Chapter 8: Mental Curses

“Mr. Newman, you said your sister was taken away by some Inquisition and might be burned to death. Why? Why such cruelty? Are you joking?” Shatima was the first to lose patience. Unfamiliar with the ways of the world, she had no idea what was going on. Even Eve and Grace had been fooled by Newman’s masterful performance—how could she resist?
“Miss Shatima, do you think I would joke about such a thing?” With a face filled with sorrow, Newman had no choice but to continue pretending. This seemingly innocent girl was actually a true human dragon. He cursed himself silently for being slow to react. Even Lebray and Mihajic were pretending to be fools—why must he stir up trouble unnecessarily? If this human dragon became enraged, he would truly be in trouble.
“Why? What does that Inquisition do? Why do they have the power to burn people to death? Why?!” Dragon girl Shatima found humans utterly unreasonable. How could they resort to such methods against their own kind? What drove them to such madness?
“It’s complicated, Miss Shatima. You may not understand. It’s simply because they believe my sister doesn’t believe in their god. They think their god should be worshipped by everyone. Those who don’t are heretics. That’s all.” Newman looked heartbroken, making everyone around him feel sad—except for Komer and the others, who were amazed by his acting skills.
“Absurd! There are such absurd things in the world! Does not believing in their god mean one must be burned to death? How can such cruel and barbaric things happen, and do you just sit by and do nothing?” The dragon girl finally couldn’t hold back and stood up. Only when she saw Komer’s cold gaze did she suppress her anger and say resentfully, “I can’t understand what you’re thinking. Why don’t you seek revenge and kill all those madmen from the Inquisition?”

“Miss Shatima, don’t you know how powerful the Inquisition is?” Javier, who still had a favorable impression of the dragon girl Shatima, couldn’t help but interject, “They possess immense power—countless magicians and many magic knights. If an ordinary person goes there, they’ll be labeled heretics and end up as charcoal on a pyre. No one on the continent dares to confront them head-on, as it would put their own lives at risk.”
“Miss Shatima, you’ve been traveling in the south for a long time, so you’re not very familiar with many things in the north. I’ll introduce them to you gradually later. These are my friends: Mr. Rebrí, Mr. Mihajović, Mr. Newman, Mr. Sorenberg, Mr. Vladkov. Well, these are my companions: Miss Lome, Miss Eve, Miss Grace, Mr. Javier, Mr. Bayezid, Mr. Brianos. These two are childhood friends: Pupber, the Caucasus administrator, and Ilot, the instructor of the Caucasus Self-Defense Forces.” Komer introduced them one by one. “Hmm? Where’s Finitz?”
“Finitz went to the training ground with Mr. Fran. She can’t stay still,” Eve explained calmly.
“Hmm, Miss Shatima, now that you’ve met my friends and companions, you can stay at Damoronsk Fortress for now. I’ll arrange for someone to clean a room for you—it’s quite spacious,” Komer said casually. “Lome, take Shatima to see the room first. Let her stay next to you.”
“Lord, don’t you think you’re playing with fire? Is this girl someone you got from Jiangxin Island? Is she the ice dragon that those jellyfish people have been searching for?” With only a few people left in the room, Rebrí asked sternly.
“Mr. Rebrí, please don’t get so agitated. Yes, she is that ice dragon. But since she’s injured, she can only take human form. She has no ill intentions toward us,” Komer said nonchalantly.
“Hah, Lord, you’re too confident. She’s a dragon, not a human. You should know how powerful dragons are. Even though she’s in human form now, it only means her innate power has been weakened. But her dragon magic still exists—just one breath spell from her could destroy us all. It’s a pity she’s a pure Vi force user.” Rebrí was dissatisfied with Komer’s casual attitude and warned him coldly.
“I sealed her dragon magic, but then I unsealed it again,” Komer replied briefly, unwilling to explain further.

“Sealed her dragon magic?!” Rebrí and Mihajović exclaimed in unison, shocked. “Lord, are you saying you can seal her dragon magic?”
“That’s right. It was by sealing her dragon magic that she obeyed me and came back.” Komer remained calm.
“How did you do that?” This was what Rebrí and Mihajović were most curious about.
“I used mental banishment magic.” Komer’s answer was even simpler.
“Mental banishment magic?” They gasped. Both Rebrí and Mihajović could see the sheer astonishment in each other’s eyes. Such a mutated form of magic wasn’t something just any mage could cast. Mental magic and banishment magic, two distinct yet overlapping schools, combined to create a powerful magical mutation. Success yielded a new variant of magic, while failure meant the mage’s own life became a sacrifice for experimenting with the magic.
“Indeed. She has sworn in the name of the Dragon God not to harm us. I think keeping her will be helpful to us, especially since we need a stronger ally for the second phase of our exploration of Damolensk Fortress. She seems like a good choice. Additionally, the evil dragons have been wreaking havoc in the Abyssal Sea, greatly affecting shipping in Matdan. I also hope to discover the weaknesses of dragons through her. She should make a good test subject to facilitate my future work.”
Taking a deep breath, Rebrí and Mihajović were still processing Komer’s mention of mental banishment magic. The impact was too great, and both felt they needed to study Komer’s magical talent more deeply. As for Newman, he had already figured out the whole situation from their conversation. He usually stayed silent on such matters and preferred to observe.