“The moment the spell is activated, this kid dies. Did you understand?”
“······.”
The atmosphere froze cold.
Within that tension, the lady and the maid slowly knelt one by one, nodding their heads.
Julia was being held up by a strange man by her hair.
But her frail legs couldn’t touch the ground, and Julia continued to writhe in pain.
‘Where the hell…’
The lady bit her lip at the sight.
Surely it had only taken about 20 seconds for the barrier to break and close again.
According to the guards, no intruder had crossed the wall during that time.
So how did this person suddenly appear from above?
Yet, how he got in had become less important now.
What mattered was how to save Julia.
“Hey, you up on the boat! Better not do anything foolish! Raise your hands high!”
“Ugh…!”
Erica, who had been secretly trying to tamper with the barrier’s spell, flinched and raised her hands in fear at the shout.
To notice even the slightest change in the spell, it seemed that any trick of secretly preparing magic wouldn’t work.
But would hand-to-hand combat even work?
She had no idea about the combat abilities of this dark stranger, but it was clear he would be much stronger than the maids and butlers gathered in the garden.
To make matters worse, the guards were all outside the barrier, on alert for external intruders.
Unless the barrier was opened intentionally, they couldn’t receive help from the outside.
‘Schlus. I need Schlus.’
Erica tried to keep her composure and find a way out.
If only she had enough mana right now, she might have tried to rescue Julia somehow, but having just poured all her magic into the barrier, she had almost no mana left.
So, the only person with the ability to break this situation from within the barrier was Schlus Hainkel.
‘Come out. Hurry…’
However, there was no sign of Schlus coming out of the cave for quite a while.
It had already been over an hour.
Perhaps Schlus couldn’t pull himself away from the crystal sphere and had become a husk.
If that were the case, she had to go in and bring him out now.
With that determination, Erica cautiously looked around.
Maybe she could quietly slip into the water and swim to the cave.
“I don’t particularly enjoy harming a child, you know. If you hand over Schlus Hainkel quietly, I’ll guarantee everyone’s safety. But where is Schlus Hainkel?”
“······.”
The lady slowly raised her hand and pointed towards the cave.
“What? Is he just lying around sleeping or something? What’s he doing stuck there?”
“He’s probably unconscious by now.”
“Unconscious? Why?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Hahaha! Right! The reason doesn’t matter! As long as I can take Schlus’s life, that’s all that counts!”
As the conversation with the lady continued, Erica slowly took off her cumbersome outer robe.
Before long, Erica was left wearing only a thin garment underneath.
Careful not to make any noise, she began to slip into the water starting from her legs.
“Ah, lady…”
“Shh. It’s fine; they’re not looking this way.”
Then she submerged and started making her way towards the cave without hesitation.
She couldn’t even create a spell to supply oxygen.
If she did, she’d be found out immediately.
‘Ugh… my breath…’
She wanted to surface several times but barely held herself back.
There had been times she accidentally gulped some water too.
Feeling the suffocation and the water filling her mouth, Erica pressed on, determined to save her sister.
“Ughhh…!”
Finally arriving at the cave.
Erica poked her head out, thinking the sounds wouldn’t carry too far here, and exhaled.
Upon reaching the shore, she spat out the water she had swallowed several times.
Feeling utterly exhausted, Erica staggered towards the inner room.
“What the heck is going on…?”
It should be fine if it’s Schlus.
They say one goes crazy after holding onto the crystal for over an hour, but Schlus wasn’t just anyone; he’d be fine.
She thought for sure that he was calmly sitting inside, waiting without understanding the situation.
With those thoughts, Erica hurriedly pushed the door open.
“Ugh… ughhh…”
“Uh?”
The sight inside was something Erica never expected.
Schlus was trembling in pain.
His eyes were unfocused, wavering towards the void.
“Hey! Schlus! Get a grip!”
Startled, Erica ran over and slapped Schlus’s cheek, but there was no response.
Feeling a chill, she looked to the side and, sure enough, saw Schlus’s right hand tightly gripping the crystal sphere.
No matter how hard she tried to pry his fingers off, it was no use.
Schlus was already on the verge of becoming a husk.
“Let go of that! You’ll go crazy at this rate…!”
“Ugh…!”
Erica immediately wrapped her arms around Schlus’s waist and began to pull him back.
But lifting the heavy man was no easy task for Erica.
“Ughh…! Just let go!”
Pouring all her remaining magic into her internal circuits, Erica pulled Schlus with all her might.
Then, at that moment, she felt a sudden tug, and Schlus was pulled back.
“Yah?!”
“Ughhh…”
With a thud, Erica rolled back but managed to get up.
Mana exhaustion hit her, leaving her unable to stand.
What if it was already too late?
What if Schlus couldn’t regain consciousness like this?
Even if he did, the anxiety that he might be completely insane began to creep in.
“Erica?”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the case.
Schlus turned around and recognized her face.
Erica let out a sigh of relief but found herself momentarily breathless and unable to speak.
“What are you doing for almost 2 hours without coming out, you idiot…?”
Sadly, the first words that came out were ones of blame.
She had clearly warned him that staying in contact with the crystal for more than an hour would drive him insane.
She had told him to be careful countless times.
And yet Schlus ignored that warning and kept holding onto the crystal.
What in his past could make him take the risk of becoming a husk? She couldn’t understand it at all.
Looking back, Schlus was always like this.
He seemed to plan and prepare meticulously, but never cared a bit for his own safety.
Watching such behavior had made her feel uneasy more than once, but she never said anything to Schlus directly.
She just thought, “That’s just how Schlus is,” and moved on.
But this time, it wouldn’t go so smoothly.
If she let it slide again, tears spilled down her face, and she felt a deep sense of sorrow.
“Schlus… Please save Julia… Please…”
“What?”
But there was something more urgent now.
Despite her embarrassment, she had to ask Schlus for help.
Erica squeezed Schlus’s hand, suppressing all her emotions.
As she spoke, Schlus’s expression began to twist.
*
“Are you saying he’s going to remain a husk…? Unless we drag him out by force, Schlus Hainkel will NEVER wake up?”
“······.”
In silence, the lady nodded.
She had revealed everything.
That Schlus was inside that cave and was completely helpless.
Now, it was as easy for this strange man to cut off Schlus’s head as it was for a child to twist a wrist.
“Now let that kid go!”
“No. I’ll keep holding her until Schlus Hainkel is beheaded. You! Prepare the boat! Get in and head to the cave… huh?”
At that moment, the man’s gaze twisted as he looked towards the lake.
Something was missing where it should have been.
A girl who was just sitting in the boat on the calm surface of the lake had disappeared.
“Hey! Where did the girl who was just here go?!”
“Wha-what?!”
“Don’t play dumb! What tricks are you pulling?! If you mess around, this kid dies! You clearly know that!”
“······!”
The agitated man pressed a dagger to Julia’s neck.
The tip of the blade pressed against Julia’s delicate throat, leaving a mark.
A single drop of crimson blood trickled down the blade, staining the dagger.
Watching that scene, the lady could only bite her lip, feeling utterly powerless.
‘Erica. I don’t know what you’re planning, but please hurry…’
It was a situation where action could be taken at any moment.
The man, filled with betrayal, could strike someone down at any time.
As the lady silently prayed with desperation—
Bang…!
Suddenly, a gust of wind surged from behind with a loud noise.
Startled, she turned around to see the surface of the lake violently ripple as if something had cut through it.
And the moment she turned her head, she noticed a large man standing right next to her.
A man with a longsword at his right waist.
Schlus Hainkel was now beside the lady.
“Schlus Hainkel! You deceiver! How dare you trick me!”
“Let that child go, fanatic.”
“Don’t make me laugh, Schlus Hainkel! Stay right there! If you take another step, this kid dies!”
“······.”
The man was flustered, stumbling for a second, but soon realized that the situation wasn’t as drastically unfavorable as he thought.
Schlus Hainkel appeared indifferent and cold on the outside, but he halted at a mere threat.
This meant that the child’s life was precious to Schlus as well.
Grateful for his luck in choosing the right hostage, the man couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Schlus Hainkel! How about a trade?”
“A trade?”
“Yes! How about trading your life for that girl’s life?”
“······.”
Schlus’s expression did not change at all.
But he was certainly troubled deep down.
The man waited, his grin never leaving his face, for Schlus’s answer.
“There’s no worth in discussing this.”
“Hah! Are you saying you’ll just let that girl die?!”
As Schlus drew his sword, the man jumped back in surprise.
Schlus Hainkel was certainly quick.
But with this distance, he could easily cut off the child’s head before Schlus’s blade arrived.
Schlus probably knew that.
He was practically declaring he’d give up the child’s life.
Despair clouded the lady’s face as she looked up at Schlus.
“Julia. Do you trust me?”
“······.”
Schlus spoke softly, almost like a whisper.
The child’s head turned slowly.
She didn’t care that the blade had cut into her neck.
Seeing that, Schlus Hainkel let out a deep breath, raising his sword.
“I trust your trust.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
Swish!
In that moment, Schlus’s empty eyes were suddenly right in front of the man.
It wasn’t that he had dashed forward quickly.
He hadn’t even blinked; out of nowhere, Schlus Hainkel had ‘appeared’ right in front.
“Ughhh!”
The man belatedly realized that both his arms had been severed.
Once he regained his senses, he noticed that both his legs had also been cut off, and he was crumpled on the ground.
‘Teleportation…!’
There was no other explanation.
What had just happened was undoubtedly a teleportation technique.
Just looking at the child now slumped where Schlus had been beside the lady made that clear.
But she didn’t have the luxury to question how Schlus had cast the teleportation spell.
He had to either kill Schlus Hainkel or take his own life.
“Let’s all die together…!”
Engaging his internal circuits to their maximum, blood spewed from the man’s mouth.
The internal self-destruct technique rapidly overheated, incinerating his entire body.
Schlus’s expression darkened in disbelief as he watched.
If he left it be, everyone in the garden would die.
But to stop it, he’d have to crush the man’s heart.
There seemed to be no way to capture him alive.
At least, that’s how it looked.
“Where do you think you’re running off to, you pathetic fool?”
“Ugh?!”
Schlus plunged his bare hand into the man’s chest, forcing his fingers between the ribs.
His grip sank in and grabbed hold of the heart.
At that moment, the man sensed the magical flow within him changing oddly.
All his internal circuits had been taken over by Schlus’s hand, refusing to listen.
“You can’t die without my permission.”
“······!”
The man met Schlus’s emotionless gaze.
He thought he had completely suppressed fear ever since he devoted himself to religion.
Yet, for the first time in his life, he faced an utterly primal fear and trembled.
