Chapter 74
Studying magical script was difficult, but by the time the four corners of the thick reference book I used as a textbook had become frayed and battered, I had reached a fairly decent level.
By now, I can write my own poems in the magic language. My vocabulary is limited, and I only understand simple grammar, so I can't use complicated turns of phrase or emotionally rich expressions. But whether it's as clumsy as an essay written by a first-grader or not, a poem is a poem.
All magic brought to Earth since the Gremlin Disaster is activated by reciting the magic language. According to the Nameless Epic Hypothesis, all the incantations needed to activate magic are excerpts from one enormous epic poem.
If excerpts from the epic possessed magical power, then it seemed likely that my own poems would contain at least a little power as well. However, that isn't how it works.
I learned this firsthand after writing and reciting several original poems: the magic language itself has no magical power. The only things that produce an effect when recited are the incantations excerpted from the Nameless Epic. (Indirect incantations that express the same content as the original using different words are essentially just variations in wording.) Reciting an original poem only has the effect of making me a little embarrassed.
It seems closer to the truth to interpret it as the original Nameless Epic containing magical power, which is drawn out, borrowed, awakened, or referenced by taking excerpts from the epic.
However, as either Professor Ohinata or Hiyori explained long ago, the magic language is a language constructed by assigning meaning to sounds based on sounds that possess magical meaning.
The cries monsters make when using magic are precisely those “sounds with magical meaning,” so monster cries can be called the most primitive form of magical language.
The Nameless Epic was woven using a language based on monster cries, highly developed into a systematic language.
If we analyzed the process by which the language used in the Nameless Epic developed and completely understood its principles, it might even be possible to create an Earth version of the magic language from scratch, suited to the vocal organs of Earth humans.
Well, the Magic University will probably continue researching all that academic stuff.
I'm an engineer, not a scholar, so I'm more interested in how to use research in my creations than in the research itself.
These past few days, I've been obsessing over the character sizes and fonts of magical script.
The size of magical script can be designed across a remarkably wide range.
The upper limit is unknown. According to some American materials, even absurdly huge magical letters, each four yards across, caused no problems.
The lower limit is roughly the size of letters used in a regular letter. Any smaller than that causes problems.
When the letters are too small, the flow goes wrong as mana traces its way along them, causing malfunctions such as abnormally increased mana consumption, spells failing to activate, or the magical script becoming distorted and unusable.
At my level, if I precisely copy the model letters displayed on the Möbius ring and write them while adjusting the scale, I can go as small as two millimeters. Anything smaller was impossible. When I had the Spider Witch test magical letters engraved at 0.1 millimeters per character, they melted into a sloppy, distorted mess and lost all meaning the moment she tried them.
Going by how it felt, the limit seemed to be a fundamental one caused by the size of the letters themselves, rather than the accuracy of the writing.
Besides, even if I carved magical script onto a wand, carving it in letters so small they looked like mere dirt would ruin the aesthetic. Magical script only looks cool when it's written large enough to be recognized as magical script.
That was one evening while I was continuing my studies and playing around with magical script.
Lately, the Spider Witch had been pampering me with cooking, cleaning, and laundry, so I had been living the easy life, indulging in my hobbies with every meal placed before me.
The Spider Witch has such a splendid and impressive build that, sadly, she can't fit inside my house.
But the decoy can.
The decoy basically handled reception in Ome City for people who had business with 0933 or the Spider Witch, but she diligently took care of me before going to work in the morning and after coming home at night.
Watching the decoy, with a different hair color and hairstyle from Hiyori, standing in the kitchen in an apron and making miso soup, made me feel as though I'd hired a housekeeper.
Housekeeping services had apparently been popular before the Gremlin Disaster. Letting a complete stranger into your home just to do housework had been even harder to understand than letting in a cockroach, but having a trusted friend help out was surprisingly comfortable.
As I shaved the handle of a prototype wand incorporating magical script while breathing in the pleasant smell of grilled fish drifting through the house, I saw two golden streaks descend outside the pitch-black window.
"Oh? ... Oh!? It's Hiyori and the Professor!"
I set the unfinished wand handle on my workbench and dashed into the backyard.
When I stepped into the backyard in my slippers, Hiyori was standing there, while the ermine was staggering around on the verge of fainting from mana depletion.
Before I could say a word after seeing the two of them, Hiyori threw her arms around me with a huge smile.
"Dairi!!"
"Whoa? Oh. Long time no see. Your hair's grown a little."
She hugged me pretty tightly, but it didn't seem like the time to complain that it hurt, so I patted her back a few times.
It had only been four or five months since we'd last seen each other. That seemed awfully dramatic. Maybe some of the American temperament had rubbed off on her, making her express her emotions so excessively.
As I ran my hand through Hiyori's long black hair, Hiyori, who had been pressing her face insistently into my chest, suddenly stopped.
She pulled her face away and stared intently at my chest with an expression as blank as a noh mask.
Huh? What? What emotion is that supposed to be? You're scaring me.
"Hiyori, mask, mask. Put on your mask. You're scary."
"Hey. What happened to this necklace? The smell of the sea, scales from the Mermaid Witch, a cord braided from blond hair... Hey, Spider Witch! Come out and explain! What is this supposed to mean!?"
When Hiyori started shouting, I heard a clatter from inside the house, like someone had dropped some dishes.
Hiyori seized my hand and marched into the house, practically dragging me along, where she found the decoy taking off her apron and trying to sneak out through the window.
"Huh? Another Dairi...? No! A decoy!? One with my face!? Huh? What... Haaaaaaaa!? Y-y-youuuuuuuuu!"
"W-wait, Blue Witch. Let me explain. Calm down..."
"Using my appearance to make advances on Dairi—on Dairi—while I was suffering, you... you were being all cutesy with him! D-don't you dare mess with me! Thief! Thieeeef!!!"
The deranged Hiyori let out a shrill scream and punched the decoy. The decoy, whose strength exceeded that of steel, cracked from a single blow. Eek, what ridiculous strength!
The decoy fell on her rear and begged as she scuttled backward in a spider-like manner.
"Whoa! Wait, wait! Listen! I mean, I know the way I asked wasn't great, okay? There's a reason...!"
"Aah!? You have an excuse!? Let's hear it! I'll wait until I've heard your last words before smashing this ridiculous decoy to pieces!!"
"Well, the decoy's appearance was scary, so I asked Dairi to sculpt it into a form that wouldn't frighten people. Then Dairi said, 'Leave it to me. I'll make you the most beautiful girl in the world,' and... this happened..."
"All right, your last words—――――Your last words, huh... Hm???"
"This is the sculpture of the most beautiful girl in the world as Dairi imagines her. He didn't do it because he had ulterior motives. I swear on my blood..."
"The most... beautiful girl... in the world...?"
Hiyori repeated the words awkwardly, filling her eyes with the sight of the decoy who looked exactly like her. She froze in place with her fist raised to strike. Even though she had freeze resistance.
Once the god of destruction who had descended upon Okutama had been calmed down, I peeled Hiyori's fingers off my hand one by one and looked at her and the decoy from the side.
I put a hand to my chin and observed them closely. They really did look alike.
Hmmmm.
Beautiful women had always looked identical to me, making them impossible to tell apart, but perhaps my eye for beauty had finally improved enough to distinguish between these two. As a craftsman, I felt proud.
"Um, Blue Witch, are you listening? Last month, during the flood, the Mermaid Witch wandered in and was badly injured, so Dairi performed emergency surgery on her..."
"..."
"I only got the necklace as thanks. Nothing else happened. I swear on my blood, that's true."
"..."
"Hey, are you okay...? Say something...?"
"The most beautiful girl in the world."
"Ah... The Blue Witch has broken down..."
The decoy poked Hiyori's cheek, but there was no reaction.
I crossed my arms and nodded. That's right, Hiyori sometimes breaks down like this. What a strange woman.
"You know, she sometimes ends up like this when I compliment her. It also happens when I don't compliment her, so the pattern is unclear."
"Liar... Even when you don't mean to compliment me, you are. I'm going to take Professor Ohinata, who's wobbling around in the backyard, into town as the decoy. You two take your time..."
The decoy quietly left through the back door.
I watched her go and tilted my head. Even if she told us to take our time, what were we supposed to do?
Well, since the Blue Witch had finally graced Hinomoto with her return, I might as well hear about the Demon King over a meal. I knew she had won and returned without needing to ask, but I wouldn't know how she won unless I asked.
"Hiyori, you're staying for dinner, right? Hey, Hiyori?"
"Hm... Oh, I am Hiyori, the most beautiful girl in the world. What is it?"
"Oh, she rebooted. No, wait, she hasn't. What's with you? You're saying things like “the sky is blue."
Has something gone wrong with her language center? I really don't want to perform brain surgery on Hiyori.
I added the finishing seasoning to the dinner the Spider Witch had almost completed, and the two of us ate dinner together for the first time in a while.
But no matter how much I tried to bring up the Demon King, she seemed absent-minded, fidgety, and unable to settle down.
Since the conversation was going nowhere, I told her to rest after eating, took the first bath, and returned while drying my hair with a towel.
Then, just as I was about to give Hiyori permission to take the second bath, the exhausted witch had occupied my bed and fallen asleep.
"Zzz..."
"..."
Something about her breathing seemed strange. It was too regular, or perhaps it sounded tense somehow.
I didn't really understand it, but it felt cruel to wake her up and make her take a bath while she was sleeping.
She must have been tired from beating the Demon King to a pulp.
It couldn't be helped. I would give her the bed and let her sleep tonight. I was a considerate man, after all.
I took off my robe and gently covered the lightly dressed Hiyori with a summer quilt without waking her, brushed the hair away from her face, turned off the lamp, and sprawled out on the living room sofa.
Maybe it was because we hadn't seen each other for several months. Hiyori had stayed over before, but my chest felt strangely restless. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about Hiyori sleeping in my bed.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to shake off the vague, hazy image I couldn't make sense of.
Good night, Hiyori. Tell me all about the Demon King tomorrow.