The Witch and the Doll Swear

Kannazuki.

The ram in the spring evening has fallen from the highest point of the starry sky to the other side of the horizon. This month, which is named after the creation mother left for other things when setting the law of life for all things in the world, symbolizes that the fiery summer has officially arrived.

And early summer, in Sinai embraced by the sea of ​​storms and the sea of ​​sand, is earlier midsummer. In this season when the vitality of all things is the most vigorous, according to legend, it is the omission of the creation mother that caused the crazy growth of all things in this month, making the Tender shoots turn into green leaves, allowing the wheat seeds planted last winter to bear fruitful ears.

That's right, summer in Sinai is the season of harvest, but Tina looked over from the deck of the "Light Seeker", but she was a little disappointed.

"I can't see the farmland..."

On one side of the sand boat, there is the clear stream of Nerocle, and the scattered houses of the village can be seen from a distance, and a wisp of green smoke can be seen. But standing under the sun sail and looking around, there are clouds floating in the sky and yellow sand piled on the ground. Fayoum, the granary of Sinai, but only abandoned orange trees can be seen between the river bank and the village.

On this side, where the heavy stones are bound, the equipment that lifts clear water from the river to irrigate the farmland is full of scratches. After looking closely with the "wizard's eye" released by Ai, countless sand grains are embedded in the fibers of the wood.

"I don't know how long it has not been used, and there is no farmland by the river, so it has been abandoned, but it doesn't make sense. The installation of oranges must mean that there are higher-lying farmlands that need oranges to irrigate. The fact that the orange is abandoned means that the farmland is also abandoned, but there is no reason to abandon the farmland so close to the river, it is close to the water source, and every year when Nirokle floods, it will bring fertile silt."

The eye-shaped magic crest floated between the girl's fingers, and the girl rested her chin on the side of the boat and thought. If the illogical inference of farmland abandonment is rejected, it is more likely that there will be only one answer among the few remaining answers.

After hearing Ai's words, Tingna stretched out her hand to brush away the blond hair blown in front of her eyes by the hot and dry summer wind, and sighed unbearably.

"That desert storm even affected this place..."

"The scope of the disaster can only be bigger than what Ms. Tina and Ai imagined. The man-made myth of the burial of Elietopolesta as the core of the magic circle to suppress sand damage is the entire Sinai. Then after it fails , The scope of the sand disaster’s counterattack is the entire Sinai, and there is nothing unimaginable. When I stayed in the town before, didn’t I read that there was a desert storm in Alexandria in the newspaper?”

"But this is too strange. How could there be a desert storm in the entire kingdom at the same time? Could it be that the effect of the magic circle is to keep suppressing and suppressing, and then burst out in one breath when it fails?"

Even in the eyes of Ting Na, who is not familiar with magic, such a magic circle is too stupid.

"As the old saying goes, the magic emperor of the magic empire would definitely not set up such a stupid magic circle. The big sandstorm may be the reaction of that man-made myth. Miss Tina, remember? The stone slab that you and Wuming found, Leto When Poresta is seen again, the sand disaster will destroy the entire Sinai. Perhaps this was originally just a warning, but it has become part of this myth over the years, so after part of Poresta was dug out, Desert Storm followed The myth happened."

"Why didn't the God of Seth stop it? Isn't it the God of the Desert?"

"Because it's 'only' the god of the desert, not the god of the wind, and not the god of the desert storm."

The little puppet sat on Tingna's shoulders, looking up at the approaching village with its little feet up. She explained to Tingna that gods—at least the power of nature gods—followed the laws of nature.

The wind blows the sand and dust, thus forming a desert storm. The jackal-headed god can neither prevent the wind from blowing nor prevent the sand grains from being blown by the wind. The natural gods are the embodiment of nature, and violating the laws of nature is violating themselves. Relatively speaking, belief in gods cannot violate people's belief in them. Legendary gods cannot do things that do not conform to their legends. Although the so-called gods are superior , but they, like other people on this continent, exist according to certain "laws and principles".

"The god Seth used to be a god with dual natures of faith and nature. At that time, he could definitely stop this disaster, but didn't he say it himself? In order to prevent the tragedy of the Thirteen-Day Jihad from happening again, the gods With the help of the True God, the nature of faith is being stripped from her body. The Seth God who appeared in front of Lily probably doesn’t have enough power to stop the sudden sandstorm in Sinai.”

"Hmm... I can't understand..."

Tingna shook her head, the words that the little puppet said just now leaked from the other ear.

"Theology is a very complicated subject, and there are many things that are counter-intuitive and common sense. If Miss Tina wants to understand what Miss Alice said, I think you need to take a week of formal theology classes."

Even a genius like Ai put his other hand down from his eyes, stopped thinking, and gave up the plan to continue explaining to the girl.

"I'm going to the village to see what's going on."

The "Sorcerer's Eye" flew out from her fingertips and disappeared in the direction of the village. As a magician's apprentice, Ai can use only limited spells every day, so he would rather spend more mana to prolong the use time of a spell, and save precious spell slots as much as possible.

After the magic eye flew out, the girl sat down on the deck chair under the parasol, concentrating on manipulating the magic.

Shazhou continued to move forward. After a while, Ai, who first saw the situation in the village through the "wizard's eye", relayed what she saw.

"They are all traditional clay houses in Sinai, scattered scattered, and sand boats can also drive in. There is only one elegant building next to a canal. The villagers have gathered in the square of the village. They... "

Ai suddenly widened his eyes.

"They seem to be executing."

………………………………………………………………………………

The sand boat slowly stopped in the middle of the village.

There is a threshing floor here. A tall apple tree is rooted in the dry soil. In this month of vitality, there are no new branches and green leaves. The villagers surrounded the three of them in the center, and the closest burly men with dark skin wet with sweat were shirtless, holding the other end of the hemp rope in their hands.

As Ai said, they were carrying out the execution, and Sha Zhou's arrival apparently interrupted the act. When this strange ship stopped, everyone looked at them on the deck. The men had vigilance in their eyes, the women pulled the children into their arms, and the old people looked at the extinguished solar sails. And the shrunken face showed a surprised expression——

"Help, save us! These people, these people are going to kill us!!"

The women and children with ropes around their necks screamed for help to Tina and Ai on the deck.

"They are going to kill me and my family, and take away our fields and houses! Please, help!"

"Ma'am, ma'am, save us! We haven't done anything bad!"

Their golden curly hair was wet with sweat, bruises and redness stood out on their fair skin, fear and despair filled their sea-blue eyes, when the eyes met, the face of the messy-haired woman, There were tears flowing.

The executioners were Sinai villagers, and the executed were four elegant people who looked like a family.

There is no need to look up, Alice also knows that Tina's expression will definitely not be very good-looking, although if it is on a normal journey, Liliana and her, who pursue the principle of not causing trouble, should stop her...

"What are you doing in a daze, hang these damn heretics!"

Another voice also sounded at this time. At the place where the sound came out, the bald man waving a wooden stick shouted sharply, those strong men holding the hemp rope, look at me, I look at you, and finally, amid the men's urging, the muscles of their arms swelled violently , pulling the hemp rope to hang the bodies of the four elegant people on the branches.

"Oh!"

"what happened!"

"ah!"

"Damn it!"

But before that, an invisible force cut the rope.

The force used to hang people from the apple tree caused every man who was struggling to lose his balance and fell to the ground in embarrassment. Only a few people who reacted quickly or didn't use any force at all let go of the rope cleverly. step aside.

The rope circle was disconnected from the necks of the four elegant men, and Tina's raised hand wearing the ring stopped in mid-air and was grasped by another soft palm.

The witch walked to the side of the sand boat, and the girl who couldn't react for a while heard what happened, and a second later, she heard Alice snorting.

"Miss Tingna's aim may miss, or accidentally injure those three people."

The puppet, which waved its hands casually, spoke indifferently. After the witch looked around the crowd, she also spoke indifferently.

"Now, first tell me what happened."

The voice was not loud, but when he said the last sentence, a wine-red magic circle appeared in the air in good time. The amplified voice echoed in the village like thunder, completely suppressing the screams of the men and the commotion of the villagers.

Liliana glanced at Ai wordlessly, the girl stuck out her tongue, and when Tingna looked over, her expression changed back to tense, and she coughed hard twice.

"We are traveling magicians, what happened here? Why did you hang this family, and I didn't see the sheriff there?"

Under the boost of magic, Ai Hongliang's question was full of aristocratic majesty, and the crowd who were about to start whispering fell silent again.

This scene made Ting Na, who was held by the witch, a little envious. The girl did not receive aristocratic education, and she did not even live as an aristocrat. In any case, she did not have such an aura, which made everyone feel tense, even the man holding the wooden cane. Everyone else was looking at him, so he had no choice but to answer Ai's question.

"These elegant people, who prayed to the heretical gods with wicked witchcraft, saved their fields in a terrible way from the desert storm some time ago, we must hang them, for the sake of Ra and Horus glory!"

"You are lying! It is obvious that you want my family to give you food for free. After being rejected by my father, you spread rumors that our family kept the field with evil magic, and wanted to kill us all so that all the food and fields of my family Take it!"

The man choked.

He turned his head resentfully, and stared at the boy under the apple tree with vicious eyes, but the boy, who was less than half his height, straightened his neck and stopped in front of his mother, looking not afraid of him at all. .

"...What to do, Master Liliana, it looks like it will be a complicated problem."

"..."

Liliana and Alice looked at Tina at the same time.

The girl was a little surprised. Just as this thought appeared on her expression, Alice snorted softly and kicked her in the stomach in dissatisfaction.

"Miss Tina thinks that Alice and Lily will tell Miss Tina not to meddle in her own business?"

"...Hasn't it always been like this? Hmm."

Got kicked again.

Tina lowered her head innocently, the little doll puffed her cheeks dissatisfied, and stuffed "dissatisfaction" into every word she uttered.

"Whatever you want, Alice and Lily can ignore this matter, anyway, there is nothing to see in this area, Lily, it's better to go to a place with better scenery and more interesting."

"Ah, no, Miss Alice, you can't just sit and watch a family hanged on a tree..."

"It's not that Miss Tina is going to be hanged on a tree."

"Even so...ha..."

Stuffing the puppet lady who was starting to quarrel into the witch's arms, Liliana nodded slightly when she met the witch's eyes, and the middle girl spoke lightly in her mind. ,

...Just do what Miss Tina thinks.

A dry bitter smile froze on his face,

When the witch took the doll away from her hand, leaned against the side of the boat, and stared at everyone with cold and indifferent eyes, Tinna, who had already conceived how to persuade Liliana and Alice, was kicked by Ai With a kick, he recovered from his astonishment.

She looked at Liliana and Alice, and then at Ai who took a step back, and only then did she see the pair of gazes focused on her at some point. Ai's voice amplification magic has not been released, and these gazes made Tina suddenly realize what she should say and do next.

Raising her head, the girl glanced at the man who was holding the wooden staff tightly and the middle-aged elegant man who was pulling the boy behind him, who was vigilantly guarding everyone, and took a deep breath.

"Now, come and tell me, two people, what the hell are you doing."

……………………………………………………………………………………

According to Tingna's request, the villagers returned to their homes from the square in the center of the village, while Elegant's family and the two villagers walked to two houses not far away, waiting for Tingna to ask them the whole story.

After arranging the matter according to the detective novels she had read before, Ting Na patted her face. Only then did the girl feel a thumping sound in her chest, and the accelerated blood flow made her breathing become short of breath.

Is this really good?

Although the original intention was to not want to see the family hanged inexplicably, was it really a wise choice to suddenly get involved in a complicated incident like this? Can your own intervention really do anything?

A lot of thoughts were buzzing in her mind, Tingna patted her cheek hard, and subconsciously looked at the figure holding the puppet, hoping to get relief from that indifferent expression and unwavering words just like in the past. The courage to continue on your own.

"big sister."

"Um?"

The boy who was being led by his parents to the side of the house ran over and met Tina's eyes.

"Thank you big sister for saving me, my mother and father. My father said that people in this village want to take away our homeland. Big sister will help us."

The boy holding his tiny fist was not tall, he bowed to the girl, and then looked at her expectantly.

"Well...we'll investigate..."

"However, you have to protect your own homeland, little guy."

Before Tingna finished speaking, Ai who walked up to the girl interrupted her. Maybe the girl who looked about the same height as him called him "little guy", which confused the boy, but the unquestionable majesty in Ai's words Let him answer Ai's question about how long it takes to get to the nearest city.

"The nearest city... Inocrito, along the river, you can ride a horse for an hour."

"Very well, now I ask you, do you want to protect your own home?"

Ai stared into the boy's eyes.

"It's not just relying on us, but to protect our parents and our home with what we can do."

"Of course I want to! But, I can't do anything. When people from the village broke into the house, I was immediately arrested..."

"No, of course you have something to do, do you know? According to the laws of the kingdom, a priest of the Nine Pillars must be present for a trial of heresy, and at least one magistrate must be present to witness the execution. that is--"

Ai, who narrowed her eyes, was like a little witch coaxing an ignorant boy to drink a potion. Listening to what she said, the boy's eyes gradually lit up.

"Uncle Natios, yes, Uncle Natios is the sheriff, he will definitely help us! As long as Uncle Natios is here, they will not dare to bully us!"

"Yes, go and talk to your parents, and then go to the city to find the sheriff, so that people in the village will not dare to do anything to your family."

"Well! I see!"

The boy nodded excitedly, and ran towards his parents. After he said something to his parents, he ran towards the elegant house on the other side of the village canal.

After a while, he rode a horse and galloped away along the direction of the river.

"Is it okay for such a small child to ride a horse for an hour to the city to find the sheriff and the priest?"

"Fayoum is the core area of ​​Sinai. Even outside the city walls, there are not many dangerous monsters. There will be soldiers patrolling the roads. Even if the boy can't bring the priest, he can bring a sheriff. , let’s sort out and tell him what we asked, and it’s the sheriff’s job how to deal with it later—whether it’s Miss Tina.”

Ai glanced at the girl.

"Are you really planning to have a court trial in this village?"

"……Is not likely to……"

The corner of Ting Na's mouth twitched after Ai Bai glanced at her, trying to correct the nodding motion into shaking her head.

"Hurry up and finish the question quickly. I'm in charge of the villagers, and you are in charge of the elegant family. Two people are faster than one."

"Okay, okay, that, Miss Ai..."

"Um?"

"Thanks."

"……snort."

The dark-haired girl shook her head and walked towards the house.

It is not difficult to find out what happened in the village. Under the identity of "magician", even Tinna didn't even open her mouth, and the two elegant people told all the things that happened in the village.

Everything was triggered by the sudden sandstorm some time ago.

The yellow sand that covered the sky and the sun was blown from the desert, and buried all the low-lying parts of this small village. None of the livestock raised in captivity was spared, and even several villagers were unfortunately killed.

But on the other side of the canal, on a higher ground, less than half of this elegant family's field was buried by yellow sand.

Although they also lost a lot of food that hadn't been harvested in time, compared with other people in the village, this can only be said to be a miracle or the blessing of the gods.

"...But it didn't take long for you to find out that this miracle has brought you trouble, right? The villagers came to ask you to buy grain, but never mentioned the price. After a few days after being rejected by you, you heard Rumors circulated that you performed evil sacrifices to protect your fields, and today the villagers broke into your houses to hang you in the name of the Sinai gods..."

The sheriff on horseback came to the village. It was more than an hour in the afternoon, and the sun disk of Saigon had crossed the highest point of the sky and tilted slightly to the west.

Tingna and Ai had already done the inquiry and arrangement of the incident. The man with a cigar in his hand rubbed his blond hair, put down the papyrus with a large paragraph of text from his hand, and looked at the man in the chair on the other side, dressed in leopard Priest of Pidira.

"And did Mr. Ohemetus protect their fields with evil priests? Priests of Duhanamon."

"No, the great Amon Ra told me that they don't have any evil aura on them. I also went to see their fields and main house. It's just... luck."

In fact, neither Tingna nor Ai thought that the boy could really bring a priest from the temple, but this is better, the judgment made by the priests in the city must be more authoritative than their unknown origin.

"Then, I think this matter can be concluded. Every villager can prove that you said this sentence, but since Mr. Ohemetus's family did not perform evil sacrifices, then your accusation is not established. , now let me ask a question."

The man sitting at the end of the long table had a ferocious expression, but he couldn't do anything about it. All the bad accusations against the family came from him alone, and it was repeated that their missing livestock were used as blood sacrifices, and all the farmland and wheat were not protected in order not to make the villagers suspicious... I can't afford to speculate.

Although Ai Nai recorded all these, neither Tingna nor the sheriff clearly regarded his words as valid testimony, especially now.

Even the priests of Amon Ra have spoken, what else can he do?

"Why do you want to spread rumors and frame, and even kill Mr. Ohemetus and his family? Just because they are unwilling to sell you food at an almost free price?"

Shaking his head, the magistrate tapped on the table with an inferior quill pen, and put the ink from the unscrewed bottle aside. What the bald man said would be recorded on papyrus and become evidence of conviction.

It appears that this is the end of the matter.

Next, as travelers, there was no need for them to stay here any longer. After exchanging glances with Ai who was sitting beside her, Tingna stood up, ready to bid farewell to the sheriff.

"No, of course not."

But the man suddenly sneered.

"To drive you yellow-haired dogs out of our homes, blue-eyed bastards."

The tip of the pen reaching for the ink bottle stopped.

Under the brim of his hat, Natios raised his head, and in the sea of ​​his eyes, there were gloomy and vicious eyes, which were cold... and seemed to be filled with lingering blood.

Ting Na, who was about to say hello to him and leave, choked back the words on her lips by the terrifying eyes, but the man sitting next to the old man in the same village grinned without any fear, and squeezed out from between his severely worn teeth. Cursing words.

"You white-skinned yellow-haired dogs have the same black heart. Ohemetus, you seem to often tell your son how you elegant people came to our village, and how you 'grandparents' cultivated the land on the side of the canal. The desert has become the field it is today, but will you tell him these things? What despicable means did your grandfather use to invade our homeland!? Don’t you dare?”

The man spat out the words "ancestors and grandparents" heavily, leaving a mouthful of spit on the floor of the room, his rough face was burning with anger, he looked at Ou Si who was sitting on the other side of Natios Hametos, looking viciously at his son's face.

"Then let me tell you, little Ohemetus. In my grandfather's generation, that is, your father's grandfather's generation, an elegant man came to our village and took a fancy to a piece of land in the village. He wanted to pay for the land, but the price he quoted was very low, and there was a family living on that land at the time, and they thought the money was too little, so they rejected him."

The man expressed regret and expressed the hope that there would be an opportunity to discuss the matter in the future. At that time, no one took this matter to heart.

But on a certain night, flames burst out from the houses of the people who lived on that land, and the fire swelled so rapidly that it was as if the god Ra had swung the sun wheel across the land. The house was completely burned down, a couple, two old people, and three children, none of them survived.

Everyone in the village mourned and wept when the flames were extinguished, and they were buried with a small requiem ceremony in the hope that they would go to the peaceful Reed Field.

But not long after the fire, the grain merchant came to the village again.

He offered to buy the land again, this time at a much lower price than the previous one, because he said that the people who were burned would make the land unclean as well.

"My grandfather, the then head of the village angrily refused. But the next day, he brought a priest, a magistrate of the city, and the magistrate took a piece of paper and said that according to the order of the pharaoh, the elegant people were in Sinai He is also an elegant person, and the priest even told him directly to ask the village to sell the land to that merchant at a price lower than the extra discounted price!"

Every word was bitten out between the man's teeth. He slapped the table angrily and stood up. His bloodshot eyes moved from the boy who was clutching his mother's sleeves to Ohemetus. In his low growl, the father frowned tightly and blocked his wife and son with his body.

But the man suddenly sneered.

"Five copper drachmas. That's the price we offer to buy grain from you."

"So you blame us for that tragedy? The God of Sky and Thunder! That incident has nothing to do with us!"

Euhemetus frowned deeply.

"Before our family came here, there was only barren gravel on the side of the canal. My grandfather and father spent their lives turning what was just sand dunes into good farmland. My son and I were born here , growing up, we brought the best wheat seeds and shared them with you for free. We have given back so much to this village, but you want to drive us away from the homeland that we cultivated and developed!"

"This is our homeland! And you have never given us anything in return! Those wheat seeds have never made us rich, and our harvest has been bought by you at a cheap price and sold elsewhere for more than double Dramack!"

The man took a deep breath.

"And when the sandstorm was over, and you were paying homage to your comrades who died tragically, you still said that after getting drunk."

His tone suddenly became funny.

"'Let's report the dead less so everyone pays less for mummification to those nasty priests'."

Just like the soldier he was roaring at one second, he turned into a treacherous businessman at the next second, even the sheriff who was already impatiently trying to interrupt him was stunned, and the room suddenly became extremely Quiet, Tingna, who had been blankly sitting on the bench as early as the man's yelling, didn't know how to describe this weird moment. However--

"You're lying! That's what Uncle Farahti said! That day when my father was drunk, he said, 'The land will become more fertile only after being burned'!"

However, the boy's crisp voice sounded in the room.

"Uncle Natios, Uncle Priest, he's lying, just like today..."

The boy didn't seem to be afraid of his roar at all, and now he looked at everyone excitedly, jumping for joy at catching the man's mistake, but the boy's expression soon became strange. His father's face was as dark as the gloomy winter sky, and even the priest who was sitting on the side, bored, narrowed his eyes and looked at his face seriously.

"Is what you said true?"

"It's true, I remember it clearly, I swear in the name of the gods, at that time my mother also..."

The boy nodded his head vigorously, as if he was afraid to imitate the adults' movements and put his hands on his chest to swear.

"Shut up!!"

But before he finished speaking, the gloomy father suddenly roared.

The boy froze.

The man sitting opposite sat down slowly, covered his face with that black hand, and let out a laugh that couldn't help.

"Little Ohemetus, this is where grown-ups talk. Don't interrupt. Go home with your mother first. Clean up the mess and throw away the burned things. Now, let us Let’s talk about this. I must say that Mr. Euhemetus’s words don’t have any special meaning, the fields that are burned by fire will be more fertile, this is something we all know...”

Natios knocked on the table and signaled the woman to take the boy away with his eyes. The boy who was holding hands looked at Tina and Ai in confusion before being taken out, but the two girls were also in a daze now , They glanced at each other, Tinna could see some dissatisfaction on Ai's face for being involved in a complicated situation, and Ai saw the girl's daze.

Although basically not participating in the conversation, Ai couldn't help but also sighed now.

"Anyone who has lived in Sinai knows that the fertility of the fields comes from the fertile soil flooded by Nerocle."

At this time, the old man next to the man, who only nodded when Natios asked whether the rumors were made by a man, suddenly said so.

"But Mr. Euhemetus is an elegant man!"

"Elegant people who were born and raised here."

The young man sitting next to the old man couldn't see the angry expression at all, he lifted his dirty legs to the table, and his tone was flat.

Natios' expression became more and more gloomy, and he lowered his raised feet carelessly. His already impatient tone was now almost tinged with a sinister aura.

"This sentence is just the rambling of Mr. Ohemetus after drinking, and there is nothing to prove it. Mr. Ohemetus is a well-known grain merchant. His grain trade with other provinces has provided valuable tax revenue. An important member of the "Compass Grass" Chamber of Commerce. If there is no solid evidence, I will not accept these groundless allegations as a sheriff. In my opinion, the stories you tell are simply nonsense. The process of buying land by Mr. Ohemetus’ family is legal and compliant. There is no Any problem can clearly and unambiguously prove the ownership of this land, and your actions are encroaching on the home of a decent and elegant businessman. This is the problem we have to deal with now. "

On the word "homeland", the sheriff took a particularly hard bite.

"...No, of course there is a problem, Your Excellency the Sheriff."

But at this time, the priest spoke again.

"Mr. Ohemetus, may I have a look at your land deed? His Majesty the Pharaoh issued the "Land Trade Act" a hundred years ago. According to the regulations, the specific time and amount of land transactions should be recorded on the land deed. According to the law, any transaction that is lower than the lowest land price established by His Majesty the Pharaoh at that time is invalid, and in my memory, even the most barren land is more than one silver drachma per hectare..."

Ignoring Tina and Ai who were looking at each other, the situation is becoming weird and complicated.

The Elegant family, who were originally rescued by them as victims, suspected that their ancestors obtained land through despicable means, and even killed an entire family for this. Natios, as the sheriff, made no secret of his side with them.

However, the priest who had just come to confirm whether there was really an evil ceremony suddenly intervened, and looked at the elegant couple with fierce eyes from the villagers.

"The title deed, yes, of course I have the title deed, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the records on it, and there is also the seal of the high priest back then. The title deed is in my home, the title deed..."

Nodding repeatedly, Ohemetus wiped his cold sweat with his hands, but gradually, his murmurs became softer and lighter, his fair skin lost its color, and he clenched his handkerchief tightly, sweating profusely.

And there was no anger on the man's face at all. He sat beside the old man, as if it was someone else who was roaring before.

"The title deed... you burned the title deed!!"

"Calm down, Mr. Ohemetus, the title deed must be in duplicate, there must be another title deed..."

As he spoke, Natios' expression gradually became serious.

"Priest Duhanamon, do we have to make each other unable to step down in this kind of place?"

"How come, I just want to ensure that the contract signed under the witness of God also complies with the laws made by His Majesty the Pharaoh."

Touching his chin, the priest subtly restrained his smile slightly.

"...Miss Tingna, let's go, the matter is no longer something we can talk about."

"Huh? Uh, uh..."

Ai took Tina's hand, stood up from the chair, and left the low house. Except for the old man who looked at them in awe, no one paid much attention to the departure of the two.

In fact, things now have nothing to do with them.

"...In Sinai, the temple is the core institution of local government affairs, at least until the 13th Jihad. The Tomil Dynasty has always wanted to completely strip the actual power held by the temple and merge it into the government affairs hall. But since ancient times in Sinai , each temple is the largest land owner in the place, and it is difficult for even Pharaoh to take these lands back from them, after all, in name, Pharaoh is the supreme leader of each temple, in name.”

As soon as he came out, Ai let go of Tingna's hand, and said something that Tingna vaguely remembered she had read in a book.

"So now, each temple is still a land transaction and management department. For things like land deeds, one is in the hands of the landowner, and the other must be in the temple."

After finishing speaking, she added another sentence.

"I know you will definitely ask why, so let me tell you what's going on first."

"But I still don't understand what happened, why things suddenly brought up these questions, and they don't seem to notice that the topic has gone off the rails..."

"Until just now, no matter what man accuses, the issue can still go back to the matter itself, but after the priest started to intervene, it won't work."

Ai slightly covered her eyes with her hands, but soon she shook her head again, as if she was not satisfied with her explanation.

"Go back to the boat, Master Liliana and Miss Alice can explain it clearly for you."

On the "Light Seeker", the witch and the puppet did not participate in this incident after the first attack today. After listening to Tina and Ai's narration, the witch was silent for a long time before she spoke leisurely.

"...Since the throne was established, the Tomil Dynasty has gradually started the policy of making Sinai elegant, which includes offering generous conditions to attract immigrants from elegant people."

"Elegant people who come to Sinai can buy land at a cheap price, take loans from the royal bank at a very low interest rate to do business, and shops that employ many elegant people can get tax relief..."

Lying on the witch's head, Alice snapped her fingers and talked about the generous conditions offered by the royal family one by one.

These benefits brought many elegant businessmen and immigrants to Sinai, which promoted the prosperity of Sinai's economy and the change of social composition.

Although there are still a relatively small number of elegant people in Sinai because of the climate problem, the impact it has caused is huge, and of course there are fewer conflicts of all kinds.

"...Then there is the confrontation between the government office directly under the royal pharaoh and the temple. This has been said many times. Since the first two generations of pharaohs, the reform of the royal family has faced a lot of resistance. The current pharaoh wanted to adopt a more radical strategy, but he failed. The success is because the major temples have mastered too much land, even more than the pharaoh himself - of course, in name, these lands also belong to the pharaoh, but the pharaoh has no ability, and it is impossible for every land in Sinai Place your own descendants everywhere, so the most important thing for the temple is the ownership of the land. Although they also sell the land, they get back more, especially the land that the elegant people bought at a discounted price..."

"Alice is still wondering how the boy could really find a priest. Maybe, if the sheriff hadn't protected the family, and Lily, the witch, was here, the family's crimes should have been confirmed... Ugh , that man is not a simple thing, the appearance of the "Light Seeker" and the arrival of the sheriff and the priest are all unexpected events, thanks to that man who can lead things to this point..."

After Alice finished speaking, Liliana put down the novel at hand, and helped Tingna close her gaping mouth in astonishment.

"...how did it become like this..."

Halfway through the hearing, Ting Na was completely stunned. She had the idea of ​​upholding justice when she was asking and listening, but up to now, justice seems to have become something that no one cares about.

The afternoon sun was scorching hot, but the girl seemed to feel coldness flowing through her veins.

"...At this point, there is absolutely no room for us to intervene. Although each has its own purpose, the magistrate did not directly declare anyone guilty or innocent, and the priest did not do anything against the law. Of course, That’s why we’re here.”

Witches have a special status in Sinai. Even if Liliana does nothing, as long as she puts on an indifferent expression, she can restrain the priest and the magistrate.

"But, but, we can still do something, right, right, let Miss Liliana go to see the land deed as a witness, to prevent the temple from tampering..."

"Generally speaking, there is no problem with the transaction figure on the land deed, at least it will not be lower than the price that would invalidate the transaction. But in this case, there are still many poor farmers and bankrupt landlords who sold their land. Still poor, do you know why?"

"Why, why..."

"The buyer did pay the seller the amount on the land deed, but part of it was collected by the witnesses as a witness fee. If the temple also participates, there will also be fees such as contract fees. Of course, generally speaking, these fees In the end, it will go back to the buyer, because the witness is often the buyer's relationship person. Only the person who sells the land has a pitiful little money, and if he is lucky, he can go far away or find a local Most of the unlucky ones have become beggars."

After speaking, the little puppet looked at the girl who was biting her lips. The puppet girl exhaled softly, floated in front of Tingna, and pinched the tip of her nose with her hand.

"Of course, there is no evidence to prove that the ancestors of this elegant family did this. There is no evidence to prove that they killed people in order to obtain the current land at a low price. Magic cannot go back decades or even hundreds of years ago, but... ...well, the other way around, there's no evidence that they didn't do anything...huh?"

There was a sudden commotion outside the sand boat.

Alice floated to the glass window of the cockpit, pushed open the door of the cockpit and came to the deck. The priest was walking out of a room with a gloomy face, holding a wooden sculpture in his hand, and shouted at the man. The origin of this.

For the first time, the man with the wooden staff had a panicked look on his face.

He wanted to say something, but being stared at by the priest, he couldn't say anything. Under the gaze of some villagers and two elegant men, sweat formed a small waterfall on his forehead.

"What happened again?"

Ai and Tingna also followed the witch to the deck. Ting Na looked at everything in front of her and rubbed her head in pain. There were enough twists and turns in this matter, so what happened now?

"Sister Magician, Sister Magician, I succeeded!"

At this time, a small voice sounded, Ai turned his head and saw the boy hiding under the sand boat, waving his hands excitedly.

"what have you done?"

Ai looked at the statue in the hands of the priest, feeling familiar.

"Just like what Miss Sister said, there should be something I can do, so I thought and thought, and finally realized that they are looking for traces of evil in our house to slander us, so I will do the same!"

The boy puffed out his chest and said proudly.

"And then I did find it! There was a hidden room in that bad guy's house, and I sneaked in and looked, and there was a statue of a god I didn't know on the altar! It was nothing like the one I saw in the temple. Same! I think the priest will be very angry about this, so I told the priest!"

At this time, the priest smashed the pale pink sculpture to the ground, the man suddenly roared, picked up the wooden staff and threw it at the priest's head, but before that, the priest's body rose like a smoldering sun. With the flickering light, when the wooden stick fell on the priest's head, the priest's fist also sank into the man's belly.

Only then did Tina recognize the statue.

"Daughter of the Dawn?"

In the pyramid of Letopolesta, the tomb guards who were expelled enshrined this goddess who was not among the nine pillars.

Priests of the Nine Pillars are not at all friendly to these beliefs of unknown origin.

"...It seems that this is the last question raised by this matter."

The witch shook her head, as if she had completely lost interest in this mess, she turned and walked into the cockpit.

"Hey, sisters, have I protected my parents and our home?"

Beside the sand boat, the boy still raised his head, talking excitedly to Ai and Tingna.

But whether it was Tingna or Ai who encouraged him to go to the city to find the sheriff, looking at the priest and the sheriff who seemed to have reached a consensus at the moment, Ohemetus who was relieved and showing a relieved expression, and the terrified villagers , who do not know, how to answer the boy's question.

"Uh-huh……"

In the end, Ai just nodded vaguely, and the boy cheered, then ran to his father's side with a bound.

With a whoosh, Shazhou's solar sails unfolded.

The priest who gathered the villagers solemnly and announced something, Ohmetus and the boy who hugged their son and smiled, and the man who fell to the ground and passed out.

What finally reflected in Tingna's eyes was the gaze of the villagers. Gradually, the smile on her face turned into a tense father and son.

"...Have you protected your home...?"

Alice leaned against Ai, and after a few minutes of silence, she couldn't help raising her head, and asked in a low voice to the clear blue sky.

"Whose home is that... Now, can it still be called their home?"

Tina didn't answer.

The girl looked at the village gradually going away, but deeply, deeply.

Sighed.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Postscript of a certain day:

"Speaking of which, Miss Alice did it before I even made a move at that time. I'm sorry, but I rashly got involved in trouble again."

"Ah, that doesn't matter, Alice is just very angry."

"This, that's it, sure enough Miss Alice is a gentle..."

"Killing people rashly in front of Alice without Alice's permission, there must be a limit to arrogance, if it weren't for losing your temper casually, the situation would get out of hand, Alice would have taught those rude guys a lesson with magic It's over."

"..."

"Huh? Miss Tina, did you say something?"

"No, no, nothing..."