Chapter 210: You're Just as Stupid as Your Sister
"Where is this...?"
Alexia awoke from unconsciousness to find herself in a dimly lit dungeon.
There were no windows, with only a single lit candle serving as a light source. The walls were made of stone, and directly ahead stood an exceptionally sturdy-looking heavy door.
"Ah... so it wasn't a dream after all. I really have been kidnapped."
Alexia clearly recalled everything that had happened before she lost consciousness. She even remembered hearing Senior Claire's calls.
Surprisingly, she felt no fear whatsoever—only an indescribable calm, her heart completely untroubled.
She even felt a slight sense of gratitude.
She remembered Claire, the champion of the previous Bushin Festival. Though Claire appeared cold on the surface, she had stepped in to help Alexia, an insignificant princess.
In contrast, her elder sister and father...
Clatter—
Alexia tried to move her body, and the sound of metal scraping reached her ears.
Turning her head, she discovered her limbs were fastened to the platform she lay upon.
"Magic-sealing restraints... They've prepared quite thoroughly."
Under such restraints, she couldn't gather magical power. Escaping through her own strength was nothing but a pipe dream.
But the question was, who would go to such lengths to capture her?
And right in the royal capital?
It didn't seem like ordinary bandits...
Alexia scanned her surroundings, searching for any clues.
Stone walls, an iron door, a candlestick, and... what looked like a lump of black garbage.
This lump was placed in the adjacent cell and, for some reason, was chained up.
After observing it curiously for a while, Alexia noticed the lump was moving.
It was breathing.
It was some kind of creature in tattered clothing.
"Were you captured and brought here too?"
The creature squirmed and then turned its gaze toward Alexia, sending a chill down her spine!
A monster.
Chained up was a gaunt, ugly monster she had never seen before.
Its face was decayed and blackened, but she could barely make out the shapes of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
Its body was abnormally bloated, with a right arm even longer than her leg.
In contrast, its left arm was thinner and shorter than her own, clinging tightly to its torso as if clutching something.
And unlike Alexia, whose limbs were all restrained, this monster was only bound by a collar around its neck.
Such a monster, restrained right next to her. Though they were in separate cells, there was no barrier between them.
Not that a barrier would likely be of much use anyway.
To avoid provoking the monster, Alexia held her breath and carefully averted her gaze.
Even without looking, she could clearly feel the monster's stare.
Clatter...
The sound of chains being pulled softly echoed.
Out of the corner of her eye, after a moment of silence as if time had frozen, the monster lay down and seemed to fall asleep.
Just then, the tightly shut iron door outside the cell suddenly swung open.
The man who entered wore a white lab coat and seemed utterly deranged, muttering incessantly, "I've got it... finally got it..." under his breath.
Got what? Got me?
Am I going to be subjected to something by this man?
The mere thought made Alexia nauseous, for the man's appearance was truly repulsive. His cheeks were gaunt, eye sockets sunken, lips chapped and peeling. His sparse, greasy hair lay flat against his scalp, emitting a foul stench.
This very man pulled a set of keys from his grimy-looking white coat and unlocked the prison cell door.
"Royal blood... royal blood... royal blood."
A lunatic.
The good news was that this guy was insane and wouldn't do anything perverted to her.
The bad news was that this lunatic intended to draw her blood.
As Alexia pondered this, the man had already inserted a syringe into her skin.
Crimson blood flowed through the needle into the syringe.
"May I ask you a question?"
Alexia spoke as calmly as she could manage.
"Hmm... hmm?"
The man responded with a strange, low hum.
"What do you plan to do with my blood?"
"You... you... your blood is the blood of a demon. I will resurrect the demons in this era."
"Oh, I see. That sounds quite impressive."
Alexia could now confirm it—this man was undoubtedly insane, possibly driven to madness by some religious fanaticism.
But watching tube after tube of her blood being drawn, Alexia couldn't help but feel a twinge of anxiety.
"While having my blood drawn isn't a big deal, please don't take too much at once... I'd be very troubled if you did. I don't want to die yet."
"Hehe... I... I know. I need a large amount of blood, so I'll only take a little each day."
"Alright, please make sure you do that."
It seemed that aside from her identity as a princess, she still held some other value. Alexia felt temporarily relieved.
She decided not to resist and to act as submissive as possible, waiting for rescue in this state.
However, the man drawing her blood suddenly contorted his expression into a ferocious snarl.
"No, no, this is wrong!"
The man screamed, yanking the syringe from her arm and smashing it violently onto the ground, shattering it to pieces.
The half-tube of plasma stored inside stained the floor red, still warm to the touch.
Ah, what a waste... my blood.
Though saddened by the loss of her blood, Alexia had no time to dwell on it.
Because the man before her was descending further into madness.
"Originally... originally it shouldn't have been like this! I shouldn't be doing this in a shabby dungeon! It's all those idiots' fault."
"Yeah, I hate idiots the most too."
"They destroyed... they destroyed my research institute! That fool, Grease, couldn't protect anything and was the first to die!"
"Mhm, that fool Grease was the first."
Alexia did her best to humor the man's words, hoping to prevent him from doing anything else to her.
However, dealing with such a person was exhausting...
Especially after having her blood drawn, she felt an inexplicable weariness.
It must be due to excessive blood loss, right?
But the man paid no attention to her responses or expressions, continuing to shout and scream.
"And then one after another... Aaaaaaah! My research was so great!!"
"How pitiful, you must have had a hard time."
"That's right, exactly! My research was only a step away from completion! Just when it was almost done, they said they would... drive me out!"
The man went berserk, grabbing his own hair violently and spouting insane ramblings in a frenzied manner.
"How could they do that? That's truly awful."
Alexia couldn't help but cautiously shift her body slightly away from the man, afraid of disturbing him.
Unfortunately, the distance she created was of little practical use, serving only as psychological comfort.
"B-bastards... These useless... useless good-for-nothings!"
"Well, I think you're absolutely right. Those people are indeed good-for-nothings, but aren't you the same?"
Alexia's eyes widened slightly.
Because these words weren't spoken by her, nor by the man, and certainly not by that monster.
Instead—
"Wh-who's there?!"
The man spun around abruptly to see a man sitting on the table outside the cell, wearing a black coat and black short boots resting on a chair as dry as dead wood.
He turned toward them with a mocking smile. 1kds
"You... how did you get in?! Ah! Trash trash trash! How did another outsider sneak in! Aaaaaah! My research results... my research results aaaaaah!!"
The man seemed to have completely lost his mind, actually taking the initiative to open the cell door and stride toward the person sitting on the table.
He even raised his fist, intending to teach him a lesson.
"So noisy."
Snap!
A crisp snap echoed, and the man in the white coat suddenly froze in place.
Then, under Alexia's gaze, he instantly exploded into dust.
Even the floating dust drifted toward her, lingering at the tip of her nose—a choking smell like that of cremated ashes.
That lunatic... just died like that...?
Everything happened too suddenly for Alexia to process.
Wait!
"You are... Yotsuba-sensei?!"
"Mhm, you guessed right, but there's no reward for that."
Mahiro jumped down from the table and walked straight into the cell.
His skilled appearance was as natural as if he were returning home.
A flicker of joy appeared on Alexia's face, but Mahiro passed right by her and headed directly toward that monster.
Wasn't he here to save me?
As if sensing the approaching figure, the monster slowly raised its head. 1ds
"Huh~ The infection runs quite deep.
The symptoms of Demon Possession are even more severe than when he encountered Alpha."
But back then, Alpha had already become a writhing mass of flesh that severely damaged one's sanity, yet the girl before him could still barely maintain a human form.
It felt like some kind of human weapon.
This must be the research project where the cult attempted to recreate the Demon Diablos.
"Millia?" he called out tentatively.
"...."
Hearing this name, the monster reacted, slowly raising its head to stare at him with those crimson eyes.
"You are Millia, right?"
"ẞg... AẞOJOẞo....."
It seemed to have lost the ability to speak, yet also appeared desperate to say something.
"It seems you've been turned into a weapon, but haven't completely lost your ability to think, Millia."
It appeared he hadn't remembered wrong.
This child was indeed the daughter of that so-called Viscount Grease who had kidnapped Claire.
At least, according to the analysis from his eyes, this monster indeed had a direct blood relation with Grease.
"'ngg...uzojuso ...akojuẞog...."
The monster grew increasingly agitated.
Nearby, Alexia had completely fallen into shock.
Yotsuba-sensei could actually communicate with the monster?
And they seemed to be acquaintances, named Millia?
They were indeed acquaintances.
But then, Alexia witnessed something even more shocking.
"There, there, don't get agitated, be good now. Since we've met, consider yourself lucky—I'll restore you to your original form."
Mahiro reached out to stroke the monster's head, pure white magical energy gathering in his palm, flowing down from the monster's head like a waterfall and spreading throughout its entire body.
"Name... my name... my name is... Millia... ah... ahhh..."
Though fragmented, the monster could actually speak now.
Moreover, the pure white magical energy had almost completely covered the monster's body, occupying every inch of its skin.
Ding ling dang lang—
Something fell from the monster's body.
Looking closely, it appeared to be a dagger, though somewhat worn.
Was Yotsuba-sensei saving it?
But Alexia had never seen such a treatment method before—it was truly eye-opening.
"Ooooooooh aaaaaaaaah!!!"
Suddenly, the monster wrapped in the magical light let out a heart-wrenching cry of agony.
Its roar echoed throughout the surroundings!
But within the light, Millia's body seemed to have shrunk slightly compared to before.
It was as if layers were being gradually peeled away, revealing the core within.
The massive monster muscles gradually disappeared, replaced by the pale skin of a young girl that had been hidden beneath.
"Millia hurts so much no aaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The mournful screams never ceased, instead growing more refined, gradually revealing a young girl's delicate voice from the low roars.
Bean-sized tears continuously dripped from the crimson eyes, falling to the ground and slowly spreading.
The monster was crying.
"Ooooooooh hoooooooooooo!!!"
Soon, the roar began to distort until it reached a certain limit, when the pure white light enveloping the monster abruptly dissipated, revealing its true form.
It was a delicate-looking girl, completely naked as if newborn. To be precise, she had indeed just been born, emerging anew from the shell known as the monster. Though she had just shed her monstrous form, the girl had already fallen into a deep unconsciousness.
Mahiro used alchemy to create a blanket and gently covered the unconscious Millia with it. Gazing at her serene sleeping face, he reached out to wipe away the tears lingering at the corners of her eyes, then nodded in satisfaction. "Well, perfect. Consider this handled."
Handled what? Alexia still couldn't comprehend the events that had unfolded in such a short time. All she knew was that she had been walking on the road when she was suddenly kidnapped, then a madman appeared babbling about resurrecting some ghostly thing and drew her blood. After that, Yotsuba-sensei suddenly appeared, killed the madman, stepped past her toward the monster, and then used an astonishingly immense amount of magical power to abruptly transform the monster into a human.
Everything was so chaotic and so sudden.
Swish—swish—
A flash of blade light. The restraints on her hands and feet were suddenly severed. With the ornate-looking longsword that had appeared in his hand. If not for the faint pain from the needle marks still on her body and the lingering stiffness in her limbs, she might have thought this was all a dream. Or perhaps someone had hired a whole group of people to play a prank on her...
"It seems Alexia has many questions."
"Well, although I feel very sleepy after having my blood drawn, if Yotsuba-sensei could provide some answers, I would be extremely grateful." Alexia fought back her drowsiness, struggling against her heavy, sleepy mind.
"Alright." Mahiro moved outside the cell, brought a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs. "We still have some time. Feel free to ask anything you want to know, Alexia."
Alexia opened her mouth, then slowly closed it, looking as if she had something to say but couldn't find the words.
"Why so quiet? Are you just not a talkative person by nature?"
"..." Teased like this, Alexia's expression soured slightly. She gave him a faint glare and sighed softly, "I did have many questions originally, but now I don't know how to start..."
"Fine." Seeing that the princess before him truly seemed at a loss for words, Mahiro shrugged indifferently. "Since you don't know how to ask, I'll just narrate the course of events."
He truthfully recounted all the information he had obtained from Alpha and the negotiations with Princess Iris to Alexia. Throughout this process, Alexia's expressions shifted dramatically, especially when she heard about Iris, her face clearly showing deep emotion.
"Anyway, that's how things unfolded. I used some minor methods and finally managed to find this place... Wait, what's with that look?"
After finishing his explanation, Mahiro noticed the princess across from him was giving him an extremely peculiar look.
It was a suspicious gaze.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't tell me you suspect I'm the one who kidnapped you?"
"..."
Alexia remained silent, but her expression betrayed her thoughts—she was indeed thinking exactly that!
However, this was hardly surprising. Mahiro knew too much, even the details of her kidnapping, making suspicion inevitable.
But that didn't stop him from quipping—
"Sigh, I thought you were a smart person, but it turns out you're as foolish as your sister."
"Princess Iris is not foolish!"
"Oh, so you're not denying that you're foolish?"
Under his teasing, Alexia turned her head away somewhat embarrassed.
"Sorry... I was just joking earlier. I know you, Yotsuba-sensei, couldn't be the culprit..."
"I'm just curious... What exactly are you, Yotsuba-sensei? You can't just be the academy's sword skills instructor, right?"
She spoke softly, her voice fading to a whisper by the end.
He had infiltrated this place undetected and used strange methods to eliminate that madman.
Plus, there was the girl who was healed from a monster back into a human.
Each of these feats far exceeded the capabilities of a mere school teacher.
Not to mention he knew so much about her kidnapping...
"Oh? Interested in my identity?" Mahiro asked with a hint of amusement.
Alexia nodded earnestly.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
"... Wh-why?!"
Her curiosity had been piqued, only to be met with such an answer, leaving Alexia with a suffocating feeling of frustration.
"Because there's no time left. It's already begun."
Mahiro smiled mysteriously.
Immediately after, the prison cell trembled slightly, and a few specks of dust drifted down from the ceiling.