Chapter 49

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Chapter 49

“Yes…?”

A great emotion stirred in one short syllable as the Baron’s face began to fill with the hope that was ignited by love.

Leonhard answered bluntly.

“Don’t expect too much, because I could be the Baron’s enemy.”

“No, no.”

Baron Elmer kept his head down.

“Lord, please… Please, take good care of him.”

Moments later, the sound of Baron Elmer limping and climbing the stairs echoed through the basement. Leonhard waited until the sound faded, then strode towards the iron bars.

“What should I do?”

“To the exit. If it gets there, jump up.”

A smile crept across Celine’s lips.

It was because Leonhard trusted her choice, no longer just telling her to stick to his back.

The next moment, she clasped Ringzor and stared at Leonhardt, who was shining in Rashir’s blue light. The blue light made a flash, and the iron bars split in an instant and fell to the floor. He then tucked Rashir in his scabbard before striding into the darkness, shouting out the other person’s name.

“Anton Elmer.”

No answer.

“Anton Elmer!”

This time, from the other side of the darkness, magical powers twitched and responded. Leonhard was slightly relieved. It was only ferocious magic that was dyed with anxiety and fear, though it was magic that had not yet been stained with darkness.

“I am Leonhard Bernoulli.”

“….!”

There was no sound in the darkness, but he could feel the other person’s magical energy responding to his words.

In a dark, twisting direction.

‘…Not good.’

Leonhard’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t even put his hand on his waist yet.

“I didn’t come here to hurt you. I am here to help you.”

“…No!”

A shriek like the cry of a wounded beast resounded throughout the underground space.

Celine sat down in shock.

It wasn’t because she was afraid. However, it was because the cry a while ago was the voice of a young boy who had not yet passed his maturity.

An eerie realization flashed through her head.

The appearance of Baron Elmer, who looked too young to have a fairly adult son, could not give up his love for his child until the very end. Above all else, the answer to Leonhard’s question about whether Anton studied black magic alone was that he did not know…

Anton Elmer was truly just a child.

Leonhard slowly approached the direction the shout had just come from.

“Anton, I don’t want to kill you.”

“….”

Even though there was no answer, the magical power twitched as if responding to him.

“But if you don’t cooperate, I will have no choice but to kill you. It will be unfortunate for you and me. To your father.”

Anton’s immature magic reacted to every word Leonhard said.

‘A little bit, a little bit more…’

A cold sweat ran down Leonhard’s expressionless face.

It wasn’t that he had never cut a child with Rashir, but he wanted to avoid it as much as possible. Finally, Leonhard reached where the voice had been heard. He hadn’t taken out Rashir for once since he cut the iron bars to avoid unnecessary irritation.

He, of course, had to rely only on his senses, without a single ray of light.

“It will not be difficult. Take my hand.”

He stretched out his hand into the darkness.

“….?”

A wall was felt through the empty space.

The child was not there.

On the other hand, Celine stuck to the exit so that she could run up the stairs if Leonhard had instructed her.

She had enough experience with fear of black magic. While arguing that she was not thinking that her life was not precious, she had no intention of becoming a burden to him.

‘…What?’

Suddenly, Leonhard’s voice that seemed to soothe the child was cut off. Celine grabbed Ringzor in silence and judged the situation. As she faced death countless times, her intuition was shouting that she had to choose between the two.

…Go to help Leonhard or run up the stairs and runs away.

‘Looking that Rashir hasn’t been picked up yet, it’s not a dangerous situation by Leonhard’s judging.’

Then, there was only one answer.

It was not dangerous for Leonhard, though dangerous for her.

Celine ran up the stairs without hesitation.

“Gasp, gasp…”

She had already been exhausted before she arrived at the Baron’s residence, so she was gasping for breath just by climbing the stairs.

‘Oh, it’s better to go out altogether.’

When her breath reached the tip of her chin, Celine reached the top of the stairs from the basement to the first floor.

She reached out her hand to open the door.

‘….?’

Right in front of the door leading to the first floor, a small child was sitting crouching. The focus of his eyes, which gleamed in the dark, slowly fell on her. Celine’s heart sank. There was no need to ask who he was.

…Anton Elmer was right in front of the door leading to the ground, not down there.

She pulled out Ringzor that had been tucked into her arms just before she jumped up the stairs and stopped.

Anton wasn’t a warlock yet.

He had little to no magic training, so his skills are still low, meaning that he would be an opponent that even Ringzor can overcome enough. However, it was clear why Leonhard did not bring out Rashir until the end.

‘Anton Elmer, he’s still redeemable.’

It would be suicidal for her to do anything directly with Anton. Still, she couldn’t stand still.

‘I have to do something.’

She thought of the priorities.

There was only one person who could help the child, Leonhard. However, he did not know where Anton was now and must be wandering somewhere down there.

‘But if I shout that Anton is here… It would be provocative.’

Celine slowly opened her mouth.

“My name is Celine, Anton.”

“….”

Even though there was no answer, she didn’t care. It was only necessary for Leonhard to just locate her and Anton.

She didn’t need to talk anymore.

Just saying a little would be enough for Leonhard. Thinking that, Celine slowly backed away. She didn’t want to provoke Anton by doing unnecessary actions.

‘I just have to wait a little longer. A little longer…’

Celine murmured nonstop inside, barely calming her heart that was about to pop out of her mouth. Leonhard would soon come to rescue this poor child.

Time passed.

While her back was already drenched in a cold sweat, she didn’t even feel Leonhardt’s presence.

‘Why is he so late…?’

Celine glanced at the child. Meanwhile, the child’s gaze was still at her, but he didn’t look particularly aggressive.

‘I have to go down.’

Perhaps, Leonhard didn’t even think of going up the stairs.

Eventually, she slowly turned away from the child. He was unaware of Ringzor’s existence. Since he couldn’t even feel magical powers from her, she must have looked like an underdog. The fact that the child had never attacked her, meant that he had no will to attack her.

Celine crept down the stairs.

As she expected, she felt no threat until she reached the dark underground space. There was only darkness in the underground space.

‘Is he hiding his presence?’

Although she opened her mouth to call Leonhard, it was unsuccessful.

“Le—!”

At that moment, a blow that felt like the claws of a huge beast struck her.

In Leonhard’s experience, it was much more difficult to save than to kill.

It was the same now.

Killing Anton Elmer was simple. However, it was not possible to guarantee success in saving him. The moment he realized that Anton Elmer was not where he was supposed to be, his expressionless face distorted.

‘…I may have to kill him.’

Contrary to his tight chest, his head made a sober judgment.

The child already had an intention to kill them. A little while ago, what he felt in a space in the dark where the child should have been was clearly murder intent.

—Thump, thump.

It was the sound of Celine running up the stairs.

Leonhard sighed in relief. Now, at least, he didn’t have to worry about the child hurting her.

And so, he began to search slowly through the darkness.

The underground space was limited, and the child’s magical power was unstable. Given enough time, it was more likely to calm the child’s runaway unharmed. However, after a few minutes, Leonhard’s bones were frozen to the core as Celine’s voice came from the stairs.

“My name is Celine, Anton.”

“….!”

He suppressed the urge to run up the stairs immediately.

If he ran to save Celine, the child would harm her in an instant.

Leonhardt slowly took Rashir out of his scabbard and aimed it towards the top of the stairs. After staying in one place for quite some time, he could feel the accumulated magical power.

‘…Was it like that?’

The child appeared to have climbed the stairs as soon as the iron bars were cut.

Leonhard closed his eyes and focused his mind. He pinpointed the actual location, so all the hard work was done.

After just a few minutes….

He was able to find the original source that was shining through the flow of the magic that had been falsely scattered everywhere else. He then slowly began to draw a shield that would block the child’s rampant magic and protect himself with Rashir.

…How long was it? Leonhard knew instinctively that the time he needed was less than five seconds.

He raised Rashir.

Finally, when he was going to wield Rashir and put an end to this matter.

Just then, a scream of death resounded throughout the underground space.

“Le—!”

Leonhard couldn’t think of anything. He just ran to where the scream had just been heard. In an instant, a blue flame soared from Lashir, and the underground space where there was only darkness was brightly lit.

To the extent that Celine’s miserable appearance was clearly visible in his eyes, as blue as the deep sea.

Celine lay flat on the floor, motionless.

The cloak she wore was torn horribly as if she had been attacked from behind her back. It was like the claw marks that had scratched the Baron’s residence. While he couldn’t see blood, a blow like that would have shattered the bones all over her body.

Leonhard’s head spoke of the only analysis.

‘…She’s dead.’

Leonhard’s face was neither distorted nor trembling. Rather, he approached her with an expressionless look as if he was a person with no emotion.

He reached out to get Celine up from the floor.

The first thing she saw when she came back to life should be his face, not the dirty floor of the basement. However, the moment his hand gently touched her slender shoulder, Celine’s body moved greatly.

“….?”

Leonhard took a step back with a puzzled look.

He didn’t just experience Celine’s death once or twice. She couldn’t have come back to life so quickly. His eyelashes trembled as he stared blankly at the open blue-grey eyes.

“Leonhardt, I…”

He followed Celine’s words, holding her breath.

“Not dead.”

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