Malice

 

Meaning, intention, and purpose. Magic is shaped by three intents.

So then, if those intents are dark and wicked—what do you think happens?

 

Scarlet does, for what it's worth, have laws.

Measured against Earth's history, though, they came quite late and are undeniably underdeveloped. If I remember right, Earth's oldest laws were Mesopotamian—somewhere around the twentieth century BCE.

By contrast, the first thing in Scarlet that you could clearly call a "law" only came about roughly two hundred years ago—around year seven hundred of the Dragon Era. It was when Lufelle completed the Scarlet Great Highway and contact with other races grew lively. Differences in customs and culture caused no end of trouble, and so we began by setting rules so everyone could live together as comfortably as possible.

That said, I'm just an occult nerd. Law isn't exactly my field.

"Licenses…?"

At my proposal, Misera—the thirty-third head of the Swordsaints—rubbed her chin, thoughtful.

They are the ones who conceived and codified our laws, who have operated them, and who have judged those who broke them. All of that has always fallen to the Swordsaints.

"Right. We issue proof to those who can handle spirits properly, and we prohibit creating spirits at will without that proof."

"I have no objection to that… however."

Misera looked a little troubled.

"Who decides whether someone should be granted a license?"

"I was thinking we'd build both the method and the framework from here. People would be at a loss if we suddenly said, 'From now on, using the spirits you've always used is punishable,' right? We'll need to give plenty of notice in advance. That's why I came to talk to you first, Misera."

"I see…"

She nodded as if convinced, yet her expression remained difficult.

"Mentor, law comes paired with punishment. A law that merely says 'do not' does not carry much force."

"Yeah. I figured the details of sentencing and the like are better left to you all."

"Yes—no, while I do think you can leave that to us, it's just…"

Her words trailed off and she fell silent.

"Misera?"

"A strange question, perhaps, but when do you intend to enforce this law?"

Had I said something odd? When I called her name, Misera asked with a grave look.

"Let's see… including time to notify everyone, I was thinking within ten years or so."

I hadn't really thought much about timing, so I answered offhand. She looked a little relieved.

"Understood. I pledge my life to seeing it through."

Then, with her face set and posture straightened, she declared as much.

"No, just handle it like normal, please."

"You always ask such difficult things, Mentor."

It didn't need to be taken that seriously—or so I thought—so she could only give me a wry smile. It does concern the running of the village, so doing it sloppily would be a problem, but… is "relax your shoulders" really that hard an instruction?

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Good work, big bro."

As I left the main estate of the Swordsaints, a familiar voice came from overhead.

I instinctively looked up. A girl fluttered down from the branches of a tree.

"Oh? Yuuka. Don't see you around here often."

Yuuka is a special case for the Swordsaints. In general, aside from the head, they don't like to use the Swordsaints' surname. It's treated less like a family name and more like an inherited title. Well, people in Scarlet don't really have surnames to begin with, so perhaps that's just how it turned out.

Among them, Yuuka—a half-elf who bears the Swordsaints' name and has lived on through multiple generations—cannot become head, and ends up somewhat adrift. It isn't as though she's ignored or ostracized, but perhaps out of consideration she doesn't come near the main estate very often.

"Yeah. You said you were going to consult Misera, so I figured I should at least tell you this."

"Tell me what?"

When I tilted my head, Yuuka leaned in close.

At a distance close enough to touch, my heart skipped.

"Those kids can't beat spirits."

Whispered softly, the words made me catch my breath and stare into her eyes.

"Eh? Why not?"

If Yuuka herself said it, it was surely true. But I couldn't make sense of it and asked back on reflex.

"I knew it…"

She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.

"Listen, big bro. Humans generally can't beat spirits."

She spoke to me in the tone of someone explaining things to a slow child.

"Spirits don't have a physical body. Even if you cut, stab, or crush them, they go right back to how they were. Burning or freezing is pointless."

"I know that much… but you can erase them by renaming them, or by eating them."

"You're the only one who can do that!"

In the end, she got mad at me.

"But you can cut them, right, Yuuka?"

Back then Yuuka had been about to cut down the spirit-horse. I stopped her because there was a child in the carriage, but otherwise she would have done it.

"… Well, I can cut them…"

As expected, she answered a little awkwardly. See? I thought so.

"Look, big bro, I've been swinging a sword for over two hundred years. They even call me a true Sword Saint. It's not fair to compare Misera and the others to that."

Yuuka lowered her voice again. So that's what they call you, Yuuka.

"Your baseline is off. In this village right now, the only ones who can muscle through a spirit are me and you… and maybe, at best, big sis Nina."

"Tia and Lufelle can't?"

My eyes went wide.

Tia is probably the most skilled mage in the village when it comes to magical combat. The magic arrows she looses while vanishing and darting about at high speed are hard to block or dodge, and landing a hit on her in return is near impossible.

Lufelle, conversely, is unmatched in toughness. Half-baked attacks don't even scratch her, and the massive hammer swung by that giant body is a lethal blow to any living thing.

"No. A spirit is magic itself, with a will. Disappearing with magic is meaningless. And a spirit's attacks are faster and stronger than the magic Tia fires off, and punching or crushing won't kill one. Those two can't win no matter what they do."

"Hearing that, spirits sound practically invincible?"

Come to think of it, the first spirit I ever saw—Jack Frost—gave me no end of trouble. In other words, even as juveniles, spirits hold enough power to give a fire dragon fits. Thinking of it that way, maybe it's only natural that humans can't beat them.

"Not 'practically.' They're actually almost invincible. You rename spirits like it's nothing, but normal people can't do that."

"Is that so? It's not like I have any naming sense…"

I just pick names of fairies or monsters from my previous life that match the image. There must be plenty of people who can name things far more deftly than I can.

"It isn't about sense… If someone told you to start calling yourself Daruga tomorrow, would you obediently comply?"

"That's a nostalgic name… I like Daruga and it's not a bad name, but being told to call myself that is a bit hard to accept."

"Right? Forcing that kind of acceptance—only you and sis can do it."

As I gave a wry smile, Yuuka nodded as if to say, 'Finally got it?'

"And even then, that's only against rampaging—meaning unstable—spirits. They weren't created with malice."

"… Malice?"

For a moment, I didn't understand what Yuuka meant.

"If we make it illegal to create spirits at will, then the people called out for it might sic their spirits on us. Which means the enforcers have to be able to defeat spirits."

Only after she explained that much did I finally understand.

I'm always quick to forget that there are bad people in this village too. I suppose it's because I think of every villager as my own child. But in truth, there are those who don't follow the law and don't mind inconveniencing others.

If such a person created a spirit with a genuine intent to harm others… that would indeed be a terrible threat. It had never even crossed my mind. Having promised to do something about it in only ten years, I finally understood Misera's grim resolve.