Chapter 762 – Who Is Beyond the Fog?

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After Lila muttered that after slowly looking around her room, Cleon and Amelia looked at each other for a moment and then looked at Lila again.

Lila then looks at the two people’s expressions, blinks her eyes for a moment, clears her throat, blushes, and speaks.

＂Wait… Can you both stop making faces like, ‘So what happened…’?”

“Ah, haha… I’m sorry!”

As Lila pointed out, when Amelia smiled shyly, Cleon turned her head and hid her expression with her hand.

＂Cléleon─?＂

“Oh, no. Because I’m fine. Don’t worry about it, keep going.”

She felt like Cleon was treating her like a fool, but Lila sighed and shook off the dusty blanket, sat down on it, and remembered her past in her head. I try to revive it.

My childhood self, quietly sitting at the desk and reading a book in this room-

And, as she played with the dolls, she played with them herself.

It was clear that she had no friends even when she was young, but strangely, she didn’t know about loneliness or anything like that at that time.

Her grandfather was always with her at home, and she also liked reading books.

She couldn’t remember the faces of her mother and father, but if her grandfather was there, she might have thought she didn’t care.

But- why?

Why do I feel so lonely when I’m in this room?

Obviously, he must have been alone in this room.

She started sleeping alone quite early on, and after kissing Lila’s forehead, her grandfather went straight back to his study to continue his studies.

That’s why I think being alone in this room is something you’re used to.

I think that something feels different between then and now.

Moreover, I remember staying in this room, but I can’t remember why I had to leave this room and move to another room.

There is another room for Lila on the second floor.

Her room was also her own bedroom, and at the same time it was also a studio for her research.

Simply because you’re older?

No, there must have been a different reason.

Otherwise, Lila thinks, there’s no reason she would have locked the door and made it one of those doors that couldn’t be opened.

With her own memory, she thinks it’s strange that she doesn’t remember the reason, and when she tries to recall the reason, she feels like there’s a fog in her head, and she feels dizzy.

Lila was able to understand and analyze this phenomenon with her knowledge.

＂… Memory sealing magic.＂

It is one of the types of magic that interferes with the mind, and is a magic that literally seals the memories of the target.

There may be many reasons.

Memories that should not be recalled – For example, it is possible to neutralize an enemy by erasing his or her memories, and it is also possible to make the enemy forget important information and use it as a great advantage in operations.

However, the memory sealing spell is only effective when cast on a lower level opponent by a higher level opponent.

Basically, in most cases, those with lower magic skills were unable to penetrate the magic defense of targets with higher skills, and the spells were reflected, or the magic itself was nullified, making it ineffective.

In addition, since memory sealing magic is a magic that puts a direct strain on the brain, it is a very difficult magic, and the number of people who can use it properly is very rare.

Therefore, when this type of memory sealing magic shows its true value, it is an act of healing through sealing magic that is performed after agreement is reached and each party’s magic defenses are released, regardless of the target’s power.

A common use of memory sealing magic in modern times is to seal shocking memories that one does not want to recall, or traumas that should not be recalled, so that one can live a normal life.

According to the memoir left by my grandfather, although he did not directly participate in the battle in the Great War 30 years ago, he nevertheless performed memory sealing magic as a means of healing the psychological wounds of some of the soldiers who had been transported to the rear from the battlefield. It was a fact that I knew because I had some skills left that I had encountered several times.

However, if there is a problem, who on earth cast the memory sealing spell on him?

─It was a rumor. Isn’t that kind of thing limited to just one person?

Lila placed her hand on her forehead and muttered without realizing it.

＂… Why did my grandfather remember my memories…＂

＂..? Laila?＂

When Cleon asks Lila as if she looks a little distressed, Lila shakes her head as if she’s okay.

And then, she walked towards a place that was not sealed in her memories – or perhaps the seal had weakened a bit as time passed – and where some of her memories remained, she stretched out her hand.

That place was the drawer of the desk she used when she was young.

Grumble! When a sound was heard and the drawer was pulled out, it was found that, contrary to Cleon and Amelia’s expectations, it was empty.

However, Lila looked at it carefully and took out a small pen of her own.

Then, without looking closely at her drawers, she inserted her own pen into a hole barely big enough for the tip of the nib, which would be hard to spot unless you looked closely at her drawers, and she used the principle of her leverage to press the bottom of her drawer.

Then- Inside, there was a seemingly old and worn-out notebook.

“Secret space in the drawer…”

＂Should I say it’s Laila-like…＂

Amelia and Cleon are surprised by the fact that she has been thinking and practicing such things since childhood, but Lila does not even pay attention to the words of those two people, opens the notebook in her hand and writes Look at what is written inside.

That notebook was Lila’s research notebook from her childhood.

What was written in crooked letters that seemed to have been copied and transcribed from a basic magic theory book.

Now that I think about it, it seems like that’s how it started when I first started learning magic. Lila was remembering her past self and turning the pages little by little.

He found a sentence that bothered him and stopped his hand.

[Today I became friends with Aqua, Petrus, and Ventuna.]

＂…＂

Those names were the names of three members of the four great families that I had heard several times since arriving here yesterday until today.

It was definitely he who wrote this, and assuming that their story was true, the fact that he was friends with them also seemed to be true.

At least, if you look at this sentence.

Lila narrowed her eyes and slowly deciphered her old story, as if deciphering an ancient document.

The facts written there were something like a child’s delusion – or a story about the inhabitants of a magical world from a fairy tale.

[Aqua is a blue child. She is moody and often gets irritated, but she is the girliest child, so eating something sweet makes her feel better. Her body is cold and becomes mushy when tickled.]

[Petrus is an ocher-colored child. She is quiet and focused on doing her job. He gets angry if you interfere with it, but he plays like he can’t help it. She is the hardest.]

[Ventuna is a green child. She is stylish and hates staying in one place. I’m a little envious of being able to fly. She asked me to give it a ride, but I said no because I was heavy, so she put me in the bottle. I have to release it tomorrow.]

“What… Is this… Did I do drugs when I was young…?”

＂Lila…!? W-what are you talking about?!”

Lila was unable to hide her embarrassment at the shocking contents that came out of Lila’s notebook, and Amelia had no choice but to open her mouth and spit out her words.

＂No, but… If all of this is true… ＂

Lila keeps flipping through the pages as if her head is hurting, wondering if there is any more information in the notebook, but what comes out is the fairy tale from earlier or the cruel fairy tale she is reading. She studies magic while playing with her three friends. The only thing that was said was that

─At that time.

＂Lila!＂

When she heard the sound of Kuon running in, Lila turned around.

＂Please come quickly! Among the people who were detained, there were men…!”

“Petrus? Wait a minute!”

In response to Kuon’s urgent words, Lila hurriedly tried to put the note she was holding in her hand back on her desk, when she saw something slipping out of the note and fluttering towards the ground.

She unknowingly picked it up, and when Lila looks inside her, she sees a map of this town that appears to have been drawn by her own hand, with certain parts colored in with stars –

It was like a child’s treasure map.

“─This is…”

“Lila! What are you doing!”

When Cleon, who was trying to chase after Kuon, called out to Layla once again, Layla suddenly came to her senses, put the map in her pocket, and the three of them ran towards the room where Aqua and Petrus were at the same time.

The door was already open, and Lila saw Ventuna’s hair flying across the threshold.

When you go to check what happened due to the strong magical power reaction felt inside.

There, a huge, ocher-colored magical barrier was spread out, blocking Petrus from entering the room, with her arms outstretched towards Ventuna.

And next to him, Aqua looked embarrassed, waiting for Petrus to untie his rope with his free hand.

“What!? The use of magical power was prevented, but how could magic be used…”

Lila made a noise in confusion, but when Petrus looked at her arms, which had spread out the barrier, she held her breath.

By causing the magical core implanted in her arm to explode, she forcibly released the magical energy seal she had placed.

Of course, it’s not that she didn’t expect Lila to do that, but when she did something like that ─

“You! If you don’t stop using your magic power right away, the magic nerves in your entire upper body, not just your arms, will burn out, and you may become unable to move!”

Lila warns Petrus, but Petrus silently strengthens his defenses even as blood bleeds from her mouth.

＂You idiot…!＂

By biting her lip like that, Ventuna dissipated the whip of wind she was wielding to break her barrier and attempted to use even greater magic.

However, at the same time, Aqua’s rope was released, and Aqua turned around, broke the window of the room, and ran outside, leaving Petrus behind.

＂Wait, wait!＂

Lila also panicked and tried to chase Aqua by running towards her entrance instead of the area blocked by her barrier, but Petrus pinned her hand, which had been extending her barrier, to the ground.

＂Graviton Impulse…!＂

Among earth magics, it is the type of magic that manipulates gravity.

The high-level magic that he could never use with his original skills, his own will and the magic core of his arms-

And, it is activated at the cost of burning his own nerves flowing through his upper body.

Then, everyone in the room, including Lila, felt their bodies suddenly become heavier and were unable to move for a moment.

＂Kuh… Ugh…!＂

At that time, when I thought I heard a sound like something scratching my ear, Sasha, who was unable to move from her seat but was able to move her arms, drew her bow and used her magic at the tip. He takes it and fires it at the barrier that Petrus has laid out.

When Sasha sighs as she sees the flying arrow digging through the barrier like an excavator, but stopping midway.

“No…! Well done, Sasha!”

The next moment, Cleon fires his magic towards the arrow.

Then, the mana shock that flowed toward the arrow’s tip was fired through the point that pierced the other side, hitting Petrus’ body beyond it.

Puzzle! A mana shock that causes a reaction so strong that large sparks jump out.

And, as the magic core he had implanted in his arm broke one after another, the gravity magic that was temporarily restraining the body of the party and the barrier protecting his body disappeared at the same time.

As soon as his magical power was depleted, he received a recoil from excessive use of magic and fell to the ground.

When Ben Tuna, who was in front, approaches him and checks his pulse, his face darkens, and he speaks.

“I have a Mac, but it’s not normal. My heart’s pulse is becoming very weak. If you don’t get treatment right away, your life is in danger.”

Hearing Ben Tuna say that, Laila clenches his fists.

In her mind, Fromme’s despairing face flashed as she received the news that Petrus had died while trying to unseal the Magic Tower.

＂Kuon… Please. Treat him so he doesn’t die.”

“Okay… What about Laila?”

“I have to chase after the guy who ran away. That guy too, he must be punished if he committed a crime. Cleon, please come with me.”

When Lila names herself, Cleon nods her head.

Then he approached her and quietly asked her in a voice that only she could hear.

＂What about the other kids?＂

“… This time, just the two of us. Let’s talk a bit as we go… No, I have something to check.”

When Lila says that there is something she doesn’t want others to know, Cleon nods that she understands.

“Sasha, Amelia. The mansion might be attacked again while we are away. Then, I will ask you to take care of me then.”

“Yes, I understand! Mr. Cleon!”

“You have to be careful, Lila.”

Listening to the two people’s answers, Cleon and Laila nod their heads and leave their mansion.

After Aqua escaped through the window, some time was already wasted.

As the distance increases, the seal of Lila’s magical power will be released and Aqua will have already escaped far away.

There are not enough clues to follow recklessly.

However, there was no hesitation in Lila’s eyes or a feeling of wandering in her path.

“Lila. Where is Aqua?”

“If you think about it normally, it would be the Riverfinder family’s mansion. She will have that child’s attack and defense, and there will also be a barrier that can strengthen her own magic power. If you lock yourself in and hold a sit-in, for a magician, the workshop is the fortress.”

When Lila starts to move her steps while saying that, Cleon also follows behind her and answers.

“I see. So, are we also going to the Riverfinder Mansion?”

“… No, it’s just a normal story. Now, the child has not returned to the mansion.”

Cleon fell silent for a moment at Lila’s words.

Then, Lila would put her reasons for her guesses into words.

＂That child also seems to have put a lot of effort into working with slime, and although he is said to be far from sealing my magic power, he must have consumed a lot of magic power to forcefully release the weakened thing. Even if he returns to the attack and defense in that state, if he does not recover the consumed magic power, he will not be able to resist and will only be captured again. In order to recover the consumed magic power, you must go to the place in this town where the magic power is the strongest.”

＂… No way.＂

At Lila’s words, Cleon raised his head and looked toward the broken magic tower.

In that magic tower, as expected, a strong presence of magical power was felt that was different from other places.

“Yes, that’s right. The child went to the magic tower. But… The specific place.”

Lila takes out her map that she had kept in her pocket.

She felt something special about the map she drew when she was young.

“Cleon. Do you trust me?”

＂… In the past, I would have answered ‘no’. For now, I believe it.”

When Cleon answers like that, Lila smiles and raises her head to look toward the magic tower.

“Then let’s go. Inside the sealed magic tower.”

And together, the two of them headed toward the entrance to the ancient ruins that her grandfather had sealed.