Chapter 199 - Episode Twenty-Four - Devil's Trial (3)
“…… Because I wasn’t used to hearing that word in the Dinrat Kingdom. I wouldn’t be very interested in taking it unless you explained it to me.”
Chloe frowned troublesomely.
“In the devil’s 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 human…… Simple, right? In doing so, you will be required to wear the shackles that divert the magic power and seal the magic.”
“Arogua stone shackles……”
“I’m sure you know that.”
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.
It’s quite expensive, but I’ve heard that there are a few magic tools made of Arogua stone in Dinrat’s kingdom.
I’ve never seen them in person, though.
The shackles of the magician’s 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.
“C-, can I get that …… after the trial is over?”
Chloe stared at me with narrowed eyes.
I suddenly came to my senses and fooled myself by interjecting a cough.
“…… Isn’t 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.”
“So you’re saying that we are at risk of injustice through the Devil’s Trial……?”
“What? N, no, just in case……”
When I mumbled, the followers around me couldn’t stand it any longer and came over to me.
“Y-, 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, you’re saying that Chloe-sama will break it!”
“She would never do such a shameless thing! That’s enough with the insults!”
Chloe knocked the big staff to the side and stopped the followers from coming at me.
“…… for the other followers, it would be beyond comprehension. It’s no use saying that.”
…… Hmmm, that angry look doesn’t 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 Devil’s Trial is forbidden.
Either I should retreat here, or I should take over the devil’s trials.
But I don’t think Chloe is turning the devil’s trial against me for no reason, and I don’t want to follow their intentions without a second thought.
For now …… I’m sorry to Lark and Village Chief Heil, but it’s time to step aside.
The chances are too bad. If we’ve been set up so neatly, there’s 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.
“Abel! What does this mean!”
“…… hmm?”
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 chief’s house.
“J-, just in time! Kamla-san, please testify! That you carried Liveglass then……”
“Did you attack Nelgliffe-sama!”
Kamla immediately approached me and pushed the other followers away and grabbed my chest.
“So you were on that side too ……”
“…… Nelgliffe-sama has just regained consciousness. But I’m going to pretend that he’s unconscious for a while and let Chloe swim around and dictate.”
Kamla put his mouth close to my ear and said in a small voice.
“Huh?”
“Perhaps Chloe is planning to set up a devil’s trial. Nelgliffe-sama is planning to go directly into the room and expose Chloe for what she is. Please…… will you cooperate with me? This is supposed to be the final resolution to the disease fiasco. But if we let it go here …… Chloe will try again to assassinate or disqualify Nelgliffe-sama.”
It seems that Nelgliffe has somehow regained consciousness.
Not only that, but he seems to be planning to counterattack back to his opponent’s attack.
I couldn’t nod as long as Chloe’s eyes were there, so I took it as a reply by staring back into Kamla’s 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.
“Hey! Kamla, let go! I know what you feeling, but …… this is not the place to mess around!”
The other followers stopped me and Kamla pushed my chest in a bad mood.
“Wha-, this bastard!”
“No!”
You don’t have to go this far with your acting…… It’s authentic.
In the unlikely event that I can’t give Chloe the benefit of the doubt, I don’t have a choice.
I turned to Chloe, with Mea supporting me.
“…… fine. Let’s take that devil’s trial and stand.”
Chloe huffed out of my sight and looked at the other followers.
“Guys, take Abel to the south church hall. You will be in the basement there, while we prepare for the devil’s trial and make it known to the entire village.”
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 doesn’t 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.
“Ple-, please wait a minute! Mea too! Mea will go too!”
“No, you’re not really……”
I glanced behind me and saw Mea being controlled by Chloe with her wand.
“A, Abel, are you okay?”
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 couldn’t help but feel curious, so I lightly flowed some magic to test it out.
Shooo…… It made that small sound…… and felt my magic power being erased out.
“Ohhhh ……!”
This is great.
I would love to have it. I’ll 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 shouldn’t be punished for wanting this much.
I’ll 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.
“Oh ……!”
“Hey, you got a visitor.”
As I was playing, I was unexpectedly approached from behind by a watchful follower.
“Eh, are you sure?”
“It is incumbent upon everyone to allow one visit from any man. But I won’t give you that long. I’ve heard that you’ve been following me quietly, but don’t get any strange ideas.”
Sitting across from me in the visiting room was Mea.
“A-Are they doing something terrible or something? Mea is so worried and concerned……”
“Nevermind 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.”
“…… Mea is happy that Abel seems to be doing well.”
“Look carefully. Look, I’m going to put some magic in it now.”
“You shouldn’t do anything too weird with all those eyes on you, shouldn’t you?”
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.
There’s nothing wrong with that at all.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Look! Look!”
“Okay, I’ll watch it then……”
I channeled my magic power into the arogua stone shackles.
A gobbling sound like a demon’s 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.
“Ah.” “Ah.”
“…… hmm?”
Behind me, the follower on guard let out a quizzical voice.
“Goho! Ooho! Gobo!”
I couldn’t help but cough wildly on the spur of the moment to fool him.
“A-Abel! That’s impossible! One day you’ll be found out! If they find out later, it will surely be more of a problem!”
“Shh! Shh! Thi-, this is expensive. It’s really expensive. Besides, if they find out I just broke it, it’s bad enough that it’s already…… I’m kind of willing to bet that they won’t find out! All of Nelgliffe-san’s ideas could be in vain because of my stupid mistake. I want to avoid that at all costs!”
We brought our faces close to each other and spoke in a raspy whisper.
It seems that the magic capacity of the Arogua Stone wasn’t 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.
It’s 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 devil’s trial itself could be canceled.