Saikyou Juzoku Tensei ~Cheat Majutsushi no Slow Life~

Chapter 196 - A Certain High Priests Two Sides (2) (Side: Nelgliffe)

“Now we will go to work on the Livegrass. Abel-dono, please rest at ease.”

“Yes. I’ll leave you to it.”

After calling them all back indoors, who had been excused at Abel’s suggestion, Nelgliffe was smiling and exchanging words of praise with each other.

In contrast to the two of them, Chloe was not in the mood.

She couldn’t fully understand how Nelgliffe was able to be so unconcerned with the situation.

With such a mountain of Live Fogg, Livegrass would soon be complete.

Augen, Kamla, and Sophia, who were on guard, were of no help.

There should have been something they could have done, whether it was to kill them when they saw an opening, stop their overfishing, or burn them down in the stage they were carrying them.

I’d like to ask him now if he was really just standing there and watching.

Chloe was in the stage of feeling faint in front of mountain of Live Fogg’s, but she was somehow keeping her consciousness in anger at the three of them.

The reason why she was able to keep from going insane even in such an unstable state of mind was because Nelgliffe, who was the single top man, was calm and poised.

Maybe it’s because he has a plan to deal with it, but not only is he not distracted at all, he seems to have the luxury of being able to praise Abel with single-mindedness.

“…… Well then, It’s a shame that we are so close, but we have to hurry up too. When it’s all over, we’ll talk again, slowly.”

“No, no. …… But are you sure? I mean, it’s like I’ve got a lot on my shoulders……”

Abel said, lowering his voice somewhat.

The others didn’t know what he was talking about, but Nelgliffe knew immediately.

Abel asked about the various secrets of Live Fogg and Livegrass that had been sidelined.

Although the Levi Church is closed, so not much information has leaked out, but there was an image in the Dinrat Kingdom that “they deeply resent the Dinrat Kingdom that worships Kudol”.

Because it’s a common belief that it was Kudol that buried Levi, the object of their faith, from history.

Besides, the life of Lark’s relative, the village chief Heil, is not a merit that Nelgliffe is willing to risk to save.

“Rather, I’m sorry to Abel-dono because you’ve been covering our asses. I would like to repay your kindness in some way someday. And I’m sure Levi-sama doesn’t mind the wall of teachings. Levi-sama has a heart as vast as the ocean.”

With that, Nelgliffe held out his hand to Abel.

Abel hesitated for a moment, then put out his hand and shook Nelgliffe’s hand.

“Since we can look at each other and laugh, and go on to the same goal, we are friends, aren’t we? Don’t worry about such small things.”

While Nelgliffe, Abel, and Mea were laughing at each other, Kamla, Sophia, and Chloe were silent throughout.

Kamla and Sophia in particular looked like prisoners waiting to be executed.

Eventually, after Abel and Mea left, Nelgliffe gently closed the door again.

“Ne, Nelgliffe-sama…… if you intend to abort the plan ……”

Chloe called out to him, and Nelgliffe smiled and controlled his hand.

Then he cast a magic circle around the four corners of the room and carefully set up strong wards to ensure that no sound ever leaked out.

Nelgliffe quickly put his hand out to Chloe.

It was the opposite hand from the one that had shaken hands with Abel.

When he turned his palm outward, there was a mark on it that looked like it had been gouged out with a claw, and blood was flowing out of it.

“Nelgliffe-sama, this……”

When he was a child, Nelgliffe was trained in the Levi’s organization to keep his emotions from being expressed.

When he could no longer control himself, he had a habit of hiding his palms and rubbing them with his thumbs to distract himself.

But the last time that habit had appeared was when he was ten years old — nearly fifty years ago.

Even then, at best, the skin had been torn off, and no blood had been shed.

But now, the skin on his palm was torn and the flesh was gouged out. It was simmering in his heart, the best proof of all.

“Now, how shall we kill Abel-dono?”

As soon as he opened his mouth, Nelgliffe declared Abel’s elimination.

“Ne, Nelgliffe-sama! The punishment for the three men is ……”

Chloe asks, and Nelgliffe glares at Kamla and Sophia.

“…… There’s no need to. It’s my fault on that one. I misjudged that thing completely.”

Hearing this, Kamla and Sophia relax all of their stiffened bodies and sit there.

Chloe watches them and then turns her gaze back to Nelgliffe.

“But …… you’re going to kill him? He seemed to trust Nelgliffe-sama completely. Isn’t he still worth of use? Didn’t Nelgliffe-sama say the other day that was all power and easy to handle, and that he was the best tool for the job?”

“I can already see the collapse of the system. The best tool is one that can be used to kill at any time. We can’t sit on this slender rope any longer.”

Nelgliffe said evasively and shook his head.

“To begin with, …… Chloe doesn’t seem to have figured that thing out yet. It’s like digging a tunnel with a bomb fogg that could burst at any moment. And when it misfires, the damage and the return on investment don’t match up at all. And, worst of all…… if we leave that monstrosity unattended, it could wake up Kudol.”

“The-, There’s no way that Kudol would react to human magic. It’s been asleep since the time of mythology, you know.”

“When I held that thing on my shoulder, I tried to kill it by forcing it to break its magic and kill it outright. I stopped it at once, though.”

“What?”

“He has high-frequency magic all over his body at all times. It’s almost undamped and precise. It’s definitely a part of the practice of training your magic. It’s usually done just about every day with your eyes closed and concentrated, but …… he’s probably doing it all the time in his life. It’s not a human can do. If his magic were to be disrupted, he would have noticed it right away. I’ve been told that he’s good at analyzing, now I’m convinced. In that case, your whole body is like a sophisticated sensory organ. When I was walking around the city, I felt as if I was passing a magical beast with eyeballs all over its body.”

“Hiieee!”

Sophia, who had once planned to neutralize Abel with the same move, screamed.

Sophia had intended to sneak in from the shadows to finish off Abel, but she finally realized that it was as foolish as slashing at the dragon head-on.

“So, then it would be poisoning, right?”

“There is no poison intended for a monster like that. There is no point in stopping the body, it needs to be killed instantly. If it’s detected, it could be vomited out, so slow-acting doesn’t make sense. But …… most of the quick-death poisons are magical, albeit in minute amounts. It’s a good target for the senses. It is unlikely that they will be able to make you talk about it.”

“I think we’ve got to part ways amicably at this point…… Besides, with all that cheering in the village, isn’t the Live Fogg one already known?”

Chloe glares at Kamla.

Kamla paragraphs with disappointment. It was an obvious affirmation.

Chloe couldn’t help but feel the same way as Kamla.

“I can’t do that. We’re going to collide with them at some time…… so we must get rid of them while they’re still in our hands. I’ve thought of twenty moves, but I can think of only five that would work. After that, it will be one of those to minimize the hindrance to the rule of this village. We thought that the man in the mask was the only thing in Dinrat kingdom that we had to watch out for, but we had to see a monster in there!”

“Do you have a plan?”

“We will hold a Devil’s trial. That way, we can stop the obstacles to the rule of the village.”

“The, the Devil’s Trial!? To defile that sacred ritual is indeed something I do not agree with!”

The Devil’s Trial is a trial of a person suspected of being a devil, wrapped in holy fire, human if safe, demon if burnt to death.

The suspect is supposed to be shackled with shackles that divert magical power and render all magic ineffective.

If you are able to deceive them into exercising their right to a trial, they won’t be able to avoid being manipulated by magic.

However, if a false murder that was falsely accused of cheating the Devil’s Trial is later discovered, all those involved will be executed by commandment as immoral.

This is because the holy flames used during the Devil’s Trial are touted to be conducted with the help of Levi, and the Devil’s Trial itself is considered sacred.

In reality, it is just a peculiar flame that burns away only spirit bodies generated by magic, but it is believed as such in Levi Church.

“I hadn’t yet told Chloe why the penalties for cheating the demon court are so heavy, right.”

“What ……? It’s Levi-sama’s……”

“Listen, Chloe. The reason why the penalties are so heavy when a murder is discovered for cheating the Devil’s Trial is so that the credibility of the Devil’s Trial, which allows you to execute whomever you want whenever you want to with justice, is not compromised. We can’t afford to lose something so useful.”

Chloe, who was fascinated by Nelgliffe and had given her faith to Levi, was indeed speechless at this.

She slumps on the spot, her mouth fluttering.

“Only 10 of my men know that the corrupt Devil’s Trial is being ignored…… Including Chloe now, that makes 11 of my men. It’s not something I can disclose to the public. If this were to come to light, not only would I lose the trust of the people I brought from Riveras, but I would be beaten to death on the spot as a traitor.”

“No way, such as thing ……”

“You can’t do such a thing, is what you would say?”

Slightly, Nelgliffe moved his faces closer to Chloe.

Chloe couldn’t say anything, she just surrendered her body.

Nelgliffe turned himself around and turned his back on Chloe.

“…… I don’t like this kind of move either. I was outraged the first time I was informed, and I was even thrown in jail for screaming that it was wrong. However, the world does not revolve around cleanliness …… and to prevent the resurrection of the Great Evil God Kudol, we must harden our hearts. Chloe …… since it’s you who knows of my suffering, I thought you would understand so I told you.”

His shoulders shaking, Nelgliffe said in a tearful voice.

“Nelgliffe-sama……”

Chloe knows what Nelgliffe looked like when he was raising orphans in the church hall.

So it was easy to imagine that he wasn’t keen on the dirty work he was doing now, but he had to harden his heart set on the future of the nation of Riveras and, by extension, the world.

There was no way he wasn’t suffering from that gap.

That, he thought, was something that only Chloe, who had lived with Nelgliffe in the church hall as a child and was now a member of his entourage, could fully understand.

Whether or not that was really the right thing to do, he thought.

“…… I, understand. Let the devil’s trial take place.”

“Chloe…… so I need you to do one thing for me.”

“Whatever it is. If I get my hands dirty with Nelgliffe-sama, I have no fear ……”

“I want Chloe to take the lead in this devil’s trial.”

“What …… M-, me?”

“…… You can cooperate, but you don’t want to be the subject? Or…… do you suspect me? That, in the worst-case scenario, I’m going to cut Chloe off and try to escape on my own……”

“N, no! That’s not true! I understand. I will execute the Devil’s Trial!”

“Mm…… Chloe is a good girl. There’s nothing to worry about, as long as the magic is blocked, there’s nothing to fear. I’ll be the one to bring Abel-dono to the Devil’s Trial.”

Nelgliffe stroked Chloe’s hair, encouraging her, while his head was thinking about what would happen if she failed.

(It shouldn’t fail, but …… I have a terrible feeling. If we can’t finish off that monster here, it could really trigger the awakening of Kudol. I should negotiate with Levi-sama to borrow his spear just in case).

Levi’s spear is the most powerful weapon in the world and is the most powerful among the eight great divine weapons that the gods owned.

Levi was said to be the weakest of the four great creator gods, but with the power of his spear, he could overwhelm the gods of earth and fire, and is even said to be able to compete with the god of the sky.

If it were a simple comparison of strength, the Water God was the weakest, along with the Earth God and the Fire God, the spear god, and the sky god.

Of course, this joke is forbidden in front of Levi Followers.

The power of Levi’s spear hides a terrifying magic power: “Heaven”, which is said to have created the ocean for seven days by manipulating the weather when held up to the heavens; “The Mark of the Owner”, which returns to Levi’s hand with a simple raise of the hand; and “Fate Distortion”, which rewrites the fate of an opponent by slightly altering his or her destiny when it is removed so as to make him or her hit the target.

(The spear’s magic power might make Kudol wake up faster, but…… it’s a little better than letting that monster loose).