ăŒThree days after Myliaâs first time practicing magicăŒ
Chloe woke Mylia up in the middle of night.
ăMylia, letâs go to the basement⊠Get up quietlyâŠă(Chloe)
ăâŠâŠâŠ..ă(Mylia)
Mylia nodded.
She got out of bed slowly so that she didnât wake Jasmina or Penelope up.
After that, Mylia and Chloe headed for the basement outside the mansion.
ăIâve put a lot of mountain fireflies in this small cage. They will illuminate our path.ă(Chloe)
ăHeeăŒ Theyâre shining brightly.ă(Mylia)
ăMylia, letâs hold hands. Itâll be bad if you trip.ă(Chloe)
ăUn.ă(Mylia)
Mylia held Chloeâs hand, and then they went down the stairs to the basement.
There were hunting tools, farming tools, preserved foods, and miscellaneous daily necessities stored in the basement.
A peculiar smell of dust, fat and metal could be smelled.
They walked to the end of the basement room, and stood in front of a locked old door.
ăMylia, can you hold this cage and illuminate the door for me?ă(Chloe)
ăOkay.ă(Mylia)
Chloe let go of Myliaâs hand a little regretfully, and took out the duplicate key she made from her dress pocket.
She made the duplicate key from a piece of wood that she carved little by little following the shape of the key in the clay she pressed against the original key.
She did it secretly when Aaron and Robin were not around.
Looking at the wooden key, Mylia thought that she has been relying on Chloe all this time.
She wanted to return the favor to beloved older sister someday.
ïŒI want Chloe onee-chan to be happy.ïŒ
While thinking like that, Mylia held the little cage full of mountain fireflies and brought it close to Chloeâs hand.
ăAlright, here we go.ă(Chloe)
Chloe inserted the wooden key into the keyhole and turned it slowly.
ăŒClack.
After such a sound was heard, Chloe and Mylia nodded to each other and entered the room without opening the door completely.
ïŒThe roomâs so small⊠thereâs something in the middleâŠ.. An altarâŠ?ïŒ
Mylia approached the altar and looked at it closely.
ăLooks like itâs an altar for some kind of ritual. Thereâs a magic circle engraving on it. Itâs similar to Celis-samaâs emblem, but⊠itâs dark. I canât see it well.ă(Chloe)
Chloe looked at the altar with interest.
Something like a magic circle was carved on the stone of the altar, and there was a silver pendant on top of it.
It looks like the pendant was deliberately placed there.
ïŒWhat is thisâŠ? I wonder why my body gets hot when I look at this pendantâŠïŒ
Mylia couldnât take her eyes off the pendant.
ăAt least it doesnât look like a cursed seal or something. Iâll try to touch it. Mylia, can you stay away a little?ă(Chloe)
Chloe braced herself and stretched out her arm, trying to touch the pendant.
However, Chloe couldnât touch it because her hand was pushed back by a mysterious force.
ăEh? Why?ă(Chloe)
No matter how many times she tried, she couldnât touch the pendant.
ăEh? Ehh?ă(Chloe)
Being attracted by Chloeâs cute confused expression, which is so rare, Mylia smiled and stepped forward.
Then, she unconsciously stretched her arm toward the pendant, andăŒ
ăMy, MyliaâŠ!?ă(Chloe)
ăHmmâŠ? Geh!ă
Her small hand touched the silver pendant before she knew it.
ïŒWawawa! I just wanted to see Chloe onee-chanâs cute face closely! How did I end up touching it!?ïŒ
Immediately, a strange heat ran through her entire body.
And then, the pendant began to shine.
Because it shone so brightly, Mylia and Chloe spontaneously covered their faces with their arms.
ïŒWhatâs happening!? What is this light!? Someone, give me a manual about this phenomenon, please!ïŒ
After shining for a while, the light eventually subsided.
The room was shrouded in darkness again.
Mylia and Chloe looked at the pendant on Myliaâs palm with their mouth slightly opened.
ăI couldnât touch it no matter how hard I tried, but why could you touch it so easily? And the bright light just now⊠what is this pendant exactly? A magical tool? âŠâŠSo that means Mylia, you have magical power in your body, and that magical power produced the lightâŠ?ă(Chloe)
ăC, Chloe onee-chanâŠ?ă(Mylia)
ăA, Ahh, Mylia, Iâm sorry. I was just surprised. Are you okay?ă(Chloe)
Chloe released Mylia from her arms and looked at her eyes.
ăI feel like I heard someone calling me.ă(Mylia)
ăSomeoneâs calling youâŠ? I see. So you can hear the voice of my heart.ă(Chloe)
ăUmm⊠I donât think itâs your voiceâŠă(Mylia)
ăEhh? Itâs notâŠ? I always think of you in my heart, thoughâŠă(Chloe)
ăOnee-chan⊠it makes me happy, but it was definitely not your voice. I feel like I heard the voice from that side.ă(Mylia)
Mylia pointed to the north side of the Atwood territory.
After picking up the pendant, her body was no longer hot, but she heard someone calling her name from a distance.
She felt like that person was beckoning her.
ăHm? But I donât think thereâs a hidden room in that wall.ă(Chloe)
Chloe looked at where Mylia was pointing and tilted her head.
ăItâs not that wall, I mean a place far away in that direction.ă(Mylia)
ăYou mean somewhere on the north side? But on that side, thereâs only a dense forest that no one has ever visited, you know? As far as I know itâs not human territory.ă(Chloe)