Chapter 43
Loss of memory.
Regression, or a miracle equivalent to it, achieved using the memories and soul of "Sihyeok" who lived a past life, not the existence of "Acel", as the price.
Who could have achieved such a miracle? What was certain was that it wasn't a simple miracle that could be accomplished by a swordsman unable to use magic. Even if hundreds or thousands of magic tools were used. Reversing time was impossible unless one was a transcendent being with authority.
Then who on earth?
Acel quietly pondered while looking at the rapidly changing scenery outside the window.
Currently, there were no mages who could handle time-related formulas. To begin with, the concept of time itself was a power not permitted to humans. Even high-level magic at best only had effects of acceleration or deceleration when manifested.
Power that could interfere with the world existed only in theory as extreme magic. Moreover, even some of those records were lost.
Even if the formula existed intact, there was no way mortals could use such magic. This wasn't a realm of talent or ability.
It was the realm of “permission”. Brief time manipulation might be possible, but magic that affected the world line itself wasn't permitted to mortals.
Then were transcendent beings who surpassed the limits of species, like devils or gods, able to freely manipulate time?
"..."
Acel briefly assumed so but soon shook his head.
If that were the case, the timeline would have been in chaos long ago. There was no way gods or devils wouldn't try to manipulate time to their advantage. They too must have had to pay some price to handle the concept of time.
And someone took a person's memories, their soul, as that price.
...Is that really the case?
"...cel."
It was a miracle that reversed this entire world. It was nonsensical that the price for that was just one person's soul. The scales didn’t balance.
There must be something more. Either an additional price was paid, or it wasn't a miracle of handling time to begin with.
Either way, he couldn't grasp it immediately. Acel sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
"Acel!"
At that moment, someone called his name from across. Acel slightly opened his eyes and glanced at the owner of the voice.
Warren, with a spirit on his knee, was staring at Acel with furrowed brows.
"Are you listening? You seem to have been distracted for a while."
"...I just had something to think about. Sorry."
"Is it serious?"
"It's a personal matter. I'll focus from now on."
"Alright. Then I'll continue explaining," Warren said and took out a piece of paper, unfolding it on the small table set up in the center.
Inside a carriage heading towards the village where the incident occurred for the first assignment. A high-quality item even among the carriages used by Saya's merchant guild.
As if to prove its status, the paper spread on the table didn't shake at all. Despite running on rough stone roads, not only the seats but the entire interior of the carriage was extremely quiet.
But Acel's vision shook slightly from fatigue. It was natural to be tired after talking with Grace all night in a situation where they were departing at dawn, anyway.
Although he was drinking stimulants and suppressing fatigue with magic, it was inevitable to feel exhausted when fatigue accumulated over several days burst together. He rubbed his constantly drooping eyelids with his hand and stared at the paper with a black figure drawn on it.
"Did you draw this?" Quill asked.
Warren nodded with an expressionless face.
"This is the appearance of a doppelganger when not imitating other living beings."
Acel let out a thoughtful sound as he listened to his words.
The drawing on the paper was overall black. Only the eyes shone red, and there was no nose or ears.
Instead, the mouth was attached to the belly. Red paint, seemingly depicting blood, was thickly applied around the mouth, and the tip of the long protruding tongue was slightly curved, looking like a hook.
"Ugh, you drew it so disgustingly."
Whether it was intentionally drawn like this or not, honestly, it wasn't a very pleasant picture to look at. It was somewhat understandable that Quill reacted with disgust.
Warren, not paying attention to Quill's reaction, said, "I think everyone has already looked up information about doppelgangers, but to explain once more while we're all gathered. Doppelgangers basically don't have any of the five senses except sight and taste. Touch is the same. But they do feel pain."
"..."
"However, the degree of pain felt is minor, so they don't show such extreme reactions. Their teeth are quite sharp, and they use their hook-like curved tongue to catch or break prey. Their main diet is living beings like animals or humans."
For Acel, who hadn't looked into doppelgangers in detail due to personal circumstances, Warren's explanation was quite informative.
He narrowed his eyes slightly for no reason and listened to his voice.
"But all of this is about the main body. When they transform their body, they use the characteristics of that living being as is. Interestingly, it's said that doppelgangers that have survived for over a hundred years can even use magic if they take the form of a mage."
"...What?"
"There's already a discovered case. A water mage who ate people. When they subjugated her and looked, there's a record in the Raymond Magic Tower that she was actually a doppelganger."
"...That's not very welcome news," Saya said with her brow slightly furrowed.
Her gaze briefly turned towards Acel.
Acel noticed what she was worried about and smiled bitterly.
Even if it was a doppelganger, it probably couldn’t imitate a spirit mage. Without a contracted spirit, it couldn’t use spirit magic at all. Thanks to this, there wasn't much to worry about even if a doppelganger transformed into Warren.
But Acel was different. If a doppelganger transformed into Acel and used magic, the situation became a bit serious. It probably wouldn’t be to the extent that the four of them couldn’t subjugate it, but it was certainly somewhat troublesome. Saya was worried about such a thing happening.
Still, there wasn't much need to worry. Even a doppelganger wouldn't be able to use lightning formulas, Acel's main magic.
Moreover, Acel knew all the ways to break down the magic he used. There was absolutely no way he would lose against a mage using the same magic.
"By the way, where are we now?" Acel asked, receiving the gazes of the three.
Saya glanced out the window and answered, "We still need to travel for two more days. It's quite a distant region."
"Outside the empire?"
"Not that, but it is on the outskirts. It's a village without a name, apparently."
A nameless village. Acel closed his eyes, unnecessarily recalling his hometown.
If they were still far from arriving, there was no reason to forcibly suppress fatigue and stay awake. Acel told the group he would take a short nap, then manifested sleep magic on himself.
Not long after, his breathing became even.
***
On the fourth day of traveling by carriage.
The group arrived at the foot of the mountain written in the request form. They got off the carriage and packed their belongings, and Acel lifted all the food and water into the air using telekinesis magic.
The coachman was planning to stay with the carriage in the city closest to the village and return when the time came. He gave a brief greeting to the group, then slowly disappeared driving the carriage. Saya watched his retreating figure, then turned her head.
Looking at the mountain that somehow felt dark despite being daytime, she swished her tail left and right.
The village was located somewhere on that mountain. Something indicating the village was drawn on the request form, but it was unrecognizable, so they had to find the village's location themselves in the end.
Fortunately, with two mages among the group, they didn't have difficulty searching.
Acel manifested a detection spell to find the exact location of the village, and Warren used spirit formulas to pioneer the path.
Warren took the lead. He sent spirits ahead to create or carve out the ground, making the shortest route to the village. Acel walked right behind him, observing the spirit formulas Warren was using.
It's more powerful than I thought.
Spirit formulas were famous for using little magical power. But their power was formidable unlike the magical power used. Considering that the spirit Warren was handling was a low-level spirit, it was quite an impressive result.
Imitating it... seems possible.
However, since it was spirit formulas used without spirits, the mage would have to bear both the magical power of the mage and the spirit's portion, so the magical power consumed would be at least double.
This way, there was no reason to use spirit formulas. It would be better to use earth-based elemental magic instead.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in spirit magic itself, but Acel had no plans to contract with a spirit for now. If the opportunity arose he might, but he had no intention of running around looking for spirits. Researching other magic would be more helpful for achievement in that time.
"Wait."
While thinking, Warren suddenly stopped the group. Quill, who was walking at the very back, stuck out his head and asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"
"There are bandits gathered ahead."
"Bandits? Are you sure?"
"An energy mixed with the smell of blood is spreading from the ground where they're standing. And my spirit hates them. Considering that spirits basically like good people and hate evil people, it's obvious. I'm certain."
"Then we just need to push through, right?" Quill said, slinging his spear shaft over his shoulder.
Warren turned to look at him with furrowed brows.
"I know that too. But anyway, we should follow the leader's opinion, so I stopped."
"Oh my, thank you. So you were thinking that?"
Saya had no intention of asserting her authority as leader, but there was no reason to miss such an opportunity if it came. She briefly left the line and stared blankly at the huddled bandits.
Their numbers weren't small. But they wouldn't lose if they fought. It was a low-level bandit group that even Saya alone could handle completely.
If they clashed, they could sweep them away in an instant. Moreover, the other side hadn't noticed them yet. If they launched a surprise attack, it wouldn't take long either.
It's ridiculous to change our route because of them, so should we just push through?
While Saya was thinking this, Acel, who was watching the bandits with magic concentrated in his eyes, slightly furrowed his brow and said, "They've captured people inside."
"What…? Hmm, I can't see them."
"They're held in the back of the cave. Three women, two men. No external injuries, but they lack strength as if they've been starved for days. There are arms and legs in the cooking pot, whether they're practicing cannibalism..."
"Is that so?"
Imprisonment invisible to Saya's eyes. But given that it was Acel speaking, there was no possibility he was lying.
She thought for a moment, then looked up at Acel and said, "We should save them, right?"
"If we hadn't discovered them it would be one thing, but we can't pretend not to have seen now that we have. Anyway, to pass through quickly, we need to break through head-on."
"Alright. It's decided then. So Quill will take the vanguard—"
"No, I'll do it alone," Acel said with a grin.
The group's gazes turned towards Acel simultaneously.
Acel knew very well what they were thinking.
There was no need for a mage to handle it alone. It wouldn't matter if he did, but right now Acel was moving food and water alone with magic. For an ordinary mage, to chant and manifest another magic here, they would have to release the formula they were maintaining and construct a new magic.
Rather than that, it would be faster to end it by having Quill take the lead and charging in as a group. There was no reason to accept Acel's opinion.
Saya and Quill thought so.
But Warren didn't.
He looked at Acel drawing up magical power with interested eyes and took a step back.
As a fellow mage, Warren understood Acel's feelings.
"Is your body itching? I think I've seen a paper about mages who have learned combat magic often experiencing withdrawal symptoms if they can't use magic."
"Withdrawal symptoms... that seems right."
Acel smiled slightly and drew a formula in his mind.
It was certainly a situation where he felt frustrated for not using proper magic for several days. But the reason he stepped forward uncharacteristically was elsewhere.
He wanted to test a new magic created through inspiration that came while examining the properties and characteristics of fire magic, which he was researching simultaneously to handle ice magic.
There was no need to hesitate when an opportunity came. Acel ignored Saya and Quill opening their mouths to stop him, and manifested new magic while maintaining the telekinesis magic as is.
Flames began to burn in his grasp.
[Red Cloud Fire Rain]
Whoosh!!
As Acel gestured, the flames that arose gathered into a cloud-like form.
The large cloud thus created rushed towards the bandits, and as they were bewildered by the sudden magic, a rain of fire began to pour from the cloud.
Sizzle!!!
The fallen rain melted and burns the bandits' skin, muscles, and even bones. The flames that spread in an instant advance, precisely burning only where the bandits were.
"Aaaaargh!!"
"S-save me, fuck!!!"
"Aaagh!! My leg, my leeeeg!!"
Screams filled the mountain.
There was no need to hold back against bandits who kidnapped and ate people. Acel poured down the rain of fire even more fiercely, explosively injecting magical power.
It was a horrific scene that made even Quill, who had witnessed quite a lot of death as a mercenary, frown. He clicked his tongue while staring at Acel as if looking at a monster.
Not long after, the screams abruptly stopped.
Acel shook off the residual magical power remaining in his hand and turned to the group, saying, "Let's go."