Magdala de Nemure (マグダラで眠れ ; May Your Soul Rest in Magdala)

[Drkz]

Magdala de Nemure (マグダラで眠れ)



From the creator of Spice and Wolf comes his new work May Your Soul Rest in Magdala.

Synposis: It is a world where order is maintained by three great factions, the Church which bears the greatest authority, the Order of Clausius possessing influence on par with the Church, immense assets and military might, and lastly the Guild of Commerce, an association of merchants and artisans alike.
The alchemist Kusler who was captured and imprisoned because he committed the offense of trying to burn a saint's bones, sold his skills and talents to the Order of Clausius. Together with an old friend, Welland, they were then dispatched towards the town of Grubetti which was close to the front lines.
And then at a workshop in Grubetti which boasted advanced equipment due to being near the front lines, Kusler met the devout nun Urle Fenesis who had introduced herself as a "watchdog".

Guessing the translation was from ping since this is one out of his billion on-going projects .

Light Novels: 3 - ongoing
Manga: 1 ch - ongoing

(This is from the author from spice and wolf so expect some pretty deep stuff and alchemy!)

Translation link: here

[Sumeragi]

*Writes note for future viewing*

[blackwhite67]

Now that's a real silver-haired nun, Kazuma Kamachi!

[Hell_ping]

Preview mode: (And who said that this story is about economics? It's alchemy...)

Spoiler for Prologue:

The light flickered as he opened his eyes.

The icy wind agitated his eyeballs in the middle of this chilly night.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs from afar could be heard, and most likely, it was time for the guards to change duties.

“How’s the inside?”

A voice could be heard vaguely from the gaps of the iron bar door.

At the same time, there was a sound of chainmail rattling.

“He’s quiet…”

He could tell that there were stares he could not see, looking this way together with the secretive conversation they had.

The guards did not have the guts to look through the gaps of the iron bars.

“Is he asleep?”

“Who knows…but I heard that he can’t sleep…”

“I think his name is {{Furigana|Interest|Kusla|margin=12}} .”

“Kusla…such a vile name. I think two of my good friends were devoured by high interests or something.”

The guards of a prison were meant to bring terror to the convicts.

In the sense of being restrained behind the iron bars, the convict was no different from a guard. Thus, there was nothing to distinguish between the two.

“What crime did he commit?”

“I think…it was a blasphemy against God. That. He stole some Saint’s bones and consumed it or something…”

And now I’m being treated as a criminal. Kusla noted wryly, and this ignited the devious streak in him.

He had been imprisoned for approximately two weeks, and was starting to get bored of counting the stars shining through the metal bars on the window.

“Oi!”

Kusla called out from within the cell.

The place was like grassland, filled with autumn insects chirping away as they strolled.

The bugs that were still buzzing up till this point immediately stopped in unison.

However, the icy wind continued to expand its territory.

“Let’s chat.”

He wanted to stand up, but his cold and tired body was extremely stiff. This man, {{Furigana|Interest|Kusla|margin=12}}, was feared by everyone, but in fact, he was no different from everyone else. His height was slightly above average, but his physique was not that strong. He thought that he had a fearless-looking face, but he was never called a handsome man. If he were to mix in with the crowd, nobody would recognize him. He was once knocked down by a carriage, and broke his wrist due to neglect.

In that situation, the 2 weeks of prison life would naturally cause his body to weaken. Kusla felt the pain on his joints and a slight dizziness as he stood up.

However, the people on the other side of the cell did not know this.

Kusla dragged the icy cold shackle and ball on his feet as he staggered towards the prison door, and brought his face to the iron bars.

“Let’s talk.”

The light hurt his eyes, and he narrowed them slightly, but it seemed to make his face look heinous. The two guards on the other side of the bars just stood there, looking like hares who coincidentally met a human.

“Relax. This won’t be bad to you.”

Kusla tried to smile, but he understood that in this situation, this smile would send chills in others.

“I just have something I want to ask of you…”

The requests made by people in prison are mostly the same, whether it’s a request for warmth, a request for food, a permit to write letters, or a plea to kill them sooner.

The two guards recoiled back, having been used to hearing these words.

They looked at each other, and the elder one spoke,

“Wha-what kind of request?”

“Hm, it’s very simple.”

Kusla answered as he pointed through the gap between the bars, and said,

“Can you get that key to open this door?”

Badum. A sound similar to that ostensibly rang as the two guards’ jaws dropped.

It was already past midnight, and this was the devil’s time, where even the priests were asleep.

The two guards recoiled, seemingly startled as they raised their spears, and said,

“Y-you idiot! There’s no way we can do that!”

“Of course, you won’t be doing this without payment.”

The guards had to endure the cold with the prisoner in the middle of the night and watch them; and this was a very difficult job. Even so, there was a reason why everyone flocked over whenever there was a request to be a guard, not only because of the pay, but also they hoped to get bribes from the criminals.

The two guards glanced at each other, and this unwittingly revealed that they were overpowered by the pressure.

However, it was a fact that two people together could raise their courage.

This time, the younger one spoke,

“Yo-you’ve already been granted the death penalty by the Church, and you’re no different from a dead person now. In this case…why should we agree to your deal? If it’s an appeal, we can listen. Know your place here!”

“Fine, just open this door like usual and strip everything from me.”

If they could.

It was common to see people imprisoned for stealing bread, their standing snatched away, abandoned in this harsh cold and dying. This was a prison, a dreaded place.

But despite the dread and the fear, the convicts who were driven to the places that could not be seen were the most terrifying.

That was why the prison was built in the shape of a spire, and was often built at a place furthest away from people, yet the one place that could be spotted most clearly, the bridge above the river passing through the city center.

The guards were speechless; if they were fooled by the rhetoric of the convict, their pride as guards would be at stake.

“Ev-everything that belongs to a man convicted by the Church belongs to the Church, whether it’s clothes, inheritance or life…that’s why we can’t snatch them.”

They did not dare to enter such a terrifying cell, but they wanted to protect their dignity as guards.

And then, they found a good excuse to this tough issue at the same time.

But Kusla merely shrugged as he rummaged through the inside of his shirt, and ignored their excuses as he said,

“Hey, didn’t I say that I won’t let you do this for nothing? Let me show you something good.”

“…So-something good?”

“Right. Haven’t you encountered one or two things that infuriate you at work?”

“…”

The guards probably did not understand the other man’s words, and they were ostensibly drunk as they spotted 2 shadows in front of them as they frowned at Kusla.

“Especially your superior and your colleagues, your superior.”

“Su…perior?”

“Right. Those incompetent guys can boast proudly with their heads high because of their well-off families. In this city, there’re families like the Luts family, the Barrows family, the Judith family, all acting high and mighty with their large swords on their waists as they gallop on their horses while looking all important, drink their ales while sitting in front of the fireplace, and sleep on the lambskin bed. In the day, they’ll come around casually and take away the little amount of money you managed to earn from the convicts as consolation during the night, and you can only feel indignation. In this sense, I don’t know who the prisoners really are.”

As expected, the duo exchanged looks.

But this time, they gulped in unison.

“…What’s this…good thing?”

Baited.

Kusla grinned, and that devious smile was tempting the duo.

“This little thing.”

Kusla took out the little bottle from his clutches, and shook it in front of the iron bars.

The duo’s stares were pursuing the little bottle like a kitten.

“Just slip a little of the contents in the bottle into the food of the one you hate.”

In an instant, their faces changed expressions.

This time, the duo did not look at each other directly, but glanced aside.

Oi…don’t tell me this is…

Kusla felt that he heard out their true thoughts.

There were very few people who were given the ominous title of ‘Interest’, the death penalty by the Church, and left in the cell. To Kusla, there was ample reason to look forward to seeing the guards embrace the darkness.

Both of them stepped forward in unison.

“What…exactly is inside?”

“Arsenic.”

“Arsenic?”

“And this is refined from the finest Realgar. In the past, a guy who used to work with me licked it out of his unrestrained curiosity.”

“Lick-licked it?”

“Yeah. People like us are hopeless idiots. We have to try such things when we get them. it’s like an addiction. So that fool who licked it…”

“What happened…to the fool?”

Kusla shrugged and said,

“Nothing happened.”

“…Huh?”

Both of them cried out, and this was the instant of furor over being tricked.

“But on the next morning, when I walked into that guy’s room, I found his skin all rotten, his face was charred black, his hands were shriveled, and he looked like a burnt corpse. It really shocked me. The myths behind the assassination of the ancient King of Aeolus was true, and this was the one that caused it.

Kusla shook the little bottle again.

“The good thing about this thing is that the person won’t die upon eating it. There’s a time interval, which means that you won’t be suspected. The corpse will be really ugly. That person will look like he’s been abandoned by God, and people will think this is divine retribution. Nobody will actually think that the powder in this little bottle is the cause of it, right?”

Kusla’s smile deepened as he listened to the duo who looked extremely serious.

“Can you please open the door if I use this powder as exchange?”

It was midnight, the sun had long set, and even the servants of God had already slept, so there was no one keeping watch other than these two. Both of them stared at Kusla, seemingly haunted by him. In this filthy world, there was no one who would not want to kill one or two of their sworn enemies.

“…”

The two guards had beads of sweat dripping in the midst of this cold, and they were all stiff.

However, their eyes were showing that they were trying to forgive each other of their sins.

Kusla chuckled, and the keys on a guard’s waist rattled.

This was a bad dream of darkness and nightmare tempting them.

There was nothing wrong with this.

If there was anything to blame for, it would be God for creating an ‘opposite’.

“Ar-are you serious…”

The man with the chain of keys on his waist spoke with a hoarse voice.

That hand immediately reached for the keys, and was about to fall.

As Kusla’s grin was about to reach its peak, God’s thunder roared.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

If there was a roar that could kill, this would likely be the one.

The guards were shocked, seemingly startled, and tumbled clumsily as they were probably trying to return back.

As they collapsed on the floor, they lifted their heads and looked at the voice, and at that moment, they firmly felt that they were the real prisoners.

Because, there was the warden, who held authority over this prison, a high ranking knight dressed in glamorous clothing, with a white beard that ostensibly accumulated sunlight.

“I should have emphasized this over and over again that you’re not to talk with this man. If you talk with you, you’ll encounter danger. Those who act outside the law will be deemed as heretics, and won’t be able to stand in front of God again!”

“!...!...”

The two guards ostensibly forgot to breathe as they panted, and the old knight casually approached the cell. Kusla looked behind this old knight and spotted two young knights who came in a little later. One could tell on first glance that they were well-trained, vastly different from the guards.

They had metal helmets that covered their faces fully.

These were probably to resist Kusla’s rhetoric, the ‘magic’ people often talked about.

“You sure came late.”

“The verdict’s out.”

“A burning at the stake?”

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to worry about your life here?”

Kusla shrugged, and backtracked a few steps from the gate.

A young knight forcefully snatched the keys from the collapsed guard, and it let out a rattling sound.

“Come out, Kusla.”

And then, the heavy cell door opened.

“The Restless Alchemist.”

I've planned updates, one chapter a month. There are 5 chapters, one prologue, epilogue and afterword in each volume. While I am also looking for translators willing to work on this series, it seems that I'll be the only one working on 4 series at a little fansub group (which Magdala will be under) and another 3 series on BT exclusively. (Certainly not a billion projects)

[kuroishinigami]

The story is about alchemy(mostly mettalurgy), but there is also a little bit of economy in the story(in much lesser degree than spice and wolf though) in how an alchemist who's considered as heretic can survive in the book era. The story is very interesting, and Kusra(and Welland) are a very good protagonist(better than Lawrence IMO). Fenesis is also a good heroine, although I still like Holo more.

[Zefyris]

Finally read the first volume. Interesting story so far, the three main characters are promising, especially Kusra. There's a lot of description of the political situation of the city where they live, as well as their relation with the dominating faith around there, so there isn't that much thing happening in it compared to most novels. Still, this is a good start for the story. I liked the last part of it as well, and the way things were temporarily solved.
Considering the slow pace of the story, at this rate Magdala will probably be quite a long story just like S&W was; but it isn't boring so the slow pace isn't really a problem.
I guess you could say that this LN is almost the exact opposite of what is Rokka no yuusha, even though both are good read so far

[Breimoon]

manga showed up her beast ears finally. Wonder what is her real goal

[Zefyris]

Ah finally, someone posted in the thread so I'll comment on the next two volumes that i read one month and half ago.

I have to say that I'm quite satisfied with the way the four main characters are evolving so far. The story is still really slow, however the cliffhanger at the end of the 3rd volume is promising on that point; and the surprise about what Fenesis did just before that is really promising for the development of that character for the remaining part of the show. As I thought, Fenesis is a character who started out as an almost blank sheet of paper, with nothing written on it. But that's precisely because of this that you can expect Fenesis to evolve a lot more than anyone else in the story. It's still too soon to say anything, but with the 4th volume Magdala de Nemure has the potential to really become one of my favorite LN, and with enough time Fenesis has the potential to become one of my favorite female character. Kuusler is still looking good so far. I also like the fact that he's not always winning.

With that said, I'm really looking forward to the next few volumes, which will decide for me how good is this story, hoping to not be disappointed after such a promising start.
I'll get my hand on the 4th volume in December. I wonder how that cliffhanger will turn out. This may change greatly the remaining part of the story depending on how this problem will be solved, making the volumes 1 to 3 nothing more than a long prologue.

[Miraluka]

I was reading the manga, didn't know Ping was working on it.

[cloud04]

Originally Posted by Wilfriback

I was reading the manga, didn't know Ping was working on it.

im guessing his avatar doesnt hint much?XD

[whitecloud]

Worthy succesor to the spice and wolf...dont you guys agree?

[Zefyris]

Originally Posted by whitecloud

Worthy succesor to the spice and wolf...dont you guys agree?

I'd say that as long as I haven't read the whole 17 volumes of S&W I don't know what is a worthy successor in this case, and that with the volumes 1 to 3 it's still to early to properly evaluate the value of this title. It is promising, sure. it has likable characters and is pretty original as a story so far as well. Can't say more with just those volumes though.

[Flower]

Now this is a very interesting story - just my cup of tea. Very much like Spice and Wolf, to be sure. I first came across it through the manga medium (ch 5 was released a few days ago), and have been enjoying it quite a bit. Am very glad a thread dedicated to it was already made! ^^

[Shadow5YA]

I'm still not sold on Fenesis, though that's probably because I can't help but compare her to Holo.

Very impressive how alchemy is being slightly more accurately described as early science instead of some magic like how it is normally misconceived.

[Quol]

I read the manga (cant find light novel translations) and its really interesting, i somewhat understand kusla's personality and i like it. Even though i still dont completely understand Fenesis' personality yet.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by cloud04

im guessing his avatar doesnt hint much?XD

His avatar makes me think he is reading/watching Bleach .

[watisit]

What's with the author and kemonomimi?

[Hell_ping]

In case anyone had missed this, there is a trial version of volume 1 chapter 1. Will be uploading the story by entire volumes, after editing.

Working through Chapter 3 atm. They missed out on a very important character in the manga.

Originally Posted by Miraluka

His avatar makes me think he is reading/watching Bleach .

I don't think I have the time to read any manga with my hobby... the only animes I managed to catch this year are what...SxS and Uchouten?

Originally Posted by watisit

What's with the author and kemonomimi?

There's a manga called Billionaire Girl by the same author. It doesn't have cat ears at least.

[Flower]

Ch 7 is released, and it is the end of the arc. No spoilers here with specifics, but I will say I was very happy to read the conclusion! Am looking forward to more chapters....

[Sayaka Rei]

I came across this series and it seems very interesting ... I will read the novel and manga !!