[Original Novel] The Wicked Wizard Episode 9

Episode 9: The Hat Collector

"I've got information too!"

That was the first thing the traveler Alun said, even before a "good morning."
Sitting at one of the tables lined up in the dining hall, Alun waved at the wizard Rayol and the imp Ray with a beaming smile.

"You're early. And have you already eaten?"

The wizard Rayol placed the tray with his own breakfast in front of Alun's seat.

"Good morning, Alun."

The imp Ray sat perched next to Rayol. This inn used a breakfast style where you served yourself your favorite dishes onto small plates, and while Ray's tray had less food than Rayol's simple breakfast, it was colorful. There were especially a lot of desserts.

"Ray, you're always wearing a hat. Even in the morning?"

Alun glanced at Ray's head while sipping his after-meal tea.

Oh, no. Is this hat to hide my horns too unnatural?

Ray felt nervous inside. Three small horns were hidden under the hat.

"He's a hat collector."

A hat... collector...?

Rayol made an impossible excuse. Ray's smile twitched.

"Hmm. That hat is cute, so it's fine. It suits you."

He's actually convinced by that explanation...!

Alun didn't seem to doubt Rayol's lie. Distracted by that surprise, the joy of being complimented completely faded away.

"Come to think of it, you and Ray seem to be traveling together, but don't tell me you're on a journey to collect hats?"

A journey to collect hats...? Is there even such a person!?

"Something like that."

You're not denying it!?

Ray's inner turmoil wouldn't stop, what with Alun's question and Leior's casual reply.

“You two have similar names, but you're not... brothers, are you?”

Leior had blue-toned hair and eyes, while Ray had green-toned hair and eyes. Furthermore, Leior had sharp features, while Ray had a gentle face; to an outsider, they didn't look much like family. Without touching on their physical differences, Alun asked about their relationship.

“We're master and apprentice in hat collecting.”

At Leior's reply, Ray nearly hit his head on the corner of the table. It was a moment where a corner and a horn were about to collide.

“Hmm. I thought you might be master and apprentice wizards, but hats, huh.”

“Hats.”

Leior seemed determined to push forward with the “hat” narrative for their journey.

“So, what about the information?”

Leior asked while continuing to eat. It seemed he had decided to ask for the information Alun had obtained before reporting about the white butterfly from last night.

“I talked to the landlady of the dining hall. I went there first thing in the morning to hear what the inn staff had to say. And so, I managed to ask about that family and the girl from yesterday.”

Leior and Ray listened intently to Alun's story. The men's family had been wealthy for a long time. They apparently lent money and land to people. Though they said “for a long time,” they weren't a famous noble family or town authority; they had suddenly prospered during a certain era, and before anyone knew it, they had come to own vast amounts of land. And, though it was just a rumor, the story went that the family's development began only after a certain girl started living in their house. The members of that family would explain to those around them at various times that she was their “daughter” or “granddaughter,” but they never let her go outside, apparently keeping her locked up in the house. And, though it was an unbelievable story, it was said that for generations, it was always the same “girl” in that house. Furthermore, the members of the clan lived in that house, or in its annexes or nearby, and none of them ever left. If they were men, they took wives; if they were women, they took husbands. For some reason, those who newly entered that house kept their mouths shut and lived within the land they owned. “It’s as if they are trying not to leave that ‘mysterious girl.’”

The townspeople all felt that the house was strange. It seemed they were even doing underhanded things that didn't technically break the law without a second thought. He had heard stories of families who had been brought to tears by that house's methods. There were no shortage of voices whispering that perhaps that girl was a specter that had possessed the house. Everyone found the house eerie, and most people kept their distance—he explained all of this in one go.

“I’m glad the landlady was a chatterbox. So, Leior. What is this information of yours?”

It was Alun's turn to ask.

“That girl was, as I suspected, a spirit living in the forest a little ways from here.”

Leior confessed that the girl had visited him last night in the form of a white butterfly.

“There are always a certain number of people born with special powers in every era. Well, I am one of them. Long ago, there was a man in that house who possessed special powers—”

A man with special powers...?

Then, Leiol began to speak about the spirit's past—.

It was light.
Perhaps it had no fixed form.
It flew over the surface of the river and sat on tree branches.
It was a spirit that lived freely with animals and plants.

“Pee-!”

A deer let out a sharp cry and bolted. The deer fled deep into the greenery.

There was a smell.

I didn't think it was a beast. Something, a living creature, was approaching.
I thought it was a nasty smell. I decided to move in the direction the deer had fled.

“Found you...! This one will surely be something good...!”

The creature shouted. It was a human man.
Then, he pointed something shiny at me. I learned later that it was called a mirror.
Then he chanted something called a spell.

I'm being sucked in...!

It happened in an instant. I was trapped inside the “mirror.”

Help me...!

I was placed in a place called a human “house.”
To solidify the spirit's mysterious power into the direction the man desired, rituals and time were piled upon me. When the necessary power and time were fulfilled, the man's spell came to fruition, and I was dragged out from inside the mirror.
“This is...”

I had become a human. The form of a young girl.

“You have been reborn as a doll that draws wealth to me. You will continue to bring wealth to me and my descendants for all eternity—!”

The man and the people of his house continued to provide feasts, drinks, and luxurious meals as if I were a noble human from then on. I was also made to wear beautiful clothes and ornaments.
It seemed to be the price for the wish for wealth.

I don't want this.

I kept staring at the forest that could not be seen from there. I kept painting the shining green and the fragrant wind in my heart.
Time passed, the man grew old, and died. But even after that, I remained in the form of a young girl, bound to the house forever. It was forever, and ever.

I want to go home...

The man said it would be for eternity, but nothing remains unchanged forever.
I felt the man's spell gradually fading and unraveling.
I saw light.
I knew that two beings were approaching: a human with mysterious powers and a non-human.

I must escape...! If it's them, they will surely break these chains completely...!

A wizard and a goblin. They were trying to reach this town.
The girl heads toward the door.
She realized that she could finally go outside—.

"Is this it? The mansion where the spirit is said to be trapped."

Outside the gate, Alun muttered.
It is wrapped in dense greenery, but just as the landlady of the inn's dining room testified, there must surely be several mansions deep inside.

"So, what do we do from here?"

Alun asks Rayol. In the meeting at the dining room,

"It's not like we're going to storm in or sneak in. Just getting to the front of the gate is enough."

That is what Rayol had said. He called it a "girl rescue operation," but he claimed that no real operation was needed. There was only one thing Rayol had asked Alun in the dining room.

"Is the landlady of the dining room a good person?"

"Huh?"

It was a strange question.

"Do you think she's a good person?"

"Y-yeah."

"From your perspective?"

"Yeah. I mean—she was easy to talk to, and she kindly told me various things. She knew about the commotion in town yesterday because her family was there, and when I confessed that I was the traveler who shouted at that time, she was impressed."

“Yeah. I understand.”

Rayol nodded and headed toward the kitchen. He then seemed to be deep in conversation with the landlady mentioned earlier—.

“I’m not confident in my ability to judge whether someone is a good person. I’m a villain, and one who is drifting away from humanity at that.”

Having finished his exchange with the landlady, Rayol stated this to Alun.

“What are you talking about?”

That was Alun’s reply.

So. Rayol. What does he intend to do?

Standing in front of the gate were Rayol, Alun, and Ray.
Rayol took something small out from inside his pocket.

Huh.

Something small that was glowing. Rayol held it up toward the gate, toward the mansion.

“Oh forest spirit whose chains have been broken. The path of light that opens now...! Regain your original power, charge along the path of light, and come to me.”

Ah, that is—.

Ray’s eyes widened. What Rayol was holding up was a small hand mirror.
The next moment. A single beam of light stretched out from the mansion—and it looked as if it were being drawn into Rayol’s hand, into the hand mirror.

Something went inside...!

Rayol pointed the hand mirror downward for a moment. Then, he pointed it toward the mansion once more. He muttered something that sounded like a spell in a low voice.
And then,

“With this, it’s finished.”

Rayol flashed a grin.

“Whaaaat!?”

Alun and Ray couldn’t help but shout in unison.

The hand mirror, it is said, belonged to the landlady of the dining hall.
Leior had gifted the landlady a small gemstone in exchange for it.
Just as Alun had testified, the landlady was a good person, and

"It's an old, cheap mirror. I couldn't possibly accept something as expensive as a gemstone!"

She had apparently tried to give the hand mirror to Leior for free,

"By having a price paid, the importance of the mirror increases, and the effect of the spell is enhanced."

Leior did not explain what he intended to use the mirror for, only insisting that he was a wizard and that a mirror owned by a woman was necessary for the magic he wished to perform now.

"To break a spell cast using a mirror, I intentionally used a mirror. A man as the caster, a common woman. A caster steeped in selfish desire, a woman of good will with little greed. These contrasting elements also hold great significance in my magic."

Ray peered intently into Leior's hand mirror.

"I-is that girl inside this...?"

"Well, she's not a girl anymore, though."

Ray, a goblin who is not human, also gasped in disbelief.

"By the way, what will happen? To the people at the mansion. If they notice the girl is gone..."

Alun asked. He added that it wouldn't really matter if the people at the mansion rushed out in a panic and made a scene upon noticing them. As far as Alun was concerned, he didn't care if those people came after them in a rage or whatever, but he seemed curious as a matter of pure inquiry.

"Earlier, after I invited the spirit into the mirror, I pointed it downward for a moment before aiming it at the mansion again, right? I cast the spell then."

"Huh, what kind?"

Ray asked, surprised.

"I sent an illusion of the girl. And I made the illusion speak to the minds of everyone in the household: 'Time has passed, and my role is over. From now on, build your wealth with your own strength. Gain riches, and in return for the good life you have lived until now, help others. If you do so, you will become even more prosperous. Conversely, if you spend your days steeped in greed and forgetting your gratitude—your house will quickly decline and follow a path of ruin.'"

At Leior's explanation, it was Alun's turn to raise a voice of surprise.

"And here I thought you'd cast some kind of curse... You actually say decent things, don't you?"

"I am still human, after all."

"I'm sure you'll collect some nice hats for yourself."

"Huh? What was that about a hat?"

Leior seemed to have completely forgotten the "hat collector" persona he had created for himself.

◆Work published on Shousetsuka ni Narou◆