BEM: Chapter 38 – Question and Answer #1

Question and Answer #1

Due to Gluttony’s hungry status, Theo first picked out two books .  As soon as he put the books on the bedspread and aimed his left hand in that direction, the hungry tongue quickly swallowed the two books .

 

[‘Power of Sand and Wind’ has been consumed . Your understanding is very high . ]

[4th Circle magic ‘Sandstorm’ has been learned . ]

[‘Surviving in Cold Weather’ has been consumed . Your understanding is very high . ]

[3rd Circle magic ‘Resist Cold’ has been learned . ]

 

The books Gluttony had ate today were on the magics, Sandstorm, which was required in a desert, and Resist Cold, which was needed in a cold area .  Gluttony fed on two books and quickly sent their knowledge to Theodore .

“Huuuu…”

The sensation of two magic spells entering Theo’s brain was still strange .  Above all, 4th Circle magic contained quite a lot of information . Theo took a deep breath to calm the aftermath, then he opened his eyes .

At the same time, Gluttony started speaking,

-Two books, it seems like you have a question to ask today .

‘Why is there a sense of discomfort?’ Theodore wondered before realizing that Gluttony’s tone had changed .

The speech, which used to be cut off, now sounded like a normal person .  Wondering why the change had happened, Theo asked, “You… Hasn’t your way of talking changed?”

–Hrmm?

“Before… you would break off from what you were saying . ”

Gluttony snorted and responded,

–It is because you have fed me a large number of artifacts recently .  It isn’t enough to unseal the next stage, but it did recover my voice .

“…There was such a function . ”

–It is just retrieving my original function .  Or did you think I normally spoke like that?

Now that it had recovered its voice, Gluttony talked with more pride than before . Feeding it books would cause it to grow faster, while it almost vomited when Theo fed it cheap artifacts .  If he continued listening, this might continue for days, so Theo interrupted Gluttony . “Wait, I’d like to ask you one more thing . ”

Gluttony stopped talking and then asked,

–Aren’t you slow?

“Huh?”

–I answered your question already .  Isn’t the question regarding why my way of talking changed?

Theo’s expression grew distorted .  It would only be a one-day wait, but anyone would be frustrated at wasting all that preparation time .  However, that frustration soon changed to irritation .

–It is a joke .

“…What?

–Don’t you know? Jokes are words meant to cause amusements…

“No, I know what a joke is!”

To think that Gluttony was someone who could play around like this… The grimoire really was a strange creature . The main story hadn’t even started, but Theo was already exhausted . He sighed a few times before opening his mouth to speak again . Fortunately, the previous question hadn’t counted as a question for an answer .

“Can I transfer my right to ask a question to others?”

Gluttony made an interested noise .

–Hoh, how interesting .

Was Theo imagining it? An ‘eye’ seemed to appear at the hole the tongue emerged from . It looked at Vince standing beside Theodore and understood the meaning of the question .  Even if it said no, Theo was ready to ask the question which Vince had prepared .

Unsurprisingly, Gluttony readily replied,

–It doesn’t really matter .  You are the first person to do such a transaction, but there isn’t a problem with the action itself .

“…Go ahead, Professor . ”

“Thank you for your concern . ”

Theo stepped back, while Vince moved forward . Vince was slightly different than usual due to his excitement at communicating with the greedy book .  It was the feeling of a magician finally reaching an answer after running down a long, unknown road .

Vince asked in a trembling voice, “Can I call you, ‘Gluttony’?”

–Any title is good .  Do I seem like I care about such trivial things?

“I see . Then let me ask you a question . ” He took a deep breath and after several tries, finally asked the question that he had decided, “I want you to teach me about the relationship between language and magic . ”

 

***

In the far distant past, magic had existed before humans even gave a name for it .

Elves who had lived for thousands of years, dragons who had lived for tens of thousands of years, demons tied to a false eternity, and countless other species all used magic power under different names .

Additionally, the magic system was different for each species .

Elves danced with the elementals, while dwarves hit metal using fire and earth .  Demons mocked the laws using strange rituals, and dragons made the world struggle with just a few powerful words .  

Humans were the only ones born without any power .  They stole the song of the elves, tapped iron like the dwarves, and sometimes mimicked the rituals of demons .

The first millennium was meaningless .  However, the next millennium saw a bit of light .  Then in the next millennium, the concept of circles was finally completed . For the first time since the beginning of the world, ‘magicians’ were born into the human species .

Several thousand years had passed by since then, and the grimoire, which had existed since before the foundation of this world, replied to the question of the human magician .

-The question is too comprehensive .  To completely explain the relationship between language and magic, there isn’t enough time in your life .

“What if it is limited to the human language?”

–It is the same .  There are 526 minority languages, so the amount of information exceeds the limit allowed for one question .

“Hrmm . ” It was a difficult situation, so Vince touched his chin while thinking .

In the magic towers where the magicians of the continent gathered, there were few who studied archaeology . Hundreds of thousands of monuments had been destroyed in the past two centuries due to wars, so many previous records had been lost .

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that there was no way to explore the forgotten ancient languages except through something like a grimoire .  Vince struggled for awhile before opening his mouth, “Then please tell me why the words of the ancient languages and modern language cause different magic effects . ”

He gave up his greed . Rather than trying to find out too much at once, Vince asked the question he had been facing recently .  Words which had the same meaning were often used interchangeably . He wanted to know why it was sometimes more powerful and sometimes weaker .

–That is fine .

Gluttony accepted the question .

-I will define one thing first .  I don’t know what you human magicians think, but magic is the act of persuading the magic power in the world .  It can be said that you are earnestly asking for it to move .

“Persuasion… That sounds plausible . ”

–I will continue .  The concept of ‘language’ that you are asking about involves persuasiveness .  The closer to the beginning things are, the more the world will listen to the voice of the magician .

Vince’s expression turned strange at the words . Certainly, magic which used ancient languages was more powerful and efficient than modern ones . That was the beginning of his archaeological research .

However, it didn’t manifest frequently, so such incompleteness was a big challenge for Vince .  Fortunately, Gluttony explained the part Vince was wondering about without any delay .

–Language is a contradictory medium .  Reducing the number of users increases the power . But on the other hand, if there are more users, its existence becomes firmer .  If there are few or no users left, the meaning of the ancient language becomes ambiguous .

“I thought I understood ancient languages in my own way . ”

–It is insufficient compared to the real ancient people .  Unless you can replace your daily life with the ancient language, it will be hard to take advantage of it .

As it was a grimoire, its words were more devastating .  Even if Vince’s research skills were perfect, his language skills were significantly lower than the people who lived in those days .  Setting aside simple words, it would become more severe if he used magic spells which involved sentences or paragraphs . That’s why it was hard to use ancient languages at higher circles .

Vince listened to the painful words and accepted it .

–What is the name of the ancient language that you are researching?

“It is called Balcard . ”

–It remains in my records .  It was a language used during the time of the Balcia Empire, when magic was at its peak .  Foreigners couldn’t follow the pronunciation well .

At that moment, enlightenment struck Vince like lightning .  He muttered unconsciously with a bemused expression, “…Pronunciation?”

-The true value of the Balcard language can’t be seen unless the eight syllables are pronounced harmoniously .

-The same goes for any language .  The pronunciation and expression of a language is settled by standard usage .

-The world accepts the courtship of magicians on the basis of words…

It was up to there .  Vince couldn’t hear anything else .

This was a type of phenomenon called cognitive load .  Vince himself had blocked the influx of information since it had exceeded the amount he could handle .  He could feel his head turning blank, so any more words would break his brain!

Huuuuong!

Suddenly, a wave of magic power emerged from Vince and gently swept through the room .  It was a phenomenon which Theo had encountered once before .  During the final match of the Pupil Tournament, he had felt a wave of magic power coming from Sylvia . The fact that the same surge came from Vince could only mean one thing .

‘He crossed the wall!’ A thrill ran down Theo’s spine as he watched Vince while in awe .

There was no other choice .  Before Theo’s eyes, a 6th Circle magician was coming out of his shell .  There were only around 100 6th Circle magicians in the Meltor Kingdom, so how could he not pay homage to Vince as a man and a magician?

However, there was one presence in the room which wasn’t moved .

-Hey, user .

At the sudden call, Theo looked back like he had been deprived of something .

“What? It is over, so you should go to sleep again . ”

–I guess you are joking .  Normally I would be sleeping, so I understand .

“…So, what is your point?”

Normally, it wouldn’t say anything and would just fall asleep .  Theo was aware of this guy’s physiology, and it was just as it had said .

Gluttony seemed embarrassed, and its tongue waved around like it was drunk .  However, that reaction lasted for only a second .

–I have advice for rapid growth .  At this rate, you would be old and dying before you unlock all the seals .

“What is it?”

–As you might have guessed, I have a few more hidden features .  Unlike Memorize, unsealing them is something that can’t be done without fulfilling special conditions .

Gluttony spoke in a low voice, just like the temptation of a demon in the legends .

–I’ll teach you one of the hidden functions, without any conditions .