“I can’t believe it. What kind of suspicious-looking building is this?”

The carriage comes to a stop.
Standing on the dirt ground and looking up, I see an ancient castle standing tall on the ridge.
It looks like it has been abandoned for a long time; some parts of the walls are crumbling, and moss is growing all over it, resembling a demon lord's castle.
It was definitely a place that anyone would find suspicious.

“We’ve strayed quite far from the city. No matter how loud it gets here, it won’t be heard.”
“...”

Sylvia murmurs with a worried voice as she looks back.
We’ve already come quite a distance from the city.
Now we have to climb another mountain, so it’s only normal that the sounds from inside that castle wouldn’t be heard from the city.
In other words, no matter what happens over there, it means we won’t get caught.

“Additionally, the activation of a barrier has been detected inside.”
“So… do you think we should retreat?”
“No. It’s fine. You may proceed.”

With a calm expression and without a hint of hesitation, Sylvia immediately responds.
We cannot receive any external help.
Inside, there’s an unknown barrier laid out, making it almost like Irene’s home ground.
Yet, despite this, Sylvia declared, “I’ll win.”

If she felt she couldn’t win, she would throw away all her pride and escape, planning for a future opportunity.
Seeing her exuding confidence like this makes it impossible not to believe her.
As always, I stepped forward with the spirited Sylvia.

Alright. Let’s go.
To confront Irene head-on.

“Whew, whew…!”
“Master, you’re falling behind. At this rate, the sun will set.”
“Ah, I’ve been caught in your plot!”
“What are you talking about…?”

On the steep mountain path.
I extend my trembling legs and catch a glimpse of the fragments of a grand scheme.
To make us come all the way up to this high mountain where the carriage cannot go.
It was a plot to easily take me out after exhausting my strength on this climb!

“It looks just like an ordinary neighborhood hillside, but did you cast a spell to drain our strength using a barrier!?”
“It’s just an ordinary neighborhood hillside. And there’s no barrier here. In fact, there is no such type of barrier at all.”
“...”

Regardless, the fact that we’ve positioned ourselves this high is undoubtedly Irene’s scheme to exhaust my strength.
I shudder at her cunningness.
Finally, we arrived in front of the ominously deserted castle gate.

“The gate…”

Creeeak.
Just as Sylvia was about to step forward, the castle gate began to open on its own.
It seemed like it had decided to open itself rather than risk Sylvia smashing it down.

Inside the open gate, a dark corridor was revealed.
Sylvia blocked my path.

“This area ahead has a barrier.”
“What’s its function?”
“Please wait a moment. Ah! This is! It appears to be a barrier that annihilates all mana in the space, including the mana within our bodies…!”

Placing her hand in the air, Sylvia falters in surprise.
Though her exaggerated movements suggest she is shocked,
it’s so obvious that she is acting that I had to stifle a laugh.

‘Just as expected.’

The scene was exactly as Yulia had scouted.
It was precisely as anticipated.

A barrier that sucks up and erases all mana.
In here, mana disappears completely, making the use of magic impossible.
Moreover, it absorbs the mana stored within our bodies, rendering even the knights' physical enhancements using mana impossible.

In here, everyone becomes a normal person devoid of even a drop of mana.
But Irene didn’t stop there.

• Leave all weapons behind when you come in.
• If you enter the barrier with any weapon in hand, you will feel a burning pain throughout your body.

A warning written on a sign in front of the corridor.
It was an order to enter unarmed, meaning we had to come in completely powerless.
However, Sylvia and I were not deterred.

“We will enter.”
“Okay.”

We had no qualms about stepping inside.
Our bodies passed through the boundary of the barrier without any resistance.
Of course, we had anticipated this in advance, but we still maintained our tension as we began to pass through the corridor.

Thud, thud, thud—our footsteps echoed in the corridor.
In the pitch-black darkness, Sylvia pressed on endlessly, somehow seeing ahead.
After turning around a corner and walking for a while, a faint light began to appear.

“Oh my. My lovely brother, Aslan, is here?”
“...”

In a spacious room where sunlight filtered through the holes in the ceiling,
Irene greeted me with a smile.
Sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, she wiggled her high-heeled shoes.
The moment I saw those heels, a shiver ran down my spine.

I knew I was safe as long as Sylvia was beside me, but…
I couldn’t ignore the fear etched in my instincts.
Overcoming the terror of being stepped on by those heels again,
I clung tightly to Sylvia’s back.

“It’s been a while. It’s really hard to see my brother’s face. Do I have to come find you? Wouldn’t it be better if you came to tell me about your well-being on time? Just the two of us siblings.”
“I’ve been a bit busy lately.”
“Yeah, it seems you’ve been quite busy. You’ve really spread your hands everywhere. Father would be very proud if he saw this.”
“...”

Irene chuckled, resting her chin on her hand.
It was sarcasm.
If the Count of Vermont, who had loathed the royal family and was on the brink of hostility, saw the state of the family now, he might just faint.

“You’ve done something interesting, sister.”
“Oh, that? It’s just an excuse. My dear brother has been ignoring me so much that I wanted to get your attention... But you don’t have to worry. Emilia is safe.”
“Ahhh...!”

Just then, a scream echoed from the underground stairs.
At that chilling voice, the corners of Irene’s mouth rose even more.
I was left in a state of shock, and cold sweat began to trickle down my forehead.

‘This is bad. This is where the script ends.’

From here on, I hadn’t memorized any lines.
It meant I had to improvise now.

Can I do it?
Worried about making a mistake, I had even forced myself to remember that woman’s name.
That woman’s name is definitely E… E… E…
Damn it. I forgot again.

“Why are you doing this?”
“Because… if I don’t do this, you won’t pay any attention to your sister, right? I think about you, Aslan, all day long, even dreaming about you. Meanwhile, you act like you’ve completely forgotten about me.”
“Let’s settle this amicably. There’s just one condition. If you agree to this, I’ll let this matter pass quietly.”
“What? Did I hear you right? Are you asking me to agree to your condition?”

Irene’s expression contorted in disbelief.
What I heard was indeed right.
Since Irene was using such a tough stance, I had no need to back down.

“Yeah. Just hand over the chunk of neodymium. If you give me that, I’ll forgive you.”
“Wha...!? What? Neodymium? Are you really wanting Emilia back? If something happens to her…”
“I don’t need that woman. I came to see my sister, didn’t I? You wanted to see me too, right? Wish granted.”
“...”

Irene seemed at a loss for words, her mouth closing.
She only needed a justification to draw me in; she never intended to harm Emilia.
I had only come to get neodymium from Irene.
I was supposed to receive neodymium along with something else, but...

“Are you joking? Neodymium? You want me to hand that over now? What a ridiculous thing to say!!!”
“...!”

Boom!
At that moment, a tremendous noise echoed as the pile of stones scattered across the room began to move.
Piece by piece, they began to merge, forming the shape of a giant doll.
That’s… a golem?

“Isn’t that magic?”
“It’s a magical tool. Through magic, material properties are given to objects, making them unaffected by barriers.”
“You can defeat that with your bare hands, right?”
“...It would be troublesome to think of me as being on the same level as a stone golem.”

Sylvia took a step back, and as I did the same, a small gasp escaped from behind me.
A magical tool that even a normal strength wouldn’t be able to break free from.

“It’s not too late even now, Aslan. Kneel. Both of you. If you keep resisting, I’ll have no choice but to leave marks on your pristine skin…”
“Sylvia. Draw your sword.”
“Yes.”
“...What!?”

As Sylvia smoothly drew her sword from my side,
a look of horror spread across Irene’s face.
She looked as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Golem! Take them down immediately!”
“Go, Sylvia!”
“Yes!”

With a light step, Sylvia leapt forward.
Clearly, it was a pure physical leap without using any mana.
In an instant, she shot out at a speed I couldn’t follow.

“This is absurd…!”

Crash!
Swinging her sword, she cleaved the golem in one blow.
It collapsed in an instant but started reassembling itself almost immediately.
Sylvia repeatedly split the golem apart, breaking it again and again.

“How is this possible? You’re not a sword master!”
“Sylvia is half a sword master now.”
“Wha!? What can you do that you can say that to me…!”

While Sylvia dealt with the golem, I quickly approached Irene.
As soon as I got close, she reached out for me with a grin, her hand extended.
I found myself helplessly caught by her hand, slowly feeling the pain as my breath began to be constricted.

“I thought you might have trained or something. But you’re still the same old weakling.”
Cough! Well, at least I haven’t changed a bit, right?
“...What?”

Clang!
At that moment, a sharp metallic sound rang out, and Irene’s eyes widened.
In the blink of an eye, thick metal handcuffs had been placed on her wrists.
The other end of the handcuffs was now attached to my wrist, connecting us.

“Well done, Charlotte.”
“Hehe.”

Smiling broadly, Charlotte dashed to Sylvia’s side.
From the very beginning, she had been hiding in my shadow ever since we entered the castle.
Irene, trusting too much in the barrier, likely didn’t even suspect that one more person had entered.

“It’s a magical tool. It can’t be broken by any normal strength.”
“Take this off, Aslan! Right now! If not, I’ll cut off your wrist…”
“You should have cut it off sooner. Isn’t it too late now? According to your plan, Laura’s clone is supposed to come and devour this position right about… now?”
“You! How do you know that!?”

Knock, knock, I tapped the small chalk-marked floor, and Irene’s face went pale.
That’s right. It’s already too late.
Just as Irene was struggling to break the handcuffs,
the sunlight pouring down from above was suddenly obscured.

[Ahhh...!]
“Lady Laura!?”

A gigantic shadow loomed over us.