Chapter 38: Yesterday Clairvoyance - Abel Argento Special (2)
The birthplace of magic, the Vianchiel Kingdom.
Most of its people were born with mana. The hierarchy of status was also distinguished based on mana, and the royal bloodline was famous for possessing mana of high purity. That is why the head of the Vianchiel Kingdom was praised and called the ‘King of Mages’.
Humans born with mana were a rare case. They were significantly fewer than elves, and on a similar level to trolls. They were more numerous than orcs and dwarves. The existence of the Vianchiel Kingdom, where the majority of the population could handle mana, was indisputably special.
It was thanks to mana stones.
The reason they could be born with mana.
The abundant mana stones buried throughout the land of the Vianchiel Kingdom. The mana released from them had changed their physical constitution. Slowly, over generations.
‘Strange.’
Thus, Abel tilted his head.
‘The Vianchiel Kingdom should have been destroyed hundreds of years ago.’
The piece of paper held in Abel's hand trembled.
It was a report investigating the import route of Felix's sword…… no. The cursed artifact.
Abel had collected a minute sample while purifying the cursed artifact and had entrusted the investigation of it to the Papacy. The result was quite unexpected.
Manufacturing point is estimated to be 6 years ago.
The main material is steel from the Vianchiel Kingdom.
It was an unbelievable story.
The land of the Vianchiel Kingdom had long been buried in volcanic ash.
Beyond the eastern border of the Empire, an endlessly desolate gray tomb was the fate of the Vianchiel Kingdom. The brilliant civilization had long been buried in lava. The land of the old kingdom, riddled with extreme temperature differences, sandstorms, evil spirits, and monsters. How on earth did they obtain steel from there?
“Teacher Abel.”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind Abel.
“The pocket plain implantation…… is finished.”
Abel folded the report. He turned to look at Monika, who was standing in the crowd.
The lobby of the Imperial Parliament. Countless footprints were being stamped in the vast space. Abel did not delay and took a step. The Vianchiel Kingdom. I should ask Iris to investigate. With that thought in mind.
“Are we going to buy groceries now?”
Monika asked, following beside Abel.
“That is correct.”
Abel looked down at Monika.
He maintained a slow pace and examined her features.
Her complexion had improved compared to when she was living in the slums, but it was not to his satisfaction. It was a state where her body could not digest the muscles that had swelled through training. Abel let out a sigh.
“Don't eat things like canned food from now on.”
“……But it's convenient.”
Monika shrugged her shoulders.
“It doesn't taste bad, and it's even cheap.”
“Food is more beneficial the more inconveniently it is prepared. It's the same as the process of training in swordsmanship. Above all, you can't get essential nutrients from just canned food. When you think about it, it's not even cheap.”
“Anyone would think you're a chef.”
Monika pouting her lips.
Abel paid no mind and changed the subject.
“The pocket plain, where did you implant it?”
“Here.”
Monika showed the palm of her prosthetic hand.
The center of her palm. Right there, she had created a passage connected to the pocket plain. The implantation process was simple. A mage belonging to the parliament had just recited a few spells. Thus, she became able to summon the great sword from the underground warehouse designated as the pocket plain. For example, it was like this. With her prosthetic hand clenched,
<──Sarrifis.>
if she whispered,
Pzzzt──!
A light flashed for a moment, and the great sword was summoned and held in Monika's prosthetic hand.
“You summon your equipment in this way too, right, Teacher?”
Monika asked with an innocent expression.
Strands of grass made of aura were wrapped around the great sword. The weight, lightened by it. Monika proudly extended the great sword toward Abel.
“You've shown me often. Using a pocket plain.”
“No, that's wrong.”
Abel shook his head.
“I use a subspace.”
“……A subspace?”
What is that?
Monika's brow narrowed. Was it a technique only Sword Saints could use? She pondered, mumbling her lips. She had thought he had been using a pocket plain all this time, but a subspace. It was a word she had never heard since she was born.
That was understandable.
A pocket plain was a mere technique, while a subspace was a power close to an authority. It was the ability to construct one's own world.
“Have you decided on a name?”
Meanwhile, Abel's hand rested on Monika's head.
“Your sword. You named it after your homeland.”
“Ah……”
Monika held the great sword straight up.
The strands of grass made of aura swayed in the autumn wind. It was impossible to lift the great sword without the help of the aura. The pouring sunlight tickled the leaves that had sprouted on the great sword, and Monika answered, her eyes downcast.
“It's just that they look alike. The plants that grew in my homeland……”
Yes, that's why, Sarrifis.
She thought of naming it after her disappeared homeland.
In the first place, a sword is a tool made to take a life. Was that why? It comes to decide even the lifespan of the user who holds the hilt. That's how Monika felt. If the one holding the sword dies, it is because of the sword, and if the one holding the sword survives, that too would be thanks to the sword.
It suited it, Monika thought.
A sword is a tool to decide life and death,
and Sarrifis was where Monika's life began.
But it was also the name of a vivid death.
“Not bad.”
Abel appreciated it calmly.
He turned his back and quickened his pace.
“Let's go together, Teacher!”
Monika shouted, letting go of the hilt.
<──Goodbye.>
A murmur followed behind her.
The great sword, Sarrifis, disappeared without a trace.
* * *
“Welcome, you two.”
Afternoon, the editor-in-chief's office of the Cia-Harphe Academy school newspaper.
As the smell of books from old tomes filled the surroundings,
“My name is Joshua Readmore. Yes, that's right. The ‘Yesterday Clairvoyance’ that represents the voice of CIAR. It is a result achieved under my very supervision. Ah, yes. That is also correct. A clean and intelligent, handsome genius. That's me.”
Strange.
Who on earth is he talking to?
Abel thought, tilting his head to one side.
“My, my. I can't seem to hide it. You must also be aware of the fame of the Readmore family. Of course, of course. You got it right. A lineage of writers who have made writing their livelihood for generations. I, Joshua Readmore, a member of that family, am, I might add, the top student of the 6th year of the Department of Academics and the editor-in-chief of ‘Yesterday Clairvoyance’.”
He’s a madman.
Did he get a fork stuck in the top of his head or something?
Monika shivered with a horrified expression.
“Everyone.”
However, Joshua's voice continued.
“Applause.”
It was filled with a strange confidence.
“──Come on, applause!”
Abel and Monika stared at each other. A moment of silence. Soon after, the two of them clapped. Under the judgment that it would be tiring if they didn't applaud.
“Thank you. To think that meeting me would be such an honor. You may shed a few tears. I will graciously allow it.”
He was a strange boy.
Joshua Readmore, the editor-in-chief of CIAR's school newspaper club. He claimed to be handsome, but his appearance was nowhere to be seen. A pile of documents on the desk was blocking Joshua.
But his voice. If a voice also had an appearance, it would be quite handsome. Monika thought, resting her chin on her hand. Joshua's voice was as refreshing as that of a seasoned agitator, and sharp as well.
“Miss Monika Lohengrin.”
“……Yes?”
The chair Monika was sitting on shook.
It was because she was surprised by Joshua's call.
“Your life is very charming. It's not rare, but it's effective. People like narratives of overcoming misfortune. A girl from a war orphanage enrolls in a prestigious academy. Discovering the innate talent of aura……. It's a story that sells well to the public.”
Is that why, he said.
Joshua continued, with a hint of a smile.
“I've received quite a few requests to cover you. That's why I've brought you here today. I look forward to working with you.”
What on earth is he talking about?
Monika tilted her head. What's a story that sells well, and he received requests to cover me? Monika couldn't understand the meaning of Joshua's words. It was because the feeling of being in the spotlight was unfamiliar itself.
“And Professor Abel Argento.”
“……Yes.”
Abel opened his mouth with a sigh-filled voice.
A sense of weariness was lingering on his indifferent expression.
“I have been watching you all this time, Professor.”
“Why?”
“Why, you ask? Because of the actions you have shown, Professor. It was truly a series of shocks.”
Joshua listed Abel's exploits in a glib tone.
The semester assignment to stab oneself with a knife.
The cast shortening demonstrated in the 「Application of Divine Magic」 lecture. And that's not all. The duel with the prodigy from a renowned family of swordsmanship, Demian Fernando von Farenheit. And finally……,
“Everyone must have witnessed it. Jumping from the floating island and slaughtering dozens of warships……, that spirit of yours, Professor.”
“I suppose so.”
I did run wild quite spectacularly.
Abel muttered so.
“But I'm curious. Why are you shocked by such things?”
“……Excuse me?”
Joshua's spirited voice faltered.
Abel looked around with a languid expression. Joshua's office looked distinctly old. Not that it had worn out over long years, but a design intended because of a love for what is worn. The books on the shelves were all first editions without exception. The furniture was arranged to create a tranquil atmosphere.
Even so, it was new. They had just chosen a classic style, but the furniture's substance was solid, and even if one were to open an old book, if it was the first time reading it, it would be utterly unfamiliar.
“I don't understand.”
Abel said, as if tossing it out.
“Dozens of warships disappearing in an instant……. It feels like a common occurrence to me. It was like that during the Mirror War. Is it different now? No, it's not different. It would be an everyday sight for the Holy Knights dispatched to the southern border.”
The southern border was a place adjacent to the Demon Realm.
It was also where the strategist and the inspector among the ‘Mother God's Left Hand’ had headed. Most of the servants belonging to the Papacy were dispatched to the south to calm the Demon Realm, but it was difficult to hear news from the capital, which was located over 4,000 km away.
Above all, information was being controlled.
About the scale of the monsters that made up the Demon Realm, the strange places where even time was distorted, the confusion that tempted one the deeper one went inside.
The Pope had diagnosed that the subjects were not at a stage to digest the truth, and Abel had decided to respect the Pope's decision.
“The skies of the capital being invaded by the enemy……. That too could come as a shock. But I still don't understand. From the looks of it, you seem to enjoy reading, so wouldn't you be able to easily gain insight?”
It's just an ordinary event.
Compared to the countless events that have decorated history.
Abel muttered so.
“Hmm……”
From beyond the curtain made of documents,
Joshua's breath escaped.
“It's not that I don't know, Professor Argento.”
The answer that followed was unexpected.
“I know. I know that I am still lacking. I also know that there are many things I don't know.”
Joshua laughed cheerfully.
“As you said, I enjoy reading. But there is a realm that cannot be realized through just sentences. The horrors you must have seen, Professor……, I do not know.”
“Is that so.”
Abel nodding his head.
“Interesting. It wouldn't be easy to admit ignorance.”
“Didn't I tell you.”
I may be young, but I'm a genius.
At the same time, I may be a genius, but I'm still young.
Joshua whispered so.
“In any case, please listen. The three iron rules I, Joshua Readmore, adhere to as a journalist.”
First, fabrication. Second, pleasure. Third, stimulation.
Joshua listed so.
Isn't it usually the opposite? Monika thought, scratching the back of her neck. The media is a medium for conveying the truth. Furthermore, its purpose is the distribution of power. That is why the ethics of a journalist were contrary to the iron rules Joshua listed. A true journalist would prohibit fabrication, turn away from pleasure, and not be swayed by stimulation.
“Beyond expectations.”
On the other hand, Abel nodded his head.
“You don't leave any room for rationalization. It must be because you know well what you are doing.”
“Of course.”
Joshua answered readily.
“The media conveying the truth. It's ridiculous. The media has always desired to be a dramatic medium. I, Joshua Readmore, acknowledge all such facts and am pondering the usefulness of the media, which is riddled with fabrication, pleasure, and stimulation.”
“So, Senior Joshua, you are……”
Monika scratched her cheek with her index finger.
“Saying that you are looking for the benefits of lying?”
“Exactly that, Miss Lohengrin.”
Ahaha, he went.
Joshua burst into laughter.
“That is why you two are special subjects of coverage for me.”
The media is the opium that deludes the masses.
Joshua believed it without a doubt. It was a medium that could not be neutral in the first place. Coverage is done through an individual's perspective, and phenomena are distorted the moment they are rendered into sentences.
Hatred between races. Discrimination between statuses.
The media had a moral responsibility for all of it. How many cases were there of contributing to power? The pretense of being a medium that conveys the truth was nothing but an illusion.
Then is opium bad?
No, that's not it. There is pain that can only be controlled by opium.
The media ought to exist for that.
“You two.”
That is why Joshua whispered.
“I want to try creating a hero.”
In a light tone, as if making a joke.
“The life story of every hero is literary. Why is that? Is it just because they lived a brilliant life? Because they were strong? Because they were flawless? Of course not. It is because they were embellished through repeated fabrications, faithful to pleasure, and accompanied by stimulation.”
Isn't it funny?
Joshua asked so.
“That the world is saved because of one hero. What greater exaggeration could there be?”
But Miss Monika Lohengrin, he said.
Joshua opened his mouth toward Monika.
“I want to try making you a young hero. Because you have a pretty good narrative. I plan to write an article to highlight this. Let's see……”
What on earth is that man talking about?
Monika's lower lip twitched. The birth of a hero is decided solely by their actions. Even the hero in the prophecy of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy was like that. The hero's journey would be to be chosen by the Holy Sword after going through countless trials, and to achieve the subjugation of the Demon King. There was no way such a noble path could be embellished through fabrication, pleasure, and stimulation.
“First, I will write about your past. You don't need to tell me separately. I have sent a carrier pigeon to the orphanage where you lived. I have also inquired about the place where you resided in the slums.”
Look. It's shabby for a hero's path.
Monika believed it without a doubt. At most, she had just reached a certain age at the orphanage and arrived at the capital with a small amount of support.
“Second, I'm thinking of writing an article about your talent. Aura is a very good subject. Mana has melted into the overall life of the subjects, and divine magic has been identified through the scriptures, but……, those who wield aura are very rare.”
But, is using aura heroic?
Monika shook her head. She had learned that it was a rare power, but she had not yet achieved anything through aura.
“Third, your ambition.”
At Joshua's declaration, Monika's eyes paused.
“I will write an article about what you want to achieve. That's why I requested an interview. Don't feel burdened. You just need to speak comfortably.”
I will fabricate it myself.
I will also look for elements that stimulate pleasure.
Stimulating writing is this Joshua Readmore's specialty. So, Miss Lohengrin, please tell me. The goal you want to achieve in your lifetime.
Hearing such words from Joshua, Monika could not easily answer. Ambition. Purpose. It's too grand. I just want to live well.
“Joshua Readmore.”
Thus, Abel opened his mouth.
“You are quite an interesting child.”
Abel's gaze tilted toward Monika.
Monika was looking at her feet. The light in her amber eyes was faint. It must be because she was hesitant to answer. Abel easily gained insight into Monika's inner thoughts.
To live. To just live well.
That was enough for Monika. For the young disciple, the continuation of life was a special goal, but to those who had not experienced a life-threatening crisis, it would sound like a joke. Abel placed his hand on Monika's shoulder. Then he asked Joshua.
“I'm curious. What kind of article are you planning to write about me?”
“Ah, that……”
Joshua hesitated for a moment.
“You must become the hero of CIAR, Professor. And that's not all. I want to try making you the hero of the capital Naflansee, and furthermore, the hero of the Holy Numeros Empire. That is why I, Joshua Readmore, am preparing a masterpiece of an article.”
So, applause, he said.
Joshua whispered in a resolute tone.
“──Come on, you two! Applaud me!”
Monika looked up at Abel.
The teacher's hand on her shoulder was cold.
But Abel was wearing a faint smile. It meant it was okay to remain silent. That's how Monika took it. And so, the teacher and disciple clapped. With similar smiles on their faces.
“Excellent! I'll tell you specially. The ‘Yesterday Clairvoyance’ that will be published next week. The so-called Abel Argento Special Edition!”
However, the smiles on both their faces.
“The title of the article that will be featured in it is none other than……”
Disappeared in an instant, and,
“──Behold, Abel Argento is the Sword Saint.”
A heavy silence descended.