GalaxyTL
Licht’s anguished cries echoed through the dark, strangely spacious room. His fists were bleeding because he was punching the ground so hard. I want to stop him, but I don’t know what to say.
“It’s my fault… It’s all my fault…”
Ah, this scene…!
“You guys did nothing wrong…! We have to escape somehow…”
Even at a time like this, he’s thinking about us. You’re too kind, Licht.
“Licht, it’s not your fault. …It’s no one’s fault.”
Ronny spoke quietly for me, as I couldn’t find the words. But Licht shook his head violently.
“How can that be!? In the first place, I…!”
Licht choked on his words. Yeah… I understand what he wants to say. He’s blaming himself, thinking that none of this would have happened if he hadn’t escaped from the castle. That at least we would have been saved if he’d left us behind.
“Why… Why is this happening…”
Why, how come. There are many times in life when you think “If only I’d done this”, “If only I’d done that”. But this isn’t right. This is too cruel… To be betrayed by someone you trusted all this time.
You’d be a mess of feelings, wanting to believe, feeling anger and sadness towards Ravi-san.
I can understand how he feels, but… I can’t truly comprehend it. The words I have to offer probably have no weight. I don’t think I can save Licht.
『 A kind person who suddenly betrays you, a person you thought was bad who turns out to be incredibly thoughtful. That’s what humans are like, complex. 』
That’s right. Just like Leo-jii said. And to think I’d have to experience it this way.
What should I do? What should I say?
I was thinking these pointless things, unable to speak.
…No. This is no good. Get a hold of yourself, Meg. I saw this scene in my dream, right? If I do nothing, then it’ll be just like that dream. I saw this as a precognitive dream, so there must be something I can do. The me and Ronny in the dream, we just slumped there, unable to do anything.
But I’m different in reality. I’ll take action! Didn’t Leo-jii always say this at the end of his stories?
『But there is one thing that humans and those of the Demon realm have in common, and that is—』
…Never giving up. I’ll do what I can. I also believe in you, Leo-jii. So please watch over me.
I pulled myself together, looked straight at Licht who was hanging his head, and took a deep breath.
“I’m here! I’m here! Licht!”
Licht looked up, startled, when I suddenly raised my voice. Even Ronny seemed surprised and was looking this way.
“It’s not just me, Ronny’s here too! You’re not alone, Licht!”
Licht stared at me with his mouth half open. He’s making a dumb face!
“And besides, we don’t know yet, do we? What Ravi-san’s true intentions are.”
Licht’s eyes widened, startled by my words. That’s right. There’s still a possibility that Ravi-san’s hiding her true feelings, right? Maybe she said those things to make us hate her, because of the situation. I’m a little girl who doesn’t give up easily.
“What if, what if? If Ravi-san really meant what she said…”
I said this boldly, clenching my chained hands above my head.
“Let’s get really mad! And tell her, ‘How dare you deceive us!'”
After a while, I heard Licht’s chuckle echo through the silent room. Ah, he laughed.
“Yeah, you’re right… That’s right. I won’t be sad. No matter what her true intentions are, I won’t be satisfied unless I yell at her!”
Licht, grinning, seemed to have a better complexion than before.
“I’m here too. I’ll get angry with you too.”
Ronny, next to me, smiled at Licht and then at me. Yeah, that’s reassuring!
“Ah, thanks. Meg and Ronny too… You guys are like my siblings!”
We haven’t solved anything, but we’ve lifted each other’s spirits, right? Unlike the dream, we didn’t just despair and wait. It’ll be okay. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow. But first, we have to get out of this situation!
“By the way… why is only Licht so far away?”
I finally voiced something that had been bothering me, but I hadn’t been able to say. Well, it wasn’t the right atmosphere.
“Well… I don’t know either.”
“…Licht, isn’t there something drawn on the floor near your feet?”
Ronny asked seriously to the puzzled Licht who tilted his head. Near his feet?
“No… Hmm? Wait, there seems to be something faintly drawn. It’s hard to see because it’s so dim, but…”
“Could it be… a circular pattern?”
Licht, who answered that he could see it, had a surprised look on his face. I was startled by Ronny’s words. A circular pattern…
“D-Don’t tell me… a magic circle!?”
“Eh, this? Now that you mention it, there was something similar on the floor when we were teleported to the Eastern Castle… but the pattern seems to be different. It’s simpler, I think.”
Licht was observing the magic circle from a crawling position. I can’t see it from here. Even if I could, I wouldn’t know what kind of effect it has just by looking at it. Ah, I should have studied more! Ah, it’s pointless since I can’t see it from here… Sigh.
“I don’t know the effect, but the fact that Licht’s chained to it means… I think they’re planning to use Licht’s magic power to activate it…”
“So I’m a battery?”
“Battery…?”
“No, it’s nothing,” Licht said, but I get the analogy! But that’s probably what’s going on. This human continent is desperately lacking magic power. And if you have magic power, you can activate magic. And Ronny and I are the reserve. So when Licht’s magic power runs out, one of us will take over until it recovers, right? And they’ll keep doing that?
To be restrained, and have your magic power constantly drained, then recover, then drained again…? Thinking about that, a shiver ran down my spine. Th-That’s horrible!
But what kind of magic would they want to activate so badly? …Well, I don’t even need to think about that. We thought we were going to be sold as products, but we’re not. Then what’s the product?
“This… isn’t this a magic circle to teleport demi-humans from the Demon Continent…? That way, they can get… products… constantly…”
The two of them gasped at my prediction. Probably because they thought I was right. That’s not okay, that’s not okay! For the people living on the Demon Continent to be teleported without knowing it and then sold! And using our magic power, at that.
“Oh, aren’t you smart? That’s right, little miss.”
As I was trembling, I heard that voice from the back of the room. It’s Gordon-san…!