CH 4

“Eat slowly. You’ll have an upset stomach.”

Clyde, finally coming to his senses, wiped the corner of his mouth and avoided my gaze.

‘There’s no point in being nervous now…’

I forced myself to hold back the laugh that threatened to escape

“Did you like the taste?”

“…….”

Clyde remained silent.

Well, judging by the way you ate it, that was a question I didn’t need to ask.

“Now let’s examine the barrier. Don’t interrupt me for a while, I need to concentrate.”

With that, I started to work.

However, no matter how much I examined it, I was at a loss.

Even after spending the whole day studying relevant books, I couldn’t find any clues about breaking the barrier.

My meager knowledge only served to deepen my realization of the difficulty of what I was trying to do.

‘I guess I’ll just have to go to my father’s workshop to find out how to do it….’

Easy said than done. It was a different matter to simply sneak into the lab.

To find the barrier formula, I would have to get my hands on my father’s grimoire, and no matter how careful I was, there was a high chance of getting caught.

There was no way someone as careful as my father would not notice someone rummaging through his desk.

‘Maybe I should just schedule the search for the formula and the escape on the same day…. No, it’s too risky. What if I can’t find it, and even if I do, it’ll take me forever to decipher and understand it.

“Is something wrong?”

Clyde asked, looking at my serious and troubled expression.

Of course, the thought never left my mouth.

Clyde looked at me in silence.

“Well, I’ll call it a day then. It’s impossible to come every day, but I’ll try to come as often as possible.”

“Wait a minute.”

“Why?”

Clyde hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“It wasn’t bad.”

“Huh? What?”

“The food you made was good enough to eat.”

Clyde said, subtly looking away from me.

I blinked my eyes.

“I didn’t make that.”

“…what?”

“I can’t cook. It’s all made by our chef. I just grabbed whatever was in the kitchen.”

“…….”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ll pass it on to the chef. She’ll love it.”

“…….”

Clyde’s face flushed slightly, and he kept his mouth shut.

What’s wrong with him?

I tilted my head and rose from my seat.

***

For the next few days, I was obsessed with finding a way to break the barrier.

But my search was limited to books. Neither did my consultation with Aslan.

“In the end, the breaking of the barrier is like a battle between the creator and the breaker. The side with more knowledge of barrier magic is one step ahead and will be the one to win. No, to be precise, it should be said around two or three steps ahead. The creator always has the advantage.”

“Does that mean that no one can break a barrier created by the most skilled archmage?”

“Not necessarily. Just as there is a key that fits any lock, there is a unique way to break a barrier, though usually only the creator knows it.”

When I thought about it, it made sense. If he wants to experiment on him right now, he’ll have to get him out of the cage.

Then it would have to be an easy way to unlock and reseal it, but I don’t think it would be a key, because that would be easy for someone else to steal, so what could it be? A way that only father can do…

‘If only I could witness Father opening it with my own eyes.’

But father had no idea that I knew about Clyde.

It was too much of a risk for me to sneak into the lab in broad daylight and watch.

I always pretended to be asleep in my room on the days I went to the lab, and it wasn’t until the wee hours of the night that I made my way down to the basement.

Maybe I should ask Clyde? I’m sure he doesn’t know much about magic but….

But it was worth a try. I decided to ask him anyway.

***

But Clyde’s answer was exactly what I expected.

“I don’t know, he just opens it every time.”

“There really wasn’t anything? Like muttering some kind of spell or making some kind of hand gesture?”

“No, nothing like that. He just opened the door like it was open from the beginning. Of course, he was fine when he touched the bars.”

Clyde grimaced slightly as he recalled the time.

On the other hand, it was troubling news for me.

Then it really means that I have no other choice but to go into my father’s workshop and find the release formula…

I sighed without realizing it.

Clyde’s eyebrows wiggled together.

As much as I tried not to show it, I could tell he was reacting to my every word and gesture.

It was only natural, really. From his perspective, I was his only hope.

I told him I’d get him out of here in no time, but there was no way he could have known that I wasn’t making any progress.

Besides, he’s a kid, a middle schooler at best. He might be acting tough, but he’s probably pretty scared.

I glance at Clyde, and out of the corner of my eye, I notice a black scar between his right cheek and chin.

“Come closer for a second.”

“Why?”

“Hurry up.”

Clyde hesitantly stepped closer to the bar.

I stuck my hand inside the bar and touched his cheek. He jerked away and blushed.

“…what are you doing?”

I didn’t move away, but stayed close to the bar and examined his wound.

Clyde frowned as he watched my wrist hover over the bars.

“Wait, be careful, you’ll touch it.”

“Hey, aren’t you hurt?”

“It’s just blood from earlier. It’s fine.”

“Blood? Where did it come from? You mean it was someone else’s blood?”

“…No. That’s not it….”

Clyde took a few steps away from me. He was silent for a moment.

“I heal quickly from most injuries.”

“Ah…”

It was not until I heard it that I remembered.

It was described in the original novel.

Clyde, being a half demon, had a high regenerative ability.

At the beginning of the novel, there was a scene where he hurt himself with a dagger in front of Sylphia, whom he had kidnapped.

When Clyde drew the dagger across his own chest, blood gushed out, and Sylphia screamed in horror.

But the wound healed in an instant, as if nothing had happened.

「You’re looking at me like you’re looking at a monster. Do you feel unpleasant?」

Clyde grabs Sylphia’s hand and lets her touch the still-hot blood.

Then he licks her hand up in front of Sylvia, who has turned pale.

It was a rather eerie scene, a stark display of his madness.

“Do you feel unpleasant?”

“What?”

“It’s unpleasant. Something like this. Like I’m a monster.”

Clyde muttered under his breath.

It was the same line he said in the original story.