008 episode. checkmate (2)
At my words, the warden burst into laughter.
“Are you just interested? It’s a hobby I’ve dedicated my life to.”
“Then you will be very talented.”
“I am ashamed to say it with my own mouth, but I have won several prizes in competitions in the capital.”
It wasn’t an amateur level.
I slipped my luck.
“Would you like to stay with me? I’m pretty good at both, so it won’t be boring.”
“haha. nope Now, I have work to do.”
“It’s possible that you might lose. I understand.”
The warden’s face hardened at my provocative and rude remarks. After a while, he returned to his original benevolent expression.
“I don’t know what your skill level is, but let’s try it somewhere. I will teach you.”
He spoke softly, but he clearly looked angry.
The warden took the chessboard from the bookshelf and unfolded it.
“Priority does not yield. I’ll take the bag.”
“I would appreciate it.”
The great country has begun.
I deliberately took my time and counted.
In order to make the director have enough time to ponder and immerse himself in it.
A close-knit workshop went back and forth, each other’s pieces were eaten and eaten, and the general, who started lightly at first, was now seriously working on the game.
tak- tak-
The sound of objects hitting the plates fills the silent room. And at the end-
“Check.”
“… … !”
The warden’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“One plate! I’ll just put it back one more!”
I designed the plate just like when I was playing with the prisoners.
So that I win by just one difference after a fierce battle.
The warden had a face that did not understand why he lost.
‘It has to be so. He must have had a lot of pride in chess.’
I glanced at the watch and said.
“The consultation session will be over soon. I have to return to the Iman factory… … .”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell the guard in charge.”
“Then it will make me less of a problem. You can forget it, so if you tell me now… … .”
The warden made a ‘knuckle’ sound and called the guard who was waiting outside the door and said:
“Consultation for prisoner number 776 is going to be long. Please tell the guards in charge that you will not return to the morning labor.”
“All right.”
The guards left and the game started again.
As the situation became more unfavorable, the pain of the small intestine only grew louder.
“I’m going to the bathroom for a while. Stay still!”
Human beings become infinitely childish and infinitely simple when self-esteem is at stake.
widely-!
A few seconds after the door closed, I got up from my seat and walked towards the glass cabinet.
The mana of blue energy that rose from his palm was sucked into the keyhole of the lock.
Mana, which was changing into a key shape within it, suddenly popped and disappeared.
“… … ?”
It was the same no matter how many times I tried.
‘Is it a lock made by magic engineering? To be attentive to useless places… … .’
Hextech products are mostly made in the capital.
The lock looks like new, so it looked like something I brought back from a business trip a while ago.
「Design drawings and expansion plans」
can’t give up I have to take that thing out.
It has a “memory” feature, so you only need to turn the page once from start to finish after taking it out.
Then all the information is entered into your head.
‘My mana is still insufficient to dispel the magic applied here.’
The way is to use a normal key.
It was probably owned by the warden.
There were two ways.
Get the original or make a copy.
widely. widely.
After the circuit was built, the sound of the small intestine’s rapid footsteps was heard in the auditory sense that became extremely sensitive.
I must have remembered some good water in the bathroom.
I quickly shoved mana into the lock.
Mana disappeared, and repeated the push again.
In the meantime, the shape of the key that fits into the lock hole began to picture in my head.
quiver-
And I sat down in time for the door to open again.
“Have you waited long? You didn’t even touch me, did you?”
“Is it possible? You can rest assured.”
I said with a chuckle.
* * *
“Therefore, the pioneers built an ark and built up walls to stop the demonic attack.”
Church on the weekend.
I looked at Estelle standing on the podium.
A clear voice in formal attire.
A huge statue of the goddess at the back.
Afternoon sunlight seeping through the window.
As she preached, there was even a slightly sacred atmosphere.
“The land beyond the wall was eroded by magic and became a land where no grass would grow.”
It’s a somewhat common sense story.
The cities and towns of this world spread out radially around the capital, Akline.
The farther away from the ‘wall’ of the capital, the more barren the land becomes.
Since there is not enough land for farming, food is the most precious thing, and the poor live on a hungry stomach.
“Sir. If we really wait with faith, will salvation come to this earth?”
On the chair in front of the podium, about 20 prisoners, including myself, were seated in a reverent manner.
The total number of prisoners in one building is about 500, so the attendance rate is not that high.
‘Most of them are from high-numbered districts.’
The area just outside the ‘wall’ is number 1, and the number increases as the distance from the capital increases.
Along with that, it is natural that the level of security will drop sharply and the crime rate will rise.
There are also a lot of livelihood crimes among dogs.
“of course. Goddess is just waiting for the right time.”
Estelle hesitated for a moment before answering.
It was a conversational tone that was somehow sullen.
After the sermon, the prisoners got up one by one and left the church.
Estelle looked at me remaining until the end and said with a smile.
“long time no see. I thought he died because he was absent from the infirmary for a while.”
“I have no intention of dying in a place like this.”
“just joke. Don’t look so scary.”
Then he led me to a small room on one side of the church.
“So come. I have something to give you.”
A simple desk and bookshelf.
Bibles and ceremonial items stacked one after the other.
It looked like an office room used for religious ceremonies.
She took a Bible out of the box under the desk and handed it to me. It was brand new, still unopened.
“sleep. The warden told me to give it to you. I think the number of devout believers will increase by one. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard about it, but I haven’t had a chance to give it to you.”
I received the Bible and unpacked it.
I flipped through the pages and skimmed through the contents.
I could feel her staring at me.
Like a cat discovering a new toy, it was interesting.
“Are you really trying to study the faith? I don’t see him as the type to believe in or rely on God.”
It was as she said.
Since the day I played my first chess, the warden visited me every day.
“No matter what I do, I can’t win. Have you ever been tutored by someone else?”
“no. It is not.”
The warden was proud of himself, but he was not stubborn.
In the fifth round, he admitted that he was inferior.
And instead, he asked me to teach.
There is a competition in the capital in a few months, so please point out the shortcomings.
Thanks to that, I was able to get rid of my afternoon labor every day.
Naturally, the envy and envy of the other prisoners followed.
It’s the warden’s order, so even Igor can’t help it.
At the very least, it just increases the strength of the fist it flies at me.
‘If you read the Bible, the range of topics you can discuss with the director will expand. If you build friendships, the radius of my activities will also increase.’
Although I made the setting of the denomination, I did not designate all the detailed doctrines.
The detailed elements that I did not set were all filled in to fit the large skeleton I had woven.
Therefore, there was a content that could only be understood by looking at the Bible.
“… … I don’t think I believe in God. How do I look?”
“Do you feel pessimistic and cynical about the world? Well, don’t worry. It’s just how I feel.”
“Are there any other prisoners in this prison? It must be difficult to find someone who truly believes in God. Isn’t that the case too?”
Her eyes fluttered wildly at my meaningful words. I tried to pretend to be calm, but I could see my body trembling slightly in my eyes.
“what… … On the basis?”
“It’s just my feeling. never mind.”
“… … .”
She made a face that something had been mistreated.
Of course, I didn’t say that without any basis.
She is from the 110th Division.
Like Cain, like most of the people who become friends of the main character in the second half.
A slum where it’s not strange whether someone gets hit by a blind sword, gets kidnapped, or shivers from cold or hunger, or when someone dies.
She was spotted by a priest who had come out of the food ration and was taken to the church. The young woman who believed in God thought it was salvation.
And I was taught and lived a life of faith.
Be patient, wait, and believe, and salvation will come.
Goddess’ blessing will come down, the land will become fertile, and ‘survival’ will no longer be an urgent matter.
But her faith is wavering.
The continent where he grew up and wandered around for work had not changed anything from when he was young.
‘Anyway, now more than that… … .’
I looked around the office once.
If she kept relics, the place was most likely here.
‘The little boxes on the desk are suspicious.’
Just in time, she opened one of them.
“… … !”
“take it. It’s a necklace given to you when you first attend a sermon.”
“… … .”
A necklace in the shape of an octagonal star with a little silver mixed with copper.
Inside the box were piles of necklaces with the same design as the one she brought out.
“why? Don’t you like it?”
I don’t like it.
Do you just make people excited?
“… … Accept it.”
First of all, I plan to wear it when I need it.
When I go to church, when I visit the warden.
“Come back next week. Because I gave you a present.”
“I’ll think about it.”
* * *
On my way out of the church, I cut my finger on a piece of paper while flipping through the Bible.
“… … .”
I raised my head and looked around.
The entrance to the cathedral behind the back and the watchtower in front.
The guards are stationed, but they’re not looking at me.
The other hand wrapped around the cut finger and squeezed it.
A soft light came out, and when he released his hand, the wound on his finger had healed like a stinger.
‘It’s not even funny that you can use divine magic only if you believe in God.’
It is generally known as such.
The octagonal star pattern on the back of Estelle’s hand.
After a long religious life, he said that he could use divine magic only if he received such a ‘mark’ from the denomination.
‘Priests without a circuit also use holy magic.’
In normal magic, the mana of the circuit is its resource.
Divine magic is known to be a resource for piety.
The deeper your belief in God, the stronger magic you can use. Indeed it is.
‘But not really.’
I looked at the goddess statue in the distance in the open space.
In the eyes of Cain, who has extreme mana sensitivity, everything is visible.
A huge chunk of mana clustered inside the statue.
Also, the thin threads of mana that continue to extend from the statue to somewhere.
‘That thread will reach the priest with the mark. in response to the will. Also, I will go to the capital through other statues erected in each village or important point.’
After all, divine magic is also a type of general magic.
The denomination’s leadership did not announce the principles of magic, but only built a high-level system so that only priests that fit their taste could use it.
Few people across the world are aware of this fact. I don’t know of a position like Estelle.
‘The statue is a kind of transmission tower.’
Then one question remains.
Where does all the mana in the statue come from?
I looked at the dry land around me.
‘… … It’s a world I’ve created, but it’s utterly contradictory.’
I shook my head slightly and walked towards the prison building.
And I thought.
The guys who will try their best to steal your paycheck tonight.
Snowflakes were falling silently behind my back.