Chapter 123
n the Marren tribe’s village, the biggest loss from Abel’s disappearance was that they could no longer cultivate his special Incense-smoke Leaf .
Fearing confusion, the chief planned to mix Abel’s incense-smoke leaf and his original Smoke Leaf, slowly changing the ratio .
…… It was planned, but it was already falling apart .
“I’d like you to bring out the Chief! I’d like to ask you about the truth of the rumor that Abel’s incense-smoke leaf can’t be made anymore!”
“I hear you’re going to mix it up and water it down, but I’m not going to be fooled! I’m a man who knows the difference! I’ll smoke it and go wild on the spot!”
The patriarchs of the various families who liked the incense-smoke leaf had heard the rumors and had stormed into the Chief’s residence .
There were only five of them now, but if nothing was done, the number would increase in the future .
“I, I’m very sorry . Uh, um…… Grandfather is, busy right now……”
Firo, the chief’s granddaughter, was frantically answering at the gate, but there were already tears in her eyes .
It was only a matter of time before they were broken through .
“I would like to ask you why he’s so busy! What could be more important than the matter at hand!”
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to figure out how to fool me!”
“N, no…… Um …”
Firo wandered off into the air as he answered sluggishly .
“Abel……”
Firo grumbled, calling Abel’s name in a whispered, resentful voice .
“I’ve been told the story, everyone, please calm down . In fact, the new incense-smoke leaf made by the Karlco family is a modified version of Abel’s product……”
The man from Okappa who was selling his home-made incense-smoke leaf to the ruffians with great enthusiasm was Norman, the patriarch of the Karlco family .
“Who would buy your place’s only expensive humus!”
“H-, Humus, you say?”
Norman was stunned by the not-so-subtle assessment that was thrown at him .
“Right, right! I couldn’t get any of Abel’s products, so I smoked a few extra ones at home and they were terrible! I used to buy that one because that’s all I knew, but now I can’t smoke that stuff anymore!”
Norman raised his voice, gritting his teeth in frustration .
“Somebody! Hey, anybody, don’t you want! We’ll make it cheaper, we’ll make it cheaper!”
“You’re so persistent! Go away!”
One man grabs at Norman .
One of Norman’s incense-smoke leaf falls to the ground .
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Another man crushes it .
“Ah! Hey, man, you’re gonna pay for that thing you just stepped on! That’s five Benol coppers!”
Norman, who had been negative about the magic ore currency, had recently become completely comfortable with it .
Although he was forced to do so largely because the value of his home-made incense-smoke leaf that he had been using as a substitute for currency until now had plummeted dramatically .
There was a pair of people observing the commotion from a bit of a distance .
They were Abel’s sister Gizel and Abel’s friend Shibi .
Shibi was frowning anxiously, but Gizel was watching them with an adorable smile on her face .
“Gi-, Gizel-chan, this is not good……”
“Great, great! Everything turned out exactly as I thought it would! At this rate, it shouldn’t be long before we see our brother!”
Gizel said that innocently and with a heartfelt sense of joy .
It was Gizel who had leaked the story about the incense-smoke leaf of Abel .
She had eavesdropped on the meeting held by the chieftain using the Ortem technology left behind by her brother .
Gizel had leaked the contents of the meeting in order to form a search party for Abel from within the village .
It was hard to imagine that they would go out of their way for a behavior of a single child’s run away from home with the full force of the village to search for him, but she thought that if she used the habitual incense-smoke leaf as a dupe, she would be able to move the adults .
In fact, things were going pleasantly enough, the way Gizel wanted them to .
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Gizel, who was excited, was certainly enjoying herself, but her eyes were somewhat insane .
Shibi prayed in his heart to the spirits of his ancestors, ‘May Abel-san come back soon, preferably single’, he said .
Abel had been a love interest, and he had certainly been enthusiastic about his chances when Abel had run off into the night, but after the way Gizel had been acting lately, he was beginning to think that this was not the case .
“Really, it’s all like you said, Shim-san! I’m really glad you’re here, Shim-san! If it had been just me…… I’m really, really, would have been screwed……!”
Gizel says as she hugs the grimoire . Thinking of her brother, who is now in a distant land, she lovingly rubbed her cheek against the grimoire .
“Gi-, Gizel-chan, I think you should throw that book away after all . ”
“…… What are you talking about, Shibi-san? Shim-san has been doing a lot of good for me, you know?”
Shim is the medium-sized genie that haunts the book .
She floats sentences in spirit language in the books and often gives Gizel advice .
She stumbled upon it when she was going through the Chief’s archives to track Abel’s footsteps after he was gone .
Shim had spelled out in spirit language in the book, explaining to Gizel that she had a hazy feeling of what she had been thinking before she became a spirit .
Shim also told me that like Gizel, his brother had broken up with her when he left the village before the wedding, and that she was willing to help Gizel because of this .
The spirit language that Shim spelled was full of difficult phrases .
In order to understand Shim’s words, Gizel studied spirit language to death .
Her enthusiasm for it was so great that it rivaled Abel’s in his prime, albeit for a short period of time .
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Her father, Zelrut, nodded with a know-it-all’s face, ”After all, blood can’t be fought over,” but of course there was no time when Zelrut was so fanatically enthusiastic about magical training .
“To begin with, a mid-grade spirit is, in essence, a demon……”
“…… Shim-san took pity on me because my brother ran away, and now lending me her wisdom, you know?”
Gizel’s expression was still the same as before, with a smile on her face .
However, her tone had become slightly faster, and Shibi had noticed that her hand holding the grimoire had become caged in strength .
“Ahhhh…… yeah, no, however……”
When we speak of spirits, we are basically referring to the lower spirits .
Demons, spirit beasts, medium spirits, and great spirits are all terms that refer to the spirits collectively having a will of their own .
The definitions are there, but they are vague, and they can vary in any number of ways depending on the region, time period, and subjectivity .
In the first place, it was already stinky to hear that spirits had memories of their lives .
It is true that spirits are said to be fragments of thoughts inhabited by various creatures, objects, and places .
But Shibi had never heard of a precedent for a spirit that had left a living thought as firmly as Shim .
“Wait for me, brother! Gizel will surely bring brother back!”
Gizel said and hugged the grimoire even tighter .
Shibi looked at the grimoire that painfully glowed and shuddered .
The next time he held his brother in these arms, it was because he felt like she had a strong will to not let go again .