Chapter 45.1

“That staff is the one that Lady Sienna used throughout most of her life,” Mer said, acting like a tour guide.

Witch Craft wasn’t the only item in Sienna’s Hall. The various magical tools that Sienna had used during her lifetime that couldn’t be kept in her mansion because it had been opened up as a tourist attraction were stored here instead.

For example, the staff that Mer was pointing to. That item was also included in Eugene’s memories.

“…It’s called Akasha,” he recalled.

“As expected, you already knew about it,” Mer smiled triumphantly and puffed out her chest. “There is a type of tree known as the Fairy Tree, which only grows in Samar Forest, the sanctuary of the elves. Akasha, the most powerful magic staff in the world, was made from the roots of that thousand-year-old tree which grows in the center of their forest.”

Her voice, which was trembling with excitement, really made Eugene feel like he was listening to Sienna. Sienna had personally explained the staff’s origins to him a long time ago, and like a parrot, she had kept repeating those boasts about it whenever she got drunk.

Mer continued her tale, “The elves believe that the ancient tree holds the spirits of their ancestors and that its roots support the entire world. This World Tree is the center of the elves’ religion. You know what that means, right? Those arrogant elves actually cut off a root of that ancient and sacred tree in order to make this staff as a gift for Lady Sienna!”

Sienna wasn’t an elf or even a half-elf.

Although she was a human, Sienna was often associated with the elves. Among the many rumors about where she might have gone into seclusion, a few speculated that she may have taken refuge in Samar Forest, the sanctuary of the elves.

Sienna didn’t know who her parents were. When she was just a baby, she was abandoned in the great jungle at the southern tip of the continent, the Samar Forest. Usually, she would have been eaten by a monster or a wild beast, but Sienna’s luck was good that day. An elf who just so happened to be passing by was drawn to the baby’s cries and saved Sienna.

That was how Sienna was taken to the elves’ sacred grove, which lay somewhere in the heart of that jungle.

The elves there were not too welcoming of Sienna. However, after discovering that she had tremendous magical talent, they recognized her as one of their own and taught her the magic of the elves.

As Eugene stared at Akasha with blank eyes, Mer continued the lecture in her high-pitched voice.

“Lady Sienna is the first person to ever own a staff made from the roots of the World Tree. Even among the elves, this was an unprecedented honor. Not only that, do you see that thing over there. The red jewel at the end of the staff! If you’re curious to know what that is, it’s—”

“A Dragonheart,” Eugene interrupted.

Mer took this interjection in her stride, “Yes, that’s right! Among all the magic staffs that exist in the world, there are only two staffs that have incorporated a Dragonheart. One is Lady Sienna’s Akasha, and the other is….”

“Vladmir,” Eugene answered the unspoken question in a calm tone.

That terrible staff had still been around three hundred years ago. At that time, Vladmir’s owner was a lich named Belial, a servant of the Demon King of Incarceration.

Eugene had an ill-fated relationship with that staff.

Eugene needlessly glanced down at his own stomach. In his previous life, the one who had killed him was that lich, Belial. That guy was responsible for the powerful traps installed all over the Demon King’s castle, and their party had been constantly harassed by those traps without getting any time to rest.

During their time in that castle, Hamel had been left with a body that was in danger of dying at any moment after a hole was pierced through his chest. 

From the very start, the Castle of the Demon King of Incarceration was so torturous that it was incomparable to the castles of the previous Demon Kings. On top of that, all the demonic beasts and demonfolk who guarded the castle were powerful enough to be a match for any of the previous Demon Kings’ servants.

And even among those powerful guardians, there were three especially powerful demonfolk. These three were known as Incarceration’s Blade, Shield, and Staff, respectively.

While they were in the middle of fighting Incarceration’s Shield, Belial, the Staff, had intervened. In the Castle of the Demon King of Incarceration, it was impossible to completely remove the effects of black magic and any curses cast on them by the Staff, even with Anise’s holy magic.

Someone had been needed to push forward and open up a path.

Hamel had volunteered for that role. Although Molon would normally have been the one to assume such a role, Hamel had rejected him and insisted he would take the lead, thus paving their way forward.

It was impossible for them to conquer the Castle of the Demon King of Incarceration without anyone dying.

So if someone had to die for it….

‘Let that person be me,’ he had insisted.

Hamel was strong.

But he wasn’t as strong as Vermouth.

Hamel was tough.

But he wasn’t as tough as Molon.

Having been well aware of these facts, he had taken the lead. So that even if he died, Molon would be there to endure the blows. Even if he could no longer fight, Vermouth would still be there to keep fighting.

Once Incarceration’s Shield was defeated, Hamel had suffered so many injuries that he was already on the verge of death. Neither divine power nor magic could be used to heal his wounds. The evil power of the Demon King’s Castle and the curses of the lich drove Hamel close to death.

And once the battle with Belial, Incarceration’s Staff, was over, a large hole had been pierced through Hamel’s chest.

That was how his previous life had ended.

Hamel had been killed by Belial and Vladmir. Eugene had definitely believed that Vladmir was destroyed. Just before he died, he had witnessed Belial’s phylactery being shattered and the lich itself collapsing into dust.

However, Vladmir somehow wasn’t destroyed. Although he didn’t know the full details of how it survived, the current owner of Vladmir was Count Edmond Codreth of Helmuth. Along with the Black Tower Master Balzac, Edmond Codreth was one of the three black wizards to have signed a contract with the Demon King of Incarceration.

“Can I try holding it?” Eugene asked as he pointed at Akasha.

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At this question, Mer put on a mischievous smile and nodded, “Of course, it’s okay, but just so you know, it’s impossible for you to cast any magic with that staff.”

“Why’s that?” Eugene asked.

“Akasha will only recognize Lady Sienna as its master. After Lady Sienna went into seclusion, several wizards tried to become Akasha’s new owner, but none of them were able to receive Akasha’s approval.” 

“If they couldn’t use it, why just leave it here? They should have broken the staff and at least taken the Dragonheart.”

“Please don’t spout such nonsense. Akasha is a treasure gifted to Lady Sienna by the elves and the dragons. Although it’s not possible to be used, just on its own, it holds a tremendous value.”

As Mer pointed this out with a tsk of her tongue, Eugene gave a faint smile. He felt some nostalgia from her answer. A long time ago, he had also heard the same sort of thing from Sienna.

“You should already know this as well, right, Sir Eugene? A Dragonheart is literally a dragon’s heart. Because the heart of one of their deceased comrades was sacrificed to make a staff for Lady Sienna… if someone were to break Akasha for it, while I’m not sure about the elves, the dragons will definitely make an appearance and strafe Aroth with their breath attacks.”

He had also heard something along those lines from Sienna. When he had joked about breaking the staff and dividing the Dragonheart’s mana between them, Sienna had thrown a beer bottle at him with a loud shout.

—You ignorant bastard. You want to break what? Do you really want to doom us all?

Of course, Mer didn’t swear at him harshly like Sienna had. Even so, hearing her say the words that Sienna had said, with a face that resembled Sienna, caused Eugene to recall the memories of Sienna from his past life.

‘…This is….’ After standing there stunned for a few seconds, Eugene came to his senses with a thought, ‘Not good.’

He was becoming too obsessed with the memories of his past life. Eugene shook his head vigorously and turned away from Mer. He hadn’t come to Akron just to immerse himself in his recollections.

“For now, let’s just try and hold it,” saying this, Eugene reached out his hand.

The staff was as tall as Sienna was. Although he was holding it directly, nothing seemed to have happened. After shooting a glance at Mer, Eugene attempted to infuse some mana into Akasha.

But once again, nothing happened. Akasha wouldn’t accept the mana that he had offered it. Since he’d seen the illusion of Sienna, Eugene had held a slight hope that he might be able to obtain Akasha’s approval. But it seemed that Sienna had left no such arrangements for him.

‘If you were going to leave something behind for me, I’d rather you’d have left Akasha instead of my necklace.’

He still wasn’t sure who had left behind the necklace in the Lionheart’s main estate. However, Eugene was almost certain that Sienna had been the one responsible for dropping it there.

“…Do you know what this is?” Eugene asked; having had a sudden thought, he pulled out the necklace and showed it to Mer.

Mer examined it and said, “It’s just a worn-out necklace.”

“So you don’t recall having seen it before?”

“There’s no way that I could have. Didn’t I already tell you that I haven’t stepped foot outside of Akron in all these hundreds of years?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t recognize it.”

Without asking any further questions, Eugene tucked the necklace back inside his collar. Then he left Akasha behind and started looking around Sienna’s Hall earnestly.

There were quite a few things that he recalled having seen before.

There were the robes and hat that Sienna had always liked to wear. They, too, were artifacts of extraordinary magical value. The first floor of the hall was full of such things. With Witch Craft at the center, its surroundings were filled with all the magic tools that Sienna had personally used.

“You can’t take any of it outside with you,” Mer warned.

Eugene waved her off, “I won’t try and take them with me.”

Perhaps due to preservation magic having been applied to them, they were still in mint condition even though hundreds of years had passed. That isn’t to say that they were in perfect condition, though. The robes were frayed in many places. As Eugene tried not to feel bothered by that, he headed upstairs.

“These books are the notes written during the process of constructing Akron,” Mer continued to act as a tour guide.

The thirteenth floor was packed full of bookcases. Although there had been a lot of books back in the mansion, the books on display there could not compare to the ones displayed here in terms of their value. The magic books of truly outstanding value were definitely not stored in the mansion but here, in Akron.

“And that’s a draft of the Circle magic formula, written when Sienna was in the process of developing it. If you were to read it as you are now, Sir Eugene, you probably wouldn’t be able to understand it. Even if it is a draft, the techniques and research used to develop it are extremely advanced.” As Mer followed behind Eugene, she continued to mutter, “That goes for her other research journals stored in Akron as well. Among all the wizards who’ve found their way here, none of them were able to understand Lady Sienna’s research at first.”

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Allowing these words to flow in one ear and out the other, Eugene pulled out one of the research journals from a bookshelf. Although the books in the mansion were on display, you weren’t allowed to flip them open and read them. However, here, you were allowed to read as many research journals as you wanted.

“…Ha,” a laugh slipped out before Eugene had even flipped through more than a few pages.

“See, you have no idea what any of those words mean, right?” Mer rubbed it in.

“I guess so,” Eugene admitted with a grin as he turned away from the bookcase. He thought to himself, ‘Her handwriting is still as bad as ever.’

Sienna’s horrible penmanship was forever preserved inside these books. It was already difficult to understand what she was talking about when she went on about mana this and Circles that, but Sienna’s scribbled chicken scratches required decryption in and of themselves.