[A place full of eccentric people. I guess that's what most Magus are like]
Toru whispered in Sakura's ear.
Now this group, consisting of Waver, Gray and Sakura, were walking through the long corridors of this white castle. It has already been a few minutes since the meeting between the people who were invited to the castle ended, which now left them with the goal of finding the room that was assigned to them.
[In short, all these people were gathered here to obtain the inheritance of this Geyround Ashborune. The guests were given a letter with the name of an angel and now we have to find the room with the name of that angel]
Sakura, unable to answer her Servant, nodded her head. She would only limit herself to do this because she is now together with her father and Gray.
[That yamabushi with the patch, the blonde guy and his younger sister, the old man in the wheelchair, the mercenary in the robe, and that girl with long blonde hair whom the old man called "hyena of the Edelfelt family". They are all the ones who are here for the inheritance. Somehow it seems like a game because of the riddle that Japanese woman in black yukata mentioned. Her name was Adashino Hishiri, wasn't it? There's something about that woman that appeals to me]
At that last, Sakura frowned.
Toru noticed that.
[I'm not talking about that kind of attraction. There's something about her that interests me. Maybe there's something she's hiding and I could tell, though I couldn't see it well with my eyes]
The summary of that boring meeting is basically Magus arguing with each other. One of the things Toru took into account was the near confrontation that the yamabushi by the name of Tokito Jirobō Seigen and Heine Istari were about to have.
Heine displayed his strange alchemy, which from one moment to the next made it rain white flower petals that matched the castle lobby very well.
As for the old man in the wheelchair, Orlocke Caesarmund, he was really just a person with a withered body and a thinning head of hair who seemed to hate everyone. Perhaps it was due to age, but his hurtful remarks fell mostly on Miss Luviagelita Edelfelt, a beautiful girl with long golden hair completely combed in large caireles, with a large ribbon in the shape of a blue flower tied to the top left side of her head. Her sky-blue dress showed off her beautiful curvaceous body that would attract the gaze of men and women alike.
When everyone was gathered, Miss Adashino, the black-haired, bespectacled Japanese woman wearing a cute colorful yukata, proceeded to recite Geyround Ashborune's will.
[I ask you the name of the angel. Those who are asked and cannot answer shall, in all cases, be torn to pieces by the angels. Whoever can catch the angel will be given my inheritance" That sounds very problematic...]
If that strange riddle was taken literally, that would make it clear that someone will die in this castle.
Even the voices in the walls whisper that everyone must leave. However, that is the only thing they have limited themselves to saying since Toru has been here.
Toru is no coward, he won't leave here. Besides, Sakura is also here. Although he didn't know it, deep in his heart he felt that he should protect his Master.
"Looks like this is our room."
Gray approached the door, but she couldn't tell that the door didn't have the name of the angel Waver received. The door didn't say the name "Mihael" but "Michael". So she opened the door and the three of them entered without any care, at the same time the unmistakable muffled scream of a girl echoed inside the room.
Perhaps this was the bad luck surrounding Waver. Possibly that was it, there was no way of knowing. Still, if this was this man's bad luck, it was dragging down those with him.
As they passed through the door they encountered the Edelfelt family's Miss Edelfelt.
She was probably about to go to bed, for all that covered her body was a luxurious white robe woven from the finest of silks. Fortunately, she was also wearing underwear, which was far too sensual for a lady of her age. That obscene ensemble had an exaggerated amount of pretty frills that contrasted nicely with her white skin, that porcelain-like skin that had flared into a fiery crimson color.
Obviously embarrassed at being caught keeping a small stuffed dog under her pillow dressed in such a suggestive manner, she pointed at those who had burst into her room.
"What are you people doing here!"
Waver touched his forehead wearily. Gray only looked to her mentor for advice on how to remedy this mistake and Sakura, for a moment kept quiet as she looked to a specific place.
Needless to say, Toru also saw this scene, but Sakura had no way of seeing this boy's reaction.
"You better have a good excuse for this."
"No, wait, Lady."
"Oh, yeah. I'll wait. Who would think a Lord would sneak into a beautiful maiden's room... You're a disgrace to the Clock Tower."
"Wait a moment. Look at this. I just went to the room with the name of the angel assigned to me."
Waver held up the letter where the angelic name "Mihael" was obviously on it. Luvia noticed this and, disappointed, took the letter and sighed heavily.
"The name of this room is Michael."
"Uh..."
Sakura and Gray approached the plaque on the door and read it at the same time. Then they saw Waver and nodded in response.
"In any case, I hope you're prepared to die."
***
Again they found themselves walking through the corridors of this huge castle. After Waver offered information to Luvia, she accepted despite the embarrassment she felt. That saved Waver's life.
However, had she known that Toru was also there, Miss Edelfelt would have blamed him as well. She would surely have cast a curse on him.....
"Problems between magus are very complicated."
Gray whispered. Waver heard her and said:
"It's always like that. You must be prepared for that. I've almost had my throat cut many times because of this. The reason why I need someone to protect me would be that aside from my obvious physical and mental weakness."
"I don't think you are that weak, Father. You just have very low self-esteem."
Sakura walked up to Waver and looked him in the eyes. The latter himself only blushed a little and looked straight ahead.
"You know how to read me like an open book, I guess."
"We've been together for ten years now. You could say I only know the armor that protects you, father."
"I could say the same."
They both knew they have mutual secrets. Neither of them is going to mention a word about it, but maybe that's why they can get along as well as father and daughter.
After that, Heine Istari and his younger sister, Rosalind Istari, showed up to say hello. It was only a brief exchange of words, as Waver was tired enough not to want to talk to anyone else.
Thus they continued to move forward.
***
On the nameplate on the door the name "Mihael" could clearly be seen. They had finally arrived and were now all asleep.
Toru watched from the shadows and materialized to see the notebook of the Lord, who a few minutes ago was writing something about the castle. Opening the notebook, he saw a map of the castle with the markings of the two rooms named after angels.
"It's a very easy riddle, I suppose. But for someone like you, maybe it's a real challenge. You're missing a lot of information."
"So you knew I was awake?"
Waver opened his eyes. Leaning back on the couch, he looked up at the ceiling before getting up and approaching Toru. For a few moments he looked at the bed, where Sakura and Gray were sleeping peacefully.
"They've become very close these past two months."
"I showed up a month ago. So I wouldn't know how to answer that. Anyway, regarding the map you made. You talked about a lot of things with my Master and Gray. Most of it is fine, but there are still loose ends."
"What might be missing?"
"The locations of the other rooms, all of them in general, even the ones that are hidden. I could easily go through the whole castle and find out what is hidden in the depths. But doing that on the first day would raise suspicion."
"By doing this, you think you're paying me back for the Magecraft classes I gave you, don't you?"
"I feel better knowing I won't owe you a debt. Life is a long road full of rocks and stumbles, lightening the load on my shoulders a bit will keep me from stumbling again. I am sure you understand. The human being is a "civilized" beast, but that's nothing more than humankind's own made-up bullshit. Without a society, the human being is a mere beast more intelligent than the other beasts. When all are beasts, no one will be able to stumble in life."
"Are you saying that without a partnership... everything would be better?"
"I like to think so, but it's not as simple as it seems. In the end, none of it matters, even if it's a matter of the utmost importance."
"I see..."
"I've been too talkative. I'd better return to my Master's side. Either of those two might wake up. Although, it's funny..."
"What do you mean?"
"You three know of my existence, but none of you are aware of that very thing. I wonder how they'll deal with it when I have to come out in the open. Gray is a very strange girl who is apparently affected by the emotions of ghosts. Sakura... this girl I will never understand. And then there's you, a Lord of the Clock Tower with a ridiculous debt that you will never in your life be able to repay, but you choose to fool yourself into thinking you could."
Disappearing into the abyss of this dark room, Toru's glowing eyes landed on Waver's eyes.
"And I can say I understand that..."
And so he finally disappeared, leaving Waver with more doubts than answers.
At the same time, on the bed, Gray squinted her eyes and realized many things.
'So Sakura really is the Master of Assassin...'
-The next day-
They all gathered in the castle's dining room and talked about the clues they had. Sakura sensed that Toru was nearby, so she kept quiet to see what was going on.
In short, very complicated things that made her mind spin trying to understand. Surely because the conversation involved the cabal, Solomon's 72 demons, and some things from the bible with the prophet Moses as the main character.
For his part, Toru already knew this was going to happen, but because he didn't have enough knowledge of the Judeo-Christian religion and that kind of mysterious stuff, he could only understand half of what Waver mentioned. Still, that was enough to make Toru want to act.
[I'll go explore the castle further. Stay by your father's side. If anything gets out of control, use one of the command spells and call me]
Sakura couldn't say anything to her about it since if she said it out loud, everyone would realize that she would be talking to someone who doesn't seem to be there.
Seeing Sakura's gestures, Gray didn't know what to say about it. Besides, how could she ask that girl about her Servant? There was no way she could even ask her. Still, she also wanted to know more about the ghost who drinks liquor at night.
***
As the meeting in the dining hall continued, Toru moved about the castle silently observing everything nearby.
[This is going to take a while...]
Research takes time and patience. Toru has some of that, so there was no problem.
Solving a mystery just to pay off a debt seemed somewhat understandable, but Toru was thinking more about the mysteries of this castle than paying off the debt. Even in this unstable and depressing state of mind, his curiosity was still itching inside his skull. At the end of it all, this is the nature that the World programmed for him, what remained forever imprinted in the depths of his soul.
The stories of the Heroes are written by their respective World. Alek Goosev turned out to be the Hero of that world that perished. Obviously there was no way Toru could know this, but that was also one of the reasons he became a Heroic Spirit after his death.
***
Later that evening, Toru returned from his investigation. It took him all day to explore the whole place at top speed, but he was finally able to find everything that was missing in the puzzle. The conclusion he came to after knowing everything that is about to happen in this place....
[The souls who constantly tell us to run away were right, but those same souls are angry; they are wrathful and have a bizarre thirst for revenge. If only I could ask them how to fix this, all of this would be easier, but I guess this strange power of seeing and hearing souls is only limited to that]
At this point, Toru recalled the first time he heard and saw a soul. During his time as a mercenary after defecting from Konoha; that girl who had been kidnapped and abused by that group of men he labeled as "trash"? No, maybe it was before? At this point he could no longer remember well everything he had seen and experienced other than the torture he had to go through at the Throne of Heroes.
The thing is, what he discovered in this place makes everything more difficult in this situation.
If what he discovered fit with everything he already had gathered, the only thing left to do was to solve this fake attempt at a mystery. More than a mystery, it was simply too obvious.
This place was built by an angel fanatic. If so, there had to be some hidden writings here and there. Toru discovered all that after his research.
The only thing left was...
[All those who were invited to this castle will be killed based on what the angels they received as their name represent].
Entering the room, he saw Waver playing on a Game Boy as if nothing was going on, but Toru knew that inside Waver is trying to solve this no matter what. He also saw Sakura and Gray studying at the desk.
This peaceful scene would somehow turn into a tragedy if everything continues like this.
[My dilemma is...]
His opaque eyes looked at the scene without any visible emotion.
[Is it worth it to help them?]
After seeing Sakura and finally Waver, he sighed wearily thinking that this is all a nuisance. Still, somehow, it seemed that being with this Lord he would never get bored. Maybe that was a good thing.
He is broken inside. Broken to pieces and with no chance of salvation. At least he doesn't believe in his own salvation, which leads to this endless cycle of suffering.
Someday all that pain and sadness will explode. He will not be able to take it anymore and will finally fall into the hands of Chaos.
However, this was not meant to be.
If there is one thing that could prevent all this, it is distractions in life.
But Toru is very stubborn in that regard. There is no one more stubborn than him in this room. Somehow he resembled a certain King who turned out to be a young girl.
[I guess I should get down to work.]
Begin the plan to end this fake mystery as quickly as possible.
If no one dies, that will be a new achievement for him.
[Let's begin]
First thing first, get Sakura to follow him. With that starting, everything will go as he wishes.
To be continued...