GalaxyTL
There were 3 small figures. Each one was still a child, and in half-beast form. It was clear they had been forcibly teleported from the Demon Continent. All 3 of them looked dazed, and upon seeing us, fear immediately clouded their eyes. Of course, we were chained up and looked to be in pain.
“Take them away.”
At Gordon’s command, about 5 people who seemed to be his comrades appeared out of nowhere, quickly captured the children, and took them out of the room. They must have immediately put magic restraining tools on them so they couldn’t resist, since they were children with magic power. The same as what we had on us. The iron collars were surely that.
Originally, those are things guardians put on children out of concern, to prevent their magic from going out of control! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…! With pain and frustration, all I could do was pray. Because if I spoke, I felt like I would cry out.
And so, Licht was forced to channel magic power into the magic circle over and over, without rest. Because only then did Ravi-san finally remove the fire from the chains. But the heat continued until they cooled. Ronny and I simply endured it. Our wrists and ankles must have terrible burns.
But Licht was going through even more pain than that. Because his actions led to innocent children being kidnapped, and we were treated so horribly. Thinking if he didn’t do as told, we would suffer again. Of course, this wasn’t what Licht wanted at all! You could tell just by looking at his face.
But that suffering awaited me and Ronny too.
After who knows how much time had passed, Licht finally passed out from exhausting nearly all his magic power. It seemed I would be the next one taken to the magic circle. They unfastened the part chaining me to the wall with a clatter and forcefully pulled the chains on my hands. Being pulled by my burned arms was so painful I nearly passed out. I had no choice but to move. Walking with my feet, heavy with chains and burned like my arms, was agony.
Amidst that, I somehow managed to follow Licht with my eyes as he was dragged away. It seemed he was being put in a small cell in the corner of the room.
“Come on, hurry up and recover your magic power. Ah, and don’t think of trying anything funny. If we see any weird behavior… the other two will have a painful time again.”
One of Gordon’s comrades violently woke up Licht, who had been thrown in the cell, and said that. Licht let out a small groan, so he must have heard it. He weakly clenched his fists. He must be… so frustrated.
“Alright, next is the little miss. I wonder how long her magic power will last? Give me at least half a day, okay?”
His coaxing voice infuriated me. But I had no choice but to do as told. I couldn’t put any more burden on Ronny, and there was no telling what they would do to Licht in his weakened state.
Frustrating. Frustrating. So frustrating…! I’m sorry, to the children who were brought here, for making you experience this fear… Tears spilled out.
It felt like an endlessly long time. Based on what I heard the organization members saying, I had been channeling magic power here for over half a day. It was agonizing…
“Meg’s at her limit! Make her stop!!”
At that moment, I heard Licht shouting that. His voice was strangely energetic. Could it be he had already recovered his magic power? On this continent?
In a daze, I somehow managed to glance over at Licht. I could see there seemed to be a small magic circle at his feet. It was glowing faintly, so maybe it was a continuously active magic circle…?
…Could it be that magic power recovers faster inside that magic circle? I thought desperately with my hazy mind. In other words…
That magic circle assists in the recovery of magic power? Meaning there are magic particles in that cell…?
The magic suppressing collar was on, so I couldn’t use magic myself. If I showed any signs of trying to escape or resist, the other two would be punished.
But I have someone who can sense my will without me voicing it, don’t I? That’s right—if there are magic particles.
“Hmph, almost out of magic power, huh.”
Gordon moved my exhausted self. Then he roughly threw me into the cell with the magic power recovery magic circle. It seemed to be swapping with Licht. I heard Licht’s shouting voice. But I no longer had the energy to even cry out.
This is so hard. Having your magic power drained to the limit. It’s completely different from getting sleepy after giving magic power to the spirits. Having it forcibly extracted is so unpleasant it makes you nauseous, like being too sleepy but being hit to keep you awake.
Ah, I wonder how many more were teleported from the Demon Continent because of my magic power. But wait for me. I’ll definitely save you all. I absolutely won’t give up.
After waiting for the cell to be locked and Gordon to leave, I closed my eyes and prayed. Please forgive me for lying face down on the ground.
Shou-chan, Shou-chan… I wonder if you’re all okay? I’ll definitely give you magic power later, so please help me. I think you can move a little here, since there are some magic particles.
『Yes, yes, Master! Ah, there are a few magic particles here… wait, Master!? Eh, eh, what happened!?』
Fufu, Shou-chan’s bright voice gives me energy right now. You don’t know the situation since you were in the magic stone the whole time.
But I’m glad, I do have reliable comrades. I’m sorry for worrying you. But as you can see, this is an emergency. I have two things to ask of you, Shou-chan.
『Leave it to me! I won’t forgive whoever did this to you, Master! I have to let Fuu and the others know too!』
Shou-chan seemed pumped up, clenching its fists. But there aren’t a ton of magic particles here either. The amount I recover will decrease suspiciously if you use it, Shou-chan. So I want you to judge how much you can do.
One thing I want to ask is for you to tell something to the red-haired boy, Ronny, who was just taken to that magic circle.
『That boy, right? That’s easy. He’s a Dwarf child, so he’ll understand me too! Look, he noticed and is looking this way.』
When I opened my eyes slightly and looked towards Ronny, I could see his eyes were open a little wider. Alright, if that’s the case, this will be quick. He must have realized that spirits can be summoned here.
So please tell Ronny that when he’s put in this cell, he should somehow talk to the spirits and be ready to use his power at any time. …Because I’m going to call for help.
『Got it! Help… the Shadow Eagle? Or the Don?』
Hmm, either is fine. I think if we inform one person, everyone will know.
They should actually be on the Demon Continent, but… I thought about it a lot. My overprotective guardians must have searched for me after I disappeared. And they’d realize that if I was on the Demon Continent, they would have found me immediately, but they haven’t. In other words, they’d realize there’s a high chance I’m on the human continent, right?
Of course, there’s also the possibility that I’m caught on the Demon Continent by interference magic… but there’s no way that wouldn’t be exposed in Ortus, a treasure trove of such capable people.
So, so, you know? It’s been quite a while since I was teleported. So I think… some of them have probably come to this continent.
This is a gamble. I believe in everyone at Ortus. I believe in everyone’s ridiculously high abilities. I’m sure they’ve come to the human continent to look for me.
So, Shou-chan, I want you to ask for help from whoever from Ortus is probably on this continent. But… I wonder if you can move around without magic particles?
『The human continent, huh… hmm.』
Shou-chan crossed its arms and started thinking. Then glanced at me a few times and raised their head with a determined look.
『I want a little bit of your magic power, Master. If I have that, it’ll be enough.』
Just a little? I can only give you a tiny bit of magic power right now, you know? And I have a magic control tool on me right now, so I can’t release magic power myself.
『I can absorb it myself, and a little is fine. So, Master. —Call my true name?』
Your true name—you mean your real name, right? I see. Then, Shou-chan, you can unleash incredible power. Alright then, I’ll ask you.
I’m making you push yourself, I’m sorry. I believe in you, Shou-chan.
“Hasegawa, Shou…!”
“Huh? Did you say something, little miss… What, are you sleep talking? How carefree in this state.”
It seemed my small mutter wasn’t heard clearly, so the guard didn’t seem to notice. But it got through to Shou-chan. Glowing brightly, it absorbed magic power from me and disappeared in an instant.
When we get back, I’ll give you lots and lots of rewards. So please. Go call for help… I’ll wait, believing.
『Leave it to meee! Masterrr!!』
Hearing Shou-chan’s shout, I finally lost consciousness from running out of magic power.