༺ 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—
Simultaneously, as if amid the melodic chirping of birds, Brigitte experienced a jolting pain as if she had been electrocuted.
“Ugh, Magic Jammer…!?”
Magic Jammer was a high-level spell that interfered with the casting of magic.
Who would have thought such a thing would be installed all around this prison?
When Brigitte was shaking with anger, Gudrid sighed in relief and said.
“We felt the need to improve the prison after you escaped in the past. Other than that, it should be the same as the punishment room where you were imprisoned every day.”
“……”
“It reminds me of the old days. Then I’ll go now, so reflect on yourself inside. Let us know when you feel like cooperating with us. Then we will let you go.”
“Get lost!”
Swoosh—
Brigitte threw the bowl of rice that fell on the floor after hitting the bars.
Bang—!
Of course, the old bowl didn’t touch Gudrid, it just hit the rusty iron.
Gudrid gave a light snort and disappeared into the distant darkness.
Now only Brigitte was left in the place.
“Damn.”
She spat out a light curse, but the situation didn’t change.
But she felt a little better.
Should she say she got some leeway?
If it had been before, Brigitte would have run around and collapsed from exhaustion, but Brigitte, who had defeated the Demon King, was no longer the naive crybaby of the past.
“This place is…”
First, Brigitte looked around and assessed the situation.
A prison with a magic jammer installed.
Her hands were tied and it was hard to move.
Her movement as well as her magic were sealed, but fortunately, her eyes could move freely.
‘There were plenty of worse situations than this during the war. If I keep my mind clear, there should be a way to escape.’
And.
It’s been over an hour since she disappeared. So, Judas must have noticed something was wrong.
Maybe he would come to help her.
‘But it’s a bit creepy to be missing for more than an hour after saying I’m going to the bathroom! Being misunderstood as a woman who sits in the bathroom for a long time is the worst!’
She must somehow overcome this situation─.
It was when she was looking around with that thought.
“……”
Staring at the prison, Brigitte discovered something.
It was a small scribble.
A doodle that seemed to have been scratched onto the stone floor with something sharp like a fork by a child.
It depicted two small children holding hands.
“I can’t believe I’m back here again.”
This prison.
It was a familiar place to Brigitte.
It was a place that still occasionally showed up in her dreams.
「I’m hungry.」
「I want to eat chicken when we get out of here.」
「When I grow up, I want to travel the world. Anywhere but this prison would be nice.」
「I’m hungry.」
「I’m bored. I haven’t eaten or spoken to anyone for five days already.」
The thoughts of her childhood scratched onto the walls and bricks with a fork, were everywhere.
What would her younger self say if she saw herself back in this prison now?
Creak—
Just then, a noise was heard from the cell door.
“Who is it!?”
“Shh… We need to be quiet…”
A black shadow cautioned Brigitte.
Finally, with a creaking sound, the cell door opened.
“Judas!?”
Brigitte thought Judas had come to save her.
From the Duke’s palace to the mansion of the Walpurgis family in the West, the distance was considerable, but she had the hopeful thought that Judas would have managed somehow.
However.
The figure of the person called Judas was incredibly small.
About the same size as a child who had just turned six.
Most of all, the figure was bizarre for a human.
The skin was made of ragged fabric, and the eyes were old buttons.
A strange creature, uncertain of what kind of animal it was.
But Brigitte could tell that it was a teddy bear, filled with stuffing.
“…You, could it be…”
Brigitte thought it was impossible.
Knowing it was an impossible thing, she couldn’t help but ask with a “what if” feeling in her heart.
“Are you Aru…?”
The teddy bear then spoke as if it had been waiting for her question.
“…Ung, ung! Brigitte, nice to meet you! I’m Brigitte’s friend, Aru!”
* * *
Aru.
It was a teddy bear that Brigitte, who needed a friend, had made herself.
It was a doll made by tearing off the buttons of Gudrid’s uniform, stealing cotton from her sisters’ quilts, and using old clothes and rags.
It couldn’t talk or play with her, but.
It was the only friend and the only family of young Brigitte.
However.
The teddy bear was just a teddy bear after all.
Brigitte really wanted a friend, a family who could move and live, and she sought a way to do that.
Research on Homunculus.
At the time, Brigitte didn’t know what it was, but later she realized that it was research on a being called ‘Homunculus’.
She also realized that it was a great taboo to interfere in the realm of creating life.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Brigitte’s research had failed.
It was a natural outcome as it was an incomplete experiment by a six-year-old.
But that should have been the case─.
“…How, exactly, are you…”
Brigitte was puzzled by the bear doll moving as if it were a living person.
However, the bear doll quietly escaped the underground dungeon and skillfully entered the ventilation duct.
“Let’s go quickly! Before people notice! This way!”
The bear doll Aru seemed familiar with the ventilation ducts of this mansion.
But there was a problem.
“…Ah, I can’t go in…”
Brigitte’s chest and buttocks were too voluptuous to enter the ventilation duct.
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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