“I can’t believe it. What kind of suspicious-looking building is this?”
The carriage cos to a stop.
Standing on the dirt ground and looking up, I see an ancient castle standing tall on the ridge.
It looks like it has been abandoned for a long ti; so parts of the walls are crumbling, and moss is growing all over it, resembling a demon lord's castle.
It was definitely a place that anyone would find suspicious.
“We’ve strayed quite far from the city. No matter how loud it gets here, it won’t be heard.”
“...”
Sylvia murmurs with a worried voice as she looks back.
We’ve already co quite a distance from the city.
Now we have to climb another mountain, so it’s only normal that the sounds from inside that castle wouldn’t be heard from the city.
In other words, no matter what happens over there, it ans we won’t get caught.
“Additionally, the activation of a barrier has been detected inside.”
“So… do you think we should retreat?”
“No. It’s fine. You may proceed.”
With a calm expression and without a hint of hesitation, Sylvia imdiately responds.
We cannot receive any external help.
Inside, there’s an unknown barrier laid out, making it almost like Irene’s ho ground.
Yet, despite this, Sylvia declared, “I’ll win.”
If she felt she couldn’t win, she would throw away all her pride and escape, planning for a future opportunity.
Seeing her exuding confidence like this makes it impossible not to believe her.
As always, I stepped forward with the spirited Sylvia.
Alright. Let’s go.
To confront Irene head-on.
“Whew, whew…!”
“Master, you’re falling behind. At this rate, the sun will set.”
“Ah, I’ve been caught in your plot!”
“What are you talking about…?”
On the steep mountain path.
I extend my trembling legs and catch a glimpse of the fragnts of a grand sche.
To make us co all the way up to this high mountain where the carriage cannot go.
It was a plot to easily take out after exhausting my strength on this climb!
“It looks just like an ordinary neighborhood hillside, but did you cast a spell to drain our strength using a barrier!?”
“It’s just an ordinary neighborhood hillside. And there’s no barrier here. In fact, there is no such type of barrier at all.”
“...”
Regardless, the fact that we’ve positioned ourselves this high is undoubtedly Irene’s sche to exhaust my strength.
I shudder at her cunningness.
Finally, we arrived in front of the ominously deserted castle gate.
“The gate…”
Creeeak.
Just as Sylvia was about to step forward, the castle gate began to open on its own.
It seed like it had decided to open itself rather than risk Sylvia smashing it down.
Inside the open gate, a dark corridor was revealed.
Sylvia blocked my path.
“This area ahead has a barrier.”
“What’s its function?”
“Please wait a mont. Ah! This is! It appears to be a barrier that annihilates all mana in the space, including the mana within our bodies…!”
Placing her hand in the air, Sylvia falters in surprise.
Though her exaggerated movents suggest she is shocked,
it’s so obvious that she is acting that I had to stifle a laugh.
‘Just as expected.’
The scene was exactly as Yulia had scouted.
It was precisely as anticipated.
A barrier that sucks up and erases all mana.
In here, mana disappears completely, making the use of magic impossible.
Moreover, it absorbs the mana stored within our bodies, rendering even the knights' physical enhancents using mana impossible.
In here, everyone becos a normal person devoid of even a drop of mana.
But Irene didn’t stop there.
Leave all weapons behind when you co in.
If you enter the barrier with any weapon in hand, you will feel a burning pain throughout your body.
A warning written on a sign in front of the corridor.
It was an order to enter unard, aning we had to co in completely powerless.
However, Sylvia and I were not deterred.
“We will enter.”
“Okay.”
We had no qualms about stepping inside.
Our bodies passed through the boundary of the barrier without any resistance.
Of course, we had anticipated this in advance, but we still maintained our tension as we began to pass through the corridor.
Thud, thud, thud—our footsteps echoed in the corridor.
In the pitch-black darkness, Sylvia pressed on endlessly, sohow seeing ahead.
After turning around a corner and walking for a while, a faint light began to appear.
“Oh my. My lovely brother, Aslan, is here?”
“...”
In a spacious room where sunlight filtered through the holes in the ceiling,
Irene greeted with a smile.
Sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, she wiggled her high-heeled shoes.
The mont I saw those heels, a shiver ran down my spine.
I knew I was safe as long as Sylvia was beside , but…
I couldn’t ignore the fear etched in my instincts.
Overcoming the terror of being stepped on by those heels again,
I clung tightly to Sylvia’s back.
“It’s been a while. It’s really hard to see my brother’s face. Do I have to co find you? Wouldn’t it be better if you ca to tell about your well-being on ti? Just the two of us siblings.”
“I’ve been a bit busy lately.”
“Yeah, it seems you’ve been quite busy. You’ve really spread your hands everywhere. Father would be very proud if he saw this.”
“...”
Irene chuckled, resting her chin on her hand.
It was sarcasm.
If the Count of Vermont, who had loathed the royal family and was on the brink of hostility, saw the state of the family now, he might just faint.
“You’ve done sothing interesting, sister.”
“Oh, that? It’s just an excuse. My dear brother has been ignoring so much that I wanted to get your attention... But you don’t have to worry. Emilia is safe.”
“Ahhh...!”
Just then, a scream echoed from the underground stairs.
At that chilling voice, the corners of Irene’s mouth rose even more.
I was left in a state of shock, and cold sweat began to trickle down my forehead.
‘This is bad. This is where the script ends.’
From here on, I hadn’t morized any lines.
It ant I had to improvise now.
Can I do it?
Worried about making a mistake, I had even forced myself to rember that woman’s na.
That woman’s na is definitely E… E… E…
Damn it. I forgot again.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because… if I don’t do this, you won’t pay any attention to your sister, right? I think about you, Aslan, all day long, even dreaming about you. anwhile, you act like you’ve completely forgotten about .”
“Let’s settle this amicably. There’s just one condition. If you agree to this, I’ll let this matter pass quietly.”
“What? Did I hear you right? Are you asking to agree to your condition?”
Irene’s expression contorted in disbelief.
What I heard was indeed right.
Since Irene was using such a tough stance, I had no need to back down.
“Yeah. Just hand over the chunk of neodymium. If you give that, I’ll forgive you.”
“Wha...!? What? Neodymium? Are you really wanting Emilia back? If sothing happens to her…”
“I don’t need that woman. I ca to see my sister, didn’t I? You wanted to see too, right? Wish granted.”
“...”
Irene seed at a loss for words, her mouth closing.
She only needed a justification to draw in; she never intended to harm Emilia.
I had only co to get neodymium from Irene.
I was supposed to receive neodymium along with sothing else, but...
“Are you joking? Neodymium? You want to hand that over now? What a ridiculous thing to say!!!”
“...!”
Boom!
At that mont, a trendous noise echoed as the pile of stones scattered across the room began to move.
Piece by piece, they began to rge, forming the shape of a giant doll.
That’s… a golem?
“Isn’t that magic?”
“It’s a magical tool. Through magic, material properties are given to objects, making them unaffected by barriers.”
“You can defeat that with your bare hands, right?”
“...It would be troubleso to think of as being on the sa level as a stone golem.”
Sylvia took a step back, and as I did the sa, a small gasp escaped from behind .
A magical tool that even a normal strength wouldn’t be able to break free from.
“It’s not too late even now, Aslan. Kneel. Both of you. If you keep resisting, I’ll have no choice but to leave marks on your pristine skin…”
“Sylvia. Draw your sword.”
“Yes.”
“...What!?”
As Sylvia smoothly drew her sword from my side,
a look of horror spread across Irene’s face.
She looked as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Golem! Take them down imdiately!”
“Go, Sylvia!”
“Yes!”
With a light step, Sylvia leapt forward.
Clearly, it was a pure physical leap without using any mana.
In an instant, she shot out at a speed I couldn’t follow.
“This is absurd…!”
Crash!
Swinging her sword, she cleaved the golem in one blow.
It collapsed in an instant but started reassembling itself almost imdiately.
Sylvia repeatedly split the golem apart, breaking it again and again.
“How is this possible? You’re not a sword master!”
“Sylvia is half a sword master now.”
“Wha!? What can you do that you can say that to …!”
While Sylvia dealt with the golem, I quickly approached Irene.
As soon as I got close, she reached out for with a grin, her hand extended.
I found myself helplessly caught by her hand, slowly feeling the pain as my breath began to be constricted.
“I thought you might have trained or sothing. But you’re still the sa old weakling.”
Cough! Well, at least I haven’t changed a bit, right?
“...What?”
Clang!
At that mont, a sharp tallic sound rang out, and Irene’s eyes widened.
In the blink of an eye, thick tal handcuffs had been placed on her wrists.
The other end of the handcuffs was now attached to my wrist, connecting us.
“Well done, Charlotte.”
“Hehe.”
Smiling broadly, Charlotte dashed to Sylvia’s side.
From the very beginning, she had been hiding in my shadow ever since we entered the castle.
Irene, trusting too much in the barrier, likely didn’t even suspect that one more person had entered.
“It’s a magical tool. It can’t be broken by any normal strength.”
“Take this off, Aslan! Right now! If not, I’ll cut off your wrist…”
“You should have cut it off sooner. Isn’t it too late now? According to your plan, Laura’s clone is supposed to co and devour this position right about… now?”
“You! How do you know that!?”
Knock, knock, I tapped the small chalk-marked floor, and Irene’s face went pale.
That’s right. It’s already too late.
Just as Irene was struggling to break the handcuffs,
the sunlight pouring down from above was suddenly obscured.
[Ahhh...!]
“Lady Laura!?”
A gigantic shadow lood over us.
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