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Chapter 199: Summon Magic
Translator: Tseirp
We arrived at the village when the morning sun could be seen clearly.
However, the village was enclosed by a simple fence and there weren’t any lookouts so I was perplexed for a moment as to whether it was fine to enter.
“Luciel-sama, why did you stop?”
“There is no penalty for entering a village that doesn’t have guards stationed. It’s commonly accepted that Adventurers can enter.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Generally, the fence is meant to prevent the entry of wild wolves or monsters.”
“The monsters in the Saint Schull Allied Nations are weak so it won’t be a problem even with a fence like this.”
It seemed like Adventurers are free to enter villages.
Taking note of that, I moved the fence to enter the village and closed the fence behind us.
“Firstly, I’ll go greet the village elder before requesting a trade for horses. Well, if there aren’t any horses, I’ll have no choice but to burden Fornoir this time.”
“It would be great if they do.”
“Also, it would be great if we can have a meal here too.”
Nadia agreed with me as we headed towards the village elder’s house while I thought of how Lydia had totally turned into a gluttonous character.
While walking, I heard the sounds of life inside each of the houses so I thought to myself that the villagers sure wake up early as we arrived at the village elder’s house.
“Well then, I hope he has woken up.”
“Luciel-sama, please let us do it.”
“Luciel-sama can wait here.”
I had mixed feelings with how the two of them had really gotten accustomed to being my followers but I felt that the negotiations would go a lot smoother if I was the one who did it so I tried a simple persuasion.
“The two of you are not acquainted with the village elder right? Well, I’ve only talked with the new village elder once but I think it will be more reasonable if I went.”
When I told them that, they nodded and agreed so I took a step forward and knocked on the village elder’s house door.
“I’m sorry for disturbing so early in the morning but is village elder-sama at home?”
When I did that, I heard movement inside so it seemed like he was awake when the door opened slightly.
“Who is it? What is it so early in the morning … wait, isn’t it Luciel-sama?”
When the displeased village elder saw me, his expression turned into smiles.
“Good morning. I’m sorry for visiting so early.”
“Don’t, don’t worry. Leaving that aside, may I know what reason did you come here for?”
“We’re on our way to the Holy Capital but our horses collapsed so if possible I would like to lend a few horses. Of course, I am willing to pay a lot more than the usual.”
“I see, to the Holy Capital huh. However, it might be nothing more but rumors but I’ve heard that Luciel-sama has been punished by the Gods.”
Even though he was fearfully asking about the God’s punishment, I felt that his eyes showed a shrewd spark but I don’t intend to lose time here so I’ll show him directly by using magic.
“Those are mere rumors. Heal.”
When I applied Heal on the village elder, his posture with his right shoulder slightly lowered changed into a proper posture.
“Oo! My lower back pain has disappeared like it was an illusion. If that’s the case …”
He looked happy while kneading his back as he swallowed the last of his words.
“That’s because they were just rumors. I’m sorry to have troubled the village with that.”
“Eh? Ah, please don’t mind it, Luciel-sama saved this village after all. For now, come on in.”
“Thank you.”
The village elder hid his discomposure as he invited us to enter his home.
When I entered, books were scattered around unlike the previous time I visited.
“Sorry for it being so messy.”
The village elder apologized and swept the books to a corner in embarrassment.
“I’ve said it just now but I stopped by suddenly so don’t mind it. Nevertheless, I’m surprised you possess this many books.”
The village elder shook his head and answered.
“These all belong to the previous village elder. I originally thought that the church would collect them but they were left like this so I read them whenever I’m free.”
I didn’t see them when we were cleaning up previously but we didn’t search the place in detail so it was probably kept somewhere but before entering the main topic, I asked about the books he likes to lower his vigilance towards us.
“That’s a great hobby to have. May I ask what kind of books are they?”
“Important details needed to govern the village are described and there are also many that preach human supremacy. That’s why there are also some from the Principality of Blange that is the origin of the human supremacy doctrine. I guess the majority of the others are regarding Rainstar-dono.”
The books were a lot less unusual than I had thought.
The number of books was a little overwhelming so maybe he hasn’t exactly had the time to read all of them in detail.
Nevertheless, an organization that believes in the human supremacy doctrine looks to be a polar opposite to my beliefs.
If there was a group working behind the scenes within the church that believes in the human supremacy doctrine, the perpetrators for the disturbance this time would be a religious organization.
If that’s the case, that person I am acquainted with would be the instigator for this time’s disturbance.
Thinking about it makes me depressed so I continued the conversation.
“I see. Actually, I also like to read and I’m the type that reads through various different kinds of books. That’s why I was wondering if there were any books that are out of the ordinary here.”
“If that’s the case, there are some that records legends regarding Spirits, Dragons, and labyrinths as well as some unusual and suspicious ones like a book regarding summoning and one on eternal youth and longevity.”
When I said that with a smile, the village elder became somewhat excited and told me about various genres with a triumphant look.
But some of the titles caught my attention.
Summon Magic and eternal youth and longevity … but why didn’t the church personnel collect the books?
” … I’m guessing that the church people investigated those books?”
“Yes. Probably. It’s apparently something that is fake in the first place and it was written in the Principality of Blange but books like these can be found almost everywhere.”
I was extremely uneasy as to for what reason the Knight Corps came here to investigate.
Is it really alright? Or maybe within the church … it’s useless to make any more conjectures.
I paused for a second before entering the main topic.
” … I see. And so going back to the horses, would you be able to prepare them?”
“There aren’t any excellent horses in this village but would that be fine?”
“Yes. Sorry for making an unreasonable request. If you are alright with 10 gold coins for a horse. I wish to purchase 3 horses.”
“I’ll gladly sell if I can receive that much. I’ll quickly go to where the stable master is so could you please wait for a moment?”
“Yeah. I’d love to read some of these books during that time if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, go ahead.”
The village elder said joyfully as he flew out of the house.
There are probably horses if he’s acting that way.
“Well then, what do you two think?”
“It’s true that we also followed the human supremacy belief. But after becoming adventurers, that wall thinned.”
“For me, there’s also Spirits so I am not that against other races.”
The two of them replied to the topic of human supremacy but I smiled wryly remembering that I didn’t specify the subject so I properly conveyed what I intended to ask.
“No, sorry about that. I didn’t specify the subject. I was thinking if the mystery of the demons suddenly appearing has something to do with that summoning magic. By the way, does the Principality of Blange still perform hero summoning even till today?”
After I clarified my question, the two of them told me about what they knew.
“Yes. But there are few who knows about the details even among the nobles.”
“We are told that the hero summoning is being conducted but we don’t know if the summoning is successful or not.”
“Is it because the demon lord and demon race didn’t appear?”
“I also don’t know much regarding that.”
“We immediately left home upon coming of age and we weren’t nobles with considerable authority so … ”
Oh yeah, they did say that they hated how they were forced into marriage proposals so they became adventurers.
Ordinary nobles … now that I think about it, Elinas-san at Nelldal is also the daughter of an Earl but she’s into research because she doesn’t want to be used for political marriages.
Is the future of the Principality of Blange all right? I didn’t get any valuable information but either way, I decided to look for some clues no matter how minor.
” … I see. We’re short on time so let’s do what we can. If there’s anything that catches your attentions, please let me know.”
“”Okay.””
After I instructed the two of them, I proceeded to read the books on summoning and eternal youth and longevity that the village elder spoke of.
At the moment, I don’t know if there are any common points between the demon disturbance that happened in this village the previous time and the rumored demons that appeared in Blange this time.
It’s been over half a year since that happened but what I still remember and am still bothered from that time were the magic circle that released the miasma that disappeared and the ritual that used a suspicious staff and vase that Cathy and the others said they saw.
If that ritual is recorded inside these books on Summon Magic and eternal youth and longevity, I might find out the aim of the demons.
I thought as I began to search for the book and I immediately found it.
It was an expensive looking book that was carefully wrapped but the contents were very dirty and looked very timeworn and the words could barely be read.
I wanted to purify everything apart from the words but it might recognize the words as dirty too causing me to not be able to read the book so I restrained myself and began reading.
Because Summon Magic is categorized under Space-time Magic, it has become a myth-like existence but it actually isn’t.
In fact, even without attributes, as long as a contract for compensation is carved into a magic circle, it is possible to cast it.
Regarding that compensation, if the intended summon is a human, the compensation is naturally a human as well.
However, not all contracts require life as compensation, apparently it is possible to offer magical power as compensation.
“It leaked that much miasma so the compensation was likely to be all the villagers’ lives. No matter how I think about it, it was definitely meant to summon an extraordinary existence.”
When I flipped to the next page, there was a section on magic tools used for summoning and when I looked at the rituals using vases, terrifying things like soul exchange and soul possessing were recorded in it.
If the summoning magic circle at that time activated, the villagers’ souls would vanish along with the summon and the summoned demon souls would enter the villagers’ bodies.
If this content is true, then at that time, if we were to arrive at the village just a little later, the demon souls would have been born within the villagers.
“No ordinary person would be able to think of committing such a thing.”
When I flipped to another page, something outrageous was written there.
“Please buy this at the asking price.”
When I closed the book on summoning, I noticed that the exterior was getting noisy and went out together with Nadia and Lydia.
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading.
“Please buy this at the asking price.”
What does this mean??? Plot twist!?