The adventurer Nils was walking through Flocia, bathed in the glow of the setting sun. Truth be told, he shouldn’t have been outside. He had been summoned to the Odis Temple, where someone new—someone he had formed a party with for the very first time—was waiting for him.
He knew that much. And yet, his feet carried him onward, away from the temple, of their own accord.
He found himself at the harbor.
The lake was dyed crimson by the blazing sunset. It looked as though the entire world were wrapped in fire, stirring something deep within his memories.
“…Ugh…”
Nils clutched his head.
The blond hair he grabbed was damp with sweat. Ever since the boy, Rion, had blown the awakening horn, Gjallarhorn, something had felt wrong.
He took a deep breath and faced the lake once more.
A massive bridge wide enough for several carriages to pass up on stretched across the water, connecting the city of Flocia to Dungeon Island. Had Nils been a bird, it would have looked like a single line drawn across the surface of the lake.
For a bridge of such scale to rise up from beneath the water, the city must have fallen into utter chaos. What stood out even more was the tower rising from the middle of the bridge. Its white outer walls had turned red in the light of the setting sun.
A breeze swept across the surface of the lake.
The dull ache in his head slowly began to return.
“…I—”
As if fleeing from the twilight itself, Nils turned his back on the lake.
He pushed his way forward, bumping into people as he went. Perhaps because of his tall frame, several passersby recognized him as the adventurer Nils and called out to him with worried voices. But the nausea and the sense of wrongness only continued to grow. It was as though something were stirring deep inside his chest—something unknown, something he did not recognize, beginning to awaken.
The images of the two gods he had seen inside Flocia dungeon crossed his mind: Freyr, the god of fertility, and his sister, Freyja. Investigations had revealed that both had been mere “replicas”, constructs of woven magic.
A mutter slipped from his lips.
“G-gods…?”
How long had he been walking?
Nils found himself in an abandoned warehouse district, devoid of people. The instincts granted by his Swordmaster skill caught the presence behind him.
“Who’s there?”
When Nils turned around, he saw a slender man standing behind him.
“…Have you forgotten me? I am Rata—Ratatoskr the Bone-Scavenger.”
Nils frowned.
“…Rata?”
“How lonely that is to hear. Though, considering you sealed your memories yourself, it’s only natural.”
A vague fragment of knowledge surfaced in Nils’s mind.
Seiðr magic. Magic that worked upon the human mind.
“You cast Seiðr upon yourself with your own hand, sealing away your true memories. With no memory remaining, your disguise would have been perfect. Not even the presence of a god could leak out.”
Pain split his head, as though it were about to burst.
“That body is entirely human now. After Ymir-sama devoured your skills, it became nothing more than an empty shell. You are merely residing within it.”
The man calling himself Rata curled his lips into a grin and held out a metal fragment no larger than a thumb.
“A magic key that opens a hidden area of Flocia. I’ve returned this one to you. It’s especially potent in magical power.”
The object he presented did indeed resemble the dungeon’s magic keys Nils had seen before. It was slightly larger, and at its center, a gemstone was set, gleaming faintly in the dying light.
“The dream is over.”
Nils shook his head in resistance, but Rata forced the metal fragment into his hand.
“It’s about time you used your insurance. The dungeon’s master key—the master key of the dungeon—belongs in the hands of its lord. In other words, yours.”
The pain in Nils’s head intensified.
“Remember the thing most precious to you. The gift from your younger sister, the goddess Freyja—the necklace Brísingamen!”
Nils drew a scorched necklace from within his clothing. Several metal fragments were bound together by a slender chain, now blackened and ruined. He himself remembered it as something left behind by a sister who had been abducted.
But now, he understood that memory was wrong.
It had not simply been left behind—it had been entrusted to him.
The dulled necklace flared into radiant gold. The metal fragment he had received slid into place at the center, resting at his collarbone. Grime and rust peeled away. In his hands, the necklace shone with a beautiful golden brilliance.
—Onii-sama….
He thought he heard the voice call to him.
Surely it was only an illusion…
—After all, it had been a thousand years since he had last heard it.
“…I am—”
Nils the adventurer, searching for his missing sister. But that too, was a temporary truth—a fabricated memory. In order to travel the world and draw near to the awakened gods, he had deliberately shaped his own mind that way.
Seiðr magic had made it possible.
The necklace Nils wore was a safeguard against losing his true self. It had once been a divine artifact belonging to his sister and because of that, the core of his heart—the feelings he held for her—had never faded.
Before beginning his long wanderings, Nils had removed many of the metal fragments from the necklace. Each fragment became a magic key capable of manipulating the doors of Flocia dungeon.
That was only natural. They were, after all, parts of a divine relic belonging to the master of the dungeon—the god of fertility.
—Onii-sama….
Recalling the voice that echoed in his mind, Nils clenched the necklace tightly.
Leaning back against the wall, Rata spoke.
“Have you awakened?”
“…Yes.”
Nils tightened his grip on the necklace his sister had entrusted to him.
With steady steps, he walked through the warehouse district and made his way back to the harbor once more. The white tower rose upward, stretching toward the heavens.
“My resolve was set long ago. My sister—Freyja—I will not let anyone take her.”
(Even if it is only a fragment of her power.)
He added the thought silently in his heart, then turned to face Rata.
The monster, disguised as a slender merchant, clapped his hands together in obvious delight.
“Splendid! The reconnaissance is complete, and the preparations to draw attention to the dungeon are already in motion. Ymir-sama will arrive before long. With you at our side—this is most reassuring.”
Rata’s shoulders shook as he raised a hand to cover his mouth.
He was barely containing his laughter.
After a moment, Rata straightened himself.
“…Well then. It seems only proper to address you this way now—Lord Freyr, God of Fertility.”
Nils looke up. As though searing it into his eyes, he stared at the tower dyed red by the setting sun.
“I won’t hesitate again.”
Nils—no, Freyr, the God of Fertility—turned on his heel alongside Rata and vanished into the deepening shadows of Flocia.
◆◆◆
I stood on the top floor of the temple, gazing out over Flocia at night. The window was open and being five stories up, the wind reached me easily. Through gaps in the thick clouds, a bright moon cast its light across the lake. The tall tower was dyed silver, stretching upward as though it might pierce the clouds themselves.
Had I been looking at it with a clear, unburdened heart, it might have felt like a dreamlike sight. One I would surely have told Lu and my mother about after returning to the royal capital.
But right now, all that escaped me was a sigh.
“Nils-san…. I couldn’t find him…”
I leaned out the window again and again, searching for any sign of him. Yet even when I used the Blessing of the God of Hunting, there was no trace of him to be found.
Earlier, everyone except Nils-san had gathered in the chamber of the Frost Orb. Pauline-san and Lu were there too—we needed to share what had happened in the dungeon and talk things through.
I had asked around then as well, but no one knew where Nils-san had gone.
“Did he go off on his own to look for his sister?”
That thought only made me worry more.
The gold coin trembled, and Solana’s voice reached me.
『You’re worried.』
“Yeah.”
Nils-san felt like an older brother to me. His swordsmanship reminded me a little of my father’s. Having someone like that become part of our party had made me genuinely happy.
And yet—
『You should rest for now. There’s no way to know whether this tower was unexpected for our enemies as well. But at this point, anything could happen…』
I nodded and whispered softly.
“Status”
| Status: |
| Rion (14 years old, Male) Level: 27 Skill『Alarm』: ➥ 【Wake Up】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Wakes up a sleeping person refreshed. ➥ 【Unseal】 ⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Cancel any type of sleep. Skill『Sun’s Divine Protection』 ➥ 【White Flame】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Recovery. The blessing of the sun also exorcises curses. ➥ 【Golden Flame】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Improves physical ability. Further effect for a limited time. ➥ 【Sword of the Daughter of the Sun】…… Imbues the Daughter of the Sun in a weapon. ➥ 【Light of the Sun Awakening】…… Imbues the Daughter of the Sun in a weapon. Skill 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』 ➥ 【Hammer of the God of Thunder】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Shoots a powerful lightning attack. ➥ 【Will of the War God】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅When facing an enemy stronger than oneself, it increases the power one’s blow. ➥ 【Mjolnir】 ⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Borrows the legendary war hammer from the God of Thunder. Skill 『Divine Protection of the God of Hunting 』 ➥ 【Wild Heart】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Detection. With magical power consumption, effects can be further increased. ➥ 【■■■■】 Skill 『Divine Protection of the God of Medicine』 ➥ 【Valkyria’s Spoon】…… Recovery. Consumes magical power to expand the range. ➥ 【Sigris’ Spear】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅a ranged support. The magical effect is channeled into the spear, delivering it to the target. Skill 『God of Mischief’s Divine Protection』 ➥ 【Duplicity】…… It can be used in combination with the two divine protection. ➥ 【Friend of Spirits】…… Draws upon the power of spirits. ➥ 【■■■■】 |
When I returned from the dungeon, there were once again portions of my status I couldn’t read. It was probably power that the gods intended to grant me but I still couldn’t use yet. A new power on the verge of awakening.
If it awakened in tomorrow’s battle, I would become stronger again.
I spoke to Solana.
“.…It’s fine. I’ll find Freyja-sama. No matter what.”
I gazed up at the silver tower, its surface gleaming softly in the light.
A strong wind swept through, carrying moisture with it. It’s a wind that felt like a storm about to break.
“Tomorrow will be rough.”
I nodded in response to Solana’s words and stepped away from the window.
The next morning, we would once again investigate the tower.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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