Adopt 198

Episode 198

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A temporary residence owned by the temple, situated in the plaza.

Only after drying my drenched body did I find a moment’s respite.

Dawn was slowly approaching, yet the sky remained dark under the lingering influence of the typhoon. Outside, the only sounds were the occasional crash of something breaking; inside, all was silent.

“You sons of bitches!”

Correction—the air was far from quiet, as the Red Tower Master, now recovered, unleashed a torrent of curses that grated on my ears.

“Marquis, I swear I’ll—mmph! Mmm!”

The moment the Tower Master’s anger turned my way, Sir Cherry firmly stuffed the old, worn cloth into the Tower Master’s mouth.

‘Not bad for an old man with that much fight left in him.’

As I petted the Cerberus licking my wounds—leaning heavily against me—I glanced over at Giuseppe.

Once the black magician was captured, they would be brought to the plaza.

Giuseppe, who had been waiting in the wings, would read the location where the magician had hidden the magical artifact and then eliminate the target. That was our final plan.

‘Cheshire sounded confident, so he’ll capture the black magician soon enough.’

It was a bit hasty, perhaps, but I felt victory near and spoke to Giuseppe.

“You haven’t forgotten our agreement, I trust?”

Giuseppe half-turned to gaze at me.

There was no longer even a trace of a smile on his face, but that only put me at ease.

At least it meant he no longer wore a mask when dealing with me.

“Yes. Once everything is safely settled, I will prepare whatever it is you desire, Marquis.”

A confirmation at last from Giuseppe’s lips.

I couldn’t say precisely what he hoped to test in me during this journey, but at least he seemed to acknowledge we were headed for the same goal.

“In that case, let me be blunt. There’s only one thing I want—the High Priest’s trust. Can you give me that?”

Giuseppe did not answer immediately.

After a brief silence, he finally spoke.

“…Before I respond, may I ask you one thing?”

I nodded once in assent, and Giuseppe turned fully towards me.

“Can you trust me, Marquis?”

I was at a loss for words at this unexpected question.

I could believe that, by ordinary standards, he was good and just.

Thus, as long as we shared the same boat, I could trust him.

I answered without hesitation.

“I…”

At that moment—

Bang!

A thunderclap, utterly different from the typhoon, shook the windows so violently that we both stared out at once.

“What was that…?”

Through the curtain of rain, I could see a thick, black plume rising in the distance.

No—looking closer, that was no mere smoke.

“That’s black magic,” Giuseppe said in a low, sunken voice.

What I had mistaken for smoke rose into the sky as if possessed of will, coalescing into a vast magic circle that spanned the entire city.

I did not know exactly what had happened, but I was certain this was a bad sign.

I quickly glanced at the Red Tower Master, but he was still thoroughly bound and immobilized.

Yet a wild, crazed delight had crept into his expression, so different from before.

The instant I sensed instinctively that things were going awry—

Clatter, crunch.

An ominous noise echoed from the ceiling above.

“It would be wise to move to safety,” Giuseppe said, reaching a hand towards me, perhaps intending to guide me to safety.

Yet, almost reflexively, I avoided Giuseppe’s hand and stepped away from him.

‘Why did I just flinch from Giuseppe’s touch?’

I had no explanation.

And then—the next moment, a familiar touch slipped around my waist, lifting me easily.

It was Sir Cherry.

Unlike before, when he’d sling me over his shoulder like luggage, this time Sir Cherry scooped me into a princess carry, one arm beneath my back and the other under my knees, gentle yet firm.

“Please keep your mouth closed for the moment, so you do not bite your tongue.”

“What?”

Chesar gave no answer to my question, but even had he tried, I doubt I would have heard.

Crack!

The walls within the building began to split along the seams, as if struck by an earthquake.

And then the ceiling was torn away, like a child removing the roof of a dollhouse.

“…!”

Seeing what had lifted the single-story roof away, I couldn’t even scream.

It was a skull so large that it made the building look like a toy prop in comparison.

Clatter.

With a rattling jaw, the skull thrust a skeletal hand into the building’s interior.

Clinging to Sir Cherry’s neck as he’d warned—my teeth bared and jaw clenched—I hung on for dear life.

The thunderous roar and fierce winds struck my face.

By the time I felt rain streaking across my shoulder, we were already away from the building.

At last, I could truly see what had attacked us.

Rising slowly, looming overhead as if smashing a dollhouse for amusement, was a skeleton with a massive, blackened frame.

Above its skull hovered that now all-too-familiar black magic circle.

“This is insane. Truly.”

It seemed I had counted my victory far too soon.

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Among those called ‘The Veilwalkers of the World’ was said to be a necromancer, one who commanded the dead.

There was no mistaking it—the one controlling that giant skull was him.

At first, I was overwhelmed by its sheer size, but soon realized that, for all its bulk, the threat was less than it appeared.

It was ponderous, its movements slow.

Because of that, even while carrying me, Sir Cherry easily dodged its blows, and whenever the skeleton’s focus was on him, Giuseppe’s spear struck precisely at the joints.

Clatter, clatter.

Each time, the skeleton’s great jaw rattled, and honestly—when Giuseppe drove his spear mercilessly into its knee cartilage, I winced as though it were my own kneecaps shattering.

After exchanging several rounds, the skeleton eventually lost its knees and joints, collapsing in a futile heap of bones.

Fortunately, since the battle had broken out in the plaza, no one was hurt, and even the Cerberus had managed to escape the collapsing ruins unscathed.

Yet, despite that, I couldn’t relax.

All along, I’d felt a strange sense of disquiet prickling at me.

It seemed I was not the only one.

“It’s suspiciously easy,” Giuseppe muttered, and I nodded in agreement.

For a final stand, it had felt almost trivial.

‘And that earlier explosion…’

As I idly glanced around, my gaze was drawn up to the sky—where a black magic circle was now imprinted, like a brand.

“Was it always shaped like that?”

At my words, everyone’s eyes turned to the sky.

When the huge sound had first come, the black magic circle had been a single layer, but now it was two, even three, each inscribed upon the next.

“We should investigate what’s happening over there,” someone said.

Worried for the still-missing Cheshire and Ophelia, I started toward the source of the explosion.

“Red Tower Master…”

Giuseppe’s whisper halted my steps.

Only then did I glance back at the debris of the collapsed building.

The Red Tower Master, bound by both magic and physical restraints, had been rendered as defenseless as any ordinary person—no different from a child.

“At the very least, it’s unlikely he escaped unharmed…”

In the worst case, he might be dead.

If so, it was a pitifully anticlimactic end, but at least Giuseppe and Cheshire would have nothing more to quarrel about regarding his fate—perhaps the best possible outcome.

Just as I approached the debris to confirm his fate—

“He’s still alive.”

Sir Cherry—his senses keen—confirmed that the Red Tower Master was alive, albeit buried.

“He’s not to be underestimated. I’ll secure him myself.”

“We’ll check where that crash came from. Something feels off—no one’s come, even after all that commotion.”

Just as I was turning away from Giuseppe, I caught sight of something rising like smoke from the east, etching a new magic circle atop the black one in the sky.

Four magic circles now layered, shrouding the heavens—a sight so eerie it sent a chill down my spine.