7. What do you want to do?
Okay, explanation of the situation.
Morow finally stood up──apparently, he felt it was rude to look down on me because of our height difference──he began to speak solemnly to my simple request and tell his story.
“My mother is from a very poor village in a remote part of the country. She did her best to live every day, while she worked hard together with my father, even after I was born, they were happy despite not having luxuries… My mother said, reminiscing about those days. However, an epidemic struck the village around the time of my birth. It was something that was brought in from a nearby village that the village had been interacting with, and by the time the people of my mother’s village realized the seriousness of the situation, the nearby village was already in a state of ruin. They tried to ask for help from the landlord, but it seems that the previous village had already done the same thing. The landlord was aware of the situation and sent a government envoy in advance. For a moment they were delighted, thinking that it was for a rescue, but then the containment of the village was put into effect. As the days passed and the number of villagers dwindled one by one, they did nothing more than that. It was then that my mother and the villagers finally realized── that the country had abandoned us. It was about 20 years ago.”
“…………”
Too long. Unlike me, who is listening while having certain thoughts, Celia is biting her lower lip. When she noticed my gaze, she nodded timidly in response.
“I think it’s a plausible story. Corruption in this country seems to have been on the rise in the last 30 years since the ascension of the current king to the throne. Rather than spending money to save the poor village, it seems like something that they would likely do. Outwardly, they were saying they couldn’t deal with the problem in time, but in reality, they had no intention of doing anything about it from the beginning.”
“I see.”
What a terrible story. It’s surprising that the people’s uprising has been suppressed until recently, given that such a thing has been happening for the past 20 years.
Even so, for the folks in the frontier village who must have suffered horrible treatment, the royal capital and the royal castle are so far away. Sometimes, to such an extent that it would not be an exaggeration to say that for them, it’s like a different world… Demanding someone to stand up and take action might be a bit of an unreasonable request.
“And then?”
“When my father passed away, my mother decided to leave the village with me. By that time, the number of villagers had decreased significantly, and the villagers were split between those who couldn’t abandon the village and stayed behind and those who gambled on their survival and left. Those who had decided to stay created a commotion in the middle of the night, which served as a distraction and allowed the others to leave the village at the same time and flee in different directions. Even though she could hear a few guards chasing after her, my mother ran frantically, crossing fields and mountains in one night with the six-month-old me in her arms, and just when she felt relieved that she was finally free of fear of her pursuers… It turns out that I had symptoms.”
“That can’t be…”
A gasping voice. Celia is completely engrossed in listening. It’s as if she could vividly see the figure of Morow’s mother fleeing into the night.
As if sensing that there was more than sympathy there, Morow glanced at Celia with a pained look in his eyes, then quickly returned his gaze to me and continued.
“Of course, my mother doesn’t have a method or remedy against the illness. At the very least, she must at least protect her son, as per my terminally ill father’s request. With that determination, she ventured out of the village, I can’t even guess what her feelings were at that time. But there was certainly deep despair. My mother told me that at that time it was so dark that she couldn’t see anything even in the sunlight──and that she encountered an even darker, deeper, pitch-black forest.”
“Ah.”
So that’s where the connection with me lies.
I see, now that makes sense, just like Celia, she managed to reach me. What a coincidence it was to end up with such a pattern. That is a stroke of incredible luck… No, that’s not quite right. She walked quite a distance holding a baby and did not hesitate to go into the dark forest. Mother’s power is amazing, and it is because of this power that they were able to grasp the good fortune they had.
It has now become almost inevitable.
“As for the rest, Lady Edea already knows. You responded to my mother’s request and saved me who was on the verge of dying after being overwhelmed by the disease. She would often recall, the joy of her witnessing the miracle that was indeed just like the work of God. Not only that, I heard that Lady Edea even healed my exhausted mother’s body by serving a mysterious drink.”
“Ah yeah, it’s my special homemade herbal tea.”
It seems that it wasn’t perceived that way. A mysterious drink, huh? Indeed, there is no more fitting description than that. Even for me, someone who makes it and drinks it every day doesn’t really have an idea what it really is… I just kept drinking it and somehow it’s unintentionally become a habit.
“So, where is your mother?”
“My mother is… After leaving Lady Edea, we escaped to another country, where she raised me. She passed away when I was ten years old due to overwork. In later years, my mother relied only on her faith in Lady Edea and my growth, but she still felt weak both physically and mentally, while still struggling with the loss of my father and everyone she knew. If only I had been able to help my mother a bit sooner… It may not have turned out that way, but…”
As we listened to Morrow, who spoke with such a poignant expression on his face, both Celia and I could only remain silent. Hmm, heavy. I can’t, it’s too heavy. If I knew it was going to be like this, not just the herbal tea, but maybe I should have also infused Morow’s mother with Eidos’s magic power.
But well… Morow is a special case, he was really close to death, so I had no choice but to infuse him with magic power. Including the fact that it was a rare instance of a one-shot success.
The magic power of Eidos is different from the magic power produced by ordinary magicians, in other words, it is the high-order magic power. It’s nothing but poison to people without resistance, and even more so, it’s a dangerous substance when it comes to infants. However, as it seemed impossible to save him with anything other than a drastic measure, I went ahead, bracing myself for failure. Yet, at that moment, it was like God’s work, just as Morow’s mother had said. I was able to skilfully rejuvenate the baby’s vitality and expel only the disease from his body.
If this had failed, the entire contents of his body would have come out. Another possibility is that it could cause every single cell in his body to disintegrate from the inside out and disappear like dust. Anyway, you should know that it was at least that dangerous of an action. if I did the same thing to Morow’s mother, there would be a high probability that I would end up taking care of an orphan… Oh well, I’ve done similar things several times before. Ardella is the best example of this.
“But, how should I put it? Considering your upbringing, you have turned out to be splendid.”
I genuinely think so, without any flattery. He had to go through tough times being forced to become independent from a young age, and yet he managed to become a court magician. However, Morow answered my recollection of his ordeal with a surprisingly positive attitude.
“No, it was only thanks to the Eidos magic that was granted to me by Lady Edea!”
“Ahh… I see, I see.”
I got the feeling that he must have used Eidos Magic for all sorts of bad things, didn’t he? Otherwise, he could not survive alone as a child. If the fruit of that experience had been the empty royal castle that I had seen earlier, it would have been apt, but that’s beside the point.
I am not a messenger of justice, so it doesn’t matter to me whether Morow is good or evil. If I’m not involved, then honestly, I don’t care where, who gets saved, or who dies.
But, I should probably confirm what I need to.
“Morow. How come you, who were living in another country, came back to this country and why are you doing this?”
“That’s…”
Despite Morow slight hesitation, he made up his mind and began to speak.
“My mother never forgot her respect and gratitude towards Lady Edea until the very end. Her love for me and her last words were to remind me to someday return the favor to you. Even for my mother, there were also things that she couldn’t forget until the very end. ──It is resentment towards this country.”
“So, as I thought, your aim is to settle that grudge.”
“Yes, revenge for what happened to my mother, to my father whom I never met, and their companions. With that in mind, I returned to this country three years ago. At first, I intended to lead the citizens of the royal capital in a rebellion. As Lady Edea knows, my Eidos magic was perfect for that.”
He closed his mouth for a short moment. Realizing that he seemed to be waiting for an affirmation, I ambiguously nodded in agreement. Then, Morrow began to speak again.
“But the king was more cowardly and cautious than I had imagined. They had begun to fortify the defenses of the royal castle even before the rebellion took shape. There was more emphasis on soldier training than before, and efforts were made to increase the number of court magicians who had previously numbered only one… I thought this was actually an opportunity. The challenge was how to reach the king, my initial plan was to take advantage of the chaos caused by the rioters. However, if the other side opens the gate themselves, there is no need to take such trouble. I could get closer to the king with far less risk if I could become a court magician. After passing the examination, I was invited to the royal castle… In regards to the rest, you should probably ask that from Burndeux.”
Actually, I haven’t heard much about it. But I could somehow imagine it. First, he manipulates the king, followed by the rest of the royal family, the old court magician, and the soldiers… He must have manipulated them in that order. There is a process of killing someone before they can be manipulated, but in a way, it’s tantamount to taking their freedom away from them forever.
“I have finished asking what I wanted to know. Well, Celia. What do you want to do with Morow?”
“Eh…?”
Celia blinked, seemingly not expecting my question at all. The situation makes her look just like that of a young child.
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