CH 168

I hold the magic crystal key to the wall in front of me, and a magic circle appears on it.

“Ooh!”

“We got it right on the first try.”

Everyone holding my arms or shoulders gasps with amazement.

The magic circle starts spinning on the wall, just like the one in the mausoleum. As it breaks down, the light of the magic elements turns into letters on the wall.

I was so shocked by Princess Lily’s marriage proposal, that I didn’t get a good look at them in the mausoleum.

This time it also says ‘administrator privileges confirmed’, but something feels off.

“Ah, it doesn’t say ‘backdoor’.”

I quickly read the letters I can understand, and realize what doesn’t seem right.

Still, it’s not like I know what ‘backdoor’ means. But since that still means there’s a good chance that something is different, I decide to tell everyone.

But before I can open my mouth, the light of magic elements overflows from the wall. It runs through my body, extends to everyone else, and eventually envelops everyone’s bodies.

The next moment, the world around us suddenly changes. The walls of the underground ruins that surrounded us are gone.

“Eh? Did it take us outside?”

Says Ahri, who is still grabbing my shoulder. The light of the sun is raining down on us, and we feel the wind.

Roa and Halhammer are behind me. They were holding on to my arms and were transported along with me.

But my other shoulder is suspiciously light.

“Seilook isn’t here.”

Says Roa while looking at my empty shoulder.

“Was Seilook left behind? Or transported to another place?”

I whisper while I look around.

We’re in a completely open space, with many buildings visible in the distance.

The buildings all seem to have a strange texture. I can’t tell if it’s stone or metal, and they’re all pretty tall.

The ground beneath our feet feels strange too. It’s soft for something that looks like stone, and it has some elasticity.

I’m confused, because it’s all completely different from where the wall in the mausoleum took me.

And above all else, I have no idea where the wall that will take us back is.

“What a strange place. At least for now there doesn’t seem to be any sign that we will have to fight.”

Says Ahri as she looks around.

“Thank you Ahri. I think we should start by locating the wall that reacts to the magic crystal key, so we have a way to go back. What do you think?”

I ask.

“I agree. We have no idea where Seilook is either, but my instincts tell me it got left behind in the underground ruins. Not that we can check anyway. All we can do is what you said.”

Ahri and Roa both nod too.

Now that we all agree on our next course of action, we head towards the building that looks closest to us.