Since Grandfather told me to accept it, I tried my best to relax my body and receive as much of the incoming knowledge as I could. Deep down I felt angry — "What I want are books, not knowledge being crammed into my head like this!" — but since there was no other option, I might as well make the best of it.
...Someday I'll print out every last bit of this knowledge! Bring on whatever you've got!
In that frame of mind, I was fully prepared to receive it, like catching the knowledge raining down from the sky along with the light. Knowledge about sacred rites from the Holy Book and the tidbits about the gods from books I had borrowed from the
...Wait a minute. Sort it! Sort it out! Don't mix the mischief tales of Riebeskuhilfe with the love stories of Flutrene and the prayer words for sacred rites! Also, I just realized — Grandfather is Ewermin. He hasn't changed appearance since the founding. He's seriously well-preserved.
There was some important knowledge mixed in, but the majority of what poured in was miscellaneous trivia. Honestly, it was all jumbled together and didn't seem like systematically organized knowledge at all.
...Aaargh! Now I understand why you'd want to make separate copies — or rather, why it's absolutely essential for Zent business to write out only the indispensable knowledge on slates and Holy Books! This kind of disorganized information would be completely useless without a search function!
Important knowledge did flow in as well, though: the foundation stones of each territory created by the Zent, the original role of the
...Huh? Wait. Don't skip past that. That's seriously important. How Lady
"Stop thinking. Accept it all. It will slip through."
The moment I tried to think about the incoming knowledge, Ewermin scolded me. I had just learned something incredibly urgent and important, yet the instant I tried to think about it, I found I couldn't absorb the knowledge flowing through my mind. I wasn't permitted to examine the knowledge being sent to me — I could only empty my mind and take it all in.
...Not thinking about anything while accepting things is surprisingly difficult. You just can't help wanting to think.
I felt that I needed to sort through my mind at my own pace first; otherwise, even with all this knowledge poured in, it would be practically useless. If Glutruthheit was the shaped form of bestowed knowledge, then wouldn't I need a search function to find whatever knowledge was relevant to me at any given time?
...Hmm?
After the mythology and Temple-related knowledge, what flowed in next was the history surrounding successive Zents. That was when the stream of knowledge started developing gaps. The history of Yurgenschmidt kept coming through full of holes, broken and discontinuous.
For instance, I'd see a scene where a bedridden Zent passed his Glutruthheit to one prince and entrusted him with the task of opening the Border Gates, and then it would cut off, and suddenly I'd be watching a different prince gasping in shock because "the Glutruthheit has vanished." It was impossible to tell whether these two pieces of knowledge were related, or whether they even belonged to the same era.
It felt like watching a video that kept buffering due to a bad connection, or watching a bunch of completely unrelated movies strung together. It was deeply unpleasant and frustrating.
What bothered me most, though, was that these gaps weren't simply caused by breaks in the historical timeline. Some of the rituals and magic circles that later Zents had developed to enrich their territories had portions completely blacked out. I'd seen certain rituals and magic circles on slates in the underground archive, and sure enough, parts of them were missing.
...Uaaargh! If you're going to make me watch, at least show me clearly! I really want to know!
But my desperate wish went unfulfilled.
The falling light faded, and the torrent of knowledge that had been forcibly poured into my head came to an end. My mind was completely saturated, like when you read a huge number of books all at once. Knowledge-drunk, my head felt light and hazy.
"You've received it well. Rest for a while."
"Then I'll gladly take you up on your offer and rest."
I flopped down right there. It would be more accurate to say that sitting upright was unbearable, with the core of my brain wobbling. I closed my eyes. Even lying down, it felt like my head was swaying. My thoughts were all jumbled, and I couldn't organize a single thing. Still, from what I could tell of the total knowledge I was supposed to have been given, roughly thirty to forty percent seemed to be missing.
...Could it be that I couldn't receive it all?
I had intended to receive everything, but perhaps my ability simply wasn't up to the task. I let out a slow breath of disappointment.
"Why does the wisdom of
The question that had drifted through my dazed mind slipped out of my mouth, and an answer came back from Ewermin.
"Because those who obtain a Stab and possess a certain threshold of magic power join the wisdom of Mestionora when they become magic stones."
Apparently, the wisdom of Mestionora was updated by collecting the memories of Zents and Obs when they passed away. That explained why there was so much ancient information but so little from after the civil war, and why there was nothing about commoners at all.
Supporting my dizzy head, I slowly got to my feet and picked up a hair ornament from the floor. Like in my commoner days, I used it to pin my hair up simply. It was hard to get it to stay firmly without hair product, but it was better than doing nothing.
"...Ewermin. I came here to read books. And yet I couldn't even read a single one — all I got was knowledge riddled with gaps. How incredibly disappointing."
As I grumbled my dissatisfaction, I began preparing to leave. I pulled over the leather belt holding my magic stones and recovery potions, and stuffed the socks I'd cut open into a leather bag. I couldn't just leave these things lying around here.
After tidying up the scraps of fabric, I took off the High Priest's robe and fashioned a simple suit of armor over my undergarments using magic stone. That was when I remembered that
...Ah, that works.
Over that, I put on a garment that left most of my back exposed. If I cut slits from the sides up to around the upper arms, it was just barely wearable. It ended up looking like a high-waisted dress, but the volume of the skirt and details like the lace peeking out from the High Priest's robe sleeves made it a necessity.
Then I put the High Priest's robe back on and retied the belt carefully. It should at least give the impression of being decorated.
Finally, I shaped the magic stone into shoes. Now my bare feet wouldn't be exposed. I'd only practiced making armor-like boots during lectures, but they were better than walking barefoot, and the ceremonial robe was long enough to cover them anyway.
"You are the first to express regret at obtaining the wisdom of Mestionora. But if you combine it with your previous memories, you should have nearly everything, shouldn't you? You need only merge it with your earlier knowledge."
The magic stone I'd picked up to make shoes tumbled from my hand and rolled across the floor. I felt the blood drain from my face.
...I forgot! The mistaken identity problem!
"This is the first time I've ever met you, Ewermin. I have no previous memories."
"...Surely that's not true? Surely you cannot have forgotten that."
Even if you say you can't forget it, for me this is genuinely the first time. Being told this so matter-of-factly, I repeated once more that it was a case of mistaken identity.
"What was the person who came here before me like?"
"They were a discourteous fool."
"That doesn't really tell me much. You said they didn't come through the proper channels — so how did they arrive?"
I asked in a casual mood while I finished getting ready. As I shaped the magic stone into shoes, Ewermin told me the story of the rude intruder.
It had apparently been over ten years ago, during the latter part of the civil war. Someone had visited every shrine, constructed an enormous magic circle, and nearly managed to reach Ewermin.
That enormous magic circle was what Ewermin — who normally took the form of a great tree — needed in order to assume human form and communicate with the gods. It was essential for obtaining the Book of Mestionora. Without activating that magic circle, it was impossible to meet Ewermin. That was precisely why I hadn't been able to meet Ewermin when obtaining my Stab or during the Blessing Ceremony — the magic circle hadn't been activated.
That person had poured magic power into the Mestionora statue in the library to obtain the magic circle, and after meeting the Golden Schmuil, had been told "You have the qualifications, but the magic circle isn't active" and turned away. However, that person had gone on to perform a sacred ritual in the innermost chamber and, rather than filling the magic circle with magic power from within, had dropped a massive amount of magic power onto it from above.
"And then they came flying in from the sky."
Ewermin gazed upward without changing his upright posture. I looked up with him. It seemed that the discourteous fool who had descended from the place meant for communicating with the gods had been mistaken for me.
"I would never do such a thing. This is definitely a case of mistaken identity."
...I had thought about how to activate the enormous magic circle and briefly considered dropping a giant magic stone from above, but I had never actually gone through with it. At least I'd had enough sense to judge that it was dangerous.
"Indeed, there are those whose magic power is similar."
Newborn babies have nearly identical magic power to their mothers, and couples deeply in love also share quite similar magic. However, as people grow, differences emerge even between parent and child. The mother's magic gradually loses the father's influence and returns to her original color, while a child's magic is determined at birth. Even siblings can differ, because the mother's magic during pregnancy and childbirth has a significant influence on the child's magic.
For that reason, even deeply in love couples don't necessarily remain the same shade forever. The influence of each other's magic doesn't last that long.
"Even if their magic power is similar, it would be impossible for them to bear the same Supreme God's name. That means these are two different people..."
If the magic was similar and both bore the same Supreme God's name, that would be impossible. That was precisely why Ewermin hadn't been able to recognize them as different people.
"How were you able to obtain a Stab? Someone with magic this similar bearing the same Supreme God's name should never be able to obtain one."
"Huh? ...Perhaps it was because the
Because I hadn't yet received the Supreme God's name, I must have been recognized as a different person with similar magic. In other words, if the curriculum had required obtaining the Supreme God's name before the Stab, I might have been considered the same person as that someone and been denied a Stab entirely.
...Wow, that was a close call.
"You are a child bearing the
"...What on earth is that?"
"It should be among the knowledge you just received. Try materializing the Book of Mestionora."
Being told to bring out my own Glutruthheit and check for myself, I let out a small groan. I needed to extract the knowledge I needed from that massive jumble. What I wanted was a Glutruthheit with a search function.
I brought out my Stab and closed my eyes lightly. Then I visualized the Book of Mestionora that the Mestionora statue in the library had been holding. Along with the book, a magic circle surfaced in my mind.
I already knew the incantation. So many Zents had chanted it within the knowledge that had been poured into me.
"Gutruthheit."
The Stab shaped itself into the Book of Mestionora. It was considerably smaller than the Glutruthheit the Mestionora statue had held — a single-volume size that I could hold in one hand, designed as a tablet that prioritized searchability.
"Your magic square is remarkably small, but can you read the Book of Mestionora with that?"
"It would be too tiring to read if it were any larger. Um — a child bearing the Mark of Ewiebe, right?"
I entered search terms with my fingertip and tried a search. A child bearing the Mark of Ewiebe turned out to be a subset of Self-Eating. Among those born as magic-wielders among commoners, it referred to someone who repeatedly escaped death at Ewiebe's hands, defying death time and again, and who had formed a lump of magic power — the kind a dead person should possess — while still alive.
...Right — I'd dissolved the clump with Jureve, but that was indeed what had happened.
Self-Eating had a thin, all-element affinity with a slight taint of the land's element where they were born. The land's element was influenced by the god's symbol carved on the Border Gates: in Ehrenfest the wind element was strong, in
Incidentally, according to the Book of Mestionora, Yurgenschmidt was formed by a magic circle with the Life God's symbol at its center, structured to seal the Life God's power.
...Ewermin, just how much do you hate Ewiebe?
Setting that thought aside, Self-Eating were not influenced by their parents' magic, which was why they had thin, all-element affinities. They had to pray to the gods, receive blessings, and create their own magic color. And when they married with virtually no elemental affinity, they would then be influenced by their spouse. Since they had almost no color of their own, rather than mutually influencing each other, they would simply be colored by their partner. However, they wouldn't be completely dyed — over time, the influence of the partner's magic would gradually fade.
However, a child bearing the Mark of Ewiebe — one who had formed a lump of magic power that only the dead should possess while still alive — was different. It was like having a magic stone inside their body, and if that was completely dyed, they would end up almost entirely colored by the other person. Even trying to dilute it would be extremely difficult. The result would be magic slightly less saturated than the person who had dyed them.
...In other words, I've been dyed!? Completely dyed by
There was so much new knowledge that my head was already in chaos, but this newly discovered fact made it spin even more.
"Does something come to mind?"
At Ewermin's words, I nodded slowly.
"I believe I am a child bearing the Mark of Ewiebe. I've also been dyed by someone's magic. But I'm definitely a different person. The gender is different, for one — you can see that at a glance, can't you?"
"Magic power has no gender."
...What!?
"B-but the voice, the way of speaking..."
"Can you distinguish male from female of other species by their voice or cries? I am merely reading your consciousness from the sounds you produce."
Ewermin told me it was like trying to determine the sex of dogs or cats by their barking or meowing, and though I wasn't happy about it, I had to concede — that was indeed difficult.
And I realized that without reading consciousness in this way — since the language of long ago and the present were different — it wouldn't have been possible to communicate or transfer knowledge, so it was as if we'd been speaking through a translator all along. I hadn't noticed the subtle differences between masculine and feminine speech, and had been interpreting Ewermin's words through a mental filter shaped by Ferdinand's manner of speaking, based on Ewermin's appearance.
"Ewermin. So, when a child bearing the Mark of Ewiebe is dyed before reaching adulthood, are there any effects or precautions to be aware of?"
I couldn't afford to keep running into this kind of mistaken identity disaster.
"Such unusual cases are rare, so I cannot say definitively. In principle, it shouldn't be much different from being dyed by one's parent."
The phrase "in principle" wasn't terribly reassuring.
"Your magic would simply take on that person's basic characteristics. Once you marry and are influenced by another, your magic will naturally change. Now then — are you certain the one who dyed you was Quinta?"
At Ewermin's question, I shook my head. I didn't know anyone named Quinta.
"The one who dyed me was Ferdinand."
"I don't understand. Come here and touch me. Let me see your memories."
At Ewermin's instruction, I stood up to walk over. The moment I did, I stumbled and fell flat. My body's sense of balance was off. I really needed to practice moving around here before heading home, or things would get ugly.
"What are you doing?"
"I suddenly got bigger, so my sense of balance is off."
"Hurry up, then."
...Hey, hey — listen to me! Who was it that made me bigger without even asking about my situation?
Wobbling, I stood before Ewermin. My eye level was quite different from when I'd first come here. Hesitating slightly over where to touch, I placed my hand against him.
"I see. So you were dyed with Quinta's magic."
"Is Quinta another name for Ferdinand?"
"It is the same as your true name being Mine."
He said it so casually, and I was marveling at the fact that Ewermin could truly read memories — when he added, "...This is convenient," in a tone that suggested he was about to pull away.
"What's convenient about that?"
"Rather than seeking knowledge of your own accord, you arrived here by outrageous means and resisted the acceptance of Mestionora's wisdom. Yet you are now sharing the Book of Mestionora with that person."
Ewermin explained that the gaps in the knowledge were what Ferdinand possessed.
"As one who bears the same magic as that fool, and who came here through proper channels, you are more suited to hold the Book of Mestionora."
With those words, Ewermin began slowly returning to the form of a white great tree. In its place, an entrance appeared in the Garden of Beginnings, as if to say "Go home from here."
"...What do you mean?"
"One who desires all wisdom — kill that fool and take all the knowledge from that one's magic stone. Then you shall become a Zent of complete and flawless knowledge."
"Wait a moment! I don't want anything like that — "
I called out to Ewermin as he kept returning to his tree form, but he had already reverted to the white great tree and would say nothing more.
I stood alone in the Garden of Beginnings, where light filtered down from above, and stared fixedly at the white great tree.
"I decline."
Whether Ewermin was listening or not didn't matter. I was going to make my refusal known all the same.
"What I want is the knowledge to save Ferdinand. I cannot find any value in knowledge gained by killing Ferdinand. I do truly wish, from the bottom of my heart, to read every book that exists in this world — but I don't want knowledge at that price."
...Besides, there were other ways to obtain Glutruthheit.
I took a few practice steps, checked carefully that I'd left nothing behind, and left the Garden of Beginnings.
I obtained the Book of Mestionora. Roughly sixty to seventy percent.
Whether I can actually put this jumbled, densely packed knowledge to use...
Having declared my refusal to Ewermin, I'm heading back.
Next: a side story.