[Side story] Chasing a butterfly (5)
It’s a memory from my childhood.
Lucy, who was swinging her magic around on her own, accidentally knocked over a barrel next to the fireplace.
This is a container that holds the ashes that come out when the stove is removed. As a result, the inside of Glokt’s hut was completely covered in rising ash.
Not only Glokt, who was sitting by the stove and reading a book, but even Lucy, who was lying on the wooden bed and wielding magic, was completely covered in ash.
Lucy, who was startled, shook her body back and forth and shook the ashes off her body, while Glokt chuckled and quickly used wind magic to blow away the ashes.
Even if Lucy is indifferent and has no mood swings, I feel sorry for her at this point.
When I hesitantly approached Glockt and gave him a hesitant look, Glockt burst into laughter and stood up.
Afterwards, I shook off my clothes here and there, but the ash that was still all over my body showed no signs of completely disappearing.
– ‘Thanks to you, I came to my senses. However, I clearly told you to be careful when practicing magic inside the cabin…’
– ‘…’
Glokt, who was about to reprimand for a moment, softened his mind when he saw Lucy’s expression.
Lucy, who has always lived the world at her own pace, is seen fiddling with the tips of her fingers and looking at Glokt’s notice. Glockt patted Lucy’s shoulder, thinking there was no need to question her further since she was showing sufficient signs of remorse.
― ‘Everyone makes mistakes.’
I tried to comfort her, but Lucy was so intimidated that she just kept her gaze down.
Sometimes it is necessary to scold a child harshly, but it is impossible to discipline a child who is so intimidated any further.
Glockt, who was thinking about how to relieve Lucy from her intimidation, soon made his voice lighter and spoke.
– ‘First of all, I’ll have to find something to shake off the ashes.’
Saying so, Glokt entered the basement installed under the cabin. It was a space used as a warehouse and personal laboratory.
Lucy, left alone, shakes off her clothes and sees the cabin in disarray. I was worried about how to apologize because I thought I might have to apologize at this point.
After waiting in silence for a long time, Glockt, who had come up from the basement, approached Lucy again.
-Talk.
Then he puts something on Lucy’s head.
Sitting kindly on top of her ash-covered hair was a witch’s hat whose brim was almost as wide as Lucy’s torso.
– ‘It’s a gift.’
– ‘….’
Lucy looked up at Glokt, holding the brim of her hat with blank eyes.
– ‘I’d better give it to you now.’
― ‘This…’
― ‘Treat it. ‘Someday this hat will become your most prized possession.’
― ‘That… why…’
– ‘…well, you’ll find out someday.’
* * *
“This is the hat I got back then.”
The interior of the carriage gently shaking.
There were only four people sitting in this carriage leaving Aken Island and heading to the lawless region of Cohelton.
Zelan the cutter. Her assistant Wilhelm.
And Lucy and I, Ed Rosstaylor.
“So… the hat is also one of Glokt’s keepsakes…”
“Yes.”
Lucy nodded quietly at Zelan’s words.
I was thinking that would be the case. Lucy strangely carried that witch’s hat with her wherever and whenever she went.
Personally, I wonder how many layers of protection magic and status maintenance magic I used… Even in quite a mess, the hat was not seriously damaged.
From Lucy’s perspective, it was one of the last remaining traces of Glokt, so she had no choice but to save it.
In addition, there are more Glokt relics that Lucy had kept separately. Glokt’s tomb, hidden in a cave on the west coast of Aken Island, was full of various miscellaneous items.
Well, most of them were just keepsakes. There were no items with any magical efficacy, and the only valuable item I had was ‘Introduction to Aspectology’.
“If there’s anything, I think it’s likely to be in the basement.”
Lucy, as always, was sitting on my lap and waving her feet.
“When my grandfather left, I was so distracted that I didn’t look closely at the cabin.”
The memories of Glockt’s death will not be very pleasant. But surprisingly, Lucy spoke calmly.
“He said he didn’t have much interest in academics after he reached the end of his life, but once in a while, he would go into the basement and research something when I wasn’t around. “I… didn’t have much interest, so I tried to do that, but…”
There is something that Archmage Glokt studied, even hiding it from his best disciple, Lucy Mayril.
Due to Lucy’s personality, she didn’t have much curiosity about what it was, but Zelan and Wilhelm didn’t seem to.
“I’d like to make sure of that.”
Wilhelm, who was said to be Zelan’s assistant, looked at us with lights in his eyes.
“It may have been a study of considerable academic value. “Professor Ed, aren’t you equally interested as you work in the academic world?”
I nodded moderately and looked at Lucy. Lucy seemed to be okay with it.
Rather, they seemed to be very excited about the fact that the two of them were going somewhere together for the first time in a while, and they were getting uncharacteristically excited as they looked at the scenery outside the window.
Of course, it’s hard to tell whether I was excited or not just by looking at the outside, but I felt it enough from my point of view.
“By the way, as promised in advance, once the investigation of the Rameln Mountains is completed… I will have to process the artifacts I have so that they can be used.”
I got to the point.
Zelan is the world’s greatest artifact processing engineer.
Although I have also spent a long time researching magical engineering, I cannot easily handle these types of artifacts.
“okay. There is no artifact I cannot handle. By the way, young man, you must be quite skilled in magical arts. “What kind of artifact is this that you can’t process it yourself?”
Seeing is better than hearing.
I took out Tyr’kalax’s body from my chest and showed it to him. Although it only takes the form of a small bead, its value is instantly recognized by anyone of Zelan’s level.
Zelan narrowed his eyebrows and laughed.
“You have ridiculous items.”
“….”
“What are you going to do with this?”
How an artifact is used is important. Only then can the gellan be processed properly.
So I decided to be honest.
“Among the spirits I contracted with, there is a high-ranking wind spirit named Merilda.”
“He’s a high-ranking spirit… he’s also well-versed in the field of spirit science.”
“Now that I’m quite used to handling that guy’s power…”
At the words I spat out next, Zelan just laughed and made a bewildered expression.
“We are planning to make him the highest-ranking spirit. “Currently, the position of highest-ranking wind spirit is vacant.”
That reaction was understandable.
This is tantamount to declaring that he will freely handle the highest-ranking spirit.
I am at least aware of how absurd my remark was.
“He’s an interesting person. young people.”
There was no response asking what kind of nonsense they were doing.
Clearly, Zelan was not a sane person either.
* * *
After that, it was a series of boring hours.
I listened to Zelan’s saga as he roamed around the lawless area of Cohelton with his assistant Wilhelm, or got out of the carriage once in a while to get some fresh air and warm up.
Stop by a village along the way and stay overnight at a lodging.
The tedious carriage road leading to the Rameln Mountains continued.
Pulan and Oldek were quite far away, but the Rameln Mountains were located on the opposite side of the empire from Aken Island.
I heard that a long time ago, Lucy came to Aken Island alone with Glokt’s body. It made me realize how absurd that was.
Even though I rode a fairly fast carriage, the distance took several days. It is said that he flew this distance without disarming the magic even for a single moment. This is such mental strength that one cannot help but click one’s tongue.
Lucy probably never returned to the Rameln Mountains after that.
I’m not even sure that the cabin will remain the same as before.
After shaking off all the awkwardness between us in the carriage, we finally reached the Rameln Mountains after a while. After that, our journey continued for a long time.
After purchasing a lot of supplies for hiking in a small village at the beginning of the mountain range, we started hiking.
The Rameln Mountains are a huge mountain range that crosses the northern part of the continent. Climbing a mountain of this altitude required thorough preparation. Of course, the goal is not the summit, but a hut halfway up the mountain.
Lucy was so happy to see the scenery of the Rameln Mountains that she returned after a long time that she used her magical power to climb to the top of a conifer tree and look around.
The hike that started like that progressed smoothly.
Although Zelan and Lucy are small in stature, they are good at manipulating magical power, so they did not expend much stamina on the hike.
From the beginning, Wilhelm and I had enough stamina to endure the long hike. Well, if it’s really hard, you can just use some magical power.
We continued hiking for about two days, sometimes summoning spirits and riding them, and camping halfway up the mountain.
We don’t have enough power to be defeated by wild animals, and we have enough supplies. The hike, which continued without much difficulty, was more like sightseeing than asceticism.
As I heard, the Rameln Mountains area was truly beautiful.
This mountain range is said to have been where Lucy played during her childhood. It was not difficult to imagine little Lucy bouncing around among the tall coniferous trees.
“….”
But even if it is wide, it is too wide.
It is a much wider mountain range than I had heard about.
I think I understand why the exploration team couldn’t even think of finding the hut even though there were rumors about Glokt’s treasure.
The line of mountains continues so straight that you can almost say go to the Alps. If the summit was the goal, one would have had to prepare to trek through the snow this early fall. The perennial snow covering the top of the mountain here and there looked really thick even when looking up from far below.
“We’re almost there.”
And finally, good news came out of Lucy’s mouth.
This place was reached after a week of riding a fast carriage and hiking for almost three days. I have no idea why Glokt has been secluded in such a remote place.
Anyway, the coniferous forest that continued like that… came to an end at some point.
And then a sunny field appeared. The area is not that wide. It really is like a very small dot in this huge mountain range.
In the middle of it all… stands a shabby cabin.
“Oh finally…! Is that… where Archmage Glokt… went into hiding after retirement…”
Any professor who majors in the history of magic would be drooling. Because the great man’s final residence was right there.
* * *
“When I first built the cabin, I did a lot of magical processing. Well, since the old man couldn’t build a cabin by himself… he would have had no choice but to borrow the power of magic.”
Although it must have been abandoned for several years in this high alpine area, Glokt’s cabin was in better shape than expected.
This was because the shape-retaining spell that had been cast when the hut was built was still working. It was worth it since the magic was cast by the archmage himself.
Zelan slowly walked forward and turned the doorknob of the shabby door.
When you pull the door like that, it squeaks and opens naturally.
Inside the cabin… There was a lot of dust, but it wasn’t a huge mess.
It was just like the day Lucy left.
“….”
Suddenly, I felt strength coming into my wrist, and when I looked, I saw that Lucy was holding my wrist tightly.
And when I slowly look into the hut, I feel like old memories are creeping back.
“…Are you okay Lucy?”
“are you okay.”
Although I was worried, Lucy surprisingly gave that answer.
“You are there.”
Lucy shakes off the loneliness by wrapping her arms tightly around my forearm.
What is lost is lost. It’s been a long time since I said goodbye to things that are empty and empty.
That’s why Lucy was able to enter the cabin with a nonchalant expression.
Glokt’s cabin returned after several years.
However, as if he had just returned from a night out, he sat down in the rocking chair near the fireplace, curled up, and sighed deeply.
That was it.
* * *
The first thing I did when I entered Glokt’s cabin was to use Wilhelm’s magic to blow away all the dust inside.
Wilhelm tidied up the interior with familiar movements, then collected all the spoiled ingredients in the kitchen that had been neglected for a long time and buried them in the ground in the backyard.
Then, we filled the kitchen with the groceries we had brought and started making a simple meal.
As soon as Zelan finished cleaning the interior, he went into the basement that Lucy had mentioned and started looking for traces of Glokt.
Me and Lucy…we were just sitting together in the rocking chair next to the fireplace.
This is because there was no obligation to help even search for Zelan’s relics. From this point on, it was up to Zelan to take care of it.
It was around this time that I was basking in the warmth of the fireplace for a while with Lucy sitting on my lap.
The sun has already set and it is night. When the cool breeze of early fall started to cool down a bit… Zelan came up from the basement.
“I found Glokt’s relic. But… it’s a little different from what I imagined.”
“yes?”
“Do you want to come down for a moment?”
When you go down to the basement using ignition magic as a light source, you find a warehouse full of various miscellaneous items.
If you go deeper and turn the corner, you will find the laboratory that Glokt used personally.
“The Archmage Glokt I knew was a person who hated breaking taboos. “He was a wizard who always had respect for magic and respected the providence and fate of the world.”
“….”
Lucy nodded quietly at Zelan’s words.
As he continued into the basement, Zelan continued speaking.
“Lucy Mayril. It may be a bit shocking from your perspective, but… Archmage Glokt actually… seems to have studied taboos in his later years.”
Pursuing eternal life, resurrecting a lion, time travel.
Three areas that wizards around the world consider taboo.
Does this mean that the Grand Wizard Glokt, who has lived his entire life observing the taboo, actually dabbled in that taboo field?
“…It’s hard to agree with that…”
Lucy shook her head at Zelan’s words.
The Glokt in her memories was a wizard who accepted fate as is and respected the providence of the world.
Even though he was able to manipulate the power of Aspect magic, he just lives the life he was given faithfully.
He was a wizard with no regrets who lived like that before leaving.
That’s why Lucy Mayril did not revive Glockt with Professor Glast’s lion revival magic.
This is because trying to revive him through taboo, who has maintained his pride as a wizard all his life, would be nothing more than an insult.
However, Zelan spoke in a low voice.
“I too… am a little suspicious. The person I know named Glokt is not someone who would ever touch a taboo. But… in this underground research facility…”
As Zelan injects more magic power into the ignition magic, the light source grows bigger and bigger.
Accordingly, Glokt’s laboratory comes into view at a glance.
Lucy Mayril at the time was just lazy and indifferent, so she didn’t even pay attention to it.
There… there were a lot of relics piled up. There were also various magical engineering supplies that Glokt had once researched.
“There are clear signs of having dabbled in ‘time travel,’ one of the three major taboo areas. Look at that big crystal ball in the center. It’s a device for concentrating star power. If you look at magical engineering supplies used to induce the flow of magic power, you can easily infer its purpose.”
Lucy narrowed her eyebrows.
Glokt is a wizard who never breaks taboos. He is a person who has made this his lifelong pride.
There is no way Glokt could make something like that.
However, even in the eyes of Lucy, who had outstanding magic knowledge… the structure of the magical engineering supplies was the same no matter how many times she looked at it.
A device to focus the magic power of the Aspect and jump over the connection lines of time.
Whether it was the future or the past… Glokt had once jumped through time.
“Looking at the circumstances, Glokt Elderbane in his lifetime… once controlled the time line. In other words, there was a time travel attempt that broke the taboo.”
“….”
“Look at the magic circuit device. There are clear signs of use. “Seeing as the consumables are not replenished, it looks like it was only used once.”
Have you ever traveled somewhere across time? That too without Lucy’s knowledge.
So is it the past? Or is it the future?
I don’t know which direction it is. And I don’t know what made him break the beliefs he had maintained his whole life and go on such a trip.
All the truth lies in the labyrinth.
This is because Glokt Elderbane, who knows everything, is no longer from this world.
* * *
“I have good news and bad news. If you ask which of the two you want to hear first, you’ll probably say you want to hear the bad news first, right? “Let’s talk about it all at once.”
Let the story progress in your own way. I don’t know what to do.
Zelan spoke to us while putting a salad in his mouth that was set out on the table in the kitchen.
“After staying up all night checking the artifacts in the basement, I think I have enough equipment to observe other possible worlds as I want. However, it looks very old and needs some repairs.”
“….”
“The structure is novel and surprising, as expected of items designed by that rare great wizard. It doesn’t seem easy to repair it by researching and understanding it one by one. The good news is that there are two people here who are skilled in magic engineering.”
Wilhelm and I, Ed Rothtaylor.
They were people who had some expertise in magical engineering.
“These are items that deal with aspect magic, so I’m not sure how they work or what the results will be. This could be a very dangerous task. But if you help me properly…”
Zelan put down his fork and stuck his head out to me and spoke.
“I will take responsibility and make it possible for you to become the master of the highest ranking spirit. I find your plan to deal with the Highest Spirit too intriguing to resist. So let’s go with a win-win feeling.”
“What do you mean it could be dangerous?”
“As you know, aspect magic is a very unpredictable power. So, we need your power to handle the magic power of the Aspect to some extent.”
Zelan leaned his small body against the back of the wooden chair again and spoke with a confident expression.
“I like you very much, young man.”
I thought he was talking like an old man. But in reality, inside that small girl, she is an old person who has gone through all the hardships of childbirth.
“So… let’s try our best together. Because there are so many things I can do for young people. And when things turned out like this, I got a little curious.”
“….”
“Why did the proud Archmage Glokt have to break his beliefs and break the taboo at the very end? I also wanted to confirm the truth. “Isn’t that so, you strict cat lady?”
Lucy looked at Zelan quietly.
It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t curious…
but there are some facts in the world that you don’t need to know.
Lucy emotionally let go of Glockt completely.
He was a wizard who lived a turbulent life, and left with a smile and no regrets. With that, Lucy’s story was completed.
I wonder if it’s really necessary to pick it up, but…
“Okay.”
Lucy answered briefly.
I have no idea what he is thinking inside.
Zelan just smiled contentedly.
“When the sun rises tomorrow… let’s repair the artifacts and check them right away.”
The journey that started out of curiosity…
we didn’t know at this point what results it would lead to.
I was just quietly listening to the wind blowing outside the cabin.
A shabby cabin halfway up the deserted Rameln Mountains.
A place so remote from civilization that no one can contact you.
Zelan lay down on the wooden bed, and Wilhelm laid out his camping sleeping bag on the dining room table.
I lay down in the rocking chair next to the fireplace with Lucy in my arms.
Inside the cabin… So the four of us settled down and fell asleep.
What would happen the next day… I couldn’t even imagine.
