Volume 2: Chapter 033: Ulysses (Yunosis)’s Seventh Memory
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
“… White Sage.”
“Oh, it’s rare for you to talk to me like this, Kaya.”
“There’s something I need to speak to you about,” he was already giving off some weird vibes even before this. To be honest, it was seriously unusual for the fiercely independent Kaya to come up to me like this.
“It’s about Shuma. Have you heard about ‘That place’ from him?”
“… …?”
“The last time I was at the Sanctuary, he said something about having found an amazing ‘place’. I believe he must have left the Sanctuary on his own and gone to the beach to play by himself when he found it.”
“This is my first time hearing about this. Although I did hear from Eltear that he does like to slip out of the Sanctuary now and again.”
The Hero appeared to be in deep thought, although I had no idea what he was thinking bout.
“To be honest, I tried going to ‘that place’ once with Shuma. However, I could not enter the place.”
“…? That’s…”
There were many stories about places that only children could access in any world.
A kind of ‘Spirited Away [1]’ thing. However, children who were lost in unknown spaces within Maydea could usually be explained by one thing. Forgotten Spatial Magic or Residual Magic Spaces.
A Residual Magic Space is an interdimensional space that was created a long time ago for some reason and was long forgotten by everyone. Spatial Magic was the Black Demon King’s domain, however, it had existed as a branch of magic before his time.
No matter the era, there are always skill space constructors, but sometimes, these magic spaces were lost due to accidents or were failures that had been left to float about in this world until someone stumbled into them. Sometimes, quite literally.
Generally speaking, children with strong magic are sensitive to such spaces. One reason was due to their pure and innocent existence, as well as their vast imagination unconstrained by common sense. Also, most of these Remnant Magic Spaces often have entrances with rather small openings.
“So, you’re saying that Shuma had been going in and out of a Residual Magic Space?”
“I believe so. I was thinking that it could be… dangerous.”
“Indeed, I think I got lost in a few Residual Magic Spaces a few times as a child. I can hardly remember those times though…”
That’s right.
These Residual Magic Spaces were often quite vague in design with distorted features because the castor of the magic was no longer around to maintain them. Therefore, those who stepped into these spaces would often be influenced by the vagueness of their surroundings. Eventually, if you stay too long in these spaces, you will forget yourself and be unable to find your way out.
Hence why stories about lost or disappeared children happened.
They were trapped victims of these spaces.
“That is certainly concerning. I shall speak to Shuma about this the first chance I get. Still, so long as one keeps their wits about them, these places are pretty fun to play in.”
“…Shuma said that he saw you and the Shrine Maiden in that space.”
“What? What was that about?”
“Who knows…”
I shook my head and pondered over the matter for a while. In the first place, Spatial Magic was not my speciality, so I could only vaguely understand the outline of it…
Did Shuma really see myself and Eltear in that space? How odd.
Kaya looked away.
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(Seventh Memory)
Approximately 2000 years ago
Southern Continent, Holy Nation of Vabilophos
Yunosis: Around 200 years old
Allow me to tell you about my child, Shuma.
He was the only son born to me and Eltear. He inherited my hair colour and talent for magic. From Eltear, he inherited her adorable face, eye colour and the protection of the Sanctuary. He was an amazing child. A great prodigy.
Ahem, it’s not like I’m a doting parent, you know?
Ah, fine, I was a doting parent.
His MP was nothing close to Demon King Class, but an MP of 8000 was considered quite the monstrous even among high-level mages.
He had an otherworldly atmosphere around him that was similar to the Sanctuary. The older he grew, the stronger the air of mystique. Shuma was a smart and honest child, with rather sharp senses. The things he said… even surprised me at times.
I still remember that time I found that child looking up the Great Tree silently.
What did that wide canopied tree look like to Shuma? What did the rustling of leaves tell him?
I thought of him as a special child who grew up saturated in the divine air within the Sanctuary.
Still, he was, nevertheless, a child.
With a child’s curiosity and interest in the outside world. He wanted to know what the world was like beyond the sea. Apparently, that was the reason why he often slipped away from the Sanctuary to go to the beach. Eltear would get angry each time he did that. Even I have scolded him a few times over this behaviour.
He admired Hero Kaya a lot. Something which I may or may not have been jealous about. Well, I suppose it’s only normal for children to admire heroes and superheroes. That’s right, to Shuma, Kaya was a ‘Hero’.
Kaya also seemed to pay special attention to Shuma, despite his usually sullen attitude. I must say that it was very heartwarming to see them together. Ah, I’m a little jealous after all… no, no, they are like sons to me. That’s right, it was like seeing an older brother interacting with his beloved younger brother…
At any rate, I was not at the Southern Continent.
What Kaya had said worried me a little. If Shuma had been playing around with a Residual Magic Space, he must be stopped before he could slip into danger. I supposed he did not inform me or Eltear because he knew he would get into trouble for playing around in such places. Did he tell Kaya because they were closer? Or was it just a childish boast, a small way to show off a favourite hiding place?
“Father!”
My beloved Shuma called out to me.
Under the Great Tree, Shuma and Eltear welcomed me home as usual.
“Have you grown up again, Shuma?”
“Yes, just a little.”
I picked up Shuma and hugged him close. His little figure reminded me of a much younger Eltear.
“You came home early this time, Yunosis.”
“Ah, well, there was something I had to do… besides, the heroes didn’t need me as much as they did. Maybe it’s about time I retire.”
“What are you talking about? You haven’t defeated the Black Demon King yet.”
“…Ahaha.”
If someone were to capture this moment in a picture, they would see a man who had just come back from a hard working day and was smacked in the bottom by his wife.
Shuma had his little arms around my neck and was giggling. I always did love the feel of his soft hair against my cheek.
“That’s right, Shuma. Do you want to go to the beach with Father?”
“Yes!!”
Shuma hopped out of my arms, his white robes fluttering as he skipped down the forest path. He turned and beckoned happily to me.
After a short ‘I’ll be going’ to Eltear, I followed after him.
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“So, Shuma, did anything different happen lately?”
“Hm… not long ago, Mother’s foot caught on a tree root and she fell over.”
“Ahaha, that certainly sounds like Mother…”
“And, the High Priest gave me a history book, it was a book on the history of Rubelkia.”
“Oho? Was it interesting?”
“Yes, but I would like to know more about other continents. Father… you’ll take me with you one day, right?”
“Of course. Once the Hero defeats the Demon Kings, peace is sure to follow. Father will return to the Sanctuary for good. When the time comes, Shuma should go on your own adventure. Maybe Kaya could take you.”
“Won’t Father come with us?”
“Haha, if you go on your adventure, won’t your mother be lonely? That’s why father needs to stay by your mother’s side.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Shuma nodded repeatedly.
I looked down at my little son and brought up a certain topic.
“Shuma, you have… been popping in and out of some strange places lately, hm?”
“… …!?”
His shoulders twitched at this. This child could not maintain a straight face as he looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Father… knows?”
“Well, your father is the White Sage, isn’t he? There’s nothing that I don’t know.”
Which was a total lie since I found this out from the Hero.
I turned a slightly stern look at Shuma and said, “Shuma, those kinds of spaces could be very dangerous. Now, why don’t you tell Father where the entrance is?”
“…what will you do?”
“That kind of space would have to be destroyed. It’s a Residual Magic Space that had been created and long forgotten by previous mages. A very dangerous space for children.”
“B-but inside, there’s…” Shuma was shaking his head, looking a little sad as he stared up at me. “I saw Mother and Father inside the space. It must be an important place for us! To just destroy it is…”
“… Shuma.”
What an odd thing to say. Although Eltear and I were both at the Sanctuary, the child said that he had seen us in this Remnant Magic Space. For some reason, Shuma suddenly burst into tears of sadness and frustration.
To see this usually calm and obedient child cry as he clutched at his white Sanctuary robes… it had been a while since I had seen him cry. No matter how much he was scolded or disciplined in the past, he had always endured without crying.
“…Shuma.”
“That place… is not dangerous!! It’s a ‘promised place’ for Father, Mother and me…”
“…?”
“That’s what “Father” said!!”
A sudden strong wind picked up and blew our hair in one direction.
As we walked along the forest path, Shuma continued to cry. This was unusual for him. Unable to understand, all I could do was stroke his back wondering just what had Shuma seen in the space and who it was he had met.
“Father, you’ll know if you go!”
“Yes, yes… I understand. Well, why don’t you take father there now, hm?”
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However, just as Kaya had said, I could not go in there even if I wanted to.
At first, I thought of just finding a distortion in the space and destroying it immediately. Well, maybe I’d take a peek first, of course.
However, no matter how much I tried to find the place, even with Shuma’s help, I could not locate even a trace of it. The only thing that could be heard there was the rhythmic sound of waves.
Shuma looked disappointed. Looks like he really wanted to show me the place.
To make him feel better, I promised Shuma that I would come back and find it one day. That we should come here together to look for this secret place.
Shuma looked a little unhappy but agreed in the end.
“Please, believe me, Father. That’s our family’s most wonderful ‘promised place’.”
“Alright, we’ll definitely come back and look for that place together. It’s a ‘promise’,” I said as I linked our little fingers together.
It was a double promise between us.
While the meaning of a ‘promised place’ may be a little different between Shuma and myself, this promise is still important.
That’s right.
Neither Eltear nor I know where this ‘promised place’ is.
[Gumihou: Okay, way to be vague and ominous…]
[1] Spirited Away – yes, it was a Studio Ghibli reference
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