“We thought he was going too far, so we tried to stop him—but he wouldn’t listen. He just went off on his own...” Chris’s followers murmured. “Even the teachers hardly ever go near the back of that dungeon! He’s gonna get both of them killed!”
“Right...” Allen groaned. Now it was clear that Natalia hadn’t run away because of Charlotte, but this still meant serious trouble. He remembered they’d seen Chris outside Natalia’s door last night—it must have been then that Chris overheard them talking about the trunk. It surprised Allen that Chris was driving himself that close to the edge.
I should’ve noticed. It seems I was too focused on Charlotte’s troubles... As he reflected on his misstep, Allen reached out and grabbed Charlotte’s shoulder. She was about to run off. “And where are you going?” he asked.
“I-I’m going to go help her, of course!” Charlotte cried out urgently. She couldn’t sit still at the news of her sister’s danger.
But Allen remained composed and shook his head. “No. You can use a bit of magic, but you’re still a beginner. It’ll be too risky for you, even with me by your side.”
“Shall I accompany you, then?” Gosetsu stepped forward.
“That wouldn’t work either,” Allen said gravely. “The beast in that dungeon is on edge this time of year. It’ll only be adding fuel to the fire if another beast comes near it. I’ll go alone.”
“You sure you can handle it by yourself?” Roo asked, worried.
Allen smirked at Roo. “No sweat. I’ll just pop in and teach that brat a lesson. I’ll be back in no time.” He leaned toward Gosetsu and quickly whispered in her ear. “Can you let Uncle and the others know, just in case? Anything can happen.”
Understood. With a single nod, Gosetsu vanished from the garden.
Allen peered into Charlotte’s face and gave a nonchalant smile. “So, that’s the way it is. Can you wait for us here?”
“I understand...” Charlotte nodded, her expression rigid. She was still blanched, but Allen could read the firm trust in her face. She looked straight at him with determination burning in her eyes. “Please take care of Natalia, Allen!”
“Leave it to me. The rest of you, you wait here too! Look after Char for me!”
“R-Roger!” The followers, Roo, and Charlotte saw him off as he started sprinting as fast as he could. He headed straight for the familiar dungeon, one he’d often slip away to when he was still a teacher.
♢
There are many kinds of dungeons in this world.
There were those that were centuries old. These natural lairs turned into a dungeon after a magical beast made its nest there.
The rarer kind of dungeons were the artificial ones. These could be created in all kinds of ways, but they were often made for research or training purposes. Magical beasts roamed free in these extensive dungeons like a biotope, and, to some extent, they were managed by humans. Having a large artificial dungeon was a mark of a school’s prestige: the larger the scale, the more impressive the institution.
The Athena School of Magic owned several dungeons. The most challenging one was the one in the shape of a cave, where Natalia and Chris had faced off a day before. Inside the dungeon, a rugged, rocky labyrinth continued deep underground. Though the magic fires lit here and there kept the darkness at bay, the growls of magical beasts and the noise of creatures slithering around echoed from all directions, intimidating anyone who dared venture in. And, of course, the cave was full of traps as well.
Due to its dangerous nature, students and teachers alike had to get permission from the school when they wanted to enter, and they were required to have a dungeon supervisor watching over them.
Needless to say, Allen completely ignored those rules now. He ran past the “No Entry” sign, and once he was deep in the cave, he managed to find his target in a large hollow. “Found you!” As he approached, he noticed a massive Chimaera was about to leap out from the shadows, and he quickly flung a magic fireball at it.
The fireball struck the Chimaera straight in the side of its stomach and knocked over its giant body with tremendous force. The Chimaera staggered back and scampered farther into the depths of the cave.
The Chimaera was one of the beasts that dwelled on this level of the dungeon. It was known to be a fairly formidable menace, but the boss lay elsewhere still. For now, Allen turned his attention to his real target.
“D-Dark Overlord...what are you doing here?”
A small figure crouched low in the shadow of a jutting crag stared at Allen with wide-open eyes. It was Natalia.
She was squeezing the locked trunk tight against her chest, and Chris was right next to her, passed out. Neither of them looked hurt. Though he couldn’t smell any blood in the air, Allen kneeled in front of her and looked into her face.
“My questions first. Are you hurt?”
“U-Um, I sprained my ankle...” She looked at her right ankle. It was red and swollen, with scratches all over, but it didn’t seem to be a serious injury. If Charlotte had been there to see her, though, she would have screamed in horror regardless. Natalia shifted her eyes to Chris with a scowl. “This idiot here tripped and hit his head...but I think he’s fine.”
“All right, I’ll heal both of you. But before that...” Allen raised his hand in front of Natalia’s eyes.
“Wh-What is it?”
There was only one thing to do to a runaway kid whose safety was ascertained.
“There!” Allen gave a light flick on her forehead.
“Eep?!” Natalia cried like a kitten and flinched. “Wh-What did you do that for?!” she barked, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.
“That’s my line, you airhead.” Allen threw her a withering look as he cast a healing spell on her. The red swelling on her ankle rapidly shrank. “I’ve heard the rough story from Chris’s guys. You were too reckless. You know how dangerous it is to go barging into a beast’s lair when it’s spawning season.”
“Ack...b-but it was Chris...!” Natalia choked on her words.
“Doesn’t matter. You should’ve told me first.” Allen ruffled her hair. “Was I such an untrustworthy teacher? Char and your people are all worried sick about you.”
“I’m sorry...” Natalia hung her head and murmured in a trembling voice. She squeezed her briefcase close. “But this case... I just had to get it back on my own.”
“Right,” Allen sighed with a wry smile. Whatever was in the case, it had to be the sort of thing that could evoke a powerful emotion from her. There was only one thing he thought it might be. “Let me guess what’s inside.”
“Huh?”
“It’s something to do with your older sister...Charlotte. Isn’t it?”
Natalia caught her breath and looked up at Allen. Her face was contorted, as if she was about to burst out crying. Hugging the trunk tight, she said hoarsely, “You...you know what happened with the Evans family, don’t you?”
“Well, roughly.” He shrugged. In a deliberately nonchalant tone, he went on, “Your sister committed all those crimes, and—”
“That’s not true!” Natalia yelled, her voice echoing through the cave. Big tears grew and finally fell from her eyes. “My sister can’t even hurt a fly...how could she possibly do such a thing?!” she choked out through violent sobs. “That rotten, good-for-nothing Prince must’ve made it all up to get rid of her! But the Evans family... They didn’t do anything to try to clear her name... They just cut her off completely!”
“That’s what I thought.” Allen laid a gentle hand on her head. He’d had a vague hunch about Natalia’s case, and his theory was confirmed when he set foot in Natalia’s room the night before. The numerous notes plastered all over her walls were all traces of her research on magic—in particular, spells to find lost things, or to search for missing people. “So you never hated your sister.”
“Me...hate my sister...? Don’t be ridiculous.” She furiously wiped her tears away and let out a heavy sigh. “The only people I can’t forgive are the Evans family...and myself, for being powerless to save her.”
In faltering murmurs, Natalia told Allen about her older sister. How Charlotte had always treated Natalia with genuine kindness for as long as she could remember, though they were born of different mothers. How she had noticed her family treating Charlotte like a slave. How she had done whatever she could to try to help Charlotte. How she had always felt frustrated that she couldn’t do much more than sneak her a half-spoiled fruit.
Allen listened quietly. Natalia’s voice quivered, tinged with deep regret. She kept talking between gasping sobs, spilling out everything she’d been keeping locked down tight.
“I always, always told myself, ‘I’ll save my big sister once I’m older.’ But...that was a mistake.” When her sister disappeared, and she was sent to the Athena School of Magic, she discovered her own hidden magical talent—and was thrown into despair. “If I’d stood up for her back then, I could’ve saved her a long time ago. But I made an excuse, that I was still a little kid, and I didn’t do anything. That’s why my sister ended up having to flee the country.”
“But it’s not your fault. It’s that Prince who’s at the root of all this.”
Natalia shook her head feebly. “I...I can’t say I’m completely innocent.” Had she been a powerless child, she likely wouldn’t have had to be assailed by so much guilt. But because she was born with such a gift in magic, her conviction that she should have been able to save her sister continued to torture her. “After she escaped, the family got rid of all her things. This...was the only thing that I could keep...because I kept it hidden.” Natalia squeezed the trunk so tightly that her fingertips went white. “Thanks to this, I know she’s still alive somewhere. I can’t let anyone touch this, no matter what.”
“The lost-and-found spell, huh... You’ve run a search for her using her possession, haven’t you?”
“Yes. But I haven’t been able to track her down...”
“I see...”
There was a spell to search for someone’s whereabouts by tracing the thoughts that lingered on their possession. But this was an extremely advanced piece of magic. If the thoughts attached to the object were old, they became difficult to trace; even if the thoughts were recent, the detection could be blocked if a great power like a dungeon lay in its direction.
Allen could tell from looking at Natalia’s notes on her walls that she had gone through much trial and error. And all because she wanted to find her sister... She must’ve felt like she was grasping at straws. Allen’s chest tightened at the thought.