ââŠâŠ Because I wasnât used to hearing that word in the Dinrat Kingdom. I wouldnât be very interested in taking it unless you explained it to me.â
Chloe frowned troublesomely.
âIn the devilâs trial, the alleged demon is roasted with a flame that only burns the spirit body. So if you burn there, you are a demon, and if you live, you are a humanâŠâŠ Simple, right? In doing so, you will be required to wear the shackles that divert the magic power and seal the magic.â
âArogua stone shacklesâŠâŠâ
âIâm sure you know that.â
Arogua stone is a stone that is believed to exist deep in the sea around the Riveras Nation.
There are magic suppressions that disperse spirits and distract them, but among these magic suppressions, Arogua stone is the one with the greatest effect, although its use is limited.
Itâs quite expensive, but Iâve heard that there are a few magic tools made of Arogua stone in Dinratâs kingdom.
Iâve never seen them in person, though.
The shackles of the magicianâs fetters will prevent all the magic flowing through the shackles from reaching the spirits, so the magic will not work.
In addition to being highly practical due to their low distribution, they are also used in rituals in some parts of Levi Church, which is probably why they are so expensive.
âC-, can I get that âŠâŠ after the trial is over?â
Chloe stared at me with narrowed eyes.
I suddenly came to my senses and fooled myself by interjecting a cough.
ââŠâŠ Isnât this too one-sided? For a sorcerer, magic is a lifeline. Being able to hold it down is tougher than being tied up all over your body and having a knife held to your neck.â
âSo youâre saying that we are at risk of injustice through the Devilâs TrialâŠâŠ?â
âWhat? N, no, just in caseâŠâŠâ
When I mumbled, the followers around me couldnât stand it any longer and came over to me.
âY-, you rude bastard! It is in principle to do this with holy fire, with the help of Levi-sama, you know! And of the people, youâre saying that Chloe-sama will break it!â
âShe would never do such a shameless thing! Thatâs enough with the insults!â
Chloe knocked the big staff to the side and stopped the followers from coming at me.
ââŠâŠ for the other followers, it would be beyond comprehension. Itâs no use saying that.â
âŠâŠ Hmmm, that angry look doesnât seem to be an act.
It seems to me that the Levi Church is not monolithic, and it seems to me that it is at least true that breaking the rules of the Devilâs Trial is forbidden.
Either I should retreat here, or I should take over the devilâs trials.
But I donât think Chloe is turning the devilâs trial against me for no reason, and I donât want to follow their intentions without a second thought.
For now âŠâŠ Iâm sorry to Lark and Village Chief Heil, but itâs time to step aside.
The chances are too bad. If weâve been set up so neatly, thereâs nothing we can do about it.
We should retreat and look for an opportunity, or we should try to make contact with Nelgliffe while hiding.
âAbel! What does this mean!â
ââŠâŠ hmm?â
I heard an angry voice.
I looked at the owner of the voice and saw that it was Kamla.
I was relieved.
Kamla would be able to explain for me that there was a Livegrass at the Village chiefâs house.
âJ-, just in time! Kamla-san, please testify! That you carried Liveglass thenâŠâŠâ
âDid you attack Nelgliffe-sama!â
Kamla immediately approached me and pushed the other followers away and grabbed my chest.
âSo you were on that side too âŠâŠâ
ââŠâŠ Nelgliffe-sama has just regained consciousness. But Iâm going to pretend that heâs unconscious for a while and let Chloe swim around and dictate.â
Kamla put his mouth close to my ear and said in a small voice.
âHuh?â
âPerhaps Chloe is planning to set up a devilâs trial. Nelgliffe-sama is planning to go directly into the room and expose Chloe for what she is. PleaseâŠâŠ will you cooperate with me? This is supposed to be the final resolution to the disease fiasco. But if we let it go here âŠâŠ Chloe will try again to assassinate or disqualify Nelgliffe-sama.â
It seems that Nelgliffe has somehow regained consciousness.
Not only that, but he seems to be planning to counterattack back to his opponentâs attack.
I couldnât nod as long as Chloeâs eyes were there, so I took it as a reply by staring back into Kamlaâs eyes.
Nelgliffe even called me his best friend.
Beyond the age difference and the religious difference.
I would be a bastard if I left the village and Nelgliffe to their own thing in favor of self-preservation here.
âHey! Kamla, let go! I know what you feeling, but âŠâŠ this is not the place to mess around!â
The other followers stopped me and Kamla pushed my chest in a bad mood.
âWha-, this bastard!â
âNo!â
You donât have to go this far with your actingâŠâŠ Itâs authentic.
In the unlikely event that I canât give Chloe the benefit of the doubt, I donât have a choice.
I turned to Chloe, with Mea supporting me.
ââŠâŠ fine. Letâs take that devilâs trial and stand.â
Chloe huffed out of my sight and looked at the other followers.
âGuys, take Abel to the south church hall. You will be in the basement there, while we prepare for the devilâs trial and make it known to the entire village.â
Chloe said matter-of-factly with her usual bare expression.
She thinks she can finally get rid of me who is in her way.
She doesnât seem to have any idea that the sickle is around her neck.
Although it was a little late, Nelgliffe is also finally turning his suspicions towards Chloe.
This should finally put an end to the disease fiasco in Pargas Village.
The three followers are tightly packed around me.
They were tall and expressionless guys.
They would probably lead me to the south churchyard.
âPle-, please wait a minute! Mea too! Mea will go too!â
âNo, youâre not reallyâŠâŠâ
I glanced behind me and saw Mea being controlled by Chloe with her wand.
âA, Abel, are you okay?â
Mea asked fearfully.
I gave a small nod and walked with the followers.
Then they took me to the south church hall, where I was shackled in arogua stone shackles and locked in a basement.
There seemed to be a constant guard at the door.
I stayed quiet for a while after being locked in, but I couldnât help but feel curious, so I lightly flowed some magic to test it out.
ShoooâŠâŠ It made that small soundâŠâŠ and felt my magic power being erased out.
âOhhhh âŠâŠ!â
This is great.
I would love to have it. Iâll try to beg Nelgliffe for it when the ruckus is cleared up.
I remember that it worked at least as well as the shackles of the Arogua stone.
I shouldnât be punished for wanting this much.
Iâll try again, this time with a slight increase in magic.
The same sound as before is heard with a swoosh and the magic power is sucked out.
âOh âŠâŠ!â
âHey, you got a visitor.â
As I was playing, I was unexpectedly approached from behind by a watchful follower.
âEh, are you sure?â
âIt is incumbent upon everyone to allow one visit from any man. But I wonât give you that long. Iâve heard that youâve been following me quietly, but donât get any strange ideas.â
Sitting across from me in the visiting room was Mea.
âA-Are they doing something terrible or something? Mea is so worried and concernedâŠâŠâ
âNevermind that and look at this, this is the shackles of the Arogua Stone. If we were to prepare this amount of Arogua stone in the Dinrat Kingdom, it would be enough to build two or three reasonably good houses.â
ââŠâŠ Mea is happy that Abel seems to be doing well.â
âLook carefully. Look, Iâm going to put some magic in it now.â
âYou shouldnât do anything too weird with all those eyes on you, shouldnât you?â
Mea glances anxiously behind me at an angle.
Just to keep me from doing that strange thing, I have the shackles of the Arogua stone.
Thereâs nothing wrong with that at all.
âItâs fine, itâs fine! Look! Look!â
âOkay, Iâll watch it thenâŠâŠâ
I channeled my magic power into the arogua stone shackles.
A gobbling sound like a demonâs strange voice could be heard, and the faint smell of something burning wafted through the air.
When I looked down at it curiously, part of the arogua stone was discolored.
âAh.â âAh.â
ââŠâŠ hmm?â
Behind me, the follower on guard let out a quizzical voice.
âGoho! Ooho! Gobo!â
I couldnât help but cough wildly on the spur of the moment to fool him.
âA-Abel! Thatâs impossible! One day youâll be found out! If they find out later, it will surely be more of a problem!â
âShh! Shh! Thi-, this is expensive. Itâs really expensive. Besides, if they find out I just broke it, itâs bad enough that itâs alreadyâŠâŠ Iâm kind of willing to bet that they wonât find out! All of Nelgliffe-sanâs ideas could be in vain because of my stupid mistake. I want to avoid that at all costs!â
We brought our faces close to each other and spoke in a raspy whisper.
It seems that the magic capacity of the Arogua Stone wasnât as high as I had thought it would be.
Since I have a somewhat higher maximum output of magic power compared to the general public, it seems that I have exceeded the allowable amount of the Arogua stone.
Itâs possible that Chloe has deliberately prepared something fragile to set me up, but if the shackles of the Arogua Stone are exposed as useless to me, the devilâs trial itself could be canceled.
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