HKWM | Chapter 21

“But there doesn’t seem to be anything special…”

Maybe because I’m not familiar with objects from the Human World, but apart from a few things that occasionally felt infused with magical energy, most of the items here seemed perfectly ordinary, and it wasn’t clear why they were illegal. Moreover, many of these items could easily be found elsewhere without specifically coming here.

Phoras noticed my confusion and explained on his own.

“This place only sells things that are somewhat legal or illegal. The truly forbidden items are in deeper places.”

The “deeper places” he mentioned were probably metaphorical. If we could find everything we wanted here, there was no need to venture into potentially harmful areas for the child’s education.

The first place we visited was a materials shop. Phoras recited a list of needed items to the shopkeeper, who rushed back inside to fetch them without even a chance to greet us.

While the owner was fetching the items, Phoras used the short time to explain to Noah what we were buying.

“Fairies have an energy similar yet distinct from elementals. If you grind up fairy wings into the summoning circle, the elementals can mistake the summoner’s energy for their own.”

In other words, it was a trick to artificially boost a summoner’s elemental power.

“Deep sea rocks, lava clams, mandrake roots, wall creeper wood—these are materials favored by elementals and will increase the success rate of summoning.”

Hmm, that sounds quite clever. Contracting with elementals seems to be a much more delicate task than I thought. After leaving the materials shop, we bought everything including elemental stones and spellbooks. Purchasing them illegally meant they were not measured in ordinary units, but seeing Noah’s excited face made me feel proud.

“It looks like we’ve got everything we need now.”

Even after we were done, Phoras and Kimaris’s gazes lingered on the stores of the black market. They seemed to want something more, so I just handed over my wallet to them.

“Master…!”

Deeply moved, Phoras checked the money inside and looked even more touched.

“This Phoras will repay the master’s kindness with my achievements, young master!”

The two demons, or rather, the two archdemons, took the lighter wallet and left first. I also felt reluctant just to leave, so I asked Noah.

“Noah, shall we look around a bit more?”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

I took Noah’s hand and started walking towards a place that smelled damp. It had been a while since I last saw the sea. Being a demon meant having no such experiences, and even as a human, my cause of death being overwork meant I hadn’t traveled even a short distance years before my death.

I wondered if Noah had ever seen the sea.

“Noah, have you ever seen the sea?”

“No, I’ve heard stories about it. There was a gladiator slave who said they came from the sea.”

From the sea, in this context, likely meant more than just living in a coastal town—possibly they were from an aquatic race.

“That person always longed for the sea. They said they could vividly recreate the sea over and over in their mind and cried every day.”

As Noah continued, we eventually reached the seaside. The sound of the waves was already close, and Noah seemed captivated by his first sight of the ocean.

“This is the sea…”

The child gaped in awe. While the scene wasn’t particularly special to me, it was undoubtedly overwhelming for a child seeing the sea for the first time.

“They must have missed it because it’s so beautiful…”

That might have been more about missing the freedom they had in the sea rather than the sea itself, but I didn’t correct him. I didn’t want to spoil his joy.

Noah stared at the barely visible sea in the darkness for a long time, then pointed at the farthest point and asked,

“It feels like that could be the end of the world over there. But it’s not the end, right?”

“Yeah, it’s not.”

“Amazing…”

I impulsively asked the mesmerized Noah.

“Want to go there?”

It would require magic to reach, but the anticipation in his eyes looking up at me made me disregard any concerns.

“How would we do that?”

“Take off your shoes.”

Noah obediently removed his shoes and picked them up. I took his hand and stepped forward towards the sea.

As we walked over the sandy beach and into the surging waves, our feet remained floating above the water. Occasionally, seawater splashed and dampened our cuffs, but I left it alone, knowing that even this cold, moist feeling would eventually become a memory.

Noah seemed fascinated by the sensation of the cool sea water on his feet and chuckled softly.

“Is this also magic?”

“Yes.”

“There’s magic that lets you walk on water?”

Technically, it was magic that barely kept our bodies afloat just enough to touch the surface of the water with our feet. It required significant control, but essentially, it wasn’t much different from walking on water to an onlooker.

“Yes. Practice so next time you can show it off.”

“Okay.”

We continued walking, listening to the splashing water. Even though we had walked quite far into the darkness, it didn’t feel scary. Instead, it felt like we were wandering on a Milky Way reflected by the stars twinkling in the sea.

Noah murmured as he looked down at his feet.

“…Darkness isn’t always scary. I never knew there could be such beautiful darkness.”

The place where I first met Noah was a dark underground space, barely lit through a small window. Noah’s life was mostly spent in that dark, damp place. To him, darkness must have been loathsome and frightening.

Most of his memories were probably like that, and that’s why I wanted to tell him.

“In the future, scary and unpleasant memories will gradually be covered by time, and things that aren’t scary will increase.”

That was also my hope that a day would come when past memories no longer hurt.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that as much as seeing the sea tonight, many more good things can happen in the future. It also means that whenever you want, you can come back to see the sea at night.”

Noah clenched his lips and looked at me, perhaps turning over my words in his mind.

Just then, Kimaris and Phoras appeared out of nowhere.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Just looking around. Did you buy everything?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go back.”

That marked the end of our short night outing.

“Ah, the horror…”

“This barbarity—”

The scene was so horrific that the original color of the landscape was indiscernible beneath the layers of dark, bloodstained corpses.

Knights in silver armor briefly mourned, and among them, those with fainter hearts willingly knelt in puddles of blood to pray, hoping these souls would safely return to the bosom of Heaven.

A man in the whitest armor looked around and approached a smaller figure, deeply hooded to obscure their face. He bowed deeply and reported.

“A considerable amount of magical energy is felt.”

Whether it was deliberately left behind or unintentionally spilled in the excitement of creating such a massacre was unclear, but the density and purity of the magic were such that it still tingled the skin despite some time having passed since the incident. That meant the owner of this energy was of a high caliber.

“Shall we pursue?”

The hooded figure pondered briefly before shaking their head.

“No, let’s return.”

Despite the firm response, the man hesitated. The hooded figure emphasized again.

“Commander, don’t forget. No matter how threatening and terrifying demons may be, they are not greater than those seven great sins endowed with only their names.”

The implication was clear: do not mistake the enemy to be pursued. The man finally conceded.

“…Understood.”

“How long will it take?”

“Regrettably, it will take some time.”

The blacksmith’s tone didn’t seem apologetic at all, which made my mouth fall open.

“To think it takes so long to make a sword…”

“To properly make a sword, it usually takes weeks, and since I haven’t been in practice for a while, it will take more time to regain my old touch.”

The reason the blacksmith was making the sword was as an offering to me, but beyond that, his determination not to half-heartedly approach his craft was clearly felt. True artisans are indeed artisans.

However, this meant my plan to stay in the capital was disrupted. But what can I do if it can’t be done any faster?

“…Well, can’t be helped.”

As much as I liked the capital, the thought of staying for several weeks when anything could happen was rather off-putting. It seemed I might have to return home first.

“Is there a mirror in your home or workshop?”

“A mirror, you ask? Yes, there is one.”

“Call me through the mirror once the sword is completed. Mirrors are a medium to summon demons.”

“I will do so.”