Chapter 70: Finding A Place Is Hard! (10)

Chapter 70: Finding A Place Is Hard! (10)

༺ Finding A Place Is Hard! (10) ༻

Swoosh—

I headed towards the balcony where Elle Cladeco was seated.

She was conversing with various wizards; she tilted her head upon seeing me.

“You must be Naru’s father. What brings you here?”

“Cladeco. I need your help.”

“You need my help?”

“Brigitte has been kidnapped by the Walpurgis.”

“Professor Brigitte? Kidnapped?”

Cladeco frowned as unexplainable events suddenly unfolded.

She then sighed and said.

“I already knew the Walpurgis family had some... eccentricities. I was prepared for such risks when I interacted with them. I usually don’t want to interfere in other families’ affairs, but Professor Brigitte is a faculty member of our academy.”

“That’s right.”

“Professor Brigitte is an exceptional educator and researcher. I can’t tolerate them just taking her away like that. Even asking the Walpurgis family to take responsibility—”

“No, you don’t need to do anything. Just open a portal for me.”

“A portal? You mean a dimensional gate? I can create one if the distance is short. But to create a dimensional gate all the way to the Walpurgis family’s home in the West would take me some time...”

“How much time?”

“About 6 hours. A dimensional gate requires sophisticated magic and consumes an enormous amount of magical power. Only the Walpurgis family can easily open and close such a thing in this world. And the number of people who can be sent through it is limited to one person...”

Six hours.

That’s really long.

But it’s better than nothing.

If I could get there in 6 hours instead of running for at least two days, then it’s already a huge win.

As I was feeling relieved, Cladeco asked.

“Judas, even for you, it won’t be easy to face everyone at the Walpurgis family’s laboratory. Will you be alright?”

A wizard usually exhibits more than double their normal power in their own laboratory.

It’s like how otters become stronger in water.

...Or is that too strange an analogy?

Anyway.

The Walpurgis mansion is like the base of Western wizards

The thought of infiltrating such a place alone made, even me, feel a little uncomfortable.

Cladeco added.

“Moreover, Faust is a heavyweight wizard and was known as the ‘White Wizard’ until last year. The number of medals he has received from wars alone could overturn a bookshelf.”

Even though I hadn’t met him, I knew that Brigitte’s father was dangerous.

There’s nothing as cunning and troublesome as old mages.

Even the Demon King was like that.

However, I didn’t voice such thoughts. As I was lost in contemplation, Cladeco spoke as if she had a good suggestion.

“Actually, there is a way to create a dimensional gate quickly. That’s if I use the magic I’ve been collecting for over a year using a magic tool.”

Jingle—

Cladeco removed the necklace she was wearing around her neck.

It was a necklace with a beautiful golden gem.

At a glance, it looked very expensive.

“━─.”

Cladeco uttered an incomprehensible spell to the gem on the necklace.

Shiver—

Suddenly, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end-

It was a sign of ‘ominousness’.

...When had I felt this feeling before?

Was it not when I was fighting the armies of the Demon King?

Lost in such reminiscence, Cladeco spoke.

“Gate. Coordinates. Passage.”

Waaaaaveeeeee—

A ripple of blue light formed in thin air.

At the same time, Cladeco gasped for breath and said.

“The gate was made in haste, so the coordinates might not be precise. And it can’t last long. The barriers of the magicians of the Magic Tower may even detect it....”

The choice was mine to make.

Could it mean that I might fall into a trap if I’m unlucky?

Of course, I didn’t have time to hesitate.

“I’m quite lucky, you know.”

Swoosh—

I stepped into the portal.

It was only my second time entering a portal since the Demon King’s castle- I thought briefly.

My view changed in an instant, now facing a dingy stone wall.

“This place is....”

It seemed like the interior of some castle or fortress, but I couldn’t tell exactly where.

Of course, figuring out my location was something I could take my time with.

I carefully walked towards the cold stone wall and dark corridor in search of Brigitte.

* * *

Clang— Clang— Clang—!

The sound of metal hitting the dull stone floor echoed throughout the dungeon.

Clang— Clang—!

“Ugh! Dammit!”

Brigitte, with handcuffs on her wrists, repeatedly struck them against the prison floor until she winced in pain from the injuries.

Watching her, Brigitte’s sister above her, Gudrid, shook her head.

“Do you believe those Western iron handcuffs will break? It’s your wrist that will break. You haven’t changed; always resorting to solving everything with brute force.”

“Get these off me!”

Brigitte yelled like a wounded beast.

But the expression on Gudrid’s face, looking at her sister through the bars, was unusually cold.

“No. You slapped my face, remember? You’re too violent. Even if you hadn’t slapped me, there was no chance I would have released you.”

“Slap? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the violent ones are you guys who dragged me here! You think I’ll let this go...!?”

Brigitte was fixing her makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.

Then suddenly, Gudrid and Friede burst into the bathroom, and before she knew it, she was handcuffed.

Brigitte knew her family was abnormal, but she didn’t expect the Graham Academy and the Walpurgis family to go as far as kidnapping people at the social event where they interacted.

“Ugh...!”

Brigitte harnessed the mana coursing through her body.

The magical energy within the blood pumping through her heart surged momentarily.

“You, what, what are you trying to do!?”

Gudrid outside the bars wore a very panicked and tense expression.

Although she was her sister, she had heard a lot about Brigitte’s exploits, which had earned her the ‘Black’ color.

“Watch closely with both eyes what I’m trying to do!”

Just as Brigitte was growling.

Various letters carved inside the prison began to emit light and sparkle.

Bzzzzzt—

Seeing this, the bear doll Aru nodded.

“Brigitte, you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you! You’re a complete adult now! You used to be much smaller and skinnier than Aru. Did you eat a lot of delicious food?”

“......”

“Can’t be helped. There’s a passage where people throw away trash. It’s big and wide enough for a cart to pass. We have to go that way. It’ll be a little dirty though...”

Waddle— Waddle—

Brigitte chased after the bear doll who was running with its short legs.

Though she was flustered, the now calm Brigitte examined the bear doll more slowly.

Its worn and frayed appearance.

Perhaps it often crawled through places like ventilation ducts, as there were many torn areas.

“You... How long have you been...?”

“Aru doesn’t know. But one winter, everything changed...! It was cold. I also saw autumn changing.”

One autumn and winter.

Brigitte recalled around last summer.

Was it when the Demon King died?

She heard that after the Demon King fell by Judas’ hand, many anomalies began to occur around the world.

It seems that Aru also started moving around that time.

“More importantly, how about you, Brigitte? Did you travel a lot? Did you make friends?”

“I...”

Brigitte recalled many things she had experienced so far.

She thought she had only suffered a lot, but looking back, there were many fun memories.

And there were many people she missed.

“Why am I back here again...”

Drip— Drip—

When tears fell from Brigitte’s eyes.

The bear doll opened the locked door at the end of the passage and said.

“Don’t cry, Brigitte. I will definitely get you out. Leaving this mansion was your biggest dream, wasn’t it? You also said you would tell me what happened outside someday!”

Creak—

Finally, the tightly closed door opened.

Then a strange chemical-like smell found its way into Brigitte’s nose.

Soon, she saw flasks and beakers scattered around and a large water tank.

Inside the water tank were all sorts of beasts, including monsters that could hardly be called beasts.

Seeing Brigitte frown at their horribly twisted figures, the bear doll said.

“When I opened my eyes, this place had become like this. It’s a horrifying place. Brigitte, the mansion you knew and the mansion now are different places.”

“It seems so.”

“But it’s okay. Once we get out of here, there’s a passage for dumping trash—”

Wobble— Wobble—

It was when the teddy bear began to speak and walk forward.

“I knew you’d appear if I caught Brigitte. The only completed piece. The only success. Teddy Bear Aru.”

Pop—

A brutish hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the teddy bear’s head.

“L-Let go of Aru’s body...!”

The struggling teddy bear, Aru.

The man, Faust, who caught Aru, chuckled.

“Always hiding and running away, but you bit the bait indeed. Is it out of loyalty to your creator? Following the creator is a good habit.”

“B-Brigitte—run away. Escape to a wider world...”

The man tore open the teddy bear’s stomach.

And among the stuffing, he found a small bead that a child might play with.

The man, holding the bead, opened his mouth wide and laughed.

“Good, this is it. ‘The core of the homunculus’...! With this, our Walpurgis family will enjoy glory for millennia...! It will even be possible to transcend and reach the truth...!”

Thud—

The teddy bear, having lost its bead, fell to the ground like trash.

It no longer moved or spoke.

As it originally had been.

“You’ve become a useful daughter while I wasn’t watching, Brigitte. Thanks to you, I was able to capture Aru hidden in the mansion.”

“Die!!!!”

Brigitte could no longer hold back.

She didn’t remember much after that.

“Protect Master Faust!”

“Argh, the firepower is too strong! Spread the barrier! At this rate, the lab will be shattered!”

“Everyone back off. I will step in.”

“F-Friede! It’s dangerous! The magnitude of the magic is far beyond our expectations—”

When she regained consciousness with a flash of light in front of her eyes.

Brigitte was covered with numerous wounds and trapped back in a jail cell.

Of course, her wounds would one day heal.

Because Brigitte was cursed with such a fate.

But the deeply wounded heart would not do so that easily.

So Brigitte cried her eyes out.

Like in her younger days.

And towards such Brigitte, a very dark shadow approached beyond the iron bars.

Like a cold night of winter where the moon couldn’t be witnessed.

A cold shadow like one lurking in a deep and dark cave.

Winter in human form.

“......”

He did not speak.

He just watched quietly.

Brigitte, with a heavy heart, spoke to the shadow.

“Judas, please accept my request... I can’t offer a reward, and it might turn out to be a useless thing to steal. But there’s something I really want you to steal...”

“......”

“...Save Aru. My friend.”

“Is that really what you want?”

The shadow asked.

Brigitte closed her mouth for a moment.

A very short hesitation.

Then the man, Judas, said.

“I’ll steal you. From this unnecessarily large prison.”

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