309th Chapter
“Vargan, I know you’ll have a lot of questions about what I’m going to tell you now. But can you wait until the story is completely finished?”
“I’ve waited in here for a year for this moment, so surely I can hold on for a few minutes. Do as you please.”
“Thank you.”
As if hinting at a long tale to come, Schugenharz sipped his tea.
Once ready, he fixed his gaze on Vargan with eyes that seemed to float in a daze.
“What I’m about to tell you is the life of a woman and a part of existing history.”
“A woman… Based on your tone, I take it she’s a magician?”
“Indeed.”
The first magician.
Later to be called a goddess, becoming the symbol of the Goddess Church.
As Schugenharz prepared to tell the story of the being who is the origin of all incidents, his tone was more serious than ever.
From Vargan’s perspective, there was not a hint of falsehood in those words.
*
Back then, there were neither monsters nor the concept of magic.
Humans were not unusually strong, and during that time, lives were easily ended by wild beasts, let alone natural disasters.
Even in that distant past, people waged wars.
With spears instead of staffs embedded with mana stones.
With rusty swords instead of the shining swords surrounded by aura.
Everything was remarkably lacking in scale and support, yet they slaughtered their own kind for mutual benefit.
Then one day.
“What is that…?”
To a girl living in a peaceful mountain village untouched by the war, a book descended from the sky.
A bizarrely shaped book that came down from above.
The girl was drawn to the mysterious purple smoke emanating from the book. One might expect her to feel fear of such an unknown object, but it did not seem frightening at all.
Instead, she had an urge to reach out and open the floating book in the air.
For reasons unknown, that desire surged from deep within her.
From the moment the girl opened the book.
Whoosh—!
The girl became the only being in this world capable of wielding mana.
Her name was Shalom.
An 11-year-old girl who grew up in an exceedingly ordinary family, just like any other.
“It’s true! This book fell from the sky!”
“Hahaha, it looks like our little princess is trying to pull a prank on Mom and Dad again.”
“It seems like you’re trying to pull a prank on Dad.”
“Oh come on, why don’t you believe me?”
Salom had always been straightforward with her parents about everything.
She felt frustrated that her parents wouldn’t believe her.
“I really fell from the sky! And super slowly too!”
“Oh really? If you’re going this far, could it be that the sky really sent a gift for Salom? What do you think, dear?”
“You shouldn’t be so accepting of a child’s lies. What if she grows up to be a liar?”
“That’s true. Salom, lying is bad. No matter how playful it is, a little lie could turn into a big one…”
Feeling down because her parents didn’t believe her, Salom ignored their warning not to go outside and sat on a rock by the nearby stream, pouting and kicking the water.
“It’s not a lie….”
Dipping her feet in the cool stream didn’t lift her spirits at all.
Salom opened the large book she had brought, flipping its pages backward.
The pages, made of an unknown material, had no writing on them.
Rustle-rustle—.
Flipping through the book somewhat anxiously, Salom soon reached the first page.
“Huh? What’s this?”
She read aloud the writing on the page.
Though Salom didn’t know how to read, incredibly, the words came to her naturally.
“…As Salom flipped through the book somewhat anxiously, she reached the first page and read aloud the words written there.”
Splash!
Salom was startled and fell off the rock.
Soaking wet, but the book she held remained dry.
Rubbing her sore backside, Salom reopened the first page.
“…S-salom fell off the rock, startled. Soaking wet, but the book remained dry… What’s happening… Why are my actions written down just like that?”
Salom’s arms shook uncontrollably.
An inexplicable fear made her hair stand on end.
Looking closely, it was clear that from the moment she grabbed this book, everything that had happened that day was written down.
As if someone was watching her intently.
“…E-everything was written down… Huh? What’s next? But, having gained control over mana, Salom began to regard the book as a gift from the sky. Mana? A gift? What does that mean…?”
It was as if the text had predicted her actions.
Salom wanted to throw the creepy book away right then, but she couldn’t ignore the reality before her.
“Could it be that mana… is this what it’s talking about?”
There, in her eyes, a swirling mass of violet light reflected.
Though her parents seemed invisible, Salom realized that a violet mist was rising around her.
Cautiously, she reached out to grasp the mana.
At that moment, the mana seemed to read her intent and flowed into her hand, soon taking the shape of delicate white snowflakes.
Feeling a sense of wonder, Salom experimented with moving the mana further.
This mysterious light known as mana could move freely like her arms and legs, and it could create any object she desired.
The mysterious light could move as freely as her arms and legs, creating any object she desired.
Money, furniture, livestock, flowers.
As she began to gain more abilities, the fear that had once made her tremble slowly faded, replaced by curiosity and excitement.
Salom crafted a long serpent from the river’s current floating in the air and flew through the sky like a bird, thoroughly enjoying the darkening night.
Everything moved according to her will.
An unprecedented sensation.
Salom hugged a large book tightly in her arms.
“It really must be a gift…!”
Now able to freely use mana, Salom considered the book a gift from the sky.
“Salom! Where have you been?! Do you know how worried Mom and Dad have been?”
Only when the moon brightly illuminated the world did Salom return home.
Even while being scolded, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
“What’s she so happy about?”
“Mom, Dad, you told me not to lie earlier, right?”
Salom shrugged her shoulders.
She beamed with confidence.
“Are we still on that topic?”
“Honey, just wait a moment.”
Salom’s father held onto his lovely daughter’s shoulders with a gentle smile.
He wanted to get down to her level and listen to the conversation.
“Our princess, you have something to brag about to Mom and Dad, don’t you?”
“Hehe. Well, something like that!”
“What could it be? I’m so curious. Can you show us?”
“Okay! I don’t want to keep secrets from Mom and Dad, so I’ll show you specially.”
With a bright smile, Salom moved her mana.
Just as she had flown joyfully through the sky, she levitated the furniture and her parents.
With a pure heart, she wanted to share the unfamiliar sensation she’d experienced.
“See! Now you know I wasn’t lying, right?”
However, contrary to Salom’s expectations, her parents’ faces twisted in fear.
…….
“She’s a witch! A witch!”
“The witch has escaped!”
At 17, Salom continued her life as a fugitive.
Those who couldn’t accept the mystery of magic viewed her with fear rather than awe, claiming she should be executed.
She could not interact with people.
The rumor of the legless mare spread quickly, and she had become far too accustomed to the concept of magic.
“Why do I have to be treated this way? What have I done wrong?”
Having endured long mistreatment, Salom gradually developed aversion and resentment toward people.
Yet, even during that time, she independently established her own understanding of magic.
Magic was a kind of study perfectly suited to her aptitude, profound the deeper she delved.
“Each type of magic has its uniqueness, and if you amplify that…”
Her research progressed smoothly.
Even without friends or family to converse with, she had magic.
Though she lived in a cave, she had decorated the interior so lavishly; how could she not be satisfied?
“Isn’t it satisfying that I’ve decorated the inside so splendidly?”
Shalom comforted herself and immersed in her research.
And so, another year passed… three years… eventually, when Shalom turned 27.
She could no longer bear the extreme loneliness and stepped out into the world.
But the world she returned to was drastically different from what she remembered.
—Krrrrrr!
—Kaaang!
“Sa-save me! Save me!”
“Mom! Dad! Where are you!!”
A city turned into a sea of fire.
Black smoke billowed like storm clouds, and beasts resembling monsters clawed and attacked people.
As she blankly stared at the scene, the monsters, considering her as prey, began to charge at Shalom.
Feeling a twinge of fear from their approach, she used her magic.
Her magic dealt tremendous damage to the monsters, wiping out a group in a single strike.
“Oh, oh! Ooooo…!”
“It’s the Savior! The Savior has descended!”
As Shalom cleaned up the horde of monsters, the surviving citizens began to bow to her.
They praised her, repeatedly knocking their heads against the ground.
“The wicked Demon King has been defeated, and our Savior has come down from the sky to rescue us!”
Experiencing hot gratitude and cheers for the first time in her life.
Shalom, who had previously been treated as a witch and a figure of terror, was flabbergasted by the completely changed treatment.
She insisted she wasn’t a savior.
Then someone asked what they should call her, and in a flustered moment, she answered while trying to leave.
“Magician.”
From that day on, Shalom was referred to as a magician instead of her name or witch.
Rumors about her spread rapidly.
……
“The Magic Instructor has appeared! We are safe now!”
Once tasting the fervent cheers of the people, Shalom couldn’t forget that sensation and began to save others.
Even though they were once the same folks who had pushed her away and cursed her.
Shalom also shared the same red blood, and when saving people, feelings of altruism surged within her.
Thus, Shalom traveled across the continent, slaying monsters and rescuing people repeatedly.
One day, however.
Shalom suffered a significant blow from the Demon King and barely escaped.
She almost got split in half from the shock.
Only then did Shalom, who had been lost in the enthusiasm of the people like someone under the influence of drugs, manage to inspect her own body with clear vision.
Her appearance, which had been beautifully altered through the structure of her bones, had become old and shabby.
Her once plump cheeks had sunk in.
Her hands, which used to shine with vitality, were now wrinkled and sagging.
“…When did I age like this?”
At that time, Shalom was 84 years old.
If she hadn’t used magic, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to be buried in the ground.
Believing her strength diminished due to aging and seeing herself as ugly, Shalom paused her humanitarian efforts under the pretext of healing her wounds and entered seclusion.
She devoted herself to her research as if she would dedicate her remaining life to it, and the achievements she later attained were eternal youth and a body optimized for magic.
In the future, this research would yield the byproducts known as ‘Altife’ and ‘Spirit.’
