“From chaos, light and darkness were born, as were heaven and earth.”
This was a creation myth of the continent that Emma was reading. Marius, who had wondered why it came after the history of Firat, understood after seeing it. Compared to history books, myths had more characters and their spelling was much more complicated. If they had tackled the myths first, their motivation to master the Taliant Language would have significantly dwindled.
“Light became Nyarla, and darkness became Tindalos, and they fought greatly.”
Marius, though surprised to learn that Helka had been removed from his charge, breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he understood the reason, he was genuinely astonished.
“I can teach you now as well, so please allow me.”
Despite a slight awkwardness, Emma greeted him in comprehensible Firmiyan Language.
(Isn’t Emma like a real-life perfect superhuman?)
Marius grumbled. While Marius benefited from his buffs, Emma’s aptitude, though present, was surely the result of her own effort. Feeling a bit inferior, Marius resolved to make up for it with his actions, believing that even if the process of gaining power differed, the value of the result would be the same.
(Still, Tindalos…)
Marius was surprised by the unexpected name. Tindalos was the name of the final boss in an extra event, mentioned only by name. To find him appearing in a myth, and as a god of darkness, was utterly unexpected. Even while constantly reminding himself that this was not a game, the fact that he was surprised by new information was, he supposed, the sadness of being an Ordinary Person at heart. Incidentally, Nyarla was a name he had never heard before.
“Both gods fell, and from Nyarla were born the sun, angels, the earth, humans, and beasts, while from Tindalos were born demons, the moon, and the sea.”
He was puzzled that races like elves, dwarves, and beastmen weren’t mentioned, but decided to remain silent, thinking it was because it was a myth passed down among “humans.” After finishing the reading, he didn’t review it and instead resorted to using a grimoire.
“For you, Marius, perhaps it’s a bit too easy to get into.”
Marius readily agreed to Lovisa’s suggestion. He had no right to refuse anyway, and he was interested in the “Lovisa-style incantations.” He began studying with the intention of reviewing, but soon felt something was off. All the grimoires prepared were new. This was despite the book on creation myths being old. He wondered if they had bought them especially, but seeing new copies for Emma and Lovisa as well suggested another reason. After thinking this far, Marius remembered “Lovisa-style incantations.” He understood that if the incantations changed, the grimoires would also need to be updated. He was told to repeat after Emma and Lovisa after they read, and followed the text with his eyes. Magic doesn’t activate unless the caster intends to use it, so he could practice out loud. Emma’s white, long-for-a-woman fingers were placed on the text of Marius’s book, moving in sync with her lips.
“Fire, ignite and burn my enemies! Fire!”
“Fire… Hmm?”
The unexpected length made him pause mid-incantation.
“Is something wrong?”
Marius asked the two, who looked puzzled.
“This isn’t ‘Lovisa-style,’ is it?”
“No. It’s a kind of military secret, so it can’t be included in grimoires available to everyone,” Emma replied. She explained that unlike in the game, incantations couldn’t be memorized in just one or two practices, but publishing them in a book would be problematic.
“Marius, you can already use many spells, so I thought something around this length would be suitable for language acquisition.”
Marius nodded to Lovisa’s somewhat probing remark and answered.
“I became interested after experiencing the power of ‘Lovisa-style’ in a mock battle. I never imagined I’d end up using consecutive un-chanted spells so quickly.”
He confessed his honest feelings. Since he couldn’t be fully trusted yet, he regretted probing into what was essentially a military secret. Lovisa, though looking suspicious, answered.
“I don’t mind teaching it to you, but you won’t succeed if you suddenly use a different incantation, you know?”
Changing an incantation once you’ve become accustomed to it is difficult for a mage, and it caused considerable confusion. If the usefulness of the new incantations hadn’t been proven through the dedicated cooperation of Emma and Helka, it would have been abandoned.
“I didn’t realize back then that the reason it wasn’t easily accepted wasn’t just because it came from another continent.” Lovisa spoke self-deprecatingly, admitting she had naively thought that simply improving the incantation was enough. From her demeanor, Marius realized how difficult it was to change something ingrained in a nation. Emma, to change the somewhat gloomy atmosphere, spoke up.
“Then let’s just try it. Burn, fire!”
Marius continued, intending to test it himself, thinking it was still short.
“Burn! 【Fire!】”
A pale blue fireball shot from Marius’s palm.
“… Huh?”
Lovisa looked as if she had seen something unbelievable. Emma, while not surprised, tensed slightly and shot him a stern look. Marius himself was, of course, surprised. If he hadn’t intended to stop it in his palm just in case, he would have killed Lovisa by now.
“Normally, it doesn’t succeed on the first try, but well, Marius is an exception.” Though Lovisa’s compliment was hollow, Marius didn’t feel like blaming her. In the game, failure on the first try would be considered a bug, but this was reality. Every time he found a difference between the game and reality, he thought this, so why was it the same in this case?
(Could it be that magic-related things are like this?)
He was referring to the Sage buff he had recently discovered. Still, he had many things he couldn’t identify, like berries, so Marius let out a sigh and extinguished the fireball. As he considered what excuse to give to Emma, who had a stern expression, Emma spoke first.
“Whether intentionally or not, Marius, you have proven that you are either not human from this country, or not from the Taliant Continent.”
“Eh, is that how it is?” he thought, but swallowed his words. If it were true, why would she point it out so deliberately at this moment? Unlike Lovisa, who seemed good-natured and easy to handle, the super-human maid left no room for carelessness. Her current statement seemed to carry a meaning Marius couldn’t imagine.
“Marius, if you master the Taliant Language, various individuals will try to manipulate you with sweet words for various reasons. If you are not careful with your words and actions, it could lead to many misfortunes.”
“Ah, I’ll be careful.” He felt troubled by being called careless, but if asked whether it was necessary, he’d have to answer no. It wouldn’t be good to be misunderstood by strange individuals. To avoid further lowering Emma’s and Lovisa’s evaluation of him, he felt he needed to be mindful. Thinking that Emma’s stern expression might be due to his own carelessness, Lovisa clapped her hands lightly to draw their attention.
“Let’s refocus and move on to the next. The storehouse of ice, time for it to stop and preserve its state, Freezing!”
A spell he didn’t know suddenly came up, but he had just resolved to be careful with his actions. He managed to keep his surprise from showing. Judging from the incantation and the words, it seemed to be a spell for cold storage. In the game, item bags were common, so it was a type of magic that wasn’t necessary. If that was the case, were there other spells or jobs that didn’t exist in the game? For Marius, a game lover and fantasy enthusiast, this was an exciting development.
“Marius, please concentrate.”
“Sorry.”
He suspected their evaluation of him was in decline.
During a break, an unknown black-haired maid brought tea. After serving, she bowed and left without a word. She had beast ears, so she was probably a beastman. Thinking she was quite cute, he took a sip. The cocoa tea was delicious, but not as good as the previous one.
“Hmm. Yesterday’s was more delicious.” Marius tried to show he had a discerning palate, using it as a conversation starter.
“Thank you for saying so.”
“Emma used to make it until now.” Emma expressed her gratitude, and Lovisa revealed the reason. Marius guessed that she was likely removed from serving tea because she had become his instructor. The conversation then shifted, and he managed to learn that Lovisa liked rose water and Emma liked lemon tea. For Marius, this was a small step forward. The conversation broadened, touching upon food culture and professions like summoners. Seeing the flow, Marius brought up the topic he was most curious about.
“By the way, how do you heat the bathwater? It doesn’t seem like the type where you stoke a fire, but is it a Magic Item?”
The public bath was as spacious as those in first-class accommodations. It was impossible to manage with human power alone. When he was in the forest, he had to endure without the conveniences he longed for, but as someone from a nation of bath lovers, he had to ask. Lovisa replied.
“We use a Magic Item, but it doesn’t heat the water. We draw and use hot spring water.”
“Hot spring?” Marius’s question was about whether digging for hot springs and laying pipes was possible with the technology of this world, or rather, this country. But Lovisa misunderstood.
“Yes. The principle is unknown, but if you dig about a thousand meters underground, hot water springs up. We draw it up with pipes.”
“Digging a thousand meters underground to draw water is amazing technology!” Marius nodded in admiration, thinking this world also possessed such technology, but Lovisa denied it.
“No. They say it was dug using a type of Magic Item. An item from the Old World.”
“Old World?” He was bothered by the expression, but immediately recalled the history.
“Ah, once the Demon King Zagan…”
“Yes, the storage bag, compass, advanced Magic Items, and many other physical objects and their manufacturing methods are said to have been lost at that time. The pipes for drawing water remain, but the items for digging were lost.” So that’s why there were strange inconsistencies in civilization, Marius realized, finally understanding. It must be that the first generation Bernhardt and Klaus Adler succeeded in sealing him before civilization was completely destroyed.
“If the first generation Bernhardt became King, is it possible Zagan is sealed in this country?” He asked, thinking it was a common trope in fiction for such a reason as monitoring the Demon Lord. Lovisa readily nodded.
“Yes. Such legends remain. However, it seems the crucial parts were lost during a major civil war…” It was understandable that Lovisa drooped her shoulders and Emma visibly scowled.
(It really happened, such a foolish thing.)
Whether knowing or not knowing Marius’s astonished feelings, Emma added bitterly.
“Now, we can only assume it might be in one of the places within the country where the ecosystem is disordered.”
Marius, who had a hunch, tried to confirm.
“Could it be the Lake of the Abyss?”
“Yes. It’s one of the candidate locations.” He had been using magic wildly in a place where a demon king might be sealed. He hadn’t felt anything like it at all, and since nothing happened despite him wreaking so much havoc there, he thought the possibility was low.
“Then, shall we go and investigate? If we’re lucky, we might find something.”
“Is that alright? I’ll have to ask His Majesty, but I would be delighted indeed.” Lovisa clasped her hands together happily. Later generations would all agree. This very event was the trigger for the “Twilight of the New World.”
