'Not my true self?'
Hearing the upside-down Fula's words, Ogre felt a wave of confusion rise in his heart.
“What do you mean by that?” Macar asked, also unable to understand.
“Cough, cough... This is the Hanged Man spell, also known as the Sacrifice spell. It is a spell I prepared before leaving... cough, cough... If anything were to happen to me in Roke Town, this spell would be activated.”
Coughing up blood, Fula cleared up their confusion; he did not have time to explain in too much detail, so he could only give a brief, selective explanation.
'A Sacrifice spell...'
A dark premonition arose in Ogre's mind, and he reached up to touch his forehead—Fula had called him here specifically; could it be that he planned to do something to him?
“Do you mean... something has already happened to you?!” Macar did not hold a high rank in the church, so he was not particularly knowledgeable about these mysterious rituals.
But simply from the term 'Sacrifice spell', he could tell that this ritual was not a good omen.
“Cough, cough... It is also possible that I have been trapped. The sacrifice required for the Hanged Man spell does not refer entirely to me, but to the recipient of the spell,” Fula said in a low voice.
By now, the black blood pooling on the ground grew deeper, and the upside-down Fula became increasingly shriveled.
“Please, give us your orders!” Macar immediately knelt on one knee, ready to receive his instructions.
“Cough, cough... Macar, you will not be the one to bear this sacrifice...”
Fula's words made both Macar and Ogre look up, suddenly on high alert.
'Does this mean... he wants to target me?!'
Ogre quietly folded his arms over his chest, ready to strike back at a moment's notice.
“Grand Friar Fula, I can bear the sacrifice!” Macar stood up and shielded Ogre.
“Cough, cough... Nor do I require the sacrifice of a little girl.”
Fula directed his upside-down gaze toward Ogre. “Gelin... or perhaps, I should call you Serandic. I need you to go to the frontier city to find Yade or that person... cough, cough... Now is not the time to fret over the truth—regardless of anything, as long as the Holy Light still accepts him, he can be trusted... Please tell him that he must be extremely wary of blue-eyed creatures.”
'Go back... now?!' Ogre felt his plans had been thrown into complete disarray.
“Cough, cough... Macar... you will escort her... Your responsibility is even greater. You must take another incarnation of my sacrificial medium and deliver it to the... Church of Truth in the frontier city.”
As Fula finished speaking, a white dove that looked like an ornament came to life on the inverted cross, flying down to peck out one of the upside-down Fula's eyes.
Then, within the reflection of the pool of black blood, a dove as dark as a crow materialized. It flew up and pecked out the other eye of the upside-down Fula.
“These are the eyes of a night-demon... I have converted them into a spell. At a critical moment, they can protect you on your way.”
Fula's voice cut off abruptly.
As the white and black doves flew out, his body began to crumble...
Soon, along with that series of bizarre phenomena, he vanished without a trace.
'Was it an illusion? Why did my enhanced vision fail to detect any flaws?' Ogre blinked.
There was no sign of any hanging man left in the chamber.
The bizarre cross from earlier, along with the endlessly flowing black blood, had completely vanished shortly after Fula's voice faded, leaving behind no trace of their existence.
Only the two contrasting doves remained.
'Was it merely a triggered projection? But why was it called a Sacrifice spell?'
Macar knew very well that out of almost all spells involving the word 'sacrifice', very few came with a light price.
This so-called Hanged Man spell had such an eerie and realistic projection... It likely was not as simple as it currently appeared.
“Let's go,” Ogre said, reaching out to catch the black dove as it flew down.
“Alright...” Macar nodded in agreement, reaching out to catch the white dove.
But soon, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.
“M-Miss Gelin, you can speak normally!” Macar stared at Ogre in shock.
“I'm very sorry for deceiving you, but I assure you I bear no ill will—Grand Friar Fula can testify to that. Now is not the time to dwell on this, is it?”
As Ogre spoke, the black dove in his hand turned into a bead.
'It seems this is the assistance Fula left for me. He likely wants me to resolve that matter on my own and do him a favor along the way.' Ogre could feel a trace of familiar power inside this bead.
It was completely identical to the restriction left on his forehead.
'It might even be linked to trigger together. Fula must have left this intentionally,' Ogre guessed.
Macar opened his mouth, but in the end, no words of blame came out. “You're right... now is not the time to worry about this.”
He finally understood why everyone said that the more beautiful a woman was, the more she would lie.
But he truly hadn't expected that someone as pure and innocent-looking as Ogre would deceive him too...
First, her face had been a disguise. Then, according to what Cleric Fula said... even her name was fake?
And now he was told her muteness was also a facade?
Was there anything that wasn't a disguise? Her gender? Or perhaps her strength?
Those two had to be real, right?
“Let's set off immediately. We should be able to arrive before nightfall,” Ogre said, putting the bead away.
Continuing to disguise his voice now would only complicate things...
Of course, in other areas, he still had to keep up the act.
Otherwise, if Macar were to find out what Maqi had done to him...
'Sigh, I'm clearly the victim here.' Ogre still couldn't forget what had happened last night.
It had dealt a significant blow to his young mind.
“Alright.”
Macar also carefully stored away the white bead, feeling a heavy weight of responsibility settle upon him.
Fula had entrusted this task to him.
It was likely because he was the strongest person left to be found in this area.
“Let's leave it to the missionaries to inform Sister Maqi and the others. Try to have them hide in a safe place,” Ogre suggested.
He felt that since Roke Town was already compromised, it probably wouldn't take long for the trouble to spread to this village as well.
Ideally, the entire village should be evacuated to the main city—which would also avoid the beast tide that might occur in the future.
But that was, after all, only the ideal scenario.
Many things were incredibly troublesome to execute. If they suddenly evacuated, most people would likely be unwilling.
Who would bear the losses? What if they encountered raiders on the way? What if some people couldn't leave? What if some had already gone out? Would their savings be enough to survive the winter after evacuating?
These were all visible problems.
As for the unseen issues, there were even more.
“Mm... okay,” Macar agreed, nodding. He found Ogre's words very reasonable.
However, this also made him feel a bit awkward.
Macar felt like he was being led by the nose; the disparity between Ogre's previous persona and his current one was simply too vast.
It felt as though the delicate little flower he had been protecting had suddenly turned into his leader—it was highly jarring.
“There is no time to lose.”
Ogre pulled out the mask Maqi had prepared for him earlier and pressed it onto his face.
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