Chapter 468

With the bare minimum of caution for traps and the like, Tatsuro and the others hurried down the only passageway.

Soon, the next room came into view. What's more, there was a human presence.

While remaining vigilant and slowing their pace slightly, Tatsuro charged in all at once alongside Tsukuyomi, deploying a barrier in front.

"This is..."

The expectation had been that the culprit would either be in a panic or fully prepared and waiting for Tatsuro and the others, but what was there was a single elderly elf chained to the wall by both hands and his neck.

There were traces of being beaten in places, and while he wasn't in a state where he might die immediately, he was injured.

A short distance away, the corpse of a girl around 14 or 15 years old lay restrained on something like an operating table, her face twisted in agony that didn't seem of this world.

The corpse had its cranium sliced open in a circle from the forehead, and the removed top portion of the skull had been carelessly dropped onto the bed.

Furthermore, the brain that should have been inside the head had been cleanly removed, and a sphere similar to the cores inside the golems they'd encountered along the way was carefully placed on a bloodstained cloth laid beside the girl's right ear.

Judging from the state of the body, the smell, and the dryness of the blood, it didn't seem like much time had passed since she was killed.

If so, this was probably the missing person who had triggered Tatsuro and the others' visit here.

Faced with quite a shocking scene, they remained on guard but were hesitating on how to proceed when Leela, who had been staring at the old elf with a suspicious expression, suddenly raised her voice.

"You're… Setepuenberkelp!? Why are you in a place like this!"

".........You are... Oh, Setepuenritisherera..."

In a frail elderly voice, Leela started to move to cut the chains- but she stopped there, since she didn't know what traps might be present.

That was because there was a magical reaction from the shackles and collar connected to the chains that were fastened to his wrists and neck.

At the very least, they weren't ordinary shackles or collars, but assumed to be some kind of magical tools.

"Setepuenber... Fufun-san, right? Wasn't he the person who taught you all sorts of things when you were a kid, Leela?"

"Yes, that's right, Ai. And he's also the one who researched cores using brains... Could you explain this? Setepuen- no, Berkelp-san."

No matter how you looked at him, he had aged, to the point where it wouldn't be strange if he died of old age.

For Clear Elves, who have no lifespan or aging, this was practically impossible.

That meant, judging from the degree of aging, he had undoubtedly abandoned his position as a child of god thousands of years ago and become just a long-lived elf.

That's why Leela removed the "Setepuen" indicating a child of god and changed to a way of addressing that indicated an individual.

"That can wait! Hurry, if we don't hurry, that guy, that guy will get away! Quickly, use the transfer magic circle over there and chase after him! That one's the mastermind behind everything!"

"What do you mean..."

When they turned their gaze in the direction the old elf desperately thrust his chin forward to indicate, there was a carpet carelessly laid on the floor. 𝐫₳ＮƟＢĘ𐌔

While harboring doubts, Leela slowly approached it and rolled back the unnaturally placed carpet, revealing a magic circle constructed with complex magical formulas drawn beneath.

Probably, if magic power was channeled into this, anyone could activate the magic inscribed in the formulas of this magic circle.

"That's the transfer magic circle I created! Use it to transfer, and capture the culprit who imprisoned me here and forced me into this horrific research, Guillaume! He's fled with all my research materials, so if we let him escape, similar incidents might happen somewhere else!"

Apparently, according to Berkelp, there was a person named Guillaume, and that man had forced him to work through some method, causing this incident.

And Guillaume, realizing he had no chance against someone who could easily defeat even the strongest golem unit, activated the magic circle Leela had just found and fled by jumping to the connected transfer destination.

Furthermore, since Guillaume had taken all the research materials so far, if they didn't chase and capture him immediately, there would be more victims- that was the summary of his story.

Also, the rings connected to Berkelp's neck and wrists were set to explode if forcibly removed or if the chains connected to the wall were cut, and Guillaume had the key.

The composition was complex, not something that even the pair of Tatsuro and Cardina could remove in an instant.

So if they could chase Guillaume right now using the transfer magic circle and capture him, they could apprehend the mastermind and also release Berkelp's restraints.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone.

"Then maybe we should go after this Guillaume person first?"

"But even to chase him, we have too little information. Do you know any characteristics of that man?"

When Tatsuro asked Berkelp that, he seemed to immediately discern who was commanding this group, and without inserting any particular doubts, began describing the features.

"In terms of race, he looks around 30 years old, height about 170 cm, blue hair, species is Magic Elf. Apparently, his left hand was bitten off in a battle with a monster, and he's fitted with a prosthetic I was made to create. It looks like a silver gauntlet, so it should be immediately recognizable. To add more, there's a scar on his chest from being scratched by a monster's claws."

"The scar aside, the prosthetic is an easy-to-spot feature, huh."

"Then let's go right away. Leah! Leave that for later and hurry over here!"

Leela, who seemed eager to head to the magic circle as soon as she heard the features, urged Leah, who was currently looking around the room.

From earlier, Leah hadn't been listening to Berkelp's story, instead examining the magic circle, the core, and freely rummaging around on her own.

But even when called by Leela, Leah showed no sign of stopping her rummaging, and when Nana took a step forward to bring her over, she suddenly opened her mouth toward Berkelp.

"May I ask a question? Berkelp-san. It concerns this man named Guillaume as well."

"Ah, yes. Go ahead, little miss."

Though he seemed eager to hurry, when Berkelp was told that, he couldn't very well refuse to answer.

Facing Leah, who looked like nothing more than a young girl, he nodded with a grandfatherly expression.

"Then I'll ask straight out. Does a person named Guillaume really exist?"

"...Huh? Little miss. What are you suddenly-"

Berkelp wore a puzzled expression as if he didn't understand at all, but Leah ignored it and continued her questioning.

"The shackles and collar connected to the chains. You can remove those yourself, right? Why have you been pretending to be captured all this time? It seems cleverly crafted to evade dispel magic measures and not be detectable even by Spirit Eye or the like, but you can't fool my eyes."

"Little miss, you'd better keep the jokes in moderation. Setepuenritisherera, won't you say something to her? It seems this little girl has taken a dislike to me."

"Berkelp-san... You couldn't possibly…"

Just for an instant, truly just an instant. When Leah pointed out the collar and shackles, Leela didn't miss the slight twitch of Berkelp's eyelids.

Up until now, Leela had blindly believed that 'That Setepuenberkelp couldn't possibly do such inhumane acts,' but a small stain began to spread in that thinking.

"Hey now, are you going to take this child's words seriously too? Give me a break. If we don't hurry, Guillaume will escape."

"Then from now on, I'll draw that exact magic circle right in front of you, so first, why don't you transfer using that? If you do, I'll believe everything you're saying."

"Even if someone who doesn't understand traces it, the magic circle won't be complete, little miss."

A magic circle becomes nothing more than meaningless doodles without effect unless described while properly understanding the meaning of those magical formulas.

This transfer magic circle was one of the techniques Berkelp himself considered a masterpiece, and he didn't think at all that someone else could imitate it just by looking a little.

That's probably why he looked at Leah with eyes seeing a childish person and spoke in a admonishing tone.

However, Leah smiled brightly and replied.

"Then, even if it doesn't activate, I'll believe you. In that case, it should be all the more convenient for you, right?"

"I'm saying time is precious, though?"

Berkelp glared at Leah with a voice mixed with slight irritation, and Tatsuro stood beside her as if to protect her.

"Berkelp-san. I don't know much about you, but I do know her- Leah- fairly well. If asked who to believe right now, I'd believe Leah. So if she isn't convinced, I have no intention of moving."

"Me too!"

"I as well."

"Peewee"

"Neigh"

"Me too."

""Me too""

"Me too."

Why believe that little girl over himself, who was hailed as the father of Clear Elves? With an expression of utter incomprehension, he directed his gaze to Leela, the only one he had a connection with.

"Setepuenritisherera. Not you too, surely?"

"............"

"I see. If you want to doodle, do as you like."

What came back from Leela was silence.

She wanted to believe, but couldn't. That was probably where she stood.

Berkelp sighed and leaned back against the wall while still chained.

"Yes. I'll do just that."

Leah brushed off the sarcasm with a full smile and took out a metal plate in front of Berkelp.

Dripping the high-purity magical liquid that Tatsuro had swiped earlier onto it, she used smithing skills to engrave the magic circle she had only glanced at earlier.

"No way."

He had confidence that he was the only one in the world who understood this. That's why he had lightly accepted Leah's proposal.

But what about the girl before him? Without hesitation, without comparing, she continued moving her hands, not mistaking a single order of describing the magical formulas, not distorting a single character, carving it perfectly.

In about three minutes, a perfect magic circle was completed there.

"Now then? Please channel your magic power through it yourself. If you transfer just yourself, the shackles and collar should come off, right?"

"........................Who are you?"

Since he had observed the creation process without even blinking, Berkelp could affirm that the girl before him completely understood the theory of this transfer magic circle and that it would perform exactly the same as the one he had drawn.

He didn't want to believe it, but he had no choice. Amid such emotions, those were the only words that came out.

But Leah continued to corner him with a smile still on her face.

"Who I am doesn't matter here, does it? More than that, come on, it's exactly the same as the one you drew, right? It's something you created yourself, and to Guillaume? Was that it? It's just going to that person's transfer destination, right? Since it's drawn by a little girl, there's even a possibility it won't activate, right? What reason is there to hesitate? Come on, try it."

Beside Leah, Tatsuro and Ai, and all the others were focusing on Berkelp.

Choosing not to do it here would only increase suspicions about himself.

Berkelp understood that better than anyone, but-.

"............There's no way I can do it myself. You, who drew that perfectly, should understand that well."

"I suppose so."

Here, Leah erased the smile she had been wearing until now and directed a cold gaze at Berkelp.

"What does that mean? Leah. I'd like an explanation."

"Then I'll explain. About just how malicious this transfer magic circle is."

And so, Leah began to slowly explain why, in this situation, Berkelp refused to use this transfer magic circle.