Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [41]
That’s a hood!
It wore a long-hemmed robe and a hood covering its head. Its left hand lay on the landing banister. In its right hand was a staff, at least six feet long, with a round tip that sparkled and shone.
A wizard.
There were always two wizards in the Eldritch Stone Saga series—one on the player’s side and another on the enemy’s side. In Saga I the ally wizard was a difficult and grumpy old man. But at the same time, he was a magus of much power who had once been the master of the enemy wizard.
In contrast, the ally wizard in Saga II was a beautiful young woman, the doppelgänger of the enemy wizard. The two rivals remained eternally young because of a particularly devastating spell: twisting the aging process to suit her own purpose, the evil wizard had released a horrible plague on the innocent citizens of the Kingdom of Toma. The beautiful ally wizard joined the hero of the story in an effort to stop the plague, despite knowing that victory would cause her to immediately start aging—turning her into an old hag.
According to the literature, Saga III’s wizard was once again an old man. Afflicted by an ancient curse, he asked to join the hero’s party so that he might find a cure for it. In the preview screenshots and artwork he looked much kinder than the wizard in Saga I, less like dark magus and more like Santa Claus.
Though each of the wizards was very different, they always had two things in common: a long, hooded robe and a staff in one hand. This held true no matter what else they wore. For example, the beautiful wizard in Saga II wore a miniskirt so short you’d expect her underwear to show, but her longhooded robe was so long that it dragged on the ground. It was like a mandatory uniform.
And now, in the gloomy interior of a haunted building, standing on the landing of a half-wrought staircase that hung in midair, was someone dressed just like a wizard. What else could it be? The only problem, of course, was that wizards didn’t really exist.
“Uh…hey!” Wataru blurted. “Hey, you!”
The figure on the landing seemed to turn. The angle of its staff changed a little.
“What are you doing up there?”
Silence fell. Wataru could feel the hooded figure’s gaze upon him in the darkness. “Um, er…” He took a half-step forward. “I don’t think it’s very safe up there.”
No answer. The figure didn’t move. An ominous feeling crept over Wataru, enveloping him like steam. What if it weren’t a wizard after all, but someone who was a little wrong in the head—someone a little strange? Maybe he had just wandered in here? Maybe I’m standing in a dark, abandoned building with a madman, and I’ve just announced my presence for all to hear. Or maybe it was just some nice old person from the neighborhood who enjoyed dressing up like a wizard.
The figure in the hood took a step forward. Wataru broke out in a cold sweat. An old man who likes to dress up like a wizard. Right, Wataru. Good thinking.
Wataru crouched and scrabbled at the plastic sheet to pull it back up, fumbling in his haste, when a man’s voice thundered in the air above him.
“Fear not, lad!”
Wataru froze. For several seconds, he couldn’t move a muscle. Then, slowly, fearfully he looked back up. The hooded figure remained where he had been before. The staff moved, the sphere at its tip shining in the reflected light of the streetlights that peeked in between the tarps. The voice spoke again, this time in a much gentler tone. “Where did you come from?”
It was asking him a question. The heavy tarp still clutched in both hands, Wataru’s mouth flapped open. Nothing came out but silence.
He’s speaking to me in Japanese!
“What’s your name?” the voice asked. It was definitely an old man’s voice, with a hint of gruffness, making it sound like his grandfather in Odawara, the one who smoked.
“Well? Have you no answer?”
The figure above him took another half-step. Wataru’s teeth began to clatter. “Um…um…um…”
“Ah, so your name is ‘Um,’ is it, lad?”
No, no! Wataru shook his head, but his voice was trapped somewhere deep in his throat.
“Tell me, Um, just what is it that