Chapter 50

The first thing that came to Leonhard’s mind was the thought that Celine must have been wounded enough but not enough to die.

‘…It must be painful.’

He hastily brought up the mysterious drug that she had discovered.

“Take the medicine right now…”

“I’m not hurt.”

“What?”

He couldn’t quite believe it. Still, Leonhard noticed instantly that Celine was telling the truth.

It was because the blue-grey eyes were staring straight at him without any sign of pain. Leonhard did not feel the pain he had seen countless times, nor the pain he should have felt like his bones had been crushed.

“…What happened?”

Celine pulled something out of her arms.

Leonhard blinked.

The unbroken crystal sphere that could not be broken by Rashir was split into several parts.

“I think it absorbed the shock.”

“What…?”

He had never heard or seen the crystal balls used by the prophets absorb powerful magic. The reason was unknown, though Celine must have misunderstood.

Leonhard explained carefully.

“The crystal ball cannot absorb magic power. Of course, it must have just broken from the shock. But, that has nothing to do with you being unharmed…”

“This is no ordinary crystal ball. Have you ever seen a crystal orb that cannot be broken by Rashir?”

He lost his words.

A crystal ball that could not be broken with Rashir made no sense as well. However, Celine said that it only seems to be broken by monsters, and the monster’s claws actually suffered damage, so she didn’t pay much attention to it so far.

“In your dream, how did it come out?”

“It was certain that it was only broken for reasons related to me.”

Celine continued as she gazed at Leonhard, who was bewildered and puzzled.

“I didn’t know exactly what it was. I only guessed because it wanted to be awakened by monsters… However, now I know.”

A little while ago, the child’s magical power, which clearly harbored murderous intent, struck her. Celine prepared for the pain of death, clenching her teeth although she felt nothing.

—Crack!

Instead, the sound of something cracking in her ears rang clearly. She sensed the identity of the sound.

…The sound of the crystal ball breaking.

It was the same as when the crystal ball was cracked in Agathirsus. At the same time, she finally realized when this orb, which did not break with Rashir, would break.

‘It’s not just broken by monsters. This… it was instead of life.’

The crystal ball was broken, saving her from the situation where Celine must die. Nevertheless, she wasn’t happy. The crystal ball saved her life once and broke, in other words, to break the crystal ball, she had to risk death.

Her eyes widened a little.

There would be several such quests in the future, and each time Celine would throw her life without hesitation without waiting for a coincidence.

She had to clear this game as quickly as possible.

‘…Yeah, I can’t hold back.’

The time left for her was five years.

It was a long time, but Celine thought that she would never know when something might happen. Leonhard promised that he would be by her side for the rest of her life, but she didn’t always know about people.

…Especially, if it was an unpredictable game world.

When Leonhard could support her, she must clear the game as much as possible.

“What did you mean?”

Celine blinked her eyes. Seeing Leonhard urged an answer, she seemed to have been too engrossed in thoughts.

“It prevents my death, so it seems to break instead.”

She was honest. It was not a problem that could be solved by hiding it.

“….!”

His eyes shook with shock, but he soon regained his composure.

“I’ll have to look through all the chests.”

Celine slowly stood up. Strangely, it felt like all her fatigue was gone.

“Anton is…”

“It was a little bit of a headache.”

‘As expected.’

Leonhard found the fight a little insignificant. Still, she knew how well it was now a bit troublesome for him.

“Can you save him?”

He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth, but Celine already knew the answer.

“Please, save him if possible. Don’t worry about me.”

“…I can’t do that.”

“What can’t you do?”

Saying so, she smiled slightly.

“I am not talking about saving Anton by sacrificing me. It just means you don’t have to worry too much about me when it comes to saving Anton.”

After a moment of silence, he was able to answer.

“I’ll do my best.”

He pointed in the direction the child was going to be with Rashir. It didn’t seem like it would take too long since the matter of locking an unbridled child’s magical power would be done at the final stage.

‘….!’

Leonhard’s face hardened.

Anton Elmer’s magical power, which was originally close to the achromatic color, was now fully alive. And, the target of his murderous intent was him.

“Anton, take away the magic.”

Leonhard gave orders calmly without panicking at all, though the child’s magical power began to run wild again.

‘It turned out getting locked up backfired.’

Baron Elmer kept his son alive and locked him up to protect the other members, hiding him. Meanwhile, the child became the ruler of this basement—the point where he fooled Celine and Leonhard for a moment.

He didn’t move a single step, still aiming Rashir at the bottom of the stairs towards the child.

The murderous magical energy rushed toward him and then repeatedly fell like an ebb. Finally, he was able to catch up with the flow that had been interrupted in the finishing stage a while ago.

After that, it was a breeze.

The child’s magical power, which was trying to imprison him along with the darkness, faded in an instant. The sharp blade also disappeared without a trace, as if it even existed.

Leonhard ran up the stairs.

He didn’t say a word to Celine, but he could feel her running after him.

A little child was limping right in front of the door leading out of the basement. He carefully checked the child’s pulse. At the same time, Celine barely opened her mouth though only a few words came out in mumbles.

Fortunately, he knew immediately what she was trying to say.

“He didn’t die. This is the result of using too much magic power. He’ll be in a coma for a few days, but he’ll be fine.”

Celine sighed and opened the door.

The sun was pouring in a bit.

“Lord!”

Baron Elmer ran away restlessly. Bloodshot eyes drooped and reached the young son in Leonhard’s arms.

“Lo, Lord…”

“He’s okay.”

“What?”

“His power will no longer run wild. He will only sleep for a few days, but he is safe.”

Baron Elmer did not answer. No, he seemed unable to answer. He carefully took his son from Leonhard and then stroked the boy’s face.

“Really… really.”

He murmured as if he only knew one word.

“Yes.”

Leonhard paused for a moment and began to explain in a businesslike tone, “In the worst case, he might be in a coma for a week or so. However, don’t worry, his body is healing itself.”

“Anton…”

“And, when he wakes up, be sure to attach a trusted wizard as his teacher.”

Baron Elmer’s face turned white.

“Is it really necessary? He got to this point because he used magic…”

“You can think of him as a child who got lost and was looking for his house alone, and grabbed someone’s extended hand.”

“….”

“He must never again be left lost alone.”

From Baron Elmer’s mouth came a word full of painful realization.

“…I must have ruined Anton with my own hands.”

Leonhard did not answer.

* * *

Celine got up with a lighter body.

She had no memory of it that she doubted she had come into her bedroom with her feet but a soft blanket wrapped around her body.

‘…The quest!’

In her mind, a phrase on parchment that had not been checked yesterday came to mind. She quickly put her hand in the pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment from among the cracked crystal balls.

[ Wake the dragon from its slumber ]

‘What does it mean…?’

Celine gazed at the parchment for a while.

Now, it is not as cumbersome as it used to be. It must be a quest that would lead them to the next stage.

‘The next stage is… It was a lava field.’

But, she wasn’t sure.

Perhaps, like the first stage, the Cursed Mansion, and the third stage, the torture chamber, they skip one or two stages in the middle this time as well. Celine recalled the remaining stages one by one, trying to figure out if it had anything to do with the sleeping dragon.

‘…I don’t know!’

Among the various monsters that appeared in the game, there was not one that resembled a dragon, let alone a sleeping dragon.

‘No way…!’

An absurd guess ran through her mind.

Celine slowly rolled up her sleeves as if possessed by something. Without moving, a small dragon, Lou, wrapped around her wrists appeared.

‘Nonsense.’

She stared blankly at Lou.

This wouldn’t be. In the first place, it was only by coincidence that she found Lou.

‘If I hadn’t found Lou in the first place, this quest wouldn’t have been accomplished.’

Celine sighed and lowered her sleeves.

‘I’ll have to ask Leonhard first.’

Changing into a clean dress and lying right next to the bed, she then tried to open the door but banged her forehead against the door that opened back towards her.

“Are, are you okay?”

Celine raised her head.

The man she could trust more than anyone in this world was watching her with a worried look.

“Leonhard!”

“…Be careful. I thought you hadn’t died, but if you died just because you bumped into the door, I’d collapse.”

“I won’t die like this.”

“That’s a relief. I was a little worried because you slept like the dead.”

Celine almost laughed at Leonhard’s joke, but she came to her senses and asked, “How long have I been sleeping?”

“Two days.”

At that, her eyes widened.

“Two days?”

Leonhard sighed.

“It’s not unreasonable to think about what happened. You woke up in the middle and drank water, do you remember?”

“No.”

“I see.”

He did not dare to mention that he had been caring for her by her side for the past two days.

Suddenly, Celine pulled something out of her pocket. Leonhard furrowed his face in the sense of déjà vu. It was a piece of parchment that closely resembled the one seen in Agathirsus.

“…No way.”

“That rumor is correct. I think I have to obey this word, but I have no idea what it means.”

Hearing her words, he took the parchment from her, and immediately, his face hardened the next moment.

“Leonhard doesn’t even know either?”

Celine’s voice trembled slightly with anxiety.

“No.”

Leonhard shook his head.

“I know what it meant. However… This is a place I cannot go.”