Part 34 (1/2)

Alice rapidly responded to my groan. Taking glances at the knight's face, I faintly nodded.

”Yeah... Two days ago, right after I fought against Raios and Humbert at the Sword Mastery Academy, something like a window appeared in a corner of the room. The white face that 258.

Chapter 11 The Secret of The Chamber of Elders.

looked at Eugeo and I from in there... was definitely those guys...”

Alice p.r.i.c.ked her ears towards the boxed humans' voices once again at my words, then spoke with a scowl.

”The art they're chanting... I have no memory of it whatsoever, but they seem to be dividing the Human World into small divisions and displaying some sort of value. I don't know what that value represents, though.”

”A value...”

The moment I parroted those words, a voice flashed back in my mind.

-And within those hidden parameters, there exists one called ”Transgression Quotient”.

-Administrator quickly noticed this transgression quotient parameter could be used to reveal the humans skeptical of the Taboo Index she established....

The young sage in the Great Library Room, Cardinal, was the one who told me that. There was no more room for doubts. The sacred words, ” Rebelling Index”, voiced out by those boxed humans must be the transgression quotient7 Cardinal spoke of, which in other words, meant that the tens of boxed humans in 7 ”Rebelling Index” Written in katakana, compared to ”transgression quotient” which is translated from kanji.

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this s.p.a.ce were currently checking through the transgression quotients of every single person living in the Human World.

If they were to detect an abnormal value, the boxed humans would peek into that location, identify the one who committed the taboo, and report it. The person who received the report would then instruct the integrity knights to arrest the criminal.

This was how Eugeo and I, and Alice as well, were taken away to the cathedral...

I was standing stil in mute surprise when a buzzer-like beeping suddenly rang out. Alice and I both instinctively steeled our grips on our swords, but apparently, we hadn't been discovered. After al , the boxed human who stopped chanting those commands en ma.s.se, were looking straight up, rather than down.

I hadn't noticed until now, but something resembling a faucet stuck up straight above their heads. The boxed humans all opened their heads and a gooey, brown fluid suddenly flowed out from the faucets. They caught that with their mouths and drank it down mechanically. Some of the fluid spilled from their mouths, staining their necks and chests. That was likely where the stench of rot came from.

The buzzer rang again before long and the supply of liquid food ceased. The boxed humans rotated their head back forward and resumed chanting the commands. System call...

system call...

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-This couldn't be considered any way to treat humans any longer.

No, I couldn't permit such terrible treatment, even towards cows and sheep.

I grinded my teeth, holding back the indignation welling from deep inside, just as Alice uttered out in a deep, tense voice.

”And these... are supposed to be the elders, of the Axiom Church, governing the Human World?”

I s.h.i.+fted my vision and saw the integrity knight glaring into the s.p.a.ce, her single, blue eye ablaze with light. It didn't come to mind until she mentioned it, but that certainly would be the conclusion. These tens of boxed humans were the elders, the higher civil servants of the Axiom Church.

”And the one who brought forth such a sight, too... was the highest minister, wasn't it?”

”Yeah... that's likely.”

I nodded slightly at Alice's words.

”They must have been humans excelling at the sacred arts, though with poor combat potential, kidnapped from all over the Human World who had their emotions and thoughts sealed away and reformed into these observation instruments cal ed elders...”

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Yes, they were nothing more than mere instruments here.

Instruments to overlook the maintenance of the flawless peace... or perhaps, stasis, of the entire Human World under the reign of the Axiom Church. The wretchedness of these elders'

fates eclipsed even the that of the integrity knights who lost the memories of those precious to them. Administrator's rule had continued on for several hundreds of years on the backs of these victims.

Alice's face slowly slipped down and her lightly fallen golden hair hid her expression.

”...I can't forgive her.”