Chapter 91: Reeds Thrive in Hell

The Lunatic King, or Priest King Cain Grendel.

The last King of Casketia.

A mysterious character whose origins was unknown.

The name of Cain appeared for the first time in the history of Casketia a hundred years after its foundation.

It was said that Cain had settled a completely new dominance system that overturned the ruling system of the national unit until then.

After the destruction of the Romulus Empire, several ethnic groups based in Northeast Karkinos had signed an alliance.

With this national alliance, the four former imperial provinces were unified, and Casketia was established.

It was the Chief of Wesir tribe who supervised the ritual, who was first enthroned.

(Hereinafter referred to as Wesir Dynasty)

In Wesir tribe, the word Aaru means King.

From the ancient word in the northeastern part of Karkinos which means ‘reeds thrive in Hell’.

About fifty years after the foundation passed, a rebellion caused by Setekh tribe who held the military occurred.

The ritual system by Wesir tribe collapsed, and a policy change was made to the new religion of the faith of the highest existence.

(Hereinafter referred to as Setekh Dynasty)

Setekh tribe, who held control, massacred Wesir tribe.

Everyone who had the blood of the Wesir Dynasty was caught and enslaved as a zombie.

(To discover the name list as a shelf: Found in 5963.

Since only the number is recorded, do we need documentation for comparison in the follow-up investigation?)

Around 100 years after the foundation, 50 years after the establishment of the Setekh Dynasty.

At that time, Setekh tribe elected Cain Grendel and handed over the kingship.

There was no material on Cain before this.

Why was an unknown person suddenly elected to be the King?

In the document reflecting the situation of the late Setekh Dynasty, the concern about the highest existence was stated.

[※ There are ten copies of documents concerning the natural disasters occurred in the areas controlled by Casketia at that time]

Wasn’t Cain a survivor of Wesir Dynasty?

『Precisely speaking, he was an undead of the Wesir tribe who was revived, rather than survived.』

[※ Scribbles with different handwriting here only]

The crest of the Priest King Cain was the cross, as was well-known.

This was the emblem of Wesir Dynasty, it could be thought that it cut out the part corresponding to ‘neck’ from the design representing ankh¹.

It was similar to shaving a character from emet engraved on golem and turning it into met.

It was also based on the fact that all the altars of the highest existence had been destroyed since Cain enthroned.

Since the appearance of Cain, Casketia’s enslavement technique had a revolutionary progress.

The existence made by this technique was called a ghoul and [corresponding portion blackened]

(Or, was it a sample of the technique that made vampires?)

Cain carried out the ghoulification treatment on the ruling classes of the Setekh Dynasty.

To familiarize the ghouls that needed huge amount of flesh and blood, he domesticated the ruling classes who had not been getting the treatment.

It was said that Casketia went into tyranny towards its vassal nations to maintain the group of ghouls.

When thinking that Cain Grendel was the Wesir tribe, many consistent things matched.

For example, his paradoxical aggression towards the Setekh tribe, when the poor treatment of the Wesir tribe was taken into consideration—

☆

Midwinter, Magic Academy City Lindis.

First Prince of Ignitia, Auguste was laying on a chaise lounge set in a dormitory’s room.

Around the chaise lounge there were several books to read.

“Nn……it’s this time already, huh.”

Before he knew it the sun had already set, and the inside of the room was wrapped in darkness.

Auguste lit the fire of the candle stub that was still inserted in the candlestick.

It got a little brighter, but he still couldn’t rely on it to read.

“There should be a lamp, but I wonder where is it.”

Auguste illuminated around the corner of the room with the candlestick.

The room was equipped with bookshelves and document shelves on almost every wall except for the windows and doors.

The bookshelves were filled with books carefully, and dubious items were categorized and classified on the document shelves in a scrupulous manner.

A number of boxes were stacked on the floor, and among them were packed books that didn’t fit in the bookshelf.

It was a collection of books that could be said as much as a small library.

The owner of this room was a person that in the school dormitory rumored to be a strange person with heretic ideology.

The moment Auguste saw the inside of the room at first sight, he thought that such rumors had some basis.

In the bookshelves, the most advanced magic books and primitive sorcery monographs were arranged in a casual manner.

The books written about heresy / paganism were countless.

In the back of the room were a heavy construction desk and a rotating chair with an armrest and a large backrest.

On the desk were the rituals for divine ceremony which the Federal Kingdom did not believe in.

A silver handbell and a golden candlestick separated into seven branches.

An old fashioned codex with a lot of bookmarks pinched between the pages.

When he turned over to the page where the bookmark was sandwiched, he could see unsettling description such as ‘offer the hearts of twelve people’.

A big living creature fluttered from outside the window, and Auguste turned around.

A black dragon with a familiar silhouette was standing on the window side against the moonlight.

“Have you satisfied your curiosity, Auguste?”

“Unfortunately the next curiosity comes whenever one is satisfied.

It looks like I will be borrowing this room a little bit longer, Professor.”

The black dragon instructed him to put the candlestick down with a gesture.

Auguste followed his instruction and placed the candlestick on the desk.

The black dragon gently stared at the mountain of books piled up around the chaise longue.

“Forbidden magic, and vampire materials……they are all about heretics.

You are likely to be rumored as heretical, are you not afraid of the rumors anymore?”

“I don’t want to be told that by someone who gathered the heretical materials.”

Auguste had something he wanted to know.

His cousin Louis, whose rumors that he was fascinated by vampires and went mad and such things were spreading.

The ancient curse set on the Chalice of his own dragons.

Both were the problems that had frustrated him for many years.

And because it was said that they were already settled, there was nothing he could do.

So, he wanted to know even a little bit.

There was only one person in charge of the investigation of the curse put on the Chalice, so Professor was profoundly knowledgeable about this technique.

In his library, there were also an abundance of materials on Karkinos’ sorcery which was difficult to obtain in Ichthyes.

In addition to taking private lessons in Theurge, he decided to read materials related to sorcery and vampires when he had time.

“Of all things, you read the supposition about Aaru, huh. This is troubling.

Even though that material was prohibited because of heresy.”

“If you don’t want me to read such things, don’t put them where I can reach.”

“The box containing Aaru supposition should have been locked.”

“Aah, you mean this key?

You should hide it in a more difficult place to find next time, Professor.”

Auguste threw the small key taken out of his pocket to the black dragon.

The black dragon gazed at the key he received and furrowed his brows.

“Good grief. The forbidden books you read so far are certainly fascinating.”

“Aa. They are very interesting materials. But, there are a couple of things I don’t understand.”

“The second draft of Aaru supposition is a draft of a paper written by an immature student.

There are also many leaps in logic, unexplained things, since there is also a lack of information on the primary source of quotation.

I will give you additional information as much as I could. What didn’t you understand?”

“Let’s see……first off, I want you to tell me more about zombies.”

Auguste sat down again on the chaise longue and flipped through the pages of the Aaru supposition and the gathered materials.

The black dragon laid on the foot of the rotating chair and took a relaxed posture.

“Did you know that zombification is a southern-oriented sorcery that enslaved a corpse?”

“Aa, I wonder if that was the origin of the former Island of Messenger’s name, Island of Dead People.”

“That is correct. The Island of Messenger was a place flourishing as a relay point for the zombie trade.”

Romulus Empire who created the foundation of enslavement sorcery.

Casketia who consumed lots of slaves due to the undeads.

Gigantia who drove in sorcerous metals and machined slaves.

The southern continent had long been dominated by a culture that prefers slaves.

“What had become the foundation was a type of apparent death treatment that has been done since ancient times in Northeast Karkinos.

It creates slaves through internal cranial manipulation by surgical techniques, anesthesia by drug administration, and hypnosis.

It was later intersected with Romulus’ sorcery, and became a spell that overcomes the boundary between human life and death.”

“It’s a technique to make an undead that can be used as a magical slave, huh.”

“That is correct. It is said that the source of the man-made undeads is Casketia’s zombies.

The spell allows the dead body that has been subjected to preservation treatment as a vessel some degree of autonomous behavior by incorporating a bound soul into it.”

“Even death is not a salvation for the soul, huh……what a terrible story.”

In Ignitia’s teaching, they preached that the soul was eternal.

Under God, sin was forgiven, shackles were broken, glory and rest were given.

It was different from zombies that had been constrained with immortality who had to continue the blasphemy for eternity.

In Aurelia, the soul was thought to drift.

Self as a person was washed away and was reborn into a new life.

It was different from zombies who was deprived of their free will and was made to be resuscitated as a corrupted existence.

In Hafan and Lucanrant too, even if the form was different, death was a salvation.

“For the zombie’s master, it doesn’t matter whether the soul of the slave was saved or not.

Just as we do not mind whether livestock’s soul has salvation.

It is convenience and rationality that emphasized those who use slaves.

Zombies which doesn’t get old, doesn’t fall ill, doesn’t complain, and doesn’t go against them can be said to be an ideal slave.”

“What a bad taste, Professor.”

Professor talked about the inhuman conduct of slavery in a pleasant way.

As if he himself was thinking so.

Auguste showed disgust towards Professor’s attitude, but he squashed the feeling in a single stroke.

However, just by the atmosphere, Professor seemed to be enjoying his reaction itself.

“Then, what are ghouls? Is it a different thing from zombie?”

“Ghoul is an immortal slave for combat with active thinking abilities.

If zombie is a faithful servant, ghoul is a faithful warrior.

However, unlike a zombie whose purpose is as a long-time slave, a ghoul is premised on being disposable.”

“They are for battle but disposable?”

“It is hard as it is to give highly thinking abilities to the corpses.

High intelligence that enables battle and the command of the zombies group exhausts the bound soul to strain.

The only way to maintain the wear and tear of ghouls is to prey others’ lives.

Human blood in particular is the most effective……rather than saying that other foods have almost no meaning.”

Eventually they returned to the bad taste topic, Auguste was disgusted.

However, he thought that it was not necessary to bother entertaining Professor, and on the surface he kept up an indifferent reaction.

“That is……well, I guess they are just like vampires, huh.”

“No. In the case of ghouls, they merely imitate the predation mechanism of the soul of a monster and the likes.

Predatory ability of a vampire has higher order characteristics. No, it’s no longer a different thing.

—Vampires are their own kind of Hell.”

Hearing the word ‘Hell’, Auguste recalled the material he had read a while ago.

“Don’t speak in a roundabout way.

It was also written in the document, but Hell……about the Aaru part, ultimately, just what exactly do you want to say?”

“If you can’t talk about it until the end, you shouldn’t talk about it at all.

The act of spreading that information recklessly brings confusion to the nation.

However, as it exists in this world, there are only a limited number of people who knows about it.”

Cutting off his words for a moment, the black dragon closed his eyes and strained his ears.

Auguste also spread his mental interference skills to their surroundings and confirmed that no human beings were lurking around.

“The vampires held the blood and soul of a predator inside themselves.

By regenerating these flesh and blood and soul, a vampire can wear the figure and personality of another person.

Also, those who gained higher power will regenerate those people as a self-sufficient underling.”

Professor lowered his voice until it was only a whisper.

Auguste was able to interpret the meaning with his own head.

Vampires could turn into human beings.

For what purpose?

It didn’t need to be said. To hide, and to deceive.

“I see. Human beings around us may actually be vampires.

If so, scepticism, anxiety, and fear would spread among the people.”

“That’s correct.”

“Professor. Then, if we spread the right way of identifying the vampires at the same time……”

Auguste spoke, and then cut off his words.

That kind of thing should be obvious.

If one didn’t do what one normally would do, there was only a limited reason for that.

“No way, we cannot distinguish between human beings and vampires?”

Professor showed his fangs and laughed.

“Auguste, you are truly an excellent student, I would like the other students to be more like you.

It is as you said. We have not established a method to reliably identify latent vampires yet.”

“Not even magic or demonic eye or the mental touch using the power of a Theurge?”

“It is impossible in any of the ways you mentioned or in ways not mentioned by you.

By any means, latent vampires are recognized as humans.

Even the person being wore is not aware that he is already dead.

Until the moment when that person tears a pitiful victim apart and tries to eat them.”

Auguste felt chills ran through his spine as he committed the information to his memory.

Indeed, if this was publicly known, there would be panic in the continent.

“The number of humans that Lunatic King Cain took as his body is said to be several thousand and hundreds of millions.

Don’t you think he’s like a Hell personified, roaming the world?”

“Hell, huh……it’s like a sad one-man play to me.”

“A sad one-man play, huh. What an interesting view.”

Professor laughed throatily

“My bad taste acquaintance had said similar things.

I guess the man named Cain was very lonely.”

“If he was lonely, why was he trying to become a Hell?”

“He resembled a child who collects dolls.

It is theorized that he wasn’t able to endure loneliness, so even a corpse was caught by him.

Well, I think that is extremely far-fetched and sentimental.”

Auguste thought about the lonely Lunatic King who reigned on this continent.

Did he really feel lonely since he collected corpse like dolls?

Perhaps, that was the beginning of the real loneliness instead.

Auguste thought that he wouldn’t be able to bear such loneliness if he was in the same position as the Lunatic King.

On the day of the Advent Festival, he had peeped at the other side of the boundary for a moment.

He felt glad that he could come back from there.

The girl who found himself inside the coffin suddenly came to Auguste’s mind.

“Well, Auguste. Is the explanation sufficient?”

“Aa, for the time being, I understand why this Aaru supposition is prohibited.

This might be the source of rumors that vampires may still exist.”

“That is correct. If you understand, it will be nice if you return it to its place properly.”

“Oops, I wonder what should I do……”

Auguste said so in a joking tone of voice, then pondered about it for a moment.

Touching on heretical things had a pleasant allure to it.

If one touched on it too much, one was likely to step into a world where one couldn’t go back.

In the gap between logic and curiosity, Auguste wavered.

Auguste traced the signature on the cover of the draft with a finger and a smile formed on his lips.

“Professor, how about with exchange condition. I want to talk to the person who made this material.”

“The older brother of Bort of the Evil Eye, Oswald Bort. You want to see him?”

“Aa. Is it useless?”

“That’s an unreasonable request. Unfortunately, he died a long time ago.”

When he heard the answer, Auguste was a little disappointed.

But at the same time, he felt like it was natural.

The subject he chose for his research was beyond reckless.

“I see. Well, there is no choice. A different condition……”

“I can predict what you want.

Is it another paper written by Oswald Bort, or his death certificate?

Both had been taken out to be submitted as a report.”

The voice sounded from the back of the room cut off Auguste’s words.

Unexpectedly, the candlestick candle placed on the desk burned out and disappeared.

There, a Theurge was sitting in a way so that he sank into his chair relaxedly.

The black dragon who was released from control closed his eyes and fell asleep on the carpet.

In exchange, the Theurge slowly opened his eyes as if waking up from a light sleep.

In the darkness, reddish purple eyes looked at Auguste.

“Oh, welcome home, Professor. Where are you going this time?”

“There is no need for you to know. So, what about the transaction?”

Professor took out several envelopes from his desk drawers.

His expression was wrapped in darkness, and it couldn’t be seen from Auguste’s position.

“I want to know, and Professor wants to teach.

And if someone has to know, I have the qualification and duty for it.

Then, the answer is obvious, right?”

Auguste stood up from his chair and stepped into the dark.

Professor’s reddish purple eyes which were sparkling in the moonlight, narrowed in satisfaction.

---

The history on the first part of this chapter is derived from Egyptian mythology, about Osiris and Set. Osiris’ other name was Wesir, while Set’s other name was Setekh. In the myth, Osiris was killed by Set who wanted the throne. His body then found by Isis (his sister & wife) and she hid it in the reeds. But then it was found by Set again and dismembered by him. Isis joined the dismembered pieces of Osiris, briefly brought him back to life and impregnated by him before he again died. Then Isis gave birth to Horus. (Osiris, Set)

Aaru is an Egyptian word. It means reeds. The Field of Aaru or the Field of Reeds is the heavenly paradise where souls will exist in pleasure for all eternity. (source) But the word for ‘afterlife/hell/heaven/underworld’ is the same which is ‘冥府‘. So that it makes sense, I use ‘Hell’ as the translation.

¹ Ankh: an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that represents the word for ‘life’. The sign has a cross shape but with an oval loop in place of an upper bar. (source)

And yes, there are two types of undead slaves of Casketia:

屍鬼 – Ghouls, and the technique of making this type will be called ghoulification.

屍者 – Zombies, and the technique of making this type will be called zombification.

Even though they used the same kanji whether they were referring to the slave or the technique -,-