Forbidden Spell – Part 03
“So, are you going to draw a Magic circle big enough to surround the entire kingdom of Wenias?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m going to place multiple Magic circles and combine them into one big Magic circle. The job needs precision, but it’s not too difficult.”
I doubt it. At least it would be impossible for me. I learned from Zero that circles had to be drawn perfectly.
“I’ll ask Zero to command the demon to ‘negate’ the use of Magic in the area, and I’ll seal the command itself in the Magic circle. That way the demons that are the core of the Magic spells written in the Grimoire of Zero will no longer respond to any order. And for that…” Albus’s face suddenly clouded over. “We need Zero.”
“Of course.”
Demons had ranks. Negating Magic was like asking a high-ranked demon to tell lower-ranking demons to “stop helping people”. The one who had the power to do that was Zero. Without her, this whole plan could not be executed.
“But Thirteenth locked her up.”
“L-Locked her up?” My voice sounded funny for a second there, but I couldn’t help it. So that’s why she said to save her.
“It was the night that Thirteenth imprisoned me. I was in the dungeon, where Thirteenth told me to serve him. Then a very angry Zero barged in. She said, ‘you took my mercenary away from me’.”
I kept my mouth shut. This was after I left the castle.
“She said that Thirteenth betrayed her. She looked like she was going to kill Thirteenth at any moment. But then, all of a sudden, Zero coughed up blood and collapsed.”
“What?! Did Thirteenth attack her?!”
“Maybe,” Albus nodded.
Maybe? There was no doubt it was Thirteenth’s doing.
“Thirteenth was mad too, saying, ‘What you did was foolish. You should not have ventured out of the cellar. If you stayed inside and did not get involved with some mercenary, this would not have happened.”
Albus glanced at me. You shouldn’t look at me right now, kid. I was quite sure I was wearing a horrifying look that would give even hardened warriors seizures.
“Zero passed out and was taken away somewhere…”
“Is she okay?”
“I’m sure she’s not dead. I could feel her magical power.”
“Uh, excuse me, young lady, bro, but you’ve completely left me out of the conversation for a while now.”
Me and Albus looked at Pooch simultaneously. I had completely forgotten about him. Since he was unaware of the whole story, he didn’t understand our conversation a bit.
“I thought Zero was your name,” he said out of nowhere. He was incredibly mistaken, of course. “When we were running away with the young lady, Thirteenth shouted something about Zero, so I thought he was referring to you, or maybe it was the young lady’s alias…”
“The kid’s alias is Albus, and Zero is the name of the beautiful lady that you tried to mess with.”
“Oh, her. She was a fine woman.” Pooch said, wearing a dirty look. “Man, I wanna lick her all over.”
Before I could hit him, Albus landed a punch on his face. Pooch whined like an actual dog, holding his face in pain. Good job, kid.
“So why did Thirteenth say that?” he asked.
“Say what?” I asked back.
“Stop, or you’ll hit Zero.”
My eyes grew wide. He did say that. But since Zero wasn’t there, there was no way they could hit her. Frowning, I looked at Albus.
“What did he mean by that?” I asked. “Why is shooting at us gonna hit Zero?”
“I don’t know. I was out cold, so…” Albus said.
“I was only looking at the young lady,” Pooch added.
What a useless pair. Not that I’m one to talk. I poked my head out of the cave and saw an indigo sky just after sunset.
“So first we need to rescue the witch, or we won’t get anywhere,” I said. “She’s not much of a damsel in distress, but I’m guessing she’s being held somewhere in the castle.”
“She wasn’t in the dungeon,” Albus said. “I was there until just before I was taken to be executed, and I didn’t feel any sign of Zero.”
“The towers, then. It’s standard procedure among bigshots to confine criminals underground and nobles or important people in a tower.”
“Is Zero someone important?”
“How did Thirteenth handle her when she collapsed?”
Albus tilted her head. “He carried her like a princess!”
“Too much information. I feel like throwing up. In other words, Zero is not someone Thirteenth wants dragged into the dungeon. Problem is, towers are basically used for defense or surveillance. That, or confinement. If it’s surveillance, there will be soldiers wandering around, and if it’s defense or confinement, the entrance will often be hidden. To put it short, it’ll be hard to infiltrate.”
“You sure know a lot.”
“It’s common for Beastfallen to be on the frontline when attacking fortresses. All in all, smaller ones included, I’ve been involved in several such operations.”
“That’s my bro! You devil! Warmonger!”
“Shut the fuck up!” I roared. “You’re a Beastfallen too!”
Pooch shrank back with his head in his hands. He really looked like a dog. He was probably a sleazebag deep within, who turned meek when Albus had him by the collar.
I sure don’t wanna end up like him. For real.
“But bro, there’s like four towers in the castle, and we don’t know which one they locked her in. Besides, it’s possible that she’s being held somewhere else.”
I racked my brain hard. There shouldn’t be any other place suited for confinement besides the towers and the dungeon.
“Like Thirteenth’s bedroom,” Pooch said.
I froze. Albus also turned red, then pale, her mouth gaping.
Thirteenth… with Zero? Nah, no way. But Thirteenth is a man, and Zero is a woman. He’s unattractive, and she’s beautiful. They’re colleagues, so it’s definitely possible… No. There’s just no way in hell.
“I-I’m sure he wouldn’t do that… to a woman wh-who coughed up blood and c-collapsed…”
“But that’s exactly why you want her to rest on an actual bed. All the more so when Zero is important to Thirteenth.”
Oh, that’s what you meant. You almost gave me a heart attack.
“Be a little more specific then, you lecher!”
“Lecher? I mean, sure, I like women… Come on, young lady. Please don’t look at me like that. You’re hurting my feelings.”
It was certainly possible that she was locked up in a normal room but with bars.
“Hey, kid… I mean, young lady.”
“You can just keep calling me kid. I’ve gotten too used to talking like a boy anyway, after pretending to be one for a year.”
“Really? Well, if you say so.
“Yes. So what is it?”
“Can’t you find out where Zero is locked up? Since you mentioned something about opening up a fortune-telling shop before, I assume you’re good at divination. Am I wrong?”
I hadn’t forgotten what she said about settling down and opening a shop in Latette. Divinations were right up a witch’s alley.
But Albus looked grim. “I can, but… searching for someone requires something strongly connected to the person spiritually. A part of their body, like their hair, or a blanket that they always use, or clothes. You can’t just fire up a crystal ball and then bam! It doesn’t work like that. It’s not some cheap magic trick.”
It goes without saying, but we didn’t have any of Zero’s belongings, and I didn’t do anything creepy like picking up Zero’s hair and keeping it. Zero had very little luggage in the first place. We only got her a new set of clothes back in Fomicaum—
“Ah!”
“Oh!”
Me and Albus raised our voices at the same time and looked at each other.
“The clothes store in Fomicaum.”
“Zero’s cloak! I’m sure that guy framed it and put it on display!”
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