Chapter 28

I didn't have much time to enjoy America, as I still have university classes the following week. Hence, I departed Friday afternoon and returned home Sunday morning.

While I traveled, Elerina utilized the weapon to the fullest. She sniped monsters from afar. They progressed smoothly. Thanks to the rifle, they could take out most targets before they even become a threat.

Elerina couldn't handle it all, though, so they occasionally stopped to wait for me to arrive before dealing with the one or two difficult monsters blocking the road. Regardless, they pushed on, and reached the fourth shrine quicker than expected.

“You're ready?”

I was already back in my apartment, the trip over in an instant. I hope to take her one day on visits around the world, and to do that, I need to first bring her over.

“Yes,” I replied with a nod. This time, I had put all of our equipment in charging mode before Elerina touched the shrine. I gave her a thumbs up. Elerina reached out and touched the shrine.

•••

I found myself standing by the side of a road. Large, calm plains spanned in front of me, a dense forest behind me. A carriage was making its way down the road. This one was different from Angen's. It was pulled by horses, which suggests it didn't use magic.

A loud scream blew through the calm air. A monster came from above. It looked like an eagle, but five times the size. The eagle’s movement was fast, and it struck the carriage. It tried pulling the carriage up into the sky, but one of the carriage’s wheels got stuck on a nearby rock, and the carriage shattered into pieces.

The eagle flew high in the sky and turned around. The people inside the carriage panicked and tried to escape by running straight toward the forest. The eagle screeched, targeting the unfortunate driver. He tripped on a pebble and fell. He turned around and watched as the eagle came closer, when a thin green line shot from the other direction.

It cut a part off the eagle's right wing. The eagle screeched and pulled up, soaring high into the sky. A group of three carriages came from the other way. These ones looked a lot fancier. They had a mainly white color and dark green accent, and looked much sturdier than the ones that had been attacked.

A little girl with long yellow hair and clear blue eyes jumped out. She had a long sharp ear, akin to one of an elf.

“Are you alright?” She asked the driver. The driver lifted his face, his eyes widening in horror.

“It's coming back!” He shouted, pointing at the eagle. The eagle’s red eyes gazed straight at the young girl, clearly seeing her as a threat. The young girl pointed her hand toward it, standing firm in place.

“Ellen!” Came a shout from the carriage, but she ignored it.

“Noreterasirksohu nazetarebukilasiza netederahico!” She shouted. A green line shot straight at the eagle. The eagle must have noticed its tremendous power, but it was too slow. The line shot straight through the eagle, colliding midair. An explosion rocked the skies, monster blood and flesh flying down to the ground.

“Elerina!” An older gentleman ran her way. He kneeled in front of her and took her into his arms. “That’s dangerous!”

“There's no need to worry, Dear. This is our daughter, after all.” An older lady came out after her husband. She let out a light giggle.

“Isn't this-”

“Come back to where it… at magic's home… Izoma…”

The voice appeared once again, and before long, I lost consciousness.

•••

When I woke up, I found myself once again in Elerina's lap. If she kept doing this, I eventually wouldn't want to wake up.

“So, how did it go?” Elerina asked. She's waiting for my answer, but unfortunately, I need some time to process what I had just seen.

“Elerina, do all elves have yellow hair and blue eyes?”

Elerina tilted her head, then answered as if it was the most obvious thing, “Of course not.”

“... Is the name ‘Elerina’ common?”

“... No? Why are you asking these all of a sudden? Just what did you see?”

“... Final question, when did you stop using magic?”

This question made her much more baffled than before. “Since I was born? I never used magic in my life.”

Something's not right. I doubt Elerina's lying to me. Not only does she have nothing to gain from it, keeping up that lie meant taking a huge part of her arsenal out. Most of all, she looked like she's telling the truth.

A magic that tempered its victim’s mind… being able to bend them into following the caster's will…

If it can do that…

“Can you try using magic right now? Any magic would do.”

I reconnected the voice call, Angen and Memorus served as witnesses.

“Try using a spell with… what was it… Netico? Deherico?”

“This one?” Elerina pointed her hand up. “Noreterasirksohu nazetarebukilasiza Netederahico!”

“Nothing happened?”

“Yep, nothing.”

“The pronunciation is correct, right?”

“Heard an elf use that before, it sounds right.”

“Maybe try something more basic?”

“Huhjeheoremonotati!”

“Still nothing, huh?”

“That’s the most basic fire spell…”

“Huhjeheoremonotati!”

Elerina tried copying Angen's pronunciation. “Huhjeheoremonotati!”

Despite matching exactly the way Angen said it, nothing came out of it.

“Such basic spells don't require having any control of magic. There should be no way Ellen couldn't use that.”

Elerina turned to me. “Just what did you see?”

“... You fought off an eagle with the nehico spell.”

“Are you sure it's me?”

I described what I saw to Elerina. Her expression turned into a frown at the end of the story. “There's just no way that's me.”

‘Yeah, makes sense…’ is what I wanted to say, but I held my tongue. It’s hard to believe that after she just admitted that her features are rare. On the other hand, there’s still a chance that it wasn’t her… but if that’s the case, then why show me that scene? What does that scene have in common with all the other scenes? What is the thread that brought all these scenes together?

There’s no way all of these scenes are just a coincidence, right?

Elerina must have seen my doubt, as she said, “If it’s really me, then why did I never remember using magic?”

Magic is a significant part of her world. It’s understandable that if a child couldn’t use magic, that memory would occupy a significant portion of their mind. Instead of thinking ‘Why can’t I use magic?’ the child would think ‘Why can I no longer use magic?’, and in this case, Elerina’s the former.

“... Sorry, but I’m not trying to doubt you.”

“You know… now I’m not so sure myself,” she chuckled, then she fell silent, as if actually considering it as an option.

“... Wait…”

We gave Elerina time and space to think. We were already on our journey to the next and final shrine, and there weren’t any monsters visible, at least Angen said so. As terrible as the war is, at least it made the insides of demon controller territory empty like this.

“... Something’s not right,” Elerina said all of a sudden. She stared at me.

“I’m not sure what you meant.”

“Is something wrong with your memories, Ellen?”

“I’m not so sure anymore… I mean, there’s just no way my entire past is a lie. I experienced that myself… but what if it’s not the full truth?”

That seemed more likely than a complete fabrication. Even without any interference, human memories could often make mistakes. It would fill the empty spaces with details that might not necessarily match with reality. That said, no amount of fabrication should be able to cover Elerina’s memory regarding magic. It was such a massive thing in her world, the biggest tool in the toolbox.

If Elerina used that tool in the past, she should be able to remember that.

“I really hope the fifth shrine will give us the answer.”