166-Episode 164: Makoto Takatsuki Makes a Guess





 --Hundreds of humans, beastmen, adults, and children are lying in a folded-up heap.

(...and dead?)

 In my eyes, it looked like a pile of bodies.
 My body stiffens at the bizarre sight. 

'Shit! Why is this happening?
'My God! Hey, get a grip!
 The executive knight, the old guardian knight and his subordinate knights rushed to the nearby people.
 I panicked and followed them.

 I approached one of the fearful fallen ones and gently touched his face.

 My skin was still warm.
 His chest is rising and falling slightly.
 I could hear the faint breathing.

 Good, thank God.
 They weren't dead.
 But they're all unconscious and won't wake up, even though I call out to them.

"Healwater.

 Oh! Old man, you can do recovery magic?
 You're so handy for such a stern-looking guy!
 The people of the Water Holy Knights seem to all be able to use recovery magic, and they all cast spells on the fallen people.
 Since there are no water spirits here, I can't use recovery magic, which is intermediate.

''There's no sign of the Serpent Order here! The only people here are all former slaves! And we don't know why, but we're all dying. Get the healers over here now!
 The executive knight's people are calling for support with a magic tool that looks like a communication device.

 You can't use recovery magic and there's no particular place to call for help, so I'm nowhere to be found.
 Once again, I observed the fallen person carefully.

(Hmm...?
 I felt a sense of discomfort.

 The magic power that clothed my body was far less.
 I feel that my physical strength is also decreasing.
 It's as if their life force has been sucked out of their body.
 And I remembered this state.

"Old man, do you have a soul book? A blank sheet of paper, if possible.
No, I don't have any, but what is the use of it?
"My Lord Brave! Have you found out what caused it?
 When I called out to the old guardian knight, the executive knight responded.  

''Maybe the sacrificial juju.......used a self-destructing magic.......or maybe he was made to use it.
 I guessed from my previous experience.
 The feeling of that time, when my mind and body were secretly deprived of power, came back to me.
 As I recall, I also used a self-destructive spell that knocked me out.

''Using powerful magic in exchange for life span... but that was supposed to be a forbidden spell!
 The old guardian knight raised his voice.

''The use of self-destructive magic is strictly forbidden by the Goddess Church. In the first place, it shouldn't even be known how to do it... how come you know about it, brave lord?
 Oops, sheesh.
 It's certainly weird for me to know.

"The Great Sage told me about it.
 It would be safe to say that.


'So I'd like to check the lifespan to see if that's true. Is there a better way to find out?
 If I had a soul book, I should be able to check the life span.

''That's no problem. I can use magic to look up lifespans.
Wow, there is such a thing as magic.
 I didn't know.

''It's originally not a good idea to use the other party without their permission, since I would know their status and skills... but right now, it's an emergency. I'll apologize later.
 Saying that, the executive knight person touched the forehead of the fallen child and muttered an incantation.
 A pale light emerges.
 It's the same light as when he used the soul book.

''........what a mess.''
 Mr. Execution Knight muttered, his expression distorted.
''How did it go?''
 I asked.

'This baby has been reduced to a few days of life left.
'A few days! How miserable!
 At the words of the executive knight, the old guardian knight shouts in anger.

''What will happen to this boy, these people?'' 
 Is there anything we can do to help?

Don't worry, if you take her to the priestess and ask the Goddess of Fire (Saul), you can extend her life to some extent. .... although it will cost you a fair price.
The price?
An offering, Mr. Braveheart.
 As I was twisting my neck, not understanding the meaning of the execution knight's words, the old man told me.
 That's right, money could buy the life span of this world!

But isn't that a significant amount of money?
Yes but there is no other way. I will address His Majesty the King.
 I was worried that the people of the weak and feral Fire Nation would be willing to throw their goods at the lives of their slaves, but at least the people of the Executive Knight didn't seem to have any intention of abandoning the people who were lying here.
 Thank goodness.

 Just then, I heard the sound of footsteps of a large number of people approaching.

''Oi! What's going on here? Where are those snake cultists? Nonsense. It's a sign from the Goddess of Fire!

 A large number of Knights of the Fire Nation have arrived in large numbers.
 Among them are people who look like healers.

''Start with the most emaciated ones!
"A man with a free hand! Get these guys out of here. This place is too small to recover.
We have extraterritorial employees from another country, would you like me to show them the loophole?
No, we have an emergency. I have permission from Talisker.

 A flurry of instructions are being given.
 The recovering officers are giving priority to those who are seriously ill.
 The executive knight people are giving instructions to the knights who have come.

 Me and the old guardian knight guy helped carry the fallen people out of the loophole.
 With my strength, I could only carry a child or so....

(I hate my low status....)
 There's no point in whining about it now.
 Let's move our hands.

 The support came one by one, and the hundreds of fallen slaves have been reduced to about half.

'Brave Lord, we will remain here. Why don't you go to support Lady Sasaki Aya?''
 The old guardian knight said that to me, perhaps out of concern.

''No, I'll stay until they're all carried out.
 I don't think they would be happy to leave a weak person alone and go to Sa-san's place.
 I paced back and forth between the underground passage and the ground.

 After a few hours, I finished carrying them all in.
 I heard that they were being carried into the church in order of severity, starting with the most seriously ill.
 It seems like there's nothing more for us to do, when an execution knight approached us.

It's a good thing that we have been able to save you, Brave Makoto-dono, Knights of the Water Country. Fortunately, there seems to be no deaths.
It's a good thing.
 The execution knight's words brought a smile to the old guardian knight's face as well.

''In the end, I wonder what the Order of the Snake wanted to do?''
 He spent a lot of money to buy all the slaves and had them all use self-destructive magic until the very end of their lives.
 What(s) are you(s) doing?
 The executive knight person's expression turns grim at my words.

'We are currently organizing a search party to track down the Order of the Snake. We have secured all of the cultists we've been letting swim until now and are interrogating them, but we haven't gotten any strong information.
Didn't our arrival scupper their plans?
'It would be nice if that were the case, but...'

 While listening to their conversation, I ruminated on the events of the day while using my 'clearing water' skill.
 At that time, a voice echoed in my head.


(Mako, the slaves who were deprived of their lifespans were used in the Sacrifice Technique. I don't know what they're going to do... maybe even the Goddess of Water (Eil) or the Goddess of Fire (Saul))
Even Master Noah?
(This is the work of a devotee who is heavily favored by the evil god, Typhon. And he is thoroughly hiding the future. All I know is that something is 'going to happen'. (Be careful.)
(Okay, thank you, Mr. Noah.)
 I thanked the Goddess.


'You might as well know what magic you've used over the life of a slave.
 The executive knight person and the old guardian knight looked at my words.

''Wasn't the suicide magic a dud? Nothing has happened, Mister Brave. Self-destructing magic is a technique of releasing magic at the expense of oneself, isn't it?
'No, self-destructing magic is a magic that simply replaces the missing magic with a lifetime, so I think the reduced lifespan means that it was used for some kind of magic.
 I refuted the old man's words.

''Brave Makoto-dono, we have no knowledge of self-destructive magic. Can you tell us anything you notice?''
 The person of the execution knight bowed his head with a serious expression.
 This guy is really serious and sincere.
 In response, I opened my mouth while pondering.

''As for the self-destructing magic, it's just as I said. It's only a supplement to the magic power. .........From here on, I'm going to speculate, but I'm going to speak on the premise that this event was caused by the snake cult.
 If it's as Noah-sama said, there should be no doubt about it first.
 They gave a small nod at my words.

''The Order of the Snake doesn't act much on its own. In the Water Country, they are an abominable giant. In the royal capital of the Land of the Sun, swarms of flying dragons and demons run amok. In McAllen, too, we have a runaway of demons and an old dragon. In the Land of Trees, the beast king's men and the demon king. ........Then I think they're watering down some forces in the Land of Fire as well.
You think that's a slave purchase?
 At my words, the executive knight asked a question.

'But all those slaves have been given away here too, brave lord.
''The old man is right, we don't consider slaves to be a force to be reckoned with. They are only fuel for using some kind of magic. And based on past patterns, the Order of the Snake often uses demons.
''Then does this mean that the Fire Nation is also trying to cause a demon stampede?
 The old man shouted loudly.
 The knights of the Fire Nation are looking at you in surprise.

 The executive knight hurriedly took out a magic tool for communication.
''Tell the guards of the royal capital! Make sure there are no demon hordes approaching, ASAP!
 You're moving fast.
 This is helpful.

''Thank you, Lord Brave. I was focused on not letting the Serpent Sect escape from the royal capital, but there's certainly a possibility that they could be targeted from the outside. I just told them to prepare for an attack from the outside.''
 Mr. Execution Knight said.

''Then we'll be fine as long as we keep an eye out for a bunch of demons!
Ummmmm...
 The people of the Water Holy Order, including the old man, have a look on their faces that it's over and done with.
 Aren't the people of the Water Country (our home) a little too optimistic?
 I know it's a nice place, but I'm worried about going to war with the great demon king's army from now on.

''Thank you for everything, brave lord. I will now continue my search with the search party of the snake cult. Why don't you return to the martial arts tournament, Lord Brave? Your fellow warrior-dono is probably participating in this event. If they have survived, I think it's around the semifinals.
 After saying that, the executive knight person ran off.
 Until the end, he was a good young man.
 There are people like that in the Fire Nation, too.

''Then let's return to Sophia-sama's place. ''Brave Lord.''
Yeah, Pop.
 Me and the people of the Water Holy Order hurried to the martial arts tournament in a hurry.


 Today, we had been participating in the defeat of the Order of the Snake since this morning, but it was already well past noon.
 Would Sa-san have survived the competition successfully?
 On the way, I talked with the old man about the martial arts tournament while running.

'Have you ever participated in the Fire Nation martial arts tournament, old man?'
Once... unfortunately, I was eliminated from the preliminary round.
Oh, right.
 I guess I heard something bad.

"To begin with, it's rare for a Water Kingdom warrior to even survive the preliminary round. But I'm sure that Aya-dono will survive to the end.
Yeah, I'm sure he's got some left.
 I nodded emphatically.

 By the way, it's the impatient nature of the people to end a martial arts tournament in one day, I heard.
 I think it would be better to split it up into several days for the sake of entertainment.
 By the way, I heard it was no problem because the best healers in the Fire Nation (Great Keith) would heal the injuries in an instant.

 While we were having this conversation, the amphitheater (Colosseum) came into view.
 The old guardian knight goes through the gate to show his ID card.

 When I entered the arena, I heard the same or more cheers as in the morning.
 It's a lot of fun.

(It's getting late........what happened to Sa-san?)

 I looked for the players' officials' seats, where Lucy and Mr. Freyae were.

 Just then, I heard a voice from the loudspeaker magic.


 --The Great Fire Nation Martial Competition! The winner is Aya Sasaki~~~!


 Amidst the loud cheers, such a real-life cry reached my ears.

 ......................eh?