Chapter 59: An Unexpected Matter (6)
What would have been the right reaction?
I couldn’t say a word as I looked at the woman who claimed to be Talia Poas.
She simply burst into laughter again and again, as if she found it amusing to watch me.
“Fufu… I can hear the sound of your head rolling round and round from here. Roll, roll. Roll, roll.”
When she snapped her fingers with a tak, an identical chair appeared behind me, just like the one she was sitting on.
At her silent gesture for me to sit, I followed. As she looked at me with a deep gaze, resting her chin on her hand, she spoke in a subtle tone.
“From the look of it, you’ve only just entered the Academy, but to already be here means you’ve got some potential, doesn’t it? Which also means your head must work reasonably well.”
Her voice brimmed with anticipation.
Like a teacher waiting for a student’s answer.
“Then, how about you tell me your deduction?”
“My… deduction?”
“Yes, I’m bored, so let’s play detective.”
She shrugged her shoulders as she spoke.
“When you spend a long time alone in a place like this, it feels like you’ll die of boredom. Occasionally, children like you wander in, but that’s rare. You’ll humor me, won’t you?”
At her words, I gave a small nod.
“…First of all, the person before me is both Talia Poas, and not Talia Poas.”
She let out a short laugh.
“And what basis or support do you have for that?”
“History records that the original you lived out your natural life and ascended, becoming a star on the day you turned ninety-nine. But several centuries have passed since then, so there’s no way you’d suddenly appear before me like this, looking young.”
“Mm?”
She gave a little sound, as if telling me to continue.
Looking straight at her, I slowly laid out my thoughts.
“The one who brought me here called this place the Room of Memories. If I interpret it simply and directly, as the name suggests, then the you standing before me must be Talia Poas’s memory… in other words, a duplicate. Considering you created many magic tools with Sage Bojador, and rebuilt the fallen Magic Tower, then creating a space like this would hardly have been difficult.”
“That’s it?”
“…Yes.”
When I nodded, she mimicked a drumroll with her lips.
“Ta-dah, forty points.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Out of a hundred, forty.”
She muttered in a still-playful voice.
“You used your head a little, but it was needlessly long-winded, and when peeled apart, there wasn’t much substance. That’s a ten-point deduction. And since you didn’t even think to suspect or check whether this was the effect of an illusion, hallucination, or mental magic, that’s another ten-point deduction.”
As she spoke, she slyly raised her finger and pointed at me.
Naturally, my eyes shifted to her fingertip, and she clicked her tongue.
“And now another ten points off, bringing it to thirty.”
Here, she gave me advice in a voice laced with genuine sincerity.
“When facing a mage, never focus on their eyes or fingertips. Stay aware, but don’t fixate. If your attention gets caught there, you never know when you’ll be ensnared by a spell or curse. If I had harbored ill intent toward you… wouldn’t that be dreadful?”
“…Then what about the rest of the deductions?”
…It felt like I’d been smacked over the head.
Avoiding her gaze, I asked, and she chuckled as she replied.
“In the beginning, you didn’t call me pretty or beautiful or… well, any kind of compliment at all, even if it were just flattery. All the rest got docked there. I may not look it, but I’m rather sensitive.”
“…Ah, I see.”
“Ahahaha! You’re actually taking it seriously!”
Bursting into laughter, she shook her head and gazed at me with a steady look.
“Well then, enough mischief. Shall we get to the real subject?”
At her words, I straightened my posture.
Seeing this, she chuckled and gestured for me to sit comfortably.
“Ah, but before we begin, it’s better if I introduce myself properly. And that little scoring game earlier is over, so no need to rack your brain about it.”
As she said this, Talia Poas placed her hand upon her chest and spoke.
“As you said, I’m a duplicate, a fragment of memory of Talia Poas, a thought given form. More precisely, it would be accurate to say that I’m a recreation of a moment in time. That’s why this place is called the Room of Memories. But more importantly… yes. Just a moment….”
In mid-speech, Talia leaned toward me and, closing her eyes, pretended to sniff.
I quietly observed her, careful not to disturb.
After a brief moment.
“Yes, you’re a priest.”
Still with her eyes closed, she gave a small nod and began to speak.
“You look young, but you carry a very pure aura. With this much, had you been born in our active era, you might have made quite a name for yourself. Hm… and I also sense an unusual mana. Was one of your parents a bloodline mage? …I see, I understand now. Your maternal line. Unfortunately, it seems you didn’t inherit bloodline magic, but you clearly inherited the nature of that power. And… there’s also a faint scent of spirits. This isn’t something that belongs to you personally… you must be close to a very powerful Spirit Master, aren’t you?”
“……”
In just a brief moment of sniffing, she had pierced through my very background. All I could do was be stunned.
But she, as if it were nothing, continued sniffing.
“And faint though it is, this is unmistakably… the scent of demons.”
With one eye half-open, she looked at me as if asking for an explanation. I immediately replied.
“Recently, a merchant group of demons visited the city. They were preparing for a festival. I must have picked up the scent while wandering about to watch.”
“A merchant group of demons holding a festival? In the capital itself? Hm….”
Talia twisted one eyebrow, but muttered as if it wasn’t much of a concern.
“Well, I suppose several centuries have passed. Such things happen.”
She nodded twice or so and straightened her posture.
“Alright, since I’ve got a rough sense of you, now I’ll explain this place. The reason I made it was to aid our descendants. It’s designed so that, for anyone who enters, the person among us with the most necessary knowledge and information would appear.”
Talia shrugged her shoulders as she muttered.
“Though when I say ‘us,’ it was only five of us.”
Five.
Come to think of it, there had only been five bookshelves outside.
Pushing the fleeting thought aside, I quietly asked her again.
“Then that means you, Lady Talia, are the one most able to give me the guidance I need right now.”
“Yes, which means… hmm….”
“Lian Gwendil.”
“Yes, Lian Gwendil. Just as you said, I’m the one who can offer you the greatest help. That’s why I’ve appeared before you.”
“…Huh.”
If what she said was true.
If she really was a duplicate of Talia Poas, then this was an incredible opportunity for me.
What in the world should I ask first?
Words like ‘Brand,’ ‘regression,’ and ‘resurrection’ floated chaotically in my head, making it hard to even organize my thoughts.
“That….”
At that moment, Talia pursed her lips with an awkward expression.
“…I’m really sorry, but before we begin, would it be alright if I asked just one question?”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
“Good, thank you for allowing it.”
She hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked me.
“…By any chance, has something happened to our family?”
I immediately shook my head.
“No. I haven’t heard of anything.”
“Hmm, then do any of our family still attend the Academy?”
“Yes, they’re not of my age group, so I don’t know exactly, but I think they’re about to graduate. Or… have they already graduated? I’m sorry. I only know they’re attending, but not in detail.”
“I see….”
She let out a small sigh at that.
“This isn’t something you really need to know, but… my family, the Poas. Along with the Everglenns and the Valentins. If someone from these three families visits, it’s set so that members of their respective families will always appear. Among your companions who came in with you, there must be someone from either the Everglenn or Valentin families, right?”
“Yes, someone from the Everglenn family.”
At my answer, her expression twisted faintly.
“Damn it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ah, sorry. It just slipped out.”
Sighing again, she explained almost apologetically.
“The Everglenns and the Valentins keep showing up regularly, but… my family, not so much. I was worried maybe something serious had happened. But now, realizing it’s simply that they couldn’t even meet the bare minimum standard… well, it leaves me feeling a bit….”
Muttering in a weary voice, she turned her head slightly and looked toward one spot.
There, a large candle stood, already melted down somewhat.
“Click, what a waste of time because of me. Anyway, if you have questions, ask as many as you want. Since I wasted your time with silly tricks, I’ll repay it with something worthwhile.”
Talia added,
“And earlier I said I was a duplicate, a fragment of memory, a thought-form. But in truth, as a separate consciousness, I can’t form new ideas or interact with the outside. So when I say I give advice, it’s really just a figure of speech. More precisely… I can only lay out the knowledge and information I know, and you’ll have to search through and discover from it.”
“Uh….”
Seeing my expression, she nodded as if she understood.
“Hmm, maybe I twisted my words too much. Simply put, what I mean is: you don’t need to worry that I might try something strange against you, or that your secrets might leak out.”
After finishing, she shrugged her shoulders and asked me,
“Or should I swear it upon my name?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
Saying this, I pulled down the collar of my clothes.
Talia, who had been wearing a mischievous smile until just now, silently watched my action. Soon, upon seeing the brand etched into my collarbone, she let out a soft exclamation.
“Oh.”
“I want to ask about this first.”
Instead of answering, she asked me in return.
“Before that, let me ask you—what do you call it?”
“I’ve been calling it a Brand.”
“A Brand, hmm. And how much do you know about it?”
“Almost nothing.”
“Then I’ll have to start from the beginning.”
Talia let out a small sigh and muttered,
“Now I feel embarrassed about boasting earlier. Unfortunately, at the point this memory was taken from me, I had only just begun researching the Brand. So I can’t say I know it well, but at least I’ve uncovered some things. I’ll tell you all of that.”
As she spoke, she briefly stroked her lips as if gathering her thoughts, then began again.
“Humans know how to handle fire.”
She spoke in a quiet voice.
“But humans didn’t invent fire. They discovered it. Do you understand the difference?”
“Yes.”
“It’s the same. What you call the Brand wasn’t invented by anyone. It was discovered.”
I listened closely to her words.
Her quiet yet clear voice continued, almost like a fairy tale told to a child.
“Some called it a power created by demons. In fact, five of the Eight Demon Lords possessed it, so I also thought the same at first.”
“But soon I realized that wasn’t the case. Most of the Brands were in the hands of demons… but that wasn’t because they belonged to demons. It was simply because demons lived long, and so naturally, they gathered to them.”
Well, until they were wiped out by us.
Here she made a gesture of slicing her neck with her hand and burst into laughter.
“That’s why I believe they spread all across the continent. When the owner of a Brand dies, very rarely it binds itself to someone nearby… but most of the time, it simply vanishes somewhere. Like ashes scattered by the wind.”
“I’ve heard there’s a way to forcibly extract a Brand.”
“Well, yes. In fact, I knew someone who embedded a seized Brand into a tool rather than his body.”
Nodding lightly, she shrugged.
“And while you call it a Brand, I used to call it Proof.”
“Proof?”
“Yes. Others called it a cornerstone. Some, a shortcut. Some, a bulwark… In any case, the names were many. And none of them was the correct one.”
“……”
“It has no fixed name, no fixed form. Its name changes depending on the era, on who calls it, on the purpose of the bearer.”
As I unconsciously touched the mark on my collarbone, Talia tilted her head.
“In any case, each of them carries tremendous power, and most people treated them as tools or weapons. From what I’ve seen, they were all enormously powerful. Though, of course, that may have been because the wielders themselves were monstrously strong.”
But.
She furrowed her brow slightly as she spoke.
“I also heard there were those who used it not as a weapon or tool, but as a step in their training—a process. They called themselves seekers… but, unfortunately, I never met them.”
“Why not?”
“Because I couldn’t find them.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Some say they all died, or their families were annihilated. Others say they were never real, just legends. Well… perhaps the original me may have found them. But at least at this point in memory, I never did.”
“Hmm….”
“And there are a few more things I know, but they’re probably things you already know too.”
Like singing, she rattled off facts about the Brand.
But just as she said, most of it was already familiar to me.
Except for the last thing she mentioned.
“In the end, a Brand is… should I say destiny, or qualification? Anyway, only certain people can have them. Simply put, every Brand has a predetermined destination.”
Predetermined from the beginning.
At those words, I once again became aware of the Brand on my collarbone.
Looking at me, Talia muttered with regret.
“Yes, and unfortunately, unlike you, I was never a destination. I had many opportunities to encounter Brands, but I never managed to make one mine. Shall I give you a grim example? Even if I tore it forcibly from you, in the end, it would leave my hands and return to its rightful owner—you.”
At her words, I adjusted my clothes and said,
“…You sound so certain that I’m its rightful owner.”
“Hmm? But of course.”
She spoke as if it were obvious.
“Even after turning back time to live again, you’ve already held the same Brand twice. If you’re not the rightful owner, then who else could be?”