After breakfast, I went out in the garden.

　I don't have any plans for the morning, so I decided to help Angel practice.

It's nice to meet you, Mr. Alec.
Yeah, good luck with that.
"Yes!

　Angel was prettily fired up.

　Since the first magical aptitude check, Angier has continued to enhance his highest aptitude healing magic.
　It's healthy and flirtatious how she keeps saying she wants to be useful for me in my time of need.

Let's begin.
"We'll start with the Mpapat formula?
"Yes.

　Ange said and increased his magic power.
　The Mupapato method, an efficient way to use magic at the limit of a person's magic power.

　I first taught it to the students of the magic school, and of course Angier knows it too.

　I'll follow Angier's breathing so that I can give you advice.
　Angier catches his magic wave and uses healing magic at its peak.

　Yeah, no complaints.
　You have invoked the healing spell at 99% of your limit.

　I didn't even have to get worked up; it came off as normal and easy.
　I huffed a few breaths for advice, but it didn't seem to be necessary.

　Speaking of healing magic alone, Angel is already one of the top two wielders in the empire.

　That magic is on me.

Huh?
"Huh?

　I raised my voice, and Angier reacted with it.
　Despite the disruptive events, Angier's healing magic was steady.
　But.

What is it, Master Alec?
You're not recovering.
"What?　What does that mean?
"Didn't it take to begin with?　It's like wearing a raincoat on a rainy day.
"Uh, ......

　What does that mean?

　Surely Angier's healing magic is activated.
　But as I've likened it, you can feel the rain through your raincoat, but your skin isn't getting wet at all--it's not healing.

I wonder what's going on.
"Poka Poka
"Hi!

　Angier shouted in surprise.
　Dorothy interrupted the conversation.

　She stepped out of my shadow and stuck her upper body out.

"Dorothy, what's wrong?
"Warmth, uncomfortable
"Plump?

　I went through the uncomfortable.
　She said she loved the gloom, so I didn't have to wonder how warm it was.
　The question is, what's "chirpiness"?

What does that mean?

　Dorothy silently sliced her palm with the dagger I had given her, leaving her upper body exposed.

"--!

　The sight was so painful that Angier couldn't help but gasp, and his palm snapped off.
　It healed instantly.

Poochy.
"You mean the recovery is flowing to Dorothy?

　Dorothy nodded.
　Once the situation was understood, Angier stopped the healing spell.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Master Alec.
"......

　I'll pick my jaw and think.
　I take stock of the situation, assess it, and then ask the wise man's sword for an answer.

"I feel like it's because of that swap you made for Dorothy.
"Swap?
"I used Hershel's magic to save Dorothy by swapping bodies. Your body and soul seem to 'remember' it.

　Once the soul is transferred to the homunculus and then back out. Swap.

"That, combined with the ability to enter the shadows, produced an unexpected effect. As long as Dorothy is in the shadows, she's able to intercept the healing or strengthening magic of the shadow's master - or should I say host - for example.
That's right.

　Angel was convinced, but Dorothy looked unconvinced.

"What's the matter with you?
"I'll rob you of your recovery. Am I bothering you?
"No, it's not!

　Before I could answer, Angier blurted out in an assertive tone, "No?

No?
"Yes!　Mr. Alec is so strong that he doesn't need to recover. So there's no problem at all.


"...... so

　This time Dorothy understood.
　Angel's comforting look was distinctly relieved.
　I think I'm lifting myself up too much, but if it makes Dorothy feel better, that's okay.

　I sent a friendly "thank you" to Angel, but...

?

　Angel innocently stared back at me with a smile on her face, craning her neck to look back at me.

　...... bare, was it?

　　　　　☆

　In the afternoon, I went alone to clean out the remnants of the rebellion.

　Since the rebellion in the north, I've been sweeping the remnants of the rebellion from time to time.
　At first, they mostly targeted snobby Eliza, but lately they've been moving around here and there like a guerrilla instead of directly targeting Eliza.

　Whenever I get information about it, I try to destroy it.

Haaaaah!

　Cut into the rebels who have taken over an entire farm village.
　Throughout the village, I cut down opponents who emerge one after another with my wise man's sword.

　They used the terrain to their advantage to meet me.

　Some meet me head-on in the front, others use the rural buildings as shields and fire their magic from afar, and still others leap through the rooftops and surprise me from the sky.

　Incapacitate them one by one with a slash, bind them with magic cuffs, and continue on.
　When you have killed fewer than three hundred people, you will reach the central square where the villagers are trapped and gathered in one place.

You can go to .......

　The man in front of me looked familiar.
　A man who still led the dozens of men left, smiling fiercely against the backdrop of the hostage villagers.

　This is the man who had attacked me before and freed me after beating me up.

"You seem to remember me.
"You're still doing this?　When you do that--
"Phew!

　The man laughed at the cynicism.
　If you look closely, he was missing from his right wrist.
　Technically, he didn't have a hand.

　At the end of the wrist is a sharp blade with an attachment.
　The man put on the magic cuff and released it. And now that we're here, we're here.

"Can't you stop doing bad things yet?
"What's that about?

　A man grins.

"I'm just showing you this to say thank you, you know?　Thus--
"Geez!

　The man thrust his blade into one of the captive villagers.

You can now feel your flesh being cut directly into pieces.
...... That's going to be hard to do in your next life, right?　You can still start over from now on--
I'm not interested.

　The man said this while continuing to grin.

　Even though the whole world knows about reincarnation and the Final Judgment, there are not zero people who don't believe in it, or who are momentarily fine with it, as long as it's all right now.

　It's going to be hard to convince them.

　I've seen the soul of a man with the ability of a godhead.
　It's already very dark.
　It's the least I can do to stop him now--

"Mmmm!

　My feet flashed.
　A magic circle appeared, not the magic I had wielded.

　The trap, and the wards.
　This has happened before. So I immediately understood the situation.

　The man would show me his wrist and slash the villagers just to stop me.

"Don't flinch!　Well, you can't do that.
"What is this?
Diastima Wards. This is a reminder of all the mistakes we've made in the past.
Diastima ......
I had a guy who failed because he would have listened to humans, so I made him a guy who would have listened to anyone with a soul. It took me half a year to prepare, but you can't move, can you?　I don't care who you are, you still have a soul.
"......

　Listen to the wise man's sword.

　The Diastima Warding, as the man says, is a great warding that engulfs the earth and restricts all actions of the soul bearer inside.

　Its effect is also absolute, even if I transform into a homunculus, my actions are restricted because I'm a soul-bearer.
　It's one that cannot be broken by force.

Hey!　You, take that guy out!

　At the man's command, my men were closing in on me.

Are you sure you're okay to come in?
"Hey, the effect is only for one person.
That's right. ......

　From front, back, left and right, four of them slashed at me in unison.

　Zash!　Crunch!　Zuppah!



"Geez!
"What, what!
"How can you move?

　They intercepted the four men with their wise men's swords, and with a slash that took away their combat ability, they all screamed and backed away.
　With a slash just enough to rob them of their fighting ability, they all scream and back away.

Silly, silly, how can you move?

　The man was astonished. He had absolute confidence in his warding, and his astonishment at having it broken.

　I glanced at my shadow to make sure that Dorothy hadn't come out--that she couldn't move--and then I said, "This is it.

"That's enough.
"d*mn it!

　She regained her grip on the sword of the wise men.
　and subdued the men anew.