After identifying this peculiar species of thorn, Kroya instead gave Rob a puzzled look and asked:
"Rob, how did you know that?"
The steward answered without any hesitation, as though he had prepared his response long ago. "I once had a brief acquaintance with a member of the Sethen Royal Family.
"I learned from him that the Thorns of Justice were magic plants his ancestors cultivated through their faith in order.
"The ancestors of Sethen's royal family were, in fact, the religious order."
He spoke openly about his past.
That was a story from before he had been sold into slavery, and something the original Kroya had known perfectly well.
A viscount.
Rob's full name was Keane Rob Naster.
He was a noble captured during the recent war between the Sethen Kingdom and the Nolant Kingdom.
After that war, the Nolant Kingdom's army had chosen to hand all the captured nobles over to the Mage Association.
The Mage Association possessed many special methods that could ensure, as far as possible, that these nobles had no chance of escaping.
As for whether the Mage Association would use these former nobles in experiments that made the Church uncomfortable... that was the Mage Association's business.
It had nothing to do with the Nolant Kingdom. They probably wished every last one of these nobles would die.
After recalling these already somewhat hazy memories, Kroya continued, "Then what do these so-called Thorns of Justice do?"
Rob answered, "Every variety of Thorns of Justice can be given suggestions during its seedling stage, causing it to resonate with the power of order and form a pact.
"As long as the pact is honored, they will merge into a person's body. Not only can they heal almost any lingering internal injury, they also counter evil things.
"But if