Chapter 70: Chapter 71: Finding A Place Is Hard! (11)

༺ Finding A Place Is Hard! (11) ༻

Once on alert, the mage laboratory was no different from a fortress.

To break through, you’d need a host of siege weapons and mages specialized in siege magic.

There was a tale during the war of how even three gold-rank mercenaries struggled to take over a hut where a gold-rank mage was stationed.

Mages holed up in their laboratories were that dangerous.

I had experienced this fact more painfully than anyone.

The Demon King’s castle, claimed by the Mad Mage Sabernak, was nothing short of hell on earth.

And I say, the long-historied Walpurgis mansion was just as ominous as the Demon King’s castle.

“Damn it, the explosion took out most of the barrier devices.”

“Truly deserving of her title, the Mage of The Black Jewel… the former head’s daughter, eh? Isn’t she even more powerful than him in terms of…”

“Hey! Is now the time to be impressed?! Hurry and transport the documents!”

Fortunately, the mansion’s interior was in chaos.

A huge explosion had shattered the barriers and various magical devices.

It was a perfect opportunity for a thief like me to slip in.

Unintended as it might have been, Brigitte’s resistance was not in vain.

However.

The recovery from the chaos was faster than I had expected.

“There could be intrusions from the outside. Leave the documents be and restore the barrier first.”

“Understood, Lady Friede.”

Friede von Walpurgis.

Brigitte’s older sister and the current White Mage Head of the Walpurgis family was quite capable.

If the barrier were to be reactivated, I, uninvited, might end up being electrocuted by the barrier.

It seemed best to speed up my work.

“Huff.”

I took a short breath.

With that, one of my five S-grade skills, 「Shadow Veil」, was activated.

For reference, 「Shadow Veil」 is a technique that wraps the evil karma I possess around my body to completely block me from the opponent’s sight and detection.

Even the Mad Mage, Demon King Sabernak, couldn’t perceive it.

Naturally, the Walpurgis mages failed to detect it as well.

“……”

However, the White Mage Friede moved her gaze here and there, towards where I was.

Someone with naturally good instincts, perhaps.

It would be wiser to leave this place before being discovered.

「Wall Slither」.

I activated the technique and passed through the wall as if it was a thin film of soap.

My destination was the ‘laboratory’ at the heart of this mansion.

It was the most heavily guarded place among the mage’s mansions.

If compared to the Demon King’s castle, it would be like the throne room.

The reason I go to the most dangerous and treacherous places.

That was simple.

If I escaped from the mansion with Brigitte now, there was a high chance that something like this would happen again. In that case, it would be better to eliminate the root cause to prevent it from recurring.

Faust of the old Walpurgis family.

He was the link connecting everything.

Swoosh—

Finally, I arrived at the so-called laboratory.

It was a place full of all kinds of experimental tools, just like Brigitte had mentioned.

━Grrrr-.

━Miao…!

━Elgrrrr…

Beasts, whose species I couldn’t identify, were opening their mouths in a water tank, which was quite a horrific sight.

The strangest thing was an old man standing in the center of the lab, screaming into space.

“Sadness. Loneliness. Solitude.”

He listed negative words.

Every time he added an epithet, the magic circle at his feet expanded layer by layer.

I don’t know much about magic.

But I thought I shouldn’t let this magic complete as it is, so I drew a dagger from my waist and struck it at the old man’s throat with all my might.

Swoosh—

Pajijijik—!

However, my dagger was blocked by an invisible transparent wall.

A barrier?

Not just a regular barrier, but a very powerful one.

The old man who had stopped chanting when I stepped back, spoke.

“Is it you, Judas?”

“……”

“Although I can’t see you, I know you’re here. There is no such evil karma as Judas, the thief’s. Even more vicious than the previous generation.”

An old man who knew the previous Judas.

Well, he was quite old so it wasn’t weird for them to have met on some battlefield.

Of course, that wasn’t a good thing for me at all.

The fact that he had met the previous Judas and was still alive meant that he knew how to deal with thieves.

The barrier just now must be one of those countermeasures.

Sure enough, the old mage blurted out before I even asked.

“It would be troublesome to think of me as a mediocre magician. Do you know how many thieves I’ve hunted down so far? Adding one more to the count is not a big deal.”

“That’s what they all say.”

Pat—

I threw the dagger with all my might.

Pajik-!

The dagger, as if blocked by an invisible wall, stuck in the air, creating a small gap.

Pajik— Pajik— Crumble—

The sound of glass breaking was heard, and the air cracked.

It was the sound of the barrier breaking.

“You broke the barrier I especially made…!?”

“No big deal.”

I taunted the old magician while hiding my figure.

Then the magician grinded his teeth and took out a book from his bosom.

A thick book.

The title was ‘To Aru’.

“You sacrilegious criminal! Are you coming to defeat me, Faust, a descendant of the Primordials?”

Muttering—

He opened the book and quickly began muttering.

At the same time, the pronunciation was as if several words were lumped together.

Rapid multiple incantations.

He had pronounced at least five words at the same time.

I remember Briggite saying that even among gold-tier wizards, only about one in ten could perform such a feat.

Swoosh—

Soon, something wriggled up from the floor.

A creature that seemed to be a mix of an alligator and a four-legged beast, with unusually clear eyes.

━Please, kill me…

━It huuurts…!

It was speaking human words with its long snout.

A very ominous sight.

What is this?

“Surprised?! It’s a homunculus! Although just a failed creation, we’ve succeeded in transferring a criminal’s soul into a vessel made of beasts!”

“Is this for real?”

Even without asking, the wizard’s incessant chatter was probably due to their typical arrogance.

Wizards always loved to boast about what they did, the effects, the extent of their power, and their greatness.

Is it because of their strong desire for recognition?

“Go! If you succeed in killing him, I will transfer you to a new body from that rotting flesh!”

━Kraaaak!

━Kyaaak!

The soul of the criminal, trapped in the ragged body of the beast, began to rampage.

It was so fragile that a few stabs with a dagger would shatter it, but it was incredibly annoying.

Above all, it seemed that even if I knocked it down, more would appear if the old mage looked at that book and muttered again.

Dealing with summoned creatures this way would be amateurish.

I should just take down the main body.

But the main body was securely hidden in a barrier, making it hard to target.

Of course, there was a way.

“I didn’t want to do this.”

I reached out my hand towards my shadow.

My hand slipped into my shadow and popped out from under the old man’s feet.

Pop—

The old man, caught by the unexpected hand at his ankle, cried out in surprise.

“What, what is this!”

“The thieves you’ve met couldn’t do this, could they? The name of the technique is 「Free Crane Machine Dolls」.”

Swoosh—

I pulled the old man out of my shadow.

“What kind of magic is this?! It’s completely beyond the level a thief could do!!! A miracle!? This is a miracle beyond magic!!! Judas, you!!! Where did you learn such─.”

“Quiet.”

“Gyaakk!”

Only after I stepped on the old man’s neck, dragged out from the barrier, to prevent any more incantations, could I feel a bit relieved.

“……!”

The old man struggled under my foot, choking.

He must have been unable to breathe.

But it was essential not to let my guard down, so I snatched the tightly held book from his hand.

“……!”

Even as he turned blue from lack of breath, the old man desperately tried to hold onto the book.

If I were him, I would have tried to push away the foot pressing on my neck first.

Of course, it wouldn’t have made any difference even if he had pushed it away.

“Hand it over.”

Finally, I snatched the book from the old man.

A treasure rumored to be valuable enough to buy a fortress.

I wonder what was written inside.

* * *

「To Aru, today the sisters tormented me again. Gudrid just forced a game of drawing lots and treated me like a slave. No, it might have been better if I actually was a slave.」

「Today I was so hungry I stole and ate strawberries. Then I got caught by Mom and she hit my palms. It hurt so much that I cried, and then I got hit more for crying.」

「Today I went for a carriage ride with Mom! It was nice because she didn’t scold me and we chatted about various things. But suddenly, Mom disappeared and I had to search hard to catch the carriage before it left. I almost couldn’t make it back home.」

「It’s so hard. I’m hungry. There’s no place for me in this house. Even at the dinner table, my place is gone. No one seems to notice that my place is missing, or maybe they are just pretending not to know…」

「Today my older sister said, it’s because I’m not really Dad’s daughter that I’m hated. Maybe I’m not really a part of this family. Only my hair color is different. Then, could my real family be somewhere in this world? If I go to them and say I’m their daughter, would they believe me?」

「Aru, sometimes I wish you could talk and have conversations with me. You’re the only one I can open my heart to.」

「Aru, you’re my only friend. If one day I leave this house and travel the world, I want you to come with me—」

「A handful of salt. A strand of my hair. A small bead stolen from wicked Gudrid. A candle taken from Sister Friede’s room. And…」

The journal was filled with crooked handwriting.

The stories within gave birth to a strange feeling.

The latter part contained magic formulas I couldn’t understand, but I could tell the young girl had tried hard to make friends.

“Is this book really worth a whole castle?”

I frowned.

Then the old man, turning pale, said.

“Idiot… Not just a castle. It’s the greatest discovery… more valuable than anything… the realm of creation… the power of the Demiurges…”

“Brigitte is your daughter. Can you still say that after reading what’s written here?”

“…Is Brigitte really my daughter? The dates don’t add up. By a month. A month early. The timing…”

“……”

In the man’s eyes, a murky swirl of emotions was raging.

The doubt that haunted the most vile and filthy denizens of a thieves’ lair flickered in his gaze.

“No matter if Brigitte is my daughter or not, that’s not important anymore… Give it to me, quick! There are parts I can finally decipher—”

“Fuck off.”

I pulled out a lighter from my pocket.

Crept— Crept— Burn—

I set fire to the end of the book, and the journal blazed up as if it had been eagerly waiting for this moment.

“Arrrgh! What are you doing?! Burning a treasure! A unique treasure in this world! You fool! You ignorant thief!”

“Treasure? By my ignorant standards, this can’t be called a treasure. Shining gold. Money. Jewels. Those are treasures. Or a busty beauty.”

“My… My dream…”

The old man’s mouth gaped at the burning book.

He, who had just seemed healthy, now seemed greatly aged, as if he would die any day. Yes, he looked like an old man who had lost the will to live.

I was ready to break his neck if he resisted further.

Fortunately, it seemed that such measures weren’t needed.

Killing this old man would probably give me lots of experience points.

And killing the father of the woman I liked, well, even for me, that was a bit much.

“I’ll let go of your neck, so don’t try anything stupid.”

I casually lifted my foot from the old man’s neck.

As soon as I did, the old man screamed as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“You brat, do you think you can insult me, a descendant of the Primordials, and escape unscathed! I’ll blow this mansion up!”

“Are you crazy? Your daughter and grandchildren are in the mansion.”

“Aaaaaaaah━─!!!”

Why do wizards act like this whenever they have a mental breakdown?

The magicians of this Pangea continent always tried to self-destruct when cornered.

The Demon King did the same.

He too tried to blow up the entire region along with his castle.

If this old man self-destructed, all the living things nearby would be wiped out.

This was no lie.

There’s only one way to stop him now.

“… Things never end well, do they?”

Thud—! Thump—!

I stepped hard, extinguishing his life.

The old man’s body slumped like a doll with cut strings.

“You should have known. I never let my guard down.”

I said so, but I felt uneasy.

This was the second time I sent someone who could be considered my father-in-law away.

Having two daughters myself, I was starting to worry.

“My karma is piling up.”

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