A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 51

Episode 51. Ebernatunn (3)

Warm sunlight poured down, and many of the territory’s residents wandered the streets.
Azest made her way toward the vendor stalls and approached one of them.
The merchant’s eyes widened as she drew near, and he greeted her warmly.
“Oh my, Commander of the Knight Order—what an honor!”
“As I’ve said before, please feel free to speak informally.”
“Oh no, no. How could I possibly presume such a thing? I only ask that you keep the streets safe for us.”
The merchant quickly wrapped up a Cookie and handed it to Azest.
When Azest opened her purse to pay, the merchant firmly waved her off.
“How could I accept money from someone who protects us?”
“…Very well. Thank you for your kindness.”
Unable to refuse the merchant’s goodwill any further, Azest reluctantly accepted the Cookie.
The merchant called out to Dezir, who had been standing silently behind Azest.
“You should take one too, young man.”
“Your boyfriend? Me?”
At your age, it’s obvious at a glance. Please take good care of our commander. She’s quite the capable one.”
“No, I—”
Just as Dezir began to correct the misunderstanding, Azest accepted the Cookie on his behalf.
“Thank you for thinking of my partner as well.”
“Ha! Our Commander certainly has more spine than most men!”
Once the vendor stall had faded from sight, Dezir spoke with a note of complaint.
“Azest, what on earth was that about?”
“I’m not cold-hearted enough to spoil the merchant’s goodwill by correcting him in that moment.”
“But still—”
“And besides, I can hardly explain it to every person we meet.”
With that, Azest took a bite of her Cookie.
Seeing this, Dezir abandoned the argument and tried one himself.
Crunch.
Sugar was precious in this era. As a result, the Cookie tasted only of flour, with no sweetness at all. Yet it was edible enough.
As they ate the Cookies the merchant had given them, they resumed walking. All the while, Dezir and Azest drew considerable attention from those around them.
People greeted them from all sides, and small portions of food were pressed upon them until their hands grew quite heavy.
“Let’s rest for a moment before we continue.”
They sat on a bench in the central plaza, where a statue of a horse stood, and caught their breath.
Azest turned to Dezir, hesitating slightly as she spoke.
“Dezir, what do you think of this street right now?”
“It’s certainly a good place. The people are kind, and they seem bright.”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
Azest let out a sigh of relief. Her cheeks flushed a soft coral hue, and her rich platinum hair cascaded down.
Dezir noticed that her emotional expressions seemed to grow richer with each passing day.
“You had asked how I was progressing with the Quest, didn’t you?”
Dezir nodded in response to Azest’s question.
“While working through the vagrant Quest, what I focused on most was maintaining order. As you know, the problems caused by vagrants were quite severe, and the atmosphere of the territory was extremely unsettled.”
Azest continued.
“I divided the territory into districts and stationed knights under my command in each one to handle security. Petty Crimes that could be resolved easily were dealt with on the spot in each district, while Serious Crimes were sent to the center for processing.”
It was an efficient approach from an administrative standpoint, and quite thorough in its oversight.
“But it didn’t fundamentally solve the vagrant problem.”
Azest gazed at the people moving through the streets.
Residents of Ebernatunn strolling about, children having a snowball fight.
All of them radiated the same brightness as the warm weather itself.
“I managed to dramatically improve the Serious Crime rate, but petty crimes like pickpocketing are so frequent that I can’t seem to control them.”
Azest’s gaze fixed on one particular spot.
In the alley behind a building, a vagrant was looking around cautiously.
“In fact, the Completion Rate has stalled at thirty percent. No matter how much I strengthen security, it won’t rise any further.”
“Then that’s not the real solution.”
“Exactly. I need a different approach.”
A vagrant man lurking in the back alley spotted a target—a woman—and fixed his gaze upon her.
He held his breath, waiting, then burst from the alley in a flash and snatched the bag from the woman he’d marked.
A scream pierced the air.
The young man ran so quickly that the woman couldn’t bring herself to chase after him.
Azest pointed at the ground beneath the youth’s feet and chanted a spell.

[Ice.]

An icy sheet formed beneath the vagrant’s feet.
Crash!
He tumbled to the ground, and the bag clattered beside him.
As Azest rose to her feet, Dezir spoke to her.
“If I find any leads, I’ll come back to you.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Azest turned toward the vagrant, who lay on the ground taking blows.
After confirming that she had apprehended the vagrant, Dezir turned his body toward the castle.

* * *

What is the Shadow World?
The Shadow World is the repetition of history.
‘In other words, it replays events that actually happened.’
There are many different ways to Clear a Quest in the Shadow World.
The method involves correcting the misguided choices of those connected to past events, guiding history in the right direction.
Wilhelm, the central figure of this Shadow World.
In the original world, he would have devised his own solution to address the problems that plagued his territory.
But considering the tragic fate that befell the Artemis Kingdom, that solution could not have ended well.
Due to the corruption of the Shadow World, the Artemis Kingdom has been destroyed, with all territory except the Orleans region—where Dezir and his companions currently stand—shrouded in black mist. And all because of a single Shadow World.
‘Understanding what he will do next is what matters most.’
To obtain information about him, I need to know more deeply—not just what’s visible on the surface, but his true intentions that he wouldn’t easily reveal.
Fortunately, Dezir had already found a lead on someone who could tell him stories related to Wilhelm.

That evening, Dezir knocked on the door of the kitchen where Jepran was working.
“You want to know about the lord?”
Slice-slice!
A chunk of meat was carved cleanly. No matter how many times Dezir saw it, Jepran’s knife work was remarkable—fast and precise, the meat dismantled into perfectly cut, appetizing pieces.
“Why are you asking me of all people?”
“I want to know the lord as the chef sees him.”
“I get that, but why are you asking me? What would I know about the lord?”
“Don’t play dumb. You two are friends.”
Jepran tried to gloss over the shameful display he’d made before Wilhelm not long ago.
“Damn it all. You should just forget about trivial things like that.”
Caught, Jepran spoke awkwardly.
Sizzle-sizzle!
“Chef Jepran! The marinade is done!”
“Right, set it over there.”
“Dezir, could you help me move that?”
Dezir moved the heavy iron pot of marinade that Lirika had pointed to.
“Hell, it’s not really something I want to talk about… but, well, I don’t suppose it would cause any real trouble telling you… Hey, Lirika.”
“Yes, Chef!”
Lirika raised her hand brightly in response.
“Since Dezir’s going to handle the rest, you’re done for the day.”
“Really?”
Dezir’s eyes widened.
“Were you hoping to get this for free?”
Caught between the two of them, Lirika looked back and forth from Dezir to Jepran, then flashed a broad smile, opened the door, and stepped outside.
“Thanks, Dezir! You’ve got this!”
Thud.
As the door closed, Jepran pointed his chin at the pot simmering over the hearth.
“Alright, Dezir. Go stir that soup over there.”
‘Damn it.’
Dezir Armang exhaled slowly and began stirring the soup. It was tedious work, no matter how many times he did it.
Jepran started talking as he seasoned the meat.
“Wilhelm and I are old friends. We met for the first time in the Holy Capital. He was a Cardinal then.”
“A Cardinal!”
“Well, I was running a small restaurant in the Holy Capital at the time. Wilhelm came to the restaurant, tasted my food, and then asked if I’d be interested in becoming his personal chef. I needed money, so I accepted on the spot. I was so shocked when I heard later that he was a Cardinal.”
Bubble-bubble!
The soup came to a boil.
Dezir rolled up his sleeves and began stirring the soup again.
“Was he as cold and silent and boring back then as he is now?”
“No, Wilhelm was quite an outgoing character. In the evenings, he’d go to taverns and drink his fill. He was probably the least suited man to the title of Cardinal.”
“That’s unbelievable!”
“I know it’s hard to believe. But it was true. He loved drinking, loved having fun, and on fine sunny days, he’d spar with the knights under his command.”
For some reason, Jepran’s voice carried a note of regret.
“Wilhelm was a strong knight, but he was also a capable commander. He led the Knight Order directly and actively opposed the Judgment.”
Judgment was what people in the Artemis Kingdom called the Shadow World.
“That was his golden age. It seemed he never suffered a defeat in any battle he personally participated in. Even the Judgment of the Artemis Goddess that occurred in the Kingdom was mostly prevented by him and the Knight Order he founded.”
Unlike the modern era, where history had developed to the point where people could understand and enter past history, that age had to face the Shadow World with no information whatsoever, so it was truly remarkable that he responded so perfectly.
A hero who protected an entire nation from the encroachment of the Shadow World.
It was a feat worthy of being called a Unique Hero.
“This is just a side note, but more than half of the knights in our domain were once knights who followed him. They came all the way out to this backwater place after he was dismissed.”
“……That explains why the knights’ skill level is so high.”
Dezir switched the ladle to his other hand and continued stirring.
“But why was someone with such a record dismissed?”
“He disagreed with the newly enthroned Holy Majesty.”
He was the beginning of the misfortune, Jepran said.
“His Majesty insisted that the Judgment should be accepted.”
To accept the Judgment.
In other words, to leave the Shadow World unconquered and abandoned.
“According to a literal interpretation of the original teachings of the Artemis faith, the Judgment shouldn’t be resisted—it should be accepted. The Goddess is punishing us for the sins we have committed.”
“To accept the Judgment means the Kingdom can become hell and it’s acceptable?”
“Yes. If that is the Goddess’s will.”
Dezir’s expression hardened. He couldn’t understand people who held such beliefs.
“I don’t understand it.”
“Neither do I. It’s something only those completely mad with religion would say.”
The Artemis Kingdom abandoned the attempt to conquer the Shadow World by interpreting it religiously.
Jepran’s words continued.
“Of course, Wilhelm opposed it. He valued the people more than doctrine. You can tell just from the fact that he took in vagrants. Wilhelm opposed it to the end, saying they had to resist the Judgment somehow. Well, the result was tragic. All the achievements he’d made up until then were destroyed. He was stripped of his Cardinal title, the Knight Order he founded was dissolved, and he was exiled from the capital. That’s all there is to it. Isn’t it a tragic fate?”
……
“Take good care of your lord.”

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