Chapter 304 - Chapter 303: Mika's New Home
Three years or so had passed since Mika received the Gold Medal.
Early in the second month of Fire.
In the very center of a plain, several kilometers away from the capital and slightly off the main road.
A large white mansion stood on the vast land.
The newly built mansion also had a garden, where colorful flowers were blooming.
Dozens of guards stood around the mansion.
Guards were also posted outside the fence enclosing the property, giving off a somewhat tense atmosphere.
This mansion was Mika's new home.
He had borrowed the land from King Cranzard.
Mika, who had married Cleiria, and also married Kistil and Nerisfeene, had decided to build a new house.
Mika, who did not want to live in the villa of the Leventein Marquis family located in District 1 of the capital, decided to build his own house.
Although the reconstruction of the capital was still in progress, buildings were being erected one after another on the burned land, and reconstruction was advancing.
He had stopped living in temporary housing and had started a new life about a year ago.
Within the property, a research facility had also been built.
It was a research institute for investigating materials and the like brought over from the former Gronoir Empire.
Established with the primary goal of restoring the lost [God's Miracle] and [Dispelling Curse], this institute currently employed about twenty researchers.
Furthermore, there was a facility within the property for researching and developing magic tools.
Rumors said such facilities existed within the capital, but it was said that only a very select few were aware of them.
Those serving as guards for these mansions and facilities were basically adventurers.
Of course, the hiring criteria included 'being skilled,' but there was a mysterious interview as part of the screening process.
For about three minutes, they had to state their own faith and their thoughts on being "messengers of the gods [Apostle]."
Mika himself listened to this, and the final decision on acceptance or rejection was made based on it.
This interview was a complete mystery; it wasn't simply that passing meant one could convey things well.
There were even cases where those who could hardly speak at all had passed.
Some people were dissatisfied with this interview, full of personal bias and prejudice, but there was no overturning it even if they protested, because the employer had said no.
It was the employer's prerogative to decide who to hire.
In fact, what Mika was confirming in this interview was "Voluntas."
No matter how passionately one spoke, it went without saying that if "Voluntas" was not present, the content was empty.
Furthermore, understanding of the nature of "Voluntas" had progressed, and he had become able to discern those who seemed "likely to do bad things."
Adventurers were often criticized for rough behavior, but those Mika hired were not like that.
And those who merely patched up their appearance and words were also rejected.
Regardless of whether their appearance was somewhat stern, he only hired those with a straight heart.
A monthly salary of one gold coin, one million Rats, caused adventurers to flock there.
However, due to the strictness of the hiring criteria, it had now become a job envied by adventurers.
In the case of adventurers, the qualification was C-rank or higher, but only C-rank adventurers applied.
Because B-rank and above adventurers could usually earn more elsewhere.
Furthermore, there were many applications from knights.
Regarding knights, there was no initial cut-off for qualifications, but many lacked the necessary skill.
Those who cleared the strict hiring criteria and passed Mika's interview accounted for less than two percent of the total applicants.
Since two of Mika's wives lived in the mansion, it was a natural hiring criterion for Mika, but it was now being called "the strictest hiring criteria in the kingdom."
Incidentally, the researchers at the institute also underwent a similar interview.
Warterelam and Lambaluel conducted knowledge and insight tests, and even those who passed that sieve were repeatedly rejected by Mika.
This was also a narrow door, making it a very popular job.
Considering the salary was far higher than that of the Court Magic Institute, it was only natural.
Kistil put away the folded laundry in each room and returned to the living room.
Mika had hired servants, but Kistil still did the laundry and cooking herself.
If she left everything to others, she wouldn't know what to do all day.
Upon entering the living room, she saw Mika sitting at the table, gazing out the window.
At that sight, she felt a sudden thump in her chest for a moment.
Eyes tinged with melancholy, long legs crossed, fingers lightly resting on her chin were slender and beautiful.
Even from Kistil's perspective, the neutral, well-proportioned face looked beautiful.
"...Mika-kun."
When Kistil called out, Mika slowly turned his gaze toward her.
Seeing his smiling expression, Kistil felt her own cheeks flushing.
"Shall I prepare some tea?"
She asked, but Mika just smiled and brushed the hair around his neck back onto his shoulders.
Seeing that gesture, Kistil realized her misunderstanding.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Fee-chan."
Realizing it was the other personality inside Mika, Fee, she hurriedly corrected herself.
"Mika is thinking about something right now. Shall I take his place?"
"I see, I'm sorry. Fee-chan, do you want to drink tea?"
Kistil asked, but Fee shook her head.
"Because Mika ate too much for lunch, my stomach feels uncomfortable. Really, why does he eat until it hurts like this...?"
Kistil also smiled wryly, drawn in by Fee's wry smile.
Mika would sometimes switch with Fee like this.
Since they shared memories, their personalities were similar, but Fee was slightly softer in her manner.
Mika had a neutral appearance, but when Mika was out, he was slightly more masculine, and when Fee was out, she was slightly more feminine.
Hair was what clearly represented this difference.
Fee, who could manipulate light at will, had long hair.
It seemed she was manipulating light to make it look that way.
Apparently, her hair didn't actually grow; she was just making it look that way.
Kistil asked why she could do such a thing, but she had no idea at all.
It seemed only Mika's knowledge allowed such tricks, but what kind of knowledge did Mika's head contain?
Regarding changing her appearance, Mika had explained at length:
"It's fine, isn't it? Your appearance is one of the most fundamental identities. If Fee accepts that form as natural, shouldn't she do it? Rather, accepting my form as oneself and then further asserting preferences is the ultimate proof of establishing a personality—."
Although he seemed to affirm that she should do so, Kistil couldn't understand it at all.
It seemed the point was that it was important to accept oneself, including one's appearance, as oneself.
Just then, Rimliche arrived, covered in sweat.
After finishing lunch, she had gone for a run around the property to digest her food.
Rimliche was small and cute, but surprisingly mischievous, unlike her appearance.
Or rather, her way of thinking seemed to be becoming similar to Mika's.
She was attached to Mika twenty-four hours a day as a live-in guard, but she could move freely while at home.
She said that if she didn't train, her skills would dull, so Mika told her to do so.
"Huh? Fee-chan? Where is Mika-kun?"
Rimliche asked Fee, who had switched with Mika.
"He's thinking about something. Shall I call him?"
"Hmm... I don't know? Trys-san said she had something to ask."
Trys was an adventurer formerly of the Church Knights Order, but was now a guest researcher at Mika's institute.
She had begged Mika to let her work on research using the valuable materials brought from the former Gronoir Empire.
It seemed she was working on research to uncover the true history, not the fabricated history of the Church of Light, sparing no sleep.
Recently, her activities as an adventurer had decreased considerably, and she was primarily active as a researcher.
In an instant, Mika's hair returned to its original length, and Mika looked straight at Rimliche.
His gaze, or rather his expression, changed to the usual brave Mika.
"Did Trys say what she needed?"
Even with that tone, it was clear that Fee had withdrawn and Mika had come out.
Rimliche, asked by Mika, shook her head.
"I see. Rimliche, that's fine. Go wash off the sweat and change clothes."
Rimliche obediently followed Mika's words.
"Kistil, do you have something to do?"
Asked by Mika, Kistil shook her head.
"I was just thinking about preparing some tea."
At Kistil's reply, Mika rubbed his stomach.
Then, he smiled wryly, looking guilty.
"...It seems I ate too much for lunch."
At Mika's appearance, Kistil chuckled.
■■■■■■
Mika left the entrance and headed toward the research institute built a short distance away.
On the way, he saw a group of about four guards.
Noticing Mika, everyone saluted.
Although he had not forced them, for some reason, even the private security group was saluting normally.
"How is it, Mr. Neilmeier? Are you used to it yet?"
While returning the salute lightly, Mika spoke.
Neilmeier, who had resigned from the Fifth Knights Order, Shesbarno's unit, and joined Mika's facility's security group, had not been in the group for even half a year yet.
Well, this security group itself was a young organization of only about a year old.
Asked by Mika, Neilmeier looked around uneasily.
"Is something wrong?"
"Ah... no, that is... um."
As Neilmeier struggled to speak, the other members laughed beside him.
"He's whining about the next training session being almost here."
"Hey, stop it, idiot."
Exposed for having something difficult to say, Neilmeier panicked.
"Even though it's extra income, what's so heavy-hearted about it?"
"The pay is good, and such a beneficial training session is rare, you know?"
Hearing that, Mika smiled wryly.
"Indeed, it might be tough for former knights."
"It's fine. I'm not telling you to do it alone."
With no allies around, Neilmeier felt squeezed.
In Mika's security group, training... or rather, actual combat, was mandatory every three months.
[Complete D-rank or higher requests for defeating monsters and magical beasts during the one-week training period.]
Ideally, they wanted to set it to C-rank or higher, but doing so would inevitably reduce the number of requests.
So, they had lowered it to D-rank.
This was a mandatory requirement because Mika thought skills would dull if they only did security.
They trained daily, but there was no good coming from being too far removed from actual combat.
Therefore, they allowed parties of up to four to form and fight monsters and magical beasts.
The rewards obtained from this could be kept by the members themselves.
And of course, they received their salary even during training.
Depending on the number of challengers, as long as there was no damage to equipment or overuse of consumables, it was quite profitable.
It was a training session greatly welcomed by the members as extra income.
However, only those who were originally adventurers enjoyed this training.
They were C-rank adventurers, so they did not want to accept D-rank requests anymore.
If a C-rank request appeared during the training timing, they would say "Lucky" and rejoice.
However, for former knights, there was almost no experience fighting monsters or magical beasts.
Their adventurer rank started at F, so they were being raised to D-rank in new recruit training, but it seemed feared as a terrifying practical training.
Well, it was life or death.
What requests appeared depended on the situation, so failing to achieve them did not mean immediate firing.
However, those who frequently failed when everyone else could achieve them would have to be judged as lacking ability.
Advice was given not to push oneself to avoid injury, but it would be used as a reference for evaluation.
Mika encouraged Neilmeier and entered the research institute.
The institute was a three-story building equipped with conference rooms, etc.
The millions of collected materials were temporarily stuffed into commercially available magic bags and stored in the warehouse.
Large items that didn't fit in the magic bags were shoved into another warehouse on the property.
There were simply too many, and the types ranged from documents to statues, paintings, and decorations.
Classification hadn't been done properly, so they were just starting research.
They needed staff specialized in classification work, this was certain.
Mika went up to the second floor and headed to Trys's research room.
Researchers were basically working in large booths on the second floor.
If a research team was formed with multiple people, a research room was given, but since the materials weren't even classified yet, it was difficult to focus on specific themes.
Basically, they would roughly take out the contents of one magic tool and assign them to researchers to decide what to study.
Items studied this way were classified and numbered, and a catalog was created.
Perhaps, just this rough survey work would take hundreds of years.
Furthermore, some researchers were given private rooms.
Well, for now, only Warterelam, Lambaluel, and Trys were there.
Making Trys a guest researcher and giving her a private room was favoritism, so what of it?
Mika knocked on the door of Trys's research room and entered.
In the research room, Trys was examining some documents.
The documents were simply a bundle of large parchment sheets.
"Oh, Mika-chan. You came right away."
When Mika entered, Trys shifted her gaze from the documents to Mika.
Trys had completely settled in as a researcher.
She was truly a talented woman.
From her current posture of being engrossed in research, one could hardly imagine Trys as an adventurer.
The adventurer who had boldly faced Kaerya with killing intent and declared she would cut off her hand, marked as a person of concern by the guild...
Trys pushed her hair back and straightened her back slightly.
She had been in the same posture for a while, so she was probably stiff.
"Sorry. I couldn't get an answer from the directors."
"It's fine. Is there something?"
Mika stood beside Trys and looked at the documents spread on the desk and the unfinished report.
"Wasn't it said that the 'Cursed Children [Imprecatori]' began possessing the Pope around a thousand years ago and started taking over the church?"
"Yes, it seems the Pope's suicide or madness was due to that."
Popes who forcibly advanced various falsifications and cover-ups.
These popes were the work of the "Cursed Children [Imprecatori]."
However, he had thought that suicide or madness was just dying and resetting when it became inconvenient, but there seemed to be a slight difference.
Perhaps their method of ruling was poor, but it seemed there were popes who, even after being taken over once, repelled the "Cursed Children."
Among such popes, it seemed some lost their sanity due to the influence of the takeover.
Suicide and madness were not just done for the convenience of the "Cursed Children"; there were cases where the Pope chose it immediately after repelling the "Cursed Children."
And, even more troublesome, there were popes whose control was complete.
There were popes who were taken over by the "Cursed Children" but did not commit suicide or go mad.
One proof of this was the Pope who brought forth an oracle.
This Pope did not commit suicide or go mad.
However, it was almost certain that Hildinlander was possessing him.
Trys pointed to a certain part in the open document.
"This is a record of the Cardinal Council during the early Church of Light era, and among the agenda items is 'Regarding the suicide of clergy and monks.'"
Records remained where the Cardinals discussed the frequent suicides and madness of clergy and monks as a serious matter.
It was a record from about two thousand years ago, in the middle of the early Church of Light era.
"Oh, it appeared. I think that was also due to the 'Cursed Children' without a doubt."
"You knew?"
Trys was slightly surprised that Mika was not surprised.
Mika made a serious face.
"Roughly, there were descriptions related to that matter in my materials. However, this is highly likely to be a record distorted arbitrarily. Until objective evidence comes out, I couldn't say much. I didn't want to give you a preconception...."
Mika knew about this matter from [Aquu's Knowledge].
The "Cursed Children" did not suddenly possess the Pope or think of taking over the church.
They possessed various people, not limited to clergy and monks, and took over their lives.
They collected "Voluntas," sometimes killed people capriciously, and did whatever they pleased.
At that time, they happened to set their sights on the church.
The exclusive and closed church was convenient for deceiving people's eyes.
If one was already inside a community, even if there were suspicious points, the surroundings would automatically deceive them.
Most importantly, there was the merit that relatively high-quality "Voluntas" could be easily absorbed.
Although there were "Cursed Children" who disliked the strict rules, Hildinlander seemed to have chosen the church as a hideout willingly.
"The takeover by the 'Cursed Children' had been intermittent since thirty-five hundred years ago. It seems they only set clear goals and started moving to falsify and cover up history from a thousand years ago."
Because they clearly set a large goal, they attracted the attention of enthusiasts like Warterelam, but if they had stayed quiet, the existence of the "Cursed Children" would probably still not have been revealed.
Mika nodded at Trys and pointed to the document.
"Please create this report and share it with Warterelam and Lambaluel. As I need not say again, if you think about it, it's obvious... 'The "Cursed Children" have been harming people intermittently since thirty-five hundred years ago.' They just didn't stand out because they didn't show major movements during the early Church of Light era, but naturally, the "Cursed Children [those guys]" existed in that era too."
When Mika declared this, Trys let out a big sigh and leaned back in her chair.
"......Really, I never thought something like this was happening... And it wasn't ancient history. It was just recently."
"Are you surprised?"
"I'm exasperated."
Trys muttered with feeling.
Wasn't that a bit different from being surprised?
"Moreover, the one who solved it is you, Mika-chan, so I can't just be surprised. You really do various things one after another."
"Was there that much variety?"
When Mika smiled and asked, Trys gave him a sharp look.
"...When I get old and run out of money, I'll publish a book writing about all sorts of things since meeting you."
"Who would buy such a book, who?"
"Wouldn't the church buy it for a high price? You created a technique to exterminate the 'Unclean Ones' on the spot, and there are rare metals too."
Ah, indeed, they might buy it.
If he titled it 'Miracles and Trails of the Apostle' or something.
If he put it up for auction, it would likely become a bidding war between rich eccentrics and the church.
Mika crossed his arms and hummed, thinking a little.
"...Since it seems like something for the future, maybe I should make a law to crackdown on it now."
"If I write down what I've seen, what law do you intend to use to crackdown on it?"
"Fact Presentation Crime. Ten years of hard labor or something."
"Huh?"
Trys's face went blank.
Anything inconvenient to someone would become a crime if published, even if it was the truth.
Any ruler would likely agree.
While talking about such a foolish thing, Mika instructed Trys to continue the research.
Trys was trying to unravel the true history of the church, but in fact, Mika had given her one order.
[Do not publicize the existence of the "Cursed Children," extract the facts of church history, and create a timeline.]
Only a few top people needed to know about the existence of the "Cursed Children."
Tragic wars should be left as historical facts, but the existence of the "Cursed Children" was intended to be erased.
At least, for the general believers.
Popes, Cardinals, and Archbishops needed to know about the "Cursed Children," but general believers didn't need to know about such a ridiculous existence.
He was considering featuring them as evil beings in fables for children, but intended to conceal them from the official history.
In other words, what he was trying to do was the same as the "Cursed Children" themselves.
Mika had asked Trys to create both the official history timeline and the true timeline.
Thirty-five hundred years ago, people were fighting.
Officially, it was thought to be a struggle for food, etc., and the true cause, the "Cursed Children," would be told only to a few people.
Well, how they would be treated in later years was unknown, but Mika's basic policy was to do so.
Thus, Mika visited Warterelam and Lambaluel, briefly discussed the investigation team searching for [Dispelling Curse], and returned to the mansion.
Trys.
As a guest researcher, she dedicated her life to unraveling the history of the Church of Light.
She insisted on being a guest, participating as a core member in many research projects, but maintained a slightly detached position.
In later years, the timeline created by Trys would be officially adopted by the church as the official timeline of the Church of Light.
She wore the rocket pendant close to her body and remained unmarried for her entire life.
■■■■■■
It had been four years since Mika obtained the book filled with [Aquu's Knowledge].
But more than half of it remained unread.
The reason it took so long was, first of all, the difficulty of the content.
For example, when Mika acquired alchemy knowledge, Paraleira instructed him to read it in a specific order after considering the content.
By reading it exactly as instructed, he was able to absorb the knowledge without strain.
So, how about [Aquu's Knowledge]?
Books piled up like mountains.
The person himself [Aquu] had also said that he had arbitrarily named phenomena.
In short, he meant technical terms.
It was impossible to be told to read a book full of such technical terms right away.
If one just read it, that might be fine, but without grasping the content, it was meaningless.
So, when words with unknown meanings appeared, Mika extracted them.
He wrote them down and decided to proceed forward for now, even if he didn't understand the meaning.
In this way, he made a list of where each word appeared in which book and inserted notes into the books.
He did the same with other books, and when the meaning of an unknown word appeared, he checked all the previously encountered instances.
Because of this method, progress was slow, and the content didn't enter his head.
Nevertheless, he was diligently working on it, thinking that once the Aquu Language Dictionary was completed, it would become a bit easier to understand.
With this method of progress, there were still parts he could read properly and many parts where he could grasp the content.
Methods of spatial movement were exactly grasped that way.
There were other things where understanding had progressed.
Magic pollution.
It seemed humans had an energy called life... or rather, a source.
There were three energies overflowing from this source.
"Life," "Magic," and "Will."
Aquu had concluded that these were pure energies.
He didn't know why he reached such a conclusion, as the books providing reasons and evidence had not yet been found, but it seemed Aquu thought so.
However, although these energies were closely related, originally they were separate and did not mix.
But, "Vocabulum" combined "Magic" and "Will."
In this process of combining, it seemed to alter the nature of the source called "Life."
"Will" played a major role in how this source was altered.
Normally operating magic affected the source, but only slightly.
However, the combination of "strong will" and "magic" stuck to the source, damaged it, twisted it, and remade its structure into something else.
Because of this, even the "Will" overflowing from the source became something different from usual.
This was the true nature of spreading killing intent and the surge of destructive impulses.
Well, it was merely Aquu's hypothesis, and he explained "Life" with two meanings: 'Energy' and 'Source,' so to be honest, Mika couldn't say he had fully digested it yet.
Nevertheless...
The feeling of accumulation in the chest at that time. That must be something sticking to the source and altering it.
He could never forget the sensation when he used magic after wringing out "strong emotions" as Hibujiza had said.
Probably, those whose sources were completely replaced by something entirely different were the "Cursed Children [Imprecatori]."
Normally, when a person dies, it ends there.
The so-called source stops functioning and returns to nothingness.
Thinking so, the source was probably what was called the soul.
However, there were sources that were completely altered and continued to remain in this world.
Those were the "Cursed Children [Imprecatori]," and Runeise, and perhaps Mika himself now.
In other words, the source originally called "Life," which should have been separate, was replaced by a combination of "Magic" and "Will," and could not return to nothingness.
This altered state was similar to the way Mika perceived "Curses" as a combination.
Moreover, becoming a "Cursed Child" required procuring "Voluntas"... that is, the energy of "Will."
But Mika was not doing that now.
Probably, Runeise wasn't doing that either.
Recently, when using magic, he sometimes consciously gathered "Voluntas," but he only gathered the necessary amount when needed.
There was no problem even without desperately gathering it.
Well, perhaps people around him prayed to Mika spontaneously, so even without doing anything, a small amount gathered.
However, the "Cursed Children" were said to gather a lot aiming for godhood, and he got the impression they gathered with more desperation.
It was a desperation as if they would disappear if they didn't gather.
Thinking so, it seemed there were various variations in the method of alteration, and Mika and the "Cursed Children" were similar but not the same.
Furthermore, Mika's current killing intent and destructive impulses were suppressed by Fee's interference.
If the source itself was altered, he felt that no matter how much Fee interfered, it couldn't be suppressed...
Aquu said the "Cursed Children" were a combination of magic and will...
He didn't mention the source.
Well, since it was replaced afterward, it would be so under Aquu's hypothesis that it was composed of "Magic" and "Will."
It somehow didn't fit.
Did Mika's understanding still have some misunderstanding?
Or did he skip it because it was troublesome?
Of course, there was a possibility that Aquu was wrong.
That said...
Sigh... I guess I have no choice but to read the rest.
Create the Aquu Language Dictionary, read the remaining books.
Once he finished reading them all, he would probably need to read them from the beginning again.
Anyway, the amount of information was too large, and it seemed to take more time to grasp it.
I'm going to get neurotic...
Thinking such things, Mika couldn't help but sigh.