Pichon …….
Pichon …….
The musty air gives Nasser a bad wake-up call.
He didn’t even want to think that it had all been a dream.
The ceiling he saw a while ago.
The dungeons of the royal castle…….
The smell and the humidity were not so forgettable.
“Ggh!”
The pain in Nasser’s chest as he tries to sit up…
As a summoner who was so proud of it, the curse mark of the dragon summoner was burning and melting.
It still smells of burning and is dripping with subcutaneous fluid, which tells him that it is a serious burn.
It was enough for him to realize that even if the wound healed, the scar would not disappear…..
But…
“My dragon can’t just disappear like that!”
At school.
On the battlefield
In adventure
A partner who always fought and ran with him.
And Nasser’s life itself.
“It won’t dissapper that easily!”
Fortunately, the magic shackles are not in place and some of the magic has been restored.
I can do it────.
Na? That’s right … my dragon.
Nasser puts magic power into the curse mark.
Slow….slowly…..
“Come ……. Come on, come on, come on… my dragon.”
Nasser felt the magical power slowly flowing to the burning curse of his chest as it surged.
Dokun.
Dokun……..
“Come, come on. ───── Come to me, dragon!”
Come
The “D&%$” of the curse spell starts to make a sizzling sound.
But…
Dokun….
Dok…..
Nasser can feel the magic power that flowed into the curse mark dissipating…….
Nasser had a little expectation, but the curse mark that summoned the dragon did not appear, and instead, despair rushed in.
I’ve really lost …… everything, haven’t I?
“Khh….”
Dragon …………………….
Nasser’s shoulders slumped.
No wonder he was free from the shackles……
Droplets. A drop of water falls.
It’s not groundwater dripping from the ceiling.
Fresh, warm tears.
It overflows without stopping….
Ha!
“Ha ha ha”
Such an end.
This is the end…
This is how it ends…
“Ha-ha-ha! So a summoner without a curse mark doesn’t need magic-blocking fetters”
Hahahahahaha!
Nasser mixed his laughter with his cries.
He had slowly become a madman.
Nasser burst into tears, shedding copious amounts of tears.
Nasser could no longer summon the dragons.
He would never see them again.
Never again ────.
Bataan!
In despair and resignation, Nasser’s ears were struck by a violent sound. But he was too beaten to care about that now.
By the time his brain realised that it was the soldiers who had stormed the entrance to the dungeon, the clattering of metal shoes, reminiscent of heavy armour, was close at hand.
“Nasser Virginia… get out now!”
Nasser looked blankly at them.
However, the soldiers did not take any notice of this, and rushed into the prison, they dragged Nasser out without question.
They dragged him violently.
They didn’t care if he was hurt or if his legs or arms were broken.
Some of them might have been his former colleagues, but now, this is how they treat him.
However, Nasser, who is devastated by the loss of his dragon, was left to his own devices.
He had given up all hope of ever proving his innocence.
It was only a matter of time before he found his way to ………….
“Eh?”
Nasser was dragged out of his prison, not in front of the king as he had been the other day – but in a more spacious and conspicuous place.
This was the hall in front of the castle.
The cobblestoned area was the boundary between the moat and the city.
It was the event hall where many citizens heard the announcements of the kingdom.
It’s also known as the place where major criminals are judged ──── and publicly executed.
This is the first time today that Nasser reacts in a human way when he is dragged into such a place.
Earlier, he had the expression of a man who had lost everything and was in despair. ……
“W-Why!!!”
Now, the face of a man who has lost everything and is in despair freezes even the little reason and emotion he has left……
This is the lowest way a person could endure.
He looked as if he were peering out of purgatory into hell.
“You are guilty of first-degree treason and heresy, Nasser Virginia! Your crimes are brought to justice here and now!”
It was the King who shouted from the city walls. And then there was the chief priest.
Before long, a large crowd of noisy citizens had gathered to watch with interest as Nasser was dragged away.
But Nasser couldn’t find the king, the chief priest, the guildmaster, Alicia and Kōji────All of them were mixed in with the citizens, who were watching him.
Because of
“And, Dad, Mom? Liz and Captain……..?”
Nasser spills out in a shaky tone.
The four people he had called were in custody, the same as Nasser.
And they’re stuck in that damned Church Cross circle…….
The four of them were sobbing.
His father was the first to speak up when he noticed Nasser being dragged out.
“Nasser…….There’s something wrong with this! I believe in you. I believe in you. ……!”
When Nasser’s father’s eyes were pierced with conviction, He felt like he was struck at the heart.
“Are you guilty of treason?That’s impossible…… Absolutely!”
His mother believes in him, as does his father.
“Uncle…..I–I….”
Nasser’s sister-in-law, who is younger than him, squirms and doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on.
She is younger than Alicia, still young and helpless.
She has the same hair, eyes and skin as Nasser, and is the daughter of his sister who died of illness many years ago.
Nasser’s parents, who took her in and adopted her when Nasser was a member of the national army.
And
“Nasser────”
A young woman with beautiful silver hair, good looks and a well-built body looked at Nasser and with a complicated look on her face simply called out his name.
“..,Captain…?”
She was Nasser’s immediate superior when he was a member of the national army, and a skilled female knight.
When Nasser was wounded and had to be discharged from the army, she worried about him until the end and even took care of him after his retirement.
Moreover, she was the one who rescued Nasser from the battlefield when he was wounded and even treated his injuries.
Why is she put like that?
But the fact is, she’s here.
The beautiful female knight …… who was attached to the church cross, perhaps detained as Nasser’s associate.
Yes, there’s no doubt about it! She is undoubtedly Shara Envania herself.
Shara Envania is a talented woman, much younger than Nasser, but with a family background and the ability to match it.
A former boss to whom Nasser owes a great deal.
“The Inquisition begins!”
It was the chief priest who pronounced the charges on behalf of the king.
Behind him was a line of masked torturers.
“Nasser Virginia, a Class A adventurer, has been captured for his role in the assassination of a hero. This act is a danger to humanity. He is suspected of being a heretic who is in league with the Demon Lord.”
With theatrical movements, he deliberately agitates the citizens.
The citizens are buzzing with excitement.
“We have called the heretic’s lieutenants here to question him!”
Ah, yes, ────.
This is the real setup.
A setup to convict the innocent.
What is about to begin is a race against time to attack individuals who cannot fight back and to extract forceful confessions that turn no into a yes.
It is a theatre of social extermination that will incite an agitated populace and leave the public with no way out.
Heretic Trials.
If this is a woman, it is a witch hunt ──── witch trial.
The testimony is said to be made up of those closest to the person who will testify, making it more believable …..
“”I have gathered here only those who are related to him by blood and affinity!”
“So I ask you: ！！！！”
“Father of Nasser Virginia… Does this man belong to the Demon King or not?”
When asked, Nasser’s father already has a look of determination in his eyes.
“…… No, no!Father!”
“…………”
“Answer me!”
The chief priest continues.
“You are guilty of treason! His blood relatives are equally guilty! But if you admit your guilt and impeach this man, you will be forgiven!”
Nasser is already guilty of beating the hero, the trump card in the war against the demon king.
The only thing that should be added to it is to show the label of heretic to the citizens.
They wanted Nasser’s relatives with their own mouths. ── That is the aim.
It is a setup to make a heretic, to deprive Nasser of all his rights, and to make Alicia the property of the hero.
It would be if Nasser alone took all the blame.
Already the penalty for treason is extreme, not only for Nasser but for his whole family.
However, by tying it to the Inquisition, they are trying to mitigate the crime.
As Nasser recalls, if his relatives or parents agreed with the Inquisition, they could choose to live as serfs for a few years or as warlords for a year in return for sparing their lives.
If it’s a young woman, she can spend a year on the front line as a soldier’s toy……
But if they don’t recognise the heretics and cover for them, they will be put to death immediately.
It is an extreme choice.
This is because the act of defending a heretic – a heretic whose mind is far more poisonous than that of a normal heretic – is considered a more serious crime than normal.
They say that brainwashers have no redeeming qualities. ….. In short, it’s a cowardly way of eliminating choice.
“Now, the answer is…..”
“My son is innocent.”
“Yes, he’s innocent.”
The chief priest’s words were interrupted by Nasser’s father and mother, in simultaneous denial.
They believe in Nasser and ────.
He is not a heretic.
“What?”
The chief priest, the king and the citizens were surprised.
Alicia and Kōji, who were watching from a distance, didn’t seem to understand.
The only people who realised what was happening were…
“Father! Mother!?”
no,NO you can’t say that!
“Oh, I see,────, you have been steeped in vice,…….”
For a moment the chief priest’s face was contorted in astonishment.
“O king! I think there is no room for reform.”
A token acknowledgement.
It is also a pending charge of treason.
“Umu……………………. It can’t be helped…….”
“Then let us at least purify your soul…”
Soo,the chief priest holding up his hand.
The king nods gravely.
“Stop…”
No! No!
“Do it!”
The torturer’s spear is brought out at once according to the hand that is swung down.
“Nasser”
“Nasser”
The last words of his father and mother.
Since joining the school to become a summoner – Nasser has been busy with the army and adventurers and has been estranged from them.
Even though he only showed his face a few times a year, it didn’t mean he hated them.
“Don’t do itーーーーーーーー！！！”
Nasser’s screams drowned out the sound of the cold spear piercing the flesh of his father and mother.
His parents, who were pierced in the vitals, could not be saved.
The only thing he can do is to watch them die without a sound. ────
The sight of it made Nasser wound gouged even deeper into his despair, and he could no longer even speak.
“no…Noo…….!!!!”
His sister-in-law, who was still very young, shouted.
Nasser’s sister’s beloved daughter ────, who would have received all the love of their parents on her behalf.
She was now Nasser’s last living relative.
She screams in fear and despair.
“No, no, no! No, no, no! Noaaaahhhh!”
In the blink of an eye,her crotch region becomes soiled.
The torturer laughs at this, and the chief priest, who is used to such scenes, looks dismayed.
“Look at you! Look at this foolishness of defending a heretic!”
This is the professional way of judging heretics.
Even the most gruesome executions can be used as a source of excitement for the citizens.
That’s what happens to fools who join the Demon Lord, the bitter enemy of mankind! Ladies and gentlemen, some of you must have lost loved ones in the invasion of the Demon King. …… Am I right? I’m sorry.”
“……”
“Death penalty!”
“Yes! The death penalty!”
“My brother was killed by the Demon King’s army! That’s right! She deserved it!”
“She deserved it!”
“She deserves to die! Death penalty!”
“Kill her!”
Kill!
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
Killllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!
Wawwawwawwa~tsu
The citizens of the city are excited.
Excitement, not mourning the death of innocent Nasser’s parents.
They hoped for the death of the young girl who might be put to the blade.
Then they hope to see the noble and beautiful lady knight to die next.
Kill, kill, the citizens shout.
The chief priest grins at the citizen’s reaction.
“scums, you’re so easy”
He secretly instructs his torturers to poke Nasser’s niece with a bloodstained spear.
Just barely, without scratching the skin.
“Now, girl ── next is you!”
“No! No, no, no! No! Aaah!”
Liz panics as the tip of the spear pricks her skin.
She can’t even answer properly anymore, just tears and snot.
Normally people would pity someone who’s in a pitiful state, but the citizens are laughing in excitement.
“No, stop!! Kill me! Liz has nothing to do with this!!”
“Watch your mouth, Nasser Virginia! Now, did you say your name was Liz? Answer me.”
The chief priest, who was in the thick of it, asked.
“Do you acknowledge the guilt of Nasser Virginia? If you admit that he is a heretic, you will be forgiven…”
“Yes, I admit it! I admit it! I admit it!”
Liz nodded again and again, her face covered in tears and snot.
“I admit it! Oh, my uncle is a heretic! So please don’t kill me!”
“Ueeeee”
A weeping Liz calls Nasser a heretic.
She says he is a traitor to humanity.
When Nasser heard this, he had──────.
He had a calm look on his face, even though it was brief.
“It’s okay, It’s all right, Liz.”
Nasser, a first-time offender, will not be sentenced to death.
He’ll just be knocked to the bottom and die.
His family doesn’t have to die with him.
And that’s fine to him.
The sobbing Liz looked at Nasser with a huff, as if she had regained her senses for a moment. And then his face froze.
“A,a,a,aaa,i-…I….”
Her face is one of regret, fear, shame and guilt.
Guilt that the young Liz shouldn’t have to bear.
Such a thing ──!!!!!
“It’s different!!!”
“Yes, it’s different!”
There was a voice that echoed Nasser’s denial.
“Oh? Lady Shara Emvania? What was that?”
The chief priest asked in a deliberately condescending tone, but Shara, Nasser’s former superior and the current battalion commander of the field division, said firmly.
“It’s different! There! I’ve said it!”
“Hmm?”
The chief priest tilts his head. Then he turns to the king, who nods his head as well.
“What do you mean by diffrent?”
“Don’t you understand a word I’m saying? It seems that your faith in the saint degenerates your own brain.”
“Wha!”
The chief priest’s face flushed as he was suddenly chastised.
“Are you trying to make a fool of the saint?”
“Hahahaahha! It seems that not only your head but also your ears have degenerated! Or is it rotten? Oh, come to think of it, this place reeks of rottenness.”
Shara’s beautiful face is not tinged with fear, but with pride.
“Y-you-you !”
“You give them only two choices, execution or no execution. And to a child?”
Suuuuu…….
“Shame on you!”
Suu ──────.
In an instant, the surrounding became quiet.
Even the citizens, who had been making so much noise, quieted down.
The chief priest and the king could not move an inch.
“Nasser Virginia is innocent.”
Although none of them could cope with what Shara said.
The time was not going to last forever.
“Even if he is corrupt,……, no, rotten, the chief priest is still this, a big executive of the Holy Church.”
So the priest was not ashamed of any amount of shame, and knew no mercy for insubordination.
“’Oh, shut up! You witch!”
He took the spear from the torturer and tried to pierce her with his inept hand.
Shara, unfazed by this, saw the spear’s movement from the edge.
Crunch!
Her clothes tear a little, but the skin is not damaged.
Shara, who remains resolute even with her bare white skin on display, says.
“Now that you’ve set the scene, you’re not going to admit guilt, are you? No matter what happens, I will not give up on him. But remember-this is just a lynching. It’s a corrupt justice, riddled with shame and greed!”
“Heretic inquisition? Bullshit!”
“Witch hunts? Fuck you!”
“Nasser Virginia is innocent! All because of a hero who lusted after another man’s wife, a king who has no taste for bravery, a church that uses the name of the saint as an umbrella for power, a guild master and his friends who ran for money and self-preservation ────, and Alicia, a shameless wife who has never known love! You did this to us!”
Absolutely no accusation to say about Nasser came from her mouth.
——No
“Liz…what do you say? It’s nothing you should be worried about. It’s fine. You’re an honorable person who knows shame when you’re frightened of Nasser’s gaze in the face of your parents’ death…….Take heart! Live and survive through it!”
Having admitted to being a heretic, Liz is not charged with a crime. The only thing that awaits her is a few years of slavery as a prisoner of Nasser’s treason.
But they won’t take their lives here and now.
The only ones who will survive are Liz and Nasser, the first time offender.
There is only one person who is certain to die here.
A proud knight.
The only one, Shara Envania, battalion commander of the Field Division.
There was no way for her to survive, as she openly questioned the chief priest and criticised the king and the hero.
“Nasser──── I’m sorry.”
And then, proudly, for some reason, she apologises to Nasser.
“What, Captain?”
“Haha,I’m still a captain..?”
Shara smiles sadly.
“Why are you apologising? Oh, yeah, I’m apologizing for…”
I’m the one…
“It’s all right. I’ve said what I wanted to say. And I’m responsible for arranging the job, knowing the guild master…….”
The person Shara put her trust in was the guild master.
The man is a descendant of a proud family of swordsmen.
“It was ugly to see this country …… relying on the hero. Foolishness that does not see the shame in it and does not realise the danger of relying on ugly individuals. And I’ve been wanting to say something about the ignorance of no one pointing it out for a while now”
It’s a lie.
“I’m sorry I used you as a soup stock in the end…… Nasser.”
Shara smiles beautifully as she is pinned down.
There are a number of torturers and even guards who are rushing to the scene,……, as if ordered by the king.
“Hey! Hey, hey,. No! No!,no, no, no! The Captain, she… she has nothing to do with this!”
“Shut up! If I had listened, I would have been rude! I did not know she was a knight under my command!”
Before he knew it, the king had pushed aside the chief priest and stepped forward, instructing his soldiers to pile the wood high.
“You witch who taunts not only me, but the faith of the saints!”
Witch!
Burn!
“Burn them!”
The king and the chief priest order simultaneously.
The citizens now agree.
Burn! is heard.
Citizens excited by the new execution show.
Excited to see the last of the dignified lady knight!
Burn, burn, burn…
Burn to death: ！！！！！！！
“Burn the witch!”
A figure landed in the middle of the chaos
The person who slowly lowered Alicia to the ground and stood in front of the people, the king and the priests.
the person ────, that person is..
Hero Kōji.
“I kept you waiting… didn’t I?”
Yes.
If the King commands it.
If the Chief Priest gives the order.
There is only one person in the country who can take that command at the same time.
The Kingsguard obeys the King.
The torturers obey the chief priests.
And there is only one who can answer to the people.
A hero.
Kōji gazed at Shara as she bared her skin.
“Oh, she’s such a nice girl.”
“Hey, Kōji!!”
They flirt with each other in public.
But Shara’s cold stare made him change his attitude.
“You’re as ugly as they say. Kōji the Hero.”
“Heee? I don’t mind a cheeky girl,Well.”
With a swoosh, Kōji held his holy sword up to her eyes.
“I don’t even like it but at least I’d like to taste it.…”
“Now… what can you do?”
“You scum.”
Shara spits on his cheek, but Kōji takes it in his stride.
“Goodbye” (TL:アバヨ/Abayo)
In a flash, he swings his sword with a buzzing, glowing flame.
“Nasser, I…”
The last words of Shara with a fragile smile.
Before she could finish it.
Booooooooooooooon!
A white pillar of fire rises up and burns up the church crosses to which Shara is attached.
“Stopppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”
Amidst the screams from Nasser and Liz
The watching crowd erupts!
「「「「 ooohhhhhhhhhhhh! 」」」」」
In a flash, Shara disappears in a flame that rises to the sky.
At the sight of her, Nasser’s mind goes blank in despair and desperation.
His consciousness falls to the depths of the earth as he listens without hearing to the Chief Priest and the King jointly shouting that they will end the inquisition of Nasser’s heretics.
His thoughts were blank, his consciousness dark, his mind grey – he could think of nothing more.
“-chan….”
Nasser could no longer think of anything else, although he felt that someone had called his name at the end.
My father.
My mother.
No one who understands ………….
The only thing left is revenge.
It’s hard for Nasser to even think about it now. He deliberately erases it from his consciousness.
Now there is only a white, dark and gray in his mind and heart ────.
I don’t want to think about anything else.