Maydare Volume 3 Chapter 3 - Demon Specimens (Part 1)

 Things are continuing to happen...

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The alliance conference ended, and the representatives from each country returned home.

It seemed that only General Kanon and Queen Shatoma’s butterfly spirit remained, but I have had little to do with them since the alliance conference.

Also, about Airi, who said she wanted to quit being the Savior.

The Guardians of the Savior had just been ordered to stay in Miladriede and have no contact with Airi. Professor Ulysses, the supervisor, decided that it would be best to leave Airi alone and not provoke her.

His Highness Gilbert, the third prince, had important diplomatic duties at the palace, so please concentrate on those.

Sir Lionel and Thor will continue to do their knightly duties, as before.

I would continue my studies at Lune Ruschia Magic School.

I had things I wanted to ask Airi, but it seems that they won’t let me see her for a while because I was considered a provocation to her. I suppose that was a given.

For that reason, we Guardians had to leave our roles for a while.

I was back to my everyday life, studying at Lune Ruschia Magic School with the rest of Garnet Team 9.

I was thrown into disorder by my encounter with General Kanon, but I would be going to the Holy Land next spring, and I would be learning many things there, whether I liked it or not.

There were a lot of things going on in the world, and the situation was unsure, but I decided that all I could do for now was to do everything I could to be prepared.

On that day, I was on the school’s herb garden island for a joint【Spirit Magic Studies】and 【Potions】class.

This was the place where we previously completed the assignment of collecting ponsidas and making magic eye drops.

Here, the students were divided into their teams and learned how to identify possible injuries in the field and how to prescribe “healing magic” and “potions” in case of an emergency.

Incidentally, healing magic was under the jurisdiction of Spirit Magic Studies.

Right now, I was applying some rudimentary healing magic to a fake cut on a doll’s leg.

“Myr vis makia——Heal. Stitch it closed.”

For example, this was a first-aid healing spell for injuries.

It closed the wound and stopped the blood flow.

If you were out in the field, there were times when you would determine which herbs you could use and make a potion on the spot. You could learn about the herbs that could be used in such cases by looking at them here on the herb garden island.

There were also detoxification spells, pain relief spells, and so on. Healing spells to heal more serious injuries and illnesses were very advanced. It was necessary to have several healing spirits and learn healing magic professionally.

In the third year of study at Lune Ruschia Magic School, students were divided into different majors, but I heard from Professor Medite that the Healing Magic Department was popular every year. Healing magicians were needed in every hospital, so you didn’t have to worry about not finding a job.

However, not everyone was suited to healing magic, and it consumed a lot of magical power at once.

It was also said that those who specialized in healing magic were generally excellent magicians.

Similarly, I was good at making potions, but I wasn’t so good at healing magic.

The stitching on the wound was messy, but more importantly, the healing effect was a little slow. For healing magic, this was a big shortcoming. In our team, Nero was the best at healing magic, but his effect was so fast that it was ten times faster than mine…

“Haa~. I’m starving!”

After the hands-on training, we had our lunch break on the island. We were starving because magic ate away at our magic power.

“I’ve heard rumors, but healing magic really is tough. Isn’t it more convenient to use potions that won’t consume your own magic power?”

Frey was completely exhausted from the training. He seemed to be doubting the meaning of healing magic.

“However, there are times when you run out of potions, as well as situations where you don’t have any with you.”

“Yeah. It’s better to learn as much healing magic as you can.”

Lapis and Nero seemed to fully understand the necessity of healing magic. It was probably because they both had experience living in other countries where, unlike the Kingdom of Ruschia, there wasn’t a full range of magic medicine.

We took a spot on the open space of the herb garden island, which was carpeted with fallen leaves, and had lunch.

When I looked up, I saw that the trees were completely bare, but it was a clear, sunny day. Even though winter was right around the corner, this warm weather was only possible in Miladriede, which was located in the very south of the Kingdom of Ruschia. 

The lunch box distributed by the school was a panini with mackerel and tomatoes.

Mackerel grilled with olive oil and salt, and tomatoes cut into thick slices, sandwiched between two pieces of slightly hard bread.

It was still slightly warm because it was wrapped with magical paper that kept it fresh.

When I took a bite, the fat and flavor of the mackerel gushed out and combined with the fresh tomatoes. It was extremely delicious. The simple seasoning of just olive oil and salt enhanced the taste of the ingredients, and the hard bread went well with the juicy ingredients, soothing my empty stomach.

Aah, it was delicious. I want to eat more.

It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough. I, who finished my lunch faster than everyone else, rummaged around my magic basket and took out a huge onigiri I had just made this morning. An onigiri with pre-made apricot umeboshi. Right after eating that, I took out a salt apple. I wiped the bright red apple with the sleeve of my robe and bit into it. Mm, a familiar taste. Delicious. 

“Makia, you’ve been eating a lot lately, haven’t you?”

“Huh?”

Lapis finally pointed it out. It was because my appetite was getting even bigger than before.

I looked around at my team and saw them all staring at me as I ate and ate.

“Y-yes, that’s right. I’ve had a huge appetite since the night of the ball…”

While feeling somewhat embarrassed, I went through my basket again and pulled out a bag of potato chips (salt and vinegar flavor), and ripped it open. I pretended not to hear Frey comment, “Oi, you’re still eating?”

Yes. Since the night of the ball, and even more after my encounter with the〈Blue Jester〉at Diemo Cathedral, my appetite for food had grown much greater than before.

“You’re just in your growing years, probably~~”

Frey said as he snacked on my chips.

“...No. It’s probably because since Makia used the〈Scarlet Witch’s〉magic, the maximum amount of magic power consumed increased. And with that, she needs to get the magical matter that creates magic power from food.”

Only Nero was seriously thinking about my increased appetite.

“Maybe you’re still making up for the magic power consumed by that magic.”

“Eh? Still…?”

I wondered how that was possible. Normally, you couldn’t use magic when you were out of magic power, and the consumed magic power was recovered in a few days.

Continuously making up for the magic power used up for one kind of magic…

“I’ve heard about it before. That kind of magic with ‘risks’ and ‘rewards.’”

“Who did you hear that from?”

“...My brother.”

A strong northerly wind blew, whipping up the colorful fallen leaves.

Nero slowly looked up at the sky, as if he were following the path of the wind.

The sky, seen through the gaps between the bare trees, was a whitish color that made me feel the end of fall and the beginning of winter.

The female hawk Fugue, Nero’s spirit, was circling in the sky leisurely.

Whenever Nero talked about his brother, he always seemed to be looking far away, like this.

“Miss Makia, do you have a minute?”

As we were disembarking at the school island’s port, I was stopped by Professor Ulysses of Spirit Magic Studies.

I wondered if there had been any change in the situation around Airi.

I told the rest of the team to go to our atelier without me and ran up to Professor Ulysses.

“Miss Makia. Could you please come to the second library tomorrow after school?”

“The second library? Isn’t that place off-limits to students?”

“I will give you special permission. There is something I would like you to see.”

“...?”

I wondered what it was that the professor wanted to show me.

What did this have to do with the role of Guardian?

“Understood.”

I found it strange, but I obediently nodded.

“Hoo hoo. I’m sure that you will be so surprised that you would not be able to stand when you see it. Hoo.”

The owl spirit Phantrome, perched on Professor Ulysses’ shoulder, clicked its beak and spoke. He had been as quiet as an ornament until now, but he suddenly started speaking, which made my shoulders jerk up in surprise.

I mean, what could make me so surprised that I wouldn’t even be able to stand? I felt a tinge of anxiety…

“Fufu, yes. …Well then, Miss Makia, I shall see you later.”

Without giving any detailed explanations, Professor Ulysses turned on his heel with a gentle smile and walked away briskly with his staff.

“...Mmm. Professor Ulysses’ air really is unique.”

I put my finger to my chin and murmured.

I didn’t know what to call it. He smelled of clear magic, as though I was standing by a quiet lake deep in the forest and breathing in the air.

Professor Ulysses was said to be the most powerful magician in the Kingdom of Ruschia, but I had yet to see his great power clearly. The only times he used magic at school was when he was showing his students how to do something.

According to rumors, if Professor Ulysses were to go all out, the natural world of Maydare would go wild, the sea would part, and the earth would split, or something.

It was hard to believe, but I was a little, no, a lot curious.

I wondered if I would one day see Professor Ulysses going all out.

The next day after school. I went to the “second library” in the woods on the western outskirts of the school island, just as Professor Ulysses had told me to do.

The second library was said to have been built at the time of the founding of Lune Ruschia Magic School, although the island is characterized by buildings from different periods and styles standing next to each other. It was an imposing hexagonal building made of grey bricks.

Normally, students were not allowed to enter the second library. 

I was getting nervous, as this was my first time going inside.

“Wow…”

The inside of the building was a little different from what I expected to see, and I couldn’t help but let out a sound of admiration.

Inside, the space was wide and deep, depressed like a tray. I felt like I was looking over the interior of the second library from on high.

Spheres emitting gentle light were floating at the top of the space, softly illuminating the interior of the library. In the center of the space, there was a huge cotton tree planted there. There was an abundance of cotton flowers growing on the tree, glowing dully as though breathing. Oh, were those luminous spheres in the air all cotton flowers from the tree?

Tall bookshelves lined up around the cotton tree.

Surprisingly, the walls of the room, all the way up to the ceiling, were covered in bookshelves. I guess the books didn’t fall to the floor because of the special levitation magic that filled this place.

“It’ll be hard to find the books you want in this library.” 

I took the stairs down to the half-underground space and stood in the library space lined by bookshelves.

Complete silence.

The scent of old paper and dust drifted in the air. This unpopular library sent shivers down my spine.

It was cold, partly because the heating wasn’t working very well. The library was dimly lit, with no light source other than the glowing cotton flowers and the sunlight shining through the windows.

More than anything, even though there was no one here, I could feel a strange sense of magic coming from everywhere.

Perhaps it was the spells written in the old books that made it so. Magic, even if it was just some traces or a string of incantations, had some kind of power.

In particular, the older an object is, the more magic power it would have. A magical antique shop or something similar could give off a similar feeling.

For that reason, students were not allowed to enter the second library, where old books were collected, without permission from a professor.

“I wonder where Professor Ulysses is.”

I looked all around, but it seemed that the professor hadn’t come here yet. I looked up at the tall bookshelves for a while, and then wandered around the library.

I wondered if there might be any interesting books here…

“Mmm…an earthquake?”

Just as I turned back to the next row of bookshelves, I felt a tremor that I could somehow feel in my body.

I panicked a little when I saw the tall bookshelves shake, but they weren’t the type of bookshelves that would fall over with a little shaking, and the anti-falling spell was immediately activated.

When I stopped where I was, the tremors stopped immediately.

Since the Kingdom of Ruschia had many volcanoes and earthquakes, no one was about to make a big fuss over a tremor of this magnitude, but…

“Ah.”

Maybe it was because of the earthquake.

There was a book lying on the floor in the aisle between the bookshelves. Curious, I walked over to it and picked it up. It was a thick, very old book.

“...’Ancient Spirits and Their Magic’...by Y. Baromet.”

Y. Baromet? Who’s that?

But when I opened the cover of the book, I immediately knew who the author of this book was.

There was the mark of a goat’s skull engraved into it.

It was the mark of the〈White Sage〉, one of the three great magicians. It was often seen in textbooks on spirit magic.

“No way…a book written by the〈White Sage〉? And it’s an original written by the man himself!?”

With my heart still racing, I flipped through the pages of the book right there on the spot.

As expected of Lune Ruschia Magic School. This was a magic school founded by the〈White Sage〉, so there must be many books left behind by that great magician. It surely contained the origin of spirit magic, which was the index for the current Kingdom of Ruschia.

However, many of the texts left by the〈White Sage〉had been quoted in textbooks, so there were many passages that I have read before. Since I was memorizing the textbooks, I pointlessly knew which textbook and which page it was quoted in.

“...Hmm? Aaah!”

As I was engrossed in reading the book, some pages in the latter half of the book slipped out from between the pages.

Did they come out because they were old, or were they originally taken out, or did I do it? 

I hurriedly picked up the pages that had flown to the floor.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no.”

If it was found out that I had read a valuable book without permission and then ripped it, even the gentle Professor Ulysses would be angry with me.

However, what was written on those pages I picked up stopped me in my tracks.

They weren’t about spirits, they were about demons.

They were unknown pages, not quoted in any textbook, at least not the ones I have read.

【Chapter 11: On Demons】

Just as the south of Maydare is protected by spirits, the north of Maydare is threatened by demons.

Spirits and demons are often compared as opposites, but unlike spirits, which are concepts from the natural world that have acquired will and form, demons are unique lifeforms. In short, they are just like humans and animals.

My friend, the〈Black Demon King〉, once told me, “It’s not that demons are threatening people, but that humans have invaded the demons’ habitats.”

And so, the demon king materialized the rule of demons by giving a country to the demons who have lost their place.

The humans should have just watched over that quietly, but they recognized the “country” with powerful demons as a common enemy of humanity and decided to destroy it.

The arrival of the Savior had given that a push.

The war can no longer be stopped. Magic will evolve in directions I cannot control.

I am powerless.

We are, by the laws of this world, certain to be killed by that merciless Reaper.

We will be killed by that blond man.

My eyes widened. The last four lines seemed to be scribbles, clearly different from the previous accounts, as if they had been added later.

“Reaper?...That blond man?”

That man’s face appeared in my mind.

But this was a diary from five hundred years ago.

Though I felt a strange anxiety that made my heart palpitate, I shook my head.

That man couldn’t have existed five hundred years ago. He couldn’t…

“Ahem, ahem.”

I heard a woman’s coughing. My body shook, and I closed the book.

“Oh, uh, this fell here!”

I made a lame excuse, but the woman who had been standing right beside me before I knew it didn’t scold me. She was just staring at me without blinking.

Oh. …She wasn’t human.

Straight cream-colored hair and a beautiful smile that looked like it was pasted on.

She was holding books and dressed like a librarian, but I immediately noticed that there was something off about her.

This was probably a spirit who had taken on a human form through a high-level summoning. 

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