Master Avana, Psyche, and I arrived in front of the New Continent Company building.
Speria stayed behind in the cabin, saying she needed more time to recover. Master seemed to trust her completely.
“It will be morning soon. Psyche, before people gather, please proceed.”
Psyche nodded slightly, then summoned her staff and magic book. She began to recite a spell, concentrating.
It seems she’s trying to cast a concealment spell.
As far as I know, Psyche specializes in mental magic.
“Ran, follow me inside.”
Master went in.
Will it be okay to leave her alone like this?
“I’m on a higher level than you, Ran.”
As if reading my thoughts, she spoke while pausing her spell.
Well, it’s an unnecessary worry to the point of embarrassment.
I followed Master Avana inside.
The smell of death filled the building. There was that typical scent found in places full of death – gunpowder, blood, and other indescribable odors.
As we climbed the stairs, Master spoke.
“Actually, I lied to you.”
As if you’ve ever not lied, I thought.
“It’s not like it’s the first time. What’s new?”
“Hm hm. Is that so? Well, I appreciate it if you don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“What’s the lie this time?”
“The death magic I taught you. That’s actually only part of the original magic.”
At that moment, I remembered helping Master Avana store the death magic.
“Ah, I thought something was off. Like it didn’t quite add up? I wondered if it was just because I didn’t understand it completely, but that wasn’t it.”
“Did you notice? I must have inadvertently let out an outburst of admiration for your brilliance. I tried to gloss over it, though.”
“What? So the part about storing it for two years was a lie?”
“Ah, no. That was true. Of course, I didn’t have a master to help me, unlike you.”
It seemed Master felt no ounce of guilt about lying, given how casually she speaks.
We reached the center of the building.
There, too, a considerable number of corpses were scattered.
Master Avana looked around for a moment, then summoned her staff and swung it around.
In response, the corpses flew to the walls, clearing a wide space.
“That’s not good.”
At this sudden remark, I asked,
“What isn’t?”
“Corpses are just lumps of meat, Ran. I know human culture reveres the dead, but that attitude is not good for death magic.”
I must not have managed my expression well.
“It still feels a bit repulsive.”
“You must use the dead thoroughly as tools. Otherwise, you might be consumed by the will of the corpses. The more powerful the corpse you control, the greater the risk. So that attitude is dangerous.”
“……”
“Come here and stand. Take out your magic book. I’ll properly correct the death magic for you.”
Honestly, I don’t agree with Master’s thinking. But for now, I did as she said.
Master stood beside me and went through my magic book, modifying spells here and there.
After all the modifications, everything finally made sense.
Master Avana hadn’t fully trusted me even when she first taught me death magic.
Master’s mind is like layers upon layers.
As she often says, the magical world is cruel, so one must be cautious and then cautious again.
“Now try casting the spell. Just use this staff.”
Master Avana pulled out a staff from inside her robe and gave it to me. It was similar to the one she had given me before.
I extended the staff forward, reading the death magic contained in the magic book.
A soldier’s corpse slowly rose, making an eerie sound.
“How is it? Your first impression of performing death magic?”
I answered Master’s question.
“It’s definitely different from fire and water. There are fragments of will that the corpses had in life remaining in their bodies.”
Master Avana was delighted like a child.
“That’s what we call remnant thoughts. Use that to try more complex movements.”
I tried to listen to the remnant thoughts flowing into my mind.
“This corpse was a soldier. He was a Baritone soldier who handled a musket. Every morning, he cleaned his gun and trained to ingrain those actions into his body. So I just…”
“Just?”
“I just need to command.”
I raised my staff and cast death magic.
The corpse picked up the musket beside it, performed a series of movements, and fired the gun.
Bang-!
The bullet flew and embedded itself in the opposite wall.
The corpse immediately reloaded the bullet.
I did it.
I succeeded.
As I turned my head towards Master, filled with joy, the corpse’s face caught my eye.
The corpse was looking at me with a contorted face.
“Wh-What?”
Suddenly, the corpse aimed the musket’s muzzle at me. At that moment, I sent out psychokinesis, causing the muzzle to barely point above me.
Bang-!
The bullet grazed past above my head.
I waved the staff to cancel the death magic. The corpse then collapsed in place.
“Wh-What happened?”
As I turned to Master Avana, she shrugged her shoulders.
“What did I tell you?”
“……”
“Remnant thoughts are powerful. They stem from survival instinct. The moment you let your guard down, they break free from control.”
“So it’s because I respected the corpse as an individual.”
“And that usually flows in a direction that’s not good for you. Well, as you study death magic deeply, you’ll be able to use even that. That’s a level I haven’t reached yet. For now, start by treating them like tools.”
“……”
“You can handle it on your own now, right? Keep up the good work. I’ll see you in three days.”
With that, Master’s figure disappearing.
Left alone, I opened my magic book and looked at the corpses piled up all around.
Fear crept in, but I gripped the staff tightly and steeled myself.
If you fear corpses, death magic won’t work in the first place.
“Huh. Alright. Let’s do this. Treat them like tools…”
But, certainly.
Using the dead like tools instinctively feels repulsive.
I’m not some great person aiming to save the world. But I’m not an insensitive person without conscience either.
It’s difficult to use corpses purely as tools like Master does.
This feeling.
This thought.
It’s all me.
It’s what makes me who I am.
If I cast spells while ignoring these parts of myself, the power will only be diminished. If I recite spells while excluding what I don’t consider to be me, it only increases the chances of failure.
I need to cast magic in a way that aligns with my heart.
That’s how magic is supposed to be, after all.
“Let’s make a deal! Huh? A deal would work!”
I looked around at the corpses and said,
“You’re destined to just rot away here anyway. So I’ll personally inform your families or acquaintances in the Yura continent about your fate. How about it? In exchange, help me study death magic.”
Of course, the corpses gave no response.
But that doesn’t matter.
A mage’s heart must move, or the magic won’t activate. It would also lack completeness.
It’s a bit of a trick, but rationalizing like this is necessary for the magic to work properly.
I raised my staff and tried casting death magic.
The corpse that had risen earlier stood up again.
When I ordered it to fire the musket, it did so just like before.
Bang-!
Afterwards, the corpse stood still, as if waiting for my next order.
I looked down at my hand.
“I’m not paying any attention right now. Yet that corpse doesn’t rebel against me. As expected. Casting magic in a way that aligns with my heart is the most powerful. Now, I should keep my promise, right?”
I asked the corpse to write its name on the floor.
The corpse immediately sat down and slowly wrote its name.
“Good. Now please write the name of the region or village where you lived. I’ll send news of you there.”
The corpse complied without a word, continuing to move its finger.
I continued studying death magic like this, making deals with the corpses.
And I added my own notes to each part that differed from the spells Master Avana had taught me.
* * *
Three days later, I set sail from Marshal Harbor with Count Furst and Speria.
Oshalo decided to stay at the harbor. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed the Count had given him a task.
I stood at the bow, facing the sea breeze head-on.
After spending three days cooped up in the building, talking with corpses, my mind still feels a bit scattered.
But the results were satisfactory, given how hard I worked.
Perhaps because my deal-making method was effective, I became able to control up to ten corpses at once.
There was also a significant qualitative improvement, allowing me to recreate even the time-delayed firing they had learned in life.
However, as time passed, the corpses decayed and the remnant thoughts faded, making them increasingly difficult to control.
If there had been more deaths, I could have raised my level even higher.
“What are you thinking about? What thoughts could make you have such an intense expression?”
I turned to the side. There stood Speria, with surprised eyes.
“What kind of face was I making?”
“Well? Like you could kill about a hundred people?”
Speria chuckled.
I avoided her gaze.
“No way.”
“Still, you’ve improved a lot. When I first saw you at the harbor, you looked terrible. What on earth did you do for the past three days?”
I remained silent.
Death magic is a secret that can’t be told to anyone.
Suddenly, Master Avana’s words came to mind.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Few opportunities make it more tempting to cling to.”
I think I understand why Master Avana took me to the battlefield.
I tried my best to suppress the feelings stirring inside me.
“What’s with that sudden remark after being so quiet?”
Speria pouted her lips.
Ah, right, she was here.
“It’s nothing.”
Speria slightly furrowed her golden eyebrows, then suddenly reached into her robe and pulled out Keren’s robe.
“Here. I’m returning this. I burned off the original owner’s aura from this robe, so it should be fine for you to use now. It has strong resistance to fire, so it was really tough.”
I received it.
Finally, I have a robe of my own.
But something felt odd.
“I can still feel the fire energy inside?”
Speria avoided my gaze as she spoke.
“The phoenix has recovered enough. Once it revives, it can emit fire almost infinitely. So I put a treasure inside the robe.”
“Ah, didn’t you use up everything that was in this robe?”
She turned away, leaving these final words.
“I’ll give you a better robe when we reach the continent. For now, use this to study fire magic.”
She swiftly went into the cabin.
I looked at Keren’s robe that she had handed me.
It seemed to have protective magic.
“Since Speria gave it to me, it should be fine, right?”
I put my hand inside.
It felt hot, but there was no pain.
I pulled out what I grabbed.
“What’s this? An egg?”
It’s an egg slightly larger than a chicken egg.
Red lines, glowing like flowing lava, were chaotically drawn all over it.
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