Maydare Volume 6 Chapter 7 - Reminiscence (2) ~The Black Demon King's Castle~
Sorry for the long wait I was really busy this month. Happy holidays!
The terrifying <Scarlet Witch> lives within the Salt Forest.
She is called that name because of her bright red hair.
The Scarlet Witch doesn’t age.
They say that she turns beautiful women into frogs and uses them as ingredients for rejuvenating potions.
I heard that she sticks needles into the skin of beautiful women and sucks the blood that flows out.
No, no. The Scarlet Witch goes mad with jealousy and kills beautiful women by setting them on fire.
Ah, how scary, the Scarlet Witch of the Salt Forest.
But, apparently…those who are named by the Scarlet Witch will have good fortune for the rest of their lives.
〇
“Hmm, I wonder why most of the bad rumors about the Scarlet Witch are about her being obsessed with youth and being jealous of beautiful women. That seems to be doing just fine on its own, or rather, it’s more than enough. Anyways, wasn’t it me who was almost burned to death?”
I was reading a newspaper article that collected rumors about the Scarlet Witch.
I muttered complaints as I bit into a salt apple pie I baked in the hut’s stove.
Salt apples were a mysterious fruit that had recently become available for picking in this forest. For some reason, ever since I returned, fruit had suddenly started growing all over the place.
It was strange, but when I ate these salt apples, my magical power would return quickly.
The other day, some bounty hunters, who were dazzled by the bounty on the Scarlet Witch, were about to set the Salt Forest on fire, and I used a lot of magical power to stop them.
That was why I was eating plenty of salt apples to recover my powers. The newspaper article with the rumors about the Scarlet Witch was borrowed from them.
Incidentally, after giving the bounty hunters a good scare and stripping them of their clothes, I let them escape.
Now, it has been two years since I had a bounty put on me by the palace.
It seemed that the king hadn’t given up on burning me at the stake yet. He was a cowardly but obstinate man. Because he put a large bounty on me, terrifying rumors about the Scarlet Witch were spreading rapidly.
Well, it was true that the Scarlet Witch didn’t age.
Although I was in my forties, I still maintained the youthful appearance I had when I was sixteen.
Even when I looked in the mirror every day, my youthfulness and beauty didn’t diminish. In fact, when I eat salt apples, it seemed like I became more and more youthful…??
And so I remained, as before, holed up in the Salt Forest.
I made preserved foods and sweets while remembering how my mother made them, cleaned out my father’s shed and turned it into a magical laboratory, and baked salt apple pies and cakes and enjoyed relaxing tea times by myself. I wrote about those days, recipes, and how to use spells, in my “diary”, and enjoyed an unfettered slow life.
The ones who visited were mostly people like the bounty hunters like the other day.
Those guys were a great way to kill time on boring days, and if anything, I welcomed them with open arms. It was also an opportunity to practice magic and get information on the outside world.
Also, only once did the palace raise an army and earnestly came to subdue me, but…
I used my special “thread magic” to hang them up, and used my special “petrification magic” to turn them into statues at the entrance of the Salt Forest, so the soldiers who followed them turned their tails and retreated. And so, the Scarlet Witch became a symbol of fear, and no one went near the Salt Forest anymore.
Yes.
I had begun researching magic in order to know the limits of my power.
Apparently, my magic was often activated using the parts of my body.
For example, my hair.
For example, my tears.
For example, my nails.
For example, my saliva.
For example, my blood.
Objects with blood clinging to them became explosives, my long hair turned into threads, my tears could petrify…
I researched various patterns, and before I knew it, I had created my own spells.
The people who came to the forest to try to get rid of me might be considered strong warriors in general society, but when faced with my magic, they were like babies. They weren’t enough to test the strength of my own magic.
As expected, it might be impossible to know the limits of magic unless magicians of similar strength battled each other…
That was what I started to think about around this time.
It happened one day.
“...Oh, that’s rare. I never thought I’d see dwarf hamsters in the Salt Forest.”
I was gathering salt apples in the forest when I met some unusual travelers.
They were two adorable dwarf hamsters that were palm-sized, with short round tails. I knew they existed because I had seen them during my travels. But there shouldn’t be any dwarf hamsters in the Salt Forest…
“What’s wrong, you two? Dwarf hamsters shouldn’t be in the Salt Forest.”
Ever since I could remember, I had been able to hear the inner voices of animals.
So, I listened to their inner voices and found out that the two dwarf hamsters, one white and one yellow, came all the way here from a distant northern country on the backs of migratory birds.
“My, what brave hamsters you are. You’ve done so well for such little ones.”
Although I rode a broom to many places when I was young, the truth was, I had never left Ruschia.
So, in exchange for feeding the hamsters pumpkin seeds, I decided to listen to stories about foreign nations.
The two dwarf hamsters told me that there were terrifying creatures in the northern countries called “demons” that attacked humans.
They also told me that there was a powerful magician who controlled those demons.
“...The Black Demon King?”
I tilted my head as I heard the name for the first time.
Demon kings were villains that appeared in fairytales, even in Maydare…
According to the two hamsters, the power of the <Black Demon King> was so great that he created a country of demons in the snowy mountains, terrifying the humans of the northern countries.
“Hmm, the Black Demon King, huh…”
He seemed to be quite a magician, but I wondered how he compared to me.
Perhaps he was more powerful than me.
He seemed like a frightening person, but I wonder if we could become friends who could understand each other’s extraordinary powers and the troubles that came with it…
I had a strong interest in the person known as the <Black Demon King>. I haven’t been interested in other people lately, so I myself was surprised by this feeling.
However, once I became interested in something, I couldn’t stay put.
I immediately baked a salt apple pie and decided to take it as a present to go see the Black Demon King of the north.
I straddled my broom and flew through the air, crossing mountains–in order to go to the northern countries, I crossed over the giant lake at the center of the world.
“Hmm, is that the ‘Great Starry Lake’? This is my first time seeing it!”
The other side of the lake was the so-called northern part of Maydare. Although I had heard about it, the Great Starry Lake was covered with thick fog, so I couldn’t see its entirety.
The people of Maydare had been told since ancient times to stay away from this lake.
That was because various strange phenomena seemed to occur in this lake…
“I do feel strangely uneasy here…wait, wah, wah wah wah!”
As I approached the lake, my magical power was disrupted and I almost crashed. So, instead of crossing the lake, I decided to go around to head north.
Don’t go near there.
It felt like all the blood in my body was telling me that.
Now, it seemed that I had underestimated the north.
Unlike the warmer south, it was covered in gray snow clouds and was extremely cold.
I was a【Fire】Blessed Child, so I had a higher body temperature than other people and I was more resistant to cold, but I was still freezing down to the core of my body.
“Aah, it’s so cold. How can people live in a place like this…”
My thin cloak wasn’t enough to withstand the cold alone, and I was shivering violently, so I used magic to warm the air around my body.
According to the two dwarf hamsters, somewhere in the great mountain range of the northwest, there was a “country of demons” founded by the Black Demon King. As I investigated every part of the mountain range on my broom, I quickly discovered the barrier that protected the country.
I landed on the snow and stood in front of the magic wall that served as the barrier between this side and that side.
I could put up a magic wall, but at most I could only cover an area big enough to protect myself. When the area was this vast, the magic wall would be called a barrier.
I had never seen such an elaborate and complex barrier that covered an entire mountain, and what’s more, it seemed like it had quite complex mechanisms inside and out…
This was a high level of magic that was almost impossible for a single magician to perform.
“I see. So this is the magic of the <Black Demon King>.”
Before my eyes was a field of silver, and there seemed to be nothing there…
I chuckled, pulled out a strand of my hair, and wrapped it around my well-used wand.
I bit my finger and chanted an incantation as fresh blood ran down my wand.
“Maki rie luci ah–Crimson reason, doll of blood, turn, turn, red spinning wheel.”
The hair wrapped around my wand turned into stiff threads that were like crimson needles.
The threads, like living things, pierced the surface of the barrier. They made a round hole that would allow one person to fit inside.
Look.
On the other side of the round hole in the barrier, there was a completely different scenery from before.
There was a forest of fir trees, and on top of the mountain beyond that, I could see what looked like a castle.
“The is the Black Demon King’s…country of demons, huh.”
I invaded that country in order to meet the rumored <Black Demon King>.
I hid my broom and walked through the forest of fir trees, emerging into an open silver field.
It appeared that there was a cliff up ahead, and the castle I kept seeing was across the valley.
It was an imposing castle with many long, slender towers that looked like black spears.
“Ah…”
A man was standing on the edge of the cliff that had a sweeping view of the castle. He was clothed in black, accompanied by a dragon spirit and a deer spirit.
I knew who he was right away, The atmosphere around him and his magical power was different from those of ordinary people.
“You’re the Black Demon King…?”
The man seemed to sense my presence and immediately turned around.
His expression was fierce and stern. He wore an eyepatch over one eye, and his other violet eye, as cold as ice, was narrowed. He was looking at me, trying to figure out who I was.
As for me, I believe my cheeks turned red and my eyes widened.
Because, the Black Demon King was more handsome than the rumors said.
My heart was pounding from nervousness. It had been a long time since I felt this nervous.
“Who are you?”
“I-I’m…um…”
I stammered, a girlish thing for my age, and hurriedly tucked my hair behind my ears.
My hand that was gripping the basket was shaking.
The man looked to be in his late twenties, but I heard that he was a demon king who never ages, just like me. It was said that he maintained this appearance for fifty years already.
He was tall and more good-looking than I expected. I couldn’t look directly at him.
I introduced myself while looking down.
“I-I’m Makirié Lucia, the naming witch who lives in the Salt Forest of the Kingdom of Ruschia.”
“...A naming witch, huh. I did hear rumors of a witch in the south who can give people their destined names.”
“Huh?” Hearing that, I looked up in surprise.
I was happy that he knew of me.
As a token of friendship, I presented the basket with the salt apple pie to the Black Demon King.
“H-Here. This is a baked sweet made with Salt Forest apples. Please take it.”
“...”
The Black Demon King remained silent as he accepted the basket.
“Um, if you don’t mind, could you tell me your name? I can also tell your destiny from your name.”
However, the Black Demon King made an extremely disgusted face and glared at me.
“What are you planning to do when you know my name? You’re probably gonna curse me.”
“C-Curse!? I’d never…!”
I shook my head at those unexpected words.
However, the corner of the Black Demon King’s mouth turned up in a smirk and he looked down at me.
“I know all about you. That red hair…you’re that woman called the <Scarlet Witch>. I heard you’re quite the wicked woman.”
“...What?”
I slowly widened my eyes.
“It’s said that you hunt down innocent young girls and killed many of them, using them as ingredients for spells and live sacrifices for magic. They say that you once threatened the king with a spell and tried to steal the country’s treasure. I hear that I will get a considerable bounty from that country if I kill you.”
“T-That’s…”
All of those things were rumors of the Scarlet Witch that had taken a life of their own.
It was true that there was a bounty on me, but that was because the king viewed me as an enemy and was extremely afraid of me…
However, the Black Demon King believed those rumors and was wary of me.
I was now feeling very embarrassed about all those rumors.
“Or, what is it? Have you come to take over this country?”
“...”
Why did I come here?
Why did I want to meet with this person?
“Hmph. Are you silent because I hit the bull’s-eye? This is probably poisoned as well.”
After saying that, the Black Demon King dropped the basket with the salt apple pie right into the valley.
“...Ah…”
Ah, I see.
Even he hates me.
I could feel his disgust through the sound of his voice, his gaze, his expression, and his attitude.
Like the people of that country who treated me as a villain along with the king.
“There’s no such thing as destiny decided by a name. I know that. I…am probably not loved by my name. If I had a good affinity with my name, I wouldn’t be here and doing these things now.”
“...”
“However, I have no interest in you or your power. I have no intention of telling you my name.”
Even I understood.
I was the only one who was curious about the Black Demon King and wanted to know more about him.
It was a wild dream of mine, thinking that he might also be interested in me, who had a similar power level to him.
“I don’t know why you came here, but this country is closed to everyone other than those I allow. Normally, you would have been executed in order to prevent you from leaking information to the outside world, but I’ll let you go this time. Get out of here and don’t come back again.”
“...”
“Otherwise, I will eliminate you here as an invader who’s threatening my country.”
The Black Demon King was serious.
His eyes were filled with magical power and murderous intent.
“Torc mel me gis――Open, Black Box.”
When the Black Demon King chanted that incantation, several black square boxes appeared around him, like flowers blooming. They remained in the air, opening and closing and moving irregularly.
I felt the presence of some very terrifying magic, and my entire body suddenly felt heavy. I felt a heavy magical power that put pressure on my body.
Was this the Black Demon King’s magic? The scenery around him was distorting.
I didn’t come here with the intention of fighting him…!
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I willed them back.
“I…I’m sorry.”
Then, I hid my eyes with the brim of my hat, turned my back to the Black Demon King, and ran down the snowy road.
Before I came here, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. But that was all in vain.
Now, I was ashamed of how stupid I was for expecting something.
Indeed, if I thought about it carefully, I was just a trespasser to the Black Demon King.
“Sob, sob. But he’s the awful one here. He threw my salt apple pie into the valley. It’s not poisoned. I just wanted to talk to him.”
He believed the rumors about the Scarlet Witch and said whatever he wanted…
Just because I was a notorious witch didn’t mean I didn’t get hurt.
In fact, I didn’t understand why people thought of me badly or hated me so much.
I descended the snowy mountain with tears streaming down my face. Maybe it was because my tears were hot, but the snow melted where they fell, forming salt stone crystals there.
I was always reminded of this, over and over again.
This was how I get hurt when I had high hopes for someone to accept me.
A notorious witch like me should just live quietly in that forest.
Don’t feel lonely. No one would accept me anyways.
That was what I told myself as I hurried down the mountain.
Perhaps it was because of the cold of the snowy country, but both my body and heart was frozen, and my feet were shaking. Even though I was using magic that wrapped my body in heat…I felt unbearably cold…
“...?”
On the way down the mountain, I heard a strange voice and looked up.
When I looked out into the snowy field beyond the forest, I saw some children of this country running in a panic.
The children all had strange forms, with horns, beast’s eyes and ears, and skin with strange patterns.
“Those are demons, aren’t they? They aren’t in the south, so this is my first time seeing them…”
Demons…
They were life forms that possessed high magical power and had a different appearance from humans.
I heard that the conflict between humans and demons was intensifying in the northern countries.
Originally, humans were the ones who had their lives threatened by demons, but the situation had reversed in the past few hundred years. Now, humans were the ones attacking demons and stealing their homes. That was why the Black Demon King created this country by gathering demons who had no place to go.
It seemed that the demon children were running away from something.
When I looked closely, I realized that the demon children were being chased by human soldiers wearing the armor of the Hermedes Heavenly Empire, the largest country in the north.
Why were Hermedes’ human soldiers in this monster country protected by a barrier?
“Oh, that’s right. I made a hole in the barrier!”
I clapped my hands together. After making the hole and entering it, I didn’t close it, so that was how these humans entered.
I, I messed up.
Of course the Black Demon King would be prejudiced against trespassers!
The demon children were already being cornered by the human soldiers. Even if they were children, the humans would try to kill them.
I quickly headed in their direction.
Just as the humans were shooting arrows at the children, I stood in front of them and burned up all the arrows with magical flames.
With a smirk on my face and tears streaming down my cheeks――
“Huh!?”
The demon children were very surprised at the sudden appearance of an unfamiliar red-haired woman.
What was more, that woman was protecting them and crying for some reason.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you guys. Be good children and don’t move,” I whispered.
Then, I picked up the brim of my hat and lifted it up, brazenly exposing my tears and and my sea-blue eyes that were misty with tears, and chanted a spell.
“Maki rie luci ah――Crown of salt, crushing night. None shall see my tears.”
The snow, soaked with my tears, made crackling sounds as they turned into white crystals under my magical command. Not into ice, but salt crystals.
The human soldiers sensed something strange and tried to flee, but they were swallowed up by the petrifying magic that spread like ripples and were turned into salt crystals, leaving their human appearances behind.
Even the screams of humans couldn’t be heard once they turned into stone.
The demon children who were watching this from behind me were so shocked that they couldn’t make a sound.
“...Phew.”
For me, there was no difference between humans and demons if they were strangers to me.
But this country was a country of demons.
Since it was my fault that the order of this country was disrupted, I should restore it to the way it was.
“...Tch.”
I instinctively covered my face with my hands as I felt a strong pain in my eyes that made my brain throb.
Now tears of blood was dripping onto the salt crystals at my feet.
“!? !?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. This is just backlash from the spell. It isn’t serious.”
The demon children looked extremely worried at seeing me like this.
I kept repeating, “I’m okay.” They were good children.
This petrification spell that used my tears as the catalyst was a spell I recently devised, and I hadn’t mastered its use yet.
So, when I used it, the backlash would cause me to cry tears of blood.
I had been flying on a broom for a long time to reach this country, so it might also be because I had used up a lot of magical power…
Other than my eyes hurting for a while and the inconvenience of my vision turning red, there were no particular impacts on my body. I knew healing magic. So I was okay.
If I didn’t leave this country quickly, I would be eliminated by the Black Demon King.
Holding my face, I stumbled down the now quiet snowy field.
“Oi, you lot! What are you doing!”
Seeming to have heard the commotion, the Black Demon King, riding the dragon, landed nearby.
The Black Demon King questioned the demon children and seemed to have learned that I was the one who protected them from the human soldiers.
However, I was slowly descending the snowy mountain, hiding my face.
“O-Oi, wait! Scarlet Witch!”
The Black Demon King hurriedly chased after me.
Then, he pulled me by my shoulder as I ran down the snowy mountain.
“I-I’m sorry. I destroyed a part of the barrier without thinking, and the human soldiers got in. But I turned them into stone,” I said while covering my face.
“I don’t care about that right now. Your eyes…”
“...”
As I kept my face hidden, the Black Demon King said, “Come to my castle for now. I’ll make sure you receive proper treatment.”
He pulled my arm. As a result of that, the blood that spilled from my eyes touched his hand.
“Stop it!”
I shook his hand away.
My blood was extremely dangerous, incomparable to my hair or tears.
“Don’t touch me.”
“...”
“I don’t know what you’re worried about. I thought you said you had no interest in me.”
I purposely said this in an irritable manner, then pulled the brim of my hat deep over my face.
I didn’t want my blood to remain in this country any longer.
Besides, I absolutely couldn’t show him my face right now.
In the distance, the children were calling out to the Black Demon King.
“You’re the king of this country, aren’t you? In that case, you should go to them quickly. They had a terrifying experience, being attacked by human soldiers.”
“...Scarlet Witch.”
“Don’t worry. I’m never coming here again.”
With that, I quickly descended the snowy mountain, as I left traces of bright red blood on the white snow.
The Black Demon King didn’t pursue me anymore after that.
He didn’t call out to me either.
When I turned back from a distance, I saw that in addition to the demon children, many adult demons had gathered around the Black Demon King. They must be the residents of the country.
“...”
After coming here, I realized one thing.
Unlike me, the Black Demon King wasn’t alone at all.
He had a country, something important to protect, and a position.
Many people followed him, and he was admired by many.
Until now, I thought I was alone because I had a strong power that no one else had.
But that wasn’t true.
I had long ago given up on trying to be accepted by others, and instead of denying the rumors, I just holed myself up in that forest. Unlike the Black Demon King, I hadn’t made any effort to create a place for myself by making the most of my magical powers.
It would be asking for too much to want someone to accept me now.
Even though we have the same power, what have I done up until now?
No. I probably haven’t accomplished anything yet.
I haven’t left anything behind.
Makirie （┬┬＿┬┬）
ReplyDelete