MCEW 09

Chapter 9

3. The Demon of the Outer Tower and the Insects

“Ugh… Sob, cough…”

Intermittent groans of pain echoed from various places, stabbing at Liriope’s ears like needles.

Liriope tightened her arms around Calliona and remained on guard, carefully watching her surroundings.

After completing the sacrament, they had just been dropped into a dark underground space that stretched out like a maze.

It was pitch-black, without a single ray of natural sunlight.

Their view was partially obstructed here and there by rocks, earthen walls, and piles of unidentified plants.

However, glowing insects like fireflies floated around in various places, so it wasn’t completely impossible to see what was in front of them.

Liriope knew that this place was vast and deep enough to seem almost endless.

“Sister… Please wake up, Sister.”

While remaining wary of her surroundings, she shook the sister in her arms.

But Calliona, who had fainted after losing blood, still showed no sign of consciousness.

The image of her sister being discovered as a cold corpse in the Black Forest instinctively overlapped with the sight before Liriope’s eyes.

Sister… You won’t wake up. You’re not in some dangerous condition, are you?

[Hey, brat. Calm down.]

The bleeding has stopped… She’s breathing, too. Then why won’t she open her eyes?

[Your sister will not die. So stop worrying about useless things and get a grip.]

The annoyed voice echoed through her mind once again, but the anxiety that had swelled within her in an instant refused to subside so easily.

“Damn it… What is this…? What the hell is this?!”

What finally doused her rising emotions was the red-haired boy’s anguished cry.

Liriope turned her head and saw the boy sitting on the ground, his face deathly pale.

With a trembling voice, he muttered several curses filled with grief and anger before gritting his teeth and reaching a hand toward his side.

“Hey, Dino, Finn. Hey… Wake up.”

“……”

“Can’t you hear me? Come on, wake up…!”

He desperately tried to wake the children sprawled across the floor.

But the two children who had called the boy their leader didn’t move at all.

Even to Liriope, they already looked dead.

The red-haired boy lowered his head for a moment and gagged repeatedly, as though trying to suppress either nausea or tears.

Then he staggered to his feet.

“Ugh, cough…”

Just then, a small sound came from beside him.

The boy flinched and hurried over.

“Dino? Is that you? Y-you’re conscious?”

“Hnnng… Ugh…”

Although the boy hadn’t regained consciousness, at least one of the two children they had thought were dead was still breathing.

That alone seemed to reassure the red-haired boy, who released a trembling breath.

But it was still too soon to relax.

“Over there…! There’s a supply marker!”

“What a stroke of luck! We landed so close to it!”

“Shut up and run before the others steal it and Zed beats the shit out of us!”

Suddenly, noises accompanied by hurried footsteps came from not far away.

Liriope suddenly realized something and looked up.

Sure enough, a huge magical marker was shining clearly above their heads.

Why is that there now…? No. More people are going to come rushing over here soon. We need to move immediately!

Liriope moved at once.

The red-haired boy didn’t seem to understand the situation immediately, but after seeing Liriope, he quickly hoisted his subordinate onto his back.

Unlike them, who appeared relatively unburdened, Liriope struggled to move while carrying Calliona, whose body was about the same size as hers.

Then she suddenly remembered that she had returned to the past and had just undergone the Northern Magic Tower’s sacrament.

Could I use a simple carrying spell now?

With a strange sense of tension, Liriope tried moving the magical power within her newly formed core.

“Ugh…!”

But the attempt inevitably failed as excruciating pain struck her, as though lightning had crashed directly into her heart.

[Good grief. Don’t you know that you shouldn’t use magic immediately after receiving the inheritance of magical power?]

I didn’t know… I never used magic at this point in time before.

[It’s basic knowledge that every mage should know. Tsk, tsk. I have no idea how those Bellegoth fools raise their disciples.]

The sound of the voice clicking its tongue had echoed in her head so many times that Liriope no longer bothered counting.

[Still, judging by how they’ve thrown these children into the wilderness immediately after transferring their magical power, without even providing proper guidance, it’s easy enough to see just how ignorant those Bellegoth fools are.]

Although the contemptuous voice secretly irritated her, there was nothing she could do about it.

The only mages Liriope knew were the people of Bellegoth, so it was true that she lacked the basic magical knowledge that any ordinary mage should have.

[A core that has only just undergone the sacrament is nothing more than a vessel that has barely taken shape. If you exert force on it before it properly solidifies, not only will it cause pain, but you may also damage the still-soft vessel. Be careful for a while. Understand?]

You said ‘for a while.’ How long is that?

[At least ten days to two weeks. Still, for the sake of an ignorant fool like you, this great one will personally teach you how to strengthen your magical core later. Consider it an honor.]

Liriope half-heartedly ignored the voice that treated her like a clueless fool and forced her legs to keep moving.

As soon as Liriope and the red-haired boy each carried their precious companions away from the area, a group of children appeared.

“Here it is! Looks like we’re the first ones here after all!”

“Huh? Wait, what? It’s not a supply box.”

“Hey, these… Their ragged state looks strangely familiar. Are they the kids who went through the sacrament? No, wait… Has a whole year already passed?”

Four boys and girls who all appeared to be in their mid-teens looked around in confusion.

But that only lasted for a moment.

Soon, their eyes turned bloodshot as they rushed toward the fallen children.

Their hands greedily and frantically rummaged through the pockets of the defenseless children.

The snacks, pieces of bread, and other small personal belongings that the starving orphans had secretly taken from the Magic Tower’s dining hall before the sacrament were quickly stripped away.

Among the children sprawled across the floor were corpses in truly gruesome condition, but none of the newcomers seemed particularly concerned.

Instead, the looters even stripped away clothes and shoes stained with blood and flesh without hesitation.

[Where are you planning to go, anyway? You won’t be able to carry that burden very far, so hide somewhere for now.]

I was already planning to do that without you telling me.

Liriope’s legs nearly gave out several times, almost causing her to fall.

But even while panting heavily, she gritted her teeth and hurried forward as much as she could.

And Sister isn’t a burden. Don’t ever say something like that again.

Fortunately, before she completely exhausted her strength, she managed to find a place where they could hide.

However, just before they reached their destination, the red-haired boy shoved Liriope aside and claimed the small cave in a gap between the rocks first.

“I got here first. Go find somewhere else!”

He quickly pushed his subordinate deeper into the hole and stood blocking the entrance, glaring threateningly at Liriope.

[Would you look at this despicable little brat? Contractor, kill this bastard and take the cave!]

The voice in her head was furious, but Liriope simply stared quietly at the boy’s face.

When the young girl’s eyes turned toward him, the red-haired boy’s pupils wavered faintly for an instant.

Liriope assessed his attitude before speaking.

“I found this place first… So where are Sister and I supposed to hide?”

“How the hell should I know? Find your own hiding place!”

Although he barked harshly at Liriope, the red-haired boy continued to look uncomfortable.

For the moment, Liriope pretended to be frightened, allowing herself to be intimidated by his aggression.

“Then… Could you at least let my sister hide in there with you? You don’t have to let me in. If you hide my sister, I’ll go somewhere else.”

“No. There’s no room.”

His second refusal was almost cruel.

And yet, even as he said that, the boy avoided looking directly at Liriope, as though he couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes.

Besides, he wasn’t deliberately being excessively heartless.

There genuinely wasn’t enough space between the rocks for three people to fit comfortably.

Liriope had noticed it at the dining hall as well, but it seemed that he was actually softer-hearted than he appeared.

After all, he could have simply beaten Liriope and driven her away, or knocked her unconscious and dumped her somewhere else.

Yet he had deliberately chosen not to do so.

“Hey, you guys, gather up whatever else we need. I’m going to look around here for a bit before we head back!”

“Got it. Be careful!”

At that moment, Liriope overheard a conversation among the group of children that she couldn’t afford to ignore.

Apparently, the red-haired boy had heard their voices drifting over from a distance as well, because he anxiously urged Liriope on.

“Damn it, don’t just stand there! Hurry up and go! Do you want us all to die here?!”

Liriope had just made up her mind, too.

Like a coin suddenly flipped over, the eyes that had been pretending to be vulnerable when facing the boy now held a cold, indifferent gaze instead.

“I’m not going.”

“What?”