Chapter 23 : Bellpot

It has been three days since Katachi has set off from the Sage Raufid Magus Academy. With a school-sponsored, brand new backpack, Katachi has finally arrived at his first destination - Bellpot.

Bellpot, the City of Hardauten, is a marketplace famous for commerce. Because of its interesting location near a special green sea, it is often best known for its exotic salts. Salt from Oceandrift moss that preserves food, salts from Jjtungi fruits that enhance foods' flavor, aromatic salts said to be good for the body, salts that can heal injuries when applied onto the wounds, many varieties of salts can be found here - And that is no wonder why many traders and merchants have come from far and wide, to exchange resources like lumber, ores, food and information.

There are a lot of magi to be found in this region as well - Magi that have graduated from the Sage Raufid Magus Academy itself, magi that were raised firsthand by families of a lesser known background, magi whom have gambled all their gold away and have settled here to live days by, magi that have come from far and wide to observe, admire and research upon these salts. Some would use the salts to combine them with different foods, some others with different medicine, and then there are those extreme magi that use the salts themselves as a medium for magic, usually to create aroma phantoms or cast some form of fortune telling (which was, more often than not, fake.)

Many magi gather at Bellpot because of its wonderful assortment of materiel and salts available for them.

It is no surprise to see a once-magus beggar on the streets, offering to enchant salts for a small fee, to get by for a living. It was also not alarming to find these very magi curse the salts of rude customers, so there was rarely, if any disrespect towards these beggars.

It is a place favored by merchants and magi alike.

Katachi walked on the stone road, his wooden sabots clicking against the rocks loudly - He did not wish for his brand new leather shoes to be dirtied, or worn out just yet, so he is currently wearing the sabots until they wear out completely.

He had heard from Bertund to search out 'strange' areas around the vicinity. These 'strange' areas that create an unnatural event are often the areas to look out for, because the possibility of there being a 'Sealed Room', or even the Word of Power itself, may be nearby.

The 'Sealed Room's.

They are rooms of citadels, castles and forts decades past, whom were rudely robbed by 292 mighty, great sorcerors - The very ones whom have created these Words of Power. The rooms are special, for it is said that the sorcerors took the rooms of castles all around the world, and transported them into another dimension, one that was uncommon and unknown, unlike Cosmatral Neud, Tlod or Silo, or some of the other more common dimensions. The rooms were apparently required to trap these Words of Power within, but the magic proved too much, even for these great sorcerors.

It was not possible to seal the magic completely.

The magic leaked out, and seeped through the dimensions, sometimes into the Human Dimension, sometimes into other dimensions, and that alone was enough to create a magical change. The space and general vicinity of these affected areas often has a certain interesting characteristic to it, usually relating back to the Word of Power itself.

Katachi remembers one of the tragedies these residual magics have caused, from the rumors spread by the adults in Mielfeud. It was the most severe amongst all the rumors, where one of the Words of Power had its power leaked over an entire village - That caused everybody within the village to become faceless. The very thought shakes up just about anyone from within - The entire incident was resolved when one little, faceless boy, after climbing past countless bodies of the dead that were unfortunate enough to fall victim to the Sealed Room's corridor traps, arrived at the Sealed Room itself, and used the Word of Power within to undo the faceless phenomena.

Though the village regained their faces, the dead did not regain their lives.

That was a really gruesome event that sparked an immediate need for Words of Power hunters.

*** ***

Katachi walked towards the fountain in the town square of Bellpot. Sitting upon it, Katachi lays his backpack down to a side, and pulls out the wooden dagger he received, or more appropriately taken without permission from the Sage Raufid Young Magus Tournament.

On the dagger itself were carvings.

More appropriately, the carving itself was shaped into a single engraving of the character 定.

Recalling the bamboo scrolls at home, Katachi closes his eyes. The Words of Power have a few known methods of raising the precedence level. The first is the most direct method - To understand and know more about the character itself. The second, is to reduce the amount of cloud words used - If a word can create a phrase of a specific meaning, then, most likely, it is possible to rephrase it such that the number of cloud words is lessened while retaining the same meaning.

Another method of increasing the precedence levels is to create a place for the Word of Power to reside in - A chamber, a carving, some place for the Word of Power to fit snugly. By believing that the Word of Power itself is not an extension of an object, but rather a part that makes an object complete, the precedence level is increased through the owner's subconscious belief and image power.

There are other methods as well, but Katachi wanted to focus on this one for now. With the free carving pick gifted by one of the students, he continues to scrape out a slot for the Word of Power. He continues this for about 20 minutes...

... Then.

A little boy, being chased by an older couple, collided headfirst with Katachi.

Tackling Katachi into the fountain, the boy hugged Katachi as tightly as he could. They both formed a large splash in the fountain, and that soaked Katachi, his pick and dagger, and the boy.

"TONQUAT!!! Let go of that kid this instant!"

The male of the couple, a rather brash man with hairy, muscular arms, a collared checkered shirt, rough trousers and a gruff face, barked at the boy Tonquat who was still hugging Katachi in the fountain. The frail, less physically able lady next to him, one in a plain brown dress, was clutching his left arm and panting.

T : "I don't wanna! You'll just spank me again, and again, and again!"

"Come home with us now, child! If I don't fix you today, I will-"

"Sire, please, spare the child! He has had enough!"

"Not yet, love! This child needs it beaten into him before he learns not to steal from our neighbours!"

"Sire, no!-"

Katachi clasped the child between his hands, and stood up. The child, surprised by the action, loosened his grip, which allowed Katachi to put him onto the fountain's rim.

K : "... Ah... My clothes..."

Katachi's old, tattered clothes were soaked. Thankfully, Katachi had already changed out of his school uniform and back to his simple, common wear, which helped the new clothes avoid a watery fate. The lady, upon seeing the child Tonquat safe and unharmed on the fountain rim, heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh, my! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

The lady hurriedly walked towards the fountain and picked her little boy, Tonquat, up. She apologized to Katachi in a panicky manner, and offered to clean Katachi's clothes for him. Katachi had wanted to refuse at first, but the splash apparently overflowed past the fountain's rim and dampened his nice, clean groundsheet. Without the time to establish a makeshift clothes line, Katachi took up the kind offer, and followed them to Tonquat's house.

With the man pulling Tonquat's ears throughout the entire walk.

*** ***

K : "Th-... Thank you for the hospitality."

"Please, don't mention it. It is the least we can do for having him drench your clothes and groundsheet."

"We would also like to take the opportunity to thank you for helping us catch that child."

The two parents sat on the wooden dining table, with Katachi on the opposite side.

K : "I see, but it's a bit much, to even provide dinner for me..."

"... Young man, you don't look too old yourself. Are you... Uh..."

The couple looked at each other. The man was staring with fierce eyes, while the woman showed a worried expression.

"... Travelling, perhaps?"

The man's eyes drooped a little upon hearing her continuation of the sentence.

K : "Yes ma'am. I am indeed travelling around."

"... I see..."

The lady relaxed a little, and leaned against the chair's backrest comfortably.

"What's your name, child?"

K : "Me? I... I'm Katachi. Kotsuba Katachi."

"That name... Ohdean?... Ohde is a far, far place off from here, young man. Are you okay?"

K : "Yes, I am perfectly fine, ma'am... Uhm... Would it be okay if I addressed you two by your names as well?"

"Most certainly."
"Most definitely."

N : "I would be the head of this household, Nicholas Demanti. Be sure to address me as Mister Demanti."

F : "And I would be his wife, Froile Demanti. You may call me Missus Demanti."

Pointing at them in sequence, Katachi kept the conversation going.

K : "... Okay. Mister Demanti, Missus Demanti... I have a question, Mister Demanti."

N : "Speak."

K : "Are you from Rugnud, by any chance?"

N : "... Yes. Yes I am."

K : "Ah. That would kind-of explain your name - Nicholas is a common name in Rugnud, is it not?"

N : "Yes it is. You are knowledgeable for your age, child- I mean, Mister Katachi."

K : "I see... So, you're from Rugnud, so you wouldn't know too much about this town..."

F : "If you need an aide or a guide through Bellpot's markets, you can come to me instead. My sire mostly provides for the family, while I supplement him in chores and information."

K : "Oh. Okay then... I would like to ask the both of you, a serious question."

Katachi glanced toward Tonquat's bedroom door.

K : "Before that, though... Is the boy asleep?"

F : "Yes. He should be... A 6-year-old shouldn't stay up this late."

K : "... Can we close his door? If I can, I would rather not risk him seeing or knowing this."

N : "... Okay, but what would be so important that requires such privacy?"

Nicholas walked towards Tonquat's door, and closed it gently before returning to his seat.

Katachi withdrew his wooden dagger, the one with the incomplete carving of an Anikan character.

On the dagger, a golden 定 was formed.

K : "... Do you know what the Words of Power are?"

*** ***

N : "... I see... You are on a mission, to find and 'collect' these... words?"

K : "Yes. Yes I am."

Scratching his head, Nicholas frowned a bit and inquired.

N : "I don't get it then... Why not just trace the words out themselves if you already roughly know what they look like?"

K : "It's not as simple as that, Mister Demanti."

N : "It's not that simple?"

K : "... No. Think of it as two soil patches. The Word of Power here would be a mushroom patch filled full of mushrooms, while the other patch that merely looks like the Word of Power has no mushrooms within - It is but barren land. It is useless without these mushrooms within the patch. I need not a simple tracing of the Word of Power, but rather the Word of Power itself."

Froile, on the other hand, understood the situation much better than her husband did.

F : "... How can we help, then?"

K : "... Are there... Are there any interesting, weird, or unique places around here? Is there anywhere around this area, that has something funny or unnatural happening?"

The couple looked at each other and dived into their minds to search for an answer to such a bizarre, uncommon question.

...

Finally, an appropriate answer surfaced.

F : "Uhm, Mister Katachi, there is indeed one such location."

K : "! Really? What's strange about it?"

F : "... Well, it's not much, but there is supposedly a sacred ground around here, where parents bring their children to serenade them to sleep. At this... This sacred ground, the children become soothed by something. I'm not sure what calms the children effectively, it may be the plants and herbs, it may be a river stream nearby that eases their ears, or it may be something else altogether, but it might be worth checking out."

K : "An area that calms children?"

N : "... It's not just children who are calmed."

F : "Sire?"
K : "Mister Demanti?"

Nicholas looked away in slight embarrassment, his cheeks reddening slightly, but just enough to stand out from his tanned face.

N : "... That place used to be a secret sleeping spot of mine. When I first came to Bellpot at 17 years old, I remember sleeping at that spot often. The moss... It was nice and comfortable, and the place was quite literally overflowing with nature, until some couple brought their child there, and sung her to sleep. Since then, the spot became known as some sort of mythical sacred ground, and I haven't found the time to sleep there all by myself peacefully."

K : "... That IS interesting. An area that calms everything within..."

F : "I hope that was enough assistance for you, Mister Katachi."

K : "... Yes. That is indeed something interesting enough to find out for myself. Thank you, the both of you. I shall set forth tomorrow at daybreak to this 'sacred ground'."

N : "Fancy a map to the area?"

K : (了解! Understand information : Location of aforementioned 'Bellpot sacred ground'!... It's northwest of the town,  following the small pebble trail and making a right at the Sharyu Zuku statue ... Okay.) "... That won't be necessary - I roughly know where it is. Even if I don't, I'll just ask around for the place, and even if that fails, I can ask you two again- Er, if... If it's not too much to ask."

Katachi blushed slightly at his own lack of tact.

F : "You're welcome to do that, Mister Katachi. I would aid you to the best of my abilities."

N : "... I have no qualms. If you insist that you can do it alone, then I trust that you can. But if you can't, there's no shame in asking for help."

K : "... Thank you... It is late now. I ought to sleep, for tomorrow."

N : "You can use that wooden rocking chair there. It's not much, but that should be comfortable enough."

F : "That rocking chair belonged to my late grandmother. I'm sorry we couldn't provide a proper bed, with how small our house is, but if you're fine with that chair-"

K : "... It's okay. I've often slept on something similar."

Katachi walked towards the rocking chair in the Demanti's living room. He sat on it, laid back, and the creaking of the wooden chair resounded through the house ever so slightly.

N : "... Have a good rest, Mister Katachi."

F : "Good night, Mister Katachi."

K : "Segus bless your dreams."

The couple went to their own rooms, as the slow rocking of the chair and the creaking lulled Katachi to sleep.

*** ***

Nicholas and Froile crawled onto their bed in their nightwear.

F : "... Poor child."

N : "Indeed. I had it rough myself because of how I was raised in Rugnud, but he didn't even get to see his parents..."

F : "And even still, he follows Segus... That's really a rarity amongst poor children. I didn't even know that there was a Segus church in Findel after all this time..."

N : "Yeah. I was a bit taken aback when he mentioned Segus, especially with that black hair and strange Ohdean background of his."

F : "... Do you think his father was Ohdean?"

N : "Most likely. If the two loved each other, then taking up his surname Kotsuba would make sense. If, however, the mother was horribly violated and left to die, she would probably have the child be named after her instead... I don't want to think about that- ..."

Froile tugged at the left sleeve slightly.

F : "... Promise me you wouldn't abandon me like that, sire?"

Nicholas locked eyes with Froile.

N : "... Of course, my love. I wouldn't want a tragedy like Mister Katachi to occur again."

Froile snuggled her head against Nicholas's chest, and felt the warmth of her husband.

F : "... I'm... happy..."

The couple slowly drifted off to slumber in their arms.