Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 1 - Makia and Thor (Part 3)
When we returned to the Deliafield mansion, Mother came out to greet us along with her snake familiar.
And, she looked surprised in her own Mother way. “My, my,” she said.
“Who exactly is this child? I have thought you would buy something no good, but I’m shocked that you bought a boy of all things. Explain this situation, Elliot.”
“I bought him because Makia boasted that she would borrow money from me. His name is Thor. Makia named him as well.”
“My, how amusing!”
“I thought you’d find it amusing, Julia.”
My parents started flirting with each other, so I took Thor’s hand and led him to the bath.
In the bathroom, Damian, our servant, was cleaning.
“Good heavens, Young Mistress Makia. Who exactly is this dirty child?”
“He’s a slave we bought on the black market.”
“You bought a slave?? This is a wicked deed that is befitting a witch of the O’Drielle family. Are you planning to sacrifice him for something?”
“No, we’re not doing that. I think Father will probably make him a servant as well as pupil. Oh, give him a bath. I’ll get his clothes ready and bring the salve.”
I hurriedly ran out of the bathroom.
“Servant as well as pupil, eh. Hey, what’s your name?”
“...Thor.”
“Age?”
“Probably twelve.”
That kid was crabby and unsociable, but he properly said the name I gave him.
After the bath, he then got his hair cut by Mother.
“My, look, Makia. You’re surprisingly weak for good looks.”
I hadn’t noticed because of this kid’s unkempt hair and tattered clothes, but it seemed that he was a handsome boy with pleasant features. When his hair was cut short and evenly, I felt that his almond shaped, cool eyes with double eyelids resembled someone very much, but I couldn’t remember who that was…
“You’re very thin, but if you eat properly and train, you will surely become a good-looking young man. Appearances are important for magicians. Being beautiful is magic in itself.”
“...Haa.”
Even Thor was being overwhelmed by Mother’s somewhat captivating aura.
Yes, that was what magic was.
Mother was a bewitching beauty, but that very beauty was tinged with magical power, and she was able to have people at her mercy just by speaking or standing or walking.
Even after cutting Thor’s hair, she cheerfully said, “Let’s treat him to a delicious evening meal,” while leaving the room. Mother was the mistress of the house, but she liked cooking, and apparently she couldn’t stand the free time if she didn’t do it, so she stood in the kitchen herself.
“Thor, I’ll heal your wounds.”
I brought with me the O’Drielle family’s special magic potion, the “Ribito Salve.” It was a soft ointment, and when I smeared it on his festering blue ankles that were chained, the wounds immediately healed.
The rest of his injuries were from being punched and kicked. He had cuts and bruises all over his body.
“How do you feel? It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“Change your clothes too. We don’t have boys here, so you’ll have to wear Father’s old childhood clothes, sorry.”
Even so, just by tidying up his hair and putting on some decent clothes, it was hard to believe he was a slave boy just a short while ago, and his appearance even had an air of refinement.
Maybe it was because his appearance was put in order, and he had a mature air about him for a twelve-year-old.
“Is this your idea of compassion, young miss?”
However, Thor looked at me in the mirror and laughed a scornful laugh filled with sarcasm.
“You show compassion to me and tidy me up like this. You feel sure that I’ll be happy because of that. I should say one or two words of thanks, yes?”
“That’s…”
I think Thor wanted to say that it was my own egoism.
It was reasonable that he would think that. Ultimately, there was no changing the fact that I bought Thor from a slaver, and for Thor, his buyer just became someone else.
“It’s true that...I borrowed money from my parents to buy you. I won’t deny that. But, it’s because you have magical power.”
“Magic? Will you help if someone can use magic? There were plenty of slaves in that place. Those poor children who were much clumsier and got treated more horribly than me!”
“That’s right. But, you’re the only one I was able to discover.”
This might be terribly unfair.
However, even if I lied, this kid could probably see through it. He wouldn’t trust me.
“It was only because you had magical powers that I could discover you. I knew with just one look. You aren’t a kid who should be allowed to die as a slave in that place.”
And then, I said that name.
“Because, this is the world of ‘Maydare.’”
Maydare. It was generally magicians who called this world by that name.
The first magician in this world named it so.
“...Maydare?”
“It’s the general name for this world. Apparently, the general public had already forgotten it, though. Maydare is a world where the great historical magicians of each country have moved the times, for better or for worse.”
I took out a children’s storybook from the bookcase in the room, and had Thor sit on the sofa.
“Do you know the story of the ‘Hero of Fraxinus’?” (TN: Fraxinus is the scientific name for ash trees)
Thor stayed silent for a while and stared at the cover of my book, but then finally shook his head.
However, there was a hint of interest in his eyes.
“Five hundred years ago, there were three great magicians in this world. The first was the ‘Black Demon King,’ the second was the ‘White Sage,’ and the third was the ‘Scarlet Witch.’ Their power struggle eventually created a war that engulfed the world. It was a big magical war from five hundred years ago. It’s said to have boosted Maydare’s magic techniques all at once…”
The beasts of the snow kingdom
Their limbs broken and bound
Enslaved by the Black Demon King
The spirits of the lake
Tricked into a pot and boiled
Until they pledged allegiance to the White Sage
The beautiful maidens
Burned at the stake until they are ash
The Scarlet Witch’s jealousy was as crimson as hellfire
Ah, how terrifying
The magicians beyond the door!
The first page began with that nursery rhyme.
It’s a song every child in Ruschia knew, but it seemed that it was lost on Thor.
“Who’s the Hero of Fraxinus?”
“He’s the young man who stopped the rampage of the three magicians. With a golden sword in his hand, he was accompanied by his four comrades and defeated the three magicians.”
In children’s stories, that process was portrayed in a very simple way in order for children to understand.
The Hero of Fraxinus first defeated his own teacher, the “White Sage.”
And finally, he was swallowed up in the self-destruction of the most villainous of them all, the Scarlet Witch, and died.
Thus, the world became peaceful with the hero’s life as a foundation stone.
“The ancestor of us, the O’Drielle house, is the ‘Scarlet Witch,’ one of those three magicians. In that great war five hundred years ago, a huge hole was made in the center of Maydare.”
“The Scarlet Witch...I might have heard of her.”
“Is that so? She’s the worst witch in the world. Thanks to that, she became a synonym for scaring children.”
The “Scarlet Witch,” the ancestor of the O’Drielle family, caused a huge explosion in the final battle which the ‘Hero of Fraxinus’ got caught up in.
Maybe it was because we inherited that power, but the girls of the O’Drielle family like me have a high possibility of being blessed by【Fire】. That was why I was easily able to use the heat magic that melted Thor’s feet chains.
“In this world, magical talent can be a force that moves the world, in a good and bad sense. If there’s something you don’t like, isn’t it better to hone your magic, become a great magician, and change the world? Just like those three magicians.”
I closed the book with a thud.
I wonder if any great magician who went down in history accomplished something in the hope of changing this world.
Embracing their ideals, and chasing their dreams…
No matter what end they met and their name ended up getting passed down through history as that of a villain.
“...You’re quite a strange one, miss.”
“Is that so? I’m deeply serious, though.”
Letting out a giggle, I turned towards Thor again and placed my hand against my chest.
“Let me introduce myself again. My name is Makia O’Drielle. 【Fire】magic is my strongest magic, and I love studying potions. Also, I have the special skill of being able to sleep anywhere. This wicked-looking face of mine is surely something I inherited from the ‘Scarlet Witch.’ After all, I am the descendant of the world’s worst witch.”
Even if I was the descendant of the most hated and despised witch in this world, I thought of that as something to be proud of. Therefore, I want to treasure what I have inherited from my ancestor and become a great witch like her.
“If you get bound in chains again, then I’ll melt them for you without fail.”
I extended my hand to “Thor,” who I named today.
“That’s why, let’s aim to become great magicians who can move Maydare together. I’ve always been looking for that ‘someone’ to uplift each other with.”
Thor stared at my hand for a minute.
“...Haa. Understood, miss. I’ll go along with you for the time being. It seems surprisingly interesting.”
Smiling his usual sarcastic-looking smile, he ended up taking my small hand.
Perhaps the ambition to use me to rise to a higher position in the world at least had lit up in his heart.
This world was Maydare, where magicians determined its fate even in the present day.
At that time, we had no way of knowing that the encounter between Thor and I would greatly influence Maydare’s future history.
•o•)9 book thor is so fearless too
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