▽
After our not-so-productive meeting with the minister, we made our way to the guest house. It lay in the southern gardens of the castle grounds and, as its name implied, was a residence built to accommodate guests like us. The rooms were all lavishly extravagant, but that didn’t really improve my mood any right now.
“Argh! Damn that old minister!”
Of all the reasons he could have come up with, he had to go and imply we were trying to assassinate Harissa... While I could understand being cautious in times of war, I couldn’t help the rage that surged within me at the very idea.
“There, there, Rekka. Calm down.”
“Yeah, you’re right...”
I put my face in my hands and sighed, trying to cool my head. The doctor and Satsuki both took a seat, and L flopped face-first on the bed.
“Anyone want drinks?” Lea asked.
She was standing over by a rather large refrigerator, looking over her shoulder at the rest of us. Wait, a fridge in a world like this? There really had been a lot of technological and cultural exchange in Aburaamu.
“Something sweet, please...”
“Got it.”
Lea tossed me a bottle made of a thin, aluminum-like metal. I guess they didn’t have plastic here? I removed the cap and took a sip. It was... grape juice. Nice and chilled, too. Lea handed juice out to everyone else before taking a seat on the bed next to the collapsed L.
“It seems we’re in quite a bind,” she muttered.
“Evidence of our good faith, huh? They’re outright demanding a bribe...” the doctor said with a sigh.
“But what do you think, Doctor? With the situation being what it is, perhaps we should humor them a little in order to get a meeting with Harissa...” Satsuki suggested.
“Well, I’d love to play along if it were an option. But you remember the ruckus we caused before leaving the agency, don’t you?”
“About that...”
“Moreover, the extremists’ attack left HQ in such shambles that I’m sure the accountants are still scrambling to come up with the capital to pay for all the necessary repairs. If I asked them to send money for a bribe now, they’d kill me.”
“They are rather fussy about funds...”
This time, the doctor and Satsuki sighed in unison.
“So what are we gonna do instead? At this rate, we’re just wasting our time here,” L said rather bluntly as she rolled over.
“If all hope is lost, shall we try another heroine?”
“I dunno. Giving up so easily is a little... I mean, we haven’t even seen Harissa yet,” I said, looking towards the castle from the guest house window. “Hey, Satsuki, Doctor, do you know where Harissa is right now?”
I asked the two of them because Lea had been living in absolute seclusion for who knew how long now. I figured she probably wouldn’t have any idea.
“Probably the sorcerers’ tower, I suppose?” Satsuki answered.
“The sorcerers’ tower?”
“That one there. See it?”
Satsuki walked over to the window and pointed outside. I wandered over and looked out to see a large tower standing next to the castle.
“Isn’t that...?”
Back when I was searching for a way to return to Earth with Corona and the others, we’d had to come here to Aburaamu in order to gather material components for Harissa’s connection magic. We specifically needed Red Thread as a catalyst, and we’d had to sneak into the castle’s magical research facility to get some... And yeah, I’m pretty sure it was that tower right there.
“All of Aburaamu’s magical research and refinement takes place in that tower. It’s illegal to take anything from the premises, be it people or items. It’s a measure to prevent any kind of leaks or espionage.”
“And you think Harissa is there?”
“Harissa is the kingdom’s preeminent sorcerer, after all.”
“Come to think of it, my Harissa did invent a new teleportation spell all by herself...”
She really did have a talent for magic. But that left us in a pinch. Her talent had her holed up in the tower, which made it harder for us to get to her now.
“Is there any way we can sneak in?”
At times like these, I would normally rely on Harissa’s invisibility magic, but...
“Hmm, I could search the Akashic record for a spell that would get us inside, but...” Satsuki paused there for a moment, looking troubled. “If I use magic to kidnap Harissa here, it’d be an interworld incident. The agency only has its neutrality to stand on, so that would be extremely problematic.”
“I see...”
Thinking, I folded my arms and furrowed my brow. Satsuki was right. If we snuck into the tower and left with Harissa, it would look like we abducted her.
“If we could just talk to Harissa... If she knew it was a request from you, Rekka, I’m sure she’d cooperate with us. But with that minister around, we won’t get to see her for free.”
“That’s it!”
Hearing Satsuki’s mumbling, a light bulb flashed on in my head.
“Did you come up with something?” the doctor asked, curiously turning my way.
“Yeah,” I replied. “If we can’t go see her, we’ll just have to get her to come see us instead.”