Chapter 9: The truth behind the encounter!

Chapter 9: The truth behind the encounter!

I whispered. “Do either of you have any spare weapons that I could use?”

Shizori chuckled. “No need.”

She turned towards the door. “You can come in.”

“Huh?” I tilted my head, question marks practically appeared above my head.

A small girl with orange shoulder length hair, wearing ragged clothes, entered the room, carrying a silver tray.

“I thought you might be hungry, so I brought a few pieces of bread and two cups of water...”

“H... he woke up?” Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know. I’ll bring more bread and water right away!”

She rushed over and placed the tray down on the bed.

“It’s okay, no need to rush.” Shizori smiled warmly.

“Who’s that?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry... I forgot to introduce myself.” She held her hands in front of her, bowing forward, trembling lightly.

That thing around her neck... so they exist in this world...

“That’s Sarah.” Akari walked behind her, hugging her tight. “She’s one of the victims we found in the basement.”

“What’s that around her neck?”

“A collar to make us b... behave, to make sure we don’t run away or go against the master’s order, and when someone wouldn’t behave, it would e... explode.” She said with her head tilted downward.

“So basically a slave collar.”

She nodded.

“Wait, so who’s the master?”

“The big, bearded man with the big sword.”

“The one we faced?” Shizori asked.

She nodded again.

“But didn’t we beat him? Shouldn’t it stop working then?”

“I have the bad feeling that it’s not that simple.” I said.

“So how can she get rid of it then?”

“Come closer, Sarah.”

Sarah hesitated, head drooped, and she trembled lightly.

Akari glared at me, it felt like getting stabbed repeatedly in the back.

How many more glares will I get?!

“I just want to take a closer look at the collar!”

Akari slowly walked closer with her.

I leaned forward, taking a closer look at the collar.

No openings or key slots? So either it’s magic controlled or they never intended on taking it off...

I put my hands on either side of the collar.

“What are you thinking of doing?!” Akari pulled her away from me.

“I just wanted to try channeling some mana into it, to find the hidden magic circle, if there even is one.”

“What if that activates it and it blows up?!”

“Mana circles don’t work like that, pooling a little mana into them is the best way to identify and analyze the circle itself.”

“Just like how the mana circuit is safe?!”

I need to regain her trust somehow...

“Are there any unused collars lying around?”

“T... there are some in the basement.” Sarah said, her voice low.

“Good, go get me one.”

“I’ll go with her.” Akari raised her hand.

“Shizori, go with them as well.”

“Are you sure?”

I nod. I’ll use that time to finally get DRESSED!

“Okay.” She got up and left the room together with them.

I got up and started to get dressed.

So Shizori’s mana increased by a huge margin, but that weird feeling... as well as that warning by that entity... something isn’t right.

I scratched my head.

And then this weird A.E.G.I.S. THING, is it like an AI or a world system?!

ARGH

This all is just way too much. Can’t I just catch a break for a bit?!

I sat back down on the bed and crossed my arms above my chest.

Knock. Knock.

Shizori slowly opened the door, peeking carefully inside.

“Just come in.”

Puh

“I just wanted to make sure...”

All three of them walked in and stood in front of me. Akari still hugged Sarah tightly from behind.

“Did you find one?”

“Yeah.” Shizori handed me an open collar.

I held it in my hands, closed my eyes, and let a little bit of mana flow into it.

No reaction... maybe it doesn’t manifest until it’s worn or activated?

“So what did you find out?” Akari asked.

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

“Nothing, it doesn’t react like this.”

Sarah’s eyes teared up, and Shizori’s and Akari’s heads tilted down.

“So, what do we do now?”

Click

“Only one thing left that we can do.”

Their gazes shot up, Shizori gasped, eyes widened, and Sarah’s face paled.

“Are you dumb?! Why did you put it on?” Akari shouted at me.

“How else would we analyze it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“What if it blows up?! Take it off!”

“Too late, it’s locked, and now I need your help, Shizori.”

“M... my help, with what?”

I scratched my neck near the collar.

“Well, it seems like this collar makes the wearer unable to use any magic.”

“Seriously, what if we don’t manage to take it off anymore?!” Akari’s face reddened.

I chuckled nervously, head tilted to the side, and scratched my cheek.

Sarah just stared frozen, speechless.

Hehe.

“We’ll just have to find a way then.”

What the hell is wrong with this guy?! Akari thought. Is he really that stupid?

Shizori laughed with one hand over her mouth.

“That’s just so like you, Alex. Not willing to give up on saving others, even if it puts you in danger.”

She stepped closer to me.

“So what do you need me to do?”

Akari stood there, mind frozen, and mouth gaped in disbelief.

“Place your hands on the collar and channel just a tiny bit of mana into it.”

She placed her hands on it, closed her eyes, and channeled a tiny bit of mana into it.

A magic circle appeared on the collar, glowing white.

“Do you feel or see anything?”

“Yeah, it’s asking me... if I want to take ownership?”

“Do it.”

She focused on it, and the collar bloomed brighter, then went back to normal.

“Were you able to find out anything about it?”

“It’s not a normal magic circle, it’s a curse that binds itself to the wearer. I’m sorry, that’s all I could figure out.”

“No. No, you did amazingly, thank you, Shizori.”

My hand moved to her head, patting her.

Her cheeks flushed red, I flinched, pulling my hand back.

“S... sorry.”

My cheeks reddened, scratching my head, I looked away.

“It’s f... fine.”

Staaaaaare.

Akari and Sarah stared us down.

Ahem

“Let’s get back on topic.”

“So it’s a curse?” I scratched my chin, brows furrowed. “Then maybe a cleansing skill could dispel it?”

Shizori put her hand to her chin.

“That does remind me... Akari and I were exploring the castle yesterday.”

“It’s mostly run down, but we did find a library with some books that are still intact!”

Akari exclaimed.

“Yeah, and within those books I did find a book for healers.”

“What was it about?” I raised an eyebrow.

“The basics of being a healer, what your job is, and how to position yourself, stuff like that.”

“BUT, it also included some of the most common skills for healers.”

“Maybe one of them is a cleansing or dispelling skill?”

“Might be, give me a second, I’ll go get it quickly!”

She ran off and came back just as quickly with the book in hand.

She placed it on the bed, and we gathered around it.

I flipped through the pages.

“Light heal... heal... great heal... flash... holy light... cleanse and even holy cleanse.”

“There’s even more, quite a few buffing skills as well as debuff skills.”

“That seems like quite an amazing find. Have you tried using any of those skills yet?”

“She hasn’t... she got too lazy to read.” Akari muttered, looking to the side.

Shhhhh!

Shizori’s face flushed red. “Don’t tell him that!”

“I told you though, read it and try to learn.”

“B... but it’s such a big book...” She looked at Akari with big teary puppy eyes.

“If you wouldn’t have been so lazy, then you might have already been able to use the cleansing skill now.”

She sniffled.

Now. Now.

“Let’s be nice, it’s not like we are in a rush.”

Akari looked at me with lifeless eyes.

“Oh, we aren’t? So you want to keep wearing that collar?”

“I didn’t mean it li...”

Shizori flinched away shocked, her face losing all color.

“So you are into that kind of thing?!”

“NO! I’m not.”

“So Shizori, you stay here and start practicing the cleanse skill, meanwhile, I, Akari, and Sarah will take a look around.”

Hmm.

She let out a big sigh, head tilted forward.

Maybe I should motivate her a little?

I raised my index finger.

“That reminds me, the quicker we finish up here, the quicker we can go back to Eldenbrook.”

“True... I do miss Hilde a little.”

“Maybe we should even head to the patisserie again to celebrate?” I smirked.

“T... the patisserie?!” Her eyes lit up.

“But, first, we need to take care of everything here.”

“Got it! I’ll learn the cleanse skill right away.”

She fist pumped, all motivated, it looked like she was on fire.

We left the room, leaving Shizori to study and learn the skill.

We walked through a long hallway, Akari held Sarah’s hand.

“I’m guessing there are more people besides Sarah here?”

“Yeah, there are quite a few downstairs in the basement.”

“A few tried running after you defeated those guys, they thought that with them gone the collar would lose its effect.” Sarah’s head tilted forward, jaw clenched.

“So, even after we defeated Gai and the others, you are stuck here... left to starve.”

She nodded.

“Don’t worry.” I crossed my arms behind my head. “We’ll get rid of those collars.”

I smiled at her.

“Or Shizori and I save them all and leave you behind.” Akari had this evil grin on her face.

“P... please don’t.”

“I’d better hear a convincing offer for saving you.”

“Ehm... ehm... let me think for a second. How about cookies?”

“Cookies?! Is that all your life is worth to you?”

Sarah laughed.

She must have noticed it too. I’m glad Akari is that observant.

Seeing her laugh made us smile as well.

“It’s not just any cookies! Chocolate ones!”

She waved her hand at me. “Sure. Sure, as if you could afford that.”

“Or would you rather have books?” I smirked at her.

Dammit, for someone who’s that dumb, he’s way too observant. She thought.

“Okay, then buy me a whole library.”

Sarah’s eyes widened.

“A whole library? That’s so many books, wouldn’t it take super long to read them all?”

“The perfect trade for his life, don’t you think?” She grinned at Sarah.

“True. True...”

“Getting that many books would take ages, not even factoring in the high cost.”

“So you are saying it’s too much for you?”

“I’m more surprised that you would be fine with that.”

“What do you mean, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because aren’t you basically asking to stay with me while I keep buying book after book for you, constructing your own personal library?” A wide smirk grew on my face.

Her face flushed bright red.

“I changed my mind! We are definitely leaving you behind!”

We reached a staircase leading down.

“Down there is the basement.”

“I see.” I walked ahead, the girls followed me.

Downstairs, we walked, following a brick corridor, reaching a big, closed metal door.

“That’s where they keep us.” Sarah said with a painful expression.

I can only imagine what kind of disgusting things happened down here...

I pushed, opening the door.

I figured as much, they just reused the prison... disgusting.

I clenched my fist.

We kept on walking through, both sides lined with cells.

Filled with mostly young girls and boys that sat there, wearing torn, shredded, and ragged clothes.

They looked up at us as we walked by.

That look... hopeless, despaired, dead...

“There isn’t much food left, is there?”

“Only moldy bread and water from an old well.”

No wonder they are all so malnourished.

Yet she still gave us food and water...

A young boy ran towards me and tripped.

I knelt down and held my hand out to him.

He took my hand.

“Are you hurting anywhere?” I asked him as I pulled him up.

He’s so light... I clenched my teeth.

“Did you come to save us?” He looked up at me with a faint shimmer of hope in his eyes.

I put on a fake smile.

“Save us?” HA. “Just look at him, he’s stuck here just like us.”

Three older boys stepped forward, out of a shadow in the cell behind us.

Standing up, I turned around.

“Stuck here?” I scratched the collar. “Oh, you mean because of that?”

The small boy’s head drooped.

“Yes?!” The boy in the middle exclaimed. “Do you even understand the situation you are in?!”

“I... it’s not like that! Alex put it on on purpose.” Sarah shouted back.

Their jaws dropped. “On purpose?!”

“Yep, apparently according to him, it’s the best way to analyze it.” Akari told them.

Those 3 turned to each other and discussed something, then turned back to us.

“So you’ll be able to take off these collars safely?”

I looked right into his eyes. “Not sure, but if I’m right about how they work, it might be a possibility.”

“And what happens after that?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? You’ll be free?”

“You’ll be able to go back home to your family? They must be worried sick.”

Akari said.

Sarah tightened her grip on Akari’s hand.

“S... some of us got either sold by our parents, or we don’t have any.”

So they don’t just kidnap them.

“What about orphanages?”

Akari shook her head.

“There are only some, and those are run by the church.”

I scratched my head. “Well, let’s first focus on getting the collars off.”

“What’s the point?” The boy in the middle scoffed. “We’ll end up dead either way, or worse...”

“So you’re giving up?”

“What other choice do we even have?!” He swung his arm.

I looked deep into his eyes. “Fight.”

“Easier said than done!”

“But do you have a choice?”

His gaze shifted down, holding his elbow with his other arm, and sweat drops formed on his forehead.

“I know, none of you truly want to die, so then fight.”

“Life ain’t easy or fair, the only choice we have is to take it into our own hands.”

“It’s easy for you to say...”

I laughed out loud.

“I wish it would be. I’ve been fighting against it for so long...”

“Did you manage to break through?”

I scratched my chin. “Break through? Kind of, not really, yet, BUT I’m still here, and I’m still fighting.”

“So we’ll have to fight forever?”

I walked closer to him.

“Until you reach whatever goal you set for yourself.”

I patted his head.

“Have you ever regretted it?”

“Never.”

AAAHHHHHHHH!

“Shizori?!”

A distant scream? Did something go wrong or did more enemies arrive?