༺ Trivial Suspicions ༻
Blood relations were like a stain, leaving its traces behind no matter the circumstance.
From the blood that coursed through my veins with every heartbeat, from every cell of my body, the notion of kinship clung like a brand. In other words, we also called this ‘resemblance’.
The man picking up stones from the potato field resembled me.
Initially, I found similarities in our facial features. The shape of the nose, the curve of the eyebrows, a jawline more delicate than rugged. The orderly alignment of teeth revealed when he sighed.
Next, the brittle black hair. The prominent veins when he sighed, the somewhat pale skin, and fingers with particularly pronounced second joints.
Then what was different?
The yellow eyes with blotchy stains that seemed like it would exude an odor of fat. The gaze that was not filled with hope for the future, but was stuck in the past. Occasional glimpses of annoyance and pain. Wrinkles that marked the passage of time, and…
“I’ll ask you something.”
“Oh my, is it you, Wizard……. Oh, it is someone different this time. Are you here to take them away again? I’m not ready yet, though.”There was a gritty texture in his deliberately dragged-out speech, reminiscent of chewing sand. I had felt something similar before; when a senior in school asked me to be a guarantor.
In essence, it meant it was disturbing and unsettling.
I squinted at the back of my father’s head as he bowed low, trying to curry favor. This person did not recognize me.
A baseless urge pricked my mind. This impulse to resent and be angry at this man was an unfamiliar and fresh sensation. It seemed emotions lingered even if memories faded.
I felt my blood run cold for the first time in a long while. A sensation akin to becoming a cold-blooded animal. My chest turned chilly, my head hot.
Let’s summarize.
1) I resented my father.
2) He did not recognize me.
3) He has been regularly handing over something to a wizard.
I carefully chose my words. I couldn’t afford to be swayed by these unknown emotions, thus becoming angry. I wanted to know everything. My goal was ‘to extract information from my father’. It was time to start a RP.
It was part of the basics to adopt the persona others expected of me.
A bowing gesture <= My father was clearly of a lower status than his ‘client’.
That meant it was better to talk down to him.
I’m not ready yet, though. <= That’s an excuse. He wants to deflect blame away from himself.
If that was the case, I would let him deflect.
“I am not here to tell you to take responsibility. I have just come to check on how things are going.”
“Ah, is that so….. Uh, um. Is that working out well? I heard it was quite tough last time.”
It is someone different this time. <= My father realizes I’m different from ‘the person who came before’. His awkward inquiry about ‘Is that working out well’ was a clumsy attempt at suspicion.
Physical signs were evident too; his pupils shifted slightly. Apparently, he was wary of my ‘leniency’. His ‘client’ is usually not so kind-hearted or has a good personality, it seems.
Then, I should be a bit harsher.
“Whatever you heard from my predecessor, that is none of your business. Am I in a position where I must report everything to you?”
“Oh no, no…… Of course not.”
This was the countryside. One that barely managed to farm potatoes. What could be the goods that could be ‘taken away’ from here? It was unlikely to be potatoes. After all, it doesn’t seem like he was that attached to farming, to the point that he would be so cheeky when inquiring about whether I was going to take something away.
What group was universally considered to have a ‘bad personality’ in all their members? That was a crucial hint.
Why did he mistake me for his ‘client’ in the first place? There must be a clear indicator that allowed him to be so confident in addressing me first. It must be on me.
I squared up, putting a bit of strength in my shoulders and straightening my neck.
“Let me ask again. How are things going on these days?”
“The new goblin tribe nearby was a pain, of course. When those damned midgets acted…… As you already know, it would obviously decrease the production rate, wouldn’t it?’
My father seemed to be testing the waters, feeling me out, but I had roughly gathered enough clues. Now, it was time to present the answer.
It might be a bit of a leap in logic.
But it was fine if my guess was wrong.
I had been diligently preparing Illusion Magic behind my back. If things went south, I would use the magic. So, it was okay to be a bit blunt and talk however I wished.
Though we’ve only known each other briefly during the carriage trip, we’ve gotten very close in that short time. So, let’s recall what Pink-Haired Lesbian said. At the entrance of the village, she stated that she found it quite odd…
That there was a lack of an obvious reaction, even though a stranger entered the village.
It was because they hired mercenaries to drive out the goblin tribe……was what I had thought. But now, I was thinking that may not be the case. Let’s think it through one at a time.
The mercenaries were loafing around at the Village Chief’s house. If the village had a lot of money, they would hire different mercenaries. After all, they needed to push back the goblin tribe and deal with the malicious mercenaries.
But that didn’t happen. According to the Red Tower Wizard, quite a long time had passed since the mercenaries’ long-term stay had begun. They must be living like that because they didn’t have the money to chase them away. To summarize, it seemed that there was only one case where a foreigner visited the village.
“If you think about it simply, it suggests that outsiders have been frequently visiting recently. It’s highly likely that one of them is a wizard as well.”
And in the first place, there was no wizard in that mercenary group. The Red Tower Wizard said it had been a while since she had visited the village. Then why didn’t the villagers show any interest in me and Pink-Haired Lesbian?
Because it was a familiar sight to them.
The reason my father mistook me for his ‘client’.
Because it was familiar. My attire.
A distinctive attire.
Because he was familiar with the hood and robes of the Purple Magic Tower.
If that was the case, then what was being traded? That was the question.
This was the last recollection I needed to find out. The furthest memory I had, when I was first taken to the Purple Magic Tower. What did I retrospect about during that time?
I was reborn as a commoner in a fantasy world.
I shouted for a status window, but nothing appeared.
I wasn’t particularly strong nor was I of a high status, so I thought I would end my life farming potatoes like my parents. But surprisingly, I had the talent of an Archwizard.
No wonder I was so good at mental arithmetic, huh.
I was dragged to a place known as a Magic Tower, where I received countless love calls from the Tower Masters.
……Dragged.
I spat out to my father.
“Do you remember the son you sold off 10 years ago?”
“Ah, he was such an annoying brat. Always talking back when adults spo……”
“I see.”
That was enough.
I casted the Illusion Magic I had been preparing. My father lost consciousness on the spot and collapsed. After sleeping for a while, he would probably start to confuse what was left and what was right quite frequently. A 50% chance of that.
===============================================================
“See you later!”
“There won’t be a case where we ever see each other again, you know?!”
I briefly said goodbye to the Red Tower Wizard.
===============================================================
On the way back, I spat out my complaints.
“So, I mean, well…… I’m sure there was some obvious situation that I didn’t really need to see to know. So I decided to stop searching for my memories.”
“I see.”
“But I need to think about it a bit more. I know that my father sold his children and all that. Also about how I was sold 10 years ago. Maybe the entire village got a taste for human trafficking. But from the way they speak, it seems like there were transactions until recently. Right?”
“Yes. The villagers couldn’t have acted so familiarly if they had only seen such figures once 10 years ago. It is most likely a certainty that there have been transactions until recently.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“Do you have suspicions?”
“It’s only one of the two, isn’t it?”
Someone from the Purple Magic Tower / Someone impersonating them has been consistently receiving people. Yuna doesn’t know about the evil culprit hidden in the Purple Magic Tower yet. I knew absolutely nothing about the Purple Magic Tower. Although it seems like a really stupid question, it would be too hard to bear if I didn’t ask.
“What do you think is more likely? Pink-Haired Lebsian.”
“Will you cry profusely if I choose Number 2?”
“I guess I’ll have to laugh.”
“Then there is no need for lies. I think it is Number 1.”
“Why.”
“Unless you’re a completely idiotic blockhead, you can’t miss that look in her eyes. The Purple Magic Tower Master’s eyes were practically dripping with honey whenever she looked at you.”
“?”
“……Fucking idiotic blockhead.”
===============================================================
A butterfly landed in a certain secluded forest.
A group of bad mercenaries had a plan to attack the arrogant wizard, have some fun with her, and then escape the village.
They were checking their equipment and preparing to ambush her in a suitable thicket when they encountered the butterfly.
Looking closely, it was actually a person.
The expression wasn’t visible because of the large conical hat pressed down on her head. The golden twintails tied to the side fluttered gently. She was holding a staff that was twisted into a spiral tightly in her arms.
“Brother, that thing……”
The youngest mercenary pointed towards the edge of the forest. The mercenaries turned their heads one by one, looking at the small and fragile-looking wizard.
“It seems like a lady who got lost, but since we’re leaving this area anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to catch one more, right?”
“You’re right. We tried to swallow the whole village but our plan failed. Honestly, just two isn’t enough. Right? And she looks like she has a big chest.”
“Are you blind? She doesn’t even look like she has anything to feast upon…… But still, her face looks decent, so that’s nice.”
“No, wait. Everyone, what are you talking about……? N-No matter how you look at it t-that thing over there doesn’t look like a hum…….?!”
The staff was quietly aimed. All the mercenaries except one could not feel the impending danger. The Purple Magic Tower Master murmured softly, like a sigh.
“I, I didn’t want h-his hands to be stained with blood. E-Eunggg. It would get worse, after all.”
“……What is she muttering about?”
“So, let’s just pretend these people……w-were n-never here.”
“B-Brothers, dodg──!”
“Metamorphosis (羽化) -『Subtraction』.”
Light flashed from the tip of the staff. The youngest mercenary, who ducked and covered his head in fright, was spared from being directly hit by the beam. As such, the beam only grazed his two hands.
A moment of silence.
When he looked up again, his fellow mercenaries were stiff and motionless, not even blinking. They weren’t breathing either. Their expressions remained unchanged. There was no focus in their gazes as well. On closer inspection, they appeared to already be dead.
In a panic, the surviving mercenary tried to at least struggle for his life, thus reaching for his sword. But he couldn’t because ‘ ‘ did not exist for him. It was because he could only draw a sword if he moved his arm, grasped the ‘ ‘ grip with his ‘ ‘ , and drew it.
“………….Uh?”
It felt like something that should be there was missing.
At the end of a person’s arm, there should be a ‘ ‘ . But it seemed like it was never there to begin with. Then how was he supposed to draw the sword? After much consideration and straining all his wisdom, the mercenary managed to fit the ‘ ‘ grip of the sword onto his elbow. He trembled with an incomprehensible fear. Something was terribly wrong.
The wizard spoke softly.
“Y-You……..have some tolerance, albeit small, huh. If you had come to the Purple Magic Tower and d-done v-very well……you might have reached Metamorphosis. But right now, you’re nothing more than a Fourth-Class mercenary……”
“Euh, oooogh…….EUAHH──!!”
His scream was cut short; it was because the wizard’s beam had grazed his lower jaw. He couldn’t scream because he didn’t have a ‘ ‘ and he also couldn’t breathe because he didn’t have a ‘ ‘ either. He writhed in agony, his body twisting as he choked on the lack of oxygen.
“Shhh.”
With another beam of light sweeping by, he became nothing.
“『Bury』.”
Mother Earth swallowed five hunks of unrecognizable organic matter. After existing without any meaning, on the day their life ended, they would finally decompose and return to nature.
This was an incident that happened in a certain forest.
***
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