“Okay, let’s get started with the questions. What’s your name?”
“I-I-I’m... I’m...Abraham.”
Fear struck Mr. Hannibal and Ms. Mimi. So this was the guy they were talking about before. If he really was the strongest around, he probably knew more than the rest of them, which made this easier.
“Um... Master Iijima?”
“Yes, Ms. Mimi?”
“I won’t butt in, but since we’re also part of this by being here... What is that spell?”
“It’s Brainwashing Magic. He’ll do anything I tell him to. It really only works when there’s a large gap in power between us, though.”
“So there’s...a large gap in power between you and the man Mr. Hannibal is so afraid of?” She was trying to smile, but it was super forced.
Mr. Hannibal placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Ms. Mimi, it seems Mr. Iijima’s mere existence is too much of a shock for you. I believe it best for you to simply stay quiet and not ask anything more.”
Thanks yet again, Mr. Hannibal. You’re making things so much easier for me.
With that, I had a reliable source of information. The thing was, I hadn’t merely volunteered to be here either. The first thing I needed to ask wasn’t about the slaves.
I pulled a photo out of my pocket. “Do you know this girl?” It was a photo of the girl who resembled Megumi.
“I do.” His answer was immediate.
†
Luna Smith.
A girl raised in a town a small way from Abrasil. Called a genius mage, she’d used what were undoubtedly Japanese characters in a magic circle and had become a hot topic among the reincarnators. That was the information Ms. Kaori had given me.
This Abraham guy had even more details, though, just as I’d suspected. Up until she was about ten years old, this girl was very bright and lively. But one day, a tough blow to the head would cause a sudden flip in personality. She became quiet—silent, even—and spent a lot of time staring at nothing. Every now and again, she would invent strange contraptions and cook odd foods, culminating in the unknown runes of that magic circle.
That was everything he knew.
†
We were in a clearing in a forest, in a makeshift camp we’d built after walking for about half a day from Abrasil.
I sipped my tea alone. “Hmm...”
The sunrise doused everything around me in its colors, and the chirps of the sparrows served as my background music. I let my thoughts overtake my mind.
So this girl took a huge blow to the head and suddenly became like a different person? Then she began inventing a bunch of weird stuff...?
I felt like I’d read a story similar to that back in Japan. There was only one thing I could theorize from that.
Otherworld reincarnation.
The girl had probably been growing up as a normal native to this world, then something triggered her past memories as a Japanese person to surface, as per the usual pattern.
But Megumi hadn’t been a particularly quiet girl; I’d say she was definitely on the livelier side. If she had gotten her memories of a past life back, even if she hadn’t necessarily become brighter, I doubted she would’ve become that quiet. I’d never seen her stare off into the distance either.
Besides, if I were to line up my situation with one of those isekai ones, the otherworlders here had been reincarnated en masse, not individually.
“Hmm...” No matter how much I pondered it, I couldn’t come up with a conclusion. The only thing I could say for sure was that the girl in question absolutely had something to do with Megumi, no doubt about it.
Where did she go after leaving that mansion? Due to the nature of her abduction, she would have most likely been handled very carefully. As ordered by a female mage of high status, the slaves were marked after making sure that they were indeed virgins with either a proof of virginity or a proof of harlotry that would react to kisses. So if anyone except that bastard dared lay their hands on the girl and the symbol disappeared from her body, it would serve as a warning to all involved that they’d get killed.
Not only did I feel that that was too much, but I also felt a strange level of overattachment from the perpetrators. On the other hand, the girl would be safe until arriving in the bastard’s hands at the very least.
“All righty, then. What shall we do about this?”
She’d been taken somewhere, so it might have already been too late. But she’d apparently been left in that mansion for almost two weeks. Had the bastard wanted her for himself, he would’ve already done something by then.
That didn’t change the fact that this was a dangerous situation, however, not to mention the fact that I still hadn’t pinpointed his location. I’d been having Cerberus search as quickly as he could. My only choice was to wait for any further updates.
“What’s wrong, Master Iijima? You look very grim.” Ms. Mimi sat down across from me. She’d brought more tea, so evidently she was here to speak with me.
“I’m just thinking about some things I’ve been concerned with. I’m in a very busy period right now. Please don’t worry about me.”
“I see... One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Those we released are allowed to go home, yes? Not just the harpies—everyone.”
“That’s right. That’s why I called a guard for them. Unfortunately, we only have the one. It pains me to say this, but since they’ll be going home in a large group like that, some will have to take detours.”
“No problem, sir. We are already extremely grateful for your assistance. Who exactly is escorting them?” Ms. Mimi brought the cup to her lips in an elegant motion. She was part of the Royal Guard in her kingdom, so at home she was probably from a high-class family. Not that I hadn’t already been able to tell from the way she spoke.
“Did I forget to mention that?”
“Yes sir, you haven’t told me yet.”
“They’ll be escorted by Ms. Isabella, who lives in the north.”