There was a time when this continent was home to more than three nations. The people of Mitoa, having come to possess magic, found themselves targeted by many people who coveted their knowledge. It must have been hell for them. Perhaps they decided that if they were only going to be trampled further, they might as well destroy themselves along with the very land where they were born.
But not everyone had given in to despair. Some fled the forest before its destruction. They hid in the mountains within what is now Galesh territory, concealing their distinctive hair colour among the natural greenery, and quietly carried on with their lives.
Master Finn was a child of the new generation, born in the survivor's settlement.
But the peace that had finally come didn't last long.
"I must have been younger than you are now when Galesh found us."
In a feeble voice, Master recounted the past. He said their settlement was suddenly attacked by a large army, and everyone was captured.
"Everyone was forced to work. Women and children alike."
Aptitude for magic isn't determined by bloodline, but the Mitoan people possessed knowledge of magic and their script was used to inscribe magic stones. Every single one of them held equal value.
Day after day, Master and the others were forced to create magic tools for winning wars. Some were sent out to fight. Others were made to work day and night until they died from exhaustion. Master's parents were the latter.
At the time, Galesh had been losing the war, but the introduction of magic apparently allowed them to turn the tide. However, other nations had obtained magic as well.
Even if other Mitoan people had perished, the knowledge they'd already passed on remained. In Traus, for example, the great researcher Clemens Cooei had revived spells from historical records and given rise to the most powerful mage, Ellis Rain. Galesh's advantage on the battlefield was never going to last forever.
"Every time they seize land that was taken away from them, the demand for our magic tools grew greater. And in the end... they ordered us to build that weapon."
The cursed weapon that the Mitoan people had once used to erase themselves along with their forest. It turned out that the large-scale magic, seemingly impossible for any human to wield, had been made possible through a magic tool. The captive Mitoans summoned every last ounce of their strength to resist, since it was the most horrid thing to do.
But they incurred the King's wrath, and the few who remained were killed. Before they perished, they helped Master, the youngest and strongest among them, escape.
The ceasefire was signed not long after that. Drifting through the chaos of the post-war period, Master eventually made his way to Traus.
"Traus was home to a lot of races. It was a chaotic place. They didn't know much about magic either. I thought I could blend in among them."
The ancestors of the Traus royal family, who originally lived a little further north of the capital, had adopted a policy of welcoming people who had fled from lost battles.
A nation where, aside from the royal family, all manner of blood mingled... it may well have been a good place to disappear into.
"Still, I shaved off all my hair just to be safe. Thanks to that, when I first met my wife, she told me I looked scary."
Master stroked his head and laughed. Just a little sadly. The time he'd spent with his wife must have been a brief yet precious moment of happiness.
What came after was as I'd heard before. Needing money for his sick wife's medicine, he sold himself to the Traus royal palace, and that was how he ended up here. The reason Master Finn had been taken in by the palace, and given a secluded room in the workshop... because he was a survivor of the Mitoan people.
"...They didn't treat you badly in Traus?"
I asked, hesitating a little.
"No, they were satisfied just with me teaching them how to make magical tools. They did ask about powerful spells and such, but my wife passed away soon after, and I became practically useless."
Master said self-deprecatingly.
"Are you hiding that you're a survivor?"
At school, we were taught that the Mitoan people had all perished. And from Irena-san's attitude in the carriage, I got the sense that she wanted to keep it a secret.
"Probably because the blood of the Mitoan people poses a kind of threat. In truth, I don't know the deeper workings of magic, and I can't use powerful magic either. But people seem to think I'm capable of doing something terrifying and it would be hassle if people caused a commotion because of my race."
The Mitoan people, who were the first to possess magic, must be viewed with a strange mix of expectations and awe. Even I had assumed that asking someone of that bloodline would reveal new things.
"Even you don't know the secrets of magic, Master?"
"It might be because I was just a child, but I think even the adults in our settlement didn't know all that much. The Mitoans who perished must have taken everything with them."
"...I see."
Perhaps different generations held different levels of knowledge. It was a shame that those secrets had been lost, but if knowing too much would have only brought Master more suffering, then perhaps it was better this way. That was likely also why Master hadn't wanted to teach Lux-san magic.
"We were cursed by God."
Master repeated.
"Magic has taken countless lives and ruined the lives of those who survived. This was a power that humans should never have obtained. And yet, the curse has already been spread across the entire continent. There is no way to undo it now. It is an eternal, unbreakable curse of death."
Master hung his head and covered his face with both hands.
"...I wanted to teach that child too, you know."
What followed was probably a confession of the guilt he felt towards his child who had run away from home.
"Rather than scolding a child whose eyes shone with pure fascination towards magic... But magic invites disaster. I will never forget. The prison floor where the blood never dried, my kin forced to work with stakes driven through their feet, the withered bodies of my parents at the end. I cannot forget that despair. No one should ever know magic, should ever possess it..."
Magic had brought the tragedy of slaughter upon those who wielded it. It was a "cursed" power that bred only misery.
That couldn't be denied... But.
"...Magic saved the people in El Alley."
Just imagine. It would have taken more time to solve the pollution problem if magic hadn't existed. Many more people would have had to endure their suffering for far longer.
"That's thanks to you, Master."
You taught me as you struggled to keep living through all that pain and sorrow. Even Lux-san, who helped me, had learned magic indirectly from you.
Mana is energy that can be converted into anything. There is no good or evil in it. We just have to think hard and be mindful, so that we can make this power into a blessing. So that no one ever has to feel that despair again.
"Everyone only uses this power to destroy because they don't know any better. Let's show them that there are other ways to use it!"
We can't go back to a past of ignorance, so we can only move forward into a future where we know more.
Right? When I pressed further, Master raised his head.
"...Sometimes, the way you pester me relentlessly to teach you how to carve magic stones... you reminded me of Lux."
"And that's why you were cold to me?"
"Don't be angry. I'm sorry."
"Now then," Master slapped his knees.
"Shall we?"
"Let's."
That was enough of the sad stories. Without ever forgetting the past, we would carry it forward into tomorrow for as long as we lived.
Hope was already in our hands.