The Otherworld Antique Bookstore is a Life-Risk Chapter 15

 

Chapter 15: The Heroes from 500 Years Ago ~ Memories ~

 

I don't remember when it started.

I could see things invisible to others and talk to them.

I don't remember my real name. I think my parents called me "that child" and were creeped out by me.

My parents' attitude towards me clearly changed after my grandmother's death.

My very kind grandmother died, and I said "No!" and pulled something back into her body as it was leaving.

But the revived grandmother became something different from the kind grandmother she had been before.

My parents and several villagers desperately tried to restrain the rampaging grandmother, but I never saw her after that.

And not just my parents, but the villagers who were present at that time, their eyes when looking at me definitely changed.

When I was about eight years old, I was sold by my parents in exchange for a bag of money to an old man who offered to take me in.

I was taken to a small village in the mountains, and the old man was the village chief.

Living in the chief's house and taking care of the livestock became my job. In my free time, I offered prayers with the villagers and learned magic spells called necromancy.

I think I could talk normally with the villagers. But I had no name and was called "the child from the chief's house," and the old village chief just called me "hey you."

On my coming-of-age day at 13, I was told I was the main character of the festival, dressed in a beautiful dress, and taken tied with ropes to the altar where the villagers always offered prayers.

The village chief and villagers were different from usual, and their expressions when looking at me were all filled with madness. It was then that I realized: I had been just like the village's livestock.

"Today, I will die here."

I resigned myself to that fate, but the village was attacked and wiped out by four adventurers, and I was saved by them.

With nowhere else to go, I ended up joining the adventurers' traveling party.

The adventurer party, led by the warrior Calito and consisting of the dual swordswoman Pinus, the archer priestess Wisteria, and the cleric Viola - one man and three women - was on their way to conquer a dungeon called the "Abyss Labyrinth" west of the Freesia Kingdom.

I overheard them arguing about me several times. They said I was a "very dangerous existence."

The village I had been in was a heretical cult village, and the necromancy I learned there was a despised magic that revives and controls the dead.

So I gathered my courage and stood before them, saying:

"If you're going to leave me behind, please just kill me now."

And I told them about my past. It was the first time in my life I had talked so much, and as I spoke, I felt like I couldn't find any meaning in my life, and my body felt empty inside.

"It's alright. You don't need to worry about anything."

Suddenly, I was embraced by the warrior Calito's strong, warm arms.

The sound of his heartbeat from his chest sounded like a very pleasant melody. I joined the circle around the campfire, and I think I cried all night.

A few days later, we arrived at the entrance of our destination, the "Abyss Labyrinth." While camping in preparation for the conquest starting the next day, they told me their secret.

It was also proof that they had accepted me as a true comrade.

The four of them were heroes forcibly summoned by the northern empire from another world to defeat the Demon King. However, they questioned the empire's claims and, while pretending to be obedient, trained themselves and learned about this world.

Later, during their journey to defeat the Demon King, they gave up on the empire, crossed the central mountain range to escape to the Freesia Kingdom, and became adventurers there.

There was a reason why they were building up their reputation as adventurers in this country while fending off assassins sent by the empire.

If they conquered an unexplored dungeon, they would be elevated to nobility by the country. They figured that this way, the empire wouldn't be able to carelessly make a move against them.

And to qualify for complete dungeon conquest, they needed to become at least A-rank adventurers.

"It's been a long journey. But we've finally made it this far. It's just the first step of a beginning that hasn't even started yet," Wisteria renewed her resolve before tomorrow's labyrinth conquest. Everyone around the campfire nodded quietly at her words.

"Hey Calito. I've been asking for a while, but have you thought about it? This child's name. It's pitiful to keep calling her 'this child' forever, isn't it?"

"Ah, I've thought about it. Should I say it now, here?"

Viola's eyes widened in surprise at Calito's response, and she smiled slyly while cradling my head from behind.

"Ta-da! Everyone, it's time for the unveiling. Today, this child's name will be decided!"

All attention focused on Calito as he cleared his throat softly and announced the name he had thought of for me.

"It's Laviola."

The three women seemed to recognize the name, making contemplative noises while crossing their arms.

"It's the name of my favorite shop from the previous world. Isn't it good?" Calito said, his face flushed. What was he embarrassed about?

"Calito's favorite... I am Laviola. From now on, I am Laviola."

"See? She likes it."

"Well, I guess it's fine. Congratulations, Laviola."

Receiving blessings from the four of them, I became Laviola from that moment on.

The topic quickly turned to plans for after the labyrinth conquest. Calito and Viola possessed the powers of a hero and a saint respectively, and they were confident that with these two powers, they would definitely succeed in conquering the labyrinth.

"Only one of us can become a noble and claim this land as territory. The Freesia Kingdom will surely appoint Calito, who has the hero's power, as the lord," Wisteria pointed out.

"That's right. A hero isn't some legendary champion, but a mere weapon with overwhelming power. The kingdom will absolutely want to incorporate that power. So Laviola will become the manager of the conquered labyrinth, and she and I will develop the territory we've acquired together. Is everyone okay with that?" Calito responded to Wisteria's observation.

"But Laviola, are you really okay with this? As I explained earlier, once you incorporate the Dungeon Core into your body and become a Dungeon Master, you won't be able to leave the dungeon anymore," Viola asked, concerned.

"That's fine. If it helps Calito, I'm okay with it. But what will Wisteria, Viola, and Pinus do then?" I inquired.

Viola answered my question:

"We'll probably become honorary nobles at least. Nobles in name only. We'll likely receive enough money from the kingdom to live comfortably, but we have no intention of relying on that. We'll stay together until Calito's territory management is somewhat settled, but after that, we've decided to go to another continent where we have no ties and enjoy carefree adventures as a trio of women."

Viola shrugged, adding that if it was discovered she was a saint, it would be troublesome as she might be pressured to become a royal consort or something.

"Won't Laviola be lonely when we're gone?" Viola asked.

"You're my first comrades, my friends. I'll be sad when you're all gone," I replied.

"I see. Well, I'll have plenty of adventures in the new continent in this life, and in my next life, I'll live together with Laviola. So when I die, make sure to revive me with your power, okay?" Viola held out her pinky finger, saying "Promise." Apparently, in her world, they intertwine pinky fingers and exchange words of promise.

"What about Wisteria and Pinus? I've already decided that in my next life, I'll become Laviola's familiar," Viola declared.

"I think I'm good. I've had enough with being summoned to another world; I'll quietly return to heaven," Wisteria said jokingly. Pinus, who usually seemed to struggle with participating in long conversations, was already asleep sitting up.

Everyone smiled at this sight. It was a familiar scene.

"Hey Calito, what kind of shop was it that you named me after?" I asked.

Calito was evasive in his answer. Viola, laughing, told me, "It's a shop that serves famous sweets."

"Sweets?"

"It means desserts. They have lots of fruit on top, they're beautiful and fluffy, sweet and very delicious," Viola explained.

"Listen, Laviola. In the territory I'll rule, not just humans, but beast-people, demi-humans, and even demon tribes will live together without conflict. It'll be a place where everyone can eat their fill. And not just that, children and adults alike will be able to casually eat sweets. When people eat sweets, everyone becomes happy. It might not be possible right away, but I'll definitely make it happen," Calito declared.

"He's saying cool things, but Calito just loves sweets and wants to eat them himself. But I totally agree with the part about everyone smiling when they eat sweets," Viola added.

These "sweets" Viola mentioned were completely unfathomable to me beyond being described as desserts.

In my mind, sweets became recognized as "legendary food that radiates beauty like jewels and brings smiles to all who eat them."

The next morning, the four fully armed adventurers and I gathered. Leader Calito gave a rousing speech to everyone.

"We will definitely conquer this labyrinth. And we'll do it easily. But that's why we mustn't let our guard down. Let's stay focused."

Everyone placed their hands on top of Calito's outstretched hand one by one. I placed my hand on top last, and we all shouted "Oh!"

* * *

"Lady Laviola, you were looking at that book again, weren't you?"

Startled by Nagaren's words, Laviola hurriedly tried to hide the gourmet magazine she was holding behind her back, but with her ghostly, transparent body, the action was completely meaningless.

"You're mistaken. Today, I wasn't just grinning as usual. I was merely reminiscing about the past while looking at this book."

"Let's leave it at that. But since Yuki brought that book, you've been cheerful every day, Lady Laviola. How long has it been since you've had such an expression on your face?"

"Of course I would be. The legendary sweets that Hero Calito sought. For hundreds of years, I've been searching through books left behind by otherworldly summons and reincarnated individuals for any mention of them, but until now, I couldn't find even a single clue. I was about to give up, thinking that legends were just legends. But look at this book Yuki brought. It's overflowing with exactly what Calito described."

"If I recall correctly, it was titled 'A Sweet-Eating Walking Guide ~Tokyo Edition~'. We've only translated about a third of it so far."

"As Yuki said, the methods of production are not described here. But through the detailed illustrations in this book, I've been able to learn the true form of these sweets. They truly do 'radiate beauty like jewels'. And look at the faces of those eating them - aren't they all full of smiles?"

"Shall we have Oriza hurry with the sweets recreation project then? If we can realize this, it might help recover Viola's lost parts."

"No, have Oriza continue prioritizing the food production increase plan as before. What we need to do first is prevent tragedies like what happened to Calito and the others by stopping the forced summoning of people from other worlds as heroes, and sealing dangerous forbidden books and eliminating their users. It's been 500 years, and we've only just begun to pave the way for multi-species coexistence that Hero Calito aimed for."

"We've managed to uncover the fact that the empire continues to excavate ruins from the old Magic Empire era in search of the hero summoning grimoire that we've designated as the number one forbidden book, but unfortunately, we still haven't been able to pinpoint its location."

"Nagaren, there's no need to rush. You know that in the past, I was too hasty and nearly destroyed our intelligence department. We must take care of those who remain."

"Your words are too kind, my lady."

"By the way, how is Yuki doing?"

"About that, it seems there's been some movement. Apparently, the merchants' union and various guilds have jointly presented Yuki's proposal to the kingdom."

"Oh? I can't even imagine what they're planning, but it sounds interesting. Make sure to report any developments regarding Yuki."

"Understood."

As their conversation wound down, Nagaren snatched the gourmet magazine from Laviola's hand. If left with it, his master would never get any work done.

"Ah!"

"'Ah' nothing. We must evaluate the grimoires that Kaien and Yoshua brought back from the Demon Country."

"There's no need to check attack magic books; they'll be sealed for sure. Surely you alone are sufficient for that."

"No, we must analyze the magic circles to determine if they're genuine or flawed. It's also important to identify the mages who created them."

"Hmph, Nagaren, you're a harsh taskmaster. I made you my familiar thinking I'd have an easier time, but this is truly a case of the cure being worse than the disease."

"Making me your familiar was indeed the end of your luck, Lady Laviola."

The grand hall in the deepest part of the Abyss Labyrinth echoed with the sardonic words and laughter of these two. This place, which would eventually become the center of a commotion that would shake the nations of the continent, was somehow peaceful today as well.

In the yet-untranslated portion of the gourmet magazine Yuki brought, there should be an article introducing a Western-style confectionery shop named "La Viola."