Comment by Introvert on Introvert

As she gets closer, she smells blood and hears a painful scream, which frightens her. In the garden, Deborah encounters a man covered in blood. He speaks coldly and recognizes her. She then realizes he is Rozard, who has returned from war. Instead of being like a quiet scholar, he now seemed cold and dangerous, like a soldier. Deborah felt nervous around him because Purple, the white turtle spirit, reacted strongly to him. She realized Rozard was connected to dark magic, even though the original story had never suggested that before. Rozard had captured a barbarian enemy. 

Suddenly, the prisoner tried to bite Rozard’s injured ankle. Purple quickly attacked with a ball of light and stopped him. The man looked horrible, with black teeth and tongue, and he did not react like a normal human even while bleeding badly. Rozard explained that the man had become almost a monster because he used forbidden dark magic that increased his vitality. Rozard then revealed that the kidnappings happening in the eastern lands were connected to dark magic rituals. The eastern barbarians were kidnapping people and sacrificing them for forbidden magic. That was the real reason Rozard had gone to war in the east. Deborah finally understood the situation more clearly. Rozard noticed Purple and asked if it was a divine animal. He admitted that Purple had saved him from losing the use of his leg because the barbarian’s bite was poisonous. Deborah realized this changed the original story, because in the novel Rozard was supposed to meet Mia after being injured and recover thanks to her healing powers. Now he no longer had a reason to seek Mia out. Even though Rozard spoke kindly to Deborah, she did not trust him.