He frowns. "I'll admit I am far from an expert on such things— Himeka's more like than me to know great details— but in my world, there are such things as man-made gods. Primals, they're called. Beings that can temper people to their will, make even the most stalwart of men and women into thralls."

A frightening prospect, to be sure. "Until recently, I wouldn't have thought such thing possible, but it's even possible to temper people into slavish devotees for a nation. That it took hold so quickly... the ritual must have something similar. That woman didn't look like a Primal, but I know naught what else she could have been."