Chapter 8: The whole story.

“What did you say?”

It had been a day full of incidents, but nothing I’d heard was as bewildering as what I was hearing now.

“Uh… Thermis? The Thermis I know?”

As absurd as the phrase ‘older younger sister’ was,
referring to oneself as ‘someone I know’ was a very unique experience.

“Yes. Yukomis’s only sister. Her elder. And the one who was obscured behind history… the real ‘hero,’ that is.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“Poor thing… you’re only twelve, so it’s no wonder. You can be forgiven for naively believing the imperial propaganda.”

No, I don’t know that propaganda.
I was too busy being dead to have heard of it.

“Listen carefully, little one. It wasn’t Yukomis who directly killed the Demon King.”

Well, that part’s probably true.

“It was her sister who accomplished it single-handedly.”

But that part was absolutely not true.

There was a big problem with the word ‘single-handedly.’

It would have been nearly impossible for me, with my almost non-existent magical abilities, to defeat the Demon King—a being close to a god of magic—with only my swordsmanship and my bare hands.

The reason I was able to kill the Demon King was thanks to the powerful blessings and spells I had on my body.

It was true that an ordinary human would never have been able to withstand them.

But the casters of those spells? Needless to say, it was the Knights.

Not some half-baked magician who inherited talent as scarce as mine, but ‘real’ magicians.

“I don’t think so?”

“Little one. You’re being deceived. You’re being played by the sedition of the imperial poets and historians.”

Manya looked down at me with pity.

“Now. Think about it. You know what kind of being the Demon King was, right?”

“That… well, first of all, he was a demon god.”

“That’s right.”

“He had the eyes of a dragon, and was in the shape of a giant wolf.”

“Yes.”

“Because he became the ruler of magic through the Gate of Wishes… any magic released externally was useless against him. Or so I heard.”

“You know it well. Then doesn’t something seem strange to you?”

“What is?”

“All of the ‘Wyvern Knights’ were basically pure mages. Some of them had swordsmanship skills at a level of self-defense, but… do you really think that with only that level of skill, they could have defeated the Demon King, the ruler of magic?”

“They must have known what they were doing, right?”

At my noncommittal answer, Katie, who had been standing in the background, let out a hollow laugh.

“…No. ‘Those bitches’…”

Manya emphasized the word ‘bitches.’

“Those kinds of hothouse flowers could never have had that kind of ability. Lady Thermis defeated the Demon King alone and then died in battle.”

Why does this woman keep adding ‘Lady’ after the name Thermis, like she did earlier?

“Unlike those moronic magicians.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s right…”

“Child, why are you so slow to understand?”

Receiving Manya’s gaze, full of genuine pity, even I started to feel irritated.

No, forget not understanding, I’m the person in question here.

Why do you keep arguing when I’m telling you it wasn’t like that?

They did their jobs well.

Or what? Does she think I filled the Knights with incompetent people through nepotism or something?

No, there was absolutely no way that could have happened.

I filled my Knights with only the people I absolutely needed, and if even one of them had been missing… I would never have been able to kill the Demon King.

But how do I explain that?

There was no way for ‘Signo Irendel,’ a twelve-year-old who had never even seen the shadow of the Knights, to say, ‘Oh, I know them well, they all did their jobs well.’

What should I say?

‘Actually, I’m that Thermis.’

…Yeah. No one would believe that. That’s for sure.

“Lady Thermis killed the Demon King alone and sacrificed herself, but that woman who is her sister shamelessly stole her achievements. Afterwards, the imperial family attributed all the achievements to that b*tch.”

“Why do you think they did that?”

There was one thing I could understand from her words. Why Yukomis’s status was so high in this free city of Kiffol. But still, I didn’t understand why giving the achievements of the dead to the living would be so infuriating. They were sisters, after all.

“The reason? Isn’t it obvious? Thermis, who didn’t gain magical talent, was ultimately nothing more than a disposable tool to the imperial family and the dukedom. If the commoners were to find out that she had accomplished such a great feat without the power of magic, people would start having foolish dreams, wouldn’t they? To the imperial family, that’s a very dangerous myth! So they threw her out to die in the final battle, thinking that they didn’t care what happened to that half-baked noble.”

“Uh…”

“It would be best if she died alone in battle, and if that didn’t work, she had already secured the victory, so they could just throw in thousands of knights and soldiers and somehow defeat the cornered Demon King. It’s a little wasteful of lives, but it’s not impossible, right? But look.”

“That’s not how it happened…”

“Luckily, the Demon King and Lady Thermis died together. Ha! They took that opportunity to give all the credit to that arrogant b*tch who would enhance the prestige of the dukedom. Because the dead can’t talk!”

I was starting to get a headache.

“…Okay. Can I ask you something else for a second?”

“Go ahead.”

She seemed a little overwhelmed by her emotions during her explanation, and her cheeks were rosier than when she first entered this basement.
Her breathing was also rough.
But so far, she was still answering my questions willingly.

“You call Thermis ‘Lady’?”

“…Yes. And I wish our little one would too.”

I was starting to feel a little awkward about this situation.

She hadn’t cared at all that I was speaking informally to her until now, but she wanted me to consistently use honorifics when saying the name Thermis.

“Okay… I understand that Thermis was the most important person, I get it. But why is it so important to you guys? It’s not like it has anything to do with you who monopolizes the achievements.”

“What?”

This time, Katie interjected as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have.

“Watch your mouth, kid. She’s not someone someone like you can talk about so carelessly.”

“I’m going crazy, really.”
What is this?
Do I have to listen to lectures about what kind of person I am?

“Did you happen to have a personal relationship with her?”

“Of course.”

“See, I thought there was no way… What?”

I thought the conversation was going off the rails enough as it was, but it seemed that wasn’t enough.

“You knew me? You were acquainted?”

“Of course.”

“What kind of relationship did you have?”

“When I was young, I had the opportunity to have a pleasant conversation with her.”

Katie said in a serious tone.

I met her? I thought I was meeting her for the first time?

“Um… it was at a party at the dukedom. Originally, someone like me wouldn’t have had any reason to go there, but my godfather, a count who had frequent exchanges with the family, gave me an invitation. He said it would be a good experience to go to a place like that at least once in my life, maybe even find a husband.”

“Ah. I guess so.”

Al, who was standing next to Katie, gave me a dumbfounded look, as if to say, ‘What do you know about it, you little kid?’

“Around that time, I was really fascinated with metal crafts.”

“Yes.”

“But the problem was that I was the type who ‘wanted to do it myself,’ not just watch. That kind of thing is usually something men do, right? Like… blacksmiths or jewelers?”

“Uh, I guess so?”

“My family didn’t like that hobby. They said, ‘What’s so great about fiddling with scraps of iron like those lowly commoner men?’ So when I met her, I tried to hide my hobby as much as possible.”

“Yes.”

“But… I was unknowingly wearing earrings that I had made myself. They were something I was fond of.”

Katie pointed to her ear. They were delicately crafted earrings with a matte finish.

However, the decorations weren’t overly ornate, and the iron bands that embossed the circles were designed to create a shape like stylized petals, making them very beautiful.

Frankly speaking, even to me, they seemed to be quite tasteful.

“This is it. But… Lady Thermis recognized them first. She said it was the first time she had seen someone wearing earrings without any jewels or gold work. So I was really nervous, thinking she was going to scold me for having low-class taste…”
Katie shuddered.

“She ended up complimenting me.”

“Compliment?”

“Yes. She asked me about them because they were something she rarely saw. She asked if I had designed them myself, and said that my aesthetic sense was really beautiful. She said she was envious of my manual dexterity…”

Katie began to reminisce with dreamy eyes.

“I had never heard such words before. Meeting someone who respected my hobby and sympathized with my aesthetic sense… it was the first time…”

Compliment…
…Did I do that?
Ah, well… I guess I might have?
…
Frankly speaking, I didn’t remember, and I wasn’t sure.

Before the Great War, meeting people and talking to them had become almost like work.

It wouldn’t be surprising if a slightly introverted magician like Katie was mixed in among the hundreds of unremarkable nobles I passed by.

I might have tried to find some common topic to talk about, or I might have just picked something at random and complimented them.

But yeah, that’s how it usually is, right?

I mean, if someone made it themselves, you have to say ‘That’s cool,’ right?

Who would say ‘Hmm, that looks awful. Why don’t you take it off?’

Those rude people from the dukedom… including Yukomis.

Anyway, even though they often did that, I was a person of common sense who couldn’t bring myself to spit on a smiling face.

“Then what about you, Manya? What was your relationship with Lady Thermis…?”

“Lady Thermis was the most beautiful person I had ever met.”

Manya nonchalantly said something that made my whole body squirm.

That was a tearfully grateful compliment.

“I had the opportunity to see her when she was young. It was when I attended a ball held by the dukedom as a guest. Really… she was very beautiful when she was twelve years old. It was the last time before her tragic fate tainted her. Still innocent, happy, and pure…”

She was talking about a Thermis from a time I didn’t know.

“But beautiful young ladies weren’t rare, and that appearance soon occupied only a corner of my memory and was forgotten. Then, before the Great War, that is, before she commanded the Knights, I had the opportunity to see her again. It was at the very party where

Katie met her. But…”

Manya hesitated, about to say something at this point.

“…You probably wouldn’t believe me even if I told you what she said to me, what happened.”

Wow, a story that even the person involved wouldn’t believe. Amazing.

“Unlike her unpleasant sister, she had become a truly kind and generous person. Just understand that much. She had become someone who was one of a kind in the world. So when she said she was recruiting knights, I even dreamed that I might have a chance to help her up close.”

“I see.”

“I was too old and my talent wasn’t in fighting, so I couldn’t… well, now that I think about it, there was no way someone like me could squeeze in among the prestigious members of the barony, the dukedom, or the imperial family.”

“You’re surprisingly objective in your self-assessment.”

“Ah! But she began to tire rapidly as she went through the war. The black hair that was characteristic of the Solenas family turned white, and she lost the light in her eyes and always looked gaunt. I saw her a third time when she passed by Irendel near Kiffol. At that time, she was truly like a living corpse. Ah, how fleeting and momentary is the ultimate beauty…”

“I… I was like that?”

“That’s right! All sorts of ‘curses’ were running rampant inside her body… those space-headed bitches in the Knights called them blessings? Ha! Except for Yukomis, none of the Knights knew that the magic was eating away at her, so they called it that.”

Manya scoffed as if she was getting angry just thinking about it.

…She was sharp.

It was a fact I had been hiding from everyone in the Knights.

And this person saw through it just by passing by for a moment?

What kind of magician is she?

“Why do you think Yukomis knew?”

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious? That b*tch is different from the others. Even if her personality is messed up, she’s definitely a genius. There’s no way she wouldn’t have known what kind of magic it was.”

I honestly thought she probably didn’t know.

Contrary to her impression, she was a bit of a space cadet.

Anyway, I quickly changed my assessment of ‘those two small fries.’

My assessment of my magicians during the war was based solely on ‘strength.’

My awareness of magicians like her, who were pure scholars and technicians, may have been dim.

“Those idiots may be better than me at setting fires and calling down lightning, but my specialty is in a different area. It’s the transformation and reproducibility of the body.”

“How is that different from Yukomis? I heard she was the one who compiled healing magic.”

“Think of it as the difference between returning something to its original state and slightly changing it. You can think of it as ‘transformation.’ Well, this is bragging, but while Yukomis… that b*tch was developing healing magic based on the theory of ‘magical regeneration,’ I was focused on a slightly different possibility.

Actually, I had been doing that long before. I researched how far I could modify the human body with it. It’s about starting from the same theory and developing a different school.”

“You’re such an amazing person, why don’t I know you?”

“I haven’t announced it yet. The demonstration isn’t over.”
Manya said honestly.

“And well, now that there’s an arrest warrant from the imperial palace, I can’t even announce it in my name anymore.”
Haa. Manya sighed deeply.

“Really, it’s an academic achievement that will go down in history…”

“That’s very unfortunate.”
I wasn’t very sorry.

“Thank you for saying so. But that’s all in the past! That’s why I got you! Now! Let’s go back to square one.”

“Excuse me, where was square one?”

“Of course, it’s the story of your kidnapping!”
Oh yeah.

“Ah.”
Manya continued, as if she was a little dumbfounded by my nonchalant reaction.

“You’re talking about it like it’s someone else’s problem. Have you been kidnapped a lot?”

“Yes. Well, you know Al, the big guy over there. I’m a veteran at this kind of thing.”
I heard Al chuckle from over Manya’s shoulder.

“…Hmm. If you look like you do, other people besides me would have targeted you. I’m glad it was all for naught.”
Manya readily accepted it.
The kidnapping was a story from my previous life.

“Anyway, do you understand why I brought you here?”
Nothing had been explained.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes. You just told me a bunch of stories about meeting people. What did you explain?”

Does she lack self-awareness… have you ever looked in a mirror?”

“Well… yeah. Not often, though.”

Hmm… Manya, who was looking at my face again, nodded as if she had understood something on her own.

“Well, the Irendel family has become much poorer recently. You couldn’t have taken care of your appearance. It would be much easier to recognize you if you washed and groomed yourself carefully. I don’t know if you remember, but I saw you when you were much younger?”

“You said so.”
I had heard it, but it was before I possessed Signo Irendel’s body, so there was no way I would remember.

“What I thought at that time was… your appearance was exactly like Lady Thermis.”

“Ah…?”
Is that so?
Was it? Is that a lie?

“Wait a minute. I’m a man.”

“Lady Thermis had a strangely androgynous side to her, didn’t she, Katie?”

“That’s right.”
Katie nodded in agreement.

“But that part wasn’t frivolous, and it acted as a charm that made her nobility stand out.”

“Your explanation is strangely specific… no, androgynous or whatever, I’m a man.”

“No. It’s easy to miss because of the different gender, but your features are very similar to hers. And you’ll grow up to look the same in the future. I can see how boys and girls will grow up. That’s my specialty.”

“What does that have to do with this…”

“Actually, it doesn’t matter if your faces are a little different. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re the same gender or not. The most important thing is the atmosphere. The exact same atmosphere as Lady Thermis. Personality. Gestures… habits… even tastes! Those things are important!”

Manya brought her face close to mine, almost touching my nose.
Since my limbs were tied up and I couldn’t move, I could see her happiness, close to madness, very well.

“Speaking of which, do you know that Lady Thermis loved nut cookies?”

“That’s also doesn’t matter…”
Suddenly, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Wait, how, how…”

“You do too! I had given the recipe for the cookies that she liked to a confectionery in Kiffol, and sure enough, the Irendel family bought them every week! Who do you think ate them? Like this, whatever you do, Lady Thermis’s twelve-year-old self overlaps with it! Is this a coincidence?”

“I, it must be a coincidence!”

Ignoring my shout, Manya unilaterally continued the story.

She had been maintaining an unpleasant attitude from the beginning, but as she continued the story, she seemed much more excited than she had been back then.

“I kidnapped other boys and girls and carefully examined their potential, but it was impossible. The more I looked at other children, the more I kept coming to the conclusion that it had to be you! But I still didn’t give up. Well, even for me, kidnapping the son of a baronet, not just some ordinary commoners, is a huge risk! That’s really crazy, isn’t it?”

“…You’re surprisingly good at objectifying yourself.”
Manya didn’t bother to respond.

“…A year ago, I belatedly learned that you, the youngest son of the baronet, were in a very critical condition, and I was so worried about you, my precious ‘candidate,’ that I secretly went to spy on you. Fortunately, when I arrived, you had already been treated.

But just in case, if you became critical again due to aftereffects, I’m also quite knowledgeable about the human body, so I might be able to help. That’s how I secretly watched you for a few days.”

“You’re saying it like it’s a good thing, but that means you were a stalker.”

“Stalker…? What do you mean?”

“Ignore it.”

“That’s when I found out! Everything about your mind that I saw there… was exactly the same as the Lady Thermis I knew!”
Manya hugged her shoulders as if she was enraptured.

“That relaxed expression, confidence, playfulness, vivacity, that positive atmosphere that can’t be expressed in words…! You were young back then, but I could already recognize it. Ah. In the end, she’s the most perfect one. There’s no way there’s a candidate as perfect as you. Those are things I can’t ‘teach.’ It’s literally your nature!”

“Fifteen years old isn’t bad, but twelve years old is the perfect time! It’s when you’re just ripe enough!”

“That line is especially unpleasant, really…”
Manya looked at me, showing her hands as if she had finished her explanation.

“Yeah? Do you know now?”

“What do you mean, ‘Do I know now?'”

“Oh my, you still haven’t noticed? I thought you were smart, so I thought you would have understood if I explained it this much…”
Haa. Manya sighed deeply.

“You look more like Lady Thermis than anyone else in the world. I thought you only looked alike, but it turns out that all of your mental aspects were copied exactly. And I am the best expert in the world when it comes to transformation magic.”

“Stop beating around the bush and just…”
At that moment, something bad, really bad, flashed through my mind.
…Huh? Wait a minute?

“…I’m asking this because I really don’t think that’s it.”

“Yeah. My love.”

“So you weren’t actually a pedophile or something…”

“Pedophile? What do you mean?”

“I mean, you weren’t trying to do those kinds of things with kids…”

“Hmm?”
Manya sent a meaningful look this way.

“What you wanted to do… was it possibly…”

That was the most ominous and terrible premonition imaginable.

And all the reason in my head desperately denied that possibility.

No. There’s no way. There’s no way that’s realistically possible.

Even if I wasn’t a caster, I knew a little about magic in theory.

Magic that touches the human body doesn’t work that easily.

It has to be used with special care and extreme caution than any other magic.

It wasn’t enough to just tell the magic to ‘do this.’ Of course not.

Without extensive anatomical knowledge of people,

Without an accurate understanding of how the human body works.

So, unless you’re a huge genius like my (ex)sister, who learns all that while eating breakfast.

As she claims, attempts at body transformation usually only lead to terrible consequences.

“I really, really don’t think that’s it. But I’m just asking. You know?”

“You can tell me without hesitating.”

“What you wanted to do… was it really to make another Thermis in this world?”

“You guessed it exactly. My love.”

No way.