It was a name as mysterious as a homunculus. Something every alchemist dreamed of, yet something no one had ever obtained. The only difference from a homunculus was that one would learn about it while studying the introductory book on alchemy.
"Are you telling me to bring that?"
"Why are you asking back with such a stupid look on your face? Who told you to make that? I'm talking about the Marquis. That arrogant Tower Master! Since you even made a living being, surely you must have made the Philosopher's Stone as well!"
The Count patted his chest as if frustrated. It was strange. The Philosopher's Stone was beyond his desires to be considered an item the Count was asking for.
"What about the clues? We need to know which one is the Philosopher's Stone."
In any case, I had to keep up with the pace now.
"Finding that out is also your job."
"Alright. I'll look for it in the Magic Tower."
"Alright, give it your best shot. If you see results, contact me through this herbalist. Understood?"
The Count turned sharply as if to wrap up the conversation with this.
“Count?”
The problem was that Count Hyrn was the only one trying to leave. The assailant holding Mary and the child captive held them without moving a muscle.
I ran at full speed and grabbed the hem of Hyrn's clothes.
“What about Mary?”
Count Hyrn slapped my hand away as if something dirty had touched it. Then, he snorted as if he were expecting to hear something strange.
"Of course Mary should be here, shouldn't she? Until you bring the Philosopher's Stone."
His half-closed eyes turned a little further downward.
"Ah. Come to think of it, I heard that kid is the Tower Master's nephew, right? Since he is his blood relative, if I keep him under control, the Tower Master might bring the Philosopher's Stone back with his own hands."
The Count, who had no idea what kind of relationship Eon and the little boy had, raged while dreaming a vain dream.
"I can't do that. Promise me. It makes no sense to tell me to leave those two behind."
"Selinia. It seems you are seriously mistaken. You are not in a position to negotiate with me. You are simply in a position where you must say 'yes' and follow my orders."
I realized it belatedly. This wasn't a situation where I could just wait for Eon, for reasons I couldn't understand why he still hadn't arrived. Suddenly, my eyes fell upon Tara, curled up as if dead. A wicked thought briefly crossed my mind: should I take that child hostage too?
'There's no way that would work.'
Count Hyrn will order Tara to be killed without batting an eye.
As a last resort, I decided to use a fire potion. Unlike what I had explained to Tara, this was a flame that burned using living beings as fuel. If the flame were to cling to the Count first, it would gnaw at him for a while.
'Then those thugs will be surprised and go to rescue the Count.'
I intended to take advantage of that opportunity. In the meantime, I would take Mary and the little one and head to the teleportation point first. Since we would be passing through a crowded street, the assailants wouldn't be able to chase us recklessly. As long as I ran holding only the little one, I wouldn't fall far behind.
Having quickly finished these calculations, I lowered my head. It was to conceal my movements as much as possible.
"I see. I momentarily forgot my situation."
"If you understand now, hurry up..."
I gritted my teeth and threw a fire potion at the Count. I didn't let out any of the useless screams you only see in movies. The aim was accurate, and the Count stood frozen in place like a statue, unable to even think of dodging.
"Mary!"
In an instant, flames rose, surrounding the Count. I quickly ran toward Mary and the little boy.
"Mary!"
Up to this point, everything was going as I expected. However, despite their employee being on fire, the masked men did not move. Instead, they grabbed me as I ran toward them.
"Let go! Are you going to let the Count burn to death?"
They remained silent as if they couldn't hear me. Instead, a sound came from behind me.
"Selinia. Who are you talking about dying?"
There was no reason for the Count not to speak. If he wanted to, he could have screamed and hurled curses at me to his heart's content. However, this was far too composed to be the voice of someone who should have been ablaze.
I turned around with a sense of foreboding.
“Uh. How?”
The flame vanished without a trace, and the Count was perfectly fine, without a single strand of hair out of place.
"How dare you attack me? You ungrateful beast."
This time, I froze. I couldn't say a word, and nothing came to mind. Only the scene of the fire potion exploding in front of the Count kept replaying in my head.
"Didn't I clearly warn you that you're underestimating me?"
"It's defensive magic! A powerful barrier is protecting the Count!"
It was the child's words that brought me back to my senses on that day when I was spaced out.
“Barrier?”
"Potions alone won't be enough to break that barrier... Ugh."
A rough hand covered the child's mouth. Because the hand was so large compared to the little one's body, it covered the child's lower face.
"It seems you know a thing or two, being the Lord of the Magic Tower's nephew. But listen. The Hyrn family doesn't like talkative children. Especially butting into the adults' conversations is just being uneducated."
Was it as if the Duke's hand had twitched? The assailant forced the child to his knees. The child twisted his body, but the resistance was futile.
"Hmph, what's with that look? The Grannois family's etiquette training is truly terrible."
Seeing the assailant nod, I realized that those words were not a mere reprimand. Still, there was nothing else I could do. The guy raised his dagger above his head and brought it down.
The tip of the sword, moving slowly as if in slow motion, left its mark on Mary's white dress. Red blood gushed forth upon it like bright red flower petals scattered over a triumphal procession.
"Mary!"
Mary had always run to me whenever I called, but this time, I couldn't even hear a reply. Mary's body buckled, and she fell to the ground like a fallen leaf.
She was the only person who stood by me when I was scorned at the Count's mansion. Even after it was revealed that I was not the Count's adopted daughter, she stayed by my side, consistently calling me "Miss." She was practically a friend in the story, completely unrelated to the plot of the novel.
"Generally, if the young lady commits a wrong, the lady-in-waiting is the one to be punished. Given the customs of the nobility, one cannot borrow the Marquis's nephew, can one?"
"K-kid. You know how to do healing magic, right?"
I couldn't hear a single word of what Count Hyren was babbling about. My only thought was that I had to save Mary.
"There must be some medicinal herbs here that are good for wounds. Tara? Right? Tara!"
The more I twisted my body, the stronger the force oppressing me became.
"Get out of the way! I said, " Get out of the way!"
No matter how hard I tried to pull myself out, I couldn't escape.
“Mary! Mary!”
All I could do was call her name at the top of my lungs. A violent bursting sound echoed in my ears. The Count, who had approached before I knew it, had slapped my cheek.
It seemed he thought he could subdue me with violence once again. However, this behavior fueled not fear, but rage.
"Do you think I'm just going to stupidly take the beating again this time?"
I had to move. I'm going to shake off the arm holding me, smash that barrier or whatever it is, and smack that smooth-talking face. I'm going to put it at my feet and make it beg for forgiveness. Otherwise, I can't save Mary, the little one, or the people who are precious to me.
'I can't lose it again!'
A scream of rage burst from deep within my stomach.
"Finish it all! Everything!"
It was impossible to know who the words were directed at. Meaningless geometric shapes flashed through my mind. And as if in response, a howl was heard from deep within the earth. The ground shook, and the items on the shelf fell.
Under these circumstances, there was no way anyone could stand properly. The enemies staggered to regain their balance, and several fell to the ground. In the midst of this, a little boy who had escaped from the assailant crawled toward Mary.
The Count, at least, did not need to try to avoid falling. This was because a roar, taking on its own form, swirled violently and lifted the Count up to the ceiling.
"Did you... do this... to me?"
The Count could not hear my answer. It was because he had been thrown far away after spinning around in the air, performing an unwanted stunt.
This was not the end. It moved so fast that it could not be followed by the eye, attacking the assailants. The enemies fell like paper dolls.
It was then that something alien entered my field of vision.
Fluttering silver hair, sparkling earrings, purple eyes that seemed to radiate light like the sun.
'Eon.'
Right, it was Eon. He appeared to be sweeping everything away. To think I felt relieved seeing him. It was a truly strange feeling.
I lost consciousness as I took in the increasingly clear image of Eon.
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