Sword, Magic and Academic Society-Chapter 290Vol. 1 - - The Case of Saintess’s Disappearance (3)

“…Please…!”

Master turned to walk away, but I grabbed his sleeve. I wasn't relenting on this.

He held my gaze for a moment, let out a long, weary sigh, and finally began telling me what they knew so far.

“—This is about all we’ve got. …If this really is a kidnapping, then the culprit most likely approached her during charity work at a church in the eastern downtown, and gave her some sort of instruction. Beyond that, we’re in the dark. With this little to go on, even the Knights can’t move properly. That area’s full of your friends, isn’t it? Go ask around and see if anyone’s heard something that might be relevant.”

He was clearly reluctant about it, but at least he agreed to let me help with the investigation. I bowed my head deeply.

“Thank you so much!”

“And listen, just ask around. Nothing more. If you pick up anything, report it immediately. Don’t go charging ahead.”

“Of course!”

He looked genuinely worried, so I gave him a thumbs-up to reassure him.

◆

After Allen dashed off with a bright smile on his face.

"...Are you sure this is a good idea? What if the whole ruckus was just to draw out Allen-kun all along?"

Dante remarked in concerned tone. Dew massaged his temple as if bearing a headache.

"...Did I have a choice...? You don't really expect him to listen to me, and stay quiet at his home given the situation, eh? Better to keep him moving where we can see him than have him sneaking around behind our backs.”

After explaining, he turned at Kiana, former A-rank explorer.

"It has come to his, so can you keep an eye on him, Kiana-san? He seems to listen to your advice, and given your former occupation, you should be able to take action if he's poking around the downtown."

"Very well, Commander."

Kiana nodded once and headed off after Allen.

◆

“Hey, Allen! Is there any news?”

Just as I was about to head out through the main gate of the garrison for my reckoning, the group of four—Fey, Kate, Stella, and Coco— called out to me. It appeared they're waiting by the guard post.

"So you guys came... Unfortunately, there's nothing on hand. They've yet to determine if it was a voluntary decision, or an incident, so knight's hand are bound from acting."

With a bitter smile, I shake my head at Kate's inquiry.

“...If only I had… noticed something was wrong with Jue-chan that day…”

Coco clenched his fists, face tightening in frustration.

“Don’t beat yourself up, Coco. It's normal to not notice situation just over missing a reply. Anyway, Fey, are there any magic tools that can manipulate someone’s mind? Something that could make them act under someone else’s will?”

It was a shot in the dark. I already learned from Riyad-senpai that there's no such thing as mind control magic.

Fey gave a wry smile.

"Uh-huh... You really got that quirk to ask the craziest stuff with a stright face? Well, I guess it's the type of mana tool every love-stricken girl dreams of at least once. ...Ever so often, a conman would try to sell you something of sort, an old tale. But, there's no such tool. I mean, the society would've already collapse if such tool existed in reality."

......I thought so.

Charm spells or magical tools that would force the target to compilance was a staple in games or light novels, but with a short contemplation, it would immediately become obvious how catastrophic their impact on the world would be.

The collapse of society. She wasn't exaggregating. This was just that much of a cheat ability.

"Sure enough...... Then again, we wouldn't have such inconvinient, yet an amusing world if it had existed."

I dare say the world would became a colorless place in its presence, leaving nothing but dull and dreary trails.

"Kyahahaha! You're right there. You wouldn't have been prancing around, shouting freedome otherwise, after all... I would've obviously knew it it existed, and before you'd realised, you’d already be my perfectly obedient little servant by—”

Fey cut herself off mid-sentence and suddenly fell silent.

"......Hmm, I see. So, that's the play, eh? Coco, did you see a black choker around Jeu's neck when you saw her last? One with a red magic stone set into it?”

Receiving Fey's question, Coco pressed a hand to his temple and narrowed his eyes, as though searching his memory.

It was a pose he often took when trying to recall something. He once described it as opening a drawer in his memory.

"......As far I saw her, she didn't have one. However, she was also dressed in her sister's habit. If there was, it might've been hidden under the high collar. ......Now that you ask, I did remember her neckline were suspiciously drawn... I'm sorry. I really can't tell if she had."

It was amazing he could recall that much from a two days old memory of casual glance, but he muttered the tale end of his statement bitterly.

"......What was that? Did you think of something?"

Stella posed her question. The reply came from Kate.

"......I think, Fey might be thinking of «Choker of Virtue»."

"«Choker of Virtue»? ...What in the world is that?"

I had never picked that word ever before, and tilted my head. Stella and Kate gave me skepticism laced glance, and explained.

The said mana tool was inspired from the another mana tool mentioned among the folklores passed in Starlight Theocracy. It was reproduced by an deranged artificier who suspected his wife of infedility.

The mana tool—choker was put on neck after imbuding it with certain amount of mana, and could only be taken off by the imbuded person's mana.

The wearer, meanwhile, must also pour their own magic into the item and make a heartfelt vow, like "I will remain chaste for no one but my husband."

If the wearer attempts to forcibly remove it, or if the choker determines, based on physiological reactions it constantly monitors at the neck, that the vow has been broken—

The magic item detonates at the wearer’s throat, killing them instantly.

Several hundred years ago, it spread like wildfire among the ruling classes across the continent, and countless consorts and slaves were forced to wear them.

However, in today's time, this magic item was banned in nearly every country for not only its use, but even its possession was a crime.

It had been misuded for cruelty, and enough cases had risen to show the potential side-effect of the mana tool—it burdened the wearer's mind, eroiding it. It was ultimately deemed inhumane.

"It was a mana tool with decades of dark history... But, I did hear it's usage has been allowed in one section of Starlight Theocracy. It's chiefly used by the wife of high-ranking priest during the moment of vowm swearing lifelong chastity. As a fact, in the original folklore, the vow was about dedicating oneself to the gods. Other nations can’t openly criticize it when it’s framed as a religious matter and claimed to be the person’s own will. Besides, it seems it won’t function unless the vow truly comes from the heart.”

Stella pursued the tail end of explanation. Kate clicked her tongue, making no attempt to hide her disgust.

“Tch. So something that vile actually exists. Makes my skin crawl. I don’t care if they call it a vow to the gods. What they’re doing is no different from holding a knife to someone’s throat and forcing obedience. …So Jue went back once to leave that letter and then left again because she was being threatened with that thing?”

Fey nodded.

"It's merely a conjucture, alright? But if it's truly used on Jeu, then she was probably made to swear a very simple vow at first—something like ‘return back to your place and leave a letter without contacting anyone.’ You can’t just force someone to swear something extreme like ‘lifelong absolute obedience’ right off the bat. Those vows won’t take.”

That made sense. No matter what you say out loud, you couldn’t swear your life to someone you despised from the bottom of your heart.

You can’t lie to yourself. But—

If someone was threatened and made to repeat small, simple vows over and over, the psychological barrier would steadily erode. In an enviorment with no one to contact, and driven to corner, it wouldn't be impossible to break that spirit and eventually compelled to make a vow they could never take back.

“…I’m going to do some legwork in the eastern district of the capital, where Jue was active that day. Coco, help me out.”

I mentioned my next move, and turned on my heel. Stella raised her voice "We are coming too," but I politely turned them down.

"I appreciate your thoughts, but neither of you aren the type to stroll in downtown of all place. You will stick out like a sore thumb. It would be dangerous if any accomplice happened to see you hanging around. Relax, I have few aquaintance there, so I wouldn't be lacking in enough hands. Besides, you should track down traces outside of Royal Capital. It's already been two whole days since Jeu disappeared, and it's quite possible the culprit may have already took her out."

A nod came from everyone in understanding, and we quickly leapt to our action.

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