Vale took a deep breath and composed himself. He turned around and fixed his gaze on Brenda. "If I don't return in two hours, I want you to go to Lily's room and take her valuable belongings. Then bring them to where the commotion is happening."
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Brenda asked, not understanding Vale's instructions.
"I'll find the mana source of this place. However, there's a possibility that Lily might find me first, so I want you to take some of her valuable things from her room. Something that might make her nostalgic or whatever," Vale replied. He couldn't guarantee that his plan would go smoothly, so he hoped that Brenda would help him if the situation arose.
"Isn't that too reckless?"
"We don't have much time left. If we don't do it, our bodies will decay, and we won't be able to return to our original bodies forever." If there was more time, Vale could try to emotionally manipulate Lily, but time was too short.
"Then be careful."
Vale nodded lightly. He pushed open the door of the room and stepped out, leaving Brenda alone.
Standing in a long and deserted corridor, Vale made sure there were no maid puppets in the hallway. He then approached a magical item that looked like a ball attached to the wall along the corridor. It was a magical item used to illuminate the corridor. The light it emitted was a soft white light. The intensity of the light was not too bright, but it was enough to illuminate the hallway.
He opened the outer part of the object, which was a glass. Inside the item was a small glass ball with an iron ring around it.
"This glass ball is likely used to store mana, so what about this ring?"
He carefully examined the ring. He then took the small glass ball, which served as a mana storage device for the magical lamp, and transferred the remaining mana from the small glass ball to the ring in his right hand.
The ring emitted colorful light. The mana flowing through the ring then formed a thin and glowing thread. Vale found that the thread extended and ended on another magical lamp. But one by one, the other magical lamps also emitted colorful, glowing threads. Vale then realized that the ring was a mana receiver device, and the thread was the cable that connected the magical lamps in this corridor.
Vale immediately walked along the magical thread, trying to find where it came from. After a few moments, he found that the thread came from a small pipe attached to the top of the corridor's wall. Not only the thread for the magical lamps, but there were also many other threads coming out of that small pipe.
"It seems that these threads are not only channelling mana for the magical lamps, but also for other magical items that require mana," Vale thought to himself.
Without wasting any time, Vale followed the small pipe. After walking for a while, the pipe turned and led him into a room. As he approached the door, he pushed it gently and walked into the dimly lit room. He found neatly arranged wooden sticks of various sizes in one corner of the room.
In the middle of the room, there were several large, peculiar objects. Vale approached one of them and found a wooden puppet arm that was still plain without any paint.
"Is this some sort of machine for carving and assembling wooden puppets?" Vale wondered.
In this world of magic, their technology was undoubtedly different from that on earth. With the presence of mana, they did not have to bother finding or processing energy sources. With their runes, they could create a machine that automatically used mana. Runes were unique symbols that could be used to imbue magical abilities on inanimate objects or, in some cases, on living beings.
Afterward, Vale resumed his search for where the small pipe led. He found that it turned and led downwards. Vale then searched for a way down and found a secret staircase hidden behind a wooden box. He went down the stairs.
To his surprise, he found himself outside the castle. The room below was a cave. Vale turned around and found that the small pipe was connected to a large pipe. He immediately followed the big pipe to trace its source.
However, after ten steps, Vale found two puppet knights standing behind him. They seemed to be guarding this cave passage. Since this cave was a one-way path, Vale had to overcome them to be able to trace the source of the large pipe.
"Fortunately, the small glass ball from the magic lamp still has some mana," Vale muttered to himself.
He then used the [Basic Puppet Control Technique] to create ten thin strings from his fingers. Five strings attacked each puppet knight. Vale continued to concentrate on restraining the movement of the two puppet knights while trying to sever their connection to the controller.
The [Basic Puppet Control Technique] not only functioned to control the puppet, but could also be used to sever control from the puppet master. Vale felt that what Lily did to Colbert was part of the [Advanced Puppet Control Technique].
After a minute, he succeeded in doing so.
Vale ran towards the source of the big pipe as quickly as possible. He felt that Lily might have sensed the severed connection with the two puppet knights.
As Vale was intently running, he was suddenly attacked from the cave's ceiling, startling him. He felt an object fall from above, hitting his body.
Lying on his back, Vale couldn't help but let out a groan, "Has Lily found me?"
His words trailed off as he saw a girl sitting on his stomach. The girl was dressed in tattered clothes with small wounds that were not completely healed. Despite her pretty face, it was pale and covered in dust, and her expression showed exhaustion. Nevertheless, she kept her sword at the ready.
"Frida?"
Frida turned her head in surprise, hearing a wooden puppet in front of her calling her name. "A talking puppet again? Is this one part of the puppet girl's group?"
"Wait, it's me, Vale!"
Frida observed carefully and noticed that the wooden puppet did indeed resemble Vale.
"Vale! What happened to you? Why have you turned into a puppet like this?" asked Frida who finally realized that the puppet in front of her was Vale. She quickly got up and helped Vale stand.
"The story is quite long, but I'll explain it as we go."