Nineteen Years Old

Mer had no idea how to respond to that. Did Eugene often joke around? Not often, perhaps, but it wasn't as though he never did.

Then should she take this as one of his rare jokes? Yes, I understand. You were Hamel the Stupid in your past life. Since you've been honest with me, I'll share my secret, too.

I'm actually Senya the Wise. Hamel, you son of a bitch.

“Are you being serious?”

Instead of saying what she had intended, Mer changed her response to a question. It was hard to believe. She ought to assume it was a joke, but the Eugene she knew wasn't someone who would make such a ridiculous joke at a time like this.

Nor had it come out of nowhere. He had told her months ago that he had something outrageous to share, and just moments earlier, he had persistently questioned her about keeping secrets.

“Don't believe me?”

“... It's a difficult story to believe.”

Eugene was grinning. Mer studied his expression, then needlessly averted her eyes as she murmured her answer.

In fact, reincarnation itself was nothing special. It didn't apply to Mer, an artificial intelligence, but most beings in this world were reincarnations of someone else.

Reincarnating with one's memories intact, however, was nearly impossible, if not utterly so. Occasionally, people would talk about their past lives, but most of them were lunatics with something wrong in their heads.

Was Eugene a lunatic?

Mer shook her head.

“... Hmm. It's hard to believe, but assuming it's true... it would explain quite a few things about you.”

“Like what?”

“The speed of your growth.”

Eugene had begun learning magic only two years ago. Was it possible to understand Witch Craft in such a short time? Not an archmage thoroughly versed in magic, but a fledgling who had only just started?

No.

Actually, Eugene hadn't understood Witch Craft as magic. He had simply understood the shape of the mana that made up its Eternal Hole.

Through innate instinct alone, he had imitated it and modified it to suit himself. From Mer's perspective, no amount of talent worthy of being called genius could possibly accomplish that. After all, was there a single mage who visited Akron who hadn't been called a genius?

But if Eugene remembered his past life—and if that past self was Hamel the Stupid, a companion of Vermouth the Great...

“... Hamel the Stupid was an unusual person in many ways.”

Mer continued, gazing at Eugene.

“Lady Senya the Wise grew up in an elven forest where humans weren't allowed, and learned magic directly from the elves. Moron the Brave was the son of the great chieftain of the Bayar tribe, renowned as a warrior tribe even among the indigenous peoples of the frozen north. Anise the Faithful was a candidate for sainthood whom the cardinals of the Holy Empire of Yuras raised with painstaking care.”

In short, they all had remarkable backgrounds.

“Vermouth the Great.”

“He used to be a slave.”

Eugene spoke, searching his memories of his past life.

“Vermouth was among the slaves being taken away as sacrifices for demons. Desperate to survive, he stole a demon's sword. With the first sword he'd ever swung, he cut down dozens of demons and black mages transporting the slaves. Then he led the slaves out of Helmuth, killing hundreds of monsters along the way.”

“Honestly, I thought that story was greatly exaggerated. Myths tend to be that way.”

“I never saw it myself, either, but it's probably true. He was a monster.”

Eugene smiled. Vermouth hadn't enjoyed talking about his past, but Eugene had heard that story dozens of times from Moron.

The snowy plains where the Bayar tribe lived bordered Helmuth. Leading the slaves out of Helmuth, Vermouth had crossed those plains and met Moron there for the first time.

“... Hamel the Stupid was very unusual even among the Hero's companions. He... didn't stand out from the very beginning the way Lord Vermouth did. Nor did he have any special background.”

Hamel had been a mercenary.

Before that, he had lived in a small village. When monsters attacked and destroyed it, he took up a sword to survive. He also wanted revenge against the monsters and hated the Demon Kings who had driven them into a frenzy.

And so he spent several years scraping by as a mercenary.

He hadn't learned magic from elves or received a staff made from a dragon heart like Senya.

He hadn't received the support and instruction of an entire empire like Anise.

He hadn't been born a chieftain's son and pitted himself against nature from the moment he learned to walk like Moron.

He hadn't been born with absurd talent and slain dozens of black mages and demons with the first sword he ever swung like Vermouth.

Before becoming a mercenary, Hamel had been an ordinary boy you could find anywhere. Had he never become one, he might have gone his entire life without realizing he had a talent for fighting.

Hamel the Stupid.

Despite having the least remarkable background of all the Hero's companions, he had grown enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the others in just a few years.

“Did Senya talk about me?”

“No. But I... have read the fairy tale several times, too.”

Mer sighed deeply and gazed at Eugene.

“If you're Hamel reincarnated, your ridiculous rate of growth makes sense. Hamel was the same. The Hamel in the fairy tale... was a very nasty person, but in terms of growth alone, he was unrivaled among the Hero's companions.”

“Not quite.”

Eugene answered with a faint chuckle.

“Most things, I can do pretty well even on my first try. But I never reached the pinnacle. Vermouth used all kinds of weapons and even magic, enough to be called the God of War and the All-Master. Senya said their specialties were different, but in some ways, Vermouth's magic was better than hers.”

“...”

“Throughout our journey, I wanted to surpass Vermouth. I gave up on magic because I had no hope there, and worked harder with weapons I was already good at, like swords and spears. I even trained my fists to try to surpass him. But I never beat him. Not once.”

Hamel had believed himself a genius.

While he indulged that delusion, drunk on superiority in his tiny well, Vermouth was already flying through the sky. He tried everything imaginable to catch up, but never could. They sparred countless times during their travels, yet it was always Hamel who ended up on his knees, his head bowed to the ground.

“... Really?”

Was that supposed to be self-deprecation? Mer honestly didn't understand. Naturally, Hamel would pale in comparison to Vermouth the Great, but by ordinary standards, wasn't he an outrageous monster himself?

“What's the point of other people calling you a genius?”

Eugene noticed the sulkiness in Mer's eyes.

“Vermouth was such a fucking bastard that I wanted to beat him at least once. But I died without ever managing it. Traveling with him, I was reminded of my own shortcomings over and over. He was a genius, and he was a son of a bitch.”

“Why was he a son of a bitch? Did he do something evil that history never recorded?”

“That's... not it. He was, well... kind. He didn't do bad things. He always tried to help people in trouble... He was suited to being a Hero. He just got on my nerves. People are bound to envy a bastard who's too perfect, aren't they?”

Eugene snorted.

“If you're that amazing, a little envy won't hurt, will it? That's all there was to it.”

“So, Hamel, you envied Lord Vermouth because he was so very, very much better than you?”

“Well, uh... you could put it that way. Looks like you've decided to believe me after all? You don't have to call me Hamel.”

“I said it was hard to believe, not that I didn't believe you.”

Mer pouted as she grumbled.

“And thinking it through, quite a lot makes sense. You always praised Hamel an awful lot.”

“...”

“Let's see... Yes. It was the first day you came here, wasn't it? You watched the recording of Hamel upstairs and...”

“I don't remember.”

“That's all right. I remember perfectly. You looked at Hamel's face and said he had the charm of an untamed beast. Are you out of your mind?”

“...”

“Aren't you embarrassed? How can you point at your own face and say something so ridiculous?”

“So what? I'm not the least bit ashamed of what I said. Hamel... I mean, my past self had a face with its own charm.”

“Urgh...”

Mer covered her mouth and shook her head vehemently.

“How can you say that when you've been reincarnated with the face you have now?”

“Who said I looked better in my past life than I do now? I'm just saying I had a unique charm.”

“But...”

Mer's expression changed. She regarded Eugene through narrowed eyes.

“Why are you suddenly telling me this?”

“No particular reason.”

“If you're expecting something from me, it's pointless. I really don't know anything about Lady Senya's whereabouts.”

“That's not why I told you.”

Eugene chuckled and rose.

“It's just... we've been seeing each other for two years now. I thought this when I first saw you, too... You resemble Senya a lot. Your face, and your personality.”

“... Well... I was created using Lady Senya's childhood self as a basis.”

Mer lowered her eyes for no particular reason and mumbled.

“Do you think Senya's dead?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Neither do I.”

Eugene turned to look at Senya's portrait.

“It's been about three hundred years, so it wouldn't be strange if she were dead. But I don't think that girl Senya is the sort to die without leaving even a single farewell letter. The others are the same.”

“...”

“Of course, a lot of time has passed, so their personalities might have changed quite a bit. But how could someone change completely?”

“... Do you really think so?”

“Of course.”

Eugene grinned and reached toward Mer.

“That's why I'm going to look for them.”

He flicked the large hat she wore with his fingertips. Mer looked up at him, her eyes round.

“Senya, Moron, Anise. They must all be alive somewhere in this world... or I think they are, anyway. I have to find them.”

His large hand settled on Mer's head. Normally, she would have recoiled and pushed it away, but she couldn't this time.

“You want to see Senya, too, don't you?”

“... Yes... Huh? Of course... yes.”

“Then I have all the more reason to bring her back. Senya's a real bastard, too, isn't she? She's left the familiar she created alone for over two hundred years.”

“... Don't insult Lady Senya.”

“I'm allowed to. Do you have any idea how much shit Senya gave me three hundred years ago? That damned bitch called me a son of a bitch or a fucking idiot every time I did anything... Right, you said you had a good memory, didn't you? Remember what I said at the beginning?”

“That Lady Senya seemed to be the author of the fairy tale?”

“Yeah. You might think it's bullshit, but the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems. For a book supposedly cobbled together from rumors, the details were considerably considerable.”

“What does ‘considerably considerable’ mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I think either Senya or Anise wrote the fairy tale. Maybe the two of them wrote it together.”

Mer's expression grew peculiar at Eugene's impassioned argument. She stared at his face, recalling the recording of Hamel upstairs.

“... So, Hamel... No, Eugene. You're saying Lady Senya wrote something like, ‘Senya, I loved you,’ in that fairy tale?”

“Fuck, I never said that.”

“Then Lady Senya made up words you never actually said. Why would she do that?”

“... To screw me over?”

“Don't be ridiculous. I simply can't imagine Lady Senya putting ‘beautiful’ in front of her own name.”

“Maybe... maybe Anise wrote it. Anise's personality was incredibly, well, twisted and rotten. That fairy tale only emphasized her saintly side, but Anise the person was a bitch.”

“Oh, yes. Of course she was.”

Mer raised her hand in front of her nose and waved it. Eugene blinked, failing to understand the gesture.

“Take your hand off.”

“What's gotten into you? You used to slap it away without mercy.”

“... I'm only showing you respect because you're Lady Senya's companion.”

“Well, thank you very much.”

With a chuckle, Eugene removed his hand. Mer climbed down from her chair, hesitated for a moment, then drew a deep breath.

“... Eugene. Can you swear to it?”

“To what?”

“That in your past life... you were Hamel the Stupid.”

“I can swear to it, sure. But I'm Hamel. Can't you leave out that damned ‘Stupid’ in front of me?”

“What should I say, then? Hamel the Fucking Idiot?”

“How about Hamel the Magnificent? Or Hamel the Splendid?”

“You must have really coveted that ‘Great’ in front of Vermouth's name.”

“Ahem...”

“Anyway, if you really were Hamel in your past life... swear to it.”

Eugene slowly nodded.

“My name is Eugene Lionheart. In my past life, I was Hamel Dynas. I swear by my blood and the name of Lionheart that there is not a single falsehood in any of this.”

“... Just a moment.”

After confirming his oath, Mer turned and approached Witch Craft. She raised both hands to connect to it and stood with her eyes closed for a while.

“... After Lady Senya went into seclusion, various mages dissected me and Witch Craft on several occasions. But there are things they never discovered. The deepest part of Witch Craft's storage. The information recorded at the very bottom of its foundation. The things... we discussed today will be stored there, too, and no one else will ever learn of them.”

Mer opened her eyes and turned to Eugene.

“... What I'm about to tell you... is something no one in Aroth has heard, either.”

“What?”

“There was a sign before Lady Senya went into seclusion. It was... about a week before. I was on... this floor of Akron, and Lady Senya was here with me. Then... she suddenly groaned and sank to the floor.”

“... She wasn't sick or anything, was she?”

“Of course not. When I asked her in alarm... Lady Senya... said her familiar had died.”

Mer hesitated, unable to continue immediately.

“... Hamel's tomb.”

“...”

“She said someone had... broken into that tomb... She was furious.”

A tomb?

Hamel's?

“I had a tomb?”

Eugene asked blankly. Mer let out a long sigh and nodded.

“... I didn't hear the details, either. That was the first time I'd heard about Hamel's tomb. Not long afterward... Lady Senya suddenly disappeared, and I hid that conversation in the deepest part of Witch Craft.”

Mer looked troubled.

“She disappeared without telling anyone. I didn't want to cause her trouble by saying something I didn't need to. But... you're... Hamel. You have a right to know.”

“... A tomb...”

Eugene laughed in disbelief.

“I'd never heard anything about that. I thought Belial's curse would have obliterated my body completely.”

“... A lich's curse annihilates both body and soul.”

“Normally, yes. But my soul survived intact and reincarnated.”

“Then your body probably didn't disappear, either. Perhaps... yes. Your reincarnation...”

“I've considered the possibility that Senya was involved. Though I don't know the truth.”

A tomb. Eugene chuckled and shook his head.

“All the more reason to find Senya, then.”