episode_0050

Morning returned. People started their day in a restless atmosphere. This was because, while they remembered the trials having all ended, talk of a trial reopening today had surfaced.

“What? Didn’t the trials all end yesterday?”

“But it seems they’re doing it again?”

The voices of the gathered people murmured with anxiety, dissatisfaction, and questions. Usher could guess the reason why the trial was reopening, but he simply kept his mouth shut along with the girl. There was nothing he could do now, after all. Perhaps because of the news that the trial was reopening, the people eating breakfast looked uncomfortable. So much so that even Usher felt awkward while eating. But what happened next was enough to surprise him.

“Good morning.”

“Uh, huh?! Are you talking to me?”

Belka simply nodded her head at his question.

“Yeah, good morning…?”

The girl, of all people, had approached Donnar first and greeted him, speaking to him. Belka, who since coming here had never spoken to anyone first nor taken off her mask unless it was a special occasion. The person who received the greeting was so dumbfounded by how unexpected it was. As Usher stared blankly at the two of them in this unbelievable situation. Other carriage drivers nearby also looked this way, appearing surprised.

“You, I didn’t see you like that, surely you didn’t touch her?”

As the carriage driver about to eat with him looked at him suspiciously, Donnar appeared even more flustered.

“I just said hello! More importantly, I didn’t touch her!”

He denied it as if he was being wronged, but the suspicious gazes didn’t disappear.

“You’ve got skills. When on earth did you manage to charm that seemingly picky lady?”

“And you charmed Syph too!”

“When did I ever! I told you I didn’t charm her!?”

In fact, other carriage drivers who were watching the situation even jumped in to tease him, making it even more awkward.

“I just said hello. Isn’t everyone overreacting too much?”

Donnar defended himself, saying he just said hello and that it was okay to greet someone once you’d gotten a little acquainted. It wasn’t a strange story at all, so the carriage drivers seemed to roughly accept it, but what made him even more awkward was Usher, who had been silent until now.

“…Belka is very shy with strangers. So much so that she usually tries not to show herself to people.”

As proof, the girl still hadn’t taken off the mask she wore. That she was shy with strangers was something you could tell even without spending a long time with her. Even in the forest, Belka would grant most of Usher’s requests, but most of the things she would absolutely not allow were dangerous tasks or anything that might involve meeting people. It was hard to imagine how she had lived alone before meeting him. When he asked Belka if she was lonely.

“Lonely. Is it? I don’t really know, but I think it wasn’t that I wasn’t lonely. It’s just that I’m used to it, and people are scary.”

Seeing Usher’s eyes blazing with jealousy, Donnar recoiled in horror.

“I told you it’s not like that!?”

The carriage drivers also started looking at him suspiciously again.

“Now that I think about it. If you look at the time we’ve known her, we’re not that different from Donnar, are we?”

“Right, if that’s the case, she should have greeted us too?”

And at the renewed suspicions, Donnar screamed inwardly. Fortunately, Belka also exchanged greetings with Odur, who arrived later, which made the playful suspicions disappear. And so, the brief moment of leisure ended. As Pan was dragged out as the subject of the reopened trial, instead of Trus, whom everyone had expected, the murmuring of the people began to grow louder. He was gagged so he couldn’t open his mouth, his waist and hands were bound so he couldn’t move, and even his fingers were meticulously tied as if to not allow even a single finger to twitch.

Perhaps to the extent that one would think it was too excessive if they didn’t know the detailed circumstances, there were many restraints. Soon, the old man opened his mouth.

“We will now begin the trial for the criminal, Pan.”

When everyone was surprised and speechless at the trial that began without any explanation. Syph was the first to raise her hand.

“Syph, speak.”

“May I ask what crime he committed?”

As the old man permitted her to speak, she asked the question. It was something most of the people present were curious about. Thereupon, the old man replied.

“The crime of raping a sleeping girl and attempting to do so again last night, the crime of misusing medication intended for medical use, the crime of attempting to shift his guilt onto an innocent person, that is all.”

Usher’s hand, holding Belka’s, automatically tightened. Then, thinking the girl might get hurt, he loosened his grip and looked ahead.

“Wait, just a moment! Does that mean Trus is innocent?!”

Syph said with an even more confused face. She looked as if she couldn’t believe the talk of Trus being innocent. Seeing her reaction, the old man, while thinking it was strange, spoke toward somewhere.

“Shalby, bring Trus out.”

Thereupon, Trus, who was still bound but with a noticeably reduced amount of rope making him seem relatively freer, walked out with Shalby.

“Trus, why didn’t you say anything at yesterday’s trial?”

As he fidgeted as if scared, seeing Pan’s bound form, and couldn’t answer, the old man spoke in a more gentle tone.

“Now, look closely. Didn’t they bind him tightly so he can’t even twitch a finger?”

The people found the old man’s peculiar emphasis on the fingers strange, but what was even stranger was Trus’s appearance of being relieved by those words.

“I’ll ask you again. Why did you not say anything at the previous trial?”

“Th- That is.”

As everyone watched him, his mouth opened for the first time in this place.

“Be- because Pan was threatening me, because.”

“That’s absurd!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Syph’s sharp voice cut through the air, and Trus flinched. As the people’s murmuring grew louder, the old man frowned and quieted the people.

“Silence! And Syph, I did not give you permission to speak.”

“But…! Haa, Yes.”

She parted her lips a few more times, as if she had much to say, but closed her mouth at the old man’s stern expression and the gazes of the people crowding around.

“We will hear what Syph has to say later, continue speaking. Trus.”

Trus seemed bothered by what Syph had said, glancing and looking around before opening his mouth again. His voice stuttered as usual, making it quite annoying to listen to, but the words that came from his mouth were shocking. It was a fact that Usher, Belka, and some knights knew from last night’s events, but something the people would not have known.

“Pa- Pa- Pan is a person chosen by magic.”

At the word magic, which no one had expected, shock spread among the people. Because that meant Pan was a mage. They seemed so surprised they couldn’t even make a sound. Some were even trembling. But someone raised a hand as if something was strange. The old man allowed him to speak.

“A mage… then how on earth is he captured like this?”

It was certainly a valid question from anyone’s perspective. Are mages revered and sought after by every nation just because they use magic? It was because of magic itself, which could wield power equivalent to an army single-handedly depending on its use, and could truly be called invincible.

“We can explain that.”

It was Donnar who answered that question. Odur was also beside him.

“We heard that story from Trus and went to confirm it with Pan.”

If asked how they found out Pan was a mage and subdued him, it would have been awkward because they would have had to tell people that Belka was a witch, but they resolved it by coordinating their story with Trus. It might have been a bit risky, but they had already heard everything from the girl and Pan’s conversation last night, so they had no worries. He explained that the verdict given to Trus yesterday evening was also to gauge Pan’s reaction. He continued, saying that if it hadn’t been the case, Trus would have been abandoned in the wilderness just as the verdict stated.

“But Pan tried to attack the child again last night, and we found him and attacked and subdued him while he was off guard.”

And that Trus had informed them that Pan was a mage, and based on that, they subdued him by having Odur break Pan’s fingers. They tried their best to make it not seem strange, but fortunately, since the caravan’s trials proceeded quite simply, even a bit of sloppiness could be overlooked this time. They wanted to judge Pan’s crime by telling only the truth as much as possible, but then they would have had to tell the story of Belka being a witch. Therefore, it was unavoidable for her protection.

Unlike mages or saints, witches have always been perceived as very unsettling beings, and people saw them as good targets to sell to nobles and the like. Among the many people in the caravan, who could know if someone might harbor malicious intent upon learning that the girl was a witch? Therefore, the truth had to be hidden to some extent. And the reason they could make this excuse for defeating a mage was that people only vaguely knew that mages were great. They had never had the chance to meet one in person or see their power.

Trus was not originally planning to join the caravan. He worked as a medic, and his hometown was overflowing with injured. In that situation, thinking he couldn’t leave his hometown, the medic who was supposed to join the caravan was meant to be someone else. However, an unexpected incident occurred. An intruder appeared at the barracks where he was staying while tending to patients, struck Trus on the head, and took him hostage.

“Trus! Snap out of it! Trus!”

Fortunately, the intruder was subdued, but in the process, he broke his leg and suffered severe aftereffects due to missing the treatment time. He would often stutter and became a limping cripple. Still, since it didn’t interfere with his activities as a medic, he intended to stay. If only he hadn’t overheard his colleagues gossiping one day.

“Hehe, did you see that bastard Trus stuttering?”

“And his leg? Now he just looks like a complete fool, doesn’t he?”

The voices of his colleagues were heard with just the thin canvas of the tent separating them. What was even more shocking was that among them were those he had considered his closest friends, those who had sympathized with him as fellow medics. When he learned that the aftereffects on his leg weren’t simply due to missing the treatment time but a deliberate mistake, he trembled with betrayal.

“That bastard was a bit unlucky, wasn’t he?”

“Exactly! We were going to rest. But he said he had to tend to the patients and stayed.”

That was natural. Someone absolutely had to stay by the patients’ side, and he had volunteered for that task because he found the argument over who would stay bothersome. None of them had thought about staying. As that kept repeating, at some point, it became natural for him to be the one tending to the patients whenever there was downtime. Then, one day.

“Medic!”

Soldiers brought in a wounded soldier. It wasn’t a particularly special event. Soldiers getting injured was common, and dying was also frequent. It was much better than not being able to come here because they died. He treated that soldier as usual without thinking and helped him overcome the crisis. He thought it was surprising he came back well with injuries that would have usually killed him long ago, but finding out that they and that injured soldier were elite soldiers for a special operation was a later story. It wasn’t uncommon to become friends with the soldier he treated.

“So we left him, and in the meantime, he got close with that guy!”

It seemed the problem was getting close with that soldier.

“I should have stayed that day!”

He had never forced them to go rest. They would casually push work onto him even on days he wanted to rest, and that day was no different. Their gossiping rarely stopped, and because of that, Trus put his name down for the caravan leaving his hometown, citing his injury and aftereffects as the reason. It was considered a valid reason by anyone’s standards, so he was allowed to participate in the caravan. It was an unexpected turn of events, however, that the soldier he had become close with at that time, Donnar, also joined the caravan.

The caravan thus departed. At first, he thought it would be a decent life. The children often teased him because of his stutter and difficulty moving, but they didn’t cross the line of play, and the treatment of injured patients went smoothly. Because they were traveling a long distance, it was a bit difficult, but for about a month, life was quite enjoyable and comfortable, and he thought it would continue that way. That day was not a special day either.

“Now, wait a minute, that book!”

“Is this, by any chance, a magic book?”

A friend he had recently met and become close with in the caravan came to the carriage where he was staying. While talking, the friend discovered a magic book he had tucked away among his medical texts as a personal hobby and said playfully.

“Wow, usually people just look at stuff like this when they’re kids, try it out a bit, and then give up, don’t they?”

“That’s enough. Pl- please put it back where it belongs!”

He shouted, embarrassed about his hobby being discovered. Yes, reading and attempting to use magic books was something mostly done by young children and was a subject of longing for them. By the time one reached Trus’s age, most people realized that longing was just longing and gave up upon realizing how absurd it was to use magic. Unless they were chosen by magic themselves. The friend, who had been quickly flipping through his magic book and glancing at it, suddenly stared intently at a certain page and said.

“Can I borrow this book?”

“I- it’s okay, but it won’t be very u- useful, will it?”

“No, it just brought back some old memories.”

Trus readily lent him the book, thinking his friend might also develop the same hobby. After all, he could only memorize it and couldn’t use magic anyway. The friend returned the book not long after, but would sometimes come visit, open the book, and they would talk about magic. That time was truly enjoyable. He thought he had made a friend who shared the same hobby in a true sense, excluding Donnar. Then, it was a day he was particularly tired, perhaps due to accumulated fatigue.

“If you’re that tired, why don’t you get some sleep?”

“But the pa- patients.”

“I’ve watched you do it a bit. It’s easy enough to tend to them if it’s not a dangerous illness or injury.”

“O- okay, just a little.”

At his friend’s words telling him to sleep and rest assured, Trus felt relieved and lay down on the small bed he used for personal use. He fell asleep faster than ever. How long had he been asleep like that? He realized he was hearing a sound near his ear.

-Splish-splash!

It was a strange sound, like something thickly wet swelling up and detaching. At first, he couldn’t tell what kind of sound it was.

“Hmmng!”

But at the woman’s moan that followed, his sleep completely vanished. Having just woken up, he was disoriented. He felt embarrassed and also envious thinking that some couple was boldly having intercourse in the infirmary while he was asleep.

“Haa.”

It seemed they thought he was still asleep, as the moaning grew louder. The sound he had heard at first was none other than the sound of their bodies colliding while having intercourse. As the squelching sounds and the woman’s moans kept reaching him, he felt his ‘item’ swelling up, unable to stand it any longer. It was only natural, as he was a man too. He swallowed his saliva with tension but slowly opened his eyes, which had been closed.

It was because he was curious about which bold couple was having intercourse in the carriage where the patients were sleeping. He felt guilty about peeping, but it was the careless couple’s fault, and he wanted to at least watch. And the next moment, he witnessed a sight he couldn’t possibly believe. The person there was none other than himself.

“Wh- what…!”

He even forgot that he was peeping and covered his mouth, almost shouting. Thinking he had seen wrong, the person having intercourse with the woman right now was undoubtedly Trus, himself, no matter how much he rubbed his eyes. What on earth was happening? But he could discover an even more unbelievable sight. Beneath the one who looked like himself was a sleeping woman.

“Mmmng.”

As if mocking Trus, who had thought they were simply a couple from the sound of intercourse, she was being violated without even knowing what was being done to her. Knowing that there was no reason a woman wouldn’t wake up from such vigorous activity unless she was extremely drunk or had been given drugs, he became enraged. Because that meant that guy had misused medication meant for patients. There were a considerable number of such women among his patients.

It wasn’t that his sexual desire didn’t surge at such times, but for him, his duty as a medic came first. His sense of duty was not so light as to do such things to a patient. No matter who the one who looked like him was, he absolutely could not forgive them. Even as a medic, the sword he used as a soldier was not something he could use with his uncomfortable body, and all he could handle right now was the dagger used for cutting bandages. It was certainly not something meant for stabbing a person, but he had to protect the patient.

Since it was a dagger, he could swing it with his uncomfortable body, bringing back his old senses. Approaching slowly from behind, Trus aimed for the side of the bastard and swung the dagger with all his might. When he felt the dagger piercing the flesh.

“Ack?!”

Trus was horrified by the pain he felt in his side. Turning around, thinking there was an accomplice, he could only stare blankly at the spot. There was nothing behind him. And looking at his own waist where the pain was felt, he could see his clothes slowly being stained with blood. It was then that he finally heard that person’s voice.

“Hehehe, isn’t this fun?”

“This voice is… Pan?”

The voice coming from that person’s mouth was clearly the voice of the friend who had told him he would tend to the patients in his place. In the situation he couldn’t understand, holding his side, he stumbled backward, and the dagger in his hand fell to the floor. The dropped dagger was clearly stained with blood. But there was no sign of injury on that person’s body. Only Trus was injured. In the exact spot where he had stabbed that person.

“This is, magic?”