That the residents of Soto Island had worshipped demons for generations. That they had even conducted human sacrifices. The people he’d conversed with, laughed with, and even shared meals with were demon worshippers! At the unbelievable fact, Van’s eyes widened. It was because he hadn’t noticed any such signs at all.
“Did you know about this?”
Van *whoosh*, turned to look at Rowy. Rowy, feeling guilty for no reason, hurriedly shook his head.
“They don’t even talk to me.”
Then Van glared at the Captain again.
“…Did you really offer humans as sacrifices?”
At Van’s sharp and fierce demeanor, the Captain hastily denied it.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. We just offered sacrifices to calm the storms and tsunamis! Human sacrifice sounds like that, but offering criminals to the demon was a custom over a thousand years old. The Island Keeper’s original role was executioner.”
The Captain exhaled a sigh.
“Of course, that’s an old story. For decades the demon had been quiet, so at most we’d just bring animals to offer.”
It was a peaceful period where they could even forget the demon’s existence. However… one day, a massive tsunami suddenly began to rage on the cursed island. The demon had started being active again. The tsunami they’d thought would calm down continued for over a month, and due to its effects, the residents of Soto Island became unable to conduct proper fishing. Eventually, when they forcibly took out their boats and ships began to sink, the talk of human sacrifice came up again.
“You didn’t really offer a human, right?”
“…At that time, someone who wanted to go to that island just happened to appear.”
The Captain’s gaze *swoosh*, turned toward Rowy.
“…Are you saying you used someone who knew nothing as a sacrifice?”
Van’s face instantly hardened. At Van’s atmosphere that had grown cold as if frost had fallen, the Captain flailed his arms in panic.
“That’s not it…!”
“Master! Nothing strange happened to you, right?”
“……”
Van asked in an urgent voice. However, Rowy showed no reaction, as if he’d heard the shocking words that they’d tried to offer him as a sacrifice. At his appearance of being deeply lost in thought about something, Van called out to Rowy.
“Master?”
“…Mmm? No. On my first day here… they said it was dangerous, but I said I’d stay.”
But why did I do that? The memory… didn’t come back well. Rowy unconsciously grabbed the arm of Van sitting beside him. Van, seeing Rowy like that, held his hand. The Captain, who saw the two like that, subtly added his words.
“After the young master came to the castle, the tsunami suddenly stopped. Rumors spread that he was a terrifying magician even demons feared.”
So that’s why everyone acted so suspicious. Now Van understood the reactions of the people who’d told him to stick to Rowy at night. Van kneaded the hand of the terrifying magician. His hand was cold.
“For nothing to happen for two years and then for something like this to suddenly occur! I have no idea what’s going on. Are you certain that everyone really didn’t come?”
“There’s definitely no one at the castle.”
Of course, there’s no demon now either. Van, who had directly dealt with the demon, firmly shook his head. And Rowy… while having his hand kneaded by Van, was continuously pondering something intently. His first day on this island. That night, he’d definitely met a demon. And… and what had he done?
“In any case, they really didn’t come to the island. It would be better to search the sea instead.”
“If there really was an accident at sea, that’s a serious matter in its own way.”
The Captain and Van spoke with serious faces. And Rowy, who had been lost in thought for quite a while, opened his mouth.
“…Alright, let’s go find them.”
The missing persons search party formed like that. The members were three. Rowy, Van, and the Captain. Of course, the members of the search party Rowy had initially thought of were just two—Rowy and Van. However… there was a slight argument about this.
“If you’re going to use my boat! I have to go!”
“I’m saying we don’t need a boat? We can go by magic.”
“Absolutely not. I have absolutely no intention of flying. Let’s go by boat.”
…Due to such issues, ultimately three of them ended up departing.
“For now, let’s slowly go to Soto Island again. We might see something on the way.”
Van, who had decided the route while talking with the Captain, approached Rowy who was at the bow. Rowy, overflowing with mana, cast magic indiscriminately at any time, and right now he was floating in midair to avoid seasickness. Van, who looked at Rowy’s feet floating in the air with dubious eyes, spoke to Rowy. Rowy had been lost in thought about something since earlier.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Mmm?”
“Why are you like that? Aren’t you cold?”
“Mmm, I do feel a bit cold…”
At those words, Van immediately took off his outer garment and wrapped it around Rowy. The eyes of Rowy and Van, who had become similar in height since Rowy was floating, met. At the affectionate gaze looking at him, Rowy blinked.
“Come over here. The wind is chilly.”
It was a voice full of worry. Rowy, whose nerves had been sharply on edge from the headache that had been coming since earlier, was powerlessly led by Van’s hand. Even at the touch fastening his clothes after seating him inside, Rowy’s mind was still elsewhere.
‘Something’s strange.’
…His memory was strangely empty. However, Rowy had only just realized this moments ago. It was a memory he’d forgotten for a full two years. It wasn’t even clear when or where things had gone wrong.
‘Why did I want to come to this island in the first place?’
The order given to Rowy was just to go to Seraphila and reflect. The mansion the family prepared was also in Seto, wasn’t it? However, as soon as Rowy arrived here, he’d boarded a boat heading to the island far too naturally. Well, because he’d had to come here.
‘This island… who told me about it?’
The process of learning about this island, located quite far from the resort island, and deciding he had to go there… was empty. That wasn’t all. Even recent memories were continuously disappearing.
‘Why did I leave the magical artifacts at the castle?’
Rowy was a powerful magician, and the amount of mana contained in each magical artifact was also considerable. Thinking about it now, using all the magical artifacts simply to restore the castle didn’t make sense.
Moreover, to leave the island leaving all the magical artifacts behind—a magician leaving with his bare body without all his magical artifacts? How could that have been possible?
‘Then there must have been another reason for me at that time… For example…’
Like trying to seal a demon in the castle…
“Master?”
Van, who noticed something was wrong with Rowy’s condition, carefully called out to Rowy. However, Rowy was still lost in thought.
‘…Is it okay to tell him my memory is empty?’
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Van. He’d surely worry and try to solve it. That’s not it…
‘The one I can’t trust is myself.’
Rowy scoffed quietly. The existence of demons had always been that way for Rowy. From birth, the existence called demons had followed Rowy sickeningly.
At Rowy, who seemed to have sunk in mood, Van tilted his head. Rowy, ignoring Van like that, continued to trace his memories while looking at the distant sea. However, not much came to mind. …What was certain was that night. There was definitely a demon at the castle. Another demon besides that low-ranking demon that met its death at Van’s hands.
* * *
“The calm sea doesn’t have a single trace, so I don’t know if searching the sea like this has any meaning.”
The Captain, who was steering the boat, clicked his tongue and shook his head. Certainly, as the Captain said, the sea was far too calm. Rowy, who had been contemplating for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Um… I’ll try using detection magic.”
“Pardon? Will that be possible?”
“Mmm… probably.”
Rowy nodded slowly. Even Rowy himself wasn’t certain.
‘If I use detection magic… to what extent of range will my mana reach?’
He had no sense of how to set the range in the vast ocean. It was worse because there was no guarantee he could find them just by spreading magic indiscriminately wide. It would be fortunate if he found them, but if he didn’t, it was a method that wasted too much mana.
‘If a demon really is the culprit, it would be better to conserve mana…’
But well, it’s not like there’s any other method. Rowy raised both hands. Usually when casting magic, just waving his hand was sufficient, but this time because it was large-range magic, a bit more preparation was needed. Rowy formed hand seals.
“……”
Soon an incomprehensible incantation flowed from Rowy’s mouth, and the mana stones of the magical artifacts also began to emit blue light. And, in an instant, a massive storm of mana was unleashed across the entire sea. At the tremendous presence felt despite being an intangible energy, Van unconsciously raised his arm to shield his face. It was an awe-inspiring, tremendous amount of mana.
