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After somehow convincing the extremely reluctant Sufi, Noche, and Filia, Human-Figure and I made our way to the back of the staff dormitory. We sat down on a random rock.

“You’re really loved, huh?”
“Mm.”

I could sense the three of them watching us from just out of sight. If I concentrated and pricked up my ears, I could even make out their whispers clearly.

From here on out, I’ll speak in Japanese. That way it’d be no problem even if they overheard us.

“They said if you do anything weird to me, they’ll bite you.”
“That’s scary. I’d better be careful.”

Human-Figure shrugged his shoulders in a playful manner and strummed the stringed instrument in his hands, making a plinking sound.

“They will get impatient if we drag this out, so let’s get to the topic.”
“Go ahead.”
“What do you know, and how much?”
“Let’s see. Everything except what’s inside your mind, I suppose?”
“Are you planning to tell me?”
“Not in the slightest! I’m totally against spoilers.”

I felt a little irritated by the Human-Figure’s cheerful “Hahaha” that came after that.

“…Then, you, why did you show up before me?”
“You seem to have trouble addressing me, so just call me whatever you like.”
“Wire Man.”
“Ahahahahaha!”

I hurled that rather harsh nickname at him, laced with irritation, and the human-shaped figure burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. …Even though his stomach looks like nothing more than a collection of wires. Does he even have breathing or abdominal muscles?

“Hahahaha… Phew, just, just so you know, this avatar of mine is, well, a man from the Southern Islands, right on the border of the Sea Serpent’s domain. I have dark skin, and my hair and eyes are pale gold. Women go crazy with this face.”
“Aren’t you giving too many details?”
“It’d be a problem if your story doesn’t match your friends’, wouldn’t it?”

This sense that he sees right through me is somehow infuriating.

“So, Wire Man, why did you show up so suddenly?”
“I just recently realized my mistake, so I’m here to make amends.”
“…Mistake?”
“Yeah. See, it’s been quite a while in my temporal perspective, so it’d completely slid off my mind that you don’t accept any kind of mental interference… Oh man, what a blunder.”

Seeing him scratch the back of his head while laughing, I feel a bit of my irritation melt away.

“I figured I couldn’t just leave you hanging, so I rushed over to the tutorial.”
“Tutorial… So you’re the one who gave me this lantern?”
“Yeah, I was the one who ‘arranged’ for it to reach you.”
“Arranged, huh.”

His suggestive tone made me realize he had no intention of giving me straight answers.

Obviously, when dealing with Unknowns like him, even my sharp ears can’t tell when he’s lying.

“I was entrusted with a gift for you from someone I simply couldn’t refuse, so I pulled some strings to have it delivered. But I didn’t expect the instructions on how to use it wouldn’t get through.”
“Who was that someone?”
“I have no intention of telling you. You said we can’t drag this conversation out, no?”
“……”

I shut my mouth, unable to come up with a retort. It’s true—the longer this drags on, the more impatient Sufi and the others will get, and if they barge in, I won’t be able to ask the questions I want to ask.

“That lantern, you see, is a Divine Relic created by a nameless Divine Beast… what you’d call an ‘Unknown’ on the Earth of the past. You might as well call it the ‘Lux Originis (Primordial Light).’ Its power is to project the shadows of the fantasies you envision into this world.”
“………”

A small flame, like a candle, ignites. A ring of black shadows, just as I imagined, is created and floats gently in the air.

“Right now you’re using your mana as a substitute fuel, but it’s real fuel is something else.”
“Fuel?”
“This.”

Suddenly, Wire Man flicked a small stone with his finger. The dim green stone flew into the flame, and at the same moment, the flame flared up slightly.

“Magic Stones.”

Magic stone, the hardened remains of an organ found in living creatures that converts ether into mana, formed after the creature’s death. While they are being researched as potential materials for certain magical tools, currently there is no technology to extract mana directly from magic stones.

Living creatures are born with unique attributes, and the color and size of a magic stone can be used to gauge the attributes and maximum magical power capacity of the creature it came from.

Furthermore, by channeling mana through a magic stone, one can amplify the corresponding attribute.

“It’s a pittance coming from a goblin, but I’d say every little bit helps. But remember, what you cast is but a shadow—once the fire goes out, so does the shadow.”
“…At least we figured out the fuel source.”

The mystery of why the fire was so small has been solved. Now that I think about it, that explains why the fire is so small right now.

So, if I want to use it, I have to collect magic stones. Since they’re pretty expensive to buy, I probably won’t be able to use them casually.

……?

“Wait, then why was it flaming so grandiosely back then?”
“I suppose it was a helping hand from the sender.”
“And that sender is?”
“Mysteries are meant to be solved by yourself, dear Beloved Child.”

Even when I pressed him for an answer, he just dodged the question. I’m risking my life here, so I can’t exactly treat this like a game.

“Then what about that mysterious sword?”
“It’s Ame-no-Murakumo. It’s a sacred treasure from your homeland, isn’t it?”

I know that. What I want to know is the sword’s power.

“Its power is a mystery.”

I know the origin of the sword itself. It’s the sword that came out of the tail of the giant serpent monster, Yamato-no-Orochi, when Susanoo defeated it, and I think it was presented to Amaterasu-Oomikami or something like that.

After all sorts of events, it returned to the surface and became a symbol of the Japanese Imperial Family, didn’t it?

There are various theories, but it’s a weapon that physically exists.

“Of course, that’s a False Code after all. It’s not the real article itself, but rather the physical manifestation of the gathered faith of the real thing.”
“Mm.”
“It is the false image of the legendary divine sword formed by the collective fantasy of many people, and the Lux Originis cast a shadow of said false image into the shape of a sword—making it a False Code. In short, it’s the literal fantasy of the Mythical Weapon given form.”
“…Just hearing that makes it sound like it has incredible power, though.”

The Ame-no-Murakumo is one of the three items that symbolize Japanese mythology, but there are almost no stories about it being used as a weapon, so to speak. At least, I don’t know of any.

As far as is generally known, it’s only been used in ordinary ways.

In terms of its mythical status as a weapon, swords like the ‘Ame-no-Habakiri,’ which defeated Yamato-no-Orochi in the first place, or the ‘Ame-no-Ohabari,’ used to slay gods, have far more impressive legends attached to them.

“I get what you’re saying. If you look at it simply as a weapon, it’s just a super famous sword from mythology. That said, it far outranks most gods, and just by wielding it, you can cut through powers akin to those of the gods.”
“……”