User:Démiurge
Chapitre 1 : Un autre âge (Relativisme)
Quand la marionnette a rencontré le bébé oiseau pour la première fois, Sur le dos de l'oiseau se trouvaient de grandes ailes. Ces ailes blanches pouvaient sûrement aller n'importe où. La marionnette vide le souhaitait : Je veux voir ce que cet oiseau voit. L'oiseau éblouissant avait tout ce que la marionnette n'avait pas, Pourtant, il n'avait pas de maison. Surpris de trouver Qu'il pourrait devenir la maison de l'oiseau, La marionnette sourit et jure du fond du cœur :
Je serai ta maison. Nous serons toujours ensemble... Ils ont croisé leurs petits doigts et juré...
Partie 1
Sora et Shiro, après avoir longuement réfléchi, sont revenus sur le problème en question. Le problème était le Nain présumé couché sur le lit devant eux. Le Nain - dont le sexe est encore indéterminé - était drapé dans ce qui ressemblait à un manteau de pompier. En fait, ce n'était même pas la plus grande question. Si Ymirein ne leur avait rien dit, Sora et Shiro n'auraient même pas été sûrs qu'il s'agissait d'un être vivant. Cet "objet X" ressemblait plus à un sac à dos. Ils avaient demandé à Jibril de ramasser l'objet par terre, de le porter, de le rincer et de le jeter sur le lit... Et maintenant...
"Il ne se lèvera toujours pas. Que faire ?"
"... Frère... Es-tu... sûr, il est vivant ?"
— ils n'étaient même pas sûrs que cette chose de pierre était vivante ou morte. Alors qu'ils étaient de plus en plus nerveux, Jibril s'agenouilla solennellement et les informa :
"Ce qui est ramassé dans votre champ vous appartient, mes maîtres. Je crois que vous pouvez en disposer comme bon vous semble.♥”
...Pour les besoins de l'argumentation absurde, supposons que cette absurdité ridicule soit vraie. Quand bien même !
"Tu dis que cette chose barbue et de travers nous appartient ? ! Non, merci ! Je veux juste le réveiller et lui dire, 'S'il te plaît, rentre chez toi'. Mais comment on fait ça ?!"
Sora howled as he remembered the disappointment of the day he had first observed the appearance of Dwarves.
…Indeed—he’d had hopes. In this world, the Werebeasts had been animal girls. The Sirens had been mermaids as opposed to fish monsters. The Elves had been pale, blond, and long-eared, just as one would hope—this world had brought his dreams to life! Under the circumstances, of course he’d imagined the Dwarves as superstrong manga girls or porn-game legal Lolis!! Who would’ve thought they’d be buff and bearded regardless of sex as in the classics?!
…But dreams were only dreams. Sora wept at the bitter reality.
“If I may, Master, please, please give the matter more thought.”
Jibril folded her wings and put her hands together in prayer.
"—There is no greater thing in this world than a Dwarf.”
……
……Hold up. Is it about to start raining meteorites? Shiro and Sora compulsively looked out the window, fearing for the day’s weather prospects.
“After all, they use catalysts such as this to bring out magic.”
Jibril waved a hammer of mechanical structure—a giant hammer, about the size of Sora, that had been buried in the ground with Object X. They didn’t know the details of this “catalyst” thing Jibril was talking about, but…
“What…? You’re saying they can’t use magic without some magic wand–type item?”
“…? You call that, great…? More like…weak sauce…amirite…?”
Instantly reminded of Sunday-morning cartoons, Sora and Shiro were both skeptical. Magical girls were always given items to fulfill their great destiny of selling toys. What great destiny did this Dwarf shoulder? their eyes asked.
There are spiritual materials in the bodies of Dwarves. Their bodies are protected by mithril hair, and their eyes are made of orichalcum.” Jibril swallowed. “When they manipulate spirits in their bodies, the mithril naturally amplifies the spirits…which in the worst case may cause an overload—a loss of control. Therefore, to use magic, they use their orichalcum to synchronize the spirits externally, with catalysts."
Sora and Shiro narrowed their eyes further at her reply.
@
Ah yes, I see, that’s magic…also known as bullshit. It could never be understood in its details by normal humans like Sora and Shiro. But basically, was she saying that Dwarves couldn’t use magic without their wands? No, she was saying that they were just so powerful they couldn’t control it without their wands.
…Sora understood, at least, that this was the stuff of every little boy’s dreams. He was impressed.
“Furthermore, they combine multiple catalysts with intricate seal-rite patterns, structuring the rites to be mobile, adjustable, and modular. By synchronizing with the catalysts that form the core of these mechanisms, Dwarves are able to cast multiple spells at once, allowing them to emulate the Elves’ unique specialty of multi-casting. What makes this possible, in short—”
Jibril paused her magical technobabble to raise the hammer before Sora and Shiro before concluding.
“—are these spirit arms."
— Spirit arms…
So, the countless components of this mechanical hammer were all catalysts. And the fine patterns on each of them were seal rites or something? And a Dwarf would combine those to…like, cast some übermagic or something… Having translated it into terms they could understand, Sora and Shiro felt strangely relieved to recognize that, yep, this was some bullshit. But wait:
@
"So, Jibril? That means this Dwarf can’t use magic without this hammer, right?”
“That is correct. Indeed my master is wise. It should be no surprise that you would deduce this fact independently.”
Jibril swallowed again. Sweat ran down Sora’s and Shiro’s cheeks.
—So if it’s so important—
why is Jibril holding it?
“I excavated and claimed this hammer. Yes…I was able to claim it.”
…She’d been able. Yes, able. And what does that mean?
“In light of the fact that the Covenants render theft impossible, that means this hammer is lost property and now belongs to me, who found it—which in turn means that it belongs to you, by the Covenants!!”
“Uh… But isn’t it still obviously against the Covenants to make off with lost property?”
“…If the Dwarf says… ‘Give it, back’…we’ll be forced to…return it…”
Sora and Shiro felt compelled to say what had to be said to the impassioned Jibril, but they got what she was saying. Jibril had a logical basis to assert that the Dwarf belonged to them.
"Yes. If the Dwarf says, ‘Give it back,’ then you will be forced to return it. However, I, like the hammer, am merely your property, and I myself have no right to return it!!” Jibril beamed. “And therefore, even if the Dwarf asks me to return it, I will have no obligation to do so !♪ Though it may be impertinent, I would ask that you vacate this place for a brief time, so that I can compel the Dwarf to indulge me in a little game by the Covenants—and with that the Dwarf will be yours. It is as good as done.♥
@
Indeed, she would make the Dwarf play. She could enforce it. But how?
“Since, without the hammer—without magic—the Dwarf could neither leave this spatially severed room nor win at my game.♥”
Which would leave the Dwarf with two choices: refuse a losing game and never leave, or accept and become property. Having laid out her diabolically brilliant plan, Jibril looked up at them, hoping for praise it seemed.
—Heh. That Jibril… She’s learned a thing or two.
Getting teary eyed, Sora and Shiro smiled and were opening their mouths to give her the compliments for which she so yearned, when they noticed the way Jibril gulped as she crept upon the Dwarf. Gulp. It was the gulp of one who was drooling. They closed their mouths without speaking.
“In which case, my masters? Before you depart—you see, in the Great War, useful materials such as mithril, which amplifies spirits, and orichalcum, which synchronizes souls, were quite easy to procure, but since the Ten Covenants, they have become quite hard to come by. And here we have a walking mother lode…”
Thinking back on Jibril’s words, they realized there was no need to worry about those meteorites.
—There is no greater thing in this world than a Dwarf…
Références
| Revenir au Chapitre 1 | Retourner au Sommaire | Passer au Chapitre 2 |
