Swamp Girl!

70: The Value of an Uncertain Thing
Raws:

And once again, I fall into that swamp.
Even though that which had been born should never return to where it came from.
Gurgle, gurgle. The sound of sinking.
Even though that which disappeared opens a gaping emptiness.
Sinking. Down and down.
Eyes that can’t see anymore.
Ears that can’t hear.
A body that won’t move.
There is no sorrow. No fear, no despair, nothing.
Just the fall.
The fall toward the bottom.

Then, once again, something coils and encircles.
A black veil of darkness wraps round and round, once again taking shape.
A ma.s.s forms, dyed pitch-black.
Eyes open. A hand reaches out.
Heading for the water’s surface. In the direction of the light.
Ahh, I1 was able to make my return.
To that place once again.
The other side of that crumbling dread.
To plunder.

–

–

It hurts.
It hurts. It hurts.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
— Unforgivable.

It was for humanity’s sake. My magical power. That reason.
At that time, humans were weak, and died easily.
Blessed with natural strength, the monsters were merciless.

Humans were intelligent, but they didn’t have the time to use it.
Before they could, before their intellect yielded any fruit, they died.

I was lucky.

Before I died, I was able to give birth to something. To magic.
Magic brought great change to humans’ lives. Opposing the wonders of a ruthless natural world, they repelled the attacking monsters.
And so humanity, who had had their hands full with the simple act of living, gradually enjoyed greater freedom and invented new things.
In doing so, humanity eventually grew wealthy. Humanity, who had done no more than fear, hide, and survive, flourished.

I was happy.

The magic I invented made people happy. That was an unmistakable fact.
I lived purely for that purpose.
Then, I intended to die.

But prosperity gave rise to other things.
The devil known as ‘desire’.

When it took everything simply to stay alive, it was worthless.
But now, it was possible to live without fighting tooth and nail. People had the leeway to think of other matters. That resulted in a mountain of things that would allow them to thrive, but at the same time, it introduced certain defects.

One of which was ‘desire’.

As the founder of magic, I created many things. The foundation of my work began with channeling magical energy through the Five Attunements.
That would be very important for the people to come.

Those who understood the concept ultimately used me in the name of prosperity.

I was seized and sealed as a source of magical power.
For the sake of becoming wealthier, for the sake of greater growth.

Certainly, I continued to use my own magical abilities for the good of humanity.

But those were meant to bring an end to my role, to entrust it to future generations.
To allow me to welcome a better death.

Now, deprived even of my right to die, I am an existence that will continue to be plundered for everything I possess, forever.

I gave.
But I received nothing in return.

Now, I am being robbed. Of everything. Even though I never received anything.
Why did I have to end up this way? Is giving a sin?
Is this retribution, then?

Because of what I gave, or perhaps because of what was stolen from me, humanity thrives even today.
And yet I alone am not allowed to follow. There is nothing here to make me happy.

I won’t forgive them. I can’t forgive them.
I will never forgive them.
I — gave. I was robbed.
So this time, I’ll be doing the robbing.

I’ll take it all. I’ll steal back everything I ever gave.

–

–

Slowly, my eyes opened.
My vision was terribly clear. I moved my arm, looking at my hand.
I clenched and released it several times.

“Hehehehe.”

A laugh inadvertently slipped out of me. That voice, pa.s.sing through my throat, naturally spilled forth from my mouth.
This sense of reality. It was completely different from the human form I’d temporarily stolen. The magically-generated shadow wasn’t even worth comparing.
A sensation I’d missed dearly. Just how many years had I pa.s.sed for the sake of enjoying this feeling?
Just how many years was I imprisoned in that narrow cell?
I looked up. Up, where the seal known as the Heart hung. The seal that had confined me.
That hateful lump that would never let go of me, no matter how I cried and shouted, no matter how I begged for forgiveness.

“ジィィィィィィィィィィィ”

Patterned rings formed in blue flame. Once five of them were overlaid with each other, I released the power.

In an instant, a shockwave leapt into being before me. Flying toward its target, it engulfed that irritating thing overhead and blew it away without a trace.

“Uoh!?”

“Guh–!”

The aftershocks rocked the air, brushing past my cheeks. That tangible sensation of destruction made my body tremble. My mouth curled of its own accord.

Nevertheless, it seemed I used a little too much power to blow away such a trivial thing.
But for a test run, it was superb.
I felt as powerful as I had when the seal had taken hold of me. Or perhaps, even more than that.
This body was excellent.

” — You have my thanks,”

I said to the two men on their hands and knees on the floor, battered by the aftershocks from my earlier act of destruction. And I didn’t forget to bow my head.

At any rate, they freed me from that prison. That wasn’t an account I could settle, no matter how many times I thanked them.

“Haha, ha, well. Don’t worry about it. I — ”

“Hmhm — now die.”

I sent a shockwave barreling toward the man who was speaking.
I thanked them. I no longer owed them anything. Therefore, I would steal. I would steal everything from them.

Surprise registering on his face, the human took the shockwave head-on and went flying. It wasn’t as strong as the blast that took out the seal, but it seemed strong enough.
With a brief scream, the human’s balled up body slammed into the inside wall.
With a splattering sound, crimson flowers bloomed on the wall’s flat surface.
I see. If they strike the wall with that much force, they burst open.

“Prince!”

Nonetheless, I detected a momentary flare of magical power from the man who’d been blown away.
It appeared that he’d instantly defended against the shockwave, but he wasn’t able to withstand the physical impact of crashing into the wall. Based on his usage of magical power just now, I could tell that magic hadn’t advanced much since my time. Or did the man’s power only amount to that much?

…Hmm, he seemed to still be alive, more or less, but it was only a matter of time. Knowing that he was already dying, I had no interest in him.

That aside, I’d like to inspect my powers a little more. How about trying them on this man?

“s.h.i.t — what the h.e.l.l are you!”

I turned my gaze toward him. He had his sword at the ready. I hadn’t noticed him drawing it.
Sword, is it? No matter how many years pa.s.s, this never changes. Unless they’ve made some advancements? For instance, charging a sword with magical power.

I was terribly curious.

“You… You should take a swing at me.”

Slowly spreading apart my hands, I invited him to strike.

“Wh–What…!”

“What’s wrong? I’m your enemy, you know.”

I provoked the man as he goggled at me. Perhaps he was wary of traps.
But even so, his feelings might have been conflicted, because his sword wavered as he stared. I see, a superior warrior. He was evaluating his adversary’s combat strength, just as I was. So caution would be prudent. Hmph, but I was impatient.

“If you won’t come to me, I’ll go to you… ジィィィィィ — ”

The magical labyrinth unfolded with ostentatious style. The blue flames licking at it, it began to turn.

“s.h.i.t! I guess I’ve got no choice but to go for it!”

the warrior roared. His expression resolute, he charged forward with his sword at the ready.

Good.

Having the leeway to do so, I used one hand to invoke a projection spell. A blue film expanded to enfold my surroundings, and sure enough, it stopped the sword the warrior was mercilessly swinging in my direction.

“What the — !?”

A hard clang echoed through the chamber. The blue membrane resisted the sword.

Looking at the warrior frown in astonishment, I felt disappointed.
Just a steel sword. It hadn’t been endowed with any magic whatsoever.
In short, the arcane arts I’d bestowed upon mankind long ago had probably declined to some extent. At least, it hadn’t been like this in the past. Individuals capable of enchantment spells had been easy enough to find back then.

“How boring… ジィィィィ — ”

I muttered to myself, using my other hand to cast another destruction spell.

I’d already had enough of this warrior.
Let’s wrap things up and go outside. A ma.s.s of magical power gathered in my left hand.

Just as I was about to release that destructive force, without feeling the least moral compunction, I felt a sharp, numbing pain near the back of my neck.

“Guh…?”

It was a trivial pain. But the warrior used my momentary distraction to distance himself from me.

What in the world was that?

I found the slight pain was unpleasant. Since I had been in such a good mood until now, that minor thing roused a disproportionate anger within me.
That fury, I turned on the warrior, who didn’t seem far past his youth. He had his sword back at the ready, keeping his distance from me.

“…Begone!”

Again, I lashed out with my magic. The pain didn’t distract me, but I deployed my power without focusing.
Struck by my power as it fanned outward, he went flying.

“Gwah–!”

But it had diffused too much. It didn’t blow him back as it had the first man; instead, it simply sent him rolling across the floor.
Nonetheless, it didn’t concern me. There was no longer anything for me to confirm here.

Let’s go outside and start taking revenge.
The stinging pain tugged at me. I didn’t know what it was, but I didn’t care anymore.

Steal it.
Plunder it all.
I will have my vengeance on everyone who betrayed —

“…?”

My heart growing black, I was about to take the first step onto the path of my vengeance. But before I could, I detected a sudden swell in magical power. Of course, it wasn’t my doing.

Stopping in my tracks, I lifted my gaze from its submergence in my desires.
Before I could a.n.a.lyze what that power was for, the magic materialized. A golden wall of light took shape in the empty air. This far along, there was no need for a.n.a.lysis. A teleportation spell. Its terminus was about to connect to this place.

Disrupting it would have been child’s play. But I was curious. What would emerge from it?
In the end, I waited for the spell to complete.

Sure enough, several people materialized out of the wall. I’d seen some of them before. They’d been present when I stole this body.
But there were a few unfamiliar faces as well. One of them shouted the moment he laid eyes on me:

“Chris!”

Again, that stab of pain at the back of my neck. At that moment, I sensed its true nature.
— I see. So this body’s previous occupant still hasn’t disappeared?

Then I’ll plunder it too.
By killing the people before me, down to the last man.

Author’s Notes
The first of two drafts I was working on.
I plan to upload one more chapter this evening…

Footnotes
1. Switches to the feminine p.r.o.noun watashi, indicating Tetra’s takeover of the narration. Maybe I’ll figure out a less clunky way to show it than a footnote later. Or is it easy enough to tell from the context? ↵