It was really a baffling existence.
　Mari thought of the man she had met just a few hours ago - Almus.

　A human being with a body from this world and a soul from another world.
　If we call a lost person a transmigrant, then he is a transmigrant.

　Well, it's not impossible to take over a person's body.
　The soul is misfed or heaped up with detachment grass, and the soul leaves the body.
　The body is dead, but the body lives for a while. Under these circumstances, if another soul passes near it, the soul is sucked into the corpse.

　Perhaps that was a coincidence.......or a prank of the fairies.

　Nevertheless, that country was quite a good system.
　There is a large area of farmland and a lot of rock salt. And that paper.....

　The groundwork to become a powerful nation is complete. All that remains now is for the new king to find out how he can keep the big boys at bay.

　We must take action now while we still can.

　Hey, Mom. Mom, are you there?
　Oh, I'm sorry. I'm here. Ellie.

　Mari strokes the black creature she's straddling.
　The black creature called Ellie the flying dragon screams with joy.

　Mari was now above the sky.
　This flying dragon could fly at the speed of a jet plane, so it would be a short trip to the mainland of Roselle Kingdom in no time.

　The high ranking dragon species can control wind and fire at will, so Mari doesn't feel the wind at all.
　The air pressure is also adjusted to the same value as on the ground, so it's a very comfortable flight.

　It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to be able to get a person on board with you because of the pride of a high-ranking dragon species, but Ellie is an exception.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for. Well, from Mari's point of view, it's more convenient for her.


　What's wrong?
　I don't need you. But you've been quiet for so long.

　Ellie says with concern.
　By the way, Ellie doesn't speak human language. The vocal organs are different in dragons and humans.

　But it's easy to manipulate the wind and vibrate the air to make sounds.

　'I'm sorry. It's not that big of a deal.''

　Mari stroked Ellie's head.
　A smile could be seen on her mouth.






　''Your Majesty. I would like your permission to perform a first-level strategic spellcraft ritual.
　Mari said to King Roselle as soon as they returned to the royal palace.

　'King Rosais' country?　It doesn't seem to be that much of a threat...
　King Roselle is reluctant to do so.
　He said that if he wanted to bring famine to one country, the second class would suffice.

　A first class famine would cover more than half of southern Adelunia.
　This is too much and too expensive for just one country of King Lossies.

　To begin with, the first level of the spell was only applied to the three northern countries last year.
　There isn't much stock of materials used in large-scale spells either.

　''No, that country is a threat. That country is trying to modernize their country by actively recruiting Cilician people. Besides, they succeeded in centralizing the country during the last civil war. And now the king is young. Undoubtedly, he will start to take on military challenges. That will be a troublesome obstacle that will stand in front of our country later on. We should nip this in the bud as soon as possible.

　First level strategic spellcraft rituals are costly, but not as costly as expeditions.
　

　''But the second level would be fine. That country isn't that big, is it?
　No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You'll be hanging it up in the surrounding countries of King Losey's Land.

　Mari grinned.







　Katsu, Katsu, Katsu.

　Every time Mari's shoes stomped on the stairs, there was a high-pitched sound.
　Occasionally, there are people shouting, screaming, and cries of despair.

　The further down they went, the stronger the stench assaulted Mari.

　On the outskirts of Lutia, the capital of the Roselle Kingdom.

　A prison where violent criminals are imprisoned, commonly known as a poison jar.

　Mari arrives at the poison pot with ten strong soldiers in tow.
　She has one purpose. It was to harvest the materials for spellcraft.


　''Hmm........six, eight, twelve, fifteen, twenty-three, thirty-one. Take them out carefully, one by one. It's quite dangerous, so be careful.
　Yes, sir.

　The soldiers first went to the sixth prison.
　That prison is very large, with room for thirty people to be imprisoned.

　The prison is dripping with filth, with human bones and rotting human corpses lying around.
　Intense.

　There was one man with bloodshot eyes sitting inside.
　The man took one look at Mari's figure and bit down on the bars and shouted.


　'You witch!　Go to hell!　I'll kill you!
　Haha, you're looking good as ever. Yeah, it's a good thing. Sacrifices are most desirable when they're healthy.

　Mari said and took the plant from her pocket.
　It has a purple-red (lavender) flower.
　But you can easily tell from the shape of the flower that it's not lavender.

　'Demon grass. Isn't it starting to get hard to run out by now?'

　Mari waved the powerful drug in front of the man's eyes and showed him.

　'Shut up!　I will not bow down to you!

　While saying that, the man's gaze is glued to the magic weed.

　Drugs can be roughly divided into two categories.

　There are two types of drugs, the inhibitory system and the excitatory system.
　The herb belongs to the excitatory system.

　This herb excites people's mind violently.
　It can increase the hatred and anger.

　The driving force of witchcraft is emotion. The richer the emotions, the more powerful the spellcraft is.
　If you want to put up a ward, it's the desire to protect people, love, and kindness.
　If you want to put a curse on a person, it's a negative emotion such as envy or jealousy.

　The curse of poisoning is a classic example of this.
　Poisonous insects kill each other, build up resentment, and then use it as a medium for casting a curse.

　They use insects because they are easy to handle and because they are easy to obtain.
　In other words, it doesn't matter if it's not an insect, a dog, a monkey or a human. In fact, it is preferable to use a creature with high intelligence.
　That's because they are so emotionally rich.

　Human poisoning.
　A technique that passes the mind of any sorcerer at one time or another.

　But there are many problems with the spell called human poisoning.
　First of all, it takes a lot of patience to feed each other.
　In the first place, it is very expensive.
　Most of them are crazy when they start eating each other, and their hatred and anger are so distorted that it doesn't have the desired effect.

　And that no sorcerer would want to do such a crazy thing in the first place.

　If you curse a person, there are two holes.　
　Too powerful a curse will kill you. Many sorcerers are afraid of the curse coming back and won't try it.

　But Mari showed them how to put it into action.
　She is more efficient in using narcotics and more thorough in amplifying her hatred and anger.

　In a way, she is also broken.
　Her ethics as a modern Japanese have already collapsed more than five hundred years ago.

　The reasons for the collapse are ... 'women', 'the blessing of immortality', 'barbaric horsemen' and 's*x slaves'.
　It's easy to associate with the four key words.

　　'Hmm, fine, fine, fine, fine. I'm going to let you suck it out before I kill you. You'll have to be patient for three days before I kill you. It may be painful to the point where you want to die, but be patient.


　Mari smiled wryly.





　''Um, what's the purpose of this time?　You want to diminish the power of King Rosais' country, don't you?　So shouldn't we put a curse on King Losey's land?　And the number of sacrifices is too small. This won't cause any damage as the mine spell wards will play them off, right?

　Annabella, one of the spellcasters, asks Mari.
　She was only fifteen years old, but she was under direct instruction from Mari.

　She is expected to be his future assistant.

　''It's fine. There's no need to do any damage. It's just that this time the goal is to convince neighboring countries that the culprit for casting the curse is King Rosais' country. It's just that there is a very good sorcerer in the area.

　Annabella, who understood her intentions in Mari's reply, closed her mouth.
　We already know our purpose and our own appointment. The only thing left to do is to focus on the spellcasting.

　''■■■■■!

　Annabella turned her attention to the screaming sacrifices.
　They were all gagged and hung on the cross.

　If you remove the gag, you can fully expect a curse to leak out of their mouths.　
　It's just May, so I'm keeping them quiet.


　''........''
　Does it hurt your conscience?
　'Well ... to a point. But you got what you deserved.

　Annabella says as she looks at the inmates being crucified.

　'Those three men over there raped and killed virgins and boys, and then killed them. They robbed and murdered eight members of a family and set fire to them, and the flames burned six houses, killing six people in all. The other side was a traitor who had been secretly working in secret with other countries. The other side engaged in slave hunting, which is banned in the country, and kidnapped more than a hundred people and sold them to the Cilician people.
　'Huh, come to think of it, yes. That man has given us dozens of materials like potatoes, right?

　You'll get the material and you'll have better security.
　Two birds with one stone.

　They're all doomed to die. Well, they deserve it.
　Well, there's no point in keeping them alive. Prisoners of war can be sold or put to work.

　Mari orders you to remove the gag of the condemned man on death row who is being crucified.
　He doesn't seem to have the energy to spit out a curse anymore, so he has to make it easier for him to breathe so that he can live as long as possible.

　'After all, crucifixion is the best way to make a sacrifice. Too many people pass out if you burn them at the stake. Even if they faint this way, you can wake them up by flogging them.
　'The fear of fire wins out more than resentment at the stake. It's harder to burn at the stake, though.
　'You know a lot about this. Do you have any first-hand experience?

　Annabella says jokingly, and Mari smiles... but mutters with eyes that aren't smiling.

　'Well,'

　Mari says as she turns her back on Annabella and the inmates and walks away from them.

　'Well, I'm going to go to bed. Let me know when you're dead. I'll finish up. It's too much for you guys to bear. This level of curse.



　Mari walked away and muttered quietly to herself with no one around her.

　'It's much better to have a clear goal in sight, death. It's a happy thing.