Volume 2: Chapter 026: Ulysses (Yunosis)’s First Memory
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
(First Memory)
Approximately 2200 years ago.
Borders of the Eastern Continental Kingdom of Fresista
Yunosis: 20’s
As a youngster, I travelled with merchant friends to [1] see the world, gain experiences and of course, record the spirits that I encountered.
This was the era of great power and Black Magic was widely used among the people. It was the type of magic that carried a certain amount of risk. Even so, people continue to use it since it makes their daily lives easier. Still, since it was an era of constant conflict with demons, it was mainly used in combat.
“Yuno, is the city still far away?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Yuno, Prana will die without water!!!”
“Don’t fly around so much. Come rest with me, Prana.”
“Are we there yet?”
In addition to recording the details of the spirits I had met on my journey, some followed me and hovered around the wagon I was writing in.
Specifically, I was writing down spirit magic. That’s right, magic that could be used by borrowing the strength of a spirit. In short, Spirit Magic.
I happened upon this type of magic by accident. I was experimenting with a magic circle when my first companion, Prana the Hummingbird, transformed into a divine spear.
Even then, I sensed that I was on the cusp of something incredible. As though I was on the precipice of a revelation.
Surely the existence of spirits in this world was not by chance? They must be born of something or were constructed by the elements of this world. In short, they were the manifestation of people’s beliefs.
As for their forms, there must be a meaning behind their forms and characteristics.
I continued to look for these spirits with a pair of brother and sister merchants, Brandt and Mina, who could also see spirits. By the way, I met this pair of siblings during my travels.
As we continue to look for spirits, we call ourselves the ‘Spirit Research Group’.
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“Woah, to think we’d run into a ruin at a place
“These are the Hestra Ruins, built by the ancient Hesnia tribe. It’s all gone now, but this place used to be an oasis. There is still a well here.”
“Ah, look over there Brother, Yuno!!” Mina, [2] who had stuck her head into the well, called for us.
“Oh my, there’s a spirit here,” I said as I looked into the well.
A pair of eyes glared up at us from the bottom of the well. My own eyes sparkled as I leapt into the well without a second thought.
“Oi, Yuno, you idiot!!”
“Wait, Brandt and Mina!!”
“Oh my, my…”
As a young man, I could not hold myself back when it came to meeting with these spirits.
I love them to the point where [3] MutsuXro-san’s dedication paled in contrast.
“Hi, hello there.”
“… …”
“Are you the guardian spirit of this sacred place?”
“Wait… you can see me?”
The appearance of the spirit was that of a tiny scorpion, but its voice was unexpectedly deep, the kind you would expect from a ruggedly handsome man.
“Is it rare for humans to see spirits?”
“Those damn fellows tried to kill me. They hated me, tried to make my name disappear and called me a disaster. So, I created a sandstorm and drove them out.”
“Were those people Black Magic users or priests?”
“… …”
The scorpion’s red eyes flashed as it looked up and saw Prana the Hummingbird and Upu the Hedgegog beside me.
“Leave now. If you try to make a slave out of me, I shall kill you with my poison.”
“What are you talking about? I just want to befriend the spirits.”
“… …”
“That is, I want to use a just and kind magic that promises equality and fairness between myself and the spirits. Won’t you come with me? Isn’t it lonely being in this kind of place?”
“… I am known as a disaster.”
“There is a thin line between nature’s disaster and blessing. No matter what, nature is indispensable to this world. As humans, we are part of this inevitable flow. We wish to create magic that goes with this flow. In other words… a magic of coexistence.”
“You’re a strange fellow, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
The Scorpion Spirit, Scorra Pion was once worshipped as a guardian god of the Hetra ruins long before the oasis was destroyed by sandstorms and its water dried up. After that, he was known as an evil god.
Later, the people abandoned the ruins and left, and Scorra Pion’s name was eventually forgotten.
I came to this abandoned ruin after hearing legends of a poisonous scorpion haunting this place just a few hours south of the village I had stopped in.
Spirits could often be found behind such mystical stories. In a time when the use of harmful Black Magic was so prevalent, I searched out spirits in the hopes of creating a more balanced and equal magic that could be used by the people.
I should also say that this very novel idea seemed to intrigue these moody and lonely beings.
The mechanism of ‘White Magic’ also appealed to the spirits, although its effectiveness was largely dependent on a being’s source of power and belief in their ‘existence’.
Until now, the existence of these spirits was dependent on the faith of the land. Once humans left the land for whatever reason, these spirits would eventually be forgotten and lose their powers. However, through ‘White Magic’ which has its basis in a mutually beneficial contract, I, as a mage, could lend the spirits my powers in the form of a magic circle. This stabilises the spirits’ existence as their names are spoken and are eventually spread through the world.
Humans who formed these contracts must respect the spirits and make various preparations each time they wish to borrow the powers of different spirits. However, I must say that spirits are generally very gentle and kind. Their desires are simple and most of them enjoy the company of humans.
With a well-balanced contract, there is very little risk in these give-and-take relationships.
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The man I travelled with was called Bandt, he was quite well-built and a good businessman. He was also a good friend of mine. We happened to meet by chance when we stayed at the same inn.
Mina was Brandt’s younger sister. She was a cute, lively girl with chestnut-coloured hair in pigtails.
Both of them could see spirits since they were little. They started talking to me when they noticed the spirits accompanying me and grew interested in the spirit magic that I was developing. This was also the reason why they started travelling with me.
Back then, I was young and filled with energy. I was the sort of mischievous child who believed I could achieve whatever I set out to do and recklessly decided to find all the spirits in the world and have fun developing White Magic with them. I feared nothing.
“I caught Fan Trom, the Owl Spirit!”
“We got Celiade, the Fish Spirit!”
“The Lizard Spirit, Pino Dora has made a contract with Yunosis!”
“I have Tarantella!”
As a young man, I felt invincible. It was probably the illusion of youth, but that was what it felt like.
I travelled all over the world, researching folktales and chasing down legends in ruins, remote mountainous areas, and the sea… my travels brought me through fire and water, and once, even up a girl’s skirt (my actions were very limited by this challenge).
We looked everywhere, breaking jars and boxes for spirits who enjoyed hiding in small spaces. All of the spirits appeared to take a liking to me and accepted the invitation to follow me.
Just how much time did I spend searching for spirits?
The world was rich with spirits, with their legends and lore scattered across the world. In the end, I made a contract with a hundred spirits and classified the magic I developed with them as ‘White Magic’.
Although it was not as powerful as Black Magic, it has several practical uses and poses very little risk to its users. On top of that, it reinforces the existence of forgotten spirits and their names gradually spread throughout the world. Wherever I stopped, I made sure to leave a book on the practices of White Magic so that more people could access it, and prevent a spirit’s existence from disappearing.
Eventually, I became known as the ‘White Sage’.
Brandt and Mina, the two people who travelled with me, also left their marks on the history of White Magic.
Although I was the one who wrote down the theory on the ‘10 Spirit Formation, Mina was the first to use the 3rd Formation and Brandt was the first to realise that the 7th Formation was possible way back then. They were listed in the books as the ‘White Siblings’.
[1] That’s right, they were incredibly gifted individuals, but even so, there was something decidedly different between myself and them.It was the amount of magical power.
Brandt and Mina were considered fairly powerful among ordinary mages, but my powers were a little abnormal.
I once approached a famous witch and asked her to take a look, but no matter what, she could not see the depths of my powers in detail. Back then, I did not know my own strength. However, as time went by, the people around me started to age while I stayed the same. It was around then, that I finally began to realise that I was a little different.
I even promised to marry Mina once White Magic had reached a certain level of completion and we were done with our travels. She had, however, noticed my abnormalities and told me:
“Time passes differently for you and I, that’s probably because you are special.”
Your time can’t end here.
You have a lot to accomplish.
Perhaps, you are not only meant to create White Magic, but to also use it for something special.
I shall be gone by then.
After that, she left me and returned to her home town, [1] after entrusting her spirits with me.
Her older brother Brandt also entrusted the spirits that followed him to me before setting a shop in a town as an ordinary merchant.
I continued my relationship with Brandt, however, time continued to flow for Brandt and before I knew it, 70 years after I was born, he died. He had lived a relatively long life in that era. However, there is only so much one can do to extend one’s lifespan. White Magic could not be used to extend lifespan. Everyone was allotted a certain set of time and destiny.
On the day of Brandt’s funeral, I met Mina for the first time in a while. However, she was no longer the cheerful little girl I had remembered but was an old woman with a bent back and failing eyesight. When she heard my voice, she smiled gently and wistfully. She had a grandson by her side.
She, too, knew that her life was coming to its natural end. I learned that she had a short, but fulfilling life. Eventually, Mina would be gone too.
As for myself.
How long will I live?
The longer I live, the wider the gap between myself and others. Eventually, I would have no equal person to speak with.
Though I had strived to create a balanced and equal magic, I realised that I was the anomaly in this world.
Brandt Deer (White Merchant/White Brother)
A White Mage who contributed to the development of White Magic along with the White Sage. He was often seen sporting a white beard.
An older brother figure to Yunosis whom he had met in his mid-twenties. An accomplished merchant whose business centred around cotton and spices. His affinity with business-related White Magic was superior to that of Yunosis and was included in the textbooks on Magical Economics and was known as the White Merchant.
After the end of his travels, he kept a shop at the capital of Fregister, which became Yunosis’s home base even as the White Sage continued with his journeys.
He passed away at the age of 77. Thus ends the magnificent life of the richest man in Fregister.
Mina Deer (White Healer/White Guardian/White Sister)
Brandt’s younger sister was about 15 years old when she met Yunosis. She is often depicted with a pair of chestnut-coloured twin-tails.
A lively and energetic girl who dislikes conflict. She was the one who discovered the Third Spirit Formation, Spirit Wall and dedicated her life as a White Mage that specialises in healing magic. Her magical talent was believed to be greater than that of her brother.
She liked Yunosis, and during her journey as part of the Spirit Finding Party, she confessed her feelings to him. However, she could not bear the thought of being the only one who grew old, so she decided to give up on him and move on with her life.
Mina passed away at the age of 68. She was a more famous White Mage than her brother Brandt.
[Gumihou: Did some editing to make the message clearer, without any awkward flab]
[1] Add detail [2] Adjust detail [3] MutsuXro-san is probably Mutsugoro-san, otherwise known as Masanori Hata who was a trained zoologist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanori_Hata
http://www.mutsugoro-okoku.com/mutsuprofileenglish.html
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