Chapter 575 – Purification Rituals and Bells

000

Shoot aaaaa…

This is a temple located in Asteris, the capital of the Eastern country, resounding with the sound of water pouring from above with strong momentum.

Near the main shrine where the Daimiko lives, there is an artificial waterfall created using a magic formula for her training her.

Water falling from the height of the third floor of a building gives a heavy and intense impact like a blunt weapon.

The sound it makes when it touches a person’s body resembles the sound of a whip being swung.

And, sitting under it is a black-haired man wearing a white suit and sitting cross-legged.

Cleon was sitting as if he were practicing training like the people of the priesthood.

With his eyes closed, his head his, which was flooded with endless streams of water, was filled with various thoughts, so even in this situation, he could not shake off his wandering thoughts.

“How long do you have to do that?”

And, sitting in a chair and watching the situation as if it were boring, is Galatea, Cleon’s partner.

Originally, she was something like a lump of dark magic, so even if she was exposed to nearby organs by her nature of her, it would n’t be that big of a problem.

Even though Cleon is a member of the dark horse family, he is still a human.

What would happen if a large amount of organs were absorbed—and the fact that I had to purify my body like this forcibly even because of the fact that I came in contact with the mask—

It was Tokoyo’s idea of ​​her, standing next to Galatea, with her arms crossed, looking at Cleon together.

“Just a little more. After that, sprinkle salt all over the body and then perform the ritual of exorcism…”

Tokoyo took off her stuffy fox mask and spoke with a serious attitude, but when Galatea heard the story, a sigh came out of her own accord.

“What kind of ritual is this…? I’ve seen it, and Cleon did n’t have any problems? The flow of magical energy and the organs of his body were already purified when he left the mansion.”

“But wearing a mask… There is a possibility that something has entered the body. Even if you look at it from the outside, you don’t really know.”

“Because I’m connected to Cleon on the inside~! Both outside and inside, we’re tightly connected.”

When Galatea spoke as if to refute Tokoyo’s concerns, Tokoyo shook her head while sighing “Aww” Just like Galatea before.

“Anyway. I am the expert in this field. Trust me. There is no harm done by doing this.”

As if not to disturb Cleon, Tokoyo restrains Galatea and then looks back at him.

What echoes in Cleon’s mind as she receives her gaze is the conversation he had with her before leaving her mansion.

The name of the figure she puts on her mouth is ‘Rakshasa’. It is about a swordsman who was nicknamed ‘Rachal’ in the East.

‘Is that the man in the vision I saw when I put on the mask?’

It was very brief, but it was a strong memory.

With a jet-black, single-edged longsword in her hand, her back to her to the burning red flames.

Hair fluttering like a curtain of shadow, and corpses piling up mountains.

With the faces of suffering humans, the man was smiling.

As if he enjoys all the destruction and slaughter.

That appearance, and the sword he was holding in his hand his, an unmistakable demonic sword.

If so, there was no doubt that he belonged to the dark horse clan, just as Tokoyo had said.

The Great Criminal of the East, who burned the sacred tree and slaughtered countless people.

It is said that Rachal died in the form of stabbing each other with swords and spears with the then high priestess, and that his corpse was burned to such an extent that not even ashes were left behind.

However, no matter how strong they stabbed each other, the corpses of the shaman and the rakshasa did not separate from each other, so it is said that the bodies of the two were cremated at once.

Thanks to that, even the tomb of the great priestess who protected the country from the disaster of Raksha is only symbolic.

It was said that there was nothing underneath.

In today’s Eastern countries, the story of Rakshasa is said to be regarded as a legend or tale.

Even so, a single human went to the brink of burning a sacred tree worshiped as a god in the capital of the Eastern country.

To think that they were able to stop it by slaughterering a large number of humans, including the soldiers of the royal palace, and also because the great priestesses became friends.

The very fact that such a monster existed is treated as a bit of a cruel fairy tale with a warning about power.

Even in history, almost no records of Rakshasa remain, so some historians now doubt whether they even exist, so I was able to understand the perception of Rakshasa in the East by listening to Tokoyo’s explanation.

However, Cleon could sense that he was a real person.

It was because Cleon was informed by instinct that the visions he saw while wearing the mask were ‘real things’ no matter where he looked.

When the mask covered Cleon’s face, it came in as if it were eating into his brain his, trying to put his own memories on it.

‘A clan of black horses with great power, causing a great disaster… Is it?’

When Cleon hears such a story, he thinks that Rakshasa might be a member of the Dark Demon family who possessed the same reincarnation factor as the demonic sword emperor.

However, if there is something different from the demonic sword emperor, unlike Cain, who could feel the connection with him as if he had become him when he saw his memory before destroying the reincarnation factor.

As for Rakshasa, I could not feel anything even if I looked at his memories of him.

No, maybe it doesn’t matter whether it’s a previous life or not.

A dark horse clan with a reincarnation factor has a high probability of causing a runaway, but a dark horse clan that doesn’t have the possibility of causing a runaway at all.

That is, he knows best, doesn’t he?

In the slaughter in the dragon’s gorge, the madness he saw in a situation where everyone except himself died or went insane.

It’s hot, and my head hurts.

Thinking of the incident at that time, naturally, his heart felt tight, and anger at the fact that he was helpless at the time was rising.

However, as the coldness of the waterfall pouring over his head his slowly calms down that anger, Cleon’s heart his calms down little by little.

It was a practice that really worked. Thinking of the same thing, Cleon turned his thoughts in the original direction.

The reason why Rakshasa tried to occupy his body his, and the reason why he felt as if he had become Rakshasa momentarily as soon as he used it.

I want to deny it, but I think it’s good that Cleon himself has a ‘compatibility’ with the existence that dwells inside that mask.

Branches, so to speak, from the same root.

Cleon’s body may have been the best vessel to contain the soul of the same root.

Or, if it was a body with a high aptitude rate for dark magic, any body would have been fine.

‘…If it hadn’t been for Tokoyo’s amulet, he would have been taken over by that mask on the spot.’

I didn’t want to imagine much of what happened after that.

How many people would want to imagine themselves becoming other people, because to Cleon, it was not a story like a stranger.

To not be like that, he-

“Echwi!”

“Ah.” X2

When Cleon sneezes at the same time as a sudden chill rises in his body His, Tokoyo and Galatea, who have been talking hard, look at Cleon.

After that, Tokoyo confirmed that the hourglass placed next to him was all gone.

“Ah~ I’m sorry! Cleon! Time is up, so you can come out! He keeps talking to me~”

When Tokoyo smiled awkwardly and pointed at Galatea, Galatea tapped it and waited for him holding a towel for Cleon.

“…Whew.”

As soon as he got up from his seat, his concentration his was cut off in an instant, and the distracting thoughts that filled his head his disappeared as he escaped from the waterfall.

The sound of water that filled the surroundings and the pain that hit the body are gone, so it feels like returning to the mundane world.

“It doesn’t suit me.”

About the first waterfall training I ever did.

That, too, was Cleon’s impression that he only came out after being hit by a waterfall for about an hour.

001

After that, as Tokoyo had said, I had no choice but to go on a tour of the temple while undergoing various rituals.

Even if Galatea herself said, “It’s okay now,” Tokoyo wouldn’t let the two go easily.

“Ha…”

After all, it wasn’t until after a whole day of ceremonies like sprinkling salt that I doubt would work inside the temple, tapping with a rod with a bell on it, and chanting incantations with my hands on top of my head.

As if Tokoyo felt a little relieved, he led the two of them back to the main hall of the Daishinden, which was also his residence.

There, Quon had already returned from today’s training and was drinking tea while waiting for Cleon.

“Cleon!”

As soon as Cleon enters the room, Quon gets up and approaches Cleon.

When she checked to see if there were any injuries on her body her and if there were any abnormalities on her body her, her Cleon tried to reassure her that she was fine.

However, Quon still had a worried expression on Cleon’s tired face of her, who had gone through all sorts of ceremonies, such as a grand welcome from the priestesses and priestesses.

“Are you really okay? Her face is so pale…”

“It’s from the beginning…”

After Cleon answered lightly, worried about not knowing if it was Quon’s sincerity of her or her joke of her, Tokoyo opened her mouth and laughed.

“Ahaha~! Quondo has a lot of worries too. Nothing he did today was that dangerous.”

“So, so? So, was there just something dangerous?!”

Then, this time, shut up! While holding onto Tokoyo’s shoulders, Quon thrusts her face into her.

“Ah, no. I didn’t mean that… I’m kidding. I’m kidding! All I did was be safe today!”

“I-I see. I’m sorry, I lost my composure…”

When Quon, hot and alert, removes his hand from Tokoyo’s shoulder, Tokoyo lets out a sigh of relief.

Then, she turns her head towards Cleon and talks.

“Anyway. Before going back, I knew that the reason for the fall of the ‘Oberti family’ was confirmed by committing a ‘taboo’, based on evidence such as the masks I saw in the mansion.”

“A taboo… Is making a mask of a monster or a demon a taboo?

“Eh… Of course, those masks also broke the rules of the temple, so originally they should have been sealed by the priests and shamans… But the bigger reason is probably the existence of the Rakshasa mask.”

What she took out while doing so was a scroll taken from the place where the records were kept in the temple.

Only a few, including the great priestess, can come in and out, and in some scrolls, monsters or ghosts that are too powerful to defeat are sealed.

“Tenchi-san said that a ‘specific being’ has disappeared from some records. I was also concerned about it, so I looked for it after returning. Then, the same phenomenon occurred in the records related to ‘Raksa’ and the records related to ‘Oberti’. This is what was happening.”

Tokoyo spreads the scroll on the ground and reads the sentences written in calligraphy that are difficult to read one by one.

The outline is that, as Tokoyo verbally explained, a swordsman named Raksha caused a disaster in the East.

And, in order to prevent that, ‘someone’ lent the power to the priestess and succeeded in defeating the Rakshasa.

The same was true of the Overtti family.

The Oberti family, not satisfied with their status as nobles, began making masks to worship monsters and demons in order to achieve a certain goal.

Through that mask, he intended to train powerful warriors and overthrow the Eastern kingdom.

Then, with the help of an outsider called a ‘wise man’, they secretly cut off the divine tree and made a mask of the Rakshasa.

However, it was discovered that he made the mask of Rakshasa, and ‘someone’ cursed the Oberti family and the family fell.

“Both sides. An important part is missing.”

“Yes. Although it is taboo, there is no case where such an important part is not deliberately written. This was tampered with after the record was written. By someone.”

Nodding at Cleon’s words, Tokoyo said another thing. As if it was an important part, he pointed to the part where the word ‘sage’ was written.

“Is he a wise man… He smells like that. The guy who used to have a name like this is, with a high probability, an Adam’s follower.”

“Because something similar happened in the kingdom of the Sun King…”

Those who approach someone favorably, as if preaching knowledge, and in the end remove the beings that stand in the way of Adam, or those who don’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves in order to achieve their goals.

Those were Adam’s followers.

“This sage doesn’t appear anywhere except for this record. And there’s no record of him being caught or dead. Probably, he made a fire as he was and ran away.”

“Ha. Because they’re like that. But if that’s the case, the probability that someone is Gaios has increased.”

Dragons are guardians of the stars according to the will of Nemea, the current ruler of the throne.

And Adam is the one who has concocted countless conspiracies over thousands of years to bring down Nemea from the throne.

If this was Adam’s plan, it makes sense that Gaius directly exercised his power to stop it.

“Cleon, bring this scroll to Tenchi-san. The records about Rakshasa remain in the temple, but the record that person has may be more accurate. If there is cross-verification, based on that keyword, it is possible to track Gaios. It will be possible.”

“Ah. I see.”

After saying that, Cleon stood up from her seat her, picking up the two scrolls she handed her.

However, he suddenly remembered the incident from before and talked while looking at Tokoyo.

“Ah. Come to think of it. I haven’t said thank you yet.”

“Huh? What?”

When Cleon tilts her head as if she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Cleon speaks with a wry smile.

“At the mansion. The one that gave you the amulet before entering the basement. … If it wasn’t for that, you might have been dominated by the mask.

Upon hearing such a story, Tokoyo said “Hey” And waved his hand to her while smiling shyly.

“No no. That’s a natural measure for entrusting Cleon with what I had to do.

Unlike Quon, Tokoyo reacts positively to the compliments he received, to the point of being a little overdone.

“And, before we got out of the basement, didn’t we ring a bell to give directions to those of us who didn’t know the direction? Thanks to that, we were able to get out of the basement before the explosion. “

“Hehe… Huh?”

However, when Cleon brings up the next story, Tokoyo, who was laughing while scratching his head, tilts his head and looks up at Cleon.

“…The sound of bells?”

“What’s the matter?”

As if hearing her for the first time, when Cleon asked back as if he was strange, Tokoyo shook her head and talked.

“Haven’t I ever rang a bell?”

“…What? But…”

The sound of the bell that Galatea also heard was not an auditory hallucination.

Then, who the hell helped Cleon who was there…

002

“Meow.”

“Oh, Bahamut, you’re back. Just as I finished organizing the documents related to the mine…”

As Herti said so, let’s try to lift the returned Bahamut from under her feet her-

“Wait! Herti-nim. Bahamut seems to have played a little too hard today.”

“Huh? Why?”

Calia frowned, as she lifted the dusty, soot-covered Bahamut before Herti lifted it herself.

Then, the sound of ‘Jingling…’ Echoes from the bell hanging around his neck.

“I’ll have to wash it anyway. If you lift it up and rub it on your face, Herti-sama’s face will be smeared with charcoal as well.”

“Eh… Did you find an interesting place? I don’t usually do that. Right? Bahamut.”

At Herti’s words her, the cat yawned loudly and then groaned while being held in Calia’s arms her.

“The cat is the best seller.”

Seeing Bahamut responding that he wants to go to sleep now that he has finished his work today, Calia complains as if she is a little envious.

Then Herti pricked up his ears and smiled mischievously.

“Does Calia want to be a cat too?”

“No, I… There is another animal I want to be more than a cat.”

“Hey~ What?”

At Herti’s question her, as if full of interest in her, Calia shut her mouth as if thinking for a moment.

She smiles bitterly and turns her body around.

“It’s also a secret from Herti.”

“What is that~! Calia~!”

Calia left her room with Bahamut behind her voice her calling her name her.

“Now, Bahamut. Let’s clean her body before going to bed.”

And moved her steps.