When I regained my composure, my surroundings had changed .
The originally destroyed abandoned house had collapsed completely now, and the ground around us looked somewhat like a crater .
“Mei!? Alea!? Claire-sama!?”
Immediately after realizing that we were attacked, I frantically searched around for the three of them .
“I’m right here . ”
“Claire-sama! I’m glad you’re not hurt anywhere . ”
“More importantly, where are Mei and Alea?”
Since we were hit by a surprise attack, I didn’t have any time to set up any defensive magic for them .
There was no way they were safe .
“We’re fine!”
“Mei and Relaire saved us . ”
A pair of energetic voices called out to us from atop of the pillar that I created with my “Uplift” spell .
When I took a closer look at them, there seemed to be a magical barrier spread above their heads, which was being supported by Mei and Relaire .
This was something that I only learned of later, but it seemed that the collar that was sealing Mei’s magic had been destroyed by a piece of debris back when I used my “Uplift” spell on them .
I could feel the relief washing over my heart .
I was so glad that they were unhurt .
“I’ll cancel the spell now . ”
I shrank the pillars and brought the kids back to the ground .
The two of them came running up to us .
“Are both of you okay!? Do you have any injuries!?”
“Yeah, I’m fine . More importantly――”
“Okaa-sama, it’s coming again for us again! That black light!”
When we looked over to where Alea was pointing, we saw a dark light heading straight for us .
I hurriedly put up a barrier with my earth magic .
At that moment, I saw a shadow of somebody crawling out of the barrier .
“Lana, what are you doing!? Hurry up and get in here!”
“I can’t…… I…… betrayed you guys, after all……”
Lana, whose complexion looked pale, murmured .
“That wasn’t your fault, Lana! You were just being manipulated!”
“Even so…… I was abandoned by Papa, and my existence has no value anyway……”
I see, so that’s what it was .
This surprise attack wasn’t meant for us alone, he was willing to hurt Lana in the process .
Salas had intended to dispose of Lana along with us from the very beginning .
Lana must’ve noticed that as well .
Because she had lost the only thing that she could cling onto, she had fallen into despair .
“Just…… leave me to die . ”
“I won’t!”
As I maintained the barrier with one hand, I pulled Lana back in with the other .
Her stout body felt heavy since all of her strength had escaped her .
Right as I barely managed to drag her back into the barrier, another demon-like magical spell was fired at us .
This attack is quite long――!
“Let me die…… sensei . ”
“I won’t…… I absolutely won’t――!””
I desperately kept Lana from exiting the barrier .
“Why……? Why would you go so far for me……?”
“Isn’t it…… obvious… . . ?!”
I mean, Lana Lahna―― you are――
“You are my student, after all!”
“……!”
“As long as you keep calling me your teacher, then I will never abandon you!”
I put my strength into pulling Lana closer .
Right as Lana fell over towards me, the attacks from the enemy had stopped .
“…… Rei-sensei, you idiot… . . You’re seriously such an idiot… . . ”
“I get that a lot . ”
“You should’ve just left me behind . I did such terrible things to your children too . ”
“We can deal with that later . ”
Lana, who was smiling as she cried, started to break down a little bit .
In that moment, two small shadows ran up to Lana .
“Lana, you did something bad, didn’t you?”
“You need to be scolded whenever you do something bad, you know?”
The twins said as they gave Lana a gentle push on her back and,
“”Now then, you have to say that you are sorry . ”’
Lana broke down as she apologized profusely through her tears while bowing her head repeatedly .
Mei and Alea comforted Lana as she did so .
What a strange sight .
Lana should’ve been the older one, but somehow, it felt like Mei and Alea were acting like older sisters to her .
When I thought about it, perhaps Lana really had stopped maturing, though .
I couldn’t say this for certain, but Lana was most likely also a subject of human experimentation, just like Lily-sama was .
Lana, who was toyed with by Salas, had always been under his control .
It was unreasonable to expect anybody who worked under Salas to mature normally .
Perhaps, without exaggeration, Lana was actually mentally younger than Mei and Alea .
“Lana, please don’t cry……”
“If you do, then we might also end up…… . ”
Mei and Alea both started sniffling .
Maybe the fear that they felt over being abducted was finally starting to surface .
“Okaa-sama!”
“We were so scared!”
The two of them jumped straight into Claire-sama’s chest .
They clung onto Claire-sama and started crying .
The two of them looked and acted really brave, but in the end, they really were scared after all .
“It’s fine…… Everything’s fine now . I’m glad you two are safe…… I’m really glad……”
Claire-sama hugged them back with tears of her own in her eyes .
There were no words that could describe how relieved we were .
I could feel that we had truly rescued them now .
After the attacks stopped, we returned to the Imperial capital city .
And thus, the case of the abduction of the twins had come to an end .
◆◇◆◇◆
After the incident, Lana was privately interrogated by a person from Bauer .
Although the kidnapping itself was already considered a crime, Claire-sama and I reported that we suffered no damages whatsoever to the Imperial police .
According to Lana, she and Lily-sama both underwent human experimentation by Salas .
The subjects were said to have been competing with each other, and in the middle of all of that, they were made to be dependent on Salas as well .
After Lily-sama was deemed the most successful of the bunch, Lana and the other remaining subjects were considered “discarded”, but about a year ago, somebody that worked under Salas had contacted Lana .
“I was incredibly happy . Even though I thought I had already been tossed aside, I was now being told that I was needed . ”
Salas took advantage of Lana’s loneliness .
The white headband that she always wore was something that Salas had gifted her long ago, and it was the only thing she had ever received from him .
Of course, it was used as nothing more than a magic tool to control Lana, but to her, it was something irreplaceable to her and served as a representation of her faith in him .
Like Joel, both Eve and Lana were being sent back to Bauer .
They were going to be interrogated further back home and then assist in capturing Salas .
Before we had to part, we had one last conversation with Lana and the others .
“Sensei, I’m really glad that you’re you . ”
“What’s with that? You’re saying something quite confusing . ”
“Fufu, I guess so . Before, I kept on telling you about how much I liked you because I was ordered to by my Papa, but right now, I feel like I’ve actually fallen in love with you . ”
“I can’t respond to those feelings, though . ”
“Fufu, I know,” Lana said as she laughed .
“Rei-sensei, Claire-sensei, I’m really sorry . I know what I did was unforgiveable, but I’ll atone for it for rest of my life . If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know whenever . ”
“The sentiment alone is enough for us . ”
“That’s right . Anyway, just focus on capturing Salas for now . ”
“Yeah . I need to learn how to be independent from my parents now, huh . ”
Despite being washed over with guilt and remorse, Lana spoke with a refreshed look on her face .
“Come on, Eve . You should say something too . ”
“…… . I don’t know how I should apologize . ”
Eve said awkwardly .
She was also being sent back to Bauer for now, but after that, she was being called to Sousa .
Apparently, it was something that Manaria-sama had asked for .
“You didn’t do anything wrong either, Eve . Everything is Salas’ fault . ”
“But if only my will was a bit stronger――”
“That’s wrong, Eve . ”
Claire-sama interrupted Eve while she was in the middle of expressing her lament .
“Magic is an incredibly powerful force . It’s not something you can fight back against with your will . It really wasn’t your fault, Eve . ”
“…… But…”
“If there’s anything you need to feel remorseful about, it should be the fact that you left onee-sama behind with a word . Once you return to Sousa, be sure to have a proper conversation with her . ”
“… . . I’ll think about it . ”
Eve said with a bitter smile .
She seemed to have something on her mind still .
I won’t say anything, since it was something that was between Manaria-sama and Eve, but still, I wished I could do something for them .
“The carriage is about to arrive soon . ”
The person in charge called out to us .
It seemed like it was almost time for them to leave .
“Well, this is goodbye, sensei . See you later . ”
“…… Thank you for looking after us . ”
“Take care . ”
“I wish you the best . ”
All of us shook hands .
Right before she got onto the carriage, Lana looked like she had suddenly remembered something .
“Hey, sensei . Could you leave a message to Mei-chan and Alea-chan for me?”
“Hm?”
“I…… I’m really glad I was scolded by them . ”
“I’ll let them know . ”
“Yes . ”
When we nodded, Lana broke into a huge grin .
Claire-sama and I watched the carriage as it gradually disappeared from our line of sight .
“Claire-sama . ”
“What is it?”
“Salas is such a terrible person . ”
“Yes, you’re right . ”
“I’ve always hated him, but this incident has made it perfectly clear to me . ”
“I agree . ”
Claire-sama nodded deeply .
“He did something absolutely unforgiveable . It’s safe to say that he has incurred our wrath now . ”
“You’re right . ”
“We’ll definitely capture him . ”
“Yes, for sure . ”
We quietly―― but resolutely nodded our heads .
We were never going to forgive the man that keeps on spreading malice everywhere .
“Shall we go home?”
“Yes, let’s return to our beloved children . ”
In response to the incident that had just taken place, security at the Bauer dormitory had been tightened .
As usual, somebody was watching over Mei and Alea right now .
Dor-sama was the one looking after them today .
I will never let something like this ever happen again .