The pattern attached to the wrist after the ritual in the wedding ceremony became a pale white pattern in the same place when Kuuga became a beast.
Kuuga, who had curled up by Gadillas’ feet in his office, was looking at it strangely. When Uros, who had gone out somewhere, entered the office, Kuuga looked up.
“Your Majesty, I found out about the magic tool.”
“The one that Kurone had? What was it?”
“It’s a relatively inexpensive product with a limited number of uses. That’s why he could buy it. The engraved formation is ‘Fire Arrow.'”
Gadillas’ expression became subtle upon hearing Uros’ report. Perhaps having the same impression, Uros also showed the same expression.
“That’s… quite a complicated magic… did Kurone know only little about magic?”
“Because priests wouldn’t be taught much about attack magic, so that might be the reason.”
Kuuga tilted his head, not knowing why they looked like that. He imagined what a fire arrow might be, but it felt like an ordinary attack magic that appeared in games.
[Hey, is this a not so good magic?]
When Kuuga shook Gadillas’ foot and asked, Gadillas nodded a little, thinking that it should be from the current topic.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t tell you in detail because you still can’t control your magical power.”
“The fire arrow magic is a popular magic with high offensive power and good appearance.”
Hearing Uros’ explanation so far, it didn’t sound like complicated magic, but when he tilted his head, Gadillas continued.
“It’s faster than fireball magic because it moves like a real arrow. Although it’s made of flames, it has a penetrating power for some reason, and had a high killing power because once it pierced something, it would ignite…”
“It’s absurd to use such a thing during practice.”
Absurd, he says…
“Theoretically, it should simply be about shaping and adding magic power to a fireball. But for some reason, this magic needed more magical power than that.”
“The magical power of an ordinary person will be exhausted after a few tries. It’s not worth it, so magicians don’t use it much.”
“There are some magics that consume such mysterious amount of magical power… and only the person who learned it properly would know.”
[So that’s it…]
It’s easy to see it being more popular because it looked better than throwing out lumps of flame. It also seemed strong just by looking at it.
However, many people would buy such an expensive item without knowing that a large amount of magical power was needed. Kuuga was sure that the person who sold it knew but still sold it without explaining.
By the way, he’d never heard of inexpensive magic tools that had a limited number of uses, but it seemed these were quite available to the public.
Of course, it’s not at a price that ordinary people could buy in large quantities since it’s only cheaper relative to magic tools with unlimited use. Even so, it seemed common for a wealthy family to buy the cheapest one-time use magic tool to give a child for self-defense because it’s an amount that could be reached by saving a little.
So magic tools in descending order of the price: small magic tools (unlimited use) > small magic tools (limited use) > large magic tools. Even large magic tools were expensive, but many wealthy families still had them. However, since women couldn’t use it, it couldn’t be widely used as a household item.
But recently, a magic tool was being developed so that it could be activated just by turning it on and off, so the usage of magic tools would change in the future. Of course, it’d still be costly.
Large magic tools were installed here and there in the castle, so Kuuga had become numb to it and momentarily couldn’t remember that it’s an expensive item.
It was also said that Sonileus, that saintly man, was also studying magic tools that could be made cheaply. Eventually, it might even be available to the public.
“But it’s an attack magic… originally, it’s punishable by death, but at that time, he hadn’t activated the magic tool yet.”
“That was before he turned to his last-minute weapon. It seemed like he had the intent to attack, so how would he be judged?”
[…]
Kuuga couldn’t intrude in the conversation of Gadillas and Uros. Kuuga felt like he didn’t want Kurone to die, but he also wondered if he should ignore the laws of this world.
At that time, if he had given Kurone time to activate the magic tool, he would have been sentenced to death. He didn’t move to help Kurone, and he had no sympathy for him. However, he felt a bit conflicted that his actions complicated the situation. He knew that it was Kurone who moved first and that it should be none of his business how he was sentenced, but…
Kuuga had a complicated face and stared blankly at the air. Gadillas noticed the state of Kuuga, who occassionally twitched his ears, and stroked him with his usual rough hand.
“What are you worrying about? It’s not your fault.”
Kuuga wondered if he’s being comforted. Uros also gave Kuuga, who slightly became happy at the feeling of being trusted, a gentle look.
“That’s right, His Majesty might have been attacked if Kuuga-sama didn’t stop him in time.”
“Don’t worry, with that much evidence, he’ll be punished enough.”
[So you can do it that way!?]
Kuuga had thought that he had created a situation where they could not condemn Kurone. Embezzlement was certainly a crime, but he hadn’t thought about it because of the guilt.
For them, this was all the result of Kurone’s previous actions.
On the contrary, they seemed more angry about what Kurone did to Kuuga more than he thought. Certainly, if he analyzed it carefully, Kuuga would have suffered from hunger without Cary at that time. He might have even forced himself to eat rotten foods.
But, Kuuga murmured in his heart.
Why was he there, what did they want from him, and what were they trying to do? Kuuga, who didn’t know anything, was quite timid back then.
If it was now, he would have tried to solve it immediately.
With his excellent physical ability, he would be able to hold down Kurone. If he confronted Kurone, who brought in the rotten food, Ada might have made a fuss and solved the situation even before the ritual. That way, there would no more problems.
If Gadillas, who absolutely supported Kuuga, wasn’t there, Kurone might have evaded it. But with Ada’s blind faith taken into consideration and with evidence on the spot, the chief priest would have been on his side.
Even if Kurone’s argument passed, there’s a high possibility that Ada would remove Kurone from Kuuga’s vicinity.
Frightened by a situation he didn’t understand and having lost the will to resist acts like incomprehensive harassments, Kuuga regretted those times and cherished his time now.
But it only happened right after the wedding ceremony… Kuuga thought so with distant eyes. He really regretted it.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Gadillas crouched and peeked into Kuuga’s face. When Kuuga forcibly pressed his forehead against Gadillas’, the other man stroked his neck as if to appease him, making Kuuga let out a coquettish voice.
Kuuga now have Gadillas. He could guess what Kuuga wanted to say, could use a dictionary to communicate, and could even speak directly for a short time. He didn’t have to be scared anymore.
Kuuga wanted to help and protect Gadillas, whether it’s by his own personality or his instinct as a Divine Beast.
But at the same time, Kuuga was also being protected by Gadillas. So Kuuga stayed with him and believed in him. Kuuga realized that this world was not so scary after all.
After that, Kurone seemed to have been forced to work in the mines.
This is heartwarming… Much needed after that ridiculously rushed wedding, which was funny as heck but not very wholesome. But now there’s fluff!!!
Thank you for the chapter!