by CHIROLU
“Well then, what do you want to know?”
“What are magical beings?”
“Ryso and Latina don’t really get them.”
“Hmm...”
She gave a firm nod in response to her daughters’ question, and then continued on, “Magical beings are not living creatures... The majority of them are what are called undead. They occur when the residual thoughts of the corpses or spirits of the deceased are manifested by mana, but...”
Seeing her daughters tilt their little heads, Mov reached a conclusion which was overly hasty, as well as plain and simple.
“Hmm... It would be better to simply show you rather than try to explain.”
“Huh?”
“Really?”
Mov’s golden eyes looked to be gazing at somewhere far off in the distance. She was looking over the potential futures that only she could see, something no ordinary person was capable of.
Soon, Mov gave a satisfied smile in response to what she had surveyed.
“When something you do not know catches your interest, it is only right to try to learn about it. Therefore, it is good to study it.”
“Hmm?”
“Hmm?”
The twins tilted their heads in tandem, while Mov alone gave a satisfied nod.
Once in the past, Mov had easily slipped out of the temple in order to go see Smaragdi. She was an airhead, but she was also strangely good at taking action. By using her abilities, she was able to slip out of the depths of the temple with her daughters in tow while having confidence in their safety. However, Mov wasn’t taking them out of the temple itself this time.
“Mov?”
“What’s this place?”
The stone-built building Mov had brought her daughters to had a complex relief around its entrance, but the interior was incredibly plain and dreary. The chill felt in this place was due to more than just the air running through from below.
Just leaving their room when it was dusk out was unusual for the twins. However, they still pitter-pattered along after their mother, who was holding a light, so as not to be left behind.
“Even very few people of the temple visit this place. It is a graveyard that has been used for generations for priests.”
“Graveyard?”
“Perhaps due to the strong power of this land and of those buried here, this place is famed for having many ghosts appear.”
Mov walked along at a brisk pace, showing no signs of being afraid. Chrysos and Platina didn’t understand what was going on in the least. They had interest in being in a new place, but they hadn’t the foggiest to what it was for.
“As long as you keep the amulets on your person, you will be in no danger.”
“Hmm?”
“Amulets? This?”
Immediately before they entered the building, Mov hung a delicately-made amulet meant to ward off evil from each of her daughter’s necks. In response to Chrysos holding hers up, Mov gave a smile and a nod.
“Yes, that is the one. Be sure not to lose it.”
With that, Mov hurried ahead of her daughters. The angle on the slick floor suddenly shifted causing the twins to fall down, and it then acted as a slide, carrying them down below.
“Gah?!”
“Wah?!”
“If you follow the path you will make it back here, so do your best and return to me.”
At the very least, if Smaragdi were there, he would have asked why in the world she was so reckless as to send their daughters off into such a place alone.
While looking up at their mother waving to them, Chrysos and Platina slid down into the depths of the graveyard, not even having time to grasp what had happened.
The two had been raised with affection under the watch of an absolute guardian in the form of their father, so they had no idea that they possessed the ability to sense such things as “ill will” and “malice.” That was something akin to the budding sprout of the power of fate protecting them, as those who had been prophesied to become demon lords, but nobody was aware of that.
Having been thrown right into the midst of the thoughts of those ghosts, whose envy and jealousy towards all living things had shifted into hatred, Platina fell into a panic.
“Gwaaaaaaah!!”
Chrysos had gripped her amulet tightly as her mother had instructed and was somewhat calm, but she jumped when she heard Platina’s scream at the appearance of the swarm of ghosts.
That proved to be the trigger. Chrysos had been holding back her tears up until then, but following suit with her sister, the dam holding the tears back burst apart.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!”
After that, the sisters held each other’s hands and ran at full sprint, tears streaming from their eyes all the while.
It could be said that these sisters’ courage had held out, as their legs hadn’t given out from fear.
Meanwhile, Mov heard their footsteps from far away and gave a satisfied nod.
“Hmm...”
Her daughters’ screams reverberated throughout the narrow graveyard, but Mov reached a rather positive conclusion, deciding that there was no problem if they had that much energy.
She was worrying about the girls, in her own way. In her childrens’ future, a great many difficulties awaited them. And when that time came, she would surely not be by their side. And so, they needed to be capable of overcoming any difficulty through their own power. The dark shadow of death always followed wherever the Demon Lords of Calamity tread, after all.
Her daughters would surely need to build up a resistance to the undead, in order to protect themselves.
Mov had encountered the Second Demon Lord herself when she was young, suffering great wounds to her heart in the process, but she had been raised to be extremely tough mentally. Her overly straightforward way of thinking was that one needed to face their trauma head-on and overcome it, like she had done with the aid of that person she loved, who was so skilled at doting on her.
She was truly frighteningly airheaded.
“Oh light of heaven, grant this request by my name, and become a guide for those who are lost. 《Ghost purification》”
Mov’s purple hair waved gently as she quickly chanted off her purification magic. She was born with a massive amount of mana, so even with just the magic activated by that single chant, the ghosts that had gathered behind her back were easily mowed down.
Soon after, Chrysos and Platina made it back to their mother and clinged to her desperately.
“Waaaah!”
“Mov!”
While stroking her sobbing daughters’ hair to comfort them, Mov plainly stated with a smile on her face, “What you saw just now were ghosts. They lack any sense of self like those of the seven races, and are not especially dangerous.”
It was certainly true that for someone like Mov, who could cast such exceptional purification magic, even a couple hundred ghosts would be nothing to fear.
“However, the classification of undead doesn’t only refer to ghosts.”
The girls had inherited their mother’s airheadedness and tendency to do things at her own pace, but they still felt an ill premonition from the smile on Mov’s face right now. However, it was just a bit too late.
“Therefore, continue your studies.”
With a bam, Mov flung open a door behind her. That door had a sealing spell placed over it so it couldn’t be opened easily, but she cared nothing of such a trivial matter.
It was connected to a small room made of stone.
An unnatural, dry clattering sound emerged from the darkness. Mov illuminated the interior with her light, and both Chrysos and Platina froze on the spot.
There were countless skeletons packed within that room.
“When one becomes a zombie, they not only look horrifying, but also possess a terrible stench. You should accustom yourselves to it now.”
As always, Mov’s smile remained firmly on her face.
It was too much from the very start for not ju
st Platina, but also Chrysos.
Unlike ghosts, which lacked physical forms, the beings clattering and shaking before them now were clearly there. The impact on the girls couldn’t even be compared. All they could do was tremble and quake in one another’s arms.
Smaragdi arrived soon afterwards.
He realized upon returning from town that Mov and the girls weren’t in their room, but he didn’t raise a fuss over that. He didn’t yell out loudly or carelessly at the absence of his daughters, who were being raised in secret.
What he did first was search for the girls on his own. He wasn’t just looking at random, instead making use of search magic, which he was skilled at.
However, he found a different difficulty upon his arrival at the scene. As Smaragdi wasn’t a priest, he was restricted from entering the graveyard. He was devoted in his duties as a professional, which made that restriction push him to his limits mentally, as going into that place was something he should avoid. There would be repercussions.
But above all else, his role as a father came first.
What he found was his beloved daughters huddled in a trembling mass, no longer even able to speak. Even after seeing him, they were still so awash in terror that they couldn’t even stand.
“Mov!” Smaragdi’s reprimanding voice reverberated throughout the graveyard, with enough force behind it that even the skeletons faltered.
Even after being rebuked by Smaragdi, Mov calmly puffed up her chest with pride.
“Low-grade ghosts are of little concern. And I made sure they had amulets, so such things could not even so much as approach them.”
Instead of appearing dejected, she had the expression of a dog thinking “I did good, so praise me!” as she looked at Smaragdi.
“Furthermore, new experiences are of great use in their growth, yes? Now they should be able to deal with the undead without experiencing more fear than they need to...”
“These girls still weren’t ready to face such a thing!”
Their daughters were still young children, just barely able to take care of their day to day needs on their own.
It was certainly true that in order to protect themselves, they would need to learn how to fight and to ready to face magical beings without faltering. However, no matter how one thought about it, that wasn’t the sort of education to be given to children this young. His beloved daughters in his arms were trembling, tears streaming from their eyes.
“There’s a time and an order to all things...”
Smaragdi’s lecture continued on for a while after that.
Though he had watched out for them in that manner, for a while afterwards, Chrysos and Platina weren’t able to go into dark places, and the bedwetting that they had outgrown made a reoccurrence.
Their mother’s attempt at tough love had missed its mark, not providing the desired result.
That much was only natural.
4: Prequel: The End, the Beginning, and a Meeting
It was the eighth autumn after Chrysos and Platina had entered into the world. Those twins, who were born in early summer, were now seven.
As always, their appearances were utterly identical outside of their gold and platinum eyes. But to their parents, who watched over them every day, the differences in their personalities were growing day by day.
There were certainly many inconveniences to this small world, akin to a miniature garden, that they lived in together with their mother, Mov, who was just as much of a spoiled child as her daughters. Smaragdi wanted to show the wide world to those girls, who had only ever known the depths of the temple.
Even so, their days together were happy enough that he also wished to keep on spending such calm, gentle time together forever.
As they entered into autumn, the town of Vassilios was filled with a brilliant, joyful air.
The climate in Vassilios was unrelenting, so the harvest season, when cool winds started blowing and making things more comfortable, was greatly appreciated, even though the country wasn’t very suitable to farming.
“...So it’s time for the Quirmizi harvest festival, is it? To think that it’s already that time of year...” Smaragdi muttered to himself while walking through town and looking around.
The temple of Banafsaj held the greatest influence in Vassilios and was in charge of government. However, it wasn’t as if the country was lacking in faith in the other gods. As Vassilios had a rugged climate, their harvests were always limited. Therefore, they never neglected to hold festivals for Quirmizi, the god who governed the earth and harvests.
The town had a radiantly merry feel about it as preparations for the festival to give thanks to Quirmizi and celebrate the harvest they were given were underway.
The sight inspired an idea in Smaragdi. I’d... like to show this to Chrysos and Platina, too. And in his mind’s eye, Mov too was naturally by his side.
His daughters and their mother weren’t familiar with the normal state of the town, but when they saw the even more brilliant sight of the festival, their expressions were sure to shine, too.
Smaragdi was aware that the circumstances those girls found themselves in meant that they couldn’t let their hair down so lightly.
And so, when Smaragdi casually let that desire slip, Mov stared blankly back at him.
“You can just consider that some idle chatter. I just kind of wanted you to hear it.”
It was just the two of them, as their daughters had already fallen asleep. This was the only time that she could show her own personal expressions, rather than those of the grand priestess or a mother, and when she heard Smaragdi’s words, she tilted her head at the same angle that her daughters did.
“You are not the sort of person to voice an idea without any reason,” she said, causing Smaragdi to give a strained laugh. However, Mov’s expression was serious.
“Is something up?”
“You see right through me, Mov.”
Thinking on it, the time he had spent together with Mov couldn’t be called short, even for someone who had lived as long as him. And it wasn’t just long, but also a time rich in happiness. And so, he ended up having such a thought.
“At some point, I’ll be separated from those girls... I don’t know when that will be, but... I want to leave those girls with plenty of memories before that time comes. And I don’t want them to ever think of those memories as something painful or bitter.”
At some point, he would sacrifice his life for the sake of his daughters. He had been prepared for that for quite some time now. And as his beloved daughters grew more and more utterly irreplaceable to him, any doubt about that fact completely and utterly vanished. Even without Mov’s protection, as their father, he would gladly risk his life to protect those girls.
But he wanted to leave his daughters memories powerful enough that when the time came, even if his death left wounds on his daughter’s hearts, the twins would overcome them. He wanted them both to be able to clearly say that they were happy. That was his wish.
“I may not even get to see those girls become adults. But whenever this season comes... they may end up recalling memories of me. And so I’ve been thinking... if possible, I’d like those to be happy memories,” Smaragdi said with a slightly troubled smile, understanding that he may have been acting purely for his own satisfaction.
What he should prioritize was the safety of Mov and his daughters. And considering the importance of their existence, he should never do such a thing.
But even so, he wanted to tell his feelings to someone, so he had opened up to Mov.
He felt that he would be satisfied just having her listen to his words with her golden eyes looking straight at him, not a hint of maliciousness to her expression.
What Smaragdi had forgotten was that Mov was a natural airhead who was unusually good at taking initiative.
Mov first got ahold of child-sized overcoats with the assistance of an undisclosed source. So that they wouldn’t get in the way when covering their horn
s, there were cat-ear shapes attached to the hoods. She also dyed her long purple hair.
There really was a limit to how decisively one should act.
When he saw Mov with dark brown hair, Smaragdi was left at a loss for words. If anyone from the temple had saw how the Lady Oracle had ruined that precious color of Banafsaj, they would be liable to faint.
“M-Mov, what did you...?” Smaragdi asked, sounding bewildered.
“There are some spots left, but if I wear a headdress atop it, then none will notice in the darkness,” Mov responded, brimming with confidence as she puffed up with pride. She didn’t realize that she hadn’t given an answer to his question.
“Um... Mov?”
“If you say we cannot, then I will take those two outside on my own.”
“What sort of threat is that?”
It was the first outing for those naturally airheaded young girls, who knew nothing of the outside world. He couldn’t imagine it would be anything but an incident-filled event.
When he recovered from the initial shock of that, Smaragdi realized that Mov had apparently made plans to take their daughters outside. She had taken action in order to realize what he had muttered about. He was glad for the consideration, but he couldn’t let her do so.
While such sensible thoughts ran through Smaragdi’s head, the confident expression on Mov’s face didn’t crumble in the least, and she continued on, “With my divine protection, I can manage to do so without you even realizing it.”
He wanted to prevent a repeat of the “graveyard incident.” It was no surprise that such a thought would immediately spring to Smaragdi’s mind. However, when Smaragdi opened his mouth to stop Mov, he looked at her and closed it again.
Mov cheerfully put a silk veil on her head and faced Smaragdi. Such things were a common bit of fashion for women in this hot, parched land, meant to ward off the strong rays of the sun. Even her golden eyes and horns that sparkled the same color didn’t stand out when hidden by the dark colored veil. Surely no one would be able to tell she even possessed those rare colors of the Lady Oracle at a glance.