Volume 4 - CH 5.6

Kazuya stood in the middle of the workshop, staring at Brian.

His whole body ached, his breath was ragged, and his mind was filled with agitation, anger, and suspicion.

Brian Roscoe mumbled something and snapped his fingers. And then immediately he vanished.

It was just like the scene in the horror movie The Illusion of the Black Tower. He thought he saw a wisp of smoke, but he couldn’t be sure, and he smelled something sweet. After a moment of vertigo, he strained his eyes, and no one was there.

Kazuya rushed to the spot where Brian Roscoe had just been standing.

He was gone.

He looked around the workshop, then opened the door, and stepped out into the corridor.

He looked to the right, then to the left.

The corridor was empty.

He ran and peered down the stairs, which would’ve creaked if there was someone there. But he saw no one. Kazuya ran around in the clock tower, then went outside and surveyed the surroundings.

Brian Roscoe was gone.

How?

Kazuya stood frozen.

The summer sun was glaring on him. It was hot outside, the sunlight intense—a typical summer day. It was as if the gray workshop inside the clock tower was a whole different world.

Kazuya suddenly remembered the poster that Brian Roscoe gave him. He opened it.

It read: Brian Roscoe, the Magician of the Century, and the Mysterious Mechanical Turk!

It was an advertisement for his show called Phantasmagoria. It featured Teleportation, Amputation, and Dancing Skeletons.

The date and place said… A theater in a town in England. There were three shows: one at 1:00 p.m., another at 4:00 p.m., and one last at 7:00 p.m. The dates were three days from yesterday to tomorrow.

“Weird,” Kazuya said. “Shouldn’t he be in England right now? But he was here until moments ago, and he was in the village yesterday.”

He gasped, remembering something.

The street urchin who was with him when he saw Brian Roscoe for the first time in Saubreme said:

“There’s something off with that guy. There were a few times when it didn’t seem like a trick, like he was really in two places at the same time. He would appear on one side of the road and the other at about the same time. He pretends to be a magician, but I think he’s the real deal. I’m curious about the Mechanical Turk, but that guy gives me the creeps.”

Kazuya gaped at the poster.

“Two places at the same time?” he mused. “I find that hard to believe. Hmm, he did vanish into thin air… But if he can do that, he could’ve committed the murder. If he could be at the inn and the clock tower at the same time, that is… No way.” He shook his head, and heaved a sigh.

Anxiety gripped his heart. He was worried for his friend Victorique. He felt restless, like he had a number of times before.

Who exactly was Victorique de Blois?

What’s going to happen to her? What kind of fate awaited her?

Maybe I’m not strong enough to protect her. No, that’s quitter talk. But what do I do?

Kazuya stood still, anger flaring within him. A gust ruffled his jet-black hair. Dead branches groaned ominously in the wind.

As Kazuya stood there, stunned, footsteps came running from behind him.

“Kujou!”

It was Avril’s voice. She sounded as lively as ever.

“Ms. Cecile told me you were looking for Victorique. I saw her talking to a huge carpenter behind the school building. Hello? Earth to Kujou?”

Avril’s cheerful voice brought him back to reality.

“Oh, sorry,” Kazuya said, turning around. “I’m listening. What was it again?”

“I said Victorique is over—Kyaaa!”

Avril screamed when he saw Kazuya’s face.

Startled, Kazuya yelped in response. “Wh-What was that scream about?”

She pointed at his face. “What happened to your face?!”

“What…?”

Curious what she was talking about, Kazuya rushed to a nearby fountain and checked his reflection in the water.

“What the…”

The top of his left eye was swollen, where Brian Roscoe punched him earlier.

“W-We have to cool it down!” Avril said.

“Good idea. A cold towel should do the trick.”

Splash!

Avril grabbed Kazuya’s head with both hands and shoved it into the water. Kazuya thrashed about.

“We have to cool it down with water! We have to cool you down!”

“Av… ril…!”

Kazuya, flailing helplessly in the cold water of the fountain, was thinking of one thing only: the monstre charmant that Brian had told him about.

Behind the school building of St. Marguerite Academy, at the three-step stairs where Kazuya and Avril usually hung out to chat, a small girl was sitting down, her luxurious dress billowing around her. She had a golden book, the alchemist’s memoir, tucked under her buttocks, and was mumbling to herself with clenched fists.

Colorful butterflies flitted around her, and even a few squirrels from a nearby thicket were scurrying around her tiny head and shoulders. Two little squirrels began wrestling over a single nut on her head. Victorique, ignoring everything around her, was lost in thought.

Then, a large man appeared through a small pathway between the flowerbeds. When he saw that Victorique was all alone, he strode toward her.

“There you are, little lady,” the carpenter said as he sat down next to her.

The stone stairs shook. Victorique, her green eyes widening in surprise, glanced at her side. The carpenter smiled at her.

The difference in their body sizes was so huge that side by side they looked like a giant and a fairy. The carpenter took a rolled-up piece of paper out of his pocket, spat on his palms, and unfolded the parchment.

It bore a detailed diagram—a survey of the clock tower.

“Your effort is appreciated.” Victorique nodded grandly like a queen, and took the blueprint.

The carpenter was stunned for a moment. Then he burst into laughter.

“Now this is hilarious! ‘Your effort is appreciated.’ You’re one amusing pipsqueak.”

He grabbed Victorique’s head with his large hand, which he had spat on, and rubbed it adoringly. Victorique jumped like a stray cat being touched by a human for the first time and scrambled away to the top of the stone steps.

“D-D-Don’t touch me!”

“I can’t explain the blueprint to you unless you come down here.”

Victorique reluctantly went back down the steps. “You didn’t touch any of the stuff in the clockwork room, did you?” she asked in an annoyed, but slightly concerned tone.

“Nope.” The carpenter shook his head. “Why do you keep warning me about it, though?”

“Because a monster still lurks in that workshop.”

“Hmm?”

The carpenter looked puzzled, and shrugged. He then proceeded to describe the clock tower in a booming voice that reverberated throughout the area.

His voice lured Ms. Cecile. When she spotted Victorique, she came over.

“Listen closely, little girl. These are the results of the measurements. The blue lines are what I think should be the original plan. The black lines show the actual construction. I’ve always had a feeling that something was off, but this was a surprise for sure.”

Ms. Cecile peered at the blueprint. “Oh, is that the clock tower? Hmm… What’s that little square box in the middle?”

“It’s most likely a secret chamber for the Protestants,” Victorique murmured.

The teacher inclined her head, but before she could ask another question, Kazuya and Avril appeared from between the flowerbeds.

Ms. Cecile turned to greet them, then froze when she saw Kazuya.

He was soaked from the head down, and his left eye was black and swollen, as if someone had hit him. Victorique cast him a glance and stifled a laugh.

“What happened to you?” Ms. Cecile asked with concern.

Kazuya glanced at Victorique hesitantly. He tried to say something, but decided against it.

“It was Avril,” he said, pointing at his friend.

Ms. Cecile’s wide-eyed gaze darted back and forth between the two. “What?”

“Y-You’re making it sound like I wanted to hurt you. I was trying to cool you down,” Avril protested.

“I almost drowned!”

Victorique stood up and started walking, her frills swaying around her. Kazuya, Avril, and Ms. Cecile quickly followed her.

“Where are you going?” Kazuya asked.

Victorique turned around, confused. “The clock tower, where else?”

“To do what?”

“To solve the mystery.”