"HP: Too Late, System!"Chapter 397: Who Gave You This Map?
Douglas remained utterly focused, his fingers deftly adjusting the depth and angle of each silver needle. For nearly fifteen minutes, he worked in silence. Only then did he begin to remove the needles—now black as pitch—one by one, placing them carefully into a special waste container.
The terrifying golden spots on Aldo's body had faded by more than half, leaving behind only faint traces, no longer radiating that unsettling, corrosive energy.
Once the worst of the holy light's marks were dealt with, Douglas produced a vial of pale green potion from his robes—a brew that shimmered with gentle, life-giving magic—and held it to Aldo's lips.
"This is a powerful restorative," he explained. "It'll help your body heal and restore what you've lost."
As the potion slid down his throat, Aldo felt warmth surge through his limbs. The chill of blood loss and agony ebbed away, his breathing steadied, and the deathly pallor of his skin gave way to a fragile flush of color.
"Mr. Holmes, what… what kind of magic is this? I've never seen… such miraculous healing…"
Aldo's voice was weak, but filled with awe and the irrepressible curiosity of someone snatched back from the brink of death.
"This isn't ordinary healing magic, Mr. Aldo." Douglas placed the last blackened needle into its container, his tone calm but weighty. "It's an ancient art from the distant East—an understanding of qi and balance. The incantations are just tools to help nudge the scales."
Lupin couldn't help but smile. He wasn't surprised at all. The core of Douglas's improved Wolfsbane Potion was also inspired by the Eastern philosophy of balance and harmony. Douglas always found inspiration in the most unlikely places.
Aldo struggled to sit up, his lone eye burning with renewed hope and longing for his companions.
"Mr. Holmes, Mr. Lupin…" He reached out with his scarred hand, as if trying to grasp something solid. "Please… please, you have to go to our new home! Chief Marco and the others—they're still waiting for you, I know it! You… you're Ashclaw's last hope!" His voice broke with emotion, tears glinting in his single eye.
Douglas gently pressed Aldo's shoulder, urging him to stay still. "We will, Aldo. But you need to regain your strength first. In your condition, Apparition would be too much. And besides, we need to know exactly where this new home is."
Hearing that Douglas intended to bring him along, Aldo quickly shook his head. "I… I won't go. I can give you the general location. But I'm not sure the attackers didn't leave some tracking mark on me. The Church's hounds are experts at that sort of thing."
Douglas shrugged. "If there were any tracking marks, the others would've been captured by now. Us going wouldn't help. But if you're worried…"
He drew his wand, the tip shimmering with a barely perceptible, translucent magical ripple. He tapped the air three times above Aldo's forehead, murmuring a string of strange syllables:
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon."
A faint ripple, like a stone dropped in a still pond, radiated out from Aldo's body—then vanished as if it had never been.
The spell was so subtle that even Lupin barely caught the magical afterimage.
Douglas repeated the spell on himself and Lupin. "There. Even if they try to track us, all they'll find are decoy echoes—false trails that go nowhere."
"At least for a while, our real location is safe."
Aldo tried to kneel in gratitude, but Lupin caught him just in time.
"Thank you, Mr. Holmes! Thank you! You… you didn't just save my life, you gave me hope…"
He could barely form the words.
Douglas patted his shoulder gently. "Save your thanks. We need to find your people—and quickly. The longer we wait, the greater the danger."
Before leaving, Douglas used his magical radar to sweep the upper passages, checking for signs of human activity or magical traps. Only when he was satisfied did he turn back to Aldo, who was still weakly propped against the wall.
"Hold on to me, Mr. Aldo."
He offered his arm without further explanation. Lupin stepped up as well, ready to assist.
As Aldo hesitantly grasped Douglas's sleeve, the world lurched—a familiar, gut-wrenching squeeze enveloped them.
Apparition!
For Aldo, the sensation was nearly overwhelming. The world spun, air thick as glue, until at last his feet touched solid ground and the darkness receded.
They now stood in a dry, spacious cave—the old Ashclaw stronghold they'd visited before, now scrubbed so clean it was almost unnatural.
"Ugh…"
Aldo doubled over, retching violently, but nothing came up. He clung to the cold stone wall, gasping, his single eye wide with horror.
He stared at the cave—spotless, every trace of blood and battle erased. A deeper fear seized him.
"No… Impossible…" His voice trembled. "Where's the blood? The signs of battle? All… all gone? Who—who did this? Was it devils? Did devils devour this place?"
Douglas watched him quietly, waiting for his panic to subside before speaking.
"Aldo, calm down. If it were really devils, do you think they'd care about keeping things tidy? Whoever attacked you had time to erase every trace. If their goal was extermination, do you think they'd leave you alive? The fact that you survived means your people probably did too—or at least, they weren't wiped out."
Aldo blinked, searching Douglas's calm face for hope.
"Maybe," Douglas continued, pulling two rolled parchment maps from his robes. "Maybe your people weren't destroyed—they just moved. Here are two maps. Which backup site should we search first?"
Aldo leaned in, first picking up the map signed by Master Antonio. His single eye scanned it carefully.
"So you contacted Master Antonio too… He's a good man…"
"We've got several fallback hideouts. The closest is here… or maybe here…"
He muttered to himself.
But as his gaze drifted to the second map—the one Douglas had just unrolled—his voice died.
His eye widened, pupils shrinking in terror. He reached out a trembling finger, hovering it over Isabella's map, his face drained of all color.
"No… this… this can't be…"
He pointed at the map, voice quaking with horror and disbelief.
"This mark… and here… These are all the emergency shelters—ones only the chief and the elders know about! The rest of the tribe only knew two… but… how can they all be on here?!"
Douglas understood instantly.
So Isabella and Ashclaw's chief, Marco, had a connection far deeper than he'd realized. Perhaps allies, perhaps something more.
No wonder Isabella had risked everything to contact him from across the sea.
Aldo suddenly looked up, fixing Douglas with a desperate, searching stare.
"This map… who gave it to you? This… this is the highest-level secret of our tribe!"
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