[V6C7] The Dark Side of Ancient Magical Artifacts
Translated by Jodas 6: Secrets of the Wedge TowerFollowing the debriefing after the magic battle, the day’s lessons came to an end, and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted for the remaining half of the day.
All of the Apprentices excitedly discussed what they would do with the rest of their day.
It was Rose who spurted out “Let’s have a party!” to which both Oliver and Ella agreed.
Both the silent Gerald and shy Finn were unusually on board with the plan. Even Rukiye, who disliked being around people, uncharacteristically murmured “Well, why not?” Sophie, of course, was hyped, shouting “Let’s do it! Let’s dooo iiitttt!”
Julius chuckled “ku, ku” as always. Meanwhile, Agniol’s voice could be heard shouting “You’re looking forward to it, right Young Master!?” from his ring.
— Watching this exchange from a small distance away, Roswitha pulled down the brim of her trademark pointy hat.
Roswitha had been waiting for an opening to strike up a conversation with Sophie. If possible, she would like to talk to her in private.
Since they slept in different rooms in the dorms, that wasn’t an ideal place for them to have a private conversation. As she considered where would be best for such a talk, Ella raised her voice.
“Everyone, I’m going to head to the Medical Office to let Tia and the others know about the party!”
Sensing her chance, Roswitha suddenly stepped forward.
“In that case, I’ll go. Ella, you’re in charge of keeping everyone together, so I think you should stay here in the classroom and decide how this whole party thing is going to work.”
At the moment, since Wren wasn’t here to pick up the slack, her suggestion should sound natural.
Ella smiled. “Then I’ll leave it to you, Roswi.”
Roswitha then quickly walked up to Sophie and grabbed her by the hand.
“Sophie, you come too.”
“Eh? Meee?”
“Come on, we’re going!”
Dragging a stunned Sophie by the hand, Roswitha dashed out of the classroom.
Sophie was visibly bewildered by this development.
Roswitha hailed from a legendary family of Classical mages, while Sophie belonged to a lineage of Shamans.
The households where they grew up weren’t exactly opposites. If anything, they were quite similar.
On top of that, both of them were students in Röhm’s class. Their relationship was not a contentious one, although Roswitha would usually stick closer to Ella, so Sophie thought it was strange for Roswitha to single her out like this.
“What’s going on, Roswitha? Ah, could it be…?”
Sophie nervously looked between their clasped hands and Roswitha’s face. She suddenly shrank back and mumbled.
“I- Is it because I didn’t do a good job in today’s magic battle and you’re going to scold me for itttt?”
“That’s not it at all!” Roswitha led them down an empty hallway and whispered to Sophie.
“Since the Schwarzenberg Family has a role to fill at the Wedge Tower… You know a decent amount about the ancient era, right?”
“Well, yeah, kinda… But I don’t think we know as much as famous Classical families like you Ohlendorfs, riiiight?”
“Ancient Magical Artifacts.”
Roswitha’s words caused Sophie’s expression to shift dramatically.
Since Sophie dropped out of the magic battle early on, she didn’t get wrapped up in ‘Eurydice, the Cackling Foam’s rampage.
However, once the situation had calmed and they’d linked up with the Extermination Office, Sophie had been staring at Helena the whole time.
Then, seeing the Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Eurydice, the Cackling Foam’ up close, she came up with a theory.
“Those things, Ancient Magical Artifacts, have personalities, right?”
“They do…”
“I’ve always thought that maybe Ancient Magical Artifacts had spirits or Monsters sealed inside them…”
Considering that there were techniques to let spirits reside in contract stones or to seal Monsters in books, it sounded completely possible for someone to seal a spirit or a Monster inside a magical device.
That had been Roswitha’s theory for the longest time.
“But, somehow, the will that lived inside that Ancient Magical Device didn’t feel very spirit-like… And I feel like it wasn’t a Monster either. It seemed a little too… familiar with humans to be a Monster… I don’t know for sure, but it felt different to me.”
Roswitha was a member of Classical Magecraft’s famous Ohlendorf Family, and she was proud of that fact.
At the same time, she was aware that Classical Magecraft, Ancient Magical Artifacts, and similar techniques of the ancient era bore the darkness of history with them.
Among them, there were families who passed down magecraft through horrifying inhuman means.
That was not something she could freely admit in the presence of Modern mages.
Roswitha felt proud to be a Classical mage, but it wasn’t like there weren’t some things she felt guilty about.
That was why she had to talk about this with Sophie, a member of a famous family of Shamans.
“Could it be that the will that resides within an Ancient Magical Artifact is a… human of that era.?”
Muttering under her breath, Roswitha glanced at Sophie’s face.
Sophie was twisting her face into a smile. It was the kind of smile that appeared when you tried to force a smile but failed miserably.
“…You’ve got a sharp intuition, Roswitha~. I guess Classical Magic is something you use by feel.”
“I’ve heard a rumor that the Schwarzenberg family used to own an Ancient Magical Artifact a long time ago.”
“Yeah, we did. We tried to buy favor with the Emperor at the time by offering it up to him~. In the end, we still ended up exiled, though~.”
Ancient Magical Artifacts were weapons that, depending on the artifact in question, had the potential to alter the balance of power between nations.
A truly unfortunate family of Shamans once offered up such a priceless treasure only to be cast away.
Roswitha was unsure what to say next as Sophie mumbled.
“I’ve heard it was the soul of a criminal.”
“Wait, you’re saying the Ancient Magical Artifact is…”
“It was made out of a criminal’s soul. It’s… a little like how you would seal a Monster in a book… Both are pretty cruel, but Ancient Magical Artifacts really are a dark side of our history, huh~.”
Without a body to move around, unable to eat or sleep, treated day in and day out not as a human but as a mere tool.
Just the thought of something like that happening to her sent a chill down her spine.
Roswitha instinctively rubbed her upper arms. Sophie quietly muttered.
“Not even being allowed to die, you know. That’s just cruuuel.”
Hearing such a young girl say such a thing, Roswitha could feel the deep darkness haunting the Schwarzenberg Family.
Roswitha had learned a lot of dark things from her family as well, but Sophie had definitely been exposed to far worse.
Sophie often spoke of wanting to do things that normal girls did. Most likely, that wish was a much graver, more honest desire than Roswitha had thought… and one that would be hard to grant.
The Schwarzenberg Family was too deeply seeped in the darkness of the Empire.
Roswitha gulped, then cautiously posed a question.
“So the memories and personality of the person who’s turned into an Ancient Magical Artifact… They’ve gotta be damaged, aren’t they?”
“Well yeah, their soul is being twisted and reformed, you know? No one would be able to stay sane through all that~. After being a human for all this time, all of a sudden you’re treated like a tool, right? You can’t even move your own body? If it were me, I’d be so scared, sad, and lonely, I don’t know what I’d do.”
‘Eurydice, the Cackling Foam’ had evident issues with its personality, but she’d heard that most other Ancient Magical Artifacts were similarly eccentric, selfish, or held any manner of personality issues.
And that was only natural. After being used and abused as a tool for such a long time, obviously your humanity is going to be worn down.
That said, even then, a thought occurred to Roswitha.
“What if an exceptional mage from the old era were turned into an Ancient Magical Artifact…?”
“Hmm~?”
“I was wondering what would happen if such a person could maintain all their memories and knowledge from back then.”
When Roswitha said that, Sophie’s eyes widened.
Most of the magecraft of the old era had been lost to the sands of time, and the few practitioners remaining only pass their knowledge on to a tiny selection of descendants.
However, what if a human with all of that lost magical knowledge had been turned into an Ancient Magical Artifact?
Would that person be even more of a threat than a typical Ancient Magical Artifact?
Following that train of thought, Roswitha felt two opposing thoughts come to her mind.
On one hand, she impatiently wondered if that might be their chance to finally reclaim the lost magecraft.
On the other, she scolded herself for even considering such a cruel and inhumane thing.
“…It’s only a what-if, though. You can just forget about it.”
The night after the magic battle between the Apprentices and the Extermination Office, the third-rate con man Smoke Fox — The imposter pretending to be Caspar Hütter — headed for the Third Spire: Water Bubble with a slightly fancy bottle of liquor in hand.
In the course of his information gathering, he had often met up with Old Man Kappel from the Management Office to drink the night away.
Kappel was an old dog at the Wedge Tower, and with a little bit of alcohol to grease the gears, he shared all sorts of old tales. Thanks to him, the information gathering has been proceeding smoothly.
By the way, today he also wished to share his thanks for allowing Tia to use the Magical Flying Device. This sort of detailed courtesy was essential for any con man.
(Oh, looks like we’ve got some more guests this time.)
The Management Office was located in an annex of the Third Spire: Water Bubble and, while some days they would drink inside the workshop, it was also common for them to drink outside, setting up wooden boxes outside in place of tables and chairs.
Tonight was a warm, windless night, so it seemed they’d be drinking on boxes outside.
Beneath a lantern hung from a tree, he spotted three silhouettes.
The first was the familiar balding head, white hair, and scraggly beard of Old Man Kappel.
Second was a middle-aged man with frizzy brown hair and droopy cheeks, Otto from the Protection Office. Otto was a regular of sorts to these meetups, so Hütter had been drinking with him many times.
Then, the third was a silver-haired man with a sword on his hip…
(…Oh geez, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before…?)
The silver-haired man noticed Hütter’s presence and lifted a glass towards him.
He had sharp eyes and a sturdy nose. He looked around the same age as Otto, but his posture showed no signs of wear. His masculine expression inspired the thought that he must have been rather popular with the ladies when he was young.
“Excuse me.”
Sitting down on a crude wooden box, drinking a cheap, watered down wine, was the highest authority in the Wedge Tower, Headmaster Möbius himself.