v5c14

Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 14: Sacred World

“…A peach?”

“It’s no ordinary peach. It’s a peach from the hermitage.”

Adashino Harunaga lifted the corners of his mouth, wearing a lecherous grin.

Even though he mentioned the peach from the hermitage as if it were common knowledge, naturally, I didn’t know what he was talking about. Perhaps it appeared in some fairy tale my mother read to me when I was still a baby, but I don’t remember.

“What is it?”

“Master, do you not know Momotarō?”

“No, I do. It’s the one born from a peach, right?”

“No. By eating the peach, old couples regain their youth.”

Adashino Harunaga shook his head quietly.

What’s that…? Looking back, there did seem to be such a story.

However, that wasn’t a memory from this life. It was from a past life.

I vaguely remembered seeing something like that in some nonsense story circulating on social media. An elderly couple without children eat a peach, become young again, and then somehow… Momotarō is born.

There was a certainty in my eyes.

Adashino Harunaga continued quietly.

“At that time, a peach from the hermitage flowed downstream from the upper reaches of the river. It was said to be a miraculous medicine that cured all ailments. They say even if you take a single bite, it’s so sweet your throat will melt away.”

“Does that mean eating it will heal the heart?”

“It’s said to cure everything. One bite makes you cheerful, two bites make you immortal, and three bites make you immortal.”

“Immortal?”

“That’s what they say.”

From Adashino Harunaga tone of voice, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

So, it must be true. But I’ve never heard the story of Momotarō’s grandparents becoming immortal… Well, that doesn’t matter now…

“Is it here?”

“Hmm? If it’s Mino, then there should be the hermitage.”

“Why?”

As I couldn’t connect the dots in my head, when I asked, he surprisingly replied with a question.

“Master, do you not know about the hermitage…? In a land overflowing with vast amounts of magic, there reside swordsmiths. Only those of the far Seventh Rank possess enough magic power to change relics. Therefore, they don’t use their own bodies but rather the power of the native deity Ubutsunagami. You should know that much.”

“Half of what you said is news to me.”

Was it Renji or Irena who said that swordsmiths set up their workshops in places with abundant earth energy?

I wondered why they would set up their workshops in such places at that time… but now that question was answered. And then, another question, how do the swordsmiths change relics through “Transformation,” was also answered.

They cause “Transformation” using the earth’s energy.

So, it’s necessary to prepare workshops in places where the earth’s energy overflows. Otherwise, the swords cannot be forged. They must not be able to change relics.

“Then where do you think that magic comes from?”

“…The ground?”

I answered with what I had been thinking.

The magic contained in the hot springs glowed in the night river.

Renji-san said that hot springs contain dense magic.

So, I naturally thought that earth energy flowed underground like magma.

However, Adashino Harunaga shook his head in denial at my answer.

“If that were the case, the world would already be overflowing with ‘magic.'”

“…Then”

I connected my thoughts in my head.

Well, there’s no need to connect them.

If we’ve come this far, there’s only one answer.

“Do you mean the magic from the hermitage flows out and becomes earth energy?”

“That’s right.”

When I raised my gaze with conviction, Adashino Harunaga nodded vigorously.

“By the way, Momotarō’s story must have been in Bizen, right? As you know, Bizen is one of the Gokaden. Just like Mino, it’s a well-known sword-producing area.”

No, I don’t know about that.

Actually, the only thing I know about Bizen is Bizen pottery. Where the heck is Bizen?

“There were swordsmiths in Bizen too. It’s only natural. Because Momotarō’s story is true.”

“So… you’re saying that the peach from the hermitage flowed out, and someone actually ate it? In reality?”

“Indeed. That’s why the swordsmiths lived there.”

Adashino Harunaga nodded.

It’s hard to believe that Momotarō’s story actually happened in reality.

But even though it’s hard to believe… In the first place, I believe that Cinderella and Snow White actually existed in this world. The magic used by exorcists and the magic in fairy tales are so similar.

In that case, wouldn’t it make sense for Japanese folk tales to be the same?

Stories like the one about being born from a peach or others… Could they have actually happened?

Or rather, if it’s true for stories from abroad, it makes more sense to think that it’s true for Japanese stories too.

“Will eating the peaches from the Immortal Realm will do the trick…?”

“Indeed.”

“How can we obtain them?”

When asked the most important question, Harunaga shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“…What?”

“What I know is only legend. If I knew how to obtain them, I wouldn’t have relied on insects. I would have eaten the peaches from the Immortal Realm, which are said to grant eternal youth and immortality.”

“…I see.”

It’s somewhat frustrating, but I couldn’t help but agree, thinking, “That’s true.”

If this guy had really eaten the peaches from the Immortal Realm, the Ice Princess wouldn’t have ended up like that.

“Do you really not know?”

“If anything, I’d like to know myself.”

“…I see.”

If that’s the case, there’s no point in asking him anymore.

I thanked Adashino Harunaga and touched his body.

As the visible magic scattered into threads, the amber relic rolled softly into my hand. Putting it back into the necklace, I lay down on the bed.

I thought it would have been a good idea to ask Adashino Harunaga… I thought as I looked up at the ceiling.

Looking up, I suddenly thought.

Could it be that those swordsmiths know something?