, there were limits.
“I know, me too. How about we look for some interesting food and chat leisurely?”
“That sounds reasonable. …Oh, right. If possible, could you tell me about this world? I can’t ask anyone other than Rustiara about such things, so this is a good opportunity.”
“I can, but… you’re hiding the fact that you’re a ‘Foreigner,’ so it’s like this. There’s no need to hide something like that, is there?”
“There’s no precedent for it in the past. If it gets out, I don’t know what they’ll do to me, so I have to be careful. …So, please don’t say that word in a crowd like this.” Rustiara casually used the word ‘Foreigner’ in the middle of the crowd. In my world’s past, there were witch hunts and inquisitions. Even today, if extraterrestrial life were discovered, I’d likely become a guinea pig. Even with my limited knowledge, I knew that being a ‘Foreigner’ was comparable to being an extraterrestrial. It was a sufficient possibility to warrant my fearful stomping. So, I urged Rustiara to choose her words carefully.
“Christ, you’re really timid. Got it. I’ll avoid saying it as much as possible. But I think you should tell Maria sooner rather than later.”
“Maria? Why?”
“Why? Because she’s a ‘Companion,’ right? Don’t companions share their secrets?”
“She’s a ‘Companion,’ yes. But that’s a different matter.”
“Oh, really… So that’s how you feel, Christ. Heh, well, if that’s what you say, then it’s fine by me.” Even as ‘Companions,’ I didn’t feel inclined to readily reveal secrets. When I said that, Rustiara nodded happily several times.
Seeing Rustiara so happy, I felt a sense of unease. When Rustiara is happy like this, it usually means she’s thinking of something that isn’t good for ordinary people. I asked her what she was thinking.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No, no, nothing’s wrong. In fact, it’s good. Yes, even among ‘Companions,’ we don’t have to talk about everything, do we?” For Rustiara, ‘good’ meant that something ‘not good’ would happen to me. It’s best to avoid whatever Rustiara enthusiastically recommends. I learned that much from our short acquaintance. So, I retracted my earlier statement.
“…If the opportunity arises, I’ll tell Maria. Maria is a ‘Companion,’ after all.”
“Eh, you’ll tell her? …Well, if that’s the case, then fine.” Rustiara looked a bit disappointed but quickly perked up, her face brightening. Then, she began to talk about the world, as I had initially suggested.
“Well then, shall I tell you about this world? However, it’s difficult to know where to begin.” That was certainly true. If I were asked to explain my own world, I wouldn’t be able to do so immediately.
“No, you don’t have to explain everything at once. I know it’s difficult, and I don’t expect you to understand everything right away. Just little by little, starting with something familiar. For example… if you could expand on the story of this festival. I’ll learn about customs and common sense gradually from there.”
“This festival, huh… That’ll be easier to talk about. Although my practical experience is limited, I have plenty of knowledge.” Rustiara continued, gazing around with emotion. “This festival is the eve of someone’s Christmas festival. This eve lasts for about a week, and on the Christmas festival day, a grand ceremony is held at the Great Cathedral of Fuziaze. It’s a festival with meaning, like giving thanks to God and attracting good things with this commotion.”
“I see. My world has something similar, so I understand. Do you have such events several times a year?”
“Yes. The Allied Nations’ bishops – Revannism has many saints, you see. There are three Christmas festivals alone, and many other festivals to honor the gods. This one is one of those major Christmas festivals.”
“Wow…” Even though the customs were different, it was similar to my world. Although the stars and roots were different, people probably thought similarly when they lived.
“This time it’s the Christmas festival of Saint Tiara Fuziaze. She is said to be the saint who laid the foundation for magic on the continent—”
“Wait. I was bothered by this earlier too… aren’t the names a bit too close for comfort?” I interrupted her flow. Rustiara, whose origins were already suspicious, felt a bad premonition from her name being similar to that of the saint.
“That’s right. That Saint Tiara *is* ‘I’.” And Rustiara perfectly confirmed my uneasy premonition.
“Haa…” Having somewhat expected it, my shock was somewhat suppressed. Still, it was undeniably troublesome. I let out a sigh and urged Rustiara to continue.
“Of course, I’m not the saint herself. After all, she’s from hundreds of years ago. It’s just that my body is the same as hers. My spirit is different.”
“Your body is the same… That alone is terrifying. What is that, can you do that kind of thing with magic in this world?”
“Yes, you can. It seems that by spending a vast amount of money, time, and magic power, they were able to create the same body as that saint. Ah, human ambition is scary.” I felt a mix of fear and exasperation. In the end, it was the same principle as cloning or cell manipulation technology in my world. Civilizations might differ, but their ultimate thoughts seemed similar.
“Magic can do that much… And why did you recreate Saint Tiara’s body? Of course, there must have been a reason.”
“Hmm, of course, there are various reasons. But I can’t tell you more than this. If I explain further, I’ll have to explain my mysterious and interesting parts.” Rustiara became stingy when it came to herself. As she had said before, she seemed to enjoy the romance of revealing her identity little by little. However, at this point, it was bothering me, so I caught her on her previous words.
“Hey. Didn’t you say companions share secrets?”
“Yes, I did. And I still think so. So, let’s do this. If Christ properly tells Maria that he is ‘Uzunami,’ then I’ll tell you about ‘my Tiara’.”
“Gak, you’d pull that card…” Although I had said I would tell Maria when the time was right, I hadn’t decided on a specific time. I had intended to postpone it as much as possible, so this deal was tough.
“Okay. But I’ll take my time to pick the right moment, so it’ll be quite a while from now.”
“You should just tell her today. Christ, you’re such a coward.”
“I’m not a coward! If you suddenly drop this kind of bombshell, Maria will be troubled. Maria is going through a lot of shock right now. She became a slave, lost so much, and hearing about my problems would just be overwhelming for her.”
“Heh heh. If Christ says so, then I suppose that’s how it is. You can take as long as you want to pick the timing.” As I desperately explained Maria’s condition, Rustiara watched me with a lukewarm gaze.
“Ah, I’ll do as I please. But, when that time comes, you absolutely have to tell me too.”
“Of course.” Having made a promise with Rustiara, I spotted a stall selling peculiar-looking food. It was roasted nuts fried in spicy-smelling oil. Thinking it was something I’d never eaten before, I suggested to Rustiara that we line up. While eating the nuts we bought together, Rustiara and I walked and continued our conversation. She couldn’t talk about herself, but she seemed to enjoy talking about history.
“Even if I can’t tell you about ‘my Tiara’ now, I can tell you about ‘the former Tiara.’ If you learn about past great figures, you’ll naturally learn about the world, which is perfect.”
“Wow, was Saint Tiara that great a figure?”
“Great is an understatement. She’s the one who established many foundations. After all, she created the first magic. And she also founded Fuziaze.”
“That’s incredible…”
“Other saints are amazing too. Most of them founded countries, saved the world, and changed history.”
“Saved the world… Saints are human, right…?”
“They are human. However, it seems saints can hear voices that others can’t. By listening to those voices and possessing knowledge that doesn’t exist in this world, they bring miracles to the continent. As a result, many people are saved, so of course, they would be revered as saints.” The definition of a saint seemed similar to that of my world. However, I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to clearly recall what saints were in my world. I vaguely thought they were called upon if noble individuals met certain conditions. The condition here seems to be “people who can hear unheard voices.”
“Unheard voices, like the voice of God?”
“No, what they hear is the voice of the large tree growing in the center of the continent… that’s what I recall. It’s called the World Tree, and it seems saints can hear voices from that tree. –Actually, you and I might be able to hear it too. We’re quite something, you know.” It was true that given our peculiar circumstances, it wouldn’t be strange if we could. If there was an opportunity, I’d want to try. If knowledge could be gained from those voices, it would be worth the effort.
“Hey, where is that World Tree located?”
“It’s far. The Allied Nations are on the periphery of the continent, after all. It’s in the Fuziaze homeland, at the center of the mainland, so it takes days and days to get there.” If I recalled correctly from my time in the library, Fuziaze homeland was across the sea and quite a distance away. It was a journey that required days of preparation. Incidentally, the homelands of the five countries belonging to the Allied Nations are all far from the Allied Nations. They are all major powers, so their capitals aren’t located at the edge of the continent. In essence, the condition for joining the Allied Nations is that they can afford to have their subsidiary countries located in remote areas without significant loss.
“That’s a shame. If it were closer, I would have tried to hear that voice and receive some miraculous power.”
“Indeed. If I could, like Saint Tiara, I might receive knowledge that forms the basis of all magic.” My companion and I drooped our shoulders. While I said it half-jokingly, Rustiara seemed to be speaking under the assumption that she could actually hear the voice. Rustiara quickly raised her head and continued talking, her dejection vanishing as quickly as it appeared. As always, she bounced back quickly. Her volatile emotions made her unsettling.
“Now that I’ve told you about Saint Tiara, next I’ll tell you about the nine attributes of magic she created. Learning about magic is important for us, whose livelihood depends on battle.”
“That’s a welcome topic for me, who uses magic by instinct. Magic didn’t exist in my world.” Although I had encountered magic in games, learning its history was a novel experience. However, upon hearing this, Rustiara’s eyes gleamed strangely.
“—Eh, magic itself doesn’t exist? In your world?”
“Ah, neither magic nor monsters exist.”
“Amazing! I, on the other hand, want to hear about that!”
“Eh? But I wanted you to teach me about magic—”
“That side of the story sounds more interesting!” I wanted to hear more about magic, but Rustiara’s interest had completely shifted to my world, leaving me in a bind. Arguing with Rustiara in this state would be difficult. Reluctantly, I began to talk about science, which was the equivalent of magic in my world. After discussing science for a while, I then told her about heroes from my world. Rustiara seemed to prefer stories about heroes and listened with great enjoyment. When the listener appears happy, the speaker also becomes more enthusiastic. I got carried away and kept talking about the history of my world to Rustiara. And after recounting over ten hero tales and eating more than that number of street foods, we finally returned home. Of course, we hadn’t talked about the nine attributes of magic at all. Upon arriving home, everyone was exhausted, and both Maria and Rustiara fell asleep almost immediately. All of us, satisfied with the festival, with smiles on our faces—
◆◆◆◆◆
The morning after enjoying the festival. As we were having breakfast in the living room, Maria, with a determined look, requested to accompany us to the labyrinth.
“I want to go to the labyrinth too…!!”
“Eh, eh? I thought we agreed Maria would prepare meals here.” I was bewildered. After much discussion, Maria’s position had finally settled. It was unexpected that she would want to get involved in the labyrinth again.
“Just for a little bit, please. Let me try. I’ve gotten stronger in these past two days…”
“Stronger?” Was she training somewhere I couldn’t see? This meant Maria hadn’t given up on exploring the labyrinth. I still couldn’t understand what Maria was thinking. Even though women’s hearts are as fickle as autumn skies, it’s hard to keep up when their moods change this rapidly. As I was puzzling over this, Rustiara whispered from behind me, “Christ, look at Maria’s skills—” As she said, I used ‘Gaze’ on her.
【Status】
Innate Skills: Keen Eye 1.45
Acquired Skills: Hunting 0.67, Cooking 1.08, Fire Magic 1.00
“F-Fire Magic…?” Maria’s skills now included ‘Fire Magic 1.00.’ It was a skill that hadn’t been there a little while ago. I was stunned by this fact. I had seen the skills of many people in this world, but I had never seen a person whose skills had increased. Even by hearsay, gaining a new skill was something that happened once in a lifetime, if at all. With an ‘Acquired Skills’ section, I had assumed it was possible for skills to increase, but I never thought Maria would acquire a skill in just a few days. As I stood there with my mouth agape, Maria, sensing my surprise, began to talk about Fire Magic.
“Ah, Master can see it, can’t you… That’s right. I was taught Fire Magic and have been practicing it all this time…”
“Taught…?”
“Yes, Arti taught me.”
“That guy?” With that answer, the doubts in my mind melted away. Arti, who had also instructed Dia, wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for Maria or Rustiara if given the chance. —However, the timing was the worst possible. Just as Maria was starting to give up on the labyrinth, she was given this thread of hope, which was an utter nuisance. As a result, she was intent on coming with us today.
“Arti taught me magic that is effective even at the twentieth floor. She also taught me various other things about using magic and its tricks…” Really, she had to go and do something so unnecessary! If she was going to teach anyone, why not teach me? Why Maria…!!
“Even though you were taught, have your usable spells increased?”
“Yes. It’s no longer just 《Firefly》.”
“Does that mean you received a Magic Stone?”
“…Yes. I received a Magic Stone.” For the last response, Maria’s voice seemed to falter slightly. Perhaps she felt guilty about receiving it, understanding how valuable Magic Stones are.
“Certainly, if my magic has increased, I’d like to see what it can do…” If her increased magic was suitable, it might provide a countermeasure against Rio Eagle on the 22nd floor. It wasn’t practical to take Maria all the way there, but there was a way to summon her when needed. When we reached the 22nd floor, we could use the magic ‘Connection’ to bring Maria, then before entering the 23rd floor, use ‘Connection’ again to send her back home. Depending on the circumstances, it could definitely be helpful… But—
“Please. Let me try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll return immediately.” Maria pleaded with a resolute gaze. I was hesitant to answer and looked to Rustiara. She was smiling faintly with amusement, showing no intention of intervening. I considered. What would happen if I nodded? What would happen if I refused? I tried to calculate the gains and losses for both sides—but then, a certain emotion got in the way. I abandoned the optimal solution and proposed a compromise.
“…Alright. However, first, we’ll confirm the newly acquired magic on the shallower floors and devise an effective strategy. Also, if the situation is no longer safe for Maria, we’ll return immediately. Understood?”
“That’s fine with me.” Maria nodded firmly. In her eyes was the determination to be useful in the labyrinth. I pondered how to quell that flame of resolve. Rustiara’s suppressed laughter behind me continued to be a nuisance. If she wasn’t going to offer advice, I wished she’d be quiet. I listened to Maria’s detailed explanation of Fire Magic and was surprised by its usefulness. From what I heard, it was beyond being simply dismissed as “useless” or “unable to keep up.” Thus, I reluctantly agreed to take Maria to the labyrinth. With Maria again, to the labyrinth—
『Day Twelve Begins』
