CH 108

Lagris’s mouth curled up into a smile. A vaguely mischievous boyish air emanated from him.

“Cainus has been looking for you. You’ll have to come with me.”

“…… if I don’t want to?”

“I’ll have to force you.”

There was no malice in his childlike voice. It was rather innocent. If Lagris was the same age as Elise and the emperor, that meant he was close to forty, but he looked very young.

‘Are wizards originally like this…?’

In fact, Barrio Baloxis also looked younger than his age. Reinhardt’s fingers twitched as he listened to the conversation.

“I’m willing to cut the lady’s limbs. So go ahead and make your move, tower lord.”

Reinhardt stopped at Lagris’ words. With a smile, Lagris took something out of his pocket and held it out to him. It was a black leather choker.

“Does everyone here only make chokers?”

Valletta’s eyes were distorted. It felt strange, whether it was  a choker or a dog collar.

“You can put it on.”

Lagris said with a smile, pointing to Reinhardt’s neck. Reinhardt looked carefully inside and put it on his neck.

Valletta’s face turned pale.

“Are you crazy? Can’t you just disappear?”

“Where am I going without master?”

Reinhardt breathed in at the click and the sound of iron interlocking.

‘….. magic.’

It wasn’t just a ‘magic sealant’. His power was completely blocked. Reinhardt involuntarily raised his head and stared at his opponent, feeling empty as if his body was emptying of power.

“I made a few modifications that are a little different from the norm, but I don’t know if I like it.”

“……I like it very much.”

To the point he wanted to smash his head all over it. Reinhardt swallowed his insinuations with a smile.

“Miss Valletta should wear it, too.”

Valletta furrowed her brow as she looked at the choker that Reinhardt had obviously broken when she was caught in the imperial palace.

She held it up in frustration, alternately looking at Reinhardt and Lagris, who had a magic wand attached to her neck.

‘Good thing I took out Jin.’

The magic wand fell away only after she put the choker on her neck.

“Good girl. Gillian said he had something to do inside, so we’ll go

into the village for a while.”

The tip of Lagris’ magic wand pointed to the entrance of the village. The devastation she had seen earlier still flickered before her eyes. Valletta exhaled slowly and turned her face away.

“It’s okay, Master.”

Reinhardt held her hand, sounding too sweet. He blinked slowly. His lips drew a soft line. Reinhardt looked as if he was enjoying a game even in this situation.

Looking at the two curiously, Lagris smiled mischievously.

“You two are close. Are you dating?”

“Are you crazy?”

Valletta asked back, startled, and Reinhardt laughed.

“Obviously not in such a shallow relationship.”

“Hmm. ….”

Lagris looked at Reinhardt with an interesting look in his eyes.

“Don’t forget. If you have to die one day, it will be me who kills you, Master.”

Lagris glanced at him with a frown as he entered the village. It was like seeing Cainus when he was a child, but the frown on his brow quickly straightened. He seemed to be very good at hiding his emotions.

“Did you do this?”

“The tower lord did this, right?”

Lagris said with a smile.

Valletta’s face scrunched up. He had no intention of hiding it. Reinhardt’s smile deepened.

“What are you talking about? This guy was tied up by you guys, wasn’t he?”

“If that’s what the world believes. Does the truth matter?”

Her breath caught in her throat. The words had bones. Reinhardt sounded naughty and innocent, but he didn’t seem like the kind of person who talked lightly. Valletta was silent for a moment, then chose a suitable question.

“How do you turn people into animals with a magic circle?”

“No, honestly, that’s easy.”

He murmured low. Lagris’s eyes took on a different look for a moment.

“I think you should ask how I can turn an animal back into a human being.”

“My junior is asking, Gillian.”

Lagris, still smiling, shrugged his shoulders and shot the question back lightly.

Soon the four of them were at the entrance to the village. As usual, Valletta still had a magic wand pointed at her.

She turned and looked at Gillian.

“What is it that you gain by giving your life and tinkering with people like clay?”

Gillian smiled at Valletta’s sunny words.

“Oh, by the way, I see you’ve read Bertas’s book. Did you ever find out what magic he wrote?”

Gillian, who was clearly tired, answered her curiosity honestly. It was not a friendly reply, but more of a counter-question.

“It’s an alchemy formation with a morphing formula as its main axis: ……. You disassembled the entire human body and reconstructed it as if it were clay and then put it together anew.”

Valletta covered her mouth with her hand. The image of the human body crumbling like it was melting down and being reconstructed again flickered before her eyes. She felt nauseous. It did not take a great price to turn a person into a monster. Perhaps an offering of alchemist’s blood or equivalent would have been enough. Just as she had done with the insects. But to return it to human form, or at least to its original form, a great price had to be paid. Perhaps Gillian had given his life.

“To turn people into monsters and use them..… How much have you sacrificed your life?”

Gillian silently glanced at Valletta and exercised his right to remain silent. He wasn’t feeling very well with his eye patch on. He looked tired and sweat was running down his face.

Valletta looked at him for a long time, who did not answer, and then turned to Lagris.

“Did you create Lost in every village?”

“Yes. It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

Lagris answered Valletta’s question in a light tone. He looked like a wizard, so it shouldn’t be difficult for him to move through space and activate the magic circle.

“But this had already happened over twenty years ago. You weren’t there then.”

Lagris laughed low at Valletta’s words. He snickered with a very amused expression.

“I didn’t create the magic of Lost.”

“Then…..”

“It’s been a long time since we had an empty seat at the head of the table, hasn’t it? How have the wizards dispatched to the Imperial Castle been doing?”

Lagris said in a light voice as he turned around and walked backwards. It was a mischievous voice, but there was still a bone in it .

Reinhardt’s eyes narrowed.

“Cainus has always been cunning, smart, and good at dealing with people. It’s easier for him to win people over and take advantage of their weaknesses than it is for him to breathe.”

“Are you saying that the wizard was dispatched to the imperial family while the tower lord was away?”

Reinhardt asked, his face still smiling. The dark smile on his face indicated that his mood was very bad.

“It’s like that.”

Lagris said lightly.

“Rrrrr…….”

“Huh …….”

At that moment, there was a scratching sound somewhere. Reinhardt stopped walking at the eerie sound and grabbed Valletta’s wrist. His eyes narrowed.

“Don’t go.”

“Why?”

Instead of answering, Reinhardt pointed to the front with his chin . Valletta looked forward and stopped. Gillian took a step back.

As Valletta turned to step back, she saw Lagris standing firmly in his original position. His mouth was faintly drawn in an even-tipped smile. But it was only for a moment that the smile was hung on it.

When she blinked, there was no smile from Lagris. He then took a step back, as if startled. Valletta blinked twice when she saw his brows contract in a slightly annoyed way.

‘Did I see it wrong……?’

She rubbed her forehead with a frown. She looked around, left to right. They were quite a distance from the entrance to inside the village and already most of the people were dead or not normal. Most of them were rolling on the floor holding one of the limbs, and of course some of them were dead. Yes, it was indeed dead people. At least until a few minutes ago.

The problem was that these dead people were standing up with strange muscles and bones. When a normal person stands up, they use their muscles to raise themselves up, either by pushing the ground or putting pressure on their legs. However, the corpses were different. They stood up, bending their legs and bodies in odd ways to raise themselves from the waist. Valletta swallowed a breath as she hurriedly tried to get a paper and pen out of her satchel.

‘…I can’t use alchemy.’

For no reason, Snorta, who was in her bag, peeked out.

“Kaaaa.”

Valletta blinked as she watched the child tilt its head without warning. The tension in her body relaxed a bit. She patted the child on the head and carefully closed her bag. She didn’t want to put it in danger for no reason. She exhaled.

“Master, I’m behind you.”

“Do you use a knife?”

Valletta asked, looking at the pickaxes and knives scattered nearby, and Reinhardt laughed more gaily. Valletta stared blankly at his smile as if she was mesmerized for a moment.

“Not at all.”

It was a grim reply, the exact opposite of the bright smile.

“I’m sure you’ve been working on your muscles, haven’t you?”

“I didn’t feel the need to do this since I had the magic to strengthen my muscles.”

“Do you feel it a bit now?”

“Well, it looks like you needed a little.”

Reinhardt chuckled. Then he snatched her wrist. All four sides were full of living, moving corpses.

Gillian was seen pulling a bunch of papers out of his pocket. He tore one of them up.

“…… You can use it like that, too.”

Valletta regretted that she didn’t ask Carlon Delphine properly about this kind of thing. Of course, it would have been useless even if she had now.

“Rrrrrrr….”

“Quaaaaaah!”

Those, who were shaking their bodies with their arms hanging down in front of them as if they couldn’t keep their balance, rushed to Gillian and Lagris.

Reinhardt took the opportunity and grabbed Valletta’s hand.

“Let’s hide in a suitable place until we decide what to do with them.”

“Run away……?”

“Yes, I can’t do anything right now.”

Reinhardt replied with a more nonchalant expression than expected. Valletta was a little surprised because she thought he was going to smash everything just because he was angry. Perhaps it showed on her expression, for he asked lowly, “Why?”

“You’re softer than I thought.”

“Ah… I’m annoyed, so you think I’d destroy them right away? Or did you think I stayed still because of my pride?”

“…… I don’t think it was the latter, but a little of the former.”

“The situation is annoying, but I hate it even more when master is in danger. And I’ve dealt with them, so I know, but it’s a little annoying to just kill them.”

Reinhardt replied with a smile, then turned slightly and strode towards the inn from earlier. Everywhere he stepped, he heard the sound of people who were still alive, being eaten.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Valletta’s eyes shook at the sound of chewing raw flesh and the screaming for help.. She knew it was practically impossible to help them, but the smell of blood and the sound of screams drifting from all directions was unbearable.

“Master, do you know where the ladder to the roof is?

“Oh, back there.”

Valletta, who came to her senses at Reinhardt’s words, turned around and took the lead. When she went to the back of the inn, the ladder she used earlier was still there.