Chapter 10: How to meet a dead person.

Al. Katie. Manya.

And the victim. Signo Irendel.

The four people in the basement were speechless.

Manya, who had finished casting the spell, thought for a moment that she had failed.

Suddenly, black mana gathered around Signo from all directions, strongly enveloping him as if to protect him from Manya’s magic.

An ominous mana, like the one Yukomis wielded.

However, that mana couldn’t withstand Katie’s magic, which she had desperately re-cast, and soon dissipated, leaving only dark blue steam throughout the basement.

‘Did I fail?’

It was a strange variable. It had been verified several times so far, but this mana had never intervened before.

Waiting for the steam to clear, and finally confirming what had happened to the boy.

Manya let out an exclamation in a trembling voice.

And all her anxiety was instantly replaced with joy.

“Ah…ah…”

Thud.

There was no doubt. She couldn’t have mistaken it.

Thermis Solenas.

Thermis in her twelve-year-old girlhood.

The ultimate beauty that Manya knew. She was right in front of her eyes.

“…Katie.”

“…Yeah.”

“Can you see it too?”

“Yeah…”

It was completely the same.

“I’ve accomplished everything…”

Ha. Haha. Manya, who had used all her strength to cast the magic while overcoming the black mana that had intervened out of nowhere, collapsed to the ground.

“This is it. This. The perfect Thermis. The savior of me and all of us, my eternal ideal, Lady Thermis herself. Ah…”

Manya crawled on her knees towards the still-bound boy, or rather, the girl she had now become, and stroked her cheek. The face of the girl, who had lost consciousness, looked so peaceful, unlike how she had looked just a moment ago.

“Oh my, even the texture of her skin…”

“Manya. You really did it.”

“Yeah.”

The culmination of Manya’s entire life was before her eyes.

“…I finally created her. That person.”

“I’ve never forgotten.”

Manya said, almost exhausted.

“There was a study that had to be completed even if I squandered my fortune, embezzled Kiffol’s public funds, and swindled Irendel. It was only for this. My eternal idol. The symbol of human will, the tormented and abandoned saint, Lady Thermis… Ah…”

“……Manya.”

“My theories and research were all correct. Everyone thought I was crazy. Everyone praised only Yukomis, who had completed that good-for-nothing ‘healing magic,’ but I did it too. Even if I wasn’t as much of a genius as that b*tch, even if I didn’t achieve it as quickly as that b*tch, I still did it. I’ve also won. You understand, Katie? What I mean?”

“I know. I know.”

“Yukomis? That b*tch only managed to kill Lady Thermis with that ‘healing magic.’ But me?”

A smile of victory appeared on Manya’s lips.

“I have brought Lady Thermis back to this place again. Unlike that b*tch. Unlike that ‘sister-killer’, torturer, black witch Yukomis! I have achieved the work of saving, not killing!”

Of course, it was just someone else with the same face.

Because the real Thermis had already left this world.

However, as long as absurd magic such as necromancy did not exist, this was the best that Manya could do, as far as she knew.

It had been thirty years.

It was a long time. Starting with pure academic desire at first, with the goal of bringing her back added later, she had never stopped, anyway.

“I’m going to make her read Lady Thermis’s biography. I’m going to tell her the story of Lady Thermis. I’m going to teach her everything about what kind of person Thermis was. No matter what it takes, I have to make her exactly like that person. To make her exactly like that person I remember…”

Manya’s eyes were filled with ecstasy.

Hundreds of ways to be with her ‘work’ that was already in front of her eyes were swirling and flashing through her mind.

“Katie, what would it feel like to hear those words ‘Lady Manya’ from Lady Thermis?”

“That’s…”

“Have you ever imagined it? The sight of hearing the words ‘Lady Katie’ with her face?”

Katie also seemed to be greatly moved by those words.

It was something that felt chilling just to think about.

“What would it feel like? For that Thermis, for Lady Thermis… to call us with honorifics, and to fill our glasses on a cold night and offer them to me respectfully, and to hug us in bed… but even so, Lady Thermis during the day would be an incomparably confident person, just like her at her peak…”

Thermis, Thermis. She had used the word Thermis so many times that it was impossible to count.

‘Now everything will be alright.’

However, her happy imagination did not last long.

Crack.

It was a small sound, but that eerie sound was enough to draw everyone’s attention to the entrance.

Clang. Clang.

The padlock that had been securely fastened to the basement entrance fell helplessly to the floor.

“Huh?”

Kwaaaaaaang!

And before anyone could react, the room was filled with a tremendous explosion and flash.

It was the sound of a cruel reality shattering Manya’s dreams.

In an instant, everyone’s eyes turned white, and their ears rang.

“Kyaaaaak! What is it, what…!”

“It’s an attack, ma’am! This way, quickly!”

Al, who had not been flustered and was the first to come to his senses, overturned the surrounding table to create a cover.

No sooner had he pulled Manya and Katie to hide there than they heard something flying and hitting the table.

Unfortunately, his hand didn’t reach the position where the unconscious Signo was.

Swaaaek, thud.

The sound of a heavy blade flying and hitting the wood.

‘This isn’t magic. Is it a dagger?’

Al, who had finished covering, calmly assessed the situation.

‘Before preparing the next magic, use dagger throwing to check… Damn it, this b*tch is really a war maniac.’

“Amazing. I guess she really was a soldier.”

A woman’s voice, which she didn’t want to hear even in hell, came from beyond the entrance.

Clack. Clack. The sound of heels echoing on the stone floor was chilling.

“Nice to see you again. Trash and henchman. How does it feel to be defeated in the same way you used to use?”

“How did you find us so soon?”

Leaving the two witches, who were still in confusion, Al leaned against the table and replied.

‘The moment you stick your head out, you’re done.’

Al’s ear heard the sound of the mana’s faint trembling in the atmosphere.

Yukomis must have already prepared a mana bullet and was aiming it at the table.

“Your thoughts are like a glass window to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can see through them very transparently.”

“This b*tch…”

Al gritted his teeth and quickly whispered to the table.

“Ma’ams, the situation is not good. Is there a way?”

“…I have a few grenades left.”

Katie, who still couldn’t open her eyes properly, replied.

“I don’t know if they’ll work. She’s only showing her face alone right now, but there’s definitely a knight with her.”

“Oh, how do you know?”

This time it was Manya’s question.

“…That’s her style. She’s obviously using herself as bait. The moment you try to attack rashly, or the moment you try to escape, the knight who was blocking the retreat from outside the entrance will immediately rush in and counterattack.”

It was a tactic that precious magicians would never use, such as using their own bodies as bait,

But the Wyvern Knights to which Yukomis belonged were not a group that was bound by such things.

It was a group that naturally used stealth, ambush, deception, and other tactics that most nobles would avoid as disgraceful, and Al knew that very well.

‘Even so…’

The structure was himself, a specialist in close combat, and two magicians. The fact that she showed herself alone in front of the three of them meant that she was clearly confident.

Confidence that you guys are no match for me.

‘But why? Under that attitude, I feel something similar to a hint of anxiety…?’

Al’s instincts, which had been honed in actual combat, felt an unidentified sense of incongruity from the archmage in front of him.

“Is the operation going well?”

Yukomis sneered, watching them whispering to each other.

“You big guy, I like your skills quite a bit, both in the forest and here. Your situation assessment and reflexes are very good. Unlike your seemingly foolish physique.”

“You’re talking like you’re so great……!”

“Well, I’m actually great, so you didn’t know?”

Al’s expression twisted fiercely.

“Soldier… no. It’s not just that he’s a soldier, but he’s too good at this kind of situation. He’s also good at fighting archmages… maybe he’s a runaway knight?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Looks like I hit the nail on the head? I don’t hate people who are familiar with actual combat. If you surrender and betray those two, I’m willing to spare your life. After serving your term appropriately, I might be able to arrange a job where you can atone for your sins. How about it? My proposal?”

“What are you going to do with the two ma’ams?”

“That’s up to the imperial family to decide. It’s none of my business.”

“I refuse! There’s no way I’d ever trust a b*tch as black-hearted as you!”

“I think it’s a pretty good offer. Anyway, you don’t have any chance of winning, do you?”

Yukomis shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“However, this offer is valid on the assumption that the boy you kidnapped is still safe. Where is that boy now? You didn’t do anything foolish, did you?”

“I’ll ask again. Where is that boy now?”

“…He’s gone.”

Yukomis’s eyes narrowed at those words.

“What trick are you playing? Do you still think you can deceive me?”

“…Hehehe. Think as you please. But that ‘boy’ is really gone now.”

For some reason, his voice was quite cheerful, even though he was in such a desperate situation.

“You’re asking about him pretty urgently. What is it about that kid that made you track him down so quickly? Are you looking for a handsome and young groom or something?”

Yukomis didn’t even scoff at those words.

“Continuing to provoke me is not a good choice. I asked where that boy is.”

“Why don’t you see for yourself? He’ll be lying right over there.”

As if to make up for it, the dark blue steam that had been generated when Manya cast magic on Signo was slowly clearing due to the shock left by the explosion.

Glance. While fixing the aim of the mana bullet, Yukomis’s gaze quickly swept across the room.

She looked around thinking it was a scheme, but there was nothing. The ‘boy’s’ figure was nowhere…

‘No, wait a minute.’

Yukomis’s eyes caught sight of a ‘girl’ who was bound and thrown down.

With her mouth half-open and not moving at all, it seemed like she was unconscious.

When she first entered the room, she had dismissed her as one of the children Manya had kidnapped, but,

For some reason, when Yukomis’s gaze stayed there again, her pupils were nailed in place and she couldn’t move at all.

‘Is she someone I know?’

She had a strangely familiar impression.

Jet-black hair, just like hers, fair skin and complexion that contrasted with it, a fairly tall height and good proportions for a child. It really seemed like she had seen her somewhere before.

“Ah…?”

Yukomis, widening her eyes and examining her features in detail, finally noticed who she ‘resembled.’

It was a face she couldn’t have forgotten. But……

But there was no way that she could be there. There’s no way.

‘No. That’s definitely not it.’

She tried to calm her disturbed mind, but it was not enough.

‘There’s no way. Calm down. Calm down. Calm…’

She repeated it to herself dozens of times quickly, but it was useless.

‘She’s already dead. She’s no longer here. There’s no way. You’re seeing things wrong. She’s someone else. She’s someone who looks alike. It’s an auditory hallucination. It’s a hallucination. It’s a delusion. It’s fake. That’s… that’s nothing…’

That suggestion couldn’t overcome the overwhelming sense of reality before her eyes.

Someone who looks alike? No. It wasn’t like that.

Yukomis’s memory, which couldn’t forget anything, perfectly remembered every speck of her sister’s face.

A person she drew every day, a person who lived in her regrets,

A person who lived in the unfinished tomb of her heart, the only person in this world.

The mana bullet she was aiming at had disappeared and scattered in the air at some point. Her concentration had been lost long ago.

Her eyes also shook wildly following Yukomis’s heart.

‘Lies. It’s a scam. Lies…’

Denial was useless.

It was an unforgettable sight. She knew too well whose face that was.

Her twelve-year-old self. Before she locked herself in the study,

Before she left an eternal scar on her mind,

Before she filled her body with only death,

Bright, lively, and pure, the last time she was happy in her life.

Before a terrible fate knocked on the door…

Before she was forced to become an eventually abandoned hero…

“Sis…”

Finally, Yukomis’s mouth opened as if possessed, and,

“Thermis… Sister…?”

Thud.

Her legs gave out.

“Now is the time! Ma’am!”

As Al shouted, Katie threw a grenade similar to the one she had used to attack Yukomis at the Magic Tower.

The grenade, which had been spinning on the floor, soon began to emit tear gas.

Cheeeeeeeek!

“We have to go now! Lady Manya! Quickly!”

“What? No! I can’t do that!”

“Manya, if it’s not now, it’ll never happen!”

“No, my masterpiece created by a lifetime of research! The only candidate that exists! My Lady Thermis!”

“If you stay alive, you can see it anytime! Let’s promise later! We have to run away now!”

“N, no! Absolutely not! Lady Thermis!”

“Al, carry Manya! Let’s go!”

“Yes, ma’am! Excuse me!”

“My dream… my Thermis!”

Al roughly put the screaming Manya on his shoulder with one hand, and picked up the large shield that was near the table with the other hand.

And he began to run towards the entrance at a fast pace.

Fortunately, Yukomis, who had collapsed, didn’t even look at them.

“…What’s going on? Master…Euaaak!”

Karat, who had been running to attack Al, was sent flying as Al charged like a wild boar with his shield.

“Eryaaaaaat!”

As expected, Karat, who was blocking the passage halfway up the stairs, was pushed and fell by Al, who was charging like a wild boar with his shield in front of him.

In such a narrow place, Karat was relatively too small to block Al.

This was because the difference in physique and muscle strength was absolutely decisive rather than skill.

“Eat this!”

Katie, who was running after Al, threw a few more concussion grenades over her back.

“Stop there! You kidnappers! How dare you…”

Kwaaaang!

“Keuaaaak! Th, these guys!”

He barely endured, clinging to the wall as he was about to fall.

Ignoring the onrushing headache, Karat briefly considered whether he should pursue them,

Soon, he quickly shook his head and looked down, not up the stairs.

…Black dust was pouring out of the basement entrance.

“Master! Are you safe? Master!”