Natalia clicked her tongue. “It’s absolutely disgusting... I don’t know who it is, but I’m dying to track down the insolent villain who has captured her and tear them to pieces.”
“Uh...” A chill went up Allen’s spine. The insolent villain? “Um...what makes you think someone has captured her?”
“Whenever I try to find her, some kind of force blocks my spell. These days, I can even tell that she’s really close to me. Whoever it is must have realized I’m tracing her, and they’re trying to stop me. I’m sure of it.”
“Right...”
“Seriously... Whoever it is, I’m definitely going to hunt them down and finish them off with my own hands. I’ll never rest until I do.” Natalia clenched her fists with a fierce, ominous expression.
Apparently, Allen’s presence near Charlotte had been getting in the way of her spell. So...I’m going to be torn to pieces... He couldn’t exactly deny his part in Natalia’s frustration, so he could only lie down and accept his fate. He stared in the air with a distant look in his eyes.
Natalia gently stroked her briefcase. “There’s someone in the way, but...I’m going to find my sister someday. Even if she hates me, or holds a grudge against me, I don’t mind. I want to give this back to her...and apologize to her, face-to-face.” Her pained voice resounded with firm, unwavering conviction. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she declared, “That’s why...I have to get much, much stronger!”
“I get how you feel.” Allen pressed a hand on her shoulder. Her wish to find her sister and apologize was genuine, and he respected it. “But don’t be too reckless. If anything were to happen to you, I’m sure your sister would grieve.”
“Hmph... What a corny line. What do you know about my sister?”
“Of course I know.” Allen wiped a tear from her face and grinned brightly. What Natalia strove for was, by pure coincidence, very similar to what Charlotte had said when she had strengthened her resolve to face her sister again a few days before. So Allen was confident that between the two of them, everything would be all right. “I’m positive. You and your sister will be able to laugh together, much more freely than in the past.”
Natalia sniffled and rolled her eyes. “Oh, please...”
“You can’t believe me? Well then, let me show you.”
“You sound as if you can bring me to her right now...” Natalia stared at Allen with a sour face. She seemed to be debating his true intentions. “Why are you so invested in me? We’ve only just met recently. We’re practically strangers.”
“Well, it’s a simple story.” Because you’re the sister of someone who’s very dear to me. And while that was a part of it, over the last week, Natalia had grown to be someone special to Allen in her own right. He ruffled her hair again and grinned. “You’re my student, after all. It’s a teacher’s duty to make sacrifices for their students, right?”
“Professor Allen...” Natalia murmured with a sniffle. Her usual snide remarks were gone. Instead, he could finally sense that she had real trust in him.
“All right, let’s go back. Before we go, I’ll put a healing spell on this brat—whoa!” Allen exclaimed.
Chris was already sitting up. Not only that—tears were gushing from his eyes. He was weeping so profusely that Allen almost worried it would drain away all the liquid in his body. Natalia noticed too, and the sight gave her a jolt.
“Wh-What is it, Chris?” she stuttered “Are you hurt?”
“No... If I’m hurting anywhere...it’s my conscience!”
“Uh...what?” Natalia looked at him dubiously. Chris’s face snapped up.
“I’m sorry... I woke up, and I heard everything! I-I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been...! I’m so sorry, Natalia!”
“Um, it’s all right now... What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“I...I have an older sister too,” Chris confessed, his shoulders hunched low. Apparently, he was also born into a good family, and recently, his older sister had gotten engaged to a nobleman. But the marriage amounted to his family selling his sister off to pay a debt. What made it even worse was that she was in love with a childhood friend, with whom she had a secret understanding that they would be together when they were older. His sister was sending Chris letter after letter, tormented by her dilemma. Chris suffered with her. “People call me a child prodigy, but I’m still just a little kid. I don’t have a say in what my family does, and I can’t do anything for my sister. I’ve been so frustrated...and I was taking it out on you, Natalia. I’m really sorry.”
“Hmm...I see.” Natalia nodded, then she patted Chris’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Listen, Chris. It’s not too late for you.”
“What...?”
“What do you hope for...for your sister?”
“Th-That’s obvious! I want her to be happy! That’s all!”
“Good answer. Then there’s only one thing to do. It doesn’t matter how old you are.” Natalia’s soft smile broadened into a devilish grin, and she whispered into his ear. “I was just getting bored. Next month, I’ll go on a holiday somewhere near your family home. Some strange incident might happen, or a kidnapper might strike, and your sister and her childhood friend might suddenly disappear...but well, things like that happen sometimes. Don’t they?”
“Natalia...!” Chris brightened up and took her hands. The boy and the girl holding hands seemed to be a sweet picture of friendship on the surface, except for the ominous glint in their eyes.
Allen pressed a hand to his forehead with a groan. “Don’t go brazenly scheming bad deeds...”
“What, do you have a problem with that? We’re doing it to save someone,” Natalia said.
“That’s not the problem. You can do that to your heart’s content.” Allen was sure it would give them an excellent experience. But they needed adult supervision. “You can do as much as you like...but once you have a plan, show it to me. You need to plan very carefully to pull off a perfect crime. I’ll look into the family of that fiancé, while I’m at it. A noble family that acts like loan sharks—they’re bound to have some skeletons in their closet. The more cards we have in our hands to shut them up, the better.”
“Dark Overlord...! Thank you so much!” Chris exclaimed.
“I’m one to talk, but you’re surprisingly good-natured,” Natalia said with a wry smile. But their heartwarming atmosphere was interrupted by a tremendous crash.
BOOOOOM!
The thunderous noise shook the entire cave. Heavy, continuous thuds resounded in the hollow, and the noise was clearly coming closer. Natalia and Chris stole a glance from behind the rock and let out a gasp. At their reaction, Allen checked the source of the sound too.
“Ah, thought it must be that one.”
A colossal red dragon was slowly advancing toward them. Its body was round like a ball, and sparks of flame were flickering out of its mouth. The children looked up at the towering beast and trembled, the color draining from their faces.
“I-It’s the dungeon boss...the Salamander...!” Chris stammered.
“No wonder it rules the dungeon... It’s at least twice the size of the average Salamander,” Natalia remarked.
The Salamander, otherwise known as the Fire Dragon, was infamous as an especially ferocious dragon species. It breathed fire that burned at up to several thousand degrees, and its thick armor of fat and scales was impervious to most attacks.
On top of that, it was spawning season. Though its face looked groggy, its eyes were glittering with a fierce light. It would judge any creature outside of its species as an enemy and turn them into a handful of ash in an instant.
Even Natalia and Chris quailed at the Salamander, a beast that they had never confronted before. They looked up at Allen urgently.
“Wh-What do we do, Professor Allen? We learned about Salamanders in class, but... Should we make a united front and attack all at once?” Natalia asked.
“I-I’ll do anything! I can be a decoy! Just tell me what to do!” Chris added earnestly.
“Shush, calm down.” Allen pulled them in and pushed them back in the shadow of the crag. “There’s one easy way to deal with this beast. Sit still and watch.”
“W-Wait, Professor Allen?!” Shrugging Natalia off, Allen leaped out into the open.
The Salamander stopped in its tracks at his sudden appearance. It looked at Allen for a moment, but its body soon began to glow blazing red. The ominous glow was the Salamander’s way of threatening the enemy. When Allen didn’t back down, the Salamander kicked the ground and charged at him. If it stormed into him, it would surely be fatal, but Allen stayed put and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Pooch! Sit!”
“Grrr...rawr!!!”
WHUMP!
The Salamander kept dashing at Allen, sending a thunderous, shaking rumble through the whole dungeon. The cave was filled with a cloud of dust, and Natalia jumped out from her hiding place.
“P-Professor Allen! Uh...Professor?” Natalia froze, her mouth hanging open. Chris, peeking out from behind the rock, wore the same expression. Much to their surprise, they saw that neither the Salamander nor Allen had attacked each other.
“Grrgrrgrrrr~♪” the Salamander purred, leaning on Allen.
“Ugh, I told you to sit, dammit!” Allen scolded the creature as he tried to push it back. But it was as immovable as a giant boulder. It seemed to think Allen was petting it, and it purred even more happily. Its threatening glow had vanished, and it was obviously relaxed.
“Oh, what’s this?” A mellow voice echoed in the cave. Liselotte, Allen’s mother, stepped out from the depths of the cave wearing a tracksuit, with a large bucket in her hand. “Tsk tsk, children. Students aren’t allowed back here right now. As the professor of magical beasts, I’m the only one who can come in, you know.”
“I-I’m sorry, Professor Liz,” Natalia said. “It’s a long story...but um, the Salamander’s acting weird...”
“Oh my, oh my.” Liselotte put a hand to her cheek and smiled at her son, who looked like he might be crushed to death any minute. “Dear little Pooch remembers your face, Allen. Well, you did hatch and raise little Pooch as your own, after all.”
“Though it looks like Pooch still won’t follow my commands...”
“Gawr!” The Salamander, whom Allen had hatched with the help of his mother when he was little, barked proudly at his remark.
Allen had always been bad at training creatures and the like, and he had spoiled this Salamander too—and this was the result. “I suppose I haven’t changed much since then,” Allen mumbled to himself, still stuck under the giant dragon.
♢
When Allen stepped out of the dungeon, the two children in tow, everyone was gathered at the entrance: Charlotte, Gosetsu, Roo, Natalia’s followers, Chris’s followers, and even Harvey, Allen’s father. Everyone looked tense and uneasy, but as soon as they saw the three of them emerging from the cave, they sighed a collective sigh of relief.