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[Original Novel] The Wicked Wizard, Chapter 1

2023年9月24日 19:18

[Synopsis]
Once upon a time, a nameless young imp was mistaken for a demon that attacked and harmed people, and was sealed away inside a small bottle.
After many long years, a wizard named Leiol released him from his seal, saved him, and even gave him the name Rei. He thought Leiol was a kind human, but—.
Leiol's journey is said to be a "journey to graduate from being human."
Leiol intended to become a monster himself to devour Woibail, a sleeping monster that had once destroyed this world twice over.
Rei the imp, Leiol, and the companions they meet along the way.
What awaits them at the end of their adventure? A future filled with light, or a new darkness? An otherworldly adventure fantasy.

Chapter 1: The Imp Has Terrible Luck

I had no choice but to sleep.
Because I had been trapped in a narrow space for many long years.

Would I be like this forever?

Sleeping, muttering to myself, and sleeping again. The entirety of my world was inside a small jar.

Hup.

While lying down, I playfully extended my palm, and it emitted light.

Let's see. The outside world was like this, wasn't it?

The light spread and transformed into an image. It was a landscape I had certainly seen with my own eyes.
The high blue sky beyond the green. Flowing clouds. I'll add the small flowers blooming at my feet, too.

How nostalgic. Ah, my beloved forest—.

A deep sigh. I wondered if the day would ever come when I could go outside again.

I am an imp, sealed in a jar by human magic.

Right now, I am small enough to fit in a tiny bottle that fits in a person's hand, but my original form was the size and appearance of a human boy. Even as an imp, I was still just a child who had recently left my parents.
I have three small horns on my head. My hair is the color of young spring leaves, and my large, mischievous eyes are the green of a deep forest. Very rarely, I would imitate the appearance of travelers passing through the forest, wrapping myself in cloth I found and picked up, wearing a small raw gemstone around my neck, and donning clothes and ornaments.
I lived alone in the deep forest, absorbing food and natural energy. That meant things like nuts and leaves, morning mist, the sound of water, and the whispering of the wind. Tangible and intangible things were the source of my life.

I wonder if there's anything interesting to do. That's it...!

I should have just lived quietly in the deep mountains, but one day, out of curiosity, I followed a traveler and went to a town. Travelers themselves were rare, and I had decided that if I met one again, I would follow them.

What is human life like, I wonder...?

When I arrived in town—I played a few pranks. I walked along the walls of the rows of shops and houses as if they were level ground, jumped down from a roof with all my might, ran around like the wind, and scattered everything I could see.
The buildings humans built were interesting, and it was also interesting to see the humans—creatures different from me—screaming and running away.

"It's a demon!"

The people shouted one after another.

"That's a demon...! The monster that attacked and ate people the other day must be this one!"

Huh?

I had absolutely no memory of that. People came at me with weapons I had never seen before.
I ran away. My body was light, my feet were as fast as the wind, and it was easy to shake off the humans and return to the forest.
In this world, in this era, there were many different types of things called monsters, and they appeared everywhere.
I was unlucky. It must have been a town that had just been attacked by a monster.
And to make matters worse—. It seems I had dropped the raw gemstone I wore around my neck.
Since then, the sun had set, risen, and set again several times.
One full moon night.

"Found you! You man-eating demon."

An old wizard carrying a large staff arrived, holding the raw gemstone that had been dropped. He must have used magic to extract information from the stone and track down the location.

No, that's wrong. I've never attacked or eaten anyone! I might have scared them a little, though...

"Seal Magic! I command you to be sealed, little goblin, into this small jar!"

It happened in an instant. The seal magic cast at me wrapped around my entire body. Then—I was shoved into the jar. To think he was such a skilled wizard that he could track me down and seal me away, yet he couldn't even tell one monster from another!

I pleaded desperately from inside the jar, but it didn't reach him. Perhaps the old wizard was hard of hearing, or maybe he simply had no intention of listening to a monster's side of the story. The jar was likely buried in the ground. And just like that, time passed. The goblin remained in the same form, exactly as it was back then. Because of this, it required almost no energy to sustain its life. It absorbed the faint energy of the soil it felt from outside the jar. Changes and miracles always arrive suddenly.

Whoa!?

I thought an earthquake had occurred. A sudden, massive tremor struck, and then I felt a strong force—pulling me.

Huh, what!? What, what is happening...!?

I felt like I heard some kind of incantation. Probably a human voice. Human magic.

Pop.

A loud, strange sound echoed. It was the ceiling—in other words, the sound of the jar's lid opening.

"Come forth, little goblin—"

Huh. Me...?

Light flooded in. Not from my own palms. It was an incredibly warm energy.

"It's the sun...!"

The goblin looked up with a beaming smile. At the blue sky it had dreamed of, and the sunlight pouring over its entire body.

"It really is the sun!"

"You said the same thing twice."

Huh.

The goblin pulled back the hands it had raised to bathe in the sunlight. Then, timidly, it looked at the owner of the voice before it.

"Was it you... who set me free?"

I asked, trembling.
He was a tall, lean young man. His hair was the color of a clear blue sea, grown down to his waist. And his eyes were a brilliant light blue, like a mystical spring.

What beautiful eyes. They look like the spring in the forest—.

With upturned eyes and thin lips, his composed features gave away no emotion for the moment.
Though, it was doubtful whether a goblin, who had never interacted with humans, could accurately grasp human emotions anyway—.
The young man crouched down, bringing his gaze level with the goblin's.

"My name is Rayol. As you can tell since I broke your seal, I am one who wields magic. What is your name?"

"A, a name...? I don't have a name like humans do. My parents just called me their precious child—"

I knew that humans gave each other names and called out to one another. I understood that they needed to because there were so many of them.
Rayol let out a soft laugh.

"I see. Then that works out perfectly. I shall give you one. After all, from now on, you will be my pawn."

"A pawn...? Is that my name...?"

I tilted my head. Upon hearing those words, Rayol suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

Huh. He laughs like that? Somehow, he feels less like a human and more like something else—.

I felt a bit uneasy. The atmosphere was different from the travelers I had seen or the townspeople before I played pranks on them. I felt a vague sense of discomfort.

"That is not your name. Your name shall be, let's see—, I'll take a part of my name. Ray. You are Ray."

"Ray."

"Yes. That is your name from now on. A word that belongs only to you, that defines you."

It felt as if the world before my eyes had suddenly opened up.

A name that belongs only to me, that defines me...!

I was excited. I had a feeling that something new and wonderful was about to begin.

"Thank you, Rayol! Thank you for saving me...! Thank you for giving me a name...!"

Rayol grinned. A wide mouth. It was a very wide mouth. And with his large palm, he ruffled Ray's hair carelessly.

"I did not save you, Ray. From now on, you are the one who will continue to serve me. As I said before, you are a pawn who will dedicate your life to me...!"

Rayol's laughter echoed. On and on, forever.

A sense of unease. Could this be—.

I realize I wasn't saved. I have been captured anew.
And this laughter. It's as if, it's as if—.

Rather than human, this is something more than an ogre—.

More than an ogre. Since I am a goblin myself, I think vaguely, more than an ogre is something else entirely.
The light blue eyes I thought were as beautiful as the spring in my hometown shine with a mad, eerie light—.

Maybe I should go back into the small bottle.

Before I knew it, the sun had hidden behind the clouds.
I thought, my luck is bad no matter where I go.

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