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I asked the wizard if he was going to make a contract.

But the wizard didn’t answer me. Instead, he said this.

“Put on the blindfold.”

Oh? Are we putting the blindfold on again?

The woman who had removed my eye cover walked over and put it back on. I thought it was cloth, but it turned out to be a leather blindfold tightly patterned with strange designs.

And then darkness shrouded my vision.

From its appearance, it seemed to be aimed at some special effect, but I felt absolutely nothing.

If necessary, I could always use the woman nearby. When I searched for the light that marked the end of the contract, I found quite a lot of it.

“O purple of despair dwelling in the darkest place. Final resting place of the fallen. Most cruel malevolent deity.”

At that moment, as if performing in a play, the wizard spoke to me in a grandiose tone.

“How do you find the corporeal prison I have made for you?”

No, to be precise, he wasn’t talking to me.

It was for the sake of boasting. And also to mock me. There was a word in my faded memories that explained this situation.

Tea bagging.

“I have stuffed your body with all the pain and pleasure that a human being cannot live to feel.”

Suddenly, intense pain shot through my spine, causing my body to writhe like a carp on dry land.

And then with a snap of fingers, strange liquid flowed from a long tube embedded in my brain, filling it with pleasure.

No creature has ever gained as much pleasure as I did in this moment.

In the faded memories, the words “thousandfold” shimmered before disappearing. Now that I think about it, that state resembles something from a certain piece of work.

“Well then, how does it feel? You can’t rebel, right? That vessel can contain a god, but once filled, it’s manufactured so you cannot escape until it’s completely ruined. On top of that, the more you submit, the curse forcing your soul to obey me is inscribed, too.”

No, that’s really it.

In fact, it’s not that strange.

The strategy of carrot and stick is a method of taming that works anywhere. Although I’ve never heard of it being delivered directly through embedding metal into the nervous system.

“Oh deity, what does it feel like to fall into the hands of humans?”

Hmm.

That’s a delightful desire. The courage to grasp a god and use it as one wishes. I really liked that. Along with the joy of pulling down a lofty opponent, the inferiority complex towards a special counterpart, those various emotions dripped from the voice.

You seem like you will make a splendid harvesting machine. So, you say this.

“I shall submit myself to you. But once you finish all your arrangements, I will receive everything I have. How does that sound?”

Silence filled the air.

“You’re still sane, huh? Yeah, it wouldn’t be any fun if a god fell so easily. But I wonder how long you can hold out?”

The wizard laughed with a chuckle.

Then footsteps could be heard, growing closer. The sound halted right next to me.

“Though you may not realize it yet, a baby is growing inside you, feasting on your power. If you wait too long, that baby will steal all your strength. Better to submit quickly.”

It spoke as if it was having such a wonderful time.

That seems to imply a time limit.

Some memories are shining, claiming they have no intention of keeping a promise. Telling me the time of death simply leads to me enduring until then and then passing away, making it not a good method to torture someone noble.

I’m not some noble person, and I would willingly do everything I can without needing to be threatened. Even if it is just to submit myself!

But it seems he doesn’t think so, as the footsteps drifted away from me.

“Educate them.”

That voice echoed from a distance as signals surged through the metals embedded in my spine and brain. It didn’t seem like a simple electrical signal.

Could it be magic?

At least, pleasure and pain were cycling periodically.

Yet, compared to the coldness, it was nothing.

I organized the freshly gathered memories as I awaited the wizard’s return.

The man I referred to as a prisoner earlier.

His name is Kenan.

Surprisingly, he’s a knight. He has permission to wield weapons and kill people, and he has the power to investigate crimes. However, as I said, it’s not in the form of a noble; rather, it’s much closer to being a civil servant.

Specifically, like police or soldiers.

Interestingly enough, while he isn’t without tools for using magic, most of them are artifacts used by only a very special few.

And the civilization surprisingly uses fossil fuels.

Though they have internal combustion engines and basic radio communication, it appears development has stopped somewhere along the way.

Considering that it has been well over 300 years since they began using internal combustion engines with oil, the landscapes of several cities he knows seem quite similar to those of an era freshly modernized.

Perhaps the world in faded memories developed far too quickly.

In any case, this man named Kenan, who holds a position similar to that of a policeman, one day realizes that people are going missing in the city.

He contacted the upper knight order, but no support came, and the number of missing persons only increased. So, he went to search the place where disappearances frequently occurred and got kidnapped.

Not long after, he was dragged in front of me, became a harvesting machine, and separated from his head and neck before dying.

By the way, the society is closer to a constitutional monarchy than an absolute monarchy. However, the king’s authority has significantly diminished, and the parliament consists only of nobles, so is it right to say it’s a noble system? Or perhaps an oligarchy?

Kenan seems quite ignorant of this knowledge.

Yet, music and art have developed quite well, and considering Kenan has memories of frequently attending performances with his girlfriend under the pretense of dating, it seems culturally and socially stable.

The wizard, mainly abducting people from the lower class, seemed to also use those from noble backgrounds, albeit lower-ranking ones, indicating that the knight order likely didn’t seriously mobilize against them.

In any case, there’s suspicion that the wizard possesses a lot of money and may be connected to influential figures capable of manipulating the city.

That’s everything.

Just as I finished tidying up.

The torture is still ongoing, but Bell has arrived in the city.

*

It’s a strange-shaped city.

The castle walls only stand to the east.

And those walls connect both mountain slopes, forming a gigantic breakwater that blocks the east.

Perhaps dangerous monsters only come from that direction.

However, the mountain range stretches long to the east, and beyond it, it leads straight to the sea. I can’t understand why they blocked access to the east.

Thinking about that, I entered the city. Thankfully, it might be because I came from the south, but there didn’t seem to be anything I had to show to enter the city.

Inside, it is a bustling city. There are many people, and the buildings have multiplied.

And in the center lies an enormous market.

For a place without railroads, the market is quite sizeable. In other words, the existence of consumption that can sustain this is present here…

Perhaps that’s why the walls are there.

Armies consume a lot of resources.

And the person I’m supposed to meet is a soldier. Thinking I found the right place, I headed straight towards the castle walls.

As I approached the walls, the crowd grew denser.

Oh?

I thought there would be a tense atmosphere like in a war zone, but rather, the wide road passing through the massive gate is filled with a lot of activity.

If a battle were to take place, I would expect soldiers swarming around the castle walls, creating a rather solemn atmosphere.

However, the gates are wide open, and people carrying goods are coming and going.

If there’s a harbor to the east, could they have laid down railroads there? I can’t figure out why they do things this way.

I spotted a group of soldiers wielding weapons right in front of the castle gate.

They seemed to be high-ranking and so I walked towards a soldier sitting alone and initiated a conversation.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

He responded gently. Considering he didn’t seem tense at a question posed by an unknown girl, it doesn’t appear to be such a dangerous place.

I presented the business card I had.

“Can I get in touch with this person?”

He took the card with a languid expression but suddenly shot up to his feet. Then, he froze and cautiously returned the card to me.

“Excuse me, but may I ask what your relation is to that person?”

“He gave me a ride to my destination yesterday. He said that I could contact him here on my way back.”

“Oh, I see. May I ask your name?”

“My name is Bell.”

He looked at me with an odd expression for a moment before saying to wait just a moment and rushed off somewhere.

I was left alone in a place resembling a checkpoint. Of course, a few soldiers were properly positioned slightly away from the checkpoint.

They were glancing back at me, seemingly curious about what was going on, but despite them looking, I don’t know anything.

And quite some time passed before.

A rather large truck-like vehicle came to a stop compared to the car I rode last time.

Then a middle-aged man dressed differently from the others emerged.

He ambled over towards me.

“Excuse me. Are you the Miracle Girl, Bell?”

Huh?

Now that you mention it, I think that name came up in the newspaper. I believe there was some interview I never took part in.

“That’s my name.”

As I said that, he gestured towards the vehicle he had come in.

“Please, get in.”

I nodded obediently and stepped inside the vehicle.

The inside of the vehicle was not tidy. A map hung on one side, and countless documents cluttered the space. There was also a map on the table inside, with many words depicting wires laid out.

It didn’t seem to be a vehicle meant for transporting someone, but rather for command.

As the door closed, he introduced himself as the commander of this area.

And then he made this request.

“I’ve heard you can heal people. Would you be able to use that power for my soldiers?”

Oh dear.

I tightened my lips to suppress a smile and said this.

“Yes. If you ask, I will submit myself to you.”

Indeed.

There are bound to be injured people on the battlefield.

It seems the journey started for the aftercare of Victoria is leading to a good turn for me.