***
The old man Rasid grimaced as he looked at the boy who had his head buried in the bowl like a dog. He told him in a low voice not to eat like that, but the boy didn't even pretend to hear.
He let out a long breath and said.
“The beginning was when I was twenty. It was a very hot summer.”
#
Under the hot, pouring sunlight, twenty-year-old young Rasid was climbing a ladder. The ladder was leaning against an incredibly high fortress wall, and soldiers holding long spears were shouting at him from atop the wall. And soon, spears were thrust at him along with all sorts of insults.
Rasid held the ladder with his left hand and slightly twisted his body, while snatching the spear with his right hand and pulling it hard. The soldier fell off the wall before he could even let go of the spear. When the enemy hesitated in shock at that impact, he quickly climbed to the end of the ladder and jumped onto the wall.
Stop him, stop him, the defense soldiers shouted and rushed at him.
However, their attacks were blocked by his plate armor, and Rasid slaughtered the enemies while wielding his sword and hammer.
“Damn it.”
After rampaging once, there were no enemies left on the wall.
“It is damn hot.”
He gasped for breath and held his knees. Could there be anything more terrible than covering one’s entire body in iron plates under the midsummer sun? He was even wearing an arming doublet inside the iron plates.
He took off his helmet and held the water pouch hanging from his waist. Even though it was lukewarm, his thirst was quenched and his energy was slightly restored. After shaking his sweaty and flattened hair once, he looked around.
The panoramic view of the city came into full view.
It was a large city named Karmaya. Originally a base for a certain high nobleman, the citizens had driven out the master, bought a title from the king, and started self-governance.
Since then, they had been accumulating wealth based on trade, but enemies who coveted the wealth they accumulated had appeared, and that was the Lord Rasid served.
“Is it over?”
With a thud, the castle gate was breached.
Immediately after the wall was occupied, the castle gate also broke, unable to withstand the impact. The shouts of the besieging side rang out loudly. The defense soldiers who were somehow holding on behind the castle gate turned their backs and began to run.
If you breach the castle gate, do not accept surrender—that saying is not for nothing. Moreover, with the wall having already fallen to the enemy, there was no way to win even if they resisted.
One side became the fugitives and the other side became the pursuers while screaming and shouting louder. Rasid looked at that scene where flames were rising throughout the city without expression.
“Rasid.”
Tap, an old knight struck his back. Rasid gave him a silent bow. He praised Rasid with a few words and continued speaking.
“It is the Lord’s command. Go and catch an old man.”
“Who do you mean?”
At Rasid’s question, the old knight shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, they say he is an alchemist. It seems the Lord heard some strange rumor... I wonder if he hasn't already run away, but since he is urging to catch him, there is no choice.”
“I understand.”
He immediately went down the wall and headed for the alchemist’s mansion. It was a grand mansion. As if it were an embassy of some great nation, it had three floors made of stone.
When Rasid’s party arrived at the grand mansion, the mansion welcomed them with its main gate wide open. For such a mansion, the guards who should have been there only left traces of thrown spears, and the same was true for other servants.
“It seems we are late.”
“Still, we should check.”
Rasid and his subordinates scattered and searched every corner of the mansion.
There were quite many rooms, but most were storerooms. There were only a few spaces where people resided, and all sorts of materials were piled up. There were no valuable items either. If it was an alchemist, one would think of gold or silver, but such precious metals had already been touched.
“Um?”
The place where he stopped was a wide workshop. Traces of work from a moment ago were evident. A fire was lit in the furnace.
A cauldron was placed on it, and an unknown black liquid bubbled inside. The smell was unpleasantly foul, to say the least. As soon as he stuck his face in to look closely, gastric juices backflowed, and he quickly pulled his body back.
‘What were they making?’
He let out an oath and examined the metal pipe attached to the side of the cauldron. The pipe passed through several structures in between, and its diameter narrowed, eventually narrowing to the size of a pinky finger on the table and pointing downward.
A vivid purple liquid was contained in a glass bottle below. The bottle was small enough to be hidden by wrapping one’s palm around it. When Rasid discovered it, it was filled to the point of almost overflowing. He thought he should close it without much thought and reached for the stopper next to it.
It was then that a roar erupted from behind him.
“Do not touch it!”
He turned around in surprise to see a young man standing at the workshop door, glaring at him. He was wearing a white toga, and seeing the gold-embroidered pattern on the toga, he was no ordinary person.
Rasid placed his hand on his waist and took a step forward.
“Look here...”
“Begone! You uncivilized fellow!”
Just as he was about to speak, the young man stretched out his right hand toward Rasid. At first glance, it looked like a gesture saying "Do not come," but Rasid noticed mana gathering in front of the hand.
He reflexively twisted his body.
Almost at the same time, the wall behind him crumbled like sand.
“Holy shit!”
As Rasid hurriedly drew his sword, the young man aimed his hand again. Rasid judged that rushing in would be too late, so he reached out his other hand to the table and threw an object. It was a jade-colored stone, and it exploded when it collided with the wave of mana the young man fired.
Everything inside the workshop was overturned by the impact of the explosion.
Rasid tumbled past the wall that had turned into sand and struggled to lift his head. He saw the young man moving through the dust. He was not finishing off Rasid, but hurriedly grabbing the glass bottle rolling on the table and picking up the liquid spilled around it.
He did not miss that opportunity. While the opponent’s attention was diverted, he rushed in and delivered a blow. The blade pierced the young man’s back and penetrated his heart.
“——!”
Instead of a scream, a sound of escaping air came from his mouth.
However, the young man did not collapse. He began to struggle, reaching back his arms as if trying to grab Rasid. Rasid was flustered by the sight of him enduring even after his heart was pierced, so he pushed him aside and kicked him.
The young man rolled over the oil spilled by the explosion and collided with the furnace, setting his whole body on fire. Rasid blocked the entrance to the workshop and waited for him to burn to death.
The time it took to get there was short.
Rasid spat out saliva mixed with blood.
“Sir Rasid!”
The hurried footsteps of soldiers were heard afterward. Rasid looked down at the body for a moment, then picked up the glass bottle, plugged it with the stopper, and put it in his pocket.
“Are you alright?”
Answering that he was fine, he ordered the body and the workshop to be preserved. The soldiers asked who the body was, but he had nothing to say. Judging by the age, he only guessed that he might have been the alchemist’s son.
After the city mopping-up was over, the old knight visited the mansion with the Lord. While the Lord was observing the mansion, Rasid came out with the old knight. He put a cigarette in his mouth and spoke.
“That body.”
“Yes.”
“It seems that was the alchemist the Lord was looking for.”
Rasid’s eyes went wide.
“That makes no sense. He looked to be about my age.”
“He was similar to you? Not an old man?”
The old knight frowned, but when Rasid nodded with a firm expression, he took a deep breath of the cigarette and exhaled.
“Perhaps that is why the Lord was tempted.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That is what the owner of this mansion was researching.”
Eternal life, the old knight continued speaking.
“Something humans desire above all else—rumors spread that some madman was researching it. Even if they could just live a long time without aging like dwarves or elves, wouldn't there be more than one or two tribes who would spend a thousand gold? I wondered why the Lord fell for such a rumor, and now I see.”
Rasid muttered while recalling the young man who burned to death.
“If so, he succeeded to some extent.”
“Succeeded?”
“Did he not obtain youth?” This story is hosted at g.com.
The old knight let out a hollow laugh.
“Look here, Rasid. Do not get carried away.”
When Rasid asked what he meant, the old knight pressed Rasid’s chest with his index finger and answered.
“I mean, do not have strange thoughts. I, for one, have never seen anyone who was sane or met a proper end among those who pursued eternal life.”
He threw the finished cigarette on the ground and stomped on it.
“Eternal life has never succeeded even once. At most, it just slows down aging. You cannot live your whole life as a green fledgling. Just as the rumors called him a madman, there must surely be a serious problem somewhere.”
Rasid shut his mouth. His slightly tilted head suggested that the answer did not satisfy him, but the old knight did not notice. Nor did he notice Rasid surreptitiously putting his hand in his pocket and fiddling around.
“Do not worry about killing the alchemist. The Lord’s interest will soon cool down. Since he is a wise person, he will be satisfied with just collecting the items left in the mansion. What great thing could there be?”
The old knight spoke while patting Rasid’s shoulder.
#
A few months later, Rasid returned to his hometown.
Having received thick rewards after being recognized for his merits by the Lord, his shoulders were quite stiff with pride. He laid out his heroic tales to his wife, and in that process, he also talked about the alchemist. He had no intention of confessing the fact that he had stolen the glass bottle.
It was just his intention to brag to his wife that he had cut down a sorcerer with a single stroke. However, his wife pried into the item he had stolen as a trophy.
“Why did you do that?”
His wife spoke while immediately letting out a sigh.
“You aren't that kind of person.”
“What do you mean, not that kind of person?”
Rasid frowned while scratching the back of his neck at his wife’s question. To be treated like a sinner while pleasantly reciting his boasts? He raised his voice.
“I told you that fellow almost killed me. Do you want me to foolishly step back even after being in danger? There is no problem with taking this much as a price.”
His wife stared and tossed out another question.
“Wouldn't it be better to get it confirmed by the priest?”
“No! Then I have to explain. What should I say if he asks how I obtained it? Even if I tell the truth, do you think the priest will keep the secret?”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“What else? I just have to keep it.”
He took the glass bottle from his bosom and shook it gently. Because it had been overturned once, the contents were a little more than half full. His wife’s pupils trembled as she saw the purple liquid sloshing before her eyes.
“What are you so anxious about that you are scared?”
“You know our mother was called a witch, right?”
Her personality was a bit unusual, Rasid bypassed it.
“She was a person with excessive desire for knowledge. If there was something she felt she didn't know, she dug in until she found out, and because of that, she committed many acts that went against the norms.”
“Just get to the point, get to the point.”
“There is a maxim this mother taught me. ‘Do not covet eternal life.’ Like the dwarves who invaded the heavens, eternal life is something humans cannot look at, and must not look at.”
“Another story of the great gods.”
Rasid shook his head.
“Well, I also do not think this is a medicine for eternal life. If it were, that fellow would have drunk it long ago and killed me. However... seeing his state, I think I could sell it for a very high price.”
He looked at his wife, whose expression was still frozen.
“Later, if I get a chance to go far away, I will check what the efficacy of this is and dispose of it. It is not like I am going to drink it. You will be satisfied with this much, right?”
Only then did his wife shut her mouth.
And for a while, the two forgot about the glass bottle.
Since there was no reason to go outside the territory, and because his wife had her first child, they were distracted. In a simple life, there was no room for eternal life to intervene. The promise to dispose of it was also not kept.
The time he recalled it again was nine years later.