Sadie has been sitting in a chair with her arms folded, wrinkling her brow and looking up at the heavens. When I approached her, she did not open her eyes and quickly raised her right hand to stop me. I could clearly feel her intention not to talk to me.
I had never seen such an expression before, and I was left in a state of confusion and anxiety, not knowing what to do. I look at Meek, but she is just looking at Sadie with a blank expression on her face. Then she looks at me and nods slowly. ......I don't know what the hell she's talking about.
Just a silent moment passes.
I feel uneasy to stay here. I have no choice but to do what I can. With that in mind, I decided to check how far I could use my magic while keeping an eye on Sadie.
The result was immediately obvious. I really can't use magic at all, to the point of laughing at myself.
I could no longer produce any magic, not even clean or light magic, let alone appraisal skills. I thought I had really forgotten how to use magic. Has such a thing ever happened before? The other day, in the battle against Thana's army, my magic was almost blocked, but I was still able to use my own magic. But this time, it seems that my magic is completely locked up.
No, no, still ....... A bit unable to accept the reality, I try to breathe and use my magic. First, let's go back to the basics.
I remember the first time I learned magic from Master Falco. He told me that image is the key. Be aware of the blood flowing in your body. ....... Feel the heat in it. That is the magic. Then visualize the heat coming out of your body. At the same time, try to imagine clearly what you are going to do with that heat: .......
Certainly, we can feel the heat in our blood. It is not possible to put it out of the body ....... Carefully, create an image to let out the heat in the blood. I try to recall the first time I put up the warding ......, but it doesn't work.
After repeating such a process for several times, I have come to understand many things, though only vaguely.
I can certainly feel the magic power in my body. However, I can't seem to activate it. I try desperately to strike a match, but I can't seem to light it .......
When I thought about it, I suddenly felt a presence. I turned my head and saw Sadie walking slowly toward me.
"Sadie, what's wrong?
"Linos-sama, excuse me for a moment, okay?"
......Patch that!
"Ouch! ......"
I didn't expect a slap. I never thought Sadie would give me a slap. It was probably the first time I had ever been slapped by a woman. I hold my cheek and look at her with tears in my eyes.
"It doesn't hurt, does it?
...... hurts. My cheeks hurt and my heart hurts too.
I shake my head slowly. Sadie stares at me with sharp eyes, but then she puts her hands on her hips and thrusts her face in front of me.
"Please hit me, Mr. Rinos!"
"No. Why should I hit Sidney?
"I need to check something. Hit me. Preferably with anger and hatred.
"You'll get hurt! Anger and hatred? I have no beef with Sadie. Besides, there's no way I could hit you in your pretty face!"
Her cheeks flushed and she frowned as she strode away from me and went to Meek's side. They were mumbling something, and then Meek's right hand was raised high in the air, and she swung it down with a mighty swing.
...... pan.
There was a nice sound, like something exploding.
"Siddy!"
I couldn't help but run to her. Probably Sadie told Meek to hit me. But it was a pretty good one. I hope her cheek wasn't too swollen. .......
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Despite my concern, Sadie nodded her head with a nonchalant expression on her face. Then she turned her eyes to me, who was rolling my eyes, and gave me a slightly pouty look.
"That didn't hurt at all. How could you say that my slap hurt? I was quite angry, but ......"
Sidney huffed, pulled his face close to mine, and began to speak in a small voice.
"Perhaps the environment that surrounds us now could involve quite a large number of elves."
"Hmm?"
"Listen. First of all, I have tried to put myself in the position of the elves. From what we have heard so far, what the elves hate most is to see their people harmed. And by extension, the threat to their current way of life is what they fear the most.
"Surely, you're right."
"And then we came along. We are the ones who can cross the impregnable mountains to get here, despite the orders of the Elven King. It is thought that we were a great threat to the elves.
"Wait a minute, if it's a threat, can't we take action somewhere else?"
That's it. Normally, they would have arranged some kind of assassination attempt somewhere in the village, but the elves chose to bring them into the village. If I were in their place, I would do the same.
"What do you mean?"
"It is better to bring them into the village, so that they can be counted on."
"Numbers?"
"This is just a guess, but I think the ...... elves are quite skilled. And I believe that these highly skilled elves are doing their best to block the magic of Master Rinos.
"What?"
Master Linos cannot use magic right now. I think that Master Rinos has many layers of powerful wards around him.
"Multiple layers of wards ......"
"There is no doubt that this village is wired. Otherwise, it would not be possible for everyone to live so comfortably. To put up such a large number of wards, it must take a great deal of warding skills, and not just one or two people. There must be quite a number of people involved in this warding.
"......"
"If the elves in charge of these wards are putting multiple layers of wards on Master Linos, then ......"
"I see. Not just one person, but several people putting up multiple layers of wards. If you guess how I move and think, and put up several kinds of wards corresponding to them, you can ......."
"I believe Master Linos is in that state right now. However, it seems that the highly skilled elves have not been able to neutralize the wards that Master Rinos put up before entering this village.
How can you be so sure?
Rinos-sama has placed a ward on himself and us that keeps us neither hot nor cold, and neutralizes all attacks by those who have evil intentions. Mr. Meek's attack did not pass through me. If your warding had been neutralized, you would have felt pain. Since that did not happen, Master Linos' wards are still in effect.
"I wonder if the elves know that?"
"Perhaps they know. I am sure they know what kind of warding they have ....... I don't think we can know that much."
"...... I see."
"Perhaps the elves want to take the life of Master Linos. And when they do, they will take Meek's life and everything will be as it has always been. But my gut feeling is that they should not do that. First of all, we must get out of this village safely."
"How do we get out of the village?"
The best way for us to return home safely is to find out who killed Leila. Let's focus all our efforts on that first. If we don't do it soon, the elves will make their move. It is unlikely that we will fall unless Master Rinos lifts the wards, but with Princess Meek in mind, the longer we wait, the worse the situation will become."
"I see. By the way, Sidney, can I ask you something?"
Yes, anything.
"When Sidney slapped me earlier, he said he had a lot of anger in him. ....... What's wrong with that?"
"Master Linos, ...... is that where you are!"
Siddy's stunned expression tightened my heart even more.......