Chapter 20: Is that... Witchcraft!?

“Brat! Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get into by casually carrying something like that in your filthy pants?”

After somehow discovering the item Thadeus had mistakenly brought with him in his pockets, the elderly 'Sir Valeni' dragged Thadeus into his weapons shop at an absurd speed, closing the door as if fleeing from the guards, and asked the silver-haired boy that question.

All while holding high the heraldry of Aragon.

Thadeus could only blink, unable to properly process the question for a moment as his blue eyes dimmed with uncertainty, trembling a little.

“Problems…? What do you mean?”

“Execution,” the old man said with a dry, humorless laugh.

Hearing that sentence, Thadeus's breath caught in his throat for a few seconds at the ex-knight serious statement. He had never expected that bearing the family heraldry of a nobleman would result in his being sentenced to death...!

“You would be sent to a coliseum or the battlefield, both no different than an execution sentence since they end in death.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t an immediate execution…”

Valeni frowned in disgust and replied, "Don't be an idiot, kid. If you're unlucky, you'll survive and live through hell without the preparation for it. Well, not that you can imagine ... Anyway, whether in the Kingdom or the Empire, it's madness for a commoner to dare to wear any heraldry of a Noble."

“Is it that bad…? Even though I accidentally brought it…”

“And of all things, it is from the Grand Duchy of Aragon, which although it is barely recovering from that incident, is still the powerful High Nobles of the Arswerdia Empire!”

Valeni waved his muscular arms as he stared at him wide-eyed, “Where the hell did you get that? Is there some noble who wants you dead? That’s not the kind of thing they miss, they’re enchanted by all sorts of things!”

“It’s none of your business”

“You are right about that; it is not,” 'Sir Valeni' replied, arms crossed. “But I cannot stand still at the thought of seeing a child with a future ahead of him fall into disgrace because of a nobleman’s carelessness. Who knows what others out there might sense the magic of that thing? And if they reveal it to the authorities in these lands? You and your family would suffer the consequences!”

Thadeus's face paled slightly upon hearing such a thing. This wasn't just bad, it was calamitous. He had never expected that wearing the noble family heraldry without authorization could attract such dire consequences.

“I have to return it…”

“Come, let me put a spell on it… don’t look at me like that, it’s to temporarily block its magical aura; do you want others like me to notice the existence of that thing?”

That's what the Armorer said with annoyance as he placed the heraldry on a table and began to do his thing, disregarding the opinion of the boy who was frowning at him. Sighing, Thadeus could only accept the man's goodwill; quite unexpected, in truth, as he looked around.

As you might expect from a village gun shop, the collection inside was not particularly extensive.

However, for a child like Thadeus, it was almost like making an unexpected visit to a candy store he was rarely allowed to go to; there were real swords that were clearly different from the wooden sword he used for training.

Each of those swords, some worn and others possibly newly cast by the local blacksmith, attracted the boy's shining gaze, who put his worries aside for now by thinking of Valeni's goodwill.

There weren't just swords; he could also see spears, shields, halberds, and many others in small quantities on the shelves; supported by devices Thadeus didn't yet know or could name, and protected by clear glass; craftsmanship undoubtedly made with the complex art of alchemy.

Thadeus had heard that this guy was unusually rich for someone who secluded himself in a random village, but… Was it normal for a village armory to have such expensive things like glass made by alchemists?

Ah, although the vendor isn't normal either, given the waves of magical energy emanating from him, so I guess it doesn't matter? With a certain nonchalant air, the boy thought, though his mind would soon go into disarray.

“But to think that girl, Maru, is a noble…”

For the words casually spoken by Valeni.

“!?” The boy opened his eyes, astonished.

"Well, her and her mother's appearance already suggested it anyway. Although there are many beautiful women around here with very cute daughters, these are on another level~"

Thadeus couldn't help but look horrified as he looked at the old man Valeni.

Not only because he had just said with such certainty that Maru and his family were the nobles in question, but because... from Valeni's hand, a magic circle manifested from which no elemental aura emanated, but pure life force.

“Is that…Witchcraft!?”

As his greenish eyes lit up faintly, the Elder who called himself 'Sir Valeni' was using Witchcraft, not Magic, to enchant Maru's brooch!

♦♦♦♦

What was witchcraft, you might ask?

It was the act of using mana, life itself, to alter nature directly without relying on the power of the Spirits!

A forbidden art that only those with inhuman blood, the blood of demons…. can employ!

Humans, by their very nature, were incapable of manipulating internal and external mana. Therefore, they connected with their Inherent Spirits to interfere with nature and evoke magical phenomena of all kinds, depending on the discipline the Mage focused on.

However, in this world, there were species that did not need a medium to achieve such supernatural feats, known as Elves, Dwarves, Fairies…and Demons.

Creatures that are said to have been the first beings created by the Dragon of the Calamity as loyal pawns of conquest, the Demons were an ancient magical species with the innate ability to control their magic circuits and manipulate internal and external mana with skill, displaying overwhelming power surpassing humans, and even their talent surpassed that of Elves, only being inferior to Fairies of another realm.

And along with their incredible physical abilities, they were a terrible threat to both humanity and the Elves and Dwarves of the Great Arcanus Forest.

They considered themselves a superior species, and did whatever they wanted to other species when they encountered them; the only thing that prevented them from causing more chaos was the divine power of the gods and their low numbers.

And because of their crimes against the women of humanity, bastards were sometimes born who carried the fearsome blood of demons flowing through their veins.

Indistinguishable from a normal person, they were known as Witches, the children of sin incarnate….

And right in front of Thadeus, stood one of those sorcerers!